* Property owner Connie Barrientos-Carey faced over two months of delays selling her P3-million Borbon lot due to the municipal assessor's repeated absences and lack of authorized deputy signatories.
* The administrative backlog, coupled with shifting requirement requests from staff and a P170,000 processing scam, prevented Carey from securing tax declarations and land valuations required for property transfers.
* After Carey publicly called for accountability on social media, Borbon municipal officials contacted her, though Vice Mayor Noel Dotillos has not yet provided an official statement regarding the delays.
DELAYS at the Borbon Municipal Assessor’s Office have left a property owner in limbo for over two months as she attempts to sell a lot following a series of scams and business setbacks.
Connie Barrientos-Carey, 42, expressed frustration over the repeated absence of the town’s municipal assessor, noting that the office relies solely on its head as the authorized signatory to approve tax declarations and land valuations needed for tax payments and title transfers.
“If they were super efficient, the first time we were there in June, we would have already been done with all the documents. We would already have paid BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue). We would already have sold that lot and we wouldn’t be this stressed, to be honest. I’ve never been this stressed,” Carey said.
“Yes! It hinders the selling,” she said when asked whether the delays were obstructing the sale.
Carey and her husband purchased the 1,200-square-meter lot in Barangay Bongdo Gua in 2024 for P3 million, intending to use the land for a backyard hog-raising business.
“The problem really is that the people there don’t have the authority to sign. So even if you’re there and asking for requirements, if the assessor is not around, you get nothing,” Carey said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
Following a series of livestock losses and business setbacks, Carey said she and her husband decided to sell the property, explaining that their caretaker used illegal drugs and killed their goats while an outbreak of African swine fever wiped out their pigs.
“We don’t have time to go... cause we live in Busay,” she added, noting that the long commute and painful memories made it impossible to continue managing the land. “It reminded us of how bad things were, so we decided to sell it.”
Repeated delays
Carey, who resides in Busay, Cebu City, said she has made numerous three-hour trips to the Borbon municipal hall since June to secure a tax declaration for a small structure on the property and a formal assessment of its market value.
Both documents are required by the BIR before tax payments can be processed and an Electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration can be issued.
However, Carey said her visits were met with repeated absences by the municipal assessor because of official trainings and leaves.
“It was constantly like that,” Carey said. “It’s always three hours going, three hours back, plus traffic. Mopatay sa time. And we have work.”
(It’s always three hours going, three hours back, plus traffic. It kills time. And we have work.)
She added that staff members provided shifting document requirements during separate visits, prolonging the ordeal.
“The requirements are never clear. My problem is the inefficiency and lack of consideration for people,” she said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
Compounding losses
The administrative delays compounded existing troubles with the property. Carey revealed she paid an additional P170,000 to another individual to process the land papers.
Carey later discovered that the individual attempted to transfer the property under her own name at the BIR and issued a bounced check when confronted. In total, Carey spent roughly P3.25 million on the land purchase and failed processing efforts.
The ongoing delays at the assessor’s office prevented Carey from finalizing the paperwork needed to secure her ownership or resale options.
Public accountability
Driven by frustration, Carey called out local leadership on social media, tagging Borbon Vice Mayor Noel Dotillos to draw attention to workflow issues at the municipal hall.
“That’s why I posted that, because I really think we need to demand accountability. If you cannot do your job, have somebody else do something. Is this a power trip? You want to feel important?” she said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
Following the post, Dotillos responded to Carey online. The municipal assessor then messaged Carey directly to ask about her required papers.
Carey said the assessor’s instructions were still unclear, prompting her to compile the complete paperwork herself before returning to the municipal hall.
“The instructions were still unclear. I said, ‘Let it be, I will do it myself.’ So we will just prepare all the documents... and bring them next week,” she said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
While praising the staff for being polite, Carey said that systemic issues remain because no deputy signatory exists to process documents when the office head is away.
“In fairness to Borbon as a municipality, I think they’re doing really well except for this one part,” she said in a mix of Cebuano and English. “People are very helpful. It’s just that, because of the system, they can’t really do much.”
Carey urged local governments to appoint alternate signatories so public services continue without interruption.
“I don’t want to ruin anybody’s life. I don’t want anybody to lose her salary,” Carey said. “I just want people to do their jobs.”
SunStar Cebu reached out to Vice Mayor Dotillos through a message for a statement on Sunday, Aug. 16, but he has yet to respond as of press time. / CDF