THE House committee on government reorganization on Wednesday approved the consolidation of 13 measures which all seek to institute reforms in the real property valuation and assessment system and reorganize the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF).
The consolidated bill will become the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act if passed.
In her sponsorship message for House Bill 2400, Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Estrellita B. Suansing said the present valuation system hinders the real property sector’s contributions to economic development.
“A World Bank study indicated that 50% to 75% of the national wealth is contained in land alone. Real property, therefore, has the largest potential contribution to national income for funding economic and social development,” she said in her explanatory note.
She added, “The proposal seeks to promote the development and maintenance of just, equitable, impartial, and nationally consistent real property valuation by establishing appraisal standards, methods and procedures of property valuations and assessment.”
Ms. Suansing said some of the issues in the present valuation system are multiple land valuation systems and methods used by at least 23 national government agencies; multiple impositions of national and local taxes on land; lack of valuation standards; undervaluation and overvaluation of real properties for tax; outdated real property values; and distorted real property transactions databases.
Albay 2nd District Rep. Jose Ma. S. Salceda also filed House Bill 305, seeking to grant each local government unit the power to create their own sources of revenue and to levy taxes, fees, and charges pursuant to the Local Government Code of 1991. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras
