Guialani: Oca knew about tax settlement

By SHIELA MAE BUTLIG
Correspondent

FORMER Taglimao barangay chairman William Guialani yesterday accused Mayor Oscar Moreno of lying when he asserted that he was unaware that city treasurer Glenn Bañez and Ajinomoto Philippines agreed to settle a tax dispute out of court.

Guialani, who filed the case against Moreno and Bañez in March that resulted in Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales’s decision to dismiss the mayor and the treasurer, said the local chief executive knew about the agreement because he was a respondent in the case filed by Ajinomoto.

Ajinomoto had questioned city hall’s basis for computing its taxes that ballooned to over P2.9 million after Bañez reclassified the condiments it produces from “essential” to “non-essential.” The reclassification significantly increased the tax assessment.

The firm subsequently dropped the civil case against city hall following mediation proceedings, and an agreement to reduce the tax assessment from P2.9 million to P300 thousand. Guialani questioned the deal, saying it was done without the consent of the city council.

Guialani said it was unthinkable for Moreno not to have known about the tax settlement because he was included in the case filed by Ajinomoto with the Regional Trial Court.

“Imposible nga wala kabalo si Moreno nga ni–entra si Bañez sa settlement agreement,” he said. “Moreno can tell that to the marines because we were not born yesterday.”

Guialani also laughed off Moreno’s assertion that the ombudsman decided on the case he filed without going over the mayor’s counter-affidavit. He said it was unlikely that the counter-affidavit was lost.

He however corroborated Moreno’s claim that the counter-affidavit was filed, saying he received a copy of the document filed on behalf of Moreno and Bañez by lawyer Jonathan Pacuribot.