Business permit applications in Quezon City are now more gender-inclusive after an enhancement to the QC Biz Easy platform, allowing applicants to select a non-binary gender option.
The enhancement helps ensure that more residents can accurately represent themselves when transacting with the city government, while enabling the city to gather more data that can support programs and services that are better geared to the business sector.
For business owners who do not identify strictly as male or female, the update removes options that do not accurately reflect who they are. It also strengthens the city’s efforts to build government systems that are responsive to the realities and experiences of all QCitizens.
“Inclusive governance means ensuring that every resident can access government services with dignity, respect, and equal opportunity.”
Mayor Joy Belmonte said inclusive governance means ensuring that every resident can access government services with dignity, respect, and equal opportunity.
“The true measure of innovation is not how advanced a system becomes, but how many people it empowers,” Belmonte said.
“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.”
“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 lady mayor added.
The update delivers on the city’s commitment to continuously improve public services through digital innovation and evidence-based governance. By strengthening the quality and inclusiveness of the data it collects, Quezon City can better understand the communities it serves and develop policies and programs that respond to their needs.
The enhancement was first announced during the 2025 QC LGBTIQ+ Business Summit, where the city vowed to revisit its online business permits system and explore ways to better capture information on non-binary business ownership.
Today, that commitment has been translated into a concrete service improvement through QC Biz Easy.
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 non-binary 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.
