Different opinions abound in Santiago regarding the order by Mayor Abel Martinez to publish on a huge billboard the first 10 names of the companies that the city claims owe millions to the city government in back taxes. Lawyers representing businesses are divided as to whether this was the right move or not, as reported in Diario Libre.
The presidents of the Industrial and Commercial Association of Santiago (ACIS), Carlos Guillermo Nuñez and the Historical Center of Santiago, José Octavio Reynoso, criticized the billboard, saying it was perhaps not the best way to collect municipal taxes. Carlos Laura, a former president of the Merchants Association of the Historical Center of Santiago, said that the measure was a step in the wrong direction. He recommended that Mayor Abel Martinez change his style since it appears to be hurting local businesses. Lawyers José Dolores Jimenez and Ramon Estrella, who head professional associations in Santiago, also refused to support the public embarrassment of these companies.
However, noted jurist Angel Julian Serulle said that Abel Martinez has the right to publish the names of those who are resisting paying city taxes. He went so far as to say the mayor could place an embargo on the companies’ assets if necessary.
Diario Libre reported that of the 10 companies that the Ayuntamiento publicized as in arrears on the big billboard at the corner of Juan Pablo Duarte and Salvador Estella Sadhala, one has already been erased: Coca-Cola. A source at the Mayor’s office told the newspaper that as soon as the companies clear up their back taxes their names will be taken from the billboard.
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Diario Libre
18 October 2017
