THE Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI), through its president Frank Carbon, has asked Acting Mayor Greg Gasataya to extend the deadline for the processing of business permits – from January 20 to February 15. Gasataya appealed to the City Council to act on the request, which Carbon made last week. The request is now pending with the council, the mayor said. Every year, the City grants the request of the business sector for an extension of the deadline for the filing of business permits. If the request of MBCCI is not acted upon by the council, that would be a first, Gasataya said. The City will start imposing penalties on taxpayers who fail to pay their taxes before January 20 and many businessmen will be affected, he said. Gasataya also appealed to the taxpayers to meet the January 20 deadline to avoid having to pay penalties and surcharges. Carbon said he would call up Gasataya and Acting Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran to follow up on the request. The extension would allow businessmen to avoid paying penalties and surcharges of about 25 percent, he said. By law, the City Council is currently unable to take up any other matters aside from the 2016 city budget until it is approved. Familiaran earlier sought the opinion of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in relation to Section 323 of the Local Government Code to find out if the City Council can take up other matters aside from the annual budget before this is approved. The City Council committee on finance will hold another hearing today on the P1.8 billion annual budget for 2016 before submitting its committee report to the City Council. In her letter to Familiaran dated January 11, Acting Bacolod DILG Director Cherryl Tacda cited the opinion of DILG Legal Service Director Jesus Duque IV dated January 24, 2013, that the City Council cannot take up other matters until the annual budget is approved. Familiaran said that during the regular session last Wednesday, there were 40 pending requests that the SP had to act on, including the request of MBCCI. Carbon, however, said MBCCI's request might only need executive action. "Since there is an ordinance covering the processing of business permits, perhaps what is only needed is an executive memorandum or circular, and a legislative action is no longer needed," he said. Carbon said that since the deadline is covered by a existing law, the mayor might be able to suspend the law, in effect granting an extension without passing through the City Council. By CARLA N. CANET
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