Power firm bucks Capitol’s bid to collect P72M tax

A POWER utility asked the court to stop the Province of Cebu from selling in auction the company’s properties for its supposed failure to pay P72 million in real property taxes.

In petition for declartory relief, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) asked the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City to issue a temporary restraining order and an injunction to stop the Capitol from auctioning its assets.

“(The Capitol’s) levying the property and threatening to sell it at public auction will certainly cause grave injustice and irreparable damage and injury not only to NGCP and the National Transmission Corp., but also the general public,” they said.

The date of the auction sale was not yet set.

The NGCP was levied a tax for its submarine cables, transmission lines and other machinery in Samboan town in the south and Daanbantayan town in northern Cebu.

If the auction would proceed, NGCP said the public would suffer blackouts in parts of Cebu and the Visayas.

They said the firm was execmpt from paying real estate taxes in connection with its franchise under Republic Act 9511 or the act granting NGCP a franchise to engage in the conveying or transmission of electricity.

Named defendants in the case were Provincial Treasurer Roy Salubre, Provincial Assessor Anthony Sususco, and the National Power Corp.

In its complaint, NGCP said it does question the amount of real property tax or its determination but the “imposition of real property taxes on the properties.”

The NGCP also complained about what it described as “the erroneous declaration of the assailed tax declarations.”

NGCP entered into a concession agreement with Transco and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) for construction, installation, operations and management of nationwide transmission and sub-transmission systems in the country.

On Aug 8, 2011, NGCP received a Notice of Assessment from the provincial assessor’s office.

A month after, NGCP said they were informed by the provincial treasurer that it has not paid taxes worth P72,353,101.20.

NGCP said they were also surprised when it received a Notice of Delinquency for its supposed tax dues.

The NGCP said they also took into consideration a statement by Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia who was quoted in an interview as saying that the NGCP owes the government P192 million in real property tax. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol