1. What is the legal framework of PBR?

By virtue of Executive Order 587 - Directing DTI to Establish and Administer the PBR Project, which was issued on 08 December 2006, DTI is mandated to coordinate with other stakeholders to establish the PBR system as a tool to facilitate business registration and application in the country.

In support of this mandate, an Inter-Agency Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was also formulated to formalize the commitments of the concerned agencies to participate and cooperate in the efforts toward the establishment of the PBR. Aside from DTI, signatories to the MOA also include the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Social Security System (SSS), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund), the 17 local government units (LGUs) of the National Capital Region (NCR), League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).

2. What are the objectives of the PBR project? What are the benefits that the government and the business sectors can derive from the implementation of PBR?

Essentially, PBR aims to achieve the following objectives:

• To create a national business registry database. At present, various agencies have different processes related to business registration. Each agency runs a system of their own that is independent from all other systems of other agencies. PBR intends to put together common information from various databases of agencies to help streamline registration requirements and processes. On the part of the government, it will help ensure accuracy of data provided by the business entities, as it will facilitate easy verification of data.
  
• To harmonize business registration by assigning a unique Philippine Business Number (PBN) to each registered business entity. PBN will serve as their identification key to contract and avail various good and services. This will help improve the regulatory and promotional functions of the government. 
  
• To facilitate business transactions among government agencies and the business sector by providing a single-window online transaction processing system. Apart from easier business registration, the single-window online transaction processing system is seen to aid business transactions by facilitating paperless transactions and eliminating repetitious submission of the same information to government agencies. This will harmonize business registration systems. Moreover, the ready source of business data will create opportunities for partnering with other businesses locally and globally thereby facilitating commercial transactions for Philippine enterprises. As an end result, the government will reduce processing cost and time as well as generate savings.

   

3. Will DTI update the information in the PBR? Who will be responsible for the published information?  

The individual agencies will be responsible for their respective agency-owned information. Only information updates coming from agency databases will be reflected in the PBR system.

4. In general, how is PBR envisioned to be like?  

At the initial state, PBR will serve as a web-based registry for all business entities (sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, profit and non-profit organizations) registered in the country. It will contain the basic profile of such business entities and will serve as a knowledge management base for various statistical and analytical report-generation requirements.

At the end state, the PBR will be a web-based portal, which will facilitate a seamless transactional environment for business registration and facilitation with all other concerned agencies.

5. What agencies are included in the PBR?

All government agencies involved with business registration-related transactions will form part of the PBR. Initially, the following agencies are identified:

• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the registration of partnerships and corporations;
• Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) bureaus for various business-related systems/databases:
• DTI Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection (BTRCP) for the registration of the Business Name through the Web-Enabled Business Name Registration System (WEBNRS);
• DTI Board of Investments (BOI) for investment project registration, through the BOI Integrated Registration System (IRS);
• DTI Bureau of Export Trade Promotion (BETP) for export-related statistical reports through TRADELINE PHILIPPINES and exporters/buyers database;
• DTI Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development (BSMED) for the monitoring of DTI assistance extended to the country’s Small and Medium Enterprises;
• DTI Bureau of Domestic Trade (BDT) for market matching;
• Intellectual Property Office (IPO) for trade names and patent registration;
• Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for its e-TIN System;
• Social Security System (SSS) for validation of employer-employee information and issuance of employer SSS number;
• Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) for the issuance of employer PhilHealth number;
• Pag-IBIG Fund for mandatory registration of employees;
• Local Government Units (LGUs) for the issuance of business permits;
• Other investment promotion agencies such as the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Cagayan Export Zone Authority (CEZA), etc., for registration of locators and developers within the various IPAs in the country through their own online application systems to be developed in the future;
• Department of Finance (DOF) for its National Single Electronic Window initiative to include the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Bureau of Customs (BOC) and Bureau of Treasury (BTr) among others; and
• Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) for the registration of cooperatives.

6. Is the PBR secured? Will there be provisions for “limited access”?

Security architecture will be embedded in the PBR system. Moreover, it will have a facility to define user access levels for purposes of data confidentiality.

7. Who shall administer the PBR?

Executive Order No. 587 directs the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to establish and administer the PBR project. This shall be done in coordination with all other agencies. Moreover, as the lead agency of the project, it shall manage and monitor the PBR infrastructure. 

8. Since PBR aims to have a single-window online processing system, will it take over the existing business registration-related systems of other agencies? Will DTI take over the regulatory functions of other agencies?

No. The regulatory functions and mandates of government agencies as well as all existing computerized systems will remain with the agencies. DTI will coordinate with all the agencies concerned for the information that will be shared. The PBR system will push and pull information among different agencies and systems.

9. Will DTI update the information in the PBR? Who will be responsible for the published information?

The individual agencies will be responsible for their respective agency-owned information. Only information updates coming from agency databases will be reflected in the PBR system.