By PNA and U.S. News Agency / Asian

The Naga City government in southern Cebu has requested the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) for a one-percent share of the proceeds form anchorage fees it collects from private cargo vessels.

In his letter to CPA General Manager Dennis Villamor dated Jan. 18, 2012, Naga City Mayor Valdemar Chiong cited Section 291 of the Local Government Code, which provides for a share for local government units (LGUs) from any government agency or government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC).

“The City Government of Naga may not have its own port to manage, but it has to strictly enforce measures to prevent the destruction of its coastal resources brought about by the presence of several cargo vessels that anchor off its shorelines or dock at private wharves,” Chiong said.

“Through the years, the City of Naga has not been given its equitable share form the CPA despite the presence of private cargo vessels that use or drop anchor in its municipal waters,” the mayor added.

The code entitles LGUs to one percent of gross sales from the preceding year or 40 percent of the mining taxes, royalties, forestry and fishery charges the government agency or GOCC would have had to pay, if it was not exempted.

Section 286 also provides for the automatic release of shares from GOCCs that use the national wealth directly to the LGUs.

Atty. Yusop Uckung, acting CPA deputy general manager and concurrent legal affairs department manager, said the code does not apply to the CPA because, like the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), it is not a GOCC but a government instrumentality.

Uckung cited a Supreme Court decision (G.R. No. 163072) which stated that the MIAA, as a government instrumentality, cannot be subjected to any local government tax.

Secondly, Uckung said, the CPA is not engaged in the “utilization and development of national wealth.”