Seven municipalities and a city adjacent to this premier free port received a total of P57.4 million in revenue shares as their portion in the taxes paid by Subic Bay Freeport-registered enterprises in the first half of this year.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Roberto Garcia said that the shares given to local government units (LGUs) are intended to augment local resources and enable stakeholder communities to benefit from Freeport businesses by augmenting the funds of nearby LGUs for development projects in health, education, peace and order, and livelihood generation.
The LGUs included Olongapo City, which received P13.88 million; and the Zambales towns of Subic, with P8.55 million; Castillejos, P4.92 million; San Marcelino, P6.95 million; and San Antonio, P5.06 million.
In Bataan, Morong town received P4.95 million, Hermosa P5.87 million, and Dinalupihan P7.21 million.
“This is basically the SBMA’s contribution to help improve the living conditions of residents in contiguous and affected communities,” Garcia explained.
“The intention is to create parallel development between the Subic Bay Freeport and its neighbors,” he added.
According to the SBMA Treasury Department, the shares released accounted for two per cent of the five per cent tax on gross income paid for by free port locators for the period January to June 2012. The other three per cent of the taxes paid are remitted directly to the national government.
The SBMA began releasing the shares directly to the LGUs, after a new tax collection scheme was implemented in August 2010 by the agency to ensure the prompt release of shares to the local government units.
Previously, corporate taxes were remitted straight to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), which remitted the same to the National Treasury. Thereafter, the Department of Budget and Management would release the two per cent share to the concerned LGUs.
The LGU share is determined according to population (50 per cent), land area (25 per cent), and equal sharing (25 per cent).
Garcia said the shares given by the SBMA to the neighboring communities would benefit almost 600,000 residents in the said areas. (RFD/MPD-SBMA)
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