Tuesday, August 14, 2007 Dads want to use royalty tax to energize barangays By Malu Cadelina Manar Of Sun.Star General Santos
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- The City Council has proposed that the royalty share the City Government gets from the geothermal project in Barangay Ilomavis would be used to energize villages that have no streetlights and other lighting facilities.
Records showed that 1,200 households in 18 of the 40 villages in General Santos have no access to electricity.
The local government unit, they said, is bereft of funds.
They cited this as reason for proposing that 80 percent of the royalty of the City Government from the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) geothermal exploration project in Barangay Ilomavis get allotted for the electrification project.
In 2004, the City Council enacted an ordinance that provided for the grant of a monthly electric consumption subsidy of about P26 to each household within the territorial jurisdiction of Kidapawan City from the royalty share.
This ordinance, however, has not been implemented due to the absence of implementing guidelines. Also, the legislators found out later the ordinance violates existing government accounting rules and regulations.
But the City Government has yet to collect royalty tax from PNOC amounting to P21.4 million, which was not collected since 2004.
The collection of royalty is guaranteed under section 294 of the Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code.
Councilor and lawyer Dina Espina, chair of the committee on ordinances and legal matters, said that while many city residents have directly benefited from the utilization of energy resource in the locality, "there are still lots of streets in Barangay Poblacion and in other villages that do not have sufficient lights. There are also many sitios and puroks in other barangays, which do not have access to electricity."
Electricity and well-lighted streets are considered two of the basic services the City Government should provide to its constituents, Espina stressed.
The proposed ordinance authored by Espina said 70 percent of the royalty would be used to energize sitios and puroks in 39 villages while 30 percent will be allotted to light the streets in Barangay Poblacion.
To further discuss the proposed ordinance in public, the council is set to conduct a hearing on August 22.
The City Government is paying some P3.6 million every year for streetlights.
At least 1,500 mercury lights illuminate the city's major thoroughfares every night.
"If all our streets are lighted, we would be preventing burglary, theft, and other crimes against persons and properties in our city," said Kidapawan City Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco.
