QC gov’t to return P4M collected garbage fees

The Quezon city local government will comply with the Supreme Court decision ordering them to refund the garbage fees they collected based on an “unconstitutional and illegal” ordinance enacted in 2013.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court struck down Quezon City Ordinance No. 2235, which imposes a garbage collection fee of P100 to P500 per household, or P25 to P100 per condominium or socialized housing unit, depending on the property’s size.

The ordinance was enacted in December 2013, but was halted by a temporary restraining order issued in February 2014 by the Supreme Court, acting on a petition filed by Quezon City resident Jose Ferrer Jr.

The petitioner argued that the fee amounted to “double taxation” and found the fee “unconstitutional,” a view upheld by the Supreme Court in its decision.

“The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, so we need to follow it,” said Quezon City councilor Victor Ferrer Jr., author of the ordinance, in a phone interview.

Councilor Ferrer explained he had modeled the ordinance after similar fees in other countries. “The money could have been used for further garbage and waste management [projects],” the councilor said.

A fact sheet on the ordinance, posted on the city government website, estimated an annual revenue of P52.41 million from the garbage collection fees. It was hoped the fees would “help defray part of the LGU’s huge garbage collection burden, and encourage investments in new technology that can help transform our city’s garbage into a resource.”

Councilor Ferrer pointed out that garbage collection has remained one of the biggest expenses of the Quezon city government, costing the city P1.14 billion annually.

The Quezon City population generates 2,130 tons or 532 truckloads of garbage daily, the fact sheet shows.

Ferrer said that the city government was able to collect a total of “around P4 million” when the ordinance was still in effect. The fee was collected during real property tax payments last year.

The councilor quoted Mayor Herbert Bautista as saying that the city government would simply credit the collected fee as an “advance” payment for real property tax payments in 2016.

Regina Samson, acting head of the Quezon City Public Affairs and Information Services Office (PAISO), said city officials have been finetuning the mechanism for the refund. As of press time, the city government has not received an official copy of the Supreme Court decision.