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Thursday, October 06, 2005
Inside job eyed on fake permits
By Gingging A. Campaña
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Cebu City Hall’s drive to improve revenue collection is moving in earnest, with a task force closing establishments found using fake documents.
It also widened its investigation on an alleged “inside job” in the issuance of fake business permits at the local treasury office.
Six establishments, so far, were closed because of fabricated permits.
Two boutiques owned by the wives of Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano and Rep. Ramon “Red” Durano VI (Cebu, 5th district) were padlocked yesterday morning, for allegedly failing to pay P30,000 in business taxes for the second quarter this year.
Both shops, located in an uptown mall, were also found using fake business permits.
The Durano wives visited Mayor Tomas Osmeña and City Administrator Francisco Fernandez yesterday noon and sought an explanation why their establishments were ordered closed.
Check permits
City Hall reporters requested for the comments of both businesswomen but they declined to be interviewed. They merely smiled, waved and said, “No comment.”
Their stores were reopened at 3 p.m., after the owners settled their accounts and complied with the requirements.
City Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem said business owners can call the hotline number 2551820 to check if their permits are authentic.
“Businessmen should check whether their permits are genuine or not, because there seems to be a proliferation of fake permits. It would be better if the City Government would give an amnesty period of 15 days to give them time to check,” he said.
In a separate interview, Fernandez said the Duranos told them that it was their accountant, who was absent without an official leave yesterday, who processed their application for permits from City Hall.
Fake permits
Fernandez said they trying to uncover if the fake business permits were secured from City Hall, who fixed the documents and who forged the signatures of treasury officials for a fee.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is already looking into the case.
Five treasury personnel, who are believed to be involved in the forgery of signatures and issuance of fake permits, were ordered transferred.
However, both the mayor and Acting City Treasurer Tessie Camarillo won’t divulge the names of those who are being investigated.
Fernandez only said that they are not high-ranking officials.
It’s been a month since City Hall began checking establishments bearing fake business permits, following the NBI’s raid last July on Goldfinger.
The computer print shop was found allegedly producing fake business permits, South Reclamation Project vehicle pass, driver’s licenses and other official documents.
Inspection
It all started with the treasury office’s routine inspection of business establishments, as part of City Hall’s drive to improve the collection of local revenues.
Business taxes, upon first application for a license to operate, are computed based on a percentage of the establishment’s capital. For those who renew their permits yearly, taxes are computed based on a percentage of their declared gross receipts from the previous year.
Since owners of most establishments do not have the time to process the requirements in a one-stop shop City Hall set up at Rustan’s in January, they hire accountants and bookkeepers to handle the matter.
Last July, the revenue task force found that Halo, a resto-bar they closed twice this year, had been operating under a fake permit.
Mayor Osmeña later agreed to reopen the bar after the management paid, on top of its business taxes, P300,000 in compromise penalties for using a fake permit.
Conspiracy?
After the task force reported the proliferation of fake permits, the mayor declared yesterday that there “seems to be a major conspiracy at the treasurer’s office in fixing business permits.”
Most of the owners of the establishments that were earlier closed executed affidavits that they were unaware they had been operating with fake permits.
Almost all of them blamed their bookkeepers or accountants for the offense.
Owners also said these bookkeepers told them they have contacts at City Hall who could release the permits after a short period.
Sun.Star decided to withhold the names of these bookkeepers until they can give their side on the allegations.
The erring establishments have been reopened after settling their accounts and paying P50,000 in penalties.
(October 6, 2005 issue)
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