Maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship
One of the visions of Mayor Arth Jhun Aguilar Marasigan for the City of Sto. Tomas is for every Tomasino to have the power to meet his or her basic needs, in particular, health and livelihood needs.
The logistical requirements for meeting each Tomasino’s basic needs are considerable, since the latest census shows that the city now has a population of 251,908 based on 2022 initial CBMS results.
“Habang dumadami ang populasyon ng tao, mas dumadami ang pangangailangan nila [As the number of people increases, so do their needs],” he said.
Mayor AJAM stressed the need to study the increase in demand for local government services as it relates to increase in population growth.
INCREASING REVENUE
Faced with this situation, Mayor AJAM said that it pays for the city to work toward increasing revenue through efficient tax collection since the more revenue the city gets from taxes they can collect, the more the city government will be able to give back to the people.
Mayor AJAM said that his administration shall ensure that the city remains business-friendly to invite more investors to the city.
The one-stop shop that is set to be included in the construction of the new City Hall will increase the ease of transaction with the government, especially with the integration of national agencies invited to set up offices within the government business center. This will, in turn, attract more business establishments to locate in the city.
Said Mayor AJAM: “We encourage investors to explore and take advantage of business opportunities in the city. Investors will find it a lot easier to build their business in the city because we treat them as partners. We are not here to ask help from you. We are here to help you.”
The City of Sto. Tomas has established a lounge in the City Hall for business owners to wait for their business permits in the comfort of the lounge while city hall personnel process their papers.
TAXPAYER’S DAY
Once a year, the LGU celebrates Taxpayer’s Day in recognition and appreciation of the top 10 taxpayers who diligently pay their business taxes and RPT under the corporation and individual categories.
The major investors of the city include Mariwasa-Siam Ceramics, Inc., Amcor Flexibles Philippines, Inc., Kowa-Emori Philippines, Inc., Philippine Geothermal Production Company, Inc., San Miguel Foods, Inc., Shoketsu SMC Corporation, C-Joy Poultry Meats Production, Inc., Maibarara Geothermal, Inc., Nippon Express Philippines Corporation, Crestec Philippines, Inc., Bounty Agro Ventures, Inc., and the Wilcon Depot, Inc.
These companies also comprise the Top 10 list of taxpayers in terms of business tax paying under the corporation category.
For the individual category of business tax payment, the following comprise the top 10: WMLC Trading & Construction Supply, F.G. Home Builders & Construction Supply, SME Garment Manufacturing, Romal Construction, Denki-Keiso Trading and Services, E.T. De Villa Construction, Gel Tech Metal and Engineering Services, Dyc Hardware, Josefina’s Kitchenette, Jac Lube Resources, New Rise Hardware, and Dos Maria’s Enterprises.
The City government of Sto. Tomas recognized the top five private companies that led in providing jobs to Tomasinos. They included: Cargill Joy Poultry Meats Production Inc.; Ibiden Philippines, Inc.; Mega Prime Foods Inc.; MyBrush Technology Philippines, Inc.; PKI Manufacturing and Technology, Inc.
It is the first time that the City of Sto. Tomas LGU gave recognition to firms that excelled in generating jobs for the city’s constituents.
According to Mayor AJAM, maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship with the business sector and business owners is the key to sustaining a healthy revenue collection for the city. City officials have recognized this and put effort in ensuring that the benefits are shared equally between the LGU and its investors.—Maria Luisa Jalandoni
