Capitol’s local income drops by 31 percent

CEBU, Philippines — The Province of Cebu has incurred at least 31 percent loss in local revenue from January to August this year compared to the same period last year as per the second quarter report of the Provincial Treasurer’s Office.

As of last month, the province’s total earnings from locally-sourced income was only P617,252,0393.88. The amount was 31.04 percent lower compared to the P895,026,62.47 last year.

Provincial treasurer Atty. Roy Salubre said that bulk of the income last year came from the sale of Cebu International Convention Center to the City of Mandaue. The Province of Cebu earned a total of P300 million from the sale.

According to Salubre, the sale raised the revenue standard last year which explains the decrease in this year’s local income. The revenue breakdown recorded a decline in the earnings from both the tax and non-tax revenues—P185,486,118.48. Last year’s amount was P189,700,896.12.

Based on the treasurer’s report, the Capitol collected a total of P144, 230,402.64 from tax revenues while P41,255,715.84 from non-tax revenues. The figures are slightly lower compared to last year’s P145,195,113.73 and P44,505,782.39, respectively.

Tax revenues include amusement tax, franchise tax, professional tax, real property tax, and business tax, including fines and penalties.

Non-tax revenues on the other hand came from regulatory fees like quarry permits, registration, inspection, affiliation, clearance and certification, etc.

The Cebu South Bus Terminal and the district hospitals both reported a slight increase in revenue.

The terminal earned P43,524,133.90 higher by almost one percent compared to the P43,122,821.09 last year.

The district hospitals on the other hand reported an income of P247,671,155.68 or 1.34 percent higher than the P244,401,628.55 last year. (FREEMAN)