Reporter

LOCAL treasurers throughout the country called on the national government not to resort to new taxes in raising its revenue haul and just concentrate on collection efficiency and fiscal discipline, similar to what the Quezon City government has been doing since 2002.

Victor Endriga, president of the Philippine Association of Local Treasurers and Assessors (Phaltra), said the strong public reaction to new tax measures only shows that “the country’s taxes have just about reached the outer limit and unacceptable new sources of taxation are now shunned by the people.”

Endriga cited the recent uproar created by the proposal to impose tax on short-messaging system (SMS or text messaging).

“Tax-collection efficiency alone stands as a tool to restore fiscal balance and strengthen the capacity of the government to perform its task in serving the people effectively,” Endriga said.

Complementing tax-collection efficiency, Endriga said, is the strong will of the administration to manage well the utilization of the funds.

Endriga urged the national government to emulate Mayor Feliciano Belmonte’s administration, which had not introduced new tax measures for several years now, yet had kept the tax-collection system percolating along to increase the tax haul year after year.

For six years in a row since 2002, Quezon City has held on to its billing as the “Richest City in the Philippines,” ending 2007 with a record-high of P9.106-billion gross collection, up by P925 million from the 2006 haul of P8.182 billion and exceeding its general fund target of P 6.8 billlion.

Endriga, Quezon City’s treasurer, said 21 days into 2008, his office’s tax take had perched on the P1.422-billion level, or an increase of P71 million from the same period last year.

“By all indications, 2008 promises to be another record year for Quezon City’s revenue haul mainly because of the city’s efficient tax collection,” Endriga said.

The repeated dismal performance of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which again reported a collection shortfall of P53.7 billion for last year, is nothing but a collection efficiency matter, he added.

The national revenue agency is being governed, Endriga noted, by an “archaic tax system” that did not measure up well to any tax-collection efficiency standards.

“Because of which, tax collectors had become so inept in the face of tax evaders and avoiders, profoundly imperiling the national government’s ability to meet liquidity obligations,” he said.

Stakeholders in tilapia industry set up Best Farming Practices Club

GUAGUA, Pampanga—Stakeholders in the tilapia industry recently met at the Plates and Platter restaurant in this town to establish the Best Farming Practices (BFP) Club to promote the growth and profitability of the industry.

THE Philippines is now awaiting the approval of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) for the country’s application to certify Luzon as free from the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) that usually strikes hogs.

LOCAL treasurers throughout the country called on the national government not to resort to new taxes in raising its revenue haul and just concentrate on collection efficiency and fiscal discipline, similar to what the Quezon City government has been doing since 2002.

THE Western style of government is no longer working for the Philippines, after most of the Southeast Asian nations have overtaken the country in the past years, and authorities should start thinking of paring some of the democratic powers of the people in exchange of boosting the economy.

THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has backed the bid of Gonzalo Co to take back the control of the multibillion Gonzalo Laboratories Inc., the manufacturer of Green Cross rubbing alcohol and Zonrox laundry bleach, from his siblings and other relatives.

A MILITANT legislator is seeking an investigation into the proposed creation of Quezon City Central Business District (QC-CBD), or the Triangle Park Project, even as he asked the local government to stop packet demolitions in the city.

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Commuters in this Central Luzon city are denouncing the city government for insisting on opening a common transport terminal on the Gapan-San Fernando-Olongapo (GSO) Road.