Collection of penalties go up by P20 million

THE Mandaue City Treasurer’s Office collected P22 million from penalties paid by business owners last month for failing to get clearances required to obtain a business permit.

Last year, the City collected only P2 million from administrative penalties, said City Treasurer Regal Oliva, who increased the penalty from P500 to P5,000 last month.

Uniform fine

Under a city ordinance, the City can impose a penalty of P500 to P5,000 on business owners that fail to comply with requirements like sanitary permit, environmental clearance, fire clearance, Social Security System and health insurance.

Oliva, in a press conference yesterday, said he decided to impose the maximum penalty because some business owners would rather pay the P500 fine than fulfill the requirements.

Under the ordinance, the City can impose a maximum penalty of P5,000 for every clearance a business owner failed to submit. But for this year, the City imposed only P5,000 regardless of the number of clearances a business owner failed to get.

Warning

Oliva warned business owners that the treasurer’s office will impose the maximum penalty for every missing requirement if business owners continue to ignore the policy.

The treasurer’s office collected penalties from business owners who renewed their permits between Jan. 2 and 20.

“In terms of collection efficiency, the City Treasurer’s Office has been very efficient for the past 45 days,” Oliva said.

He said the City can issue a business permit to an applicant even if he or she still lacks clearances, provided these are submitted within 60 days.

Oliva stressed the importance of complying with the clearances to ensure public safety.

“These clearances are not mere scraps of paper. They have use,” he said.

Out of consideration, small-scale businesses like sari-sari stores and public market vendors that failed to comply with the requirements paid only P1,500.