Bukidnon eyes BOT to develop LGU-owned prime lot

MALAYBALAY CITY – Bukidnon Gov. Alex Calingasan has requested authority from the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to develop the Capitol’s prime lot property in downtown Malaybalay City into a commercial arcade, board member Nemesio Beltran Jr. announced in a joint committee hearing Friday.

In a letter dated April 13, 2011, Calingasan requested the board to authorize him to identify a private developer to develop the 2,823 square meter property in Barangay 4, Malaybalay City, right across the Plaza Rizal in the city’s downtown area.

The governor has eyed a public-private partnership through a build-operate-transfer scheme.

He has requested to be granted authority to enter into a contract with the still unidentified developer and or private investor who is qualified to develop the project “consistent with the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 6957 as amended by Republic Act 7718 or the Build-Operate-Transfer Law.

The property has been considered idle for decades but the provincial government allowed the city’s Maranao community to use it. It is the present site of the Malaybalay Muslim Vendors Association stalls along Fortich Street, the city’s main thoroughfare.

Calingasan also wrote that the provincial government will tap the city government of Malaybalay for possible relocation assistance of the affected families and vendors presently located in the property.

In the same hearing, the provincial government also requested authority to proceed with the development of the Capitol’s proposed Panorama Heights subdivision project in Kalasungay, Malaybalay City, which was stalled earlier.

Beltran said the project was initiated during the Fortich administration, from 1998 to 2001 not as a housing project. The province just subdivided lots for sale. But buyers did not built houses yet.

“Because the light, water, road infrastructure was not built,” he added.

Calingasan has requested to use P3.089 million for the initial construction of houses for qualified buyers; and to enter into a contract of sale with the prospective buyers either on cash or installment basis. The project is proposed to be under the socialized housing project of the LGU.

Beltran said Delia Damasco, chief of the Provincial Housing Office, was invited to appear in next week’s regular session to shed light on the issue.(Walter I. Balane)

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Bukidnon revives investment, export promotion board

MALAYBALAY CITY – The Bukidnon Provincial Government has caused the reorganization of the Bukidnon Investment and Export Promotion Board, which was created back in 1995 but has never taken off, said Manny James Cudal, chair of the Bukidnon Small and Medium Enterprise Development Council.

Cudal said Bukidnon Gov. Alex Calingasan ordered the formation of the board and the creation of the Bukidnon Investment and Export Promotion Office (BIEPO) under his office to pursue the rules and regulations pushed by the Bukidnon and Incentives Code.

The Code, passed 16 years ago as Provincial Ordinance 95-03, was meant to pursue “environmentally acceptable, sustainable and equitable growth by encouraging investments that provide employment opportunities, raise the standard of living of the people of Bukidnon and provide an equitable distribution of wealth.

In an executive order signed in June, Calingasan reorganized the board to be composed of private-public stakeholders to pursue the intent of the investment code.

The board was revived also with an executive order in the administration of then Gov. Jose Ma. R. Zubiri Jr. but it did not take off.

Cudal, who Calingasan appointed as his vice-chair, told Bukidnon News the revival has long been overdue and is exactly what the province needs to attract more investors that share the vision of the stakeholders.

He said the move was welcomed by the business community. Aside from Cudal, another local business leader, Engr. Tony Decano of the Malaybalay Business Club, attended the board’s organizational meeting Wednesday afternoon at the Provincial Planning and Development Office.

He said the board will help facilitate timely business registration processes by establishing a one stop shop scheme.  There is a need to review the rules and incentives pushed in the investment code, Cudal told those present at the meeting.

Roderico Bioco, president of the Mindanao Grains Processing In., who was appointed as representative of the agriculture sector said it is a catch up move for Bukidnon to revive the investment and promotion board.

“It would be good to revive as other provinces also have programs two attract investors aggressively,” he said.

Aside from overseeing the compliance of investors to the rules of availing the investment incentives, Calingasan also tasked the board to undertake proactive investment generation and export promotion efforts, provide accurate and reliable investment data, help in the annual review of the Bukidnon Investment Priorities, initiate parallel ordinances for enactment in the 20 towns and two cities in the province, among others.

The code provided that it is the policy of the province to pursue an environmentally acceptable, sustainable, and equitable growth by encouraging both domestic and foreign investments, primarily in agriculture, forestry, manufacturing, services, non-metallic mineral mining, trade and tourism-related activities.

The code also provided for the creation of the Bukidnon Investment Grid and a list of “preferred areas of investment,” which included agriculture and forest based manufacturing, forestry-based industries, service-related industries, support-services, and mineral-based industries.

The industries listed under “mineral-based industries” included white clay processing, kitchen and earthen wares, semi-conductor, industrial lime production, construction/bricks and tiles manufacturing, and stone craft.

The Code also provided for the rights and obligations of the government and the investors, a procedure on the registration of enterprise, including requirements, and tax incentives. (Walter I. Balane)

Implementation review, planning to precede Bukidnon gov’s SOPA

MALAYBALAY CITY – Bukidnon Gov. Alex Calingasan’s State of the Province Address (SOPA) will come in way behind the others but it will be delivered after the different offices at the Capitol are done with the assessments of the past year’s performance and the planning for next year’s.

The Provincial Planning and Development Office announced this on August 9, day one of the two-day provincial implementation review and 2012 annual planning workshop at The Gardens, this city.

Ma. Carmen Unabia, head of the province’s economic enterprise development and management office (PEEDMO) said in her opening remarks that this is the first time that the provincial government is doing such scheme, although she said they had been doing it ever since in her office.

Calingasan was not around as he was having a meeting in Manila.

The workshop gathered heads of Capitol offices and divisions who were groups according thematically clustered sectors namely; infrastructure, economic, social services, and institutional development.

Gemma Borreros, workshop facilitator, clarified that they intended not to outline activity based accomplishments from each office but significant accomplishments in the sectors and subsectors considered.

Later in the workshop, she said, they will find out what factors facilitated and hindered the performance. The workshop also focused on what needs to be done and what major considerations have to be taken for 2012.

 

In his presentation of the 2010 State of the Local Governance in Bukidnon report, Jesrel Mangubat, deputy provincial planning and development coordinator, said Bukidnon has excellent performance in Human Resource Management and Development, forest ecosystem management, freshwater ecosystem management, participation, and transparency.

But the provincial government was rated “low” in support to agriculture and entrepreneurship, business, and industry promotion.

The SLGR, self-assessment tool for LGUs provided by the Department of Interior and Local Government, is a comprehensive yet concise report, which essentially discusses the LGU state of performance, productivity and development conditions
It covers the provincial government sectors covering administrative governance, social governance, economic governance, environmental governance, participation, transparency, and financial accountability.

According to the SLGR, Bukidnon has “high but not excellent” performance in peace, security and disaster risk management; development planning, revenue generation, resource utilization and allocation, urban ecosystem management, health services, support to education services, and financial accountability.

The presentation drew negative reactions from the other officers present in the workshop.

Mangubat himself admitted that the ongoing workshop dubbed provincial implementation review, not the SLGR alone should be used for planning and budgeting.

One of the sessions on Day 1 was a review on the executive-legislative agenda (ELA) where gains and pitfalls of the provincial government were identified.

Representatives from civil society, the media, tribal associations, academe, and management consultants were also invited to the workshop.(Walter I. Balane)

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Bukidnon keen on collection of DMPI P105-M tax arrears

MALAYBALAY CITY – The provincial government of Bukidnon still did not sign or authorize a compromise deal with Del Monte Philippines, Inc. over the latter’s real property tax arrears, Jeffrey Sayson, provincial legal officer, told Bukidnon News recently.

Sayson, who was also provincial administrator until July 1, said if any negotiation exists, this will go through the provincial board, which passed on Wednesday  Resolution No. 2011-048 strongly recommending the implementation of the collection of the whole real property tax from 2006 to 2010 as assessed in March 2011. Former Malaybalay City councilor Provo Antipasado assumed on July 1 as the Capitol’s new administrator.

Lawyer Marco Parpan, DMPI plantation labor relations and legal services manager told Bukidnon News on July 9 that DMPI has submitted a letter to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan on July 8 (Friday) “asking for reconsideration or recall of the demand letter.”

Parpan declined when asked for details of the firm’s position. “Our position is articulated in the letter,” he added.

According to the Provincial Treasurer’s Office’s June 7, 2011 notice of distraint to DMPI, a copy of which was obtained by Bukidnon News Friday, the provincial government is collecting P105.23 million, the whole real property tax the firm owed to the provincial government from 1992 to 2010. Bukidnon News earlier reported that the firm owes P26 million, But Sayson said it was amount, which they computed as the tax
due for the last five years, if in case the firm seeks for a compromise.

The provincial board resolution recommended “appropriate remedies” for its collection if the same is not paid voluntarily on July 7. Board member Nemesio Beltran Jr. suggested garnishment against the firm. The Provincial Treasurer’s Office issued a 30-day notice of distraint to DMPI on June 7, which expires on July 7. Sayson said DMPI has the option to file a temporary restraining order in court or submit a compromise proposal to the provincial government.

As of July 1, Sayson said, no such proposal was sent. Bukidnon News has continued to try reaching DMPI but no comment was obtained as of July 7.

In the firm’s letter to the provincial government on June 23, 2010, the firm said they are exempt from paying the real property taxes as they don’t own the lands they are using. They said they leased it from the Del Monte Employees Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative (DEARBC), who the provincial government should tax as the owner.

But they cited that the cooperative is also exempted from paying the real property, assessed as of June 2010 at P95.94 million.

“Under the Local Government Code and the new Cooperative Code of 2008, real properties owned by duly registered cooperatives such as DEARBC, are exempt from real property taxes,” DMPI said in the two-page letter signed by Luis F. Alejandro, general manager and chief operations officer.

DMPI quoted the Cooperative Code of 2008 as saying that cooperatives with accumulated reserves and undivided net savings of not more than P10 million from “all national, city, provincial, municipal, or barangay taxes of whatever name or nature.”

The firm showed that DEARBC only has P2.81 million accumulated reserve fund, thus exempted.

DMPI even cited then that the Department of Finance – Bureau of Local Government Finance (BOF-BLGF) affirmed the firm’s position that they are tax exempt.

Sayson stressed, however, that the provincial government is asserting collection based on the beneficial use principle. He said Supreme Court decisions invoke the principle of collecting tax from the one who is actually using the land, in this case DMPI, not the DEARBC.

Sayson added that the province, however, is not keen on going to court that is why the computation of P26 million emerged. He said prescription rule of coverage for collection of real property tax allows only five years.

“It (P26 million) could be the compromise tax the provincial government can accept based on the law,” he added.

But Sayson said DMPI must first admit their tax liability so they can work on the negotiations. He said DMPI might still cling on to its tax-exempt position.

He added that the P8 million alleged compromise tax due emerged after the present DMPI management allegedly inquired about the tax due in the last two years.

Sayson admitted it was a quote in response to the inquiry, not a tax compromise as no such process exists as of July 1.

Roger Guillermo, of the Provincial Treasurer’s Office, was summoned to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan last week to clarify on the firm’s tax arrears from 2006 to 2010 when Vice Gov. Jose Ma. R. Zubiri Jr. told the provincial board of an alleged negotiation with the Capitol.

Guillermo said the treasurer’s office has already issued a notice of distraint or a levy on tax debt covering personal and movable assets of the company.

Zubiri said the firm allegedly negotiated to pay only for two years at P8 million. He cited that Gov. Alex Calingasan allegedly informed him about it in a text message earlier, prompting him to ask the position of the other members of the board.

Board member Jay Albarece told Bukidnon News that Guillermo admitted that the tax arrears were under negotiation. Zubiri told Newswatch before leaving the session on June 29 that the provincial government may waive interests and penalties but not the net of a tax due. (Walter I.Balane).

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