BY ROMMEL YNION
WHEN we don’t see what is inside us because we have been blinded by what we see outside us, then it is safe to say that we are facing an identity crisis.
This is what dawned on Ilonggo businessmen last Friday during the consultation between city hall and the business community to tackle real property tax increase effective next year.
Sources said the increase can range from 60 to 113 percent, a move that is seen by analysts as detrimental to the investment climate of the city.
The real property tax increase has been eyed as the solution to the fiscal crisis besetting city hall especially in the wake of the over Php 1.2 billion loaned from Land Bank for its controversial projects, among which are the construction of the city hall and the sanitary landfill at Calajunan dumpsite.
Media has exposed the overpricing of the city hall construction which was estimated only at Php 350 million at its initial bidding but later ballooned to over Php 719 million through various revisions in its contracts. Overpriced by at least Php 400 million, the city hall edifice now stands as a monument of graft and corruption.
The sanitary landfill for the Calajunan dumpsite which accounts for over Php 200 million of the total amount loaned from Land Bank has been non-existent, to say the least. Loan has already been released; but still, there is no landfill. Where did the money go?
The bottom line is that city hall needs to increase real property taxes to pay its debts accumulated in efforts to lather up these highly questionable projects that have been grist for media reports exposing the greed of hyena-like characters in high places.
Businessmen, accustomed to numbers in the world of business, have now asked city hall to furnish them with a financial statement to see how the city government has been spending taxpayers’ money. Their instincts have been telling them that there is something terribly wrong somewhere.
If there is something the world needs to know about businessmen, it is their instinct to differentiate horse shit from vanilla ice cream. They know something has gone wrong when things don’t add up anymore, when they see things that don’t equate to reality anymore, when, in their analysis, things seem to have short-circuited already. And, confused by things around them, they ask questions and demand answers.
Unfortunately, as they grope for answers, they end up with more questions: What is the fuss about Iloilo City as the next big thing? What is this noise about the road widening everywhere, the Esplanade, and the beautification binge? What is this excitement about our city becoming the next Queen City of the South?
This is a classic case of an identity crisis in which people don’t know where they are, when they see things outside that don’t equate to the things inside. It ushers in momentarily a period of confusion, anxiety and doubt. This is where Ilonggos are now, whether they like or not, thanks to the “selfie” leadership that has characterized our city government.
But if we face this period of our angst-ridden existence head-on, we will learn how to ask the right questions and search for answers within each of the things that we see every day. Why? Because truth only resides within the core of everything around us.
Truth resides not in the beauty of our city hall but in the Php 719 million loan from Land Bank to fund the greed of those responsible for overpricing it way out of the ball park.
Truth resides not in the importance of the Calajunan landfill but in its non-existence.
Truth resides not in the widening of the diversion road but in the floods that inundate major thoroughfares at the slightest hint of rain.
Truth resides not in the few who benefit from the bicycle lanes but in the many who cannot afford healthcare when they get sick.
Truth resides not in the beautification of heritage buildings but in their structural integrity or lack thereof.
Truth resides not in the DAP-funded Iloilo Convention Center but in the lack of electricity and water that greet tourists when advertisements about the city’s illusory accomplishments finally entice them to take a closer look at it.
Truth resides not in how loud we have trumpeted our ambitions but in how parched our coffers are after being ravaged by city officials unable to tame their greed.
We, Ilonggos, must always remind ourselves that truth always prevails especially as we have seen it already surfacing against all efforts to suppress it.
The real property tax increase only represents one of the bitter pills of truth that businessmen need to swallow as they, along with their fellow Ilonggos, emerge agonizingly from their identity crisis and begin to come to terms with the truth about Iloilo City.
And this is just the truth and nothing but the truth./PN
