JOEL P. MAPILES
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO —Citing the outdated municipal tax fee for environment and garbage, Pampanga Governor Lilia G. Pineda enjoined all Sangguniang Bayans (SBs) in the province to amend and revise the existing revenue tax code and adopt it to the urgent and existing needs of their localities.
The Governor made this statement during the recently concluded two- day seminar on business permits and licensing system (BPLS) reforms in 2010 jointly sponsored by the Departments of Trade and Industry (DTI), Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Provincial Investment and Promotion Office (PIPO).
At present, commercial establishments pay from P30 to P100 annual fee only for environment and garbage as required by local revenue tax code.
“If we consider the P8,000 hauling fee for every truck load of garbage from the source to the sanitary landfill and the huge daily volume of garbage, the annual fee for environment and garbage is very much outdated and needs to be revised and updated.”
The Governor called on the members of the SBs in various municipalities of the province to pass resolutions updating the garbage tax collection among commercial establishments which is a “mere P100 per year” and which is therefore “very much outdated”.
She added that for businesses to flourish, a sanitary environment that is conducive to conducting transactions in comfort is necessary to win people over; and for that matter, a garbage disposal and solid waste management system to be efficient, businesses should be prepared to spend for it.
The province produces some 440 metric tons of garbage daily and which would need some P330 million a year for its proper disposal.
To this, the Governor called on the support of all concerned sectors, from the local government units to business establishment owners to every household member in the communities to practice proper waste segregation and management.
“If we could to this, malaking tulong ito sa solid waste management ng probinsiya,” Pineda said as she stressed that people in the communities should be oriented further on waste segregation.
She added that local government units should include in their list of priorities solid waste management and revised revenue tax code.
Municipal treasurers, licensing officers and planning and development coordinators throughout the province participated in the said seminar held at the Civil Service Commission conference room at the Capitol compound in the City of San Fernando.
