Thank God for Mayors Lim and Braganza

by Mario Mata
The scathing remarks thrown by our leaders to each other in Dagupan City were really a treat. The more they "badmouth" each other, the more Dagupan become an exciting place to live just like Benghazi in Libya.
Here some for the consumptions of my, ahem, readers here and abroad:
 “I could term Benjie (Lim, mayor of Dagupan) as ignorant for all the things that schools have done for the development of our city.  I think Benjie should not be so rash in condemning us because of the role we have in playing for the development of our city”- Atty Gonzalo Duque, President, Lyceum Northwestern University.
“Kung ignorante ako Atty. Duque, tingnan mo muna ‘yung binayaran mo kung tama. Hindi naman natin sinasabing hindi sila nagbabayad ng buwis kundi pag-aralan nating mabuti baka naman mas pwede tayong makapag-bigay ng tulong sa ating siyudad”- Mayor Benjie S. Lim.
It’s funny but the more the presidents of universities in Dagupan City open their mouth to media, the more they expose their pathetic selves to the public.
Mayor Lim should not be intimidated by the  smarting pronouncements of these executives.
Mayor Lim should know that he is standing on legal and moral ground vis-à-vis the welfare of the city.
If Phinma-run University of Pangasinan paid P2.1 million of Business Tax last year, these colleges should explain to the public and to the city hall why they should not be levied.
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The justifications they were mouthing were ridiculous. They still have to convince us that they are exempted to pay their business tax based on the Constitution, Tax Code, and the Local Government Code.
The exemptions they were shouting at Lim were out-of-synch.
“Exhibit A” of their San Beda Case as decided by the Department of Finance is about exemption to the mayor’s permit.
“Exhibit B” of Marikina City Case is an ordinance signed into law in that city that exempts schools on their in their business tax.
 But for Christ sake! Marikina is not Dagupan City. These executives have to show the public a law or ordinance that exempts them to pay business taxes.
Lim should investigate them! The more they bark at Lim the more their grounds cracked. Lim should exploit his expose’ at his recent State of the City Address. This what the people want. They want to see who pays their dues, and who failed or maliciously withheld.
Enough of this hypocrisy!
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Take for instance the move of Alaminos City Mayor Nani Braganza to open a state university in his city. Private school owners want his scalp. They denounced Nani by accusing him of undermining private colleges in Pangasinan and Dagupan City. They said government should not compete with their business
I could not understand.  For them to monopolize education with their prohibitive tuition fees at the expense of the poor who want to attend tertiary education?
Their rationale is not only preposterous, but an obvious insult to the intellect of even a high school graduate.
(You can read my previous columns at http://dagupenosnews.blogspot.com/ or  contact me at mata_mario@yahoo.com.ph)