Osmeña changes mind, won't tax aircons

Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday changed his mind from pursuing his plan to tax all airconditioners in both residential and commercial establishments.

But this time, Osmeña said he is considering a radical idea of taxing electricity consumers a certain percentage out of their monthly power bills.

"We will tax on your electricity consumption in lieu of taxing airconditioners. This way, it reduces the opportunity of corruption because you cannot fake your electricity bills," the mayor said.

Although the mayor is batting for the idea, he said he is not sure whether this is legal.

Osmeña said that taxing electricity consumption would discourage indiscriminate use of energy because those who consume less power would also pay lesser taxes.

The mayor thinks that charging power consumption should be made in lieu of taxing real property improvements. - Mitchelle P. Calipayan