5 shopping centers back in business

Close to a thousand workers returned to work on Monday after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) lifted its closure order on five of the city’s biggest and oldest shopping centers.

Geraldine Pioc, a roving cashier of Shoppers Chain of Stores—Shoppers’ Central, Shoppers’ Plaza, Shoppers’ Center The Gateway, Shoppers’ Emporium and Shoppers’ Square, said she was relieved to know that they would operate again.

“I thought I would be out of work,” said Pioc, who has been employed by the company for the past 20 years.

The BIR served the closure order on September 7, padlocking five department stores for the failure of its owners, the Ang family, to remit P54 million in expanded value added tax (EVAT) to the government.

The city’s revenue district officer, Merlyn Vicente, told the Inquirer that the Angs were “not able to settle and rectify their violations despite the 48-hour notice given to them.”

The notice was issued on Aug. 26 for violation of Section 115 of the National Revenue Code. “They (Angs) have presented a mis-declared tax more than 30 percent of their actual sales,” Vicente said.

As early as Saturday, the workers were informed that the five department stores would open on Monday after local officials, including the Department of Labor and Employment, initiated a dialogue between the BIR officials and the owners.

Mayor Celso Lobregat was surprised by the closure. “I was in Davao City when the closure order was implemented, so when I got back here, I sought the director of BIR, our primary concern then was to the plight of the displaced workers,” he said.

Lobregat said the BIR accepted the initial deposit of P5 million by the Shoppers Chain of Stores and the management also agreed to pay the workers for the five-day closure. Julie S. Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao