CEBU Vice Governor Glenn Anthony Soco assured that the Provincial Board (PB) will review the proposed compromise settlement between the Cebu Provincial Government and Apo Land and Quarry Corp. (ALQC), stressing the need to consider its implications for ordinary taxpayers.
Soco said the review is necessary to ensure that the province’s Local Revenue Code provides equal protection to all taxpayers.
“Mao bitaw nga ang unang question… angayan ba, before we even move further to pila,” Soco said, referring to whether the compromise agreement itself is appropriate before discussing the amount involved.
The proposal will be tackled in a joint committee hearing by the PB committees on laws, review and ordinances chaired by Board Member Nelson Mondigo and ways and means chaired by Board Member Michael Villamor.
The resolution was first included in the PB agenda on February 23 but was deferred during the board’s regular session.
In a media interview on Wednesday, March 6, Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro told reporters that a proposed compromise settlement reduced the province’s P1.218-billion tax assessment against Apo Land and Quarry Corp. to P211.56 million.
Baricuatro said the reduction was due to the removal of extraction fees, which made up the bulk of the original assessment, after it was determined that the company’s quarrying operations were conducted on private land.
Restituto “Resti” Arnaiz, legal officer of the Office of the Governor, cited a Supreme Court ruling to support the decision, explaining that extraction taxes apply only to materials taken from public land. (CDF)