DTI business name registration is a failure
Launching our little business last month has been an eye-opening experience. It has broadened my mind about the dynamics of being an entrepreneur in this country. I am bound to agree with the observations of some people (including foreigners) that the environment for doing business in the Philippines is poor and discouraging. But first of all, President Arroyo should crack the whip on agencies who are “good on paper” but are actually NO GOOD in what they do.
For example, how does DTI Secretary Peter Favila and his staff explain the more than one month wait in the approval of business names? I am asking this because the DTI even goes to the extremes of spending millions for advertising their Business Name Registration Service (DTI BNRS is supposedly a frontline service for the registry of sole proprietorships). The last time, I saw their half-page ads in the Inquirer.
More than one month of waiting for government approval of a business name is just inexcusable. It certainly doesn’t speak of the prompt delivery of service and efficiency of the DTI. My fellow applicants and I have been in touch through cellphone and they told me that they haven’t received their certificates from DTI as well. We applied on the second week of May. DTI BNRS promised to process our applications in two weeks, and they were supposed to mail our papers to us.
Saizen, 85-peso shop in Robinsons Galleria: the house of cute
Truth to tell, during my first (and only) visit to Tokyo in ‘05, budget constraints forced me to visit the 100-yen stores as my only option for buying ‘pasalubong.’ They were huge, housed in three to four-storey buildings with all kinds of stuff available.
Fast forward to 2009, one need not fly as far because the real 100-yen (hyaku-en) shop named Saizen opened its first branch at the Robinsons Galleria last April 29. Everything at 85 pesos each! I have to admit: the extent of their offerings makes Japan Home Center a poor cousin. Must-buys here, in my opinion: beauty aids, home organizers and kitchen tools, including bento accessories that I’ve been looking for. And of course, things related to Japan!
I just wish Saizen would go forth and multiply soon, and not limit its store to faraway Ortigas.
The budget traveller’s guide to Batanes : food, hotels and such…
Like most remote islands in the Philippines, it is hard to fly to Batanes on a budget. The Sweetheart paid $450 $425 for each of us on three-day, two night package tour arranged by a travel agency. Of course you know what happened after that – our three days became nine days which posed a challenge to our budget, considering that no credit cards were accepted and there were only government ATMs on the island.
I figure that what makes travelling to Batanes expensive is the airfare, which stands at something like $250 to $300 for a return trip. The route is not competitive at all (meaning no other airlines fly here) and I don’t know about Asian Spirit’s role in dictating the prices. Maybe it is not lucrative for them at all. It would have been cheaper if you can SAIL to Batanes, even if takes forever. There is a ship departing the island, but it only goes as far as Currimao, Ilocos Norte. We heard merchant vessels are going to ply the northernmost route from Manila soon. Don’t know how reliable this will be, given the island’s weather temperament. Let’s just wait and see.
My opinion is that Batanes shouldn’t be ‘unreachable’ at all to the ordinary traveler, especially Filipinos who dream of going there at least once in their lifetime. Paying $300 for airfare to see a beautiful, albeit, isolated part of the Philippines is an anachronism in this age of budget air travel when flying to Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, Taiwan, Bangkok and Vietnam can cost you a little less than $200, taxes included. Surely, there is a way to travel by cheap to Batanes? Here are my notes and recommendations:
Blogging since 2004 and recently married to Mr Z. I can't live without coffee....and brown sugar.
