CEBU CITY (March 24, 2024) – Mayor Mike Rama has instructed the city’s treasurer and assessor to prepare to defend with him the general revision of fair market values under the real property tax (RPT) code.
While in Taiwan, the mayor shared that he has been reviewing the 400-page draft ordinance that Councilor Noel G. Wenceslao, as chair of the committee of budget and finance, submitted to the City Council for deliberation.
“I am doing my own review, side by side with my city administrator,” Rama said during a recent edition of Ingna’ng Mayor over Sugboanon Channel.
He said he noted some points to determine if the city treasurer and assessor have “done their due diligence in reading the details and understanding the implications” of the code when updated.
“Naa’y mga provision nga ako sa’ng gi-highlight nga kinahanglan (sila’ng) makasabot,” Rama said, referring to city treasurer Mare Vae F. Reyes and acting city assessor Ma. Theresa C. Rosell.
The two are members of the Local Finance Committee (LFC).
With city budget officer Jerone G. Castillo serving as chair, the LFC also has city administrator Collin N. Rosell, acting city accountant Giovanni G. Delgado, and Eng’r. Roberto A. Varquez, manager of South Road Properties, as members.
Rama said he read Wenceslao’s draft once and wrote some side notes and has begun reviewing the same again while enroute from Taipei to Kaohsiung in Taiwan last Thursday.
He has called for a bilateral discussion between the legislators upon his return after the Holy Week to ensure a clear understanding of his objective to anchor the RPT on the actual current fair market values but to implement on a staggered basis.
“Dili angay mahadlok ang mga Sugboanon sa revision. Ato ra’ng ibutang ang tinuoray nga balor,” he said during the program via Zoom while on the road.
“Dili sad na nga inig-approve, derecho dayon implementar, dili,” he added.
As an offshoot to the bilateral conference, Mayor Rama hopes they would agree on the implementing rules and regulations that would allow installment payment, set parameters in negotiation, and set other means until every taxpayer is able to pay.
“We can put some windows of payment for particular number of years. Mahimo na, tungod ang pagpadagan sa usa ka siyudad, naa sa mayor ug sa Sanggunian,” he explained.
“Kung magkasabot ang duha (ka panig), ngano’ng dili man. Nganong dili man sad mi magkasinabot?” he quipped.
Dili angay mahadlok ang mga Sugboanon sa revision. Ato ra’ng ibutang ang tinuoray nga balor. Dili sad na nga inig-approve, derecho dayon implementar, dili.
Mayor Mike Rama
Mayor Rama said he will not fault anyone for having previously expressed their views about the RPT issue, like Wenceslao and Councilor Nestor Archival.
But he warned those who will still attack him after the meeting of minds, saying: “Kinsa’y moataki, wa na’y paghigumga, wa na sila’y panglantaw, wala. Unya, ngano’ng inyo man na’ng butahan? Ngano’ng inyo ma’ng pili-on?”
‘Trust your mayor‘
While in Taiwan, he said he took the opportunity to explain his views about the RPT revision to the delegation from the business sector who joined him at the 2024 Smart City Summit and Expo.
“These are the people who I told not to be worried,” he said, adding that he told them to “trust your mayor than doubt.”
The delegation included Charles Kenneth Co and Felix Tagiuam, past presidents of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Fil-Chinese Chamber leader Roberto Tañeda Go, retailers’ leader Christian Paro-an and contractor Lloyd Adlawan. | PPRMN / cte
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