Pasay needs better tax collection, says Santos

Effective tax collection and radical changes in financial management is what Pasay City needs for development, said PDP-Laban official mayoral candidate Ricardo "Ding" Santos yesterday in a press statement.

Santos said the P500-million financial obligation of the city with the Philippine National Bank and other government financial institutions has prevented the effective delivery of basic services because of the debt’s huge interest.

This obligation is considered one of the biggest in the metropolis and is a big burden to the people because the local government has to allocate whatever money collected from taxpayers to various programs and its obligations, he added.

Santos said the city has been left in the dustbin of underdevelopment compared to other cities and municipalities.

"Graft and corruption is prevalent and is like cancer that slowly ate up our system until it became malignant," Santos said.

The former police captain and chief security officer of long time mayor, deceased Pablo Cuneta, is batting for a sound handling of the city’s money to solve its present financial situation.

Santos who is for a clean and honest governance, urged well-meaning individuals and groups to help the government implement changes in governance to spur development at the grassroots level. At present, his group is finalizing the short and long term development plan of the city which would be the guide for transparent and graft- free governance.