Duque lashed city hall after Lim's expose' of colleges

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"Both of them posed that if Phinma –runned-University of Pangasina paid P2 million out of its gross income of P275 million last year, why not Lyceum and University of Luzon paid almost the same amount instead of the P50 thousand and P44 thousands, respectively?"- Mata

By MARIO MATA

I could not understand the reasons of the colleges in Dagupan City that were exposed by Mayor Benjie S. Lim at his recent State of the City Address.

If they are not obliged to pay their business taxes, why they still pay their last year’s dues in January 2011?

Incase they are exempted by law, why they did not “pay it under protest” as what the tax law mandates them to do?

On the 1992 ruling of the Department of Finance of the case of San Beda College that has been zealously cited by the managements of University of Luzon, Lyceum Northwestern University, and Colegio de Dagupan on their letter of protest to the mayor and the city council in February 18, 2011 that they are insulated to pay the mayor’s fees, for Christ sake it was about the mayor’s fees and not the business tax that Mayor Lim enunciated at the SOCA.

In the SOCA Lim said “All of these x x x are of the same size, and more or less, have similar student populations. In 2010, one of the schools declared gross sales of P275 million and paid about 2 million in Business Taxes. The second school declared gross sales of P46 million and paid approximately 342,000 pesos in business taxes; while the third school declared gross sales of P1.5 million, and paid 50,000 pesos in business taxes."

In the earlier press conference this columnist attended with Lim and Administrator Vlad Mata, both of them posed that if Phinma –runned-University of Pangasina paid P2 million out of its gross income of P275 million last year, why not Lyceum and University of Luzon paid almost the same amount instead of the P50 thousand and P44 thousands, respectively?

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The city government should open their books, and throw these to them big time incase they are found to have manipulated their taxes that many suspected they have been doing it since time immemorial.

The Constitution says that exemptions can only apply to school who are non-profit and who “actually, directly and exclusively used of xxx educational purposes (Section 28 (3 of Article XIV).

While Colegio de Dagupan is a non-profit institution, LNU and UL are proprietary thus they have the burden of proof to prove these otherwise.

If UPang paid a staggering P2 million, does its big time tax lawyers hired by corporate entity Phinma are crazy as it pays without basis their dues to the City Government?

A lawyer told me that these colleges were quoting baseless laws on exemptions because they were caught red handed “of their alleged mis-declaration.

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Look what I got here!

My source said that he asked Atty. Gonzalo Duque, co-owner of Lyceum Northwestern University, if he has a basis for it not to pay the business taxes billed to him by City Hall.

Duque told him that his basis is the Constitution.

My source told Atty. Duque that the Constitution says “actually, directly and exclusively” for educational purposes.

My source asked him if all the net incomes of Lyceum are actually, directly, and exclusively being used for educational purposes as what the Constitution mandates.

Atty.Duque answered affirmatively. He even cited Marikina City as she exempted all schools there not to pay business taxes.

Moreover, Duque trained his guns to Mayor Lim by posing: “What does the city has done to help the city colleges and universities? The city government could not even solve the pile garbage that emit obnoxious smells at the back of our school in Tapuac”

When asked why he and the owner of U.L still paid the tax when they are exempted by law? And why UPang paid P2 million as it’s due?

Duque said because people there at UPang are stupid. Why would they pay a tax where the law exempts them?

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You might be wondering why Colegio de Dagupan  (CdD) was not mentioned in the SOCA?

Was it paying the correct taxes thus it was not exposed there?

According to insiders at the City Hall, CdD has long applied with the government as a non-profit institution.

Many, particularly those opinion writers in the media, could not believe this “chutzpah”.

If the city hall suspects the status of CdD as non-profit, the burden of proof is on the former to investigate it by opening its books. City hall, as what I heard it is bent to do it, would prove that its owner Mr. Voltaire Arzadon have reverted all the incomes it derived to the improvement of CdD  and not pocket it.

(You can read my previous columns at http://dagupenosnews.blogspot.com/ or  contact me at mata_mario@yahoo.com.ph)