QC realty taxes hiked to coddle squatters

Quezon City Councilor Edcel Lagman Jr., son and namesake of the House minority leader, filed a proposed ordinance increasing the real estate taxes in Quezon City. It was then passed, no, railroaded by the city council so quickly that it surprised everybody, Quezon City taxpayers most of all. There was no public hearing. Property owners, who would have to pay the higher taxes, were not asked what they think of the proposal. There was no debate on the floor of the council. The bill was railroaded (yes, that is the correct word) so fast, nobody had the opportunity to protest.

Quezon City residents are already the highest taxed in the Philippines, but the city council still wants to bleed them some more.

Why increase taxes when the Quezon City government already has too much money that councilors and other city officials, and even barangay officials, are having a field day helping themselves to the money?

It is for the construction of high-rise dwellings for the squatters, said Lagman.

But the city government already has more than P2 billion (that’s billion) in the banks, why not use that first?

Maybe the councilors are reserving that huge amount of money for themselves. Do you know that aside from generous allowances, the councilors also have pork barrel allocations just like the members of Congress? What are they doing with all that money? Each of them employs more than a hundred ghost employees. Guess who collects their salaries. And why would a councilor need 100 employees? A case of graft is now being heard by the Ombudsman.

And what have the councilors to show for all the money the taxpayers are paying them? Flower boxes with their initials etched on tiles cemented to the sides of the boxes; concrete pylons at the boundaries of each barangay with the name of the councilor engraved on them as if it is the Ten Commandments; waiting sheds with the name of the councilor painted in big, bold letters on the roof; innumerable signs hanging dangerously (and illegally) from electric wires with the words “Happy Fiesta,” “Congratulations graduates,” etc., and the name of the councilor prominently displayed; basketball courts in the middle of streets; barangay halls encroaching on sidewalks, etc.

All of these were paid with taxes from Quezon City residents, some of whom can hardly pay the onerous taxes being levied by the city government. And what do these taxpayers get in return from their government? Nothing. On the contrary, the Quezon City government does not help taxpayers to eject squatters from their land. The Quezon City councilors and barangay officials coddle the squatters, who are their protégés. And the unkindest cut of all, there is now this attempt to increase realty taxes some more.

In exchange for the taxes exacted from the citizens, the government is supposed to protect their properties and lives and provide other services they need. Is the Quezon City government doing that? No!

Ironically, constructing high-rise buildings for the squatters won’t solve Quezon City’s squatter problem. On the contrary, it would attract more squatters. Where can you find a city where you squat on somebody else’s property, don’t pay any tax or rent at all, and the city government still gives you a condo unit? Only in Quezon City.

Who will benefit from such a harebrained idea at the expense of property owners? The professional squatters, the opportunists and the protégés of barangay officials.

It is no secret that it is the councilors and barangay officials who make the squatting problem worse. It is the barangay that is supposed to be the first line of defense against the entry of new squatters. But it is the barangay officials and the councilors themselves who bring in more squatters during election time so that they will vote for them. No barangay official or councilor will voluntarily eject squatters because that would mean less votes for them, higher realty taxes or not.

And by paying more realty taxes, will the property owners be assured that the squatters will return the lots to them? Or will that just encourage more of them to come in?

What about the back taxes that the property owners were unable to pay because squatters are occupying their properties? Will the city government give them a tax amnesty in exchange for the higher taxes they will have to pay?

Will the city government protect them from landgrabbers instead of sending its policemen to help the landgrabbers grab their homes from them?

Will the councilors, barangay officials and other city hall officials stop raiding the city treasury to fatten their pockets? Will they give more services to the taxpayers? Will they build more hospitals in Quezon City? Manila has five public hospitals but Quezon City, which is much bigger and richer than Manila, has only one, and in such poor state that patients die when they enter it.

The really poor squatters should be helped, yes, but not the professional squatters and opportunists. You see these opportunists operating prosperous stores and shops, in spite of which they don’t pay any rent to the lot owner and no tax to the city government. Drive by a squatter colony at night and you will see all the vehicles double-parked on the streets, and see all the television antennas on the roofs.

And in this new bonanza being planned by the Quezon City administration at the expense of taxpayers, the beneficiaries will surely be the opportunists and the protégés of politicians.

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NOTICE: It has come to my attention that there are persons dropping my name for their unsavory activities. I ask them to please stop it and for the public not to pay attention to them. I have not authorized anybody to speak for me. There is a law against name-dropping and violators should be prosecuted.

The next time somebody drops my name, please let me know. Thank you very much.