Assessor won’t show up for tax scandal inquiry

THE Balamban municipal assessor who was implicated with two  staffers in a land tax  scam won’t show up for this afternoon’s inquiry by the Balamban municipal council.

Bernardito Florido, lawyer of municipal assessor Tita Yray, said it was premature for his client to show up.

“We haven’t received the formal complaint as of now. We are still waiting for it,” he told Cebu Daily News.

He said he only learned about the  allegations against Yray through media reports.

The Balamban municipal council invited Yray and her clerks  Sharee Melgar and Lucille Agua to their regular session today to shed light on the June discovery that payments of capital gains tax and documentary tax for land sales made through the three personnel were never remitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and that fake bank deposit forms were used.

No charges have been filed against the three yet after  upset taxpayers went to the Balamban municipal hall last June 15 to complain.

At least two victims have filed sworn statements with the BIR in Mandaue and the Visayas Ombudsman’s Office, which have started their own fact-finding inquiries.

The Provincial Board (PB) will conduct their own  probe soon.

Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale said she will invite Yray to next Monday’s PB session since she forgot to take it up.

Ths is the “first time she encountered a land tax fraud of this scale, she said earlier.

“They should be investigated because assessors from other local government units better straighten up. Maybe there are similar scams like this going on elsewhere,” she said.

Magpale said she would also take this up with PB Member Alex Binghay, the former Balamban mayor.

Binghay was unavailable for comment since he was in a meeting with Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia last night.

Policemen were also invited to Balamban’s council session today to “keep peace and order” in the public  forum, which is expected to draw townsfolk who fell victim to the scam that involved the use of tampered BIR bank deposit slips to reflect payment.

Councilor Jimbo Borgonia, who heads the committee on laws and ordinances, will  facilitate the  investigation today. /Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus