Taguig schooled on Makati Park issue

Taguig schooled on Makati Park issue | Daily Tribune

The Makati City legal officer yesterday said the Makati Park and Garden do not need a permit as the property was awarded through a presidential proclamation.

Atty. Don Camiña, the city legal officer of Makati, pointed out that Taguig is wrong in insisting that Makati needs to secure a business permit to operate Makati Park.

He said facilities owned by national government agencies and local government units are exempt from paying business and other taxes.

The property has also been awarded by the national government to Makati by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 1916 signed by then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on 14 October 2009, Camiña said.

The proclamation has not been nullified and remains valid, according to the Supreme Court decision in G.R. No. 235316, he added.

The exemption from local taxes is contained in Section 133 of the Local Government Code which identifies the limits of a local government’s power to impose taxes.

The provision states “Unless otherwise provided herein, the exercise of the taxing powers of provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays shall not extend to the levy of the following: xxx (46) Taxes, fees or charges, of any kind on the National Government, its agencies and instrumentalities, and local government units.”

Camiña said Makati does not collect business taxes from the City of Manila, which owns the Manila South Cemetery located in Makati.

He also pointed out that by insisting that Makati needs to secure a permit for the park, Taguig has effectively confirmed that Makati is the rightful owner of the park.

“Taguig has confirmed our long-held position that the park and other facilities in the EMBOs are owned by Makati. But we expect Taguig to reverse its position soon,” he said.

He also reiterated Makati’s position that the decision of the Supreme Court involved a boundary dispute. “The Supreme Court decision only granted Taguig territorial jurisdiction over the 10 EMBO barangays. It did not transfer to Taguig ownership of properties owned by the City of Makati,” he said.

Earlier, Makati called out Taguig for its childish, arrogant and reckless actions, which can gravely undermine the ongoing efforts of the national government to attract foreign investments.

“How can foreign investors feel secure and protected when a local government in Metro Manila can behave with little regard for the law and the legal process?” Makati asked.

The city government also reiterated its call for the concerned national agencies to censure Taguig for its actions.

“Taguig is a bully. They claim to own what is not theirs. They twist the law and use force to seize properties owned by another,” it said.