A funeral firm yesterday filed a petition before the Bacolod Regional Trial Court seeking the declaration of the new Bacolod Revenue Code as illegal and of no force and effect, and for it to permanently prohibit the respondents from enforcing it.

The petition was filed by Rolling Hills Memorial Park Inc. through its stockholder, former Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella, against the City of Bacolod and his political rival, Evelio Leonardia, in his capacity as city mayor of Bacolod.

The petition was being filed in a timely manner after the prescribed administrative remedy had been exhausted, the document filed before the RTC said.

Rolling Hills had filed an appeal against the City of Bacolod and Leonardia before the Department of Justice on January 26 questioning the legality of the Bacolod Revenue Code, but on February 13 it received a letter dated January 27 from the DOJ Secretary stating that its appeal had been dismissed.

The petition filed before the RTC yesterday said “the unjustified and excessive increase in tax rates under the Bacolod Revenue Code will have a negative and adverse impact on commerce and industry in Bacolod City.”

It also said that the Bacolod Revenue Code would undoubtedly inflict an unnecessary burden on taxpayers and consumers alike, adversely affect the business climate of Bacolod City and discourage the entry of new investors.

Puentevella said his Rolling Hills appeal before the DOJ was dismissed on a technicality. He paid a filing fee of P2,500 for which he was given a receipt, only to be told that his appeal was dismissed because his payment was short of P25, Puentevella said.

“Something is wrong at the DOJ,” he said, because he should have been quoted the proper amount when he first filed the appeal.

Puentevella said the DOJ, in dismissing his appeal, said it was without prejudice to its being refiled in a court of competent jurisdiction, that is why he was at the RTC yesterday.

He paid a filing fee of P4,430 at the Bacolod RTC Clerk of Court’s Office for Civil Case 1213919 for “declaration of nullity of ordinance and injunction/prohibition.”

Puentevella noted that the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Bacolod Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a militant transport group also have appeals before the DOJ questioning the revised Revenue Code of Bacolod.

Puentevella insisted that the law provides the local revenue code can only increase local taxes by 10 percent every five years, not by huge increases beyond the capacity of the business sector.

MAYOR REACTS

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said he wonders why Puentevella filed a case before the Bacolod RTC when he was told that he had appealed the DOJ dismissal of his original appeal.

“Now he is seeking another forum, we think this is a case of forum- shopping,” he said.

“It is ridiculous that somebody who has a pending plunder case involving P50.5 million that he deposited in his personal account, according to Commission on Audit findings, would not even pay P25 for filing fees,” Leonardia said, referring to the funds for the Southeast Asian Games that turned up in Puentevella’s account at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation.

The mayor said he believes the councilors passed the Revenue Code ordinance on the basis of legal findings. Puentevella filed his petition only against Leonardia and did not include the SP that had proposed and passed the ordinance.

“The revenue code is legal until proven otherwise,” Leonardia stressed.

Puentevella’s action suffers from lack of trust and confidence of the business community because, inspite of his attempts to ask them to join him, not a single soul did, Leonardia said, noting that the business groups opted to file their own appeals separately.

“We need the new Revenue Code to deliver services. What we had was a 19-year-old revenue code that was obsolete. We needed to update the code to be relevant to a more sophisticated and progressive city now,” he said.

And regardless of all the appeals filed before the DOJ, the mayor said the city government through, Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson and the business community, are still working on finding a common ground that they can agree on without the need for court intervention.

STRONG DEFENSE

Sayson said he is not surprised that Puentevella filed the petition in Court, but believes they have a very strong defense. “We complied with all the requirements under the Local Government Code,” he said.

“We believe the city will be absolved of the complaint filed against the passage of the Revenue Code. There is a DILG-DOF memorandum calling the attention of LGUs to update revenue codes,” he added.

Taxes are the lifeblood of government and are needed to carry out services for the people, he said, adding that the LGC allows the increase of such taxes.

“This is our first compliance, and we believe we are not yet covered by the 10 percent mandatory increase set by the LGC. We will be covered by the 10 percent limit in the next increase,” Sayson added.*CPG

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