Businessmen on Tuesday mourned the untimely death of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, saying his role in the country's push for a better business environment was very crucial.

 

“He’s one of the most reliable Cabinet members of the present administration and one of the most business-friendly secretaries,” Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman, said in a phone interview.

 

The PCCI is the largest business organization in the country.

 

Ortiz-Luis cited the DILG’s partnership with the Trade Department in the streamlining of Business Process Licensing System in local government units all over the country and said, “He is working really hard to make business environment easier in the country.”

 

In the streamlined licensing system, the number of steps needed to register a business was reduced and was made less tedious. Eventually, the process will be automated.

 

Ortiz-Luis also recalled Robredo’s pro-business attitude as mayor of Naga City. The city was recognized by the PCCI, “more or less three times,” as one of the most business-friendly cities in the country.

 

Robredo was mayor of Naga City for almost two decades before he became part of President Benigno Aquino III’s Cabinet.

 

“Hopefully, his successor would be as reliable and hardworking as he is,” Ortiz-Luis said, adding Robredo’s programs in the department should be continued by his successor. — DVM, GMA News