I read recently that the city government of Quezon City is set to levy an additional tax on property located within its administrative jurisdiction on top of whatever taxes are already being paid by their owners. So aside from the property taxes being collected from the landed gentry of this fine city, the Quezon City government will be collecting an additional tax representing 0.5 percent of the assessed value of the property annually. This means that the owners of a property worth Php 5 million will be slugged with an additional tax bill of Php25,000 every year.
The additional tax will reportedly fund a housing program for Quezon City’s estimated 2,000 “informal settlers” (a euphemism used nowadays in place of the more real word to describe this sector of Philippine society – squatters)…
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“From all over the Philippines pumupuntang Quezon City for a better life, only to realize na wala pala silang bahay dito. What if bigyan natin sila ng magandang pabahay?” said [District 4 Councilor Edcel Greco] Lagman [who authored the ordinance].
Translated: From all over the Philippines, they come to Quezon City for a better life, only to realise that they don’t have a place to live here. What if we give them nice houses in which to live?
I’m not sure what the honourable Councilor is implying here but I, for one, like these squatters also go to where I feel I will find a “better lifeâ€. But that does not mean I will expect other people to make that “better life” happen for me. I think better lives happen to those who take the initiative to make it happen for themselves.
So why should property owners fork out a good chunk of their hard-earned wealth so that these squatters can be given nice houses to live in?
Perhaps if Quezon City property owners get sold on the concept of their city becoming a go-to haven for “informal settlers” they might just come to consider this quite the dandy idea that their honourable politicians think it is. After all, there is money to be made from the extra warm bodies hanging out in Quezon City’s streets. For one thing, local franchises trading in the renowned cuisine of the “informal settler” community will start to thrive. Pagpag as the cuisine is called is “leftover food-stuff from fast-food restaurants scavenged from garbage sites and dumps”. Much-needed economic stimulus coming from the pagpag industry that “informal settlers” will bring perhaps will compensate for the additional Php25,000 the average Quezon City homeowner will be coughing up under the new ordinance…
Small cottage industries have arisen around pagpag with impoverished people making a living scavenging, collecting, processing, and selling the processed pagpag to impoverished poor people.
The mayor seems to agree that the economy of Quezon City will benefit from the influx of immigrants that the new tax will induce:
The local government, meanwhile, said informal settlers will not be the only ones who will benefit from the tax scheme.
“Kung bibigyan natin sila ng housing, magiging taxpayers na rin sila baling araw. So we are breaking the cycle of poverty,” said Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte.
Translated: If we give them housing, they will become taxpayers someday. So we are breaking the cycle of poverty.
Perhaps then the next step is to come up with an ordinance to start taxing the sale of pagpag. It is only fair that we among the landed gentry of this fair city named after the first Commonwealth president expect that those who come to live in our city pay their dues as well. After all, the new tax to fund their housing is being pitched to us on grounds of fairness too.
“I would rather have a Philippines run like hell by Filipinos than a Philippines run like heaven by the Americans” — Manuel L. Quezon
Spoken like a true Filipino.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
As usual, we the middle class will be drained while these ‘informal settlers’ get free lunch etc. housing with no idea how to maintain it, not to mention do they even have a job to maintain the house? Here’s what’s also funny.
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“Kung bibigyan natin sila ng housing, magiging taxpayers na rin sila baling araw. So we are breaking the cycle of poverty,†said Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte.
Translated: If we give them housing, they will become taxpayers someday. So we are breaking the cycle of poverty.
=====
Hahaha, how the fuck can they pay taxes when these informal settlers don’t have a fucking job! FFS, give them JOBS rather than give them a NICE HOUSE only to be removed a few months later because they fail to pay TAXES cause they’re JOBLESS!
this is so fucking lame and stupid…our elected officials are getting dump by the minute….
*dumb
With that incentive for Squatters…it pays to Squat, on people’s properties ,or government properties…they will not evict you. They give you land. Tax the land owners, to pay for it…anyway, you can subsist on Pag-Pag Foods…
I have never seen such stupid ideas as this…these public officials are imbeciles, like the President.
If the Philippines turns into a welfare state, expect more criminals, terrorists, and/or illegal immigrants from any other countries to pursue illegally migrating to the Philippines.
rich people could hardly go to heaven…bec. its so hard for them to give up even a little of their penny but so easy to whine and bashed the poor….tsk2…mgbigay naman kayo wag maxado kuripot para matuwa sa inyo c Lord….
God helps those who help themselves. Unfortunately, the squatters here apparently do NOT want to help themselves. How, then, can the Almighty help them?
OMG…hindi porket may sariling lupa, sasakyan at trabaho e mayaman na…pinag hirapan ng maraming Pilipino yan…We work hard so as not to recieve dole outs as it is shameful…We pay our dues and it is now tje government’s job to properly budget that money and then use it for te benefit of all…hindi na nga nag rereklamo like those non-paying citizens ang middle class e..tulong na ng kahit hirap din kami…pero sobra nMan kung pati buong braso namin inaasahan nyo pa na ibigay namin…bastusan a un….mag squatter na lang kaya rin kami…mas may benepisyo e..
In the Philippines, poverty is a lifestyle choice not an imposed condition.
This practice is dangerous. We are tolerating informal settlers with welfare benefits. So how do you suppose these residents can improve themselves? Is the QC government a big charitable organizations? Ano pa bang benefits mahihingi namin sa kanila? Baka pwede rin kami dyan?
I was not born with a silver spoon. i struggled in life, and despite getting married late, i earned a graduate degree. Later on, through extreme hardships and being industrious, I bought a house here in QC. I help QC and the country by paying taxes PERO PINAMIMIGAY LANG SA INFORMAL SETTLERS? QC Hall required us to have all documents in order to be permitted to start building our houses, electric billing from Meralco, water connections. DI PATAS ANG PATAKBONG GANITO. DEMOCRACY IS EQUALITY, DI BA?
Take the BLISS project of the Marcoses. It was given to the people in the streets, but now it is owned by millionaires. YOU DO THE MATH!
DAPAT TALAGA IBALIK YUNG ANTI-SQUATTING LAW KAYA DI UMUUNLAD ANG PILIPINAS EH!
Next thing we hear, these squatters sell their lands given by the gov’t and then squat in another place in QC. Shit.
It’s UNFAIR to levy an additional tax to benefit illegal settlers. What the Quezon City government should have done was to allocate a portion of EXISTING real estate taxes to RELOCATE these settlers back to their provinces of origin, then pass an ordinance that QUEZON CITY WILL NOT TOLERAT E ILLEGAL SETTLERS. Sa ginawa ng local government na ganyan, sooner or later, Quezon City will become a HAVEN FOR ILLEGAL SETTLERS… just watch how property values will fall when you have a big chunk of illegal settlers in the city. NGANGA.
baka naman kasi time to repay favor sa pagboto ng mga informal settlers sa kanila kaya ganyan sila.
pero seriously, ganito sila mag-isip? kung long term lang din naman ang usapan. sana pagtuunan nila ng atensyon ang edukasyon lalo na yung mga matatanda. bigyan ng livelihood projects. tska ang pinaka-importante, FAMILY PLANNING.
Ayos! Magpakasquatter nalang ako para may libre akong bahay sa QC! Paano naman yung pinaghirapang pera ng middle class para ipambayad sa tax? Ang middle class na naman ang sasagot? It seems na sobrang privileged and squatters na yan ah! Unfair!
Wag botohin yan gagong Bistek at Belmonte in the coming elections!