Facade of Makati City Hal. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The City of Makati got three awards from the Department of Finance (DOF) for having one of the highest revenue collections among the country’s local government units (LGUs), the city’s public information office said on Thursday.
According to Makati’s Office of the City Information and Community Relations Department (ICRD), Mayor Abby Binay received the awards on Wednesday from DOF’s Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF).
Makati was hailed as the Top 2 LGU nationwide and the Top 2 in Metro Manila based on the 2021 locally-sourced revenues.Aside from that, the city also got the Local Revenue Generation Hall of Famer based on the highest locally-sourced revenues from 2018 to 2020.
Based on the BLGF numbers, Makati’s locally sourced revenues went over P13.77 million.
Binay thanked taxpayers for continuing to support the city by paying their taxes, particularly Makati’s business sector.According to the local chief executive, the city’s robust business position can be attributed to the investors’ confidence of doing business in the city.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the taxpayers, particularly the business sector, for doing their part despite pandemic challenges,” she said.
“The business sector has been especially vital to our continued success, supporting our residents with jobs and contributing to the local economy through taxes and other fees,” she added.
Furthermore, Binay said that the awards were an acknowledgement of the city’s innovative measures that aim to improve taxpayer experience — by making transactions smoother and easier for people.
One of the measures adopted by the city is the MAKA-Connect project of the Makatizen Online Assessment and Payment Portal, which allows residents and business owners to pay their taxes and renew their business permits online.
The program, the city said, prevents crowding at the City Hall which not only avoids COVID-19 transmissions but also protects taxpayers from fixers.Binay said that taxpayers would be able to pay through GCash by the end of 2022, and other methods like credit cards by the first quarter of 2023.
“We have always been at the forefront of shaping and implementing innovative solutions to provide convenience to all our stakeholders. Through these awards, we hope to inspire other local governments to do the same and ultimately help our nation prosper,” Binay noted. With reports from Joshua Go, trainee
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