Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna has declared an amnesty for some real property owners (RPOs) in the city who have delinquent accounts, with a call for them to already settle their dues up to December 31, 2024 in order to do away with having to pay for penalties and interests that have accumulated owing to their failure to pay on time. The city has at least 120,000 RPOs.
The mayor said that once the deadline is over, those who remain delinquent will be charged anew for interests and penalties which, she said, will be imposed to the fullest.
It was learned from city treasurer Jasmin Talegon that the mayor declared the amnesty to give the delinquent taxpayers the chance to get back up, knowing that their failure to pay their dues may have been due to hard times caused by the pandemic from which many are yet to recover in terms of financial losses.
The amnesty, she said, is anchored on Manila Ordinance No. 9082 principally authored by Manila Councilors Philip Lacuna, majority floor leader Jong Isip, Jr. and Macky Lacson.
Talegon explained that originally, the implementing rules of Ordinance 9082 provide that the amnesty applies only for delinquent accounts as of June 2024. The new ordinance extends it to those who have delinquencies up to December 2024.
Lacuna urged real property owners to already settle their dues, saying their fulfillment of obligation will go a long way to help city government sustain its projects on social services, specially given the current situation where the city is saddled with a P17.8 billion debt left behind by the previous administration.
The mayor said that payments may be made either in Manila City Hall or online, via the Go Manila app which was designed to provide convenience where taxpayers may transact within the comfort of their homes and without having to spend time on traffic and transportation.
