ILIGAN CITY —– Slow economic movement and business closures caused the displacement of an estimated 12,000 employees from a thousand companies here, says the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation of Iligan, Inc. (CCIFII).
During the launching of Kapehan sa Ilagan Chamber on Thursday, Reggie Punongbayan, president of business group said some displacements are temporary while a good number is permanent, as businessmen remains uncertain when will the economy bounces back.
Punongbayan said their statistics is based on the report coming from their members which was submitted to the regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment.
City Councilor Demy Plando, the Council’s chairperson on the Committee of Trade, Commerce and Industry in Iligan City Council, said the city government has yet to get the exact number of affected workers but claimed they have allotted a budget for cash assistance.
In his message during the launching, Plando said the city government will get the accurate data from the chamber “Maybe the CCIFII can provide us the necessary figures.”
To address the concern of the businessmen about the taxes, the City Council has passed first reading the proposed resolution ordinance which aimed at providing a mechanism for traders to pay their taxed on installment basis.
Plando said the city council is also working on a proposed ordinance that would grant amnesty on unpaid real property taxes and moratorium on the increase of taxes for 2021 which will include a waiver of the lessor’s rental for the month of April and May.
“Those were the months when the economic was greatly affected. That is deductible from their taxes due to the city,” Plando said.
The city council according to Plando will try to pass these into ordinances before the year ends.-Divina M. Suson
