Set an example, Marquez tells Olivarez

Incumbent Parañaque City Mayor Joey Marquez has sound advice to comebacking politician, Dr. Pablo Olivarez: "Set a good example to your constituents."

"For people to believe him, he should be the first one to attend to his obligations. Ikaw muna ang magbigay ng halimbawa para iboto ka ng tao," Marquez said yesterday.

Marquez said Olivarez failed to pay his real estate taxes when he was still the city mayor from 1992-1995.

"He used to pay his real estate taxes, but stopped when he assumed office in 1992," Marquez said.

The mayor also disputed Olivarez’s claim that the city government refused his offer to pay 25 percent of the total arrears to keep his properties off the auction block.

"No law allows that. What we have is a 16 percent discount for early payment of one year or a 10 percent discount for quarterly payments," Marquez said.

Marquez said this was approved by Olivarez when he was still mayor and when he was the vice mayor.

"I’m surprised why he didn’t avail of the ordinance that he himself approved," he said.

Marquez beat Olivarez in the 1995 elections and has been city mayor for the last eight years.

In an earlier interview, Olivarez alleged that the city government placed his properties on the auction block "as a form of political harassment" because he was again seeking office in the 2004 elections.

Marquez laughed off his claims, saying that what has happened was "100 percent non-payment of taxes."

He also said that to prove the city government’s crackdown on tax delinquents, it first auctioned off the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and lands owned by the Public Estates Authority (PEA).

Olivarez had also said it was his children who managed the properties. He stressed that he should even be given credit for not meddling with his children’s tax obligations.

"If I had been a bad mayor, I should have included them in the tax amnesty or used my influence. But I did not. I let them handle their own affairs," Olivarez said.

But Marquez noted that the former mayor "should have known better."

"He should have exerted his influence on his children and told them to pay on time. He should have known better about paying taxes and paying them on time," the mayor said.

The city government was supposed to auction off Olivarez’s properties worth an estimated P40 million yesterday but was held back by the temporary restraining order (TRO) granted by the Supreme Court based on the latter’s petition.

Among the establishments built on Olivarez’s properties are supermarkets, sports facilities, a general hospital, and a school, Marquez said. – Nikko Dizon