OBO’s Revenue Up to 67.21%

Cebu City Office of the Building Officials’(OBO) income has gone up for the past six months since it started using its new computerized application system called the OBO Information System (OBO-IS).

In its mid-year accomplishment report, OBO has collected a total of P P23,246,160.48 from January to June in 2013 in its permit processing, an increase of 67.21 percent from its revenue in the same period in 2012.

Prior to the launching of OBO-IS, OBO has a semi-annual (Jan-June) revenue of P13.9 million in 2012, and P13.7 million in 2011. However, its income has started to increase to P22.1 million from July to December 2012 or right after the launching of its innovative system.

OBO assistant chief Archt. Florante Catalan said that the utilization of their new building permit processing system is the reason behind the notable increase of the office’s income. With its fast transaction, more applications were being processed resulting to higher revenue.

The system, conceptualized by OBO with the coordination of the Management Information and Computer Services (MICS), was launched on midyear of 2012 with the aim to provide faster transaction, as well as convenience to the applicants.

Applicants could also inquire about their application through the OBO short messaging system (SMS) such as their application status, fees, and the schedule of the releasing of the building permit.

Also, Catalan presented a graph showing the significant decrease of the days of building permit approval from years 2010-2013. With the use of the OBO-IS and SMS in January to June this year, processing days has decreased to 90 days from 480 days in 2010, 360 days in 2011, 240 days in January to June 2012, and 150 days in June to December 2012 during its first six months of operation. (Gessa Gunhuran, PIO Staff)