The president of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry said they have nothing against the proposed Revised Revenue Code of Bacolod City as long as the taxes paid by the taxpayers will redound to basic services.
MBCCI president Frank Carbon yesterday said this will also mean an improvement of the business climate in the city. He said that, according to Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Region VI governor, Roberto Montelibano, they expect that an increase in taxes will mean an increase in basic services. “We businessmen, we are willing to pay the right taxes as long as it is not exorbitant, meaning it should be comparable to other class B cities. Because if our taxes are too high, no investment will come in,” he added. Carbon said they are in favor of increasing taxes because they know that it will mean improvement of services like peace and order, traffic lights, garbage collection, clean markets, and hopefully, the city can put up its own hospital which is needed, since the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital is too crowded. Councilor Al Victor Espino said they will send the MBCCI copies of the proposed Revised Revenue Code in advance so that when they conduct committee hearings next week, they will know how much they are going to pay and give their thoughts on the new tax rate. The Technical Working Group presented to the members of the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod yesterday the proposed Revised Revenue Code so they will understand and dissect the Tax Code, he said. Espino, who heads the TWG, said they have tackled the salient points of the Tax Code yesterday and they will continue the rates for businesses and expect to conclude it today, since they have already published the notices in the newspaper for the schedules of committee hearings for the Tax Code on November 8-10 for the business sector, and other stakeholders. He reiterated that the city’s Revenue Code has not been revised for 17 years and there are some items in it that are flawed. Espino said they will try to correct these flaws in the exiting Tax Code because, according to the City Treasurer, instead of being progressive, it is regressive. He cited that, instead of paying higher taxes if one’s income is increasing, the reverse is happening and this is one of the flaws they want to correct. Espino also cited for example that Bacolod’s twin city, Iloilo City’s interpretation of their Tax Ordinance is 81 percent of one percent while Bacolod is starting with 50 plus 1 percent of 1 percent, which is the lowest in the tax table. Present during the presentation of the proposed Revised Tax Code were Councilors Caesar Distrito, Em Legaspi-Ang, El Cid Familiaran, Archie Baribar, Catalino Alisbo, Sonya Verdeflor, Homer Bais and Roberto Rojas.*CGS Visayan Daily Star
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