DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/14 March) – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in Davao Region has set a tax collection target of P20 billion this year, the same amount that it set but failed to attain last year.
BIR-11 eyed a revenue collection of P20.20 billion in 2016 but only collected P16.9 billion, or 16.33-percent short of the target.
The 2016 collection surpassed the target of P14.3 billion for 2015.
BIR-11 director Nuzar N. Balatero told reporters that they are confident of attaining the P20-billion target due to increased economic activities with the influx of new investors in the region.
“We are very optimistic because the tax payers of Davao Region are very cooperative and there’s increased economic activities,” he said.
He said they are determined to achieve the target to contribute to the national target of P1.829 trillion this year for new infrastructure projects and better delivery of social services.
According to Davao City Investment Promotions Center head Lemuel Ortonio, the city alone has been receiving potential investment leads from investors from China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, among others.
“For most of them, they knew nothing about Davao City before and would only often know of Manila and Cebu when Philippines is mentioned. PRRD (President Rodrigo R. Duterte) has created a buzz on Davao City and became the perfect marketing ambassador for the city’s investment and tourism potential. With the increased awareness comes increased interest in Davao City for foreign investors to pour in new potential developments,” he said.
New investments in Davao Region reached P7.684 billion as of third quarter of 2016, records from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 11 showed.
The third quarter investments in 2016 already surpassed by 38.7 percent the entire 2015 record of P4.708 billion.
DTI-11 reported that of these investments, Davao City bagged 33 percent, Davao del Sur 29 percent, Davao del Norte 27 percent, Compostella Valley 7 percent, and Davao Oriental 4 percent.
Most investments came from manufacturing (38 percent), transportation and storage (31 percent, and real estate (13 percent). Accommodation/food services and power got 7 percent each, while agriculture netted 4 percent.
The top five highest investors for the period were San Miguel Foods Inc. that poured in P2.244 billion worth of manufacturing plant in Davao del Sur; international port-operator Anflocor’s with its P1.
885-billion Davao International Container Terminal Inc. in Davao del Norte; Damosa Land Inc., Anflocor’s real estate arm, with P596.
59 million; FTC Group of Companies’ P540.97 million in Davao City; and Euro Hydro Power (Asia) Holdings Inc. with P517.77 million worth of hydropower plant in Compostela Valley province.
PNX Chelsea Shipping Corp. came as 6th top investor with P507 million, followed by AVLB Asia Pacific Conglomerate Inc. with P500 million, Grupo San Pedro Realty Corp. with P372.10 million, Anflo Banana Corp. with P342 million, and CocohausCorp. with P177.50 billion. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)