Tax notice mandated by law

Greetings from Bagong Makati!

 We write in reaction to the column of Mr. Victor Agustin published in the Dec. 14, 2015 issue of the Philippine STAR, which focused on the Notice of Real Property Tax Delinquency issued by the Office of the City Treasurer of Makati published last Dec. 13, in your paper.

We wish to clarify statements of Mr. Agustin in his column that may mislead readers and give them the wrong impression that the said notice was intended to malign and shame those named on the list. Unfortunately, he appeared to have taken the notice out of context, giving an entirely different interpretation of an otherwise straightforward official issuance.

We would like to point out that the publication of said notice is mandated by the Local Government Code of 1991.

Likewise, Mr. Agustin erred in presuming that Mayor Kid Peña himself had ordered the publication of the notice. Under the law, it is the duty of the Office of the City Treasurer to exhaust all legal and viable means to provide all concerned parties ample chance to settle their obligations with the city government or, if applicable, set the record straight.

The latter may be done through proper coordination with the City Assessor’s Office regarding transfer of ownership of real properties, so that the corresponding Certificates of Transfer can be processed/filed. Once real property owners listed in the notice have taken appropriate steps to update their records with the Assessor’s Office, they will subsequently be delisted.

The local leadership of Bagong Makati deeply values its strong partnership with our stakeholders in the business sector, and we are determined to restore their trust and confidence in the city government through reforms in our systems and processes that promote greater transparency.

We sincerely rely on your good judgment and the lofty ethical standards of the Philippine STAR in recognizing this letter as a valid reaction that deserves to see print in your newspaper, in the interest of truth and fairness. — GILBERT M. DELOS REYES, Officer-in-Charge, ICRD, Makati