DOJ nullifies Batangas City new realty tax ordinance

BATANGAS, Philippines – The Department of Justice (DOJ) has nullified a new ordinance of Batangas City that increases the appraisal and assessment of real property taxes.

In an eight-page resolution, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Ordinance No. 20, s. 2013, which provides an updated schedule of new market values for all real properties in Batangas City, has been found to be “legally infirm” for failing to comply with provisions of the Constitution.

Prior to the passage of the ordinance, De Lima said the city government failed to comply with the required publication, sending of notices of the proposed ordinance to the affected parties, and a public hearing duly conducted in the manner provided for in Article 276 (b) of the implementing rules of the Local Government Code of 1991.

Batangas City Mayor Eduardo Dimacuha signed the ordinance on Dec. 9 last year, barely two weeks after the city council approved it, voting 10-1-1.

Former vice mayor Jose Tolentino, however, questioned the legality of the ordinance before the DOJ, saying it was “excessive, inequitable, and confiscatory in nature.”

Based on Tolentino’s computation, the increase in valuation of some real properties ranged from 200 to 1,400 percent.

But Batangas City administrator Phillip Baroja said those opposing the ordinance should not treat the ruling as victory, claiming the losers are the students who would be deprived of additional classrooms and the poor who need social services.

Baroja said Dimacuha, the city council and the city assessor did not violate due process, saying they used the same tax rates prevailing in the general revision of market values of real property tax in Batangas City since 1994.

Under the new rates, Batangas City has so far collected P128 million in real property taxes since January, Baroja said.