business registration process quality and management survey

Business Registration Process Quality and Management Survey National Competitiveness Council in partnership with Ateneo School of Government

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page Table of Contents 1 List of Tables and Charts 2 Executive Summary 3

I. Introduction 4

a. Objectives 4-5 b. Scope and Limitations of the Study 6-6

II. Review of Relevant Literature and Study 6-8

III. Survey Methodology 8-12

a. Study Areas b. Study Population c. Sampling d. Data Collection e. Factors and Indicators f. Data Analysis

IV. Survey Results and Discussion 12-44

a. Business Permit Renewal 12-33 b. New Business Permit 33-44

V. Conclusions 44-46

VI. Recommendations 47-54

Annexes

ANNEX A: Cross tabulation of the Availability of Information regarding Requirements and Process

Flows to the Length of Days in Acquiring Business Permits ANNEX B: Cross tabulation of the Size of Business Based on Assets to the Cost of Application

Fees ANNEX C: Business Requirement Most Costly ANNEX D: Cross tabulation of the Length od Days in Acquiring Business Permit to the Level of

Satisfaction with the Business Registration Process ANNEX E: Cross tabulation of the Amount Spent on Application Fees to the Level of Satisfaction

with the Cost of Application Fees and Taxes ANNEX F: Cross tabulation of the Size of Business based on Assets to the Over-all Performance

of the Business Permit and Licensing System Annex G – R: Average Registration Processing Time of Needed Requirements and Clearances in

Cities of Metro Manila


2

List of Charts and Graphs BUSINESS PERMIT RENEWAL Figure 1: Position of respondents in their respective companies Figure 2: Type of Industry Figure 3: Length of operation in Metro Manila Figure 4: Type of Business Figure 5: Form of business ownership Figure 6: Membership in local/foreign chamber Figure 7: Business size based on assets Figure 8: Length of time needed to acquire renewal permits Figure 9: Availability of information regarding requirements and process flow Figure 10: Clarity of information regarding requirements and process flow Figure 11: Requirements that are difficult to obtain for renewal businesses Figure 12: Problems encountered during registration (Percentage) Figure 13: Cost of application fees Figure 14: Percentage of respondents who perceive the cost of fees as reasonable Figure 15: Consultation with business sector regarding registration reforms Figure 16: Improvements in the registration system for renewal permit registrants NEW BUSINESS PERMITS Figure 17: Position of respondents in their respective companies Figure 18: Type of Industry Figure 19: Form of business ownership Figure 20: Requirements that are difficult to obtain for renewal businesses Figure 21: Problems encountered during registration (Percentage) Figure 22: Cost of application fees Figure 23: Percentage of respondents who perceive the cost of fees as reasonable Figure 24: Over-all Framework for the Performance Measurement System

List of Tables Table 1 Sample Size Per City/Municipality Table 2 Number of Establishments and Sample Size for Applicants of Renewal Permits and New Permits Table 3 Length of time needed to acquire business permits in the city with Row and Column Total % Table 4 Length of Time per Requirement based on Frequency of Responses Table 5 Comparative Registration Processing Time of needed Requirements and Clearances Table 6 Respondents’ reactions to attitudinal statements regarding business climate and characteristics of

LG staff Table 7 Satisfaction Rate of Respondents on Business Registration Process and Cost of Fees and Taxes Table 8 Over-all Performance of the Business Permit and Licensing Systems in the LGU Table 9 Length of time needed to acquire new permits Table 10 Length of Time per Requirement based on Frequency of Responses (New Businesses) Table 11 Respondent’s ratings on services provided by LGUs during registration (Percentage) Table 12 Satisfaction Rate of Respondents on Business Registration Process and Cost of Fees and Taxes Table 13 Over-all Performance of the Business Permits and Licensing Systems in the LGU Table 14 Citizens’ Indicators Table 15 Employees’ Indicators Table 16 Financial Indicators Table 17 Examples of Computational Rules


3

Executive Summary

Philippines ranked 144 globally, in terms of ease in doing business in 2010. This gave a quite negative impression in the country because of the slow progress of the business transactions and related procedures done with the LGUs and national agencies in terms of length of time, steps, signatories, costs and other indicators related therein. There seems to be a broad unanimity that the process of applying for a business renewal registration is a long, difficult, and tedious process. Moreover, starting a business in a Philippine city takes on average 18 procedures and 35 days, and costs 27% of income per capita. This is the same time as in China— which ranks 100 of 178 economies on the time to start a business—and a similar cost to that in Fiji, ranked 97 in the cost to start a business. The number of procedures compares to Brazil and is only 2 procedures fewer than in Equatorial Guinea, the country with most procedures to start a business. Yet, there are wide differences in the procedures, time and money an entrepreneur has to spend to complete the process across Philippine cities. The main reason: different procedures and practices at the local government level, different performance of local branches of national agencies, as well as variations in local taxes and fees.

Many studies were conducted focusing on the delightful break in terms of the cut in processing time, reducing the number of steps and lowering the bureaucratic costs. However, minimal attention has been given in assessing the level of satisfaction of businessmen in terms of the business registration process and quality of services provided by LGUs. This study that was derived from a cross-sectional survey of purposively selected businessmen from seventeen cities of Metro Manila focused on getting the level of satisfaction and experience of respondents in the business registration process and management, which have been analyzed and interpreted in order to draw the conclusions of the study. The figures and tables presented in this report will validate the fact that, indeed, pursuing the streamlining of the BPLOs can make an LGU more business and investment friendly, thereby improving its chances of becoming more competitive as a location of choice for entrepreneurial initiatives. However, there are some further improvements that need to be realized, in this light, recommendations were indicated at the end of the study.


4

I. Introduction

Business permit registration is the first step that every businessman has to take in order to establish and operate a business in a particular area. It is therefore the first interaction between the businessmen and the LGUs and as such, is a crucial factor in building a strong relationship between the private and public sectors.

In most LGUs in the country, business owners are burdened and dissatisfied by the long, confusing and inefficient processes of renewing the Mayors business permit. This situation has become an additional disincentive to new entrepreneurs and investors to locate their businesses in the Philippines. The bad performers among the LGUs have a competitive disadvantage against those with streamlined BPLOs. Cumbersome BPLOs also encourages the proliferation of the so-called underground enterprises in these areas. As a result, these LGUs are in turn losing out in their bid to generate higher revenues from this particular local government income source. Clearly, a bigger revenue collection can be translated by LGUs to improved delivery of basic services for their constituencies.

In order to provide better services to the business sector, LGUs have strived in recent years to improve their business registration systems. These improvements include establishing one-stop-shops, decreasing the number of steps in the application and others which aims to make registering businesses easier.

The National Competitiveness Council commissioned the Ateneo School of Government to conduct a research study that would assess the perception of businessmen regarding business permit registration processes in Metro Manila. The research study, Business Registration Process Quality and Management Survey, aims to describe the experiences of businessmen and evaluate their satisfaction with the current registration systems implemented in the LGUs. Through the survey, the Ateneo School of Government aims to describe the performance of different LGUs in terms of business registration processes from the viewpoint of their major stakeholder; the business sector. It also aims to validate if the improvements in the registration systems being undertaken by different LGUs are being felt by the businessmen. Based on the results of the survey, the School also aims to recommend specific improvements in the business permits and licensing system of LGUs.

A. Objectives

1) Know the business community’s perception regarding the business registration processes in different LGUs within Metro Manila;

2) Identify the problems and challenges faced by investors and businesses in dealing with different LGUs;


5

3) Describe the performance of different LGUs, in terms of their business registration systems, and compare these to other cities and municipalities within Metro Manila,

4) Assess how satisfied businessmen are with the performance of LGUs that have streamlined their business permits and licensing systems;

5) Recommend specific improvements in the business permits and licensing systems of LGUs.

B. Scope and Limitations of the Study

The study was focused on the objective of the study, which is to determine the business community’s perception regarding the business registration processes in different LGUs within Metro Manila.

The scope of the study revolved first on identifying profiles of the respondents who gave their views and experiences about the phenomenon. The study employed highly quantitative design which is solely based on a scientific positivist approach where hard data are construed to verify an existence. The study was conducted only in Metro Manila and as such only reflects the perception of the businessmen that have establishments in the nation’s capital. Businessmen registering in the provinces and in other regions therefore may have different experiences. It is limited to respondents in Metropolitan Manila thus; there are no assumptions about the totality of the perception on business registration process quality and management in the whole country. Since the research is a perception study, some of the data gathered may be subjective and might differ from person to person. Data for the length of time it takes to acquire a business permit for example is based on estimates of the respondents and may not be that accurate. These limits the findings of the study and leave gray areas that need to be explored by future studies. The study methodology has limitations. Other areas important to business such as an economy’s proximity to large markets, the quality of its infrastructure services (other than those related to trading across borders), the security of property from theft and looting, the transparency of government procurement, macroeconomic conditions or the underlying strength of institutions, are not studied directly. To make the data comparable across economies, the indicators refer to a specific type of business, as ngenerally classified by the DTI, operating in the seventeen cities of Metropolitan Manila. Because standard assumptions are used in the data collection, comparisons and benchmarks are valid across economies. The data not only highlight the extent of obstacles and dilemmas encountered by the new and renewal applicants; they also help identify the source of those obstacles. Furthermore, data also provides some picture on the improvements in some cities like Manila, Mandaluyong, Marikina and Quezon City. The study provides a description on the performance of the LGUs in each city. The


6

processes and transactions of respondents in the national agencies in getting other requirements for business permits were also described in the study but were given minimal attention.

C. Definition of Terms Business registration process

In this study, business registration process refers to the application process for new or renewal business permits in the different LGUs.

Local business permit

A permit issued by the LGU through the Mayor, who has jurisdiction over the intended place of the business. It authorizes the business to operate in the locality.

New business permit

A type of business permit issued by the LGU for businesses that are just starting and would like to operate in the particular LGUs.

Renewal business permit

The renewal business permit is issued by the LGU to businesses that are already established but would like to continue operating in a particular area. Business permits are renewed annually.

II. Review of Relevant Literature Various studies have already been done to assess business permits and licensing systems in the country. An example of this is the World Bank’s Doing Business project, a report on the effectiveness of business regulations in 183 countries. Working on the fundamental premise that economic activity requires good rules, Doing Business measured business regulations and implementation based on 10 indicator sets. These indicator sets are starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business. In the Doing Business 2010 report, the Philippines ranked 144 out of 183 countries based on the 10 indicators studied. This ranking gives us an idea of how we stand in terms of having a business-friendly environment for investors. The findings of the Doing Business report regarding one of its indicators, ‘Starting a Business’, would be helpful in providing a background for the study. The report


7

researched on the business registration process in the country and found out that in the City of Manila, businesses have to go through 15 procedures and wait for 52 days before acquiring a business permit. This result is relatively higher than the average number of procedures and days needed to start a business in the East and Asia Pacific region. The cost of starting a business, computed as a percentage of the economy’s income per capita, is also relatively higher compared to the cost of starting a business in the region.

While Doing Business is important in gauging the country’s competitiveness as compared to other countries, there are also studies that focused more on the challenges of implementing business registration processes within the Philippine context. The handbook Good Practices: Streamlining Business Registration in Local Government Units, published by the Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development (BSMED), German Technical Cooperation – Small and Medium Enterprise Development for Sustainable Employment Program (GTZ –SMEDSEP) and The Asia Foundation (TAF) in cooperation with DTI; is one such example. The handbook gave an overview of the problems faced by applicants during business registration. These problems were identified as difficulties in procedures, requirements, customer orientation and proximity of offices. More than listing the problems however, the handbook also provided solutions to these problems by sharing good practices done by different LGUs to improve their business registration processes. But does improving one’s business registration process really encourage more businessmen to register in LGUs? A reference document entitled, Streamlining the Business Permit and Licensing System, published by the Private Sector Promotion Program of SMEDSEP in July 2008, seems to prove this. Results of a study in Iloilo City showed that 53% more businessmen renewed their permits after the LGUs streamlined their BPLS. The studies mentioned above tackled regulations, procedures and challenges of the business registration processes. Combined, they give us an idea of why there is a need to streamline BPLS in LGUs. Based on these observations therefore, the next step is to develop and implement projects that would improve the business registration system in different areas across the country. Answering this need for improving BPLS, are several international organizations who worked with local institutions and LGUs to streamline business registration processes. One such initiative is the cooperation between the International Finance Corporation and the Ateneo School of Government. The Regulatory Simplification Project was conducted in 2008 at the local government units of Manila, Mandaluyong, Marikina and Quezon City. The project aimed to streamline business registration processes by training the municipal staff and developing a new process design for the BPLS of the four LGUs. With various regulatory assessments, process recommendations and actual streamlining already undertaken to improve business registration processes; the final step is to validate if the projects initiated by the different institutions are indeed successful from the viewpoint of the businessmen. In this light, this research could be seen as an effort to


8

evaluate if the improvements that were implemented by LGUs do indeed satisfy the major stakeholder they wish to serve: the business community.

III. Survey Methodology

A. Study Areas For the business registration process quality and management survey, the researchers included seventeen cities in the National Capital Region. These are as follows:

Caloocan Navotas

Las Piñas Parañaque

Makati Pasay

Malabon Pasig

Mandaluyong Pateros

Manila Quezon City

Marikina San Juan

Muntinlupa Taguig

Valenzuela The study was conducted only in Metro Manila in the hope to recommend any improvements in the business registration process quality and management along the Nation’s Capital Region. In addition, this study will only give generalizations to the experience and satisfaction of businessmen in Metro Manila. Businessmen registering in the provinces and in other regions therefore may have different experiences. However, this pioneering attempt could be used as a reference for the future similar researches in other regions.

B. Study Population The study population for the survey was new and renewal business establishments in Metro Manila. Respondents were asked about their experiences on the business registration process, cost of fees and application and other issues imperative on their transactions with Local Government Units.

C. Sampling The sample design adapted was a two – stage stratified cluster design. At the first stage, the sample per area was chosen, and the 17 cities were used as primary sampling units. At the second stage, respondents within those areas were selected, depending on the type of business permits they applied for. The business establishments were used as the secondary sampling units.


9

The identification of the sample size for the study was determined based on the population number of business establishments determined in the 2009 figures.

1. Sample Size The number of establishments was based on data provided by each of the 17 local government units in Metro Manila for the year 2009. Based on the data gathered, there is a total of 271,999 business establishments in Metro Manila for 2009. The researchers used the Sloven’s formula to determine the ideal sample size of the respondents out of a population for this study.

N= N/ [1+(N)(e)(e)]

Where n is the sample size, N is the population and e is the margin of error involved. The researcher decided to set the 0.10 margin of error or 90% level of confidence. Based on the formula, the total sample size for the survey is 399 respondents. These respondents are distributed across the seventeen cities and are proportional to the total number of business establishments in each of the cities. However, the sample size was increased in some cities where there are only a few respondents in order to describe the experiences of businessmen in those areas more effective

Table 1 Sample Size Per City/Municipality

Cities Total Number of

Establishments for 2009

Sample Size per City

Caloocan 20,246 29

Las Piñas 8,305 12

Makati 31,392 46

Malabon 2,188 3

Mandaluyong 13,599 20

Manila 44,362 65

Marikina 16,967 25

Muntinlupa 13,176 19

Navotas 2,804 5

Parañaque 12,143 18

Pasay 10,918 16

Pasig 20,245 30

Pateros 1,880 3

Quezon City 42,849 63

San Juan 6,391 9

Taguig 15,705 23

Valenzuela 8,829 13

TOTAL 271,999 399


10

Based on data gathered from the LGUs, the number of establishments registered per city was also broken down to the number of registered renewal and new permit applicants. Sample sizes for these categories were proportional to the percentage of renewal and new permit applicants to the total population. The additional respondents for the survey were included under new permit applicants. Table 2 Number of Establishments and Sample Size for Applicants of Renewal

Permits and New Permits

The total sample size of the survey therefore is 427 respondents with 322 respondents for renewal business permit applications and a total of 105 respondents for new business permit applications.

Cities

Number of

Renewal

Permit

Registrants

per City

(2009)

Sample Size for

Renewal

Applicants

Number of

New Permit

Registrants

per City

(2009)

Sample Size

for New

Permits

(Based on

Sloven’s

Formula)

Additional

Respondents

for New

Permit

Total

Number of

Respondents

for New

Permits

Caloocan 18,606 27 1,640 2 3 5

Las Piñas 6,229 9 2,076 3 2 5

Makati 27,245 40 4,147 6 0 6

Malabon 1,252 2 936 1 4 5

Mandaluyong 11,132 16 2,467 4 0 4

Manila 35,310 52 9,052 13 0 13

Marikina 13,908 21 3,059 4 0 4

Muntinlupa 11,410 17 1,766 2 3 5

Navotas 2,723 4 81 1 4 5

Parañaque 10,023 15 2,120 3 2 5

Pasay 8,390 12 2,528 4 0 4

Pasig 16,765 25 3,480 5 0 5

Pateros 1,000 2 880 1 4 5

Quezon City 31,654 47 11,195 16 0 16

San Juan 5,859 8 532 1 4 5

Taguig 8,828 13 6,877 10 0 10

Valenzuela 8,413 12 416 1 2 3

TOTAL 218,747 322 53,252 77 28 105


11

D. Data Collection The data collection for the survey started on the third week of February 2010 and ended on May 2010. In selecting respondents for renewal permit applicants, field researchers visited the districts in each of the cities and surveyed the business establishments within the area. The researchers, with the help of NCC, also distributed survey forms via email to members of different local and foreign chambers.

For new permit applicants, the researchers selected respondents from the 2010 list of establishments provided by the local government units.

Data collection is completed, with 100% response rate. The researchers have surveyed a total of 427 respondents with 322 respondents came from renewal permit applicants and 105 respondents from new permit applicants.

E. Factors and Indicators

The perception of businessmen regarding the performance of LGUs was described in terms of business-related procedures, cost of application/renewal fees and other issues. Listed below are the indicators for the study.

Factors Indicators

Business-Related

Procedures

Length of time needed to acquire permits

Clarity of information regarding process

Ease of business-related procedures

Quality of service provided by LGUs

Cost of Application/Renewal

Fees

Overall cost of applying for business permits

Cost of requirement fees

Additional costs

Other Issues

Consultation with private sector regarding reforms

Satisfaction of businessmen in business-related procedures

and cost of fees

Overall performance of the LGU’s business registration

system

The length of time needed to acquire permits was based on estimates of the respondents. For renewal permit, this refers to the amount of time that was spent from the time they got an application form in their LGUs to the time they acquired their business permits. Clarity of information was based on the availability of information regarding requirements and process flow and if respondents clearly understood the instructions. Ease of business-related procedures on the other hand, refers to the experiences of the respondents during


12

registration and aims to find out if they encountered difficulties along the way. The quality of service refers to the assistance and services provided by the LGU staff during the registration process. Cost of application and renewal fees include the cost of different requirements, overall cost of application fees and additional costs in processing. Under other issues, the survey aimed to find out if the business sector was properly consulted regarding reforms in business permits and licensing systems. Renewal applicants were also asked if they felt improvements in the current system as compared to the previous years. The satisfaction of businessmen regarding the business registration process, cost of fees and taxes and the overall performance of the LGU were also assessed.

IV. Survey Results and Discussion

This part of the report presents the data derived from the cross-sectional survey of businessmen from sixteen cities and one municipality In Metro Manila, aimed to assess the experiences of respondents in the business registration process and management, which have been analyzed and interpreted in order to draw the conclusions of the study.

The discussion in this section will be divided into two main parts:

1. Findings for Business Permit Renewal 2. Findings for New Business Permit.

Charts and tables were provided in the discussion of findings order to give a clearly describe results and analyze the data derived from the survey. Some tables could also be seen in the annex for additional reference. A. FINDINGS FOR BUSINESS PERMIT RENEWAL

1. Demographic characteristics of the respondents and business profile The demographic characteristics of the respondents and their business profile was assessed in this study in order to get basic information such as the position of respondents in the businesses, length of operation in Metro Manila, Types of Industry and other information relevant in capturing clear picture about the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and of their businesses.


13

18

1

25

27

7

23

7

40

3

3

38

130

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Not Stated

Executive Director

Secretary

Accountant

Salesclerk

Manager

Supervisor

Employee

Operator

Proprietor

Co-owner

Owner

Figure 1: Position in the Company

Majority or 40.4% of the surveyed respondents who registered for business permit renewals are owners of their businesses or companies. Twelve percent (12%) of respondents surveyed are also co-owners of business establishments while 12.4% of respondents on the other hand, are employees. The high percentage of owners in the survey may be an indication that owners of businesses are directly involved in the registration of their permits and constantly interacts with the LGUs in renewing permits.


14

Figure 2: Type of Industry

1

610

11

413

1811

17

137

2

21

6888

7

358

0 20 40 60 80 100

Not stated

Laundry Shop

Internet CaféBakery

Repair ShopSalon

Transport, Storage and Communications

Finance and InsuranceReal Estate and Rental Business

Education

Health and Social WorkCall Center and Service (IT/ BPO)

Service Provider

Distribution and Logistics ServicesHotels and Restaurants

Wholesale and Retail TradeConstruction

Electricity, Gas and Water

Manufacturing

Majority of the respondents surveyed are from the wholesale and retail trade industry (27.3%), hotels and restaurants industry (21.1%) and electricity, gas and water industry (10.9%) (See Annex 2: Figure 2). This is reflective of the results of the 2008 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) statistics from the National Statistics Office which shows that in Metro Manila, majority of the business establishments belong to the wholesale and retail trade industry (47.7%) and hotels and restaurants industry (11.9%).


15

Figure 3: Length of operation in Metro Manila

1

4

4

10

8

16

32

69

178

0 50 100 150 200

more than 100 years

91-100 years

81-90

71-80

61-70

51-60

41-50

31-40

21-30

11-20

1-10

In terms of the number of years operating the business, majority or 55% of the businesses studied in the survey have been operating in Metro Manila for 1 to 10 years while 22% had been running for 11-20 years. The types of businesses that are predominant in Metropolitan Manila were also explored in this study. Ninety one percent (91%) of the surveyed business establishments are locally-owned and 71% are categorized under single proprietorship. Those types of businesses under foreign ownership and cooperative formed a negligible percentage, 2% and 4% respectively.


16

Single Proprietorship

71%

Partnership19%

Corporation6%

Cooperative4%

Figure 5: Form of Business Ownership

On the other hand, the prevalent form of business ownership of the respondents was also assessed in this survey. Majority of respondents (71%) are single proprietors while 19% are partnerships, a small percentage (6%) of respondents are corporations and cooperatives (4%). Furthermore, among the businesses surveyed, only 4% are members of local and foreign chambers. They were intentionally included in the study to find out the perceptions and experiences of medium and large companies in registering businesses because their inputs are substantial in evaluating the satisfaction rate of big companies to encourage more investors to place businesses in Nation’s capital region. Majority (35.71%) of the companies who are members of local or foreign chambers could be found in Makati City. The businesses were members of the American Chamber, Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines (SCMAP), People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP), Philippine Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and Makati Business Club (MBC).


17

Figure 7: Size of Business

(Based on Assets)

71%

18%

9%

2%

Micro (Total assets lessthan or equal to P3,000,000)

Small (Total assets of P3,000,001 toP15,000,000)

Medium (Total assetsof P 15,000,001 to P100,000,000)

Large (Total assetsabove P100,000,000)

The findings of the distribution of businesses in terms of business size based on assets can be considered reflective of the results of the 2008 MSME statistics. The 2008 MSME Statistics show that 86% of business establishments in Metro Manila were micro businesses. Reflective with it, majority of respondents (71%) can be classified under micro businesses with total assets less than or equal to P3,000,000. Among the businesses surveyed, 18% could be categorized as small businesses, 9% are medium businesses and 2% large businesses

2. Business Related Procedures

The Philippines ranked 144 globally, in terms of ease in doing business in 2010. This gave quite a negative impression in the country because of the slow progress of the business transactions and related procedures done with the LGUs and national agencies in terms of length of time, steps, signatories, costs and other indicators related therein. Nonetheless, majority comply with it because they believe it is necessary for regulation in running a business. It is also noted that due to the differences in the operational set-up of local governments, there seems to be a perception that some LGUs are more organized than the others. In this study, a procedure or process is defined as any interaction of the buyer or the seller, their agents (if an agent is legally or in practice required) or the property with external parties, including government agencies, inspectors, notaries and lawyers. Interactions between company officers and employees are not considered.


18

This section expounds on the procedures done in business renewal registration. The questionnaire survey findings also raise several questions about the specific problems they have encountered in processing all the requirements and clearances?: “What are the requirements, factors and processes that hinders businessmen in obtaining business permit easily?”, “How will the LGUs be able to address it?”, and “What could be the effects or repercussions of those identified problems to the perceived satisfaction of the respondents?”. The succeeding discussions will provide analyses from the responses of the respondents.

a. Length of Business Permit Registration and Processing Time

The time involved in the process is one of the reasons that turn off registrants. It should be noted that the range of time involved goes to a low of one (1) week to a high of eight (8) weeks. The measure captures the duration from the time of application to accomplishing all the requirements and clearances in the LGUs until getting the business permit. This study assessed the intervening factors which could have affected the longer time of acquiring business permits. To have an average viewpoint, we can assume that not all registrants diligently pursued their registration from day one; this could be one of the intervening factors. It is possible that some deferred the instruction on when to return thus leaving their process hanging. Other confounding variables could be the lack of knowledge with regards to the requirements needed which brought by modifications in the system and the transaction costs involved might significantly differ from person to person and from the type of business being applied. In addition with this, long queue could be another intervening factor. But all these reasons implicate the business process quality and management in the respective Local Government Units of cities. In this section, the researchers produce cross tabulations and examine correlations in each variable to be able to analyze if there are direct relationships or not with each of the aforesaid variable. In terms of length of time to acquire business permits, respondents provided estimates on how long it took them to acquire a renewal permit from the time they got an application form in the LGU to the time they received their business permits.


19

Table 3: Length of time needed to acquire business permits in the city with Row and Column Total %

Number of days to acquire a

business permit in the

city/municipality Calo

ocan

Las P

inas

Makati

Mala

bo

n

Man

ad

alu

y

on

g

Man

ila

Mari

kin

a

Mu

nti

nlu

pa

Navo

tas

Para

naq

ue

Pas

ay

Pasig

Pate

ros

Qu

ezo

n

Cit

y

San

Ju

an

Tag

uig

Vale

nzu

ela

TO

TA

L

Co

lum

n

To

tal %

Less than a day

1-3 days 6 4 8 9 6 2 2 1 1 1 40 12.42

Row % 0 0 15 0 0 10 20 22.5 0 15 0 5 0 5 2.5 2.5 2.5 100

4-6 days 13 3 3 6 2 3 2 2 1 1 1 37 11.49

Row % 35.14 8.11 8.11 0 16.22 5.41 8.11 5.41 0 0 0 0 0 5.41 2.70 2.70 2.70 100

7 days 7 2 11 1 3 9 6 4 3 2 1 6 7 3 65 20.19

Row % 10.77 3.08 16.92 1.54 4.62 13.85 9.23 6.15 4.62 3.08 1.54 9.23 0 10.77 0 0 4.62 100

14 days 1 4 1 6 8 2 1 1 2 7 1 8 2 3 5 52 16.15

Row % 1.19 0 7.69 1.19 11.54 15.38 3.85 1.19 1.19 3.85 13.56 1.19 0 15.38 3.85 5.77 9.62 100

21 days 2 1 1 1 2 2 9 2.8

Row % 22.22 11.11 0 0 0 11.11 0 0 0 0 11.11 22.22 0 22.22 0 0 0 100

One Month 3 3 9 1 19 2 1 5 3 11 1 16 1 7 2 84 26.09

Row % 3.57 3.57 10.71 0 1.19 22.62 2.38 1.19 0 5.95 3.57 13.1 1.19 19 1.19 8.33 2.38 100

2-3 months 1 4 7 3 1 9 3 1 29 9.01

Row % 3.45 0 13.79 0 0 24.14 0 0 0 0 0 10.34 3.45 31.03 10.34 3.45 0 100

more than 3 months

3 2 1 6 1.86

Row % 0 0 50 0 0 33.33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16.67 0 0 0 100

TOTAL 27 9 40 2 16 52 21 17 4 15 12 25 2 47 8 13 12 322 100

Row Total % 8.39 2.80 12.42 0.06 4.97 16.15 6.52 5.28 1.24 4.66 3.73 7.76 0.06 14.60 2.48 4.04 3.73 100


20

Table 3 presents the Length of Time needed to acquire business permits in each city with Row and Column Total percentage. Majority of respondents in cities of Manila, Pasig, Quezon and Pateros said that it took one month to acquire their business permits which account 36.54%, 44%, 34.04% and 50% respectively. On the other hand, Mandaluyong, Pasay and Valenzuela have an average of 14 days in accomplishing their registration in LGUs as according to 45% of the respondents. Businessmen in Makati, Malabon, Marikina and Navotas said that they consumed one week in processing their applications and getting the permit. The rest of the cities took only 4-6 days in acquiring the permit, while respondents from Muntinlupa (52.94%) and Paranaque (40%) shows satisfaction with the length of transaction time in the LGUs as they exclaimed that they only spent 1-3 days in securing the business permit.

Figure 8: Length of time needed to acquire renewal permits

77

6561

84

35

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Less than a week One week Two-three

weeks

One month More than one

month

N= 322 as a total population (renewal)

Figure 8 summarizes the length of time needed to acquire business permit. Data shows that (26%) took one month in Metro Manila to complete the registration process and get the permit, 24% on the other hand said that they were able to acquire permits in less than a week while 20% stated that they were able to get permits in a week’s time. The respondents explained that the length of time in acquiring business permits is affected by long processing time, too many steps and requirements and slow and unorganized services. In terms of the long processing time, some respondents admitted that they have incomplete requirements and had to go back and forth between agencies and LGUs to complete their requirements. This makes the registration process longer. Some respondents also do not go through all the procedures continuously, stopping for example to do other matters. This may mean that some of the respondents may have themselves caused the delay in the processing of their business permits, albeit not also a significant number to conclude as a confounding variable to the length of transaction


21

time with the Local Government units. However, this could indicate the performance of the LGU in terms of proper dissemination of information regarding the requirements needed and process flows. In this viewpoint, the researchers cross tabulated the length of days in acquiring business permit and the availability of information to find out if there is direct relationship between these two variables. The null hypothesis was constructed as: there is no relationship between the length of days in acquiring business permit and the availability of information regarding requirements and process flow in securing business permit. The decision is to reject the null hypothesis since 178.66 > 40.11. It can be concluded that there is a direct relationship between the length of days in acquiring business permits and availability of information regarding requirements and process flows. The length of days in acquiring business permits is dependent on the availability of information regarding requirements and process flows (See Annex-A). Another problem they have encountered is the too many requirements from national agencies (Fire Inspection Certificate from Bureau of Fire Protections, SSS Clearance, BIR Registration and PhilHealth Registration) and difficulties in securing those requirements, they have explained that securing clearances from the national agencies is much harder because the offices of national agencies are located far away from each other. The completion of both processes require the visit to at least two different area offices, LGUs and BIR, making it inconvenient as registrants have to go to two different areas or even more within the LGU office. Furthermore, the long queues brought by centralized processing of LGUs and other government offices. The concept of centralization here, mean that there is a very limited area for getting the registration and other transactions. Another complaint is that some LGU/BIR staff is inefficient. This may mean that respondents observed that these staff are not working fast or are not facilitative and may actually be slowing down the process. As to the part of the process where these difficulties are actually encountered, most respondents replied during application, assessment and evaluation parts. For practical purposes, these form the general parts of registration and therefore we can safely conclude that there is a general sense of difficulty being encountered in every step of the registration.


22

b. Information Regarding Requirements and Process Flow

In terms of the information regarding requirements and registration processes, 68% of respondents surveyed (from renewal), stated that there was enough information about business permit applications in their LGU.

Two hundred sixty nine (269) or 83.54% of respondents surveyed, also said that instructions for renewal permit applications were posted on the business permits and licensing offices (BPLOs) of their respective LGUs. In terms of the clarity of instructions regarding requirements and process flow, 77% of all respondents surveyed stated that the instructions about business permit applications were clear. When asked however whether they know if there is a citizen’s charter in their LGUs where processes for securing business permits were indicated, 60.87% of the respondents stated that they have no knowledge of a citizen’s charter in their LGUs 39.13% claimed that they know about it. For those who said that they knew about the citizen’s charter in their LGUs, 55.56% stated that the steps indicated in the citizen’s charter are being followed by the LGUs.1

c. Ease of Business Related Procedures

Table 4: Length of Time per Requirement based on Frequency of Responses

1 Citizens Charter – an official document, a service standard or a pledge that communicate. Describes a step

by step procedure for availing a particular service and the guaranteed performance level that they may

expect for the service (Retrieved from http//www.toledocity.gov.ph, May 2010).

Requirements Length of

Time Percentage of Respondents

A. REQUIREMENTS OBTAINED FROM NATIONAL AGENCIES

SSS Clearance

Highest Frequency 1-3 Days 69.6%

Lowest Frequency 5-6 Hours 1%

Fire Inspection Certificate

Highest Frequency 7-9 Days 32%

Lowest Frequency 3 months 0.4%

BIR: Filing of Income Tax Return and Financial Statements


Lowest Frequency 1-2 Months 1%


23

Ease of Business Related Procedures was analyzed through the number of days that the respondents spent to process all the requirements. Table 4 shows the length of time spent per requirement based on the frequency of responses of the businessmen surveyed. For each requirement, the length of time with the highest frequency of responses and the lowest frequency of responses were shown to provide a range of the time spent by businessmen in acquiring these requirements. Based on the length of time indicated by the businessmen, the requirements that could be attained in 1 to 2 hours are barangay clearance, zoning or locational clearance and community tax certificate. Most of the requirements such as

SSS clearance, Sanitary Permit, City Engineer’s Office Clearance and Declaration of Gross Sales/Receipts of Previous Year can be attained in 1 to 3 days. Requirements that take a long time to obtain are from the national agencies such as the filing of income tax return and financial statements at the Bureau of Internal Revenue (4 to 6 days) and Fire Inspection Certificate which takes approximately 7 to 9 days. The requirements that are specific per industry such as the Bureau of Food and Drugs Certificate can also take a month to acquire. To get a clear picture about the length of processing time in accomplishing each requirement from the LGUs and National Agencies, the researchers produced a table of comparative registration processing time and clearances in the seventeen cities of Metro Manila (See Annex: Table 1). According to the Doing Business 2008 report, “Business regulations and their enforcement vary widely across Philippine cities. The Local Government Code of 1991 places business regulatory authority such as business permits, licenses and business

Requirements that are Specific Per Industry

BFAD

Highest Frequency 1 month 55.60%

Lowest Frequency 10 to 15 days 44.40%

Police Clearance



Motor Certificate (LTO)


Lowest Frequency 4-6 Days 12%

B. REQUIREMENTS OBTAINED FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

City Engineer's Office Clearance


Lowest Frequency 10-12 Days 0.5%

Zoning/Locational Clearance

Highest Frequency 1-2 Hours 47.4%

Lowest Frequency 4-6 days 2.4%

Community Tax Certificate


Lowest Frequency 3-4 Hours 4.9%

Sanitary Permit


Lowest Frequency 1 month 1.0%

C. REQUIREMENTS OBTAINED FROM OTHER INSTITUTIONS

Barangay Clearance

Highest Frequency 1-2 Hours 46%


Declaration of Gross Sales/ Receipts of Previous Year


Lowest Frequency 2 months 0.6%


24

tax in the hands of local governments. While all local governments share the same legal and institutional framework, they also interpret and implement national regulations differently. Some local governments like Taguig and Marikina have used their authority to simplify procedures and reduce regulatory costs for businesses—and other Philippine cities could learn from their example” Based on the results of the survey, statistics presented in Table 5 proves the significant developments of 17 cities in Metropolitan Manila in terms of registration processing time and clearances.


25

Table 5

Comparative Registration Processing Time of needed Requirements and Clearances (Renewal)


26

There are three points that can be inferred from the data in Table 5: First, it can be gleaned that the transaction time in getting pertinent requirements and clearances in Metro Manila has a maximum of 10-12 days and least of 4-6 days; Second, compared to previous similar studies in past years, the improvement of processing time of various requirements and clearances in all cities significantly improved and speed up the process. Lastly, it can be surmised that the introduction and utilization of the new system and reforms implemented in the BPLOs contributed significantly in the simplification of procedures and speeding up the processing time of needed requirements.

Figure 11: Requirements that are difficult to obtain for

Renewal Businesses

3

11

6

9

44

16

13

113

39

14

13

8

31

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

None

Others

PAG-IBIG

Requirements that are specific to industries

BIR (Annual Registration and Fil ing of ITR)

Declaration of Gross Sales/ Receipts of Previous

year



Sanitary Permit

SSS Clearance


Zoning or Locational Clearance

Barangay Clearance

Figure 11 shows that the most difficult requirements to obtain for the respondents were fire inspection certificate (35%), sanitary permit (12%) and BIR (11%). The most difficult requirement to obtain according to the respondents is the fire inspection certificate (35%). As Table 4 shows, the Fire Inspection Certificate takes the longest time to acquire falling in the range of 13-15 days based on the experiences of businessmen. Thirteen percent (13%) of respondents on the other hand stated that they found requirements from the BIR difficult to obtain. Of the 44 respondents who said that they had difficulties in acquiring requirements for BIR, 72.27% or 34 respondents said that they found it difficult to obtain the annual registration while the remaining 22.73% or 10 respondents said that they had difficulties in filing their Income Tax Returns.


27

Aside from the fire inspection certificate and BIR, 12% of respondents found sanitary permits difficult to obtain while 9.6% stated that they had difficulties in acquiring barangay clearances. 5% of respondents on the other hand stated that the declaration of gross sales was difficult to comply with. Responses from the open-ended question focusing on the difficulties they encountered upon securing aforesaid permits were coded and grouped into themes. Top three reasons are inspections not done immediately, especially for obtaining fire inspection certificates which accounts 33.33% of the responses, long processing time with 25.44% and tedious payment process with 8.6%. They also stated slow and unorganized services to the public, and the filling out of multiple forms as causes of difficulties in obtaining requirements. Although most requirements as discussed in the Length of Business Permit Registration and Processing Time can be completed relatively quickly, the large number of them increases the hassle for businesses and create opportunities for corruption resulting to high incidence of financial corruption in the form of special payments and bribes to prompt securing of clearances.

Figure 12: Problems encountered during registration

(Percentage)

3.9

4.9

7

26.6

10.1

12.8

6.6

9.6

14.5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Proliferation of illegal fixers

Forms are not readily available

Forms are difficult to fill up

Transaction time to process is too long

Difficulty in obtaining clearances from different

national agencies

Too many requirements from national agencies

Signatories are not readily available

Too many signatories required

Steps/ procedures are difficult to follow

The most common problem in all cities which the respondents complain about is the long transaction time to process business permits (26.6% of responses). The respondents also stated that the steps and procedures for application are difficult to follow (14.5% of responses) and that there are too many requirements from national agencies (12.8% of responses)


28

d. Quality of service provided by the LGUs Business climate and characteristics of LGU staff were also assessed in this study to find out the impressions of the registrants to the LGU staff in the hope to come up with any improvements if there are negative feedbacks. The researchers utilized attitudinal statements in this light with four-point scale.

In the questionnaire, respondents were asked to rate the LGUs’ performance in terms of providing assistance and customer service for the businessmen. In order to determine the perception of businessmen regarding quality of service, the researchers computed for the percentage of respondents who rated the quality of service provided by the LGU as poor, somewhat good, good and excellent.

Table 6

Respondents’ reactions to attitudinal statements regarding business climate and

characteristics of LG staff (Renewal applicants)

Statement

Poor: Somewhat Good: Good: Excellent Wgtd.

: No : : No : Certain Intrstd Means

LG Staff assist applicants during registration

39 160 435 232 2.7 Good

LG staff deal with applicants in a friendly manner

31 88 450 188 2.66 Good

LG staff were able to explain requirements and processes well

41 278 330 128 2.41 Somewhat

Good

LG staff follow rules and guidelines in processing permits

14 84 528 360 3.06 Good

BPLO has a lounge or waiting area for applicants

1 88 555 376 3.17 Good

BPLO offers refreshments for applicants

286 56 24 0 1.13 Poor

Over All Mean: 2.61 Good Table 6 summarizes the results of the respondents’ reactions to the services provided by the LGUs. In the questionnaire, respondents were asked to rate the LGUs’ performance in terms of providing assistance and customer service for the businessmen. In order to determine the perception of businessmen regarding quality of service, the researchers computed for the percentage of respondents who rated the quality of service provided by the LGU as poor, somewhat good, good and excellent.


29

The results show that businessmen have a generally favorable response to the services provided by the LGUs. From Table 2, it could be seen that most cities showed good performance in terms of assisting applicants during registration, being friendly in dealing with businessmen and following rules and guidelines in processing permits. In terms of explaining requirements and processes however, the respondent only rated their performance as somewhat good. As an overall result, the study yielded a favorable reaction from the respondents with a total weighted mean average equivalent to 2.61, which means that the respondents expressed a GOOD response to the characteristics of the LGU staff, based on the range of means.

3. Cost of Fees and Taxes

Most respondents (73.29%) gave the minimum amount spent for registration as around less than Php 10,000. This finding has a direct relationship with the size of business based on assets. Cost of application fees is dependent to the size of business based on assets of the respondents. Respondents tried to recall the total amount they had spent for registration as some of them had been in operation for some time now. There are many factors to consider in aggregating the actual cost incurred by the respondents. For instance, some impliedly considered in their cost – facilitation expense and early release through fixers, though they did not specify how much they gave.

For renewal permits, 68% of the respondents said that these application fees were reasonable while 32% stated that the cost of application fees for renewal permits were unreasonable. Some of those who stated that the fees were unreasonable said that this is because they believe that the price they paid was too high given that they are only small businesses and do not earn as much. Moreover, those who stated that the fees were unreasonable explained that this is because of the lack of transparency in financial reports and governance performance reports. They also cited the tedious payment process and the high incidence of corruption in the form of special payments and bribes. Moreover, there were additional fees which were solicited according to the 17.70% of the respondents; these additional fees were intended for Mayor’s permit, garbage disposal, special payments and red tape or informal payments. Although this accounts small percentage, it should be given immediate action especially on the increasing incidence of financial corruptions in the form of demands for special payments and bribes (red tapes) to prompt clearances and approvals. It is not however only the small businesses who seem to think that they paid too much for the business permits. Thirty eight percent (38%) of respondents from the chambers also said that the business tax and some of the required fees (ex. Garbage fee and engineering inspection fees) they paid for were too high.


30

With regards to the most costly requirements for renewal permits, 24% of respondents stated that the Community Tax Certificate is the most costly requirement that they have to comply with. This is followed by the Declaration of Gross Sales which 17% of respondents chose as the most costly requirement and BIR Annual Registration with 12% of the responses (See Annex C).

4. Other Issues

Other Issues which were tackled in the study are the perceived improvements in the registration system for renewal applications and the perceived satisfaction in business registration system.

When respondents were asked if the business sector was properly consulted regarding reforms related to business permits and licenses, 59% of respondents for renewal permits stated that they were consulted by the LGUs regarding business registration reforms

Renewal permit respondents were also asked if they felt improvements in the application process for business permits compared to previous years. Fifty Eight percent (58%) of respondents said that they have felt improvements while 42% said that there were no significant improvements in the registration process


31

Among those who said that there were improvements in the application for business permit renewal, they said that these improvements are in terms of limiting the number of steps in processing application for renewal (40.96%), limiting the processing time (28.19%) and ensuring fast, efficient and convenient services to the applicants (9.57%). Satisfaction in Business Registration System

The researchers used a four-point scale to assess the satisfaction rate of the respondents. Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction rate on the business registration process, cost of fees and taxes and the over-all performance of the LGUs. The results of the respondents’ reactions regarding satisfaction with business registration system, using the four-point attitudinal statements patterned after the Rensis Likert scale could be seen in Table 7. It can be gleaned from the data that the respondents were Somewhat Satisfied with the Business registration process and cost of fees and taxes in the LGU which have 2.8 and 2.74 WMA, respectively.

Table 7

Satisfaction Rate of Respondents on Business Registration Process and Cost of Fees

and Taxes

In terms with the satisfaction in business registration system, researchers constructed three hypotheses to test the relationship with these variable to other variables in the study: (1) H0: There is no relationship between the level of satisfaction with the business registration process and the length of days in acquiring business permit; (2) H0: Respondent’s level of satisfaction with the cost of application fees and taxes is independent with the amount spent on application fees; (3) Respondents size of business based on assets is independent on the perceived over-all performance of the business permit and licensing system. (See Annex D, E, and F) For the first hypothesis, the decision is to reject the null hypothesis since 374.5 > 61.66. It can be concluded that there is a direct relationship between the level of satisfaction with the business registration process and length of days in acquiring business permits. The level of

Dissatisfied

Somewhat Satisfied

Satisfied Very Satisfied

WMA

BUSINESS REGISTRATION

PROCESS

43 112 432 316 2.8

COST OF FEES AND TAXES

64 84 387 348 2.74


32

satisfaction with the business registration process of the respondents is dependent on the length of days in acquiring business permit. For the second hypothesis, the decision is to reject the null hypothesis since 250.69 > 61.66. It can be concluded that there is a direct relationship between the level of satisfaction with the cost of application fees and the amount spent on application fees. The level of satisfaction with the cost of application fees and taxes is dependent on the amount spent on application fees. For the third hypothesis, the decision is to reject the null hypothesis since 66.09 > 37.65. It can be concluded that there is direct relationship between the over-all performance of the business permit and licensing system to the size of business based on assets. The over-all performance of the business permit and licensing system is dependent on the size of business based on assets. Table 8 Over-all Performance of the Business Permit and Licensing Systems in the LGU

Poor Somewhat Good

Good Excellent WMA

Over-all performance of the Business permit and Licensing System

37 102 489 284 2.83

In the overall performance of the Business permit and licensing system, the study yielded a favorable reaction from the respondents with a total weighted mean average equivalent to 2.83, which means that the respondents expressed a Somewhat Good response to the performance of the BPLOs and LGUs. B. FINDINGS FOR NEW BUSINESS PERMITS

In terms of ease in starting a business, the Philippines now ranks 162nd out of 183 economies studied worldwide, according to the most recent Doing Business 2010 report.

Based on the findings of the report, in order to start a business in the Philippines, a businessman has to undergo 15 procedures and spend a total of 52 days. This number is comparatively higher than neighboring countries such as Malaysia where a businessman can start a business in 11 days and Thailand, in 32 days. In a move to address problems in new business permit registration, cities in Metro Manila have started to streamline their business permits and licensing systems in order to attract more investors in their areas. Streamlining efforts include the installments of one stop shops and computerization of business registration in order to provide faster service to businesses that are starting out.


33

The findings discussed in this section describe the current experiences of new business registrants and aims to identify key areas that need to be improved upon. The results of the survey also aim to show the satisfaction of businessmen with regards to the current business permit registration system.

1. Demographic Characteristics and Business Profiles of Respondents

Majority or 64% of the respondents were owners of the business establishments surveyed while 10% were employee of the business establishments. This is an indication of owner’s higher participation sample in the direct transaction with the Local Government Units in terms of processing their registrations.


34

The most predominant types of industry were from the Hotel and Restaurants industry with 37% total of responses while 27 % are from the Wholesale and Retail Trade and Hotels and Restaurants which both account 40% of the total responses. The category included other type of businesses such as salons, repair shops, laundry shops, internet cafes, employment agencies and air conditioning services that got 10% total of responses.

All of the respondents for new businesses were local businesses. On the other hand, eighty percent (80%) were single proprietors, 15% were partnerships, 3% were cooperatives and 2% were corporations. Most of the respondents for new permits were micro businesses (95%) while 5% of respondents were small businesses. The researchers strived to get respondents from medium and large companies but most of these stated that they outsource the registration of business permits and hire accountants from other companies to register for them. When asked if the researchers could get the contact numbers of their accountants in other companies for the purpose of the study, most of the businesses declined.


35

2. Business Related Procedures

When entrepreneurs draw up a business plan and try to get under way, the first hurdles they face are the procedures required to incorporate and register the new firm before they can legally operate. Economies differ greatly in how they regulate the entry of new businesses. In some the process is straightforward and affordable. In others, the procedures are so burdensome that entrepreneurs may have to bribe officials to speed up the process or may decide to run their business informally. Analysis shows that burdensome entry regulations do not increase the quality of products, make work safer or reduce pollution. Instead, they constrain private investment; push more people into the informal economy; increase consumer prices and fuel corruption (Doing a Business, 2010). Yet, there are wide differences in the procedures, time and money an entrepreneur has to spend to complete the process across Philippine cities. The main reason: different procedures and practices at the local government level, different performance of local branches of national agencies, as well as variations in local taxes and fees. Entry requirements are easiest in Taguig and relatively difficult in San Juan (Doing a Business, 2008).

The performance of the LGUs in each city of Nation’s Capital Region were studied based on perception of the businessmen. The processes and transactions of respondents in the national agencies in getting other requirements for business permits were also tackled in the study but were given minimal attention.

a. Length of Time Needed to Acquire New Permits

Table 9: Length of time needed to acquire new permits

Less than a week

One week

Two-Three Weeks

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

More than 3 Months

TOTA

L

Caloocan 1 4 5

Las Pinas 3 2 5

Makati 1 3 2 6

Malabon 1 1 2 1 5

Manadaluyong 1 1 2 4

Manila 2 1 1 7 1 1 13

Marikina 2 1 1 4

Muntinlupa 1 3 1 5


36

Navotas 3 2 5

Paranaque 3 1 1 5

Pasay 2 2 4

Pasig 2 2 1 5

Pateros 2 1 2 5

Quezon City 2 10 1 2 1 16

san Juan 1 1 1 2 5

Taguig 6 3 1 10

Valenzuela 1 1 1 3

TOTAL 5 11 41 32 11 4 1 105

Thirty-nine percent (39%) of respondents were able to process all the requirements needed in two to three weeks,. A large percentage of respondents however (30%) were able to acquire new permits in one month, while 15% were able to acquire new permits in two months or more. The findings show that majority of the respondents were able to acquire new permits in two weeks to one month. Based on the findings, most of the respondents from Las Pinas (60%), Muntinlupa (60%), Navotas (60%), Paranaque (60%), Quezon City (62.5%), and Taguig (60%) were able to get new permits in two to three weeks. Most of the respondents from Caloocan (80%) and Manila (54%) were able to acquire permits in one month. In the case of Marikina, half or 50% of the respondents stated that they were able to register their new businesses in a week’s time. Once the businesses have already paid for the order for payment, they are already considered registered under the system and as such are allowed to operate. Actual business permits and plates in Marikina however are delivered door-to-door and the delivery time may take from one week to two months according to respondents. For the purpose of this study, the delivery time was not included in the length of time, since the businesses are already considered registered and are allowed to operate while waiting for their business permits to arrive. b. Information Regarding Requirements and Process Flow In terms of the information regarding requirements and registration processes, 96% of respondents surveyed for new permits stated that there was enough information about business permit applications in their LGU. A high percentage of the respondents (95%) also stated that the requirements were posted on the Business Permits and Licensing Offices. The clarity of instructions regarding requirements and process flow during the application and processing of business permits most (92%) of all respondents surveyed stated that the instructions about business permit applications were clear. When asked however whether they know if there is a citizen’s charter in their LGUs where processes for securing business permits were indicated, 69% of the respondents stated that they knew about the citizen’s charter in their LGUs while 31% claimed that they did not know


37

about it. For those who knew about the citizen’s charter in their LGUs, 81.6% stated that the steps indicated in the citizen’s charter are being followed by the LGUs.

Ease of Business Related Procedures Ease of Business Related Procedures was analyzed through the number of days that the respondents spent to process all the requirements. Table 10 shows the length of time spent per requirement based on the frequency of responses of the businessmen surveyed. For each requirement, the length of time with the highest frequency of responses and the lowest frequency of responses were shown to provide a range of the time spent by businessmen in acquiring these requirements.

Table 10: Length of Time per Requirement based on Frequency of Responses (New

Businesses)

Requirements Length of Time Percentage of Respondents

A. REQUIREMENTS OBTAINED FROM NATIONAL AGENCIES

DTI Registration

Highest Frequency 1-3 days 40%

Lowest Frequency 7-9 days 1%

SEC Registration



SSS Clearance






B. REQUIREMENTS OBTAINED FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Zoning/Locational Clearance





Lowest Frequency 3-4 Hours 4.9%

Sanitary Permit/City Health Office Clearance






Building Permit


38

Based on the length of time indicated by the respondents, the requirements that could easily be attained in 1 to 2 hours are the barangay clearance, community tax certificate and SEC registration. Most of the other requirements such as the DTI registration, Zoning/Locational Clearance, Lease of Contract of Site, Sanitary Permit, Building and Occupancy Permit can be attained in 1 to 3 days. In the case of the Zoning/Locational Clearance it is noticeable that it takes much more time to acquire this requirement for new business registrants compared to renewal permit registrants who can acquire the permit in 1 to 2 Hours. One explanation for this is that as new business registrants, the LGUs still need to carefully examine whether the businesses follow regulatory requirements. Requirements that take a long time to obtain are the Fire Inspection Certificate and City Engineer’s Office Clearance which can be acquired in 7 to 9 days. In some cities, new businesses are also required to obtain the public liability insurance which takes 4 to 6 days according to the respondents.



Occupancy Permit



Public Liability Insurance



C. REQUIREMENTS OBTAINED FROM OTHER INSTITUTIONS

Barangay Clearance



TCT or Lease of Contract of Site




39

Figure 20: Requirements that are difficult to obtain for New

Businesses

10

3

39

3

27

5

8

1

1

2

1

5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

none

Social Security System (SSS) Clearance

Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Registration

Requirements that are specific to the industry



City Health Office Clearance

Occupancy Permit

Building Permit

TCT or Lease of Contract of Site

Locational Clearance

DTI Registration

Figure 20 shows the requirements for new business permits which the respondents found difficult to obtain. Some of the requirements included in the list such as the BIR Registration and SSS Clearance were requirements that could be attained after the registration of new business permits. These are not pre-requirements for the business permit per se but are needed for starting out a business. Based on the results of the survey however, 37% of respondents found the BIR Registration as the most difficult requirement to obtain. When asked why they found this requirement particularly difficult, the respondents said that this is because of the tedious payment process, red tape and many requirements needed to obtain it. One-fourth of the respondents or 25.7% on the other hand stated that the fire inspection certificate is the most difficult requirement to obtain. Some of the respondents stated that this was because inspections were not done immediately and that they had a lot of requirements to comply with in order to obtain the fire clearance. 9.5% of respondents on the other hand said that they didn’t experience any difficulties in acquiring requirements.


40

Figure 21: Problems encountered in registering for new

business permits (Percentage)

0.5

3.4

6.4

7.8

30.4

25

21.1

1.5

5.9

6.9

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

None

Proliferation of illegal fixers

Too many signatories required

Signatories are not readily available

Too many requirements from national agencies

Difficulty in obtaining clearances from different

national agencies

Transaction time to process is too long

Forms are difficult to fill up

Forms are not readily available

Steps/procedures are difficult to follow

The most common problems experienced by businessmen in acquiring business permits are too many requirements from national agencies (30.4% of responses), difficulty in obtaining clearances from national agencies (25%) and transaction time to process is too long (21.1%). This means that for most of the respondents, requirements from national agencies were the most difficult to obtain. Quality of Service Provided by the LGUs The service provided by the local government staff were also assessed in this study to find out the impressions of the registrants to the LG staff in the hope to come up with any improvements if there are negative feedbacks. The researchers utilized attitudinal statements in this light with a four-point scale. In the questionnaire, respondents were asked to rate the LGUs’ performance in terms of providing assistance and customer service for the businessmen. In order to determine the perception of businessmen regarding quality of service, the researchers computed for the percentage of respondents who rated the quality of service provided by the LGU as poor, somewhat good, good and excellent. Table 11: Respondent’s ratings on services provided by LGUs during registration

(Percentage)


41

Poor Somewhat

Good Good Excellent Interpretation

LG Staff assist applicants during registration

1% 20% 65% 14% Good

LG staff deal with applicants in a friendly manner

7% 34% 50% 10% Good

LG staff were able to explain requirements and processes well

5% 36% 51% 8% Good

LG staff follow rules and guidelines in processing permits

0% 18% 61% 21% Good

The results show that businessmen have a generally favorable response to the services provided by the LGUs. Table 10 shows that the staff in LGUs performed well in terms of assisting applicants during registration, being friendly in dealing with businessmen, explaining requirements and processes well and following rules and guidelines in processing permits. 3. Cost of Fees and Taxes


42

5

18

82

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Php 20,001 to Php 30,000

Php 10,001 to 20,000

Less than Php 10,000

Figure 22: Cost of Application Fees for New Permits

Majority or 78% of respondents spent less than Php 10,000 in applying for new business permits. Since the cost of fees and taxes are based on business size, the findings reflect the profile of the respondents which are mostly micro businesses.

For new permits, 86% of the respondents said that these application fees were reasonable while 14% stated that the cost of application fees for new permits were unreasonable. Some of those who stated that the fees were unreasonable explained that they think the fees should not be that high for new businesses since they’re just starting out and not yet earning profits. Some also cited tape as a reason for perceiving the fees as unreasonable. When asked if they paid for additional fees, 15% of respondents said that they did. These additional fees were intended for the garbage disposal fee, notary, fire extinguisher, special payments and red tape or informal payments. 4. Other Issues In order to know the satisfaction rating of the respondents, the researchers gave corresponding weights to the answers of respondents. These weights are: Dissatisfied (Weight: 1), Somewhat Satisfied (Weight: 2), Satisfied (Weight: 3), Very Satisfied (Weight: 4). The researchers then computed for the weighted means average to have an idea of how satisfied the new applicants were with the business permit registration process and cost of fees and taxes. Respondents gave the business registration process in Metro Manila an average rating of 2.81 which can be interpreted as somewhat satisfied. In terms of the cost of fees and taxes it is noticeable that the average rating is quite lower at 2.35 and could be interpreted as somewhat satisfied


43

Table 12

Satisfaction Rate of Respondents on Business Registration Process and Cost of Fees

and Taxes

Dissatisfied

Somewhat Satisfied

Satisfied Very Satisfied

WMA Interpretation

BUSINESS REGISTRATION

PROCESS 2 66 156 72 2.81

Somewhat Satisfied

COST OF FEES AND TAXES

7 106 126 8 2.35 Somewhat Satisfied

Table 13

Over-all Performance of the Business Permits and Licensing Systems in the LGU

Poor Somewhat Good

Good Excellent WMA

Over-all performance of the Business permit and Licensing System

0 36 222 52 2.95

In the overall performance of the Business permit and licensing system, the study yielded a somewhat favorable reaction from the respondents with a total weighted mean average equivalent to 2.95, which means that the respondents rated the overall performance of the business permits and licensing system in the LGUs as somewhat good.

V. Conclusions

Renewal Business Permits

1. The results of the survey show that majority of the respondents for renewal permits (44%) were able to acquire business permits in one week or less. Cities such as Muntinlupa, Marikina, Navotas and Caloocan performed well in terms of the length of time it takes for businessmen to acquire renewal permits. For cities that have big


44

populations of business establishments like Manila and Quezon City however, it is interesting to note that most respondents were able to acquire their business permits in one month or more. This indicates that the volume of business permit registrants in a particular area may have an effect on the length of time in acquiring permits. Since the business permits and licensing offices in big cities had to accommodate more businesses in a certain period of time (January) this may cause bottlenecks in their processing time.

2. With regards to the availability of information regarding requirements and process flow, most of the respondents stated that there was enough information regarding the process flow and that the instructions were clear for them. Despite that, they still mentioned difficulty in following steps and procedures as one of the main problems they encountered during registration (See Figure 12). This may indicate that processes and instructions on paper were clear but the implementation of these processes may be difficult for the businessmen to follow.

3. In terms of their knowledge of the city’s citizen’s charter where services provided by the LGU are indicated, most respondents for renewal stated that they weren’t aware of the citizen’s charter in their LGUs. The LGUs therefore need to further disseminate information about this in order to inform renewal registrants about the services they offer.

4. The top three requirements which the respondents for renewal permits found difficult to obtain were the Fire Inspection Certificate, BIR registration and filing of Income Tax Returns and Sanitary Permit. The reasons for the difficulties according to the respondents were the many documents and other requirements they had to comply with in order to acquire clearances. Some of the respondents also said that inspections were not done immediately which have caused delays in acquiring the clearances they need.

5. Based on these findings, it is noticeable that the most difficult requirements to obtain for renewal permits are from national agencies (e.g. Fire Inspection Certificate and BIR). These may indicate that the problems and bottlenecks in the registration may lie not on the registration processes of LGUs per se, but on the systems of the national agencies. Based on these findings, there may be a need to further study the processes of obtaining clearances from the different agencies involved.

6. In terms of the cost of fees and taxes, most respondents for renewal believed that the fees they paid for were reasonable. For those who stated that the cost is unreasonable however, they found the fees for renewal permits too expensive for the size of their businesses. Some of the fees and taxes are computed based on the incomes of the businesses and as such varies depending on the size of businesses of the registrants. Some micro and small businesses therefore complain that the fees they paid for are expensive given that their businesses are small and do not earn that much. Further studies should be done to review the costs and bracketing of fees and taxes for applicants of business permits.


45

7. When asked whether they were consulted regarding reforms in the registration process, majority or 59% of respondents stated that they were properly consulted regarding planned reforms in the registration systems. This is a good indication that the LGUs are reaching out to the businessmen and are constantly trying to improve their systems to address registration problems. Despite that however a huge percentage of respondents (41%) still stated that they weren’t consulted regarding reforms. This shows that LGUs might need to implement a better feedback system in order to have a better understanding of the needs of the businessmen.

8. Most of the respondents noticed improvements in the registration system for renewal permits. These improvements are in terms of limiting the number of steps in processing application, limiting the processing time and ensuring fast, efficient and convenient services to the applicants. While majority of the respondents noticed improvements in the system, a large percentage of respondents still weren’t able to feel the effects of these improvements. The LGUs might therefore need to strengthen the implementation of improvements in the system and disseminate more information regarding new services available for registrants.

9. The data shows that most respondents were only somewhat satisfied with the registration process and costs of fees and taxes. The respondents also rated the overall performance of the LGUs as somewhat good. This means that based on the perception of businessmen, there are still rooms for improvement in the LGUs. Most respondents for renewal stated that they would like to see improvements in terms of transaction time and procedures in acquiring renewal permits.

New Business Permits

1. The findings of the survey show that most respondents for new permits were able

to acquire new permits in two weeks to one month. The length of time may be attributed to the number of requirements they had to comply with in order to get a permit to operate. LGUs also check on new establishments more rigorously since they’re new to the area.

2. The top three requirements which the respondents found difficult to obtain were

the BIR registration, Fire Inspection Certificate and Sanitary Permit. Although the BIR registration is accomplished after the business permit, most of the respondents complained about their difficulties in obtaining it. The reasons for the difficulties according to the respondents were the many documents and other requirements they had to comply with in order to acquire these clearances. Some of the respondents also said that inspections (in the case of fire and sanitary


46

permits) were not done immediately which have caused delays in acquiring the clearances they need.

Like in the case of renewal permit registrants, the requirements that are difficult to obtain for new businesses are those coming from the national agencies. Two out of the three requirements which they found difficult to obtain, (fire and sanitary permit) also entails on-site inspection which may account for delays in acquiring clearances especially if inspections were not done immediately.

3. On the problems encountered during business permit registration, respondents

for new permits said that there were too many requirements from national agencies, they had difficulty obtaining clearances from national agencies and that the transaction time to process is too long. Based on the answers of the respondents it could be inferred that the problems and difficulties encountered during registration may be attributed to the national agencies and not necessarily on the LGUs.

4. The responses on the satisfaction in the business permit registration process, indicated that the respondents are somewhat satisfied with the process. This may be because of the improvements such as one-stop-shops being done in some cities to streamline the process for new permits. Another factor which may contribute to the satisfaction of new permit applicants is the fact that they can register anytime during the year and as such may not have to register along with too many other businesses. This is unlike the case for renewal permits, wherein there is only a specific period for renewing businesses and registrants tend to crowd business permits and licensing offices.

5. The cost of application fees however, the respondents for new permits gave a

lower average rating. One explanation for this is that some of the businesses found the cost of fees too expensive given that they’re only starting out and not yet earning profits.

Recommendations There are a number of recommendations which came out of this study.. The recommendations suggested here will require commitment, dedication, and a considerable amount of time, energy, and resources for the LGUs concerned and for higher national agencies to consider in policy formulation and deliberation for eventual implementation.

Improving the Registration Process for Renewal Permits:

1. Since the period for renewal of business permits is done only in a specific period of time, businesses applying for renewal tend to crowd the LGUs in January. This may contribute to long queues and delays in processing. It is highly recommended that a year round registration period for renewal be undertaken. This will spread out the volume of businessmen applying for renewal and may reduce the length of queues in LGUs in January.


47

2. The respondents for renewal applicants also stated that they found some

requirements from national agencies difficult to obtain and lengthy and eats much time. As such a study on the processes in obtaining clearances from national agencies be made and therefore the appropriate streamlining should be made. From this study the problems, bottlenecks and the mechanisms to shorten national government processes and requirements are identified and specific improvements in the systems are recommended.

3. Review existing policies and regulations in both national agencies and local

governments which affect business permit registration. From this review, certain policies which may contribute to delays in business permit registration and cause dissatisfaction among registrants (e.g. high cost of fees and taxes) can be duly amended or replaced.

4. With regards to the awareness of businessmen about the citizen’s charter

and its importance in ensuring that a business friendly business registration is made, LGUs need to disseminate more information about the charter in their websites including all the other forms of media to create awareness about the services provided by the LGU.

5. For businesses with multiple branches across Metro Manila, one of the main

problems they encountered was the different requirements and procedures from each of the LGUs. This has caused some confusion on their part because they had to obtain requirements from a particular LGU which they didn’t need to obtain to apply for a permit in another LGU. The concerned agencies in the business processing and licensing should at this point identify which are the necessary requirements and procedures that are really needed for renewing permits.

Improving the Registration Process for New Applicants

1. In terms of the cost of application fees we recommend to conduct a study on the costs paid by applicants in registering for new permits. Some of the respondents surveyed expressed dissatisfaction in terms of cost of fees because they were only starting out and as such do not earn profits yet. The recommended study could take a look at the costs of requirements and assess which ones are the most burdensome for new businesses. Based on the study, recommendations can also be made as to which fees could be possibly waived for new businesses in order to encourage them to register for business permits.

2. With regards to the availability of online application forms, the researchers

suggest for LGUs to disseminate more information that the application forms for business permits can be downloaded through the LGU website. Most respondents for new permits didn’t know that online application forms were


48

available and went directly to the LGUs to get application forms. The LGU should take a proactive step in ensuring that a continuous and sustained information dissemination campaign on the business registration application process is provided to the appropriate stakeholders, particularly the business community.

3. Some of the respondents who stated that fees were unreasonable said that

this was because they don’t see where their money goes in terms of services provided by the LGU and other agencies they had to pay in order to acquire business permits. They don’t feel the benefits or the returns to their businesses of all the fees they paid for and as such found it unreasonable. In this light we recommend for the LGUs to make businessmen aware of why they had to pay certain requirements and what services and benefits they can expect from the fees they paid for.

Others:

1. The transition from manual to computerized processing cannot be done overnight. It requires hardware and software acquisition investments; the cost implications however are relatively small compared to the potential achievable gains6, personnel training and sufficient material time to install all these inputs to a functional state. As such, it may make a lot of sense for many LGUs to implement the proposed features of the improved process in stages. Similarly, the effective and wide campaigning of automated business registration should be done aggressively to all the stakeholders.

2. In order to have a more scientific approach in terms of the length of time to

acquire renewal and new permits, the School recommends that LGUs should continue to improve business registration process through a yearly performance evaluation of the reforms adopted and how these have improved the delivery of services of the LGU service providers. Though previous studies have already been done to map out the procedures, these may be outdated already as LGUs strive to streamline their registration processes. Researchers can also track the improvements implemented by the LGUs through the years and from there describe how these improvements have significantly increased business establishments registering in their areas. A step is to ensure that the business sector is consulted through regular dialogues as provided for by the Local Government Code.

This perception survey establishes the baseline of the performance of the LGUs in terms of securing a business permit and the factors that contribute to the ease of getting a business to legitimately operate in a particular LGU.


49

A framework for a more scientific process to measure the competitiveness of the business process and licensing system is proposed using a Scheme for Performance Measurement System at Local Government Units in the Metropolitan Manila Such a measurement system would ultimately harmonize organizational strategies and

operations. This section has proposed a scheme for a performance indicator system that can be used as a basis for establishing a practical system for measuring performance of local government units .. This system is recommended to be applied in the validation phase to one municipality and analyze the results if will show a promising directions for the use of such a scheme. Figure 24 shows the Over-all Framework for the Performance Measurement System.


50


51

The architecture of the intended performance measurement system should reflect the basic characteristics and needs of local municipalities and BPLOs. Municipal sectors especially the BPLOs should be exposed to quality concepts and customer satisfaction factors, and therefore, a measurement system, besides its basic function, should be used as tool to foster the understanding of service quality in terms of business registration process and quality management. Such a requirement calls for a comprehensive and fair system for performance assessment, and yet computationally direct and simple so that people can use it to add value. For example, the system should link organizational goals with operational objectives, provide the ability to reflect the

differences among localities, integrate the interests of all beneficiaries of the municipal

system, and should be easily adopted to. As such, the main components of the system is proposed with the following information groups:

1. Performance drivers group 2. Performance indicators group 3. Performance computation rules group

Performance drivers represent the factors that impact performance and reflect the particularities and characteristics of each municipality and community. These might include such factors as population size, types of provided services, size of business based on assets, geographical area, type and count of businesses, availability of natural resources, and availability of infrastructures.

Performance indicators group should bring together a balance of such factors that

harmonize the interests of all beneficiaries of a locality especially businessmen

including citizens (e.g., service quality indicators), employees (e.g., employee satisfaction), the organization itself (e.g., financial sustainability), and regulatory issues (e.g., compliance with local and regulations). Such indicators should reflect facts and figures, avoiding the reliance on judgmental data or opinions. Finally, performance computation rules should allow direct and easy-to-understand ratios and formulae for quantifying performance and reflecting the effects of performance drivers. Performance computation rules should enable the use of weights within each performance indicators category and among these categories. Based on the above measurement system framework, this section presents a set of proposed basic performance indicators to generate overall performance indicators of local government units.

a. Performance Indicators

Four major groups of basic municipal performance indicators are addressed here to reflect the interest of all beneficiaries of municipality system, namely, the citizen, the employee, the locality and BPLO itself, and the government that is overseeing the overall performance of localities. All these proposed indicators have been compiled based on the findings derived from the study.


52

a.1 Citizens’ Indicators (Quality)

These measure important aspects of performance which are relevant to the quality of provided services as perceived by service recipients, the external customer or the citizen. These indicators are given in Table 14.

Table 14 Citizens’ Indicators

# Indicators

1 Number of Complaints

2 Speed of Addressing applicant’s complaints (days)

3 Percentage of Applicants receiving clear information about steps and procedures in applying for business permits

4 Percentage of pesos spent on quality initiatives relative to overall spending

5 Number of Days Spent on Processing Clearances and Requirements from LGUs and national agencies

6 Waiting Time to release the business permit (days)

7 Waiting Time on entertaining each applicant by the LGUs and national agencies

a.2 Employee Indicators

The researchers assume the need for measuring and evaluating the performance of employees in a regular basis. The Findings obtained from the study regarding the quality of services provided by LGUs and BPLOs requires further improvement. In this light, the employee indicators measure important aspects of internal administration that impact the satisfaction of the internal customer, the employee who delivers services to external customers. Table 15 gives a proposed set of these indicators. As can be seen from the definition of these indicators, one would need to quantify some indicators using a rating system, for example, one might use a (0-10) scale system for assessing the completeness of descriptions.

Table 15 Employees’ Indicators

# Indicators

1 # of annual employee complaints

2 Ratio of employees promoted / number of employees

3 Completeness of job descriptions

4 Degree of assigned responsibilities and authorities

5 Presence of employee performance indicators

6 Employee turnover (no. of layoffs or employee replacements per year)

7 Percentage of employee-based decision making to total number of


53

municipal council decisions

8 Average employee salary

9 Percentage of employee-based decision making to total number of municipal council decisions

a.3 Financial Indicators These measure an internal important function that is directly influencing financial stability

of a local government unit and ability to meet its commitments. Table 16 gives a

proposed set of these indicators. Table 16 Financial Indicators

# Indicators

1 Ratio of revenues to expenditures

2 Ratio of salaries to total overheads

3 Ratio of quality costs to total expenditures

4 Ratio of planned revenues to actual revenues

5 Ratio of planned expenditures to actual expenditures

6 Monthly cash flow smoothness

b. Computational Rules

Computational rules basically determine how performance indicators will be computed using raw process data and how the overall indicators will be computed using basic indicators data. These rules deal with, for example, situations where a service is not provided by a given local government unit, or when a given service in a particular area is more important than the same service in a different area. These rules identify the relative weights of the indicator groups in determining the overall indicator at given local government unit.

business registration process quality and management survey

Documents