By RAYMART ESCOPEL
ILOILO City — Businessmen here might change their mind about the proposed real property tax (RPT) increase once they know the city government’s real financial standing.
They asked for a copy of the city government’s financial statement.
Before deciding whether to support or continuously oppose the proposal, they want to know the city’s fiscal standing first, said Joe Marie Agriam, regional governor of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
From there, the businessmen could determine if there is really a need to increase RPT or if they could “find solutions for the city government to maximize acquiring revenue from businessmen,” said Agriam.
An increase in RPT will eventually be a burden to Ilonggo consumers; businessmen here do not want that to happen, the business leader said during yesterday’s public hearing on the proposed RPT hike.
“We want to project Iloilo City as business-friendly, livable, and very competitive,” Agriam said. “We are already gaining from (this) publicity.”
However, Councilor Plaridel Nava believes what the businessmen want is “too much to ask.”
Asking for the city government’s financial statement is like questioning the way the mayor manages the city’s finances, he said.
“Nobody should dictate upon him (the city mayor) on what to do with public funds,” said the chair of the City Council’s committee on ways and means.
Nava said the businessmen should look at not how the city government spends public funds but on how the spending benefits the city.
Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog yesterday presented various projects that could be funded once the proposed RPT hike is approved and implemented.
MAKATI AND PASIG
In yesterday’s hearing, Iloilo Business Club (IBC) executive director Lea Lara said they presented in their position paper a comparison of Makati and Pasig cities.
Both 19 years old, these progressive cities have not increased their base schedule of market values yet, according to Lara.
There were no movements in their RPTs, and their RPT revenue records showed “flat lines,” the IBC official said.
In 2012 when RPT was fully implemented here, RPT revenue composed 42 percent of the local income; in Pasig and Makati, it was only 23 percent and 33 percent, respectively, in the same year, she said.
Pasig has 30,000 business establishments while Iloilo has 11,000, but their expenditures and revenues are almost the same, Lara said.
“At this point, an increase (in RPT) will really affect our cost of doing business,” she said.
Panay News tried to get the comment of big investors in the city, but they refused to speak.
The city government and the businessmen agreed to have a roundtable about the proposed RPT increase./PN
