FILE PHOTO: DILG Secretary Eduardo Año INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Local government units (LGUs) will soon require safety seal certifications for business permits application and renewal, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Tuesday.
According to Año, the government wants to institutionalize the safety seal certification in the local licensing process. He said concerned national agencies are just finalizing the guidelines before the certification can be adopted as a requirement in applying for business permits.
“Given the autonomy granted to the localities, this year 2022, our local government units will start now because they have the capacity to mandate establishments to be safety seal certified before approval of any business permit or even renewal of a business permit,” he said in his speech at a program recognizing the best performing LGUs in the certification system.
“This move will be for the greater good of everyone, and I encourage our LGUs to take all the necessary precautions and measures to keep your constituents healthy and safe even as we adjust our daily behavior, lifestyle, and routine to live with the virus,” he added.
Año said the requirement for safety seals was recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases-Technical Working Group on Data Analytics and has already been discussed by the task force.
The safety seal certification, which is currently voluntary, affirms that an establishment is compliant with the minimum public health standards set by the government and integrates its contact tracing with StaySafe.ph.
There are different government authorities that issue the safety seal depending on the nature of the business or establishment. The safety seal, given for free, is valid for six months, except for those issued to tourism enterprises that are valid for one year.
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