SBMA establishes EODB lane for ID processing for SBF locators

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has recently established the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) lane, a special lane dedicated to the batch processing of identification cards for employees and workers here.

SBMA Senior Deputy Administrator for Business and Investment Renato Lee III, who recently inspected the agency’s frontline services on May 30 with the SBMA Anti-Red Tape Unit members, also visited the SBMA-Office Services Department (OSD)’s Pass Issuance and Control Division (PICD).

 

To facilitate the efficient processing of SBMA IDs for companies with many employees, the PICD institutionalized batch processing through non-appearance processing for 20 or more applicants or off-site processing for 100 or more applicants.

 

“It only takes 24 minutes per application for both non-appearance processing and off-site processing. Last year, the OSD-PICD was able to process 5,273 applications from various SBF companies through off-site ID processing, and 2,948 applications as of May 2025,” Lee said.

 

“While processing individual applications at the OSD is generally straightforward, the overall processing and waiting tend to increase when applicants come in groups,” he added.

 

In addition to the OSD-PICD, Lee also inspected the Motor Vehicle Registration Office, the Telecommunications Department, the Ecology Department, the Building Permit Department, the Visa Processing Office, the Business Group’s Logistics Department, the Manufacturing and Maritime Department, the Leisure Department, and the Tourism Department.

 

The Anti-Red Tape Unit inspection was accompanied by stakeholders, including the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce (SBFCC). It also coincided with EODB month as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared May as the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Month.

 

This year’s theme is “From Red Tape to Red Carpet: Better Business Movement in a Bagong Pilipinas” which promotes the government’s collective efforts in fostering a more conducive business environment that benefits every Filipino in the Bagong Pilipinas. (MPD-SBMA) 

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Gov't enhances services; launches 'super apps' in Subic Freeport

As part of the ongoing efforts to enhance government services and improve the quality and turnaround time of official stakeholder transactions, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) launched the e-Gov and the e-LGU mobile applications at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center (SBECC), Subic Bay Freeport on Tuesday, September 3.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose L. Aliño welcomed this game-changing initiative led by DICT Region 3 Director Antonio Edward Padre.

Aliño also lauded this undertaking as this will enhance government services and improve industry processes and transactions.

"The e-Gov 'super app' houses all government institutions in a single site, which will enable stakeholders to avail of government services faster and with less stress, less expenses, and less man hours. Lining up in queues will be reduced and hours spent for travel time may instead be utilized productively for other activities," he said in the speech read on his behalf by SBMA Management Information Systems Office manager Engr. Vergil Joseph Lansangan.

"Ultimately, this project hopes to eliminate corruption and red tape in government transactions since the platform will keep track of them and leave a clear audit record," he added.

Government Digital Transformation Bureau Director June Vincent Manuel Gaudan disclosed that this mobile app allows inclusivity and empowerment across the nation; no individual is left behind. Stakeholders will now have easy access to various government online services and information since all sites are being housed in a single mobile application, which covers all local and national levels of public agencies.

Gaudan added that the launching held in this premier Freeport is significant for the e-Gov app, citing that the Green Lanes of the app provides "Ease of Doing Business" for foreign companies looking into investing in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

He added that this is in line with Executive Order 18 or the Constituting Green Lanes for Strategic Investments policy, which is a government-wide response to enhance Ease of Doing Business by mandating the creation of Green Lane units in all government offices that will expedite, streamline and automate government processes for Strategic Investments.

"There are many processes and transactions that happens in Subic Bay Freeport that needs to be digitized for a more efficient way of conducting business here since the e-Gov integrates the multi-sectoral government services in a single platform, covering a wide range of local government services such as business permit licensing, community tax, local civil registry and many others," he said.

The launching on Tuesday was participated in by DICT officials, Zambales Governor's Office, Olongapo Mayor Rolen Paulino Jr., SBMA officials namely MIS manager Engr. Vergil Joseph Lansangan and Telecoms OIC Engr. Eddie Ventura, and National Government Portal Project Director Joshua Vazir Querol.

Secretary Ivan John Uy, USec David Almirol Jr., ASec. Maria Teresa Camba, Congressman Jefferson Khonghun' Chief of Staff Jan Joshua Khonghun, representative of Congresswoman Doris Maniquiz, Municipal Local Government Operations Officer Stephany Panaligan, ARTA Chief Admin Officer Mary Grace Manabat, USec. Mark Cristeo Gimenez, DTI R3 Director Edna Dizon, PSA Zambales Chief Statistics Specialist Norman Bundalian, FCSupt. Renato Capuz of BFP R3, and Police Regional Office 3 (PRO3) PB Gen. Jose Hidalgo Jr.'s representative expressed their support for the e-Gov system.

Meanwhile, DICT Zambales Director Jeffrey Lazaro presented future plans that will affect the digitization of government services in Zambales.

The e-LGU system creates a single operating system for all government transactions to ensure ease of doing business, as part of the digital transformation of government towards more efficient, faster service delivery, and transparency across all localities in the country.

As mandated by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the e-LGU is among the vital components of the DICT's e-Gov PH Super App.

Anchored on the Administration’s whole-of-government agenda, the e-LGU nationwide caravan is a joint project of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the DICT. (MPD-SBMA)

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For transparency: SBMA to conduct projects bidding online

As the Internet, and even social media, take on greater role in the delivery of government services during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) announced that it will henceforth conduct public bidding for big-ticket projects online.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said on Friday that the agency’s various Bids and Awards Committees (BAC’s) had decided that all future bidding processes will be conducted via online platforms and will be broadcast live through social media.

“Going online ensures transparency, efficiency, and safety,” Eisma stressed.

“The bidding process becomes faster, more transparent and credible, and at the same time it keeps participants secure from the Covid-19 virus,” she added.

For this purpose, the SBMA had recently created the Facebook page “SBMA Procurement Service”, which will be managed by the various BAC’s, Eisma said.

According to Atty. Michael Quintos, SBMA Deputy Administrator for Legal Affairs, the move to conduct bidding online is in accordance with Administrative Order 34, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte just last week, on  October 23.

While the AO requires all government offices to conduct online bidding of big infrastructure projects, the SBMA went one step further and decided to use social media platforms to go live during biddings for public viewing, Quintos said.

He also pointed out that in pre-pandemic times, and for projects worth P50 million and above, the SBMA Bids and Awards Committee already opened bids in the presence of observers from the Commission on Audit and disinterested non-government organizations to ensure transparency.

Eisma also noted that even before AO 34, the SBMA was already posting pre-bid announcements on the SBMA website and other online platforms on top of the required publication in newspapers of the invitation to bid.

“But putting the actual proceedings available for public viewing via social media would be one huge stride in SBMA’s efforts toward greater transparency. This will further strengthen the system,” Eisma added.

The SBMA chief also said that as the Covid-19 pandemic pushed practically the whole world to utilize Internet applications for business, the SBMA has been stepping up its adoption of new systems that would address new requirements and changing protocols.

She also noted that the agency has already established an online system of processing transactions with locators, suppliers, and other business entities a couple of years ago.

Among the online transactions that the SBMA has established are services provided for port users, electronic billing and payment, filing for regulatory requirements, and lately online job application and medical consultations. (MPD-SBMA)

PHOTO:

Facebook page of SBMA Procurement Service

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