CTO hopes to collect higher amusement tax in Iloilo Coliseum
City Treasurer Katherine Tingson expects an increase in the amusement tax from the cockfighting games at the Iloilo Coliseum in relation to the Jaro fiesta. In 2005, the city has collected a total amusement tax of P354,329.71
Tingson said the P354,329.71 collections covers the entire 2005. It is much higher compared to the previous year's. In 2004, the total amusement tax collected from the Iloilo Coliseum reached to P275,577.51.
The amusement tax is paid by the coliseum management every time they hold a cockfighting game. The amusement tax is 30 percent of the total gross sales in ticket sales. The tickets serve as pass to enter the coliseum, said Tingson.
In 2005, the CTO has collected an amusement tax of P6,231.60 for the month of January and P251,438.14 for the month of February. The biggest record of collection last year was in February.
The collection for the month of March is only P6,012.34; P12,050.90 (April); P5,836.16 (May); P16,445.51 (July); P5,435.34 (August); P14,369.10 (October); P25,330.36 (November) and P11,182.26 for December. There is no collection for the months of June and September.
Tingson said the amusement tax will depend on the turn-out of the event. However, the CTO have already posted four personnel at the entrance area of the coliseum to get a better view on how the ticket seller of the coliseum extracts fees from the spectators.
The cockfighting game in Jaro is not only frequented by local cockfighting aficionados but also of the international cockfight aficionados as far as United States of America. The cockfighting game in Jaro is only one of the events to highlight the feast of Our Lady of Candles, the patron saint of Jaro.
The city treasurer said this year’s team of personnel is led by Claire John Ladrillo. He replaced Joel Gonzales. The reshuffling of personnel was effected to avoid familiarity between the management and the CTO personnel.