QC vice mayor defends housing tax

MANILA, Philippines - Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte appealed yesterday for compassion from the rich in the proposed additional tax on real property to fund socialized housing projects for informal settlers.

“We are appealing to the compassion of homeowners. This is good for all of us,” Belmonte, who is also the presiding officer of the city council, said in a press conference.

Belmonte said the richer residents must act like a “brother’s keeper” to the less fortunate.

In a press conference attended by city councilors, the vice mayor defended the proposed ordinance, saying that it is pro-poor and pro-development.

“They (informal settlers) want something, a house of their own...that they can afford. But there is nothing in the market for them,” she said.

Belmote cited the high market value of condominium units and other available housing projects.

The measure, authored by Councilor Edcel Lagman Jr., will add a P500 additional tax on all real property in Quezon City with an assessed value of P100,000 or more.

According to Lagman, the funds from the additional tax will be returned to the paying residents in the form of tax credits to be granted after five years of continuous payment.

“In effect, we are just borrowing the money, so the paying residents don’t lose anything,” he said.

The proposed additional tax is aimed at reducing the number of informal settlers in Quezon City, according to the city council.

Lagman noted that 42 percent of Quezon City residents are informal settlers.

The additional fee will be implemented for five years and to be used as funding for social housing projects for “priority” informal settlers – those residing along waterways, under bridges, and near transmission lines.

“This is absolutely necessary, because if we use the city’s coffers for all its needs, we will end up with a budget deficit,” Lagman said.

Under the proposed measure, informal settlers who have been relocated will face prosecution if they go back to where they used to live.

Minority Floor Leader Councilor Eufemio Lagumbay, meanwhile, said only 26 percent of residents will be affected by the specially assessed new tax. He explained that the tax will be implemented based on the scale of the property and its market value.