ANGELES CITY – The recently concluded 40th Philippine Business Conference (PBC) Award of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) did not go without a controversy.
Mayor Edgardo D. Pamintuan said he was “flabbergasted to know that (the city’s) entry to the competition stopped at being just one of the finalists, not because we do not deserve to be one of the winners but because we lost by default, and that was not of our doing.”
The mayor’s complaint was contained in an October 22 letter to PBC Award chairman Atty. Miguel B. Varela. In his letter, Pamintuan said his office received on October 14 a PBC letter dated October 7 informing him that the city government will be advancing to the final judging of the award to be held on October 13 at the Don Emilio Yap Boardroom of the PCCI.
A copy of the one page October 7 letter showed it was signed by Varela and Jose S. Alejandro, chair of the LGU Awards of the PCCI’s PBC Award and was stamped “received” on October 14 at the Office of the City Mayor.
“How can we possibly prepare for a presentation on October 13 when we were informed on October 14 or one day after the event was supposed to be held?” Pamintuan asked. “For the information of the chairman, we prepared good enough for the submission of our entry in your competition.
In fact we even conducted several meetings with the concerned department heads and officials of the city government,” the mayor said. “We aspired to be among the top winners since this is a very prestigious event organized by a very prestigious organization,” he added.
Pamintuan said this city prides itself of being cited by the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) for its eBOSS system or Electronic Business One-Stop Shop for its speedy but strict compliance with the rules and regulations.
The eBOSS is an online business permits and license application system used in the processing and issuance of business permits in the city. The city government website said: “The system has been in place since 2003 and has garnered the city numerous citations from several prestigious award-giving bodies (latest of which is recognition from the Central Luzon Growth Corridor Foundation Inc.), and has been ISO- 9001-2008 certified for its utmost efficiency in facilitating the processing of business permits.”
Meanwhile, the PBC’s “Most Business- Friendly Local Government Unit” of the country in the city level category was awarded to the City of San Fernando which was has only recently been ISO certified and its eBOSS system has been described as “mediocre.”
