Proem

When you check-in in a hotel you can ask the front-desk for a "wake up" call so that you can wake up at a specified time.

In recent weeks a series of robberies and hold-ups occurred in Tagbilaran City. It was highlighted by the recent robbery and shoot-out that occurred last Tuesday at the local branch of the Bank of Commerce located at corner CPG and Soledad Sts. One security guard was killed and two others wounded. On the side of the robbers two were wounded and three were captured including the wounded robbers.

Wake Up Call

It could not be denied that Tagbilaran City has now grown. Influx of people from other places has made Tagbilaran City busy. Business establishments are burgeoning. Many banks have opened branches in the City.

The events in recent weeks are a wake up call for Tagbilaran City that it is now time to change our ways of doing things. We need more police visibility, better communications, and better equipment to respond to the needs of the people.

Financial Need

We all know that all the responses that are contemplated needs money to bring it into reality. The question is, where will get the needed finances?

Do you know that the banks in Tagbilaran, which need all the protection from robberies, do not pay taxes in Tagbilaran City except for two smaller banks? They only pay permit fees in Tagbilaran but the taxes from their billions of pesos in transactions are paid at their headquarters in Makati City or Metro Manila.

We have an incongruous situation. The banks do business in Tagbilaran City but pay their taxes in Metro Manila! It is very unfair to the city. When robberies occur, the city will strain its resources to solve the problem without minding that the source of the problem did contribute to its protection.

When Mayor Dan Neri Lim became mayor of Tagbilaran City in 2004, one of his first acts done was to request the different banks in Tagbilaran City to pay their taxes here. The bankers promised to help the city in some other ways.

Maybe the event last Tuesday would serve as a wake up call to the banks in Tagbilaran. They ought to help in the upkeep of peace and order in Tagbilaran because the banks themselves are in the frontline and favorite targets of robbery-holdups.

Maybe the bank managers in Tagbilaran City can argue with top management that they must help to protect the source of business or else the headquarters in Metro Manila will have no income. Other large businesses like the Coca Cola pay their taxes locally.

Why could the banks not do the same?

There is a saying in Bisayan that says, "Ang samad sa kumingking pagabation sa tibuok lawas (A would in the little finger is felt by the whole body)." There is a harsher one, "Ang gabà dili magsabà (Karma will not announce itself)."