By LITO RULONA Correspondent COUNCILOR George Goking yesterday said he was looking into the possibility of city hall forcing Del Monte Philippines Inc. into paying it some P300 million in real property taxes covering its 27-hectare cannery in Barangay Bugo here since 2010. Goking said this even as the city council’s committee on ways and means started examining Del Monte’s papers from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza). Goking, the committee’s chairman, said city hall was also supposed to receive some P36 million, representing a two-percent Peza share from Del Monte’s gross sales. City hall has yet to receive it, he said. He said there is a need to review rules and laws to determine if Del Monte and other firms were really exempted from paying real property taxes because of their Peza accreditations. Section 24, Chapter 3 of Republic Act 7916, otherwise known as the Special Economic Zone Act of 1995 as amended under Republic Act 8748 in 1998, however provides for the exemption from national and local taxes of companies operating within the so-called “eco-zones.” Goking said he hoped the law excludes real property taxes. “If we find out that the city government has a legal basis to collect the real property and other business taxes, then we will not hesitate to take legal action,” he said. Aside from Del Monte, he said the committee would also check other areas in the city declared as “eco-zones” and see if firms operating there were really qualified to avail of the Peza exemption. “Wala kita’y laing motive ani gawas lamang nga mahatagan sa dugang og insakto nga buhis ang siyudad para sa kalambuan niini. Peza should also release the share of the city government,” Goking said. He noted that former city treasurer Glenn Bañez told councilors during the deliberations on city hall’s 2017 budget last year that Del Monte alone could increase local tax revenues by P96 million annually. Of the amount, some P40 million would go to the host barangay. He said the possible taxes from Del Monte could help in realizing city hall’s P1-billion tax revenue target for next year.