Their milking cow (1)

BACKBENCHER
Rod Kapunan
6/4-5/2011



It is irrelevant whether there would be a gain to be realized to the proposed ordinance adding a 0.5 percent increase in the assessed value of the real property just to implement the Socialized Housing Program of the Quezon City. Rather, the increasing cost for social services has become the local politicians’ favorite pastime to justify their insatiable need to increase their pork barrel. Their projects, if one has to be blunt about it, are not at all intended to ameliorate the poor, but calibrated to promote their own political agenda. We are saying this because the residents and those doing business in the city are now up in arms because the numerous taxes, licenses, permits and certification fees that have been slapped on them are supposed to vouch the boast of then-Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, now Speaker of the House, that he left a hefty P6.5-billion surplus.

The decision of some councilors to press hard its approval exposed the canard peddled by Belmonte for if it were so, all they need is to enact an ordinance to realign that alleged P6.5 billion to the proposed socialized housing program estimated to cost only P223 million without them imposing an additional burden to the property owners. More than that, in 2010, the city government appropriated P30 million under the heading of financial expenses to cover payment for bank charges, documentary stamp taxes, interest expense, and other financial charges which, according to Johnny Chang of the Movement for Better Quezon City, are indicative the city government is mired in debt. In 2009, it paid for the same financial expenses P31.281 million, and in 2008, P50 million or for a total of P111.2 million. Such amount does not reflect yet the principal for which those interests and charges are being paid for by the city government.

Already, the residents of the city are mired in taxes, licenses, business permits and certification fees to the Office of the Mayor down to the barangay level, and the argument made by its proponents led by Councilor Edcel Lagman Jr. is to comply with R.A. No. 7279, or the unpopular Lina law. True, local governments are authorized to pass an ordinance, but failure to enact could not make them liable. On the contrary, Section 43 of that law has become a dead law provision for they could have done it right after it was approved on February 2, 1992, or 19 years ago.

Nonetheless, the eagerness to ram into our throat the proposed socialized housing tax ordinance is because it is some kind of big bonanza that awaits them. It is bound to become another milestone in their continuing efforts to appease the informal urban settlers whom they have made as their ever-reliable election bailiwick. The gimmick is to keep open the pipeline for political patronage, instead of coming out with concrete solutions that would help alleviate the problems related to urban resettlement. One could be sure because the crazy idea would not help ease urban congestion, but could aggravate the problem that in the end the legitimate residents will be overwhelmed by millions of landless people all flocking to the city.

Notably, Quezon City has earned the unsalutary reputation of being called the “squatter capital” of the Philippines. As a matter of fact, the unabated inflow of squatters has been blamed to our local politicians who have been acting as their padrinos and protectors. The ugly part about this modus operandi is that many of them have been encouraged to occupy government and private lands, while in the meantime, City Hall pesters the landowners by imposing on them high taxes, even penalizing them for not paying taxes for those lands that have virtually been appropriated from them.

Many of the legitimate residents are living in small and middle-sized subdivisions who acquired their property through years of hard work. As law-abiding citizens they continue to comply with their obligations. On the other hand, squatters who do not pay anything are, in this case, about to be rewarded by a low-cost socialized housing, to be financed by those who are already burdened with high taxes. In fact, if only our councilors would squeeze a bit harder the gray matter that is inside their coconuts, they would realize that the problem is not on where to get the money, but on how to trim down their bulging pork barrel.

For one, in 2011, the mayor had a budget for his office P2.7 billion or 26 percent of the city’s total budget, an amount much bigger than that of the Vice President of the Republic; the vice mayor, P182.3 million; while the 24 councilors receive P44 million each. The worse thing is that each barangay has been is allocated the minimum of P5 million as its share of the internal revenue allocation, which explains why many of them act as “rah rah” boys of the mayor. An increase in revenue, including the proposed 0.5 surcharge on real estate property, would automatically result in an additional IRA for the “enforcers” of the mayor. As many observe, most of our barangay officials, aside from acting as rabble rousers for the mayor, are now being paid to exact more from their community than in doing their job of overseeing that social order is maintained and public services carried out down to the grassroots level.

Notably, the residents are already fuming mad at how our councilors squander their P44 million pork barrel just to greet them Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Graduation, and for the unabated construction of their lapida (tombstones) at every district boundaries. Many would not mind seeing them putting up their own lapidas, engraving or painting their names in those mediocre projects if it were their money. Alas, they are using the money collected from the resident taxpayers, which now makes them doubly shameless and corrupt. Of course, they got that cue from then Mayor Belmonte for it was he who initiated the blasphemous practice of personality cult despite him not yet being canonized as saint.

• rodkap@yahoo.com.ph