IT’S BEEN about two months now since we last took up in this column the issue on the still undistributed garbage bins allocated in some rural barangays in the third district and probably in the other areas within the suburban portions of the city.
We do not know if then City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio was so busy with her campaign for the country’s Vice Presidency or that none of her people at the City environment and Natural Resources Office (City ENRO) ever read the item. Yes, until now the huge trash bins are still piled in the corners of the recipient barangays covered court or within the vicinity of the barangay hall. And these were delivered some three years ago since we remember the deliveries were made before the pandemic hit the city.
The garbage bins were bought with people’s money and we are certain its over-all cost is by no means enormous. Yet the local government of the city seems unaware of the situation that none of its critical offices as far as maintaining sanitation is concerned, is not doing its job. The bins are clear indications of ineptitude of certain officials and seemingly the person’s or persons’ unworthy attitude has so far escaped the attention of the city’s top executive. We have asked several barangay captains of recipient villages why until now the bins are still lying idle with some of its cover already detached. Their answers were similar. It is the City ENRO that is tasked to re-distribute the trash bins in strategic areas where the collection of disposed garbage will be made easier for the collectors. In other words the barangays’ responsibility is simply to safe-keep the city’s properties. After all the barangay government does not have the means such as trucks to load the bins on, and to haul the same and bring the garbage to the designated dump site.
Now we have a new City Mayor in Sebastian “Baste” Duterte. We are hoping that he will be able to get notice of this problem and do something about it. We know that as mayor he can easily move the City ENRO people into action and have the issue resolved.
We believe Baste is very much aware that his failure to solve this mess in the distribution of the garbage bins will reflect his leadership, small though the problem is.
We are identifying here at least two trash bin recipient barangays if the mayor would want to validate the issue himself or through any of his trusted men. The two are barangays Biao Escuela and Talandang, all in Tugbok District.
We are closely keeping watch of the action to be taken by the mayor as far as this issue is concerned. If nothing will be done about this then how can we expect the new mayor of the city to make good his promise to pursue all big ticket projects for the city?
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We have no doubt that newly assumed President of the Philippines Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. by now is figuratively breaking his head to find measures with which the national government will have new sources of income from taxes amidst the burgeoning foreign debts of the country. In fact Marcos Jr. is struggling to deal with the mass clamor for the suspension, even if for temporary only, of the excise tax or reduction in Value Added Tax (VAT) on oil products.
Personally we believe that there is one area worth looking into by our lawmakers as potential alternative source of revenue if the administration will decide to suspend temporarily the excise tax. We are also recommending that any of our three congressmen in Davao City and in the other areas of the Davao Region to initiate the study as to its feasibility.
And what is this potential source of huge government income? We are referring to the now proliferating on-line selling businesses. No, we are not so keen on the small-time and fledgling on-line sellers. We are eyeing the more dominant ones which we can already consider them as mall establishments in the cyber space.
How many millions or even billions pesos worth of transactions are these giant on-line marketers doing on daily basis? Are their consummated deals levied the corresponding sales taxes?
Does the government have the necessary regulations that can make them accountable for whatever tax these giant on-line sellers are supposed to pay former? Does the BIR have the support legislation that will authorize the agency to conduct audit of the on-line malls’ taxable income? Remember, the issue on the absence of the provision on government’s authority to audit businesses in the San Miguel Bulacan Airport is the reason why Marcos Jr. vetoed the tax incentives bill covering company locators in the area.
For now we do not have even an iota of idea whether the government has all these tools to collect what is due for it from this kind of business that had expanded to the maximum especially during the height of the CoViD 19 pandemic.
