The industry wants four more years before the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act (RPVARA) takes effect, a law that would update and standardize property values used to calculate real property taxes nationwide.
“The RPVARA’s intent remains sound and necessary, and we fully support it,” Robinsons Land CEO Mybelle Aragon-GoBio said, while warning that higher property-related costs could reach “well beyond our own sector,” affecting homeowners and potentially adding to consumer expenses amid rising prices and geopolitical tensions.
Aragon-GoBio was joined at the Sept. 22 Malacañang meeting by Ayala Land president and CEO Anna Ma. Margarita “Meean” B. Dy, Alliance Global Inc. president and CEO and Megaworld executive director Kevin Tan and SM Prime Holdings executive vice president Cris Noel Torres.
Robinsons Land chair Lance Gokongwei and Ayala Land senior vice president Mariana Zobel de Ayala were also at the table.
Four more years
PSAC wants RPVARA delayed to 2031, the real property tax amnesty extended by four years and annual tax increases capped at 6 percent for the first three years.
Developers also want discounted ready-for-occupancy condos to count toward housing requirements, potentially clearing inventory while addressing the 3.7-million-unit housing backlog.
Tan put the economic weight behind the appeal: PSAC estimates every P1 spent on real estate generates P3.44 in output, meaning a property slowdown would ripple far beyond developers into jobs and businesses across the economy.
—Edited by Miguel R. Camus
