Giving back to the Watersheds: Davao’s Environmental Tax
DAVAO CITY – Taxation can be a problematic word, especially during an election season, but among watershed advocates in Davao City, taxes, or more specifically Green Taxes are just being par for the course when one lives in a city whose mantra is “Life is Here”. 2016 could be the year of the watershed environmental tax, as the city amps up its collection from the agri-businesses operating in the Talomo-Lipadas and Panigan-Tamugan watersheds. Last year, when the envi tax was first implemented, only a handful of businesses complied, under protest. In fact, a case was filed in the courts to contest the tax implementation. Complainants argued that the local government does not have the right to impose an environmental tax since they are already paying property taxes and business permits. They contend that this is a case of double taxation, which is prohibited under the law. But according to the watershed advocacy group Interface Development Interventions (IDIS), the environmental tax imposed by the city’s Watershed Code is within the authority and power conferred to it by the Constitution and the Local Government Code.
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SP slammed on land use plan revision
Environment advocates yesterday frowned on the Sangguniang Panlungsod when they approved on third and final reading a measure amending the provision on green spaces in subdivisions under section 13 Article XI of Ordinance No. 0546 also known as the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) 2013-2022. The amendment virtually reduced the 10 percent required allocation by land developers of green spaces in their properties measuring about one hectare, by incorporating such requirement in the 30 percent open space allocation in every development supposedly intended for roads and drainage facilities in subdivisions. This is contrary to the objective set up in the Davao City Development Plan for 1996-2021, which aims to increase green spaces in the city by developing open spaces and establishing small and tree parks in every barangay.
Davao Council reduces green space requirement
DAVAO CITY — Developers of horizontal housing projects here will no longer be required to set aside 10% of the total land area, with a minimum of one hectare, as “green space”, following the city council’s approval of an amendment to the local law. Majority of the councilors voted last Tuesday in favor of the amendment to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) 2013-2022, which incorporates the 10% green space into the 30% open space intended for common facilities as well as roads and drainage facilities.
Move to amend Davao City’s land use plan slammed
ENVIRONMENT advocates criticized the amendments over Davao City’s land use plan, which they claimed will result in the reduction of the open space requirement for development. In a statement emailed to Sun.Star Davao, Interface Development Intervention (Idis) director Ann Fuertes said the move is a “short-sighted response that will have long-term repercussions on the city’s response to climate change.” “We need more green spaces and not a cement. Green spaces perform an essential function and that it serves as urban storm water absorption and filtration for the city,” Fuertes said.