ANGELES CITY – Mayor Edgardo “Ed” Pamintuan on Wednesday defended the improved collection of locally generated taxes at P504.526 million in 2011, the highest-ever in this city’s history.
In SMS text messages, Pamintuan said “I did not increase taxes” as alleged by Pampanga 1st District Rep. Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin, who earlier said his seeking the city mayorship in 2013 was borne by the business sector’s complaints of “high and exorbitant taxes.”
The first-term mayor, in his several text messages to Punto Central Luzon, stressed that “I am answering Tarzan’s wrong allegations to bring out the truth and be transparent and with utmost consideration and respect to my friend and pare.”
Pamintuan said the collection of taxes had improved primarily due to the removal of the “one for you, one for me and one for them” partition in the assessment of gross income taxes allegedly practiced in the past administration.
Based on the report of the City Treasurer’s Office to Pamintuan, Lazatin’s collection on his last full year as mayor in 2007 was P223.733 million.
Lazatin served for three-terms, from 1998 to June 30, 2007.
Nepomuceno, on the other hand, had a collection of P401.64 million in his last full year as mayor in 2009.
Nepomuceno won in 2007 but was defeated by Pamintuan in 2010. The report excluded the income from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).
“I only requested businessmen to keep their gross income reported closer to the truth. It was an honest-to-goodness declaration of their sales income,” said Pamintuan.
“Manwala ku nung ating mag-report keng metung a meat stall na ing apisali namu patingapun metung yamung buntuk babi? Meaning ing abli patingapun katumbas nyamu metung a manuk? (Will I believe that one meat stall sold only one pig head in one day? Meaning the stall’s daily gross sale amounted to the price of only one whole chicken),” said Pamintuan in a text message.
“The closer to the truth” assessment of annual gross income was handled by City Administrator Atty. Dennis Albert Pamintuan, said the mayor.
“We didn’t raise taxes, percentage and tax base is the same, what we did was to request the taxpayers to pay the right taxes if they want me to introduce improvement in the city and pay debts of the past administration (Nepomuceno’s).
It will be to deliver social services, including programs on health, education, infrastructure and environment,” said Pamintuan. “Their taxes will go back to them in projects.”
The mayor said the assessment of his city administrator “had not even spared close friends who own big businesses in Angeles City and even relatives,” including his son, Councilor Edu Pamintuan, who son co-owns the Kebab Express restaurant.
