THE Laoag City government, through the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) task force, has started monitoring business establishments in the city if they have all renewed or secured business permits to operate. City treasurer Elena Asuncion made this announcement during a staff meeting at the City Hall as she said the team has started going around the city to monitor if all business establishments in Laoag have complied with the business permit rules. The deadline for business permit renewal was on January 31, 2007, after the Sangguniang Panlungsod extended the deadline earlier scheduled January 20,2 007 through a resolution to accommodate all business establishment owners in the city. As of February 28, 2007, CTO records show that a total of 3,696 business establishments have renewed their permits out of the 4,458 total establishments in Laoag in 2006. The same records also showed that there are 107 newly registered business establishments in the city. In 2006, there were 145 new business establishments. With these records, Asuncion believes there are still some business establishments which is continuously operating without the proper permit. She added that these establishments could easily be determined since the business permits is mandated to be prominently displayed in their areas of commerce for it not to be considered “colorum”. In view of this, Asuncion has sought the assistance of barangay officials, and even local residents, to help by reporting business establishments that do not display their permits or if their permits had already expired. Asuncion also asked business owners whose businesses have stopped operating to report these to her office for record purposes. Meanwhile, a composite team from the City Assessor’s Office is also set to monitor buildings in the city if they have the necessary building permits. Dominic B. dela Cruz
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