Bacolod tax code hit for being ‘oppressive’

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Several business groups and a lawmaker have been seeking to nullify the new real property tax code approved by the city government, saying it was excessive and oppressive.

Bacolod Rep. Evelio Leonardia asked the court to void Ordinance 08-14-700 or the New Real Property Tax Code.

In a complaint filed last Thursday, Leonardia – along with former councilor Elmer Sy and lawyers Joselito Bayatan and Edward Joseph Cuansing – sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the city government, led by Mayor Monico Puentevella.

Aside from Puentevella, the other respondents were the members of the city council led by Vice Mayor Greg Gasataya, city assessor Maphilindo Polvora and treasurer Giovanni Balalilhe.

“The new tax code is excessive, discriminatory, deceptive, unconscionable, vague, and confiscatory,” Leonardia said in a press conference last Friday.

The lawmaker said the new tax code involved billions of pesos in taxpayers’ money and would affect not only the city’s average and low-income residents but also the rich.

Last month, the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations, the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association, the Valley of Peace Memorial Park and the Bacolod Real Estate Development Authority filed separate civil suits seeking to nullify the tax code.

The groups said the ordinance violated the Local Government Code of 1991.

The city council reportedly passed the ordinance in a single session on Nov. 19.

Bayatan said the assessment of real property taxes under the new policy does not follow the concept of fair market value.