Saturday, July 07, 2007 Ban seeks to push telecom firm to pay up
BECAUSE it has not paid the P10-million compromise fee for 2007, Globe Telecom Inc. will not be allowed to put up cell sites and promotional materials or hold any street activity within Cebu City until they pay up.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña confirmed yesterday that he vetoed the City Council resolution granting a special use permit to Globe for a cell site antenna that it wants to set up in Barangay Guadalupe.
But the restrictions on the telecom firm will not be limited to its technical facilities here.
“No streamer, no outdoor activities, no nothing. The principle is very simple. If you do business in Cebu City and you don’t contribute anything to the City, then you will not get any cooperation from us. We will ignore them as they have ignored us,” Osmeña said yesterday.
Same principle
In his news conference, the mayor said the same principle will apply to Smart Communications and the Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Company (PLDT).
Globe applied for a permit to place an antenna on top of Crown Regency Residences along V. Rama Ave. in Barangay Guadalupe, supposedly to improve its services in the area.
The council approved the application last June 6 but it was vetoed by the mayor a week later.
“I did not approve it because they did not pay the P10-million fee for this year. If they don’t pay, dili ma-approve tanan nilang (I will not approve all) applications... If they pay, then no problem,” Osmeña said.
The mayor insisted that the tax burden should be distributed to all industries and sectors, and individual taxpayers and a few business establishments should not be left to pay for the services given by the City Government.
In a phone interview yesterday, Acting City Treasurer Tessie Camarillo said Globe has paid the compromise fee annually since the company reached an agreement with the City Government.
Globe has not paid the fee this year.
Since the Supreme Court has not yet ruled whether utility companies are exempt from paying franchise taxes, City Hall has accepted in the past compromise payments from Globe, PLDT, Smart Communications and the Visayan Electric Co.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision on the case between PLDT and Davao City last year, the company paid Cebu City its P41.3 million franchise tax due from 1996 to 2003, as well as its tax dues for 2004 and 2005.
PLDT, however, requested that the P34 million surcharges and interests be condoned, which the council approved in April 2006. In 2003, Globe paid the City P35 million as a compromise.
Although the agreement clearly stated that the amount was for the company’s full payment of its accrued realty taxes and franchise taxes, Globe officials insisted that they are not liable to pay franchise taxes. (LCR)
