Online Business Name Registration system unveiled.

One of the issues that President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino mentioned during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) was the seemingly endless process of business registration in the Philippines. An applicant used to make a few visits to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and other government agencies and had to endure long queues and wait for 4 to 8 hours just to register his business. He also needs to fill out eight pages of the application form.

It appears that this dilemma will soon be a thing of the past as the President unveiled yesterday a faster Business Name Registration System (eBNRS) at the DTI – National Capital Region Area 3 office in Mandaluyong City. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) headed by Sec. Gregory Domingo demonstrated to President Aquino how they have expedited the formerly tedious process.

Under the new system, it will now take an applicant a maximum of 15 minutes and P300 to get a business name. And the eight page application form the applicants need to fill out has been reduced to one.

The purpose of the automation was to minimize the people handling the process and let technology speed up the transaction. Businessmen can now apply their registration names at the barangay level, and renewals are now done “automatically.”

I believe that this is a big step towards creating a business-friendly environment thus attracting foreign and local investments. This online business registration only shows the government’s commitment to the public by giving entrepreneurs less hassle in doing business. It also makes government transactions transparent which can help prevent corruption in the workplace.