CH told to pursue taxing Capitol-run bus terminals

CEBU, Philippines — Prior to the serving of his six-month preventive suspension order yesterday, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said over his regular online program that the City Government would pursue going after operators of terminals that have not secured pertinent business permits.

Rama, through the City Hall’s Sugboanon Channel “Ingnang Mayor”, first commended the Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO) for its efforts that paved the way to the issuance of show cause orders to terminals being operated without business permits.

These terminals include the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT) and the Cebu North Bus Terminal (NSBT), which are operated by the Cebu Provincial Government, and privately-owned terminals at Ayala Center Cebu and Cebu IT Park.

The Capitol, however said, CSBT and CNBT are not subject to the taxing authority of the Cebu City Government as they are operated by a local government unit and are not a form of business but part of legitimate public service operations.

 “The Show Cause Order has no legal basis to stand on. The bus terminals are not businesses. These are public services nga ang Province maoy naghatag para sa publiko,” said Capitol Legal Consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda in presser.

He said the same ordinance, or the “Omnibus Tax Ordinance of the City of Cebu” defines a “business” as “a commercial activity customarily engaged in as a means of livelihood and typically involving some independence of judgment and power of decision.”

“Dili man ni livelihood ang amoa. This is service, public service. Kinsa may gi-cater ani? Ang publiko nga gikan sa Probinsya, ang taga Syudad nga mongadto sa Probinsya,” also said Provincial Legal Officer Atty. Donato Villa, Jr.

He said that should bus terminals turn out profits, these are incidental to its but  are not its main consideration.

 “From the Local Government Code pa lang daan, they are not allowed to collect taxes here sa Province of Cebu as an LGU also. Their Show Cause Order doesn’t have a leg to stand on because an LGU cannot tax another LGU,” said Atty. Angelica Arnaiz of the Provincial Legal Office also said.

Capitol lawyers according to Sugbo News, Capitol’s news network, also questioned the timing of the notices since this is the first time that these issues are raised by the City Hall for all the years that the bus terminals have been operational.

The CSBT was built as part of the project components under the Metro Cebu Development Project Phase 1 (MCDP I) wherein the Regional Development Council, through the National Government, entered into a loan agreement with Japan’s Official Development Assistance (JODA) to fund the said project.

CNBT’s old location in Mandaue City, on the other hand was built as part of the Phase 2 of MCDP.  The construction was completed by October 1994 with 24 bus lanes and 27 jeepney lanes.

In 2012, the Cebu Provincial Government, under Gov. Gwen Garcia, proposed that the province takeover the terminal’s operations.

Yesterday, Mayor Rama said terminal operators, including the Capitol, should not make any excuses.

“It can never be as an excuse that you’re doing service that you’ll be exempted. You are raking what we call, profit. Come on, you cannot have your cake and eat it too. That (collection of taxes) has to be pursued,” he said. (CEBU NEWS)