SINCE the Province is operating the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CBST) in its proprietary capacity, Cebu City officials believe it is not exempt from local taxes, and its lack of a business permit is a ground for the terminal’s closure.

Mayor-on-leave Tomas Osmeña and City Attorney Joseph Bernal-dez also believe officials of the Province can be charged with extortion for collecting the P5 terminal fee without any enabling ordinance.

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“Extortion gud tawn... paet! The threat came from the mayor, the medicines he’s taking must be affecting his vocabulary,” Capitol consultant Byron Garcia, also the person in-charge of the CSBT, said yesterday.

While there is no Provincial Board (PB) ordinance covering the collection of the P5-entrance fee at the CSBT, Garcia said it is part of the terminal operations. Since Capitol is operating the CBST, then it can impose the maintenance fee.

Capitol consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda said that Osmeña must revisit and study the reason the terminal was established before thinking of closing it down.

He said it was built as one of the components of Metro Cebu Development Project (MCDP)-Phase 1. He said Osmeña is supposed to know this since he became a chairman of MCDP.

“Ang bus terminal idea na ni Tomas,” he added.

The mayor, Sepulveda said, got it all wrong when he tried to insinuate that Capitol is extorting money from the public by the implementation of the P5 entrance fee. He added that majority embraced the new policy.

“He hasn’t been there. Receipts are issued,” he added.

However, Cebu City’s Atty. Bernaldez has also sought an inspection of all the concessionaires inside the terminal and warned that they will also be shut down if they don’t have business permits.

Although government entities are generally exempt from local taxes, Osmeña and Acting Mayor Michael Rama said the Province should be taxed because it is operating the terminal as a business activity through its proprietary functions.

Tax

Records of the City Treasurer’s Office showed that the Province applied for a business permit in October 2002, but it did not comply with requirements and has not paid any tax since then.

“We will evaluate that (closure). If Cebu City, for example, opened a department store in Balamban, would it be exempted from paying local taxes? I don’t think so. The bus terminal is a proprietary business,” Osmeña said in a text message.

Osmeña is still on vacation leave but has raised his opinion against the Province’s operation of the terminal as a “concerned citizen.”

In his news conference yesterday, Rama said he will wait for the City Attorney’s Office’s legal opinion and the City Treasurer’s Office’s recommendation before he orders the terminal’s closure.

He said that if both offices decide that the terminal should be closed, he would pursue it, but due process has to be observed.

“The Province is operating the terminal in their proprietary capacity. We are no longer talking about their function as an LGU (local government unit) but as a business owner. Anything impressed with business, the City can use its police and regulatory powers to collect taxes from them. If they are doing business, they are exercising their proprietary function, and no longer as an LGU,” said Rama.

Fee

Bernaldez further said the Province is not exempted from real estate taxes because it entered into a venture where it generates income from its property, specifically from concessionaires of the terminal and the bus operators who use it.

“So pwede sila mabuhisan (They can be taxed),” Bernaldez said.

On the extortion case, they will also find out if the Province is issuing official and accountable forms to the passengers and the bus operators who pay P100 for every bus that enters the terminal.

“If it’s not an official receipt, it means it’s not an accountable form, so pwede ra sila na dili mo-account for the money collected. Malibre ra sila sa COA (They will not be held accountable by the Commission on Audit). All these things can lead to the filing of charges,” Bernaldez said.

He also pointed out that if a local government imposes a certain kind of payment or fee, it has to be authorized by the legislative body.

“In the case of the Province, I don’t think there has been an ordinance passed. If there’s none, then that’s something irregular. You are collecting fees without the authority of the Provincial Board, and that can be a basis for extortion,” he said.

City Treasurer Ofelia Oliva said she believes operating without a business permit can be a reason for the terminal’s closure, but she would also wait for the legal opinion on the matter.

Meanwhile, Sepulveda said he was informed that Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia intends to meet with bus operators, drivers and passengers in order to know more about their concerns and arrive at a consensus.

Enterprise

Sepulveda will hold a press conference today to lay down all the issues surrounding the new policies at the CSBT.

Although he still has to check if there was enough information dissemination on its implementation, he added that the Capitol’s Economic Enterprise Council (ECC) was able to pass a resolution before September, setting the P5 fee for the maintenance of the terminal.

CSBT was built in 1998 and Capitol was asked to manage it since it was built on a Province-owned lot.

He added that it is not also a “purely government” business because they are providing service.

He also reminded Osmeña that the “bus terminal was a result of a study made by several consultants in the 1990s in order to improve the traffic system in the city and Metro Cebu, adding that there was even a contract for the establishment of terminal.

“He should know the real picture. Karun sila pa-atik atik ang Capitol nag-negosyo. They need to study again so their mind will be enlightened,” he added.

The bus terminal has eased the traffic congestion, especially in the Colon area, he added.

“Bisan asa ra man ang buses sa una mo-park or hunong sa Colon,” he also said. (LCR/RSA)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 7, 2009.