Properties of wealthy families among those due for auction

CEBU, Philippines - Acting Cebu City treasurer Renee Empaces said that among the properties that the city would auction next month are those owned by prominent and wealthy families, but with huge delinquent tax payment amounting to millions of pesos.

Empaces, however, refused to reveal the names of the property owners until after the list would be passed by the Cebu City Council, which will give the go signal for the holding of a public auction for the properties of the delinquent taxpayers.

“Yes, many of the real properties that we want to sell to the public through auction next month are owned by prominent persons and companies,” said Empaces, who is also the concurrent regional director of the Bureau of Local Government-Finance.

Empaces explained that the city does not want to hold the auction, but its owners continue to ignore the city treasurer’s demand for them to settle their tax obligation for the past few years.

The local government code allows the auction of the properties of the delinquent taxpayers to satisfy their tax obligations to the government, although the owners are still allowed to redeem their properties within one year period from the date of sale.

One Antonio Jureidini had sent a letter to City Hall requesting to hold in abeyance for a period of one month the sale of the properties of his brother, Alex Jureidini, for failure to pay his real property taxes.

Acting city legal officer Rodolfo Golez said Jureidini did not promise to pay the unpaid taxes, but he just want to lay out a reasonable payment scheme with the city treasurer’s office to free the property from any tax liability.

Golez has recommended pushing through the auction of the subject property because the ownership of the property will not be affected even if the scheduled auction sale of the lot will continue.

The law provides that even if the properties of the delinquent taxpayers has already been auctioned, its ownership still remains with its original owner unless if the latter would fail to redeem it after the one year redemption period.

Empaces is expected to submit to the Cebu City Council the list of the properties that she had recommended to be auctioned to the public next month.

The city’s legal office is still conducting investigation into the reports that some properties with huge delinquent tax payment were excluded in the auction probably, because its owners have some connections with city officials.

Empaces, who assumed as the acting city treasurer in the middle of last year, said she wanted to increase revenues of the city and has warned the delinquent taxpayers to quickly settle their unpaid taxes to avoid problems in the future. — Rene U. Borromeo/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)