Saturday, November 01, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
THE Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) said it is open to a tax compromise over the surrendered 18.5-hectare Payanig sa Pasig property, a high official of the commission said Friday.
Narciso Nario, the commission’s acting chairman, made that statement after the Court of Appeals (CA) upheld the PCGG’s position that the Pasig City government has no right to tax a property of the national government.
“It was a legal battle and we were able to prove in court that indeed the Payanig property belongs to the State. The CA has spoken and that the Pasig City government has no right to tax a government property.” Nario said.
He also disclosed that the commission wanted to get the Ortigas clan into a deal on the surrendered property.
The appellate court earlier reversed its March 31 ruling declaring as legal the Pasig City government’s warrant of levy after the previous property owner, Mid-Pasig Land Development Corp. and the Independent Realty Corp., failed to pay more than P389 million in taxes for the past 18 years.
The local government of Pasig City auctioned off the property on December 2, 2005.
The appellate court stressed that since the said property belongs to the national government, the local government of Pasig City cannot exercise its taxing power over it.--James Konstantin Galvez
_______________________________________________________________
