Porac Mayor Jing Capil fields questions at CAMI Balitaan. Photo by Bong Lacson
CLARK FREEPORT — The Municipality of Porac is now demanding what it said is its “rightful share” on the gross income earned (GIE) on registered business enterprises operating within the Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ).
During the media forum “Balitaan” organized by the Capampangan in Media, Inc. in cooperation with the Clark Development Corp. at the Bale Balita here last Friday, Porac Mayor Jaime “Jing” V. Capil said Porac has not received any share on the GIE since the law was enacted.
Republic Act 7227 otherwise known as the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992 governs the operations of the then Clark Special Economic Zone. Section 15 of RA 7227 as amended states that “… no national and local taxes shall be imposed on registered business enterprises within the CFZ. In lieu of said taxes, a 5 percent tax on gross income earned shall be paid by all registered business enterprises within the CFZ and shall be directly remitted as follows: 3 percent to the National Government and 2 percent to the treasurer’s office of the municipality or city where they are located.”
In Mabalacat City, former executive overseer Edgar “Guy” Hilbero who was in charge of liaison with CFZ from 2007 to 2017, said Mabalacat’s GIE collection started at only P80 million. But the GIE increased annually and by the time he resigned in 2017, it ballooned to P600 million.
But Hilbero said when the Supreme Court declared the sharing unconstitutional and Clark became a freeport, only the cities of Mabalacat and Angeles were the only ones getting their share from the two percent GIE.
Capil said if there is any tax collected on GIE from any business enterprises within the CFZ, the GIE should and must proportionally accrue to all five component LGUs –the cities of Mabalacat and Angeles and the municipalities of Porac, Capas and Bamban.
“We strongly urge the leadership of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority and the CDC to revisit the distribution of the LGU share of the taxes collected on GIE as to the ambiguity in the application of the phrase the municipality or city where the business is located,” Capil said.
