NEWS BRIEFS

MANDAUE PROBES INCOME OF CICC OPERATOR

The MANDAUE City Treasurer’s Office will check on the book of accounts of the private firm managing the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).

City Treasurer Regal Oliva said they will scrutinize the Philippine Exibits and Themeparks Corporation (Petco) to determine if the firm is paying correct taxes to the city.

Oliva said that Petco only declared P1,250,000 in gross receipts last year while in 2011 they declared about P1.4 million.

The inquiry came after the Provincial Treasurer’s Office reported to Acting Gov. Agnes Magpale that last year the Capitol paid P3 million to Petco for managing the CICC. Oliva said that amount should have been reflected in gross receipts of Petco.

“I will be sending them a Deficiency Notice and determine its rightful business tax to the city,” Oliva said.

“We can still bill them their tax dues within five years,” he said.

Petco’s business permit issued in the name of its president Marissa Nallana was renewed by the Mandaue city government last Jan. 9 .

Mandaue City is part of the CICC’s management board under a 2007 joint venture agreement but has not received any financial report from Petco or the Capitol./Reporter Jucell Marie P. Cuyos

CAPITOL OPENS PIO BUILDING

THE Cebu provincial government inaugurated its new Provincial Information Office (PIO) building in the Capitol compound behind the CFI building.

The two-storey building houses the Cebu Monthly magazine and Cebu TV staff of the PIO. It has a media lounge, a studio and newsroom. The inauguration was attended by Provincial Board (PB) member Miguel Magpale, one of the administrators of the PIO.

In his message, he assured that the new PIO is “free and independent press essential to a true and systematic system of information center”.

The PIO building was built for the defunct Sugbo TV and Sugbo News at a cost of P3.67 million./Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus