March 8, 2008 [ Manila Bulletin Online ]
The House of Representatives vowed yesterday to plug the loopholes in revenue laws governing real property which have cost various local government units over P9.5 billion annually in losses.
In a meeting with officers of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), Speaker Prospero C. Nograles said there is a strong need for a congressional review of existing tax laws on land administration to update antiquated and slack provisions which have resulted in huge unrealized revenues.
Led by Mayor Ramon Guico Jr. of Binalonan, Pangasinan, the municipal mayors paid a courtesy call on Nograles at his office early this week.
"We support the initiative of our local government officials for Congress to pass a comprehensive remedial legislation to correct the poor collection efficiency of local property taxes," Nograles told the LMP officers.
Three House panels -- the Committees on Ways and Means, on Revision of Laws and on Oversight -- are expected to conduct the review. Also expected to be tapped for legislative action are the Committees on Government Reorganization and on Local Governments.
The local officials presented Nograles with a copy of a reform measure contained in an LMP General Assembly Resolution on Land Administration under the proposed title "Land Administration and Reform Act (LARA) bill."
Nograles said some eight bills on the subject have already been filed in the House and referred to the Committee on Government Reorganization chaired by Rep. Erico Basilio Fabian of Zamboanga City.
Authors of the bills include Reps. Rodolfo Valencia, Eduardo Zialcita, Juan Edgardo Angara, Solomon Chungalao, Ignacio Arroyo, Jose Solis, Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, and Rufus Rodriguez.
The LGU officials noted that a joint study by the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) and the National Tax Research Center (NTRC) of the Department of Finance reported that during the period 2000 to 2005, LGUs lost some R9.5 billion yearly due to poor local property tax collection.
Among the key reasons for the poor revenue input were the current inefficient collection system, understated values of assessed real properties compared to real market values, and local economic development, the local officials told Nograles.
"It is no wonder that many LGUs are dependent on national revenue transfers, particularly the yearly internal revenue allotments (IRA), because RPT collection which should be the main source of local revenues is a mere 12.5 percent of the total revenues generated by LGUs," the LMP resolution said.
The LMP-proposed LARA aims to improve, rationalize and systematize the land records, titling, documentation and information systems into an open, updated, and reliable systems.
The reforms aim to improve the delivery of land-related services to the general public and reduce delays in land document processing and releases, and at the same time enhance and improve transparency and governance in land resource and administration system by cutting down overly bureaucratic, technically-oriented land titling and registration processes in the system.
The Lower House passed the LARA bill on third reading during the 13th Congress, but the Senate panel handling the same failed to release a committee report, thus, it died with the end of the 13th Congress.
The LMP also cited the need for the enactment of a related measure pushing for a Free Patent amendment to Commonwealth Act 141 or the Public Land Act.
