(Lazatin in a huddle with city hall workers.)
ANGELES CITY, Pampanga – Opposition Councilor and Angeles City Mayoralty Aspirant Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin, Jr. declared that the city government needs to partner up and work closely with the private sector, in order to further enhance the growth of the business sector in the city.
Lazatin made the statement during the Angeles City’s Mayoral Candidates Forum sponsored by Hotel and Restaurants Association in Pampanga, Inc. (HARP) on November 21 at Oasis Hotel, after he was asked about his plans on how to support and sustain the business sector in the city once he is elected as mayor.
Further, Lazatin added that his first order of business in office will be to clean out the “rotten eggs” in the city government, especially those who use their position to extort businesses in the city.
“Ang magiging administration po natin ay may paninindigan,” Lazatin stressed, “Ang ibig pong sabihin nito, we will clean out the corrupt employees in the city government, regardless of their affiliation.”
Lazatin also said that the application for business permits in the city will be effectively modernized under his administration.
“The present Business- One-Stop-Shop was first implemented during the administration of my father,” Lazatin said, referring to former three-term Angeles City Mayor Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin, “Under our administration, we plan to improve this further by properly implementing the city’s online business application system, starting with proper information dissemination. We are in the age of information technology and we need to take advantage and use it to improve the delivery of public services.”
At present, the Angeles City Government has an online business application system in place called E-BOSS or Electronic Business One- Stop Shop, however, the service has yet to be widely used by businesses in the city.
According to the Business Permit and Licensing Division, in 2017, only 16 businesses applied for their permits through the E-BOSS system.
