Starting in 2023, the city government here will adopt the new electronic Business Process Licensing System (eBPLS) to make business transactions faster, more convenient, and more transparent.   Iloilo City Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion Officer Velma Jane Lao, in an interview on Wednesday, said digital transactions were requested by clients for better accessibility without commuting and face-to-face interaction, and for more transparent and efficient dealings.   “We will have an end-to-end business process licensing, which means it will be done online from application up to the payment and release (of permit),” she said.   Lao said now, only

Authorities led by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) intercepted shipments of contraband and narcotics worth over PHP7 million in recent separate operations in Davao and Pampanga.   In a statement Wednesday, the bureau reported the apprehension of two suspects who yielded 4,250 reams of smuggled cigarettes and a Hyundai Porter Freezer van with a combined value of PHP3 million on Oct. 31.   The items were seized at a checkpoint manned by the local police and the Philippine Army – Task Force Davao at Sirawan, Toril, Davao City.   BOC Davao District Collector lawyer Erastus Sandino Austria issued a warrant

Households in Ilocos Norte can expect lower electricity bills this month, after power rates dropped more than PHP2 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in November.   In a statement, the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC) said the overall electricity rate in the province dropped by PHP2.3860 per kilowatt to PHP15.5106 in November from PHP17.8966 in October following a collaboration between the cooperative and the provincial government to lower electricity rates here.   “For a household consuming 100 kWh for example, the reduction is equivalent to a decrease of more than PHP200 in their total electricity bill,” INEC spokesperson Noel Andres said on