Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Dinoshow organizer gets mouthful from Militar
By Grace L. Plata
AN EXECUTIVE of a firm intending to put up a 39-day paleontology exhibit, timed to open during the Araw ng Dabaw celebration. got a thorough grilling, City council-style, after he could not give an exact percentage of profit they intend to set aside for the show beneficiaries in lieu of amusement tax exemption.
"As you are not ready to tell us the exact figures, then the City Council is not ready to grant you exemption," Councilor Bonifacio Militar told Jasper Viloria, president of Funfare Ventures Inc., which is set to hold a paleontology exhibit called "Dinoworld" from March 14 to June 3, 2007.
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The exemption was proposed by Councilor Susan Isabel Reta, chair of the committee on tourism, saying that the show is part of the Araw ng Dabaw celebration but since she could not give the details about the show, Viloria was called in.
Viloria said with tickets priced at P100 for group tours, P120 for walk-ins and a target of 300,000 viewers, the company is expected to gain an estimate of P30,000,000 in the 39-day exhibit (March 14-April 15, April 28-June 3).
However, when asked how much the beneficiaries will get, Viloria said he could not yet say.
Viloria explained that as they are still mounting the exhibit and incurring cost in the process, it is still hard to say how much is going to be retained by the company to cover those costs.
He said the equipment alone amounts to US$4-million while its transport and mounting in the city will amount to around P18-20 million. This can still increase over time, thus they could not yet come up with the exact figures.
But Militar was far from satisfied, saying that the company must present to the council the exact amount or percentage of the net profit that would go to the four beneficiaries of the show - NCCC Cares, Boy Scouts of the Philippines - Davao Chapter, The Loved Flock, and Bantay Bata 163 - for transparency purposes.
Before a long debate could ensue, Vice Mayor Luis Bonguyan called for a one-minute recess, which stretched to about 10 minutes as the councilors had to talk among themselves.
Finally, the body agreed that the matter be deferred for reconsideration but not before Councilors Danilo Dayanghirang and Pilar Braga suggested that the exhibit organizers should provide free tickets for indigents and have a special ticket price for schoolchildren to which the organizers said they will think about.
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (March 7, 2007 issue)
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