24 August 2005
After Mirant, province eyes telecom, electric coops tax
LINGAYEN – Fresh from its successful negotiated settlement of its real property tax case against Mirant Philippines, where it earned a whooping P196 million in arrears and current levies from the multinational company, the provincial government of Pangasinan may just push its luck and resume efforts to go after delinquent telecommunication companies and electric cooperatives doing business in Pangasinan.
A top provincial department official told The Pangasinan Star that with the Mirant tax case out of the way, the long pending legal suit against Digitel, the telecommunications company, would be “followed up” in due time by finance and legal officers of the province.
It was learned that the tax case against Digitel already had a “final” decision a few years back .Just when the provincial government was awaiting execution of the court order however, yet another decision came, leaving the province confused as to which “final resolution” was to be implemented.
“There was apparently a legal maneuver by some influential people upstairs to correct the first final decision,” a Capitol source said.
The Pangasinan Star source also said the province is planning a more positive effort at collecting tax dues from electric cooperatives who have been banking on the exemptions granted by the Cooperatives Law to avoid paying up.
A check with the Cooperatives Development Authority (CDA) has confirmed that these electric cooperatives are not registered as such entities with that office, making their claim at exemption from local taxes “questionable at the very least,” he added.
The provincial legal office is reportedly preparing arguments for a “test case” on the electric cooperatives’ tax exemption claims, the source said.
Meanwhile, Provincial Treasurer Ramon Crisostomo said similar precedent cases in power plants of Mirant in Pagbilao, Quezon and elsewhere, where the plaintiff local governments won their tax appeal cases against the power plant operator, could have prompted Mirant to go the way of a settlement with Pangasinan.
Crisostomo, who was part of the team that pursued the case against Mirant, however said the province itself had to forego with the compounded interests on the tax dues being sought as part of the condition of Mirant to “settle.” Otherwise, he said, the case could have dragged on for more years as Mirant officials were inclined, if their “condition” was not granted, to fight it out in court.
In the end, he said, the provincial team that apprised Governor Victor E. Agbayani, of the options, decided it was in the better interest of the province to accept the settlement terms “so (that) many provincial projects can already move or resume” for the larger benefit of Pangasinenses.
The P196 million received by the provincial government two weeks ago has been duly divided, based on the set percentages of sharing, between the provincial government, the municipal government of Sual and barangay Pangascasan, the host village of the Sual Coal-Fired Power Plant of Mirant.
A top provincial department official told The Pangasinan Star that with the Mirant tax case out of the way, the long pending legal suit against Digitel, the telecommunications company, would be “followed up” in due time by finance and legal officers of the province.
It was learned that the tax case against Digitel already had a “final” decision a few years back .Just when the provincial government was awaiting execution of the court order however, yet another decision came, leaving the province confused as to which “final resolution” was to be implemented.
“There was apparently a legal maneuver by some influential people upstairs to correct the first final decision,” a Capitol source said.
The Pangasinan Star source also said the province is planning a more positive effort at collecting tax dues from electric cooperatives who have been banking on the exemptions granted by the Cooperatives Law to avoid paying up.
A check with the Cooperatives Development Authority (CDA) has confirmed that these electric cooperatives are not registered as such entities with that office, making their claim at exemption from local taxes “questionable at the very least,” he added.
The provincial legal office is reportedly preparing arguments for a “test case” on the electric cooperatives’ tax exemption claims, the source said.
Meanwhile, Provincial Treasurer Ramon Crisostomo said similar precedent cases in power plants of Mirant in Pagbilao, Quezon and elsewhere, where the plaintiff local governments won their tax appeal cases against the power plant operator, could have prompted Mirant to go the way of a settlement with Pangasinan.
Crisostomo, who was part of the team that pursued the case against Mirant, however said the province itself had to forego with the compounded interests on the tax dues being sought as part of the condition of Mirant to “settle.” Otherwise, he said, the case could have dragged on for more years as Mirant officials were inclined, if their “condition” was not granted, to fight it out in court.
In the end, he said, the provincial team that apprised Governor Victor E. Agbayani, of the options, decided it was in the better interest of the province to accept the settlement terms “so (that) many provincial projects can already move or resume” for the larger benefit of Pangasinenses.
The P196 million received by the provincial government two weeks ago has been duly divided, based on the set percentages of sharing, between the provincial government, the municipal government of Sual and barangay Pangascasan, the host village of the Sual Coal-Fired Power Plant of Mirant.
