U-Belt schools pay P150 million back taxes

MANILA, Philippines — Three schools that have been engaged in legal battles with the city government of Manila yesterday paid back taxes to avail themselves of Mayor Isko Moreno’s tax amnesty program.

Representatives of Far Eastern University (FEU), University of the East (UE) and Mapua University went to see Moreno to settle their tax deficiencies. The Lyceum of the Philippines University and at least three more schools are poised to follow suit.

FEU paid an initial amount of P22 million of its P212-million back taxes. UE shelled out P196.11 million while Mapua made a partial payment of P31,546,233.95 out of their P71.6 million tax liability.

Paul Vega, city licensing division chief, said in two weeks, the city government “collected P150 million from the schools” to cover back taxes from 2009 to 2018.

Asked why the schools failed to settle their tax deficiencies, Vega said “the schools initially argued that educational institutions were exempt from paying taxes.”

Vega added that cases were filed against the city government, resulting to prolonged legal battles.

“The tax amnesty program of Mayor Moreno became an attractive incentive to the schools, that is why they grabbed the opportunity. We also believe that their trust and confidence in the mayor’s administration has something to do with it,” Vega said.