LINGAYEN — All’s well that ends well.

This may have been the case after the municipal government of Binalonan has finally agreed to remit its real property tax (RPT) collections for 2005 to the provincial government of Pangasinan.

Provincial Administrator Virgilio Solis said that Binalonan Mayor Ramon Guico had refused to remit his town’s RPT collections and withheld it for two months since Dec. 31 last year.

Guico, a cousin of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is the national president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines.

“That was a very good gesture on the part of Mayor Guico. We are glad that his town’s RPT collection will soon be finally remitted to the province,” Solis said.

Last January, Guico said Binalonan was not remitting its RPT collection to the province because he did not see any provincial government project in Binalonan.

Solis surmised that when Guico made that pronouncement, he was still misinformed of the
projects done by the provincial government in the town.

He said the mayor changed his mind when he finally saw the listing of projects and informed properly.

If he did not, the town of Binalonan would have set a precedence of sort throughout the whole country as it would have defied Department of Finance regulations calling for the remittance by
municipalities of their RPT collections to the province.

The RPT is the tax being paid by property owners to the national government, being collected by the municipal and city treasurers.

“Mayor Guico finally saw the light and the urgent need to remit the RPT collection to the province,” Solis said.

He attributed the mayor’s change of mind to the tact in diplomacy and negotiation exerted by Gov. Victor Agbayani on Mayor Guico.

The two officials, he said, held backdoor negotiations between them, thus, was the reason why
the municipal government of Binalonan will finally remit its RPT collections. (PNA)