Friday, September 27, 2002
MCIAA told: Pay P179M tax
By Oscar C. Pineda
THE Lapu-Lapu City Government is now running after Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) for its unpaid real estate taxes amounting to P179 million.
The City Council last Wednesday approved a resolution, authored by Councilor Eugene Espedido, demanding payment for realty taxes from MCIAA.
MCIAA may have already received the demand letter as sources at the Lapu-Lapu City Mayor’s Office, said Mayor Arturo Radaza, who concurred with the council’s move, signed the demand letter right after the session.
City Treasurer Elena Pacaldo said MCIAA owes the City P131 million in arrears and P48 million in current taxes.
She said the MCIAA taxes started to pile up in 1992 when the Local Government Code removed the authority’s tax exemption.
The resolution’s author, Espedido, said it’s now time for the City to demand for immediate settlement.
He said MCIAA has the money but may just be taking advantage of the local government’s leniency.
“We cannot afford to be lenient now that 20 percent of our IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) will be slashed,” he said.
Pacaldo, in an earlier interview, said that as MCIAA has been paying at least P4 million a month (P48 million per year), its obligation is down to P179 million from P250 million.
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