All about politics and intimidation

By Ermin Garcia Jr.  

THE debate over the Dagupan City government’s claim that private schools should pay business taxes is far from over.  And if recent developments are any indication, the burden of proof this time, that no official abuse is being committed, has shifted to the Lim administration. (The original thrust was for the school owners to prove that they were not cheating the city government).

Firstly, there is already a case filed by Dr. MacArthur Samson of University of Luzon against the city government on the issue. Another suit is likely to be filed by LNU president Dr. Gonz Duque in the weeks ahead.

It would appear that diligent reviews of the tax code of the city adopted in 2005 by the two universities reveal (now confirmed by former Councilor Michael Fernandez, the author of the tax code) that the education sector is not named in the code as an addition to the tax base for the city.  The contention now is – if the education sector is not listed, then it must be exempt from paying business taxes to the city.  But the Lim administration for its own reason would not budge.

Where we are today is we have the city hall insisting that the colleges pay or else but the school owners have already dug in with the retort – Says who?

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What can the city expect from all these?

If the cases of the private schools are upheld by the court, Mayor Lim will likely be held accountable by the Ombudsman for abuse of power and the city government will be compelled to refund amounts paid since 2007. On the other hand, if the city government is upheld, the school owners will simply be told to continue paying.

But this issue is not going to be one easy case to resolve. Expect the cases to be elevated to the Supreme Court by whoever is not upheld by the trial court.

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The city government could have had its cake and eaten it too and be thought of as an icon for good governance if only Mr. Lim saw beyond his political angst.

The school owners would simply continue to pay what they believe is rightfully due the city and continue focusing on the competition among themselves as to which college or school has better standards but Mayor Lim could not contain his political angst.

Unfortunately for all, Mr. Lim has an axe to grind from the last election and he could not help but show his perceived detractors who’s the new boss in the city.

Alas, Mr. Lim’s ego got the best of him again.

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How and why did the city reach this point where a simple tax issue became contentious?

For four years now, the city’s private schools, colleges and universities have been paying their business taxes regularly and did not think of complaining one bit. Everyone was content about their respective affairs, while back-patting and congratulations have been going around the city hall for the improved revenues in the city.

It has been a peaceful co-existence between city hall and the private schools for decades until Mr. Lim evidently decided it was payback time for the school owners, most of whom reportedly supported then re-electionist Mayor Al Fernandez in last year’s election.

When no one was looking (and listening?), Mr. Lim unloaded his heat-seeking political missiles in his last “state of the city address.” While most everyone in the city thought the raging issue then was the manner and venue for the delivery of the SOCA, Mr. Lim had another agenda in mind.  (It will be recalled that Mr. Lim then snubbed the sangguniang panlungsod and “invited” himself to deliver the SOCA outside of the city council to his select audience, a situation that initially incensed the city councilors). 

Mr. Lim’s SOCA was originally trumpeted as a “feel good” report card so no one suspected that he would stray beyond what was generally expected of it. What no one anticipated was for Mr. Lim to use his SOCA as an opportunity to humiliate those dared opposed him openly in the last election. From out of the blues came his disparaging statement to the face of the city’s school owners. Without any ado, he accused the school owners of cheating the city government the whole time! If that was not meant as a public humiliation aimed at fully humbling the school owners and demanding nothing short of full unconditional surrender to his terms, I don’t know what is.

“How dare they pay much less than what is due the city” was the executive missile launched by Mr. Lim.

“How dare the city mayor call us cheats after all that we have been doing for the city” came the anti-missile response from the campuses!

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Mr. Lim had perhaps expected “repentant” and “defeated” school owners to knock on his doors within 24 hours appealing for clemency in return for a pledge of political obeisance. It didn’t happen. Instead, all hell broke loose.

It was downhill from that day on. Mr. Lim naturally stuck to his terroristic missiles. To up the ante, he recently ordered a citywide tax mapping to better intimidate anyone who would follow the schools’ lead. Meanwhile, the school owners who were once too busy watching each other as competition would dictate, quickly closed ranks to speak as one.

So just when I thought the Lim administration was ready to vindicate itself (this was before the feeding program scam came to light) after a close win at the polls, Mr. Lim would not let the ugly face of politics be sidelined at anytime. That he now finds himself on the defensive while vainly projecting the image of a politician with a political will, is his own doing.  Worst of all, the city, under his watch, now risks losing all the revenues that it used to enjoy from the once uncomplaining school owners.

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So, there you have it folks. It wasn’t really about a case of right or wrong interpretation of the tax ordinance. It’s about politics and intimidation being everything for the Lim administration. Nothing is forgotten… and forgiven.

This also explains why Mr. Lim continues to get away with all the uncovered scams and illegal activities in his office. He believes no one in the city (not the vice mayor, not a single councilor, not a school owner, etc…) has the guts to challenge him and call him a cheat in his face even with all the documented evidence to pin him down before the Ombudsman.

Only he can point a finger, with or without the evidence, and get away with it.  Or so he thinks. 

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