BAGUIO CITY March 26 – The city government is urging all real estate lessors and owners of commercial establishments in the city to waive the rentals of their lessees during the duration of the Luzon-wide enhanced quarantine as all sectors are significantly affected by the crisis due to the rapid spread of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in the country.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong supported the two resolutions passed by the City Council requesting real estate lessors and owners of commercial establishments to waive the rentals from their lessees from March 16 to April 15, 2020 as their contribution in easing the burden of people arising from effect of the quarantine on the economic activities and the sources of livelihood of the people in the city.
He pointed out that all sectors have been heavily impacted by the ongoing enhanced community quarantine and everyone need to sacrifice to allow the affected sectors to recover from the present crisis once the quarantine is lifted.
The city chief executive stated that the city government will also look into the proposal of the City Council for the city to grant tax reliefs to the affected business, especially in the payment of business taxes, among others, to help these sectors to recover from the prevailing situation.
According to him, the city government will dialogue with the real estate lessors and the owners of commercial establishments in the city right after the lifting of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine to appeal to them to grant the needed reprieve in the collection of rentals from their tenants considering that everyone suffered the negative impact of the virtual stoppage of business operations at the height of the quarantine.
The city mayor learned there were some real estate lessors who have been allegedly forcing their tenants to pay their rent under the threat of being forced to move of their boarding houses even at the height of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.
He called on real estate lessors and owners of commercial establishments to understand why their lessees cannot pay their rent because there were no significant business activities aside from the fact that many daily wage earners were not able to earn income during the enhanced community quarantine.
Earlier, the city’s legislative body passed two resolutions requesting owners of commercial establishments to suspend or possibly waive the collection of rentals from their tenants and urging the city government to provide the needed tax relief to the affected businesses during the enhanced community quarantine as the city’s contributions in helping ease the impact of the quarantine to the affected sectors.
The mayor stated he will sign the two resolutions and initiative the widest dissemination of the same to remind real estate lessors and owners of commercial buildings of their corporate social responsibility over their tenants in this period of crisis.
By Dexter A. See