For the study on synchronized Business Permit Application cum CLUP data set, the study area was Ormoc City. The study focused on their current process in handling the issuance of Building Permits, and a survey was done in Barangay District 7 located in the Central Business District (CBD). District 7 is a highly commercialized and a completely zoned barangay that consists of one whole block located next to the shopping mall in the urban center of Ormoc City, with 52 business activities that have been issued Business Permits.
In order to compare the handling of Business Permits in a city like Ormoc, with that of a low-income LGU, the same study was also conducted in the Municipality of Laurel, Batangas.

Situation Today in Ormoc City
The issuance of Business Permits is handled by the Licensing and Franchising Office under the Office of the City Mayor and is renewed every year. The majority of permits applied for is from the service sector and in particular, the transportation businesses. There was a sharp increase in the number of permits issued when the deregulation of issuance of tricycle plate numbers was implemented. Before that, the issuance of transport operation was controlled by the Sangguniang Panlungsod. The issuance of Business Permits requires the applicant to secure a Barangay Clearance, Tax Certificate, SSS or Pag-IBIG Clearance, Health Clearance and a Locational Clearance.

The Locational Clearance is issued by the Planning office to ensure that the business activity is in line with the current zoning ordinance.

In 2005, the City issued 3,456 business permits where 2,680 were renewal permits and 776 were new.

The required clearances needed in getting a business permit are only necessary for first time applicants. When a permit holder applies for a renewal, the clearances submitted by previous applications are still valid. In effect, those business activities located in zoned areas that are in conflict with the land use still continue to have valid permits, if these permits were issued before the current zoning was approved.

When a business permit is issued or renewed, the permit gets a new license number. When a new permit is issued, the business holder also gets a license plate number to display in the business facility. This plate shows the license number of the first year when the business applied for a permit. When the permit is renewed, the owner gets a new license number but still keeps the old plate. Proof of renewal is instead displayed with a tax sticker attached to the plate.

The permit records are kept in a computer system developed by the Information Technology Center under the Planning Office. The system is a user friendly system with simple forms for encoding data from the applications. It also assigns permit numbers, computes fees and penalties, among other functions.

The system is based on a network solution with a centrally stored database that keeps the tables containing the data of the Business Permit Records such as taxpayer’s name, business name, address, tax base and fees, license number, date and other data.

Situation Today in Laurel
In the Municipality of Laurel, the issuance of business permits is handled by the Mayor´s Office and is renewed every year. The officer in charge of the issuance of business permits is License Inspector Joe De Sagun. The majority of permits applied for are fish cages and sari-sari stores. In 2005, the number of business permits issued in Laurel was 245, of which 60 was for fish cages.

The records kept on hand are handwritten books and the permit numbers issued start at number 1 for each year.

The records are divided into two separate books with one book specifically used for Fish Cages. It contains information on the number of cages, capacity of the cage and other information. The other book is for other types of business activities which contains information on the business permits based on the logged-in records. These include the Permit Number, Business Name, Address, Nature of Business, Amount Paid, Official Receipt Number, Date Received, Remarks (New or Renewal), Date Released and the signature of the Licensing Officer.

Proposal
The proposal presents a method to gather and to build up a Business GIS for the LGU that can be used for the issuance of Business permits, for the renewal of the CLUP, and for other activities such as the preparation of statistical maps on development in the LGU, and tourist information.

The proposed tables to keep digital records of the Business Permits is a start up level for LGUs without current digital records and let them get started in MS Excel where a table sheet containing the attributes are stored and then linked to a GIS layer holding the surveyed locations of the business establishments.

In the case of Ormoc City and other LGUs with current digital systems, the suggestion is to instead keep the attribute database that is currently being used, and extend it with a link to the GIS.

Attributes
The attributes kept in the Business Permit Record are suggested to be divided into two tables: “Table 1” contains information about the actual permit with regard to ownership and type of business establishment, and “Table 2” contains data about payment of fees and taxes.

In order to utilize GIS for planning and monitoring, it is necessary to have the locations of the businesses stored in a GIS layer that is possible to link to the Business Permit Records.

If the LGU has an updated and accurate address database, GIS Records may be linked to that layer. But in most cases, there is no such data available at this time. The suggestion is to create a specific point feature layer to hold the location of the business facility and the Unique Permit ID to be able to link with the Records. It is also suggested that the GIS layer should contain a link to photos of the business facility.

GIS Table: “Business Permit GIS”

Encode the attribute data in the Excel tables for the current Business Permit Records

Conduct a GPS survey of the business facility to gather the locations of the businesses and to build up GIS data containing the coordinates and the Business Permit ID

Set a date for when to start using the new method. From then on, all new Business Permits issued must be surveyed with a GPS.

When a new Business Permit is to be issued, an inspection is conducted where the inspector brings a handheld GPS. The inspector makes readings form the Business location and takes digital photos of the business activity.

The GPS reading and the digital photo form the business site will be handed over to the planning unit together with the Business Permit ID. The planning staff will then translate the GPS reading into a digital map containing the Permit ID and a link to the photo.

Distribution of Responsibilities The Licensing Officer under the Mayor’s office is the prime user of the Business Permit Records. It is the custodian of these records whether they are kept in an analog or digital format. It is suggested that in case of a shift from an analog record to a record kept in Excel, the custodian should still be the Licensing Officer.

The Planning Unit which has the overall responsibility for spatial data in most LGUs will have the responsibility of building up and keeping the Business Permit spatial layer up to date.

Advantages
The Licensing Office has a geographical view of the distribution of business permits in the municipality/city for easy reference and monitoring. The Business Permit layer can be used with the zoning layer to make a map that will display Business Permits that are in compatible or not compatible with zoning ordinance.

During the initial survey of Business Permits, it was found out that some business activities lacked the permits that could be used for monitoring purposes.

The Business Permit GIS can also be used for other purposes such as the preparation of tourist maps to show the locations of important tourism facilities. It can also be used to analyze and monitor the development of business activities in the LGU. If the data is properly encoded, the system can provide answers to questions such as:

1. Show the distribution of Business Permits in the LGU and the density of Business Permits per Barangay
2. Show the Business Permit Holders that have not paid their fees for 2006
3. Show the Barangays with highest increase of business activities between 2005-2007
4. Show a map of all the Internet Cafes in the municipality / city
5. Show all the hazardous business activities located in an area zoned as residential

The Mayor’s office will have a good picture of the distribution of business activities to be used for monitoring of permits.