Zamora denies political vendetta behind non-release of ex-city hall employees' benefits

San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora has denied allegations of "political vendetta" behind the non-release of terminal pay to former city hall employees.

The local chief executive released a statement after Senator JV Ejercito delivered a privilege speech appealing for the release of the benefits due to retired city hall employees, who have served during his term as mayor as well as the mayoral stints of his father, former President Joseph Estrada; mother, Guia Gomez; and half-brother, Senator Jinggoy Estrada.

"The allegation that the non-release of the benefits is politically motivated is preposterous because the fact that 122 claims already released were for Estrada appointees and hires is proof that there is no bias in the selection process as to who will receive their benefits. Given that the Estradas were in power for 49 years, from 1969 until 2019, it is only expected that those applying for Terminal Leave Benefits are politically affiliated with them as their longtime employees," Zamora said.

"Wala akong iniipit o ginigipit nang dahil sa politika. Sa katunayan, isa si Mayor Guia Gomez sa kauna-unahang nakatanggap ng kanyang Terminal Leave Benefit," he added.

(I did not withhold anything or put undue stress on anyone due to politics. The truth is, Mayor Guia Gomez was one of the first who received the Terminal Leave Benefit.)

Since 2019, Zamora said that the city government has released the terminal leave benefits of former city government employees amounting P45.943 million to 122 claimants including Gomez and other key members of the previous Estrada administrations.

"Releases are based on a schedule that we strictly follow for budget management purposes to ensure that all aspects of local governance are given attention to. We cannot release all terminal benefits in one tranche because it will have an adverse effect on the city's budgeting and finances," he explained.

Taxes

Zamora then mentioned a Warrant of Distraint and/or Levy amounting to P235.293 million that was issued to the City Government of San Juan last May 11, 2022 for Ejercito's alleged failure to pay tax dues worth P65.954 million for fiscal year 2008.

He added that during the tenure of Ejercito's mother from 2010 to 2019 likewise failed to settle the tax deficiency for the said fiscal years.

For fiscal year 2008, Zamora said the Bureau of Internal Revenue has assessed the following tax deficiencies:

• Income Tax for the City Government’s proprietary income: P121,940,623.99
• Value Added Tax for the City Government’s proprietary income: P25,762,416.61
• Final Value Added Tax for purchases of goods and services from various contractors and suppliers: P44,742,099.45
• Expanded Withholding Tax: P15,392,495.84

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• Another P27,024,208.49 for failure to withhold tax on compensation
• Documentary Stamp Tax of P431,472.0 for land purchased for the Year 2008 totaling P8,000,000.00.

"To avoid garnishment and levy of the City Government's assets, I successfully secured, from the BIR, a reduction in the deficiency taxes from PhP 235,293,316.38 to PhP 40,997,942.75. Had we not been able to prevent the imminent garnishment and levy of the City Government’s properties, the salaries of the almost 2,000 city hall employees, the electricity of our local government facilities, the educational, medical, financial and livelihood assistance programs for over 150,000 constituents of San Juan City would have suffered immensely," Zamora said.

"This unplanned PhP 40,997,942.75 tax payment expense became a setback to the city’s full recovery from the effects of the pandemic and affected the city’s ability to immediately disburse pending payables, including Terminal Leave Benefits," he added.

Zamora said the San Juan City government is committed to releasing the claims for terminal leave benefits to all qualified employees.

"Processing and releasing are ongoing and continuously being done to ensure that those without pending complaints and/or cases will be prioritized. Kakampi man o katunggali sa politika, patas ang tingin namin sa kanila bilang mga San Juaneño," Zamora said.

(Whether allies or not in politics, we look at them fairly as San Juaneño.)

Lastly, Zamora said there is no reason for Ejercito to claim that this is politically motivated given that he supported the lawmaker's senatorial bid in the 2022 polls.

"Binigay ko ang aking suporta, tinulungan ko siya at bilang pag-endorso, isinama sa aming sample ballot. Walang dahilan o basehan para isipin niya na may away politika kami na magiging dahilan para ipitin ko diumano ang TLB ng mga tao nila," he said.

(I gave my support, helped him, and to show my endorsement, we included him in our sample ballot. There is no reason or basis for him to think that we have a political rift which allegedly led me to withhold the TLB of their people.)

In a press conference, Ejercito said the BIR assessments that were mentioned by Zamora were "erroneous."

"I just want to be clear na what Mayor Zamora was talking about, it involves a legal issue. Kinontest po talaga namin ang BIR (We already contested the BIR) because of what we feel was an erroneous assessment on their part," Ejercito said.

He explained that the BIR treated San Juan City Medical Center as a private corporation and calculated the tax dues on the basis of gross income.

Apart from this, Ejercito said they contested the tax dues on the parking fees collected by the city.

"Umabot ng several years, umabot sa term ng aking mother na si Mayor Guia na 'yun din po  ang position ng city government. As the mayor of the City of San Juan, you have to protect the interest of the city. Tingin ko po hindi dapat bayaran dahil erroneous nga po. Again, we will maintain that the assessment of the BIR is erroneous," he said.

(It dragged on several years, even reaching the term of my mother, Mayor Guia Gomez. That was also the position of the city government... I think the taxes should not be paid because [the assessment] is erroneous...)

Ejercito clarified that his privilege speech was intended to push for measures that will strengthen the Civil Service Commission in situations like this. —KG, GMA Integrated News