The Baguio City Council has approved on first reading the proposed ordinance seeking to grant a rental holiday during the period covered by this year’s General Community Quarantine (GCQ).
This shall apply to all corporations, real properties, commercial or industrial establishments, stalls, spaces, and units owned/controlled by the city and national governments covered by lease contracts that have been ordered closed as well as those that have not been ordered closed but opted not to operate during this year’s imposed GCQ.
Once enacted, the said rental holiday ordinance authored by Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan and Councilor Philian Weygan-Allan shall take effect retroactively starting on September 24, 2021 until the GCQ has been lifted.
The proposal stipulated that leaseholders of stalls within the city public market that continue to operate during the ongoing GCQ shall settle their unpaid rentals. However, leaseholders of stalls that did not operate during this period shall not pay rentals.
All concessionaires at Burnham Park and Botanical Garden shall be exempted from paying their rentals during the GCQ. The rental holiday shall apply to pay toilet concessionaires as long as they did not operate as certified by the City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO).
For the implementation, the Local Finance Committee shall provide the names of all tenants who may avail of the said rental holiday. The City Treasury Office shall make the necessary compliance report within a period of 30 days after the lifting of the GCQ status. Copies of the report shall be forwarded to the city council and the city mayor.
Following its approval on first reading, the ordinance has been referred to the Sanggunian’s Committee on Appropriations and Finance Cluster B (Taxes, Fees, and Other Charges) to be reviewed. (Jordan G. Habbiling, photo courtesy by Joseph Manzano)