The Revised Revenue Code of Bacolod City was passed on third and final reading yesterday by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod after a heated exchange between the acting presiding officer and the floor leader.
Acting Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, who acted as presiding officer, ruled the ordinance as a “lost ordinance”, citing a provision of the Local Government Code that its passage needs two-third votes. However, Councilors Homer Bais, Dindo Ramos and the other SP members, who voted in favor of the Ordinance, contested the ruling, saying that it only needs a majority vote. Out of the 14 members of council, the vote of eight is already considered a majority vote, Bais said. Those who voted in favor of the ordinance were Councilor Caesar Distrito, Bais, Ramos, Carlos Jose Lopez, Mona Dia Jardin, Roberto Rojas, Em Ang and Al Victor Espino, while those who voted against it were Councilors Catalin Alisbo, Elmer Sy and Sonya Verdeflor. Councilor Archie Baribar had left the session hall earlier to catch a flight to Manila when the City Council decided to divide the House. Despite the heated exchange between Familiaran and Bais, in the end, the ordinance was considered approved. Familiaran said he declared the measure as “lost” because they did not only pass the Revised Revenue Code, but also the tax exemptions. “Based on the Local Government Code, if you grant an exemption that will require two-thirds votes,” he said. Familiaran said that, as presiding officer, he had to give a ruling. If they want to approve the Ordinance, they should have asked first the opinion of the Department of Interior and Local Government as to the number of votes required, he said. Bais said a majority vote prevails because this is what the law requires. He also assured the business sector that the Ordinance is not going to hurt them financially because other cities like Cadiz, San Carlos and Talisay are charging fees and taxes that are even higher compared to those of Bacolod City. The updating of the rates is within the allowable level since they have not maximized what was allowed under the law, he said. “Our rates were even leveled to that of a municipality, and not as a highly urbanized city”, he added. Bais said that, under the law, the local government is mandated to update its revenue code every five years, but it took the City of Bacolod 18 years to update its Code. Espino, chairman of the SP Committee on Environment and Ecology and author of the Ordinance, said he is grateful that the Ordinance was finally passed as this will bridge the gap in the shortfall of the city’s Internal Revenue Allotment. They have already listened to the cross section of the business sector, he said, adding that the level of the tax rates provided in the Ordinance is only 71 percent of one percent, which adopts the rates of a municipality and not of highly urbanized cities. Espino said he had expected that this will be met with opposition but the city has to act, considering the financial challenges it will be facing next year with the shortfall in the IRA that is going to hit hard the city’s coffers. Earlier, he also said they need to enact the Ordinance for effectivity on January 1, 2011.*CGS CARLA GOMEZ Visayan Daily Star
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