Belen: My family is one of the top 10 taxpayers of Dagupan
THE CSI Group of Companies owned by the family of Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez was honored as one of the top 10 taxpayers of Dagupan for 2012 and no less than Mayor Benjamin Lim signed the certificate attesting to this.
The citation she said belies the claim being peddled by the Lim camp that her family evaded payment of some P2 million in taxes due from the CSI Market Square.
“They are not checking their records”, said Fernandez, speaking on the issue over Kabaleyan 17 Channel on Thursday, where she said the business establishment put up by her family could not have been cited as one of the 10 taxpayers in Dagupan if indeed it owes the city some P2 million in taxes.
The award was presented to CSI Group of Companies during last year’s Agew na Dagupan ceremony.
Others who signed the certificate were City Treasurer Romelita Alcantara and City Schools Superintendent Alma Ruby Torio, who was the chair of the executive committee during the celebration of Agew na Dagupan.
“Clearly this is another lie being peddled by Lim’s camp for want of any issue that they can raise against me in this election,” Fernandez said.
She pointed out that her family’s corporation consistently pays its taxes to the city and would not have been issued a business permit year after year had it been defaulting in its payment of taxes.
“Besides, they cannot show proof of CSI’s tax deficiencies,” said Fernandez who was incredulous by the lame alibi provided subsequently by Lim’s camp when challenged to produce the records, that the city hall’s data in the computer were suddenly erased.
“They always knew they had no records of our so-called deficiencies and obviously thought they could get away with it, forgetting that their boss cited the CSI for contributing a lot to the city’s coffers,” she told The PUNCH after the interview.
During the interview, Fernandez said she never received a single demand letter nor a notice about a tax deficiency. “None whatsoever,” she intoned.
“Was Magic one of the top 10 tax payers in Dagupan?” she asked Lim’s camp.
“I cannot understand why my opponent would suddenly come up with the tall tale that we are not paying our taxes when in fact it was he who signed the certificate that we were the first of the top 10 taxpayers in Dagupan,” she said.
“Hindi ko maintindihan ang sinasabi nila na hindi nagbabayad ng buwis ang CSI dahil wala naman silang maipakitang pruweba,” she added.
Fernandez said this is a clear example of a demolition job against her, if not plain and simple harassment foisted by the Lim administration against her family.
Fernandez was sad to note that many businessmen are complaining because they too have experienced the same kind of harassment when Lim learned they are not supporting his candidacy and instead are backing her.
She said businessmen who are not Lim’s allies are required to talk to the mayor before they are issued a business permit when in fact this should be given without condition as long as the applicant complies with the requirements.
A classic example is CSI itself when the mayor refused to give it a building permit for its planned world-class resort in Barangay Lucao.
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