4 City Services Moved to SM Cebu

Some divisions of the Cebu City Treasurer’s Office will temporarily hold office at SM City Cebu starting Monday to give way to the construction of the mayor’s office.

The services that will be temporarily transferred are the Business Tax Division, Real Property Tax Division, Cash Receipts Division, and Business Permit and Licensing Office.

Lawyer Jerone Castillo, acting Cebu City treasurer said in an interview Friday, that the office at SM City Cebu, which will be on the 3rd floor, is larger and can accommodate more people.

The city will be renting the space for PHP92,000 monthly.

Castillo said the transfer of the four offices is meant to provide comfort to the clients while renovations of the ground floor of City Hall is ongoing.

Part of the renovation is the Office of the Mayor, which will be located on the ground floor for easier access to the public.

Castillo said the transferred services will stay at SM while waiting for the financial center to be completed.

Early this year, the Business Permit and Licensing Office was also transferred to SM City Cebu to provide a one-stop-shop processing for business permit renewal.

Processing of permits and clearances are among the matters President Rodrigo Duterte wanted to fast-track as part of the law on ease of doing business.

Cebu City Hall promised business owners to process their business permits in one day.

City Administrator Floro Casas said they are willing to forgo the requirements for sanitary and fire permits during the processing day provided they will comply within 60 days.

Failure to comply can be a ground for revocation of the business permit, Floro said. (PNA)