Plenary Hearing to the Second Reading of the Real Property Valuation Reform (RPVAR) Bill, 07 December 2022

Organizational Meeting of the Committee on Government Reorganization, 09 November 2022

Meeting of the Committee on Appropriations, 01 December 2022

Quezon City – The Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) is grateful for the approval of the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform bill on the third and final reading at the House of Representatives last Monday’s session dated 12 December 2022.

In a meeting of the Committee on Appropriations held on 01 December 2022, 2^nd District Representative of Albay, Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, author of House Bill (HB) 54, emphasized that the said bill is one of the priority legislative measures of President Marcos as announced in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).

2^nd District Representative of Bukidnon and Chairperson of the Committee on Government Reorganization, Rep. Jonathan Keith T. Flores, in his sponsorship speech during the Plenary Hearing to the Second Reading last 07 December 2022, expressed support for the proposed legislative measure to institute reforms in the country’s more than a decade-old real property valuation and assessment.

“With the pronouncement of the President, certifying the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Bill as priority of the administration, it is high time that this reform be passed in the Congress. The valuation reforms that the bill at hand seeks to promote the development of a just, equitable, and efficient real property valuation system. The reform will broaden the tax base for local and national property and property-related taxes, and expedite valuation-based government activities, such as right-of-way acquisition and administration of land transfer taxes. This will neither impose new taxes nor current tax rates since the local government units (LGUs) will continue to set, adjust, and regulate tax rates, and assessment levels”, Representative Flores said.

BLGF Local Fiscal Policy Service (LFPS) OIC Director Brenda L. Miranda and OIC Executive Director Ma. Pamela P. Quizon also expressed support for the bill during the meetings with the Committee on Government Reorganization and Committee on Ways and Means held on 09 November and 05 December 2022, respectively.

According to Dir. Miranda, per the World Bank’s estimates, 60% to 75% of a country’s wealth consists of real property, however, noted of the passive performance of real property tax in the country, which accounts to only 0.37% of the gross domestic product with an overall collection efficiency of 71%.

For her part, Dir. Quizon underscored that the proposed law will bring in more investments and additional revenues for the LGUs as this will further invigorate the real estate market.

House Bill (HB) 6558 seeks to reorganize the BLGF to effectively provide the institutional support to operationalize and implement the reform agenda. The Department of Finance (DOF), on the other hand, shall promulgate the rules and regulations on real property valuation, with the LGUs responsible for the preparation and updating of the Schedule of Market Values (SMVs), to be reviewed by the BLGF Regional Offices, the BLGF Executive Director, and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner, and approved by the Secretary of Finance.