69 OG No. 12, 2428 (March 19, 1973)

[ PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 145, March 08, 1973 ]

AMENDING THE PENULTIMATE AND ULTIMATE PARAGRAPHS OF SECTION 2 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 2264, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS "THE LOCAL AUTONOMY ACT"

WHEREAS, Section 2 of Republic Act No. 2264, otherwise known
as "The Local Autonomy Act," vests in the Secretary of Finance the
authority to suspend the effectivity of any local lax ordinance within
one hundred twenty days after its passage, if, in his opinion, the tax
or fee therein levied or imposed is unjust, excessive, oppressive, or
confiscatory;

WHEREAS, experience has shown that due to certain defects
and ambiguities in the existing law, the authority of the Secretary of
Finance to suspend local tax ordinances cannot be effectively and
judiciously exercised, thereby nullifying the intent of the law to
protect taxpayers adversely affected and the public in general against
the detrimental effects of unjust taxation; and

WHEREAS, it has become imperative and necessary to amend
the existing provisions of law in order to ensure the sound and lawful
exercise of the local taxing powers;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution as
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant
to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General Order
No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, as amended, and Proclamation No. 1103,
dated January 17, 1973, do hereby decree that the penultimate and
ultimate paragraphs of Section 2 of Republic Act No. 2264 be amended, as
they are hereby amended, to read as follows:

"A tax ordinance shall go into effect on the fifteenth day after
its passage, unless the ordinance shall provide otherwise:
Provided, however, That the Secretary of Finance shall have
authority to suspend the effectivity of any ordinance within one hundred
and twenty days after receipt by him of a copy thereof, if, in his
opinion, the tax or fee therein levied or imposed is unjust, excessive,
oppressive, or confiscatory, or when it is contrary to declared national
economy policy, and when the said Secretary exercises this authority
the effectivity of such ordinance shall be suspended, either in part or
as a whole, for a period of thirty days within which period the local
legislative body may either modify the tax ordinance to meet the
objections thereto, or file an appeal with a court of competent
jurisdiction; otherwise, the tax ordinance or the part or parts thereof
declared suspended, shall be considered as revoked. Thereafter, the
local legislative body may not reimpose the same tax or fee until such
time as the grounds for the suspension thereof shall have ceased to
exist.

"Certified true copies of all city, municipal and municipal
district tax ordinances shall be furnished the Secretary of Finance by
the respective city, municipal or municipal district council, within ten
days after passage and if within one hundred and twenty days after
receipt by him, the Secretary of Finance takes no action, the said
ordinance shall remain in force.

"A formal protest may be filed within one hundred and twenty
days after the passage of the tax ordinance: Provided, however,
That the Secretary of Finance shall have sixty days, after receipt of
the protest, to decide the same.

"If the decision of the Secretary suspends in part or in full
the tax ordinance protested, the local legislative body, within thirty
days after receipt thereof, may either modify the ordinance in
accordance with the decision of the Secretary of Finance or exercise the
right to appeal to the court, otherwise, said decision shall become
final.

"Any tax or fee paid pursuant to a suspended ordinance or part
thereof and/or during the pendency of an appeal in court shall be
considered as having been paid under protest until final resolution of
the issues raised.

"The Secretary of Finance is hereby ordered to promulgate the
rules and regulations implementing the provisions of this Decree."

This Decree shall form part of the laws of the land and shall take
effect immediately. All laws, orders, rules and regulations or parts
thereof inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Decree are
hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Done in the City of
Manila, this 8th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred
and seventy-three.

In order to facilitate the implementation of this Presidential
Decree No, 145, the Department of Finance issued Circular No. 11-73,
dated March 15, 1973, prescribing the rules and regulations.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library