BAGUIO CITY – The Baguio Flower Festival Foundation, Inc. (BFFFI) paid to the city government and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) approximately PhP6 million in taxes and other fees that were levied for the conduct of the month-long flower festival last year.
Panagbenga Executive Committee Chairman and Baguio Country Club (BGCC) General Manager Anthony de Leon said that the foundation makes sure that it will not be remiss in the settlement of its obligations with the city government and revenue-generating agencies as part of being a responsible corporate citizen.
He pointed out that the taxes and fees paid to the local government and the BIR were based on the assessments made on the conduct of the week-long Session Road in Bloom and the month-long Baguio Blooms Exhibition market encounter held at the Jose Abad Santos Drive which forms part of its contributions in sustaining the growth of the local economy.
The BFFFI official claimed that the amount being paid by the foundation to the local government and the BIR had grown through the years because of the increase in the number of exhibitors wanting to join the various activities of the annual flower festival where it started with more or less PhP2 million before increasing through the years until it reached the PhP6 million figure.
For this year, de Leon projected that the foundation might be paying more or less PhP7 million to the local government and the BIR in the form of taxes but the BFFFI is still awaiting the assessment from the concerned offices so that the computed taxes and fees will be immediately settled by the organizers.
On the other hand, BFFFI Executive Director Malou Galiste said that the qualified concessionaires in the week-long Session Road in Bloom are being requested to pay their computed lease rentals in full to ensure that the foundation can immediately settle its obligations with the city government and the BIR.
The month-long Baguio Blooms Exhibition market encounter will run from February 1 to March 2, 2025 while the week-long Session Road in Bloom will be conducted from February 24 to March 2, 2025 although concessionaires are allowed to set up their stalls along their designated areas right after the commencement of the grand floral parade on February 23, 2025. By Dexter A. See