Barangay realty tax shares questioned by Cebu councilor

Cebu City Councilor Raymond Garcia wants the City Treasurer Office (CTO) to release a breakdown of the share of real property taxes (RPT) that the barangays received.

Garcia said he asked for the breakdown after learning that Barangay Kamputhaw did not receive their share for about four months already.

In a letter to Acting City Treasurer Veronica Morelos, Garcia said the failure or refusal to disclose the information he is asking is a violation of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Ethical Standard for Public Officials and Employees and other related laws.

“I am respectfully requesting your office for a breakdown of the amount received by all the barangays of the City of Cebu pertaining to their share in the proceeds of real property taxes collected by the City, from January 2018 until the present,” the letter read.

Garcia gave the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas a copy of his letter.

The councilor earlier asked his staff to ask the City Accounting Office (CAO) about it but was told that they are still waiting for the directive of Councilor Margarita Osmeña.

“So I just asked for the status of all the barangays because they might be experiencing the same problem as Kamputhaw,” Garcia said.

The RPT share is an important fund source for the barangays, especially for smaller barangays, since it augments their share from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), which is their main source of funds.

In a separate interview, Morelos said they have yet to distribute the barangays’ share of the RPT since the City Accounting Office has yet to submit the vouchers to her office.

“Although we have the money already, it will be the accounting office that will process the vouchers,” she said.

Morelos clarified that their only role is to release the funds to the barangays once the vouchers are ready, and they would do so once all the requirements are complete.

“Why would we deprive the barangays of their share if the documents needed are ready. That RPT share is really for them, we don’t need to hide it,” she said.

(Reposted from SunStar Cebu. Original title: Garcia seeks explanation on barangays’ realty tax shares.)