During his recent State of the City Address (SOCA), Mayor Aniano P. Antalan revealed that the Island Garden City of Samal is now a 4th class city instead of the previously held 3rd class designation. They fell P1 million short of the 3rd class ranking due to uncollected taxes. The largest portion of those delinquent taxes belonging to Ekran Berhad for the vacant Samal Casino.

The mayor seems set to finally take some action on the long overdue taxes for the casino.

“After 10 years and they still refuse to pay, we will sell their properties through public auction,” Antalan said in a brief interview after his Soca.

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He added that they were able to collect only 30 percent of the amount due in real property taxes last year. However, he stressed they are going after the delinquent tax payers and enforce the law on them.

Others items of interest from the SOCA:

  • Igacos also geared up for the age of technology by turning the City hall compound into a wifi hot spot. Internet connections were installed in three district halls including Philippine National Police (PNP) and bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) stations.
  • Igacos is also the biggest employer with 547 regular employees, two casual workers and 62 co-terminuous positions.
  • The island city also granted funds to the Igacos Water District. As of the present, only 12 of the 46 barnagays in Igacos are managed by Igacos Water District. The rest are still managed by different barangays.
  • As part of maintaining law and order, Igacos also released six Honda XRM motorcycles, six mountain bikes and nine Taurus pistols to its PNP personnel. The city government also launched bike Patrol and Bantay Turista to ensure the safety of residents and tourists.
  • The Official Site of IGaCoS – IGACOS SET TO COLLECT P30M FROM DELIQUENT TAX PAYERS – article no longer avaialableFull text of the SOCA is unfortunately not in English, but if you speak Bisayan you can read it here:The Official Site of IGaCoS – SOCA of Mayor Aniano P. Antalan – article no longer available

    Photo credit: flickr|keith bacongco

 

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