City Hall issues warning to delinquent taxpayers

CEBU, Philippines – While the Cebu City government will give awards to the top taxpayers tonight, it also issued a stern warning to the delinquent ones to pay their taxes on time or their properties will be sold through an auction.

Acting city treasurer Renee Empaces said the law allows the local government units to sell the properties whose owners are not paying their taxes.

She cited that there are hundreds of delinquent taxpayers in the city who just ignored the demands for them to settle their tax obligations, with some of them already have unpaid tax obligations that cost to millions of pesos.

Tonight, Mayor Tomas Osmeña is expected to deliver a speech before the representatives of the 48 companies that were invited to attend the awarding ceremony to be held at the Marco Polo Hotel.

Empaces, who is also the concurrent regional director of the Bureau of Local Government-Finance (BLGF) for Central Visayas, said the recipients of the awards are the highest paying taxpayers who have greatly contributed to the “tremendous economic growth and development of Cebu City.”

The city is expected to spend about P640,000 for the venue, food, production staffs, entertainers, hosts and for the technical requirements that will be used during the three to four hour event tonight.

Among the top paying taxpayers are the Visayan Electric Company that have paid P40.4 million of taxes to the city last year; Cebu Private Power Corporation, P13.1 million; Vicsal Development Corporation, P12.4 million and Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, P9.7 million.

Empaces, however, failed to provide The FREEMAN the lists of the delinquent taxpayers, who include some prominent persons and establishments in the city.

While the law allowed the local government units to sell the properties of the delinquent taxpayers, they still have the chance to redeem their properties by paying the amount of purchase, and two percent of interest, provided that complete payment is made within the one-year redemption period.

The Citi-Center commercial complex in barangay Kamagayan is one of the prominent properties that was already forfeited in favor of the city government after its owners failed to settle their unpaid tax obligation of more than P10 million.

Empaces said the list of properties that will be subjected to auction by the city, consisting of real properties, meaning buildings, lands and machineries, are to be published in the newspapers soon.

“Samtang atong pasidunggan kadtong mga maayong mobayad og buhis, ipatuman usab nato ang balaud batok sa mga gahi kaayo mobayad sa ilang obligasyon,” Empaces said. — Rene U. Borromeo/WAB (THE FREEMAN)