FORMER Cebu City administrator Collin Rosell has denied involvement in alleged irregularities and unauthorized overrides in the City’s real property tax (RPT) system that reportedly caused sharp tax increases for some property owners.
Rosell told SunStar on Thursday, July 17, 2025, that he was unaware of any transaction or action that led to a spike in RPT payments.
He also said he had not been informed or summoned about the City Legal Office (CLO)’s investigation.
“I’m even surprised that there is such a thing as conduct of investigation,” said Rosell, who served from 2022 to 2024 under then-mayor Michael Rama.
“For lack of notice and due process, the investigation and its output is clearly malicious and libelous, if not a ploy for public persecution, humiliation and misinformation,” he added.
Rosell stressed that no RPT rate hike was enforced during his tenure.
“To my knowledge, no increase in tax rate was ever implemented by the City Government. There was even a lowering of the tax rate in the past,” he said.
Modifications
Rosell argued that any system modifications during his term were lawful.
“I can assure the public that at any degree, no irregularity in connection therewith ever happened. If something was tweaked, for sure, it was done within the bounds of the law and consistent with the spirit that gives it life,” he said.
The CLO’s 32-page report, dated May 21, alleged that overrides in the AS400 tax system enabled property owners’ declared values to replace official assessments between 2022 and 2023, with some increases reportedly exceeding 1,000 percent.
The CLO report, signed by former head Santiago Ortiz Jr. during the term of then-mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, alleged that the override function was introduced into the AS400 system by Rosell and former Local Finance Committee (LFC) chairman Jerone Castillo.
Rosell was accused of pressuring employees from the City Assessor’s Office (CAO) and the Management Information and Computer Services (Mics) to override system values. In August 2023, Castillo approved LFC Resolution 7, which facilitated Mics’ upgrade of the RPT assessment system used by the CAO and City Treasurer’s Office.
Rosell questioned the report, saying “AS400, a computer system introduced by IBM in 1988, has been superseded by different programs.”
“A mere computer system cannot cause an increase in real property tax due and payment,” he said. “Clearly, the said investigation presented not a question of breach of AS400… but an attempt to maliciously malign persons for an illegal act.”
Valuation vs. taxation
Rosell said that valuation is separate from taxation.
“Valuation is not taxation but naturally if the value of the property increases, the amount of tax liability follows… Valuation is not synonymous to tax,” Rosell said.
“If an owner valued his real property, a studio condo unit, at P4 million rather than the P280,000 outdated valuation of the assessor, is the owner at fault? Is the government at fault? In fact, a prudent owner would not like his property to be overly undervalued even for tax saving purposes,” he added.
Rosell further said that tax declaration remains the legal basis for valuation, which the owner signs.
“Since the owner will be the one to declare the value… it can be presumed that there can be no surprises… the owner/declarant was very much aware,” he said.
Rosell called for a clarification of the findings and recommended a full review.
“A clarification and verification on the findings of the investigation should be conducted,” he said.
On Wednesday, July 16, Mayor Nestor Archival ordered a review of potential criminal liability of persons involved in the alleged scheme and instructed officials to explore remedies for affected taxpayers. / EHP