QUEZON City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Friday said that business permit applications in the city will now be more gender-inclusive following an enhancement to the QC Biz Easy platform, which allows applicants to select a nonbinary gender option.
With the enhanced business platform, Belmonte said the update removes options that do not accurately reflect the identity of business owners who do not identify strictly as male or female.
She said that the enhancement would help ensure that more residents can accurately represent themselves when transacting with the city government while enabling the system to gather more data, which can support programs and services better geared for the business sector.
Inclusive governance means ensuring that every resident can access government services with dignity, respect, and equal opportunity, she stressed.
“The true measure of innovation is not how advanced a system becomes, but how many people it empowers. By making our business permit process more inclusive, we are ensuring that more entrepreneurs can participate fully in the city’s economic growth and access government services in a way that recognizes who they are,” the city chief executive pointed out.
It also strengthens the city’s efforts to build government systems that are responsive to the realities and experiences of all QC citizens, according to the mayor.
The Manila Times learned that the enhancement was first announced during the 2025 QC LGBTIQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer) Business Summit, where the city government vowed to revisit its online business permits system and explore better ways to capture information on nonbinary business ownership.
According to the city’s Business Permits and Licensing Department (BPLD), Quezon City may be among the first local government units in the country to introduce a nonbinary option in its business permit application form.
The initiative reflects the city’s broader approach to digital transformation — using technology not only to make transactions faster and more convenient, but also to ensure that public services are more accessible, representative, and responsive, the BPLD said.