IN AN effort to boost revenue collection for the government, provincial treasurer Josephine Calajate has sought the assistance of barangay officials, whose areas have quarry sites, to help in the monitoring if the sand and gravel fees are being paid in full. With the limited time of checkers assigned by the provincial government to closely monitor the amount of gravel and sand loaded by every permitee from 8 am to 5 pm, Calajate said that the permittees tend to misreport the exact loads excavated in the quarry sites. It is in this regard that Calajate has once again appealed to barangay chairmen to mobilize their barangay tanods to guard the quarry sites against possible fraudulent activities. She added that this would increase the revenue generated by the provinces if these officials would help. Under the law, barangays have the highest percentage share from proceeds derived from quarry fees, next to the municipality and the province. Upon reviewing the records submitted at the Provincial Treasurer’s Office, Calajate said that it appears that said permittees are not honestly reporting the exact number of truckloads they have excavated from quarry sites. “Every time we appeal to them [barangay officials] and to the permittees, awan met latta kasi asino ti mamati a ti maysa a permittee ket maminsan lang a mapan ag-quarry? Kayat na sawen ton malpas ti 5 pm ti papanna ta awanen dagitay checkers,” Calajate said adding that this checkers can not be held liable for this illegal activity since they are already off duty when these happen. In view of this, Calajate suggested that there should be a strategic plan to regulate this activity, which has already led to low collection. “We are looking for means and if it’s possible, [to] refrain the barangay recipients [from] getting their local revenue share from quarry fees because, apparently, they are not doing their share too—to assist in the monitoring of quarry activities,” Calajate explained. According to Calajate, sand and gravel is not the only source of income of the province but explained that the Ilocos Norte government has been spending too much time in this business endeavor. “We have exhausted all ways and good means to regulate such activity but [it’s] still the same,” Calajate pointed out. She also recommended that a draft ordinance be enacted by local authorities to penalize erring quarry businessmen, and if possible, to ban them if they could not comply with the simple requirements being asked. Leilanie G. Adriano
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