MORE NEWS, NUEVA ECIJA

TRO stops N. Ecija bid in collecting P1.2-B from firm over Casecnan power project

SAN JOSE CITY – Tax collection efforts of Nueva Ecija and Pantabangan town suffered a hitch after the Regional Trial Court here issued a 20-day temporary restraining order (TRO) to defer the collection of some P1.2 billion as payment for real property taxes on the giant Casecnan multi-purpose irrigation and power project. The property of CE Casecnan Water and Energy Company Inc. or CE Casecnan (owner of the project) is being re-assessed after local authorities found that the R3.8 billion in real property tax it paid in 2005 was much too small of its actual worth.

RTC Judge Cynthia Martinez Florendo, acting presiding judge of RTC Branch 39, acted on a petition for injunction and damages with application for TRO and preliminary injunction filed by CE Casecnan. Florendo granted the requested TRO, thereby restraining the provincial authorities "from proceeding with the collection of back realty taxes in the amount of R1,279,997,722.70.

The TRO is good for 20 days reckoned from Oct. 3 when the authorities received the court order.

The case stemmed from what plaintiff CE Casecnan alleged as an illegal assessment and collection of back realty taxes on its properties. Present during the hearing were defendants Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali, OIC Provincial Assessor Florante Fajardo, and Provincial Treasurer Edilberto Pancho.

Although the plaintiff presented two witnesses to prove its appeal, Judge Florendo granted a motion for postponement filed by Alejandro R. Abesamis, provincial legal officer and concurrent provincial administrator, for lack of notice to the other "necessary parties."

Abesamis was referring to representatives of the National Irrigation Administration and Department of Finance, who were not notified of the hearing. He said that they are also contemplating filing a motion to dismiss the case on grounds of forum shopping and non-exhaustion of administrative remedies available to the plaintiff.

The hearing was reset on Oct. 13.

Fajardo said the recent re-assessments made by his office was a P1.2-billion assessment on unpaid real property taxes on CE Casecnan, after the discovery of new documents showing its real worth.

Based on a reassessment made on the tax liabilities of the Casecnan dam, which the property comprises 68 percent of land located in Nueva Ecija, Fajardo said his office was able to arrive at a whopping P23 billion in unpaid taxes that accumulated since its inception in 2001.

Court records show that CE Casecnan had filed a worth of only R3.8 billion in its sworn statement it filed together with its payment settlement made in 2005. Of this amount, the municipal government of Pantabangan received a 65 percent share or R832,940,972.81, while the province got 35 percent share or P448,506,677.67.

However, a later review by the assessor’s office of newly discovered documents, upon instructions by Gov. Umali, showed a huge discrepancy in the declared worth of the properties.

The governor earlier said that he found no need for the imposition of new taxes as by merely upgrading the assessment of old taxes on real property and businesses would already be sufficient to cover the budget requirements of the province for its infrastructure and livelihood projects. -- MV