Sagada investment code open to partnerships amidst issues of non-Sagadan business in town

HAPPY WEEKEND

By Gina Dizon

SAGADA MOUNTAIN PROVINCE – With the renewal of business permits this year, four business establishments were questioned of their “non-Sagada ancestry” while operating business in town by the Sagada Inns and Homestays Association (SIHA) claiming these businesses are in violation of the local investment and incentives code.

A meeting two weeks ago from the office of the municipal mayor James Pooten together with other local officials and municipal staff with SIHA decided to give business permits to Cable Café and Coffee Heritage while Sagada Epic and Tours and Sagada Brew remain pending following a meeting to be done today February 8 this year

               Cable Café based at Ambasing, Sagada is managed by Ambasing resident and native of Sagada, Aiza Apil. Apil in a separate interview and also during said meeting forwarded that her establishment is registered as Cable Café-Sagada further saying that Cable Café- Bontoc is not Cable Cafe-Sagada. Cable Café is popularly associated as owned by the Cues in Bontoc.

Cable Café-Sagada operated late last year and eventually given a business permit for 2019.

For Bangaan-based Coffee Heritage, SIHA noted that Jun Depidep from Bangaan is a “dummy” to a certain Watanabe a Japanese citizen who reportedly manages Coffee Heritage.  

                In a separate interview and in said meeting, Depidep, a native of Bangaan, Sagada said he is not a ‘dummy’ as he manages Coffee Heritage. Depidep said Watanabe goes to have coffee in the coffee-resto shop further saying that Watanabe encourages farmers in northern Sagada to plant coffee. 

With the non-pursuance on the issue of non-Sagada ancestry and Depidep of allegedly being a “dummy”, Sagada Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) officer Mary Baldo told Depidep to have one BIR permit in his name as his business permit is named in another person whom Depidep said is his business partner in Baguio. Depidep was eventually issued a business permit for 2019 in the management of Coffee Heritage.

Two other business establishments remain not given their business permits- Epic Travel and Tours and Sagada Brew- as of presstime though allowed to operate.

Epic Travel and Tours is owned by Andrew Chinalpan from Bontoc and wife Binggirl Clemente from Manila. They bought a two-hectare lot in 2013 in Sagada,built their house on said lot and had been residing since then operating a beer brewery and resto-café for four years till now.

Cottages were eventually built three years ago and accommodate tourists on lodging arrangements.  While their (Chinalpan and Clemente) being non-Sagadans were questioned aside from environmental issues as SIHA claims, they were allowed to operate till February 8 to present their proposal and for the local government to “reconsider” this.

               Sagada Brew on the other hand was entered into by Manila resident Aurea Claravall who came to Sagada as a tourist in 2012. Claravall met Mary Tumapang, a native and resident of Dagdag, Sagada and entered into a joint business venture agreement with Tumapang which is the operation of Sagada Brew.

Following the contract with Tumapang, Sagada Brew was registered in  Tumapang's  name as a business entity operating in the municipality from 2014 to 2017 and eventually in Claravall’s name having been issued a business permit in 2018. Claravall’s 2019 registration was however denied following SIHA’s letter that reached the mayor and which ignited a community petition favoring Claravall’s continued operations of Sagada Brew on grounds of a contract entered by her with Tumapang and her accepted presence in the community..     

Sagada Brew is a thriving and popular restaurant business establishment being one among the highest paying business taxpayers amongst Sagada based enterprises.

The municipal Local Investment Incentives Code was first legislated in 2012 and revised in 2016 encourages investments or joint ventures, tie up in projects aimed to develop high end industries in the municipality.

                At the same time, the code provides exclusivity to “local residents with Sagada ancestry” in pursuance to RA 8731 otherwise known as the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1987 in particular Section 17 which states that the indigenous cultural communities shall “have the right to determine and decide their own priorities for development affecting their lives, beliefs, institutions, spiritual well-being, and the lands they own, occupy or use.”

Said clause in the investment code provides, ”to maintain and preserve the customary and traditional practices of the municipality, protect the identity of Sagada and to avoid the situation wherein the indigenous people of Sagada are divested and displaced from their basic sources of livelihood, the following areas of investments shall be exclusively reserved to local residents with Sagada Ancestry:

a.     All tourist related businesses and activities, such as the operation of hotels, inns, home stays, massage parlors, souvenir shops, restaurants and other food outlets, nature’.

b.     Agri-business investments such as projects and programs engaged in the production of rice, vegetables and fish farming, livestock and fruit farms within the locality;

c.     Production and manufacture of furniture, souvenir items, crafts, woven products, paintings;

d.     Sale of agricultural and fish products in their original state that are produced within the municipality of Sagada; and

e.     Services such as Media/Advertising, Medical Services/Facilities, Information Technology; Financial Services, Engineering/Architectural Services, Development of Indigenous Power Sources.

              As it is, the code is silent on degrees and extent of what “Sagada ancestry” covers.

             The investment code at the same time provides for the “development of markets for Sagada products, attain a high level of employment and production, hasten the economic development, and assure that the benefits of development accrue to the people of Sagada within the principles and tenets of customary practices of the people of Sagada. It also welcomes investors to establish enterprises that will utilize local materials/resources available in the municipality.”

The code provides further, “It is the declared policy of this Municipality to actively encourage the participation of the private sector in the promotion of economic growth, prosperity, and local economic development in the Municipality.  It shall create an environment conducive to business that shall encourage and attract new investors and promote retention and expansion of existing businesses. It shall enjoin the participation of all stakeholders to support endeavors to accelerate economic progress, generate employment opportunities, increase local revenues and income, reduce poverty, and improve the over-all quality of life for the people in the Municipality.”

The sustainable use of resources is emphasized in the harnessing of renewable power, adequate water resources, free of urban congestion and pollution.

Areas open for investment to all and any interested investor interested on large types of industries that utilizes the wind, biogas or hydro resources such as wind mills, hydroelectric plants; air transportation business and its required facilities, telecommunications businesses; training and sports facilities; human resource development; and large types of processing centers requiring capitalization of more than 25 million pesos to include meat, vegetable and other food processing.

Amidst questions of Filipino citizen’s constitutional rights to trade on principles of equality and reciprocity, this  tourist town’s investment incentives code remains to be challenged on opening up to partnerships while protecting local ownership to businesses established in town.