Threat to sue Binay on tax case belittled

A Makati City government lawyer refuted the charges of the Manila Golf and Country Club (MGCC) on the supposed irregularities of its tax assessment dispute case against the city government in 1997.

Lawyer Jewel Bulos of the Makati City Attorney’s Office dismissed the claims of the MGCC as malicious and false.

The MGCC, through its lawyer Antero Sison, challenged former Mayor Jejomar Binay and the city treasurer to answer its claims for a refund on the tax payments it made since 1997.

Sison claimed that MGCC paid the taxes in protest as it challenged the rate assessed by the city government.

MGCC was successful in its challenge as the Local Board of Assessment Appeals (LBAA), acting on the petition of the firm, revised the original valuation made by the city government from P18,000 to P5,400 per square meter.

Sison threatened to file a case of estafa against Binay and the city treasurer for its failure to comply with the ruling of the (LBAA) and refund the taxes paid by the MGCC.

Bulos argued that the MGCC should just wait for the decision of the Court of Appeals rather than issue threats to the city government.

Last December, the Makati City government asked the Court of Appeals to nullify the decision of the Regional Trial Court ordering the city assessor to revise the tax assessment on MGCC in accordance with the ruling of the LBAA.

"It would be proper for Manila Golf and Country Club to wait for the Court to rule on the case rather than issue threats and make malicious and false allegations against officials of the city government," Bulos said.

The city government argued in its petition that the LBAA’s decision was questionable because it failed to inform one of the three members of the board about the appeal of the MGCC. – Marvin Sy