Local legislators requested the Mayor to issue an administrative order creating an additional working group to help and assist the Baguio City Market Authority (BCMA), including its task force, in the review and approval of pending amnesty applications as per ordinance No. 86, series of 2021 and amended by Ordinance No. 69, series of 2023 pertinent to the provisions of Tax Ordinance No. 2000-001.
In a resolution, the council stated that to effectively implement the provisions of the amnesty as per approved ordinances and to address the lack of manpower needed in the review and approval of all documents submitted, an additional working group is necessary to implement the program.
Earlier, the City Market Supervisor reaffirmed the lack of manpower of the BCMA as the reason for the numerous piling up and pending applications for amnesty.
Executive Order No. 39, series of 2023 reconstituted the BCMA, including its task force, to ensure the continuity of its purpose and functions.
Ordinance No. 69, series of 2023 amended Section 8 of Ordinance No. 86, series of 2021 on the period of amnesty for the registered leaseholders to comply with the requirements of Tax Ordinance No. 2000-001, particularly those provisions against selling, sub-leasing, not personally present in their stalls to conduct business and displaced stall owners whose stall allocations were already occupied or given to others.
The council argued that despite this promulgation, many stall owners or vendors keep trooping to various offices to raise complaints regarding their applications.
The City Legal Officer manifested during a regular council session that the BCMA lacks the manpower, thus, the voluminous pile up of pending amnesty applications.
The body pointed out that as a measure to find a long-term solution to the difficult situation of amnesty applicants in processing their documents, a meeting was conducted on July 25, 2024 among the chair and members of the Committee on Market, Trade, Commerce and Agriculture, the City market Supervisor, the Permits and Licensing Officer, the City Legal Officer and representations from the City Mayor’s Office.
The body noted that gathered during the meeting that from the year 2021-2022, there were 653 applications for amnesty where 366 were qualified, 152 were disqualified and 135 were extinguished.
Of the 366 qualified applicants, 226 were acted upon, 129 applications were approved, 94 were denied and 3 were withdrawn and the remaining 140 applications are pending.
It added that in the execution of Ordinance No. 69, series of 2023, 185 applications were filed but it was not yet acted upon due to the previous pending applications. By Dexter A. See
