MORE NEWS, BENGUET

Buguias folk want nullification of excessive, abusive tax code
By Dexter A. See

BUGUIAS, Benguet – Concerned residents and businessmen in this town recently petitioned the Regional Trial Court of Benguet to declare as null and void its existing revenue code due to its failure to comply with pertinent requirements of the Local government code of the Philippines.

In a 20-page petition, concerned citizens said the municipal government of Buguias had been mercilessly exacting millions of pesos in taxes and other fees using Municipal Ordinance No. 03-98 which never became a law due to its failure to undergo the required public hearing and it was never published in a publication of general circulation.

Section 188 of the Local Government code provides that within ten days after the approval of tax ordinances and revenue measures, certified true copies of all provincial, city and municipal tax ordinances or revenue measures shall be published in full for three consecutive days in a newspaper of local circulation: provided, however, that in provinces, cities and municipalities where there are no newspapers of local circulation, the same may be posted in at least two conspicuous and publicly accessible places.

Section 511 of the Code also provides ordinances with penal sanctions shall be posted at prominent places in the provincial capitol, city, municipal or barangay hall, as the case may be, for a minimum period of three consecutive weeks.

The petitioners argued that the non-conduct of public hearings is more revealing in the absence of official records of the municipal government documenting compliance with the code.

According to them, the discovery of the illegality of the revenue code dates back to December of 2006 when the office of the municipal treasurer of Buguias started imposing on the vendors of the Abatan open gym the payment of P10 per basket or sack per day of their displayed goods allegedly by authority of the tax ordinance in question. The said amount is over and above the cash ticket being collected which ranges from P5 to as much as P300 from every vendor daily and over and above the annual permits and licenses required of every vendor at the start of every business year.

Despite the takeover of the new administration, the petitioners pointed out that the correction of the defective ordinance was never pursued and the municipal government continues to collect taxes using the questionable revenue measure despite the existence of a committee which is looking for ways on how to legitimize the excessive and abusive tax collection.

Worst, the petition divulged illegal practices by the municipal health office whereby it allegedly collects fees without issuing official receipts or issues unofficial receipts to their clients.

The businessmen are praying for the court to nullify the ordinance and order the municipal government to refund the fees collected under the unlawful tax measure.

The petitioners cited that while law and jurisprudence teach that taxes cannot be enjoined, the case is a classic one as the questioned ordinance never came into law and the people to be governed were never accorded due process, thus, the constitutional rights of the citizenry should prevail over the claimed necessities of the municipal government.


Profiling of Benguet veggies starts to hamper imports
By Susan C. Aro

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Profiling of vegetables in the province would start this month to determine volume of vegetables produced as basis in adapting crop production programming that could hamper importation of temperate vegetables.

With a total proposed budget of P4.552 million, Gov. Nestor Fongwan said the provincial government allotted P1.5 million for the project with counterparts from the Department of Agriculture – Cordillera Region, municipalities and barangays.

Provincial*Agriculturist Lolita Bentres in a meeting of the Benguet Vegetable Council held last week said all town mayors responded positively and appreciated the value of having a vegetable profile.

“Consequently, in bestowing their support, they have voluntarily given their counterpart,” she added.

Targeted to be accomplished within end of December, Bentres said the survey will be piloted this month in Madaymen Proper, Kibungan. Survey proper will commence on April in the 13 municipalities.

The crop production programming is aimed to have sufficient supply of vegetables all year round against market demand and to stop smuggling of vegetables.

Fongwan said “We want to inform the government we have enough supply of vegetables.”

He added Department of Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap wanted to be assured of year round availability of produce to sustain the supply being hauled to Metro Manila through the government’s food lane project.

A sub-committee of the BVC was created to look into the quality of highland vegetables. They will do content analysis such as pesticide residue, nutritional and microbial content, shelf life among others as basis in recommending interventions to improve the quality of vegetable produce.

Taking the lead in doing periodic sampling of vegetables will be the Benguet State University with concerned offices.