Antique Capitol Is Financially Stable

"The provincial government of Antique is financially stable", answered provincial treasurer Sherlita Mahandog when asked by Board Member Calixto Zaldivar III.

"The finances of the provincial government are alright as the salaries of the employees are paid on time. As soon as the payrolls and the Authority to Credit are signed by the governor, the employees can withdraw their salary in their ATMs immediately," Mahandog assured Zaldivar.

With regards to the additional bonus that the employees of the Antique provincial government are expecting, she said "there are no guidelines yet from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) neither from the Office of the President."

Mahandog said that the payroll for the remaining Christmas bonus has already been prepared and the employees can already avail of it as soon as Gov. Exequiel B. Javier had signed the Authority to Credit", revealed Mahandog.

She was invited last week by the Antique Sangguniang Panlalawigan to shed light on the status of the collection of Real Property Tax specifically that of Semirara Coal Corporation in the municipality of Caluya as per Resolution sponsored by Senior Board Member Edgar Denosta in relation to the Order of the Supreme Court in 2007 that Semirara Coal Corporation pays real property taxes.

She told the board members that the mining firm and the municipal government of Caluya executed a compromise agreement on Nov. 17, 2003 for a re-computation of tax assessment of the identified properties of Semirara Coal Corporation.

"After a series of consultations last year, the reassessment of the properties of the mining firm resulted to the reduction of RPT collectible from P82 million to just over P46 million," reported Mahandog.

"Based on this final computation, they are sending the final demand for payment of the RPT through the municipal treasurer of Caluya to compel Semirara Coal Corporation to pay the taxes due", she added.

In 2009, the mining firm wanted to avail of the tax amnesty program of the provincial government which was to help the victims of Typhoon Frank.

"We told the officials of Semirara Coal Corporation that they are not entitled to it," stressed Mahandog.

The provincial government’s share in the RPT is 35 percent. (PNA) /MP