Taguig City opens state-of-the-art office in SM Aura Tower Receives Ombudsman’s Blue Certification Award

The Taguig City government has completed the construction of its extension office located in SM Aura Tower  in Bonfacio Global City (BGC).

 Mayor Lani Cayetano said the extension office, which is now open Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, would make business transactions more accessible and convenient to corporations located in BGC.

 Mayor Lani made this announcement after the city received from the Office of the Ombudsman a Blue Certification Award which indicates that it passed the anti-graft agency’s anti-red tape standards and its system conformed to the ease of doing business standards.

 “We are very proud that we were given this seal of approval by the Ombudsman despite being in office for only three-and-a-half years at the time the audit was conducted,” she pointed out.

 “To add to this achievement, we are very pleased to announce also that our extension office in BGC is now ready to serve our resident business firms in that area,” Mayor Lani said, adding that transactions between local officials and business executives are now made more convenient with the Aura Tower office.

 Mayor Lani said the BGC office has  ample parking for customers. It features state-of-the-art facilities which are fully air-conditioned. It has a modern queuing and paging system for customers. There  is also a  help desk area and a pantry for those who would want to have coffee or water.

 Companies outside BGC, according to the local chief executive, would still be able to do their regular business routines in city hall. “It is still business-as-usual here. We just want to have our constituents and investors to have more options for registrations, renewals, and payments,” she noted.

Passing Anti-Red Tape Standards

 The Blue Certificate issued is part of the Ombudsman’s anti-red tape program which recognizes cities that exert efforts in reducing the burden of red tape in doing business in the Philippines.  This is a rough equivalent to an ISO certification for compliance with prescribed management system standards in the private sector.

The Blue Certification process prescribes certain standards in addressing the problem of red tape in the regulation of business by LGUs and assesses the level of compliance by the LGUs with such standards.

“It is a great honor and blessing that the city has received yet another recognition, especially now that it is from the Office of the Ombudsman,” said Mayor Lani.

“The ease of doing business with the city is very evident, with the city’s continuous effort to improve the transparency and accountability of the transactions, it is not far that we will completely eliminate red tape in all of the transactions,” the local chief executive added.

In 2010, the World Bank ranked Taguig first among cities in Metro Manila in the ease of doing business study.

“Transparency and accountability, coupled with good business policies make Taguig City the successful and competitive financial district it is today,” Mayor Lani said.

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