Treñas defends Peco's inclusion in top taxpayers list
City Mayor Jerry Treñas defended the inclusion of Panay Electric Company Inc. (Peco) in the list of the 40 top tax payers of Iloilo City.
Lawyer Romeo Gerochi, a staunch critic of Peco, recently wrote Mayor Treñas questioning Peco's inclusion in the city's top tax payers list.
Gerochi contended that the money being paid by Peco for its tax obligations come from the generation charges collected from the consumers.
Treñas however said PECO's inclusion in the top tax payers list is based on the records of the City Treasurers Office (CTO).
He said giving due recognition to good tax payers is the city's way of thanking the private sector for helping boost the city's economy and progress.
The other 19 top business tax payers are La Filipina Uygongco, Panay Power Corporation, Mandurriao Star, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, Greatfoods Concepots Incorporated, Supervalue Incorporated, Carlos Uy Corporation, Nestle Philippines Incorporated, New Iloilo Supreme Marketing, San Miguel Incorporated, Team Sales and Promotions Incorporated and Sunlife of Canada.
While, the 20 top real property tax payers are Panay Power Corporation, SM Prime Holdings Incorporated, Heva Management Development Corporation, Robinson's Land Corporation, La Filipina Uygongco Corporation/Philippine Foremost Milling Corporation, Juan Jamora Enterprises, Filipina Shell Petroleum Corporation, QHP Realty, Iloilo Jar Corporation, Sarabia Manor Hotel, National Food Authority, Golden Gate Realty Food Corporation, St. Paul's Hospital, Far Eastern Hardware, James Young, Star Group Resources & Development Incorporated, Petron Corporation, John Cembrano and Go Kian Lam.
They will be given due recognition on Thursday, November 17 during a dinner at the Amigo Terrace Hotel.
Treñas said PECO is the number one business tax payer in the city and number 7 in the top real property tax payer list. He however refused to declare how much the city gained from the taxes paid by PECO.
Treñas explained the taxes paid by the corporations and establishments are a big help to the city's economy and progress. Iloilo City is one of the very few cities in the country which got bigger slice of their funds from the local source especially on business and real property taxes.
The chief executive said the city government particularly in next year's budget relied mainly on the local taxes and not on the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA). In the 2006 budget, P406 million will be sourced out from the local taxes. The total budget next year is P726 million, he said.