Real estate developer gives up land to Capitol to settle P38 million tax delinquency
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu provincial government will be taking over the ownership of parcels of land from a real property developer in Cebu in lieu of 20 years worth of unpaid real property taxes.
This is after the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) has authorized Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to enter a Memorandum of Agreement with Sta. Lucia Realty and Development Inc. (SLRDI) for the transfer of the ownership of the properties.
According to the records filed in the PB, SLRDI has unpaid real property tax amounting to P38,381,505.73. The tax delinquency covers the years 1997 to 2017.
“In the course of real estate development, Sta. Lucia Realty and Development Inc. (SLRDI) has incurred indebtedness in favor of the Province of Cebu in terms of real property taxes over the Royale Cebu Estates and Greenville heights, both located in Casili, Consolacion, Cebu and El Monteverde Subdivision located at Lamac, Consolacion,” reads the resolution authored by Board Member Raul Bacaltos.
During the settlement of the tax obligations, SLRDI purportedly offered to pay its liabilities to the province by transferring certain parcels of land to the Capitol’s ownership by way of dacion en pago (in lieu of).
Bacaltos’ resolution, however, did not specify the location of the parcels of land due for transfer of ownership.
The process of transferring the ownership of the lands to the provincial government has started in the term of former governor and now Vice Governor Hilario Davide III.
Davide was given authority by the 14th Sangguniang Panlalawigan through Resolution no. 85-2018. However, the transfer of the properties has not been completed yet due to the change in administration following the May 2019 elections.
“The province of Cebu, under the administration of then Gov. Hilario P. Davide III authorized under Resolution no. 85-2018, and have initiated course of actions necessary for the foregoing but was not completed due to the change of administraion, hence, the intended transfer of properties by way of Dacion en Pago has not yet been effected in favor of the Province of Cebu,” Bacaltos resolution reads. /bmjo
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