Orientation On The Philippine Business Data Bank (PBDB)

An Orientation on the Philippine Business Data Bank (PBDB) was held last December 04, 2017 at the Luxent Hotel, Timog Ave., Quezon City.

The activity was conducted by the Bureau of Local Government Development (BLGD). The event intends to provide the LGUs with insights to the PBDB and how can it be utilized as a tool in verifying the legitimacy of a business entity by a single reference document.

The program, after it’s beginning conventional ceremonies and formalities, were preceded by a few opening remarks by the Director of the DILG-BLGD, Ms. Anna Liza Bonagua, CESO III. Ms. Bonagua highlighted that PBDB will be a consolidated database about business entities and establishments that will be shared to the Local Government Units (LGUs) on a national level.

Ms. Bonagua also shared that this is a project of the Department of Finance and the The Department of Information and Communications Technology and developed by The Department of Science and Technology - Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI).

Subsequently, the overview of the Philippine Business Data Bank was conferred by one of the project managers of the DICT, Mr. Stefan A.D. Flores. Mr. Flores explained that the PBDB is a web-based application that allows government agencies or LGUs to readily access data of a particular business.

“The PBDB works by verification searches of Exact Business Names, this will prevent Phishing, Random Searches and other security and performance risks”, Mr. Flores clarified. Mr. Flores also substantiated that with the help of the DOF, this application will be an answer to President Rodrigo "Rody" Roa Duterte’s anti-red tape and ease of doing business mandate. Here are some of the benefits of the PBDB emphasized by Mr. Flores:

• Quick Yellow Pages Type of Application
• LGUs can verify using a single reference
• Cuts down the number of documents an entity need to register a business

Afterwards, Mr. Flores, together with one of the developers of the project from the DOST-ASTI, Ms. Girlie Dimanarig, demonstrated a detailed walkthrough of the PBDB by visiting https://pbdb-staging.apps.gov.ph/. Ms. Girlie highlighted that the PBDB was built within the Philippine Government Common Platform mandate of the DICT. There are three main features of the PBDB:

• User Management (Super User, Administrator, Agency User, Public)
• File Uploads
• Search Facility

Ms. Girlie hastily emphasized that the data to be displayed will only compose of 13 Entities and that it will not affect the SEC’s paid viewing of business entities. The 13 Entities are:

• Business Name
• Regulatory Reference ID / Business Permit Number
• Registration Date
• Expiry Date
• Status
• Address
• City / Municipality
• Zip Code
• Contact Number
• PSIC Reference
• TIN
• Agency / LGU ode (UACS)
• Business Owner

During the discussion, questions were addressed include:

1. Can the public access these information?
2. Is the department considering an offline or downloadable database version for LGUs that have limited, to none, Internet Access?

Mr. Stefan A.D. Flores of the DICT addressed the questions by saying, “Yes the public can access the PBDB web application but will only see a very limited information less than the 13 Entities mentioned. The department, at the time, is bothered by the idea of an offline or downloadable version, since it will be a question on how frequently the information will be updated. It might also pose a risk to whom the data will be entrusted to as it is subject to unauthorized alteration or distribution.”

The project team of the PBDB closed the program by saying that the data inside the repository of the PBDB is only initially provided by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), and the Local Government Unit of Quezon City. Which is why they are asking the support of every government agency, especially the Department of the Interior and Local Government, by providing databases of business entities that will help broaden the PBDB Application System.