CATBALOGAN CITY- Business climate of this city is on the upward projection with its income covering the first five months expected to surpass last year’s performance.
Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan said that she is confident that the good economic performance of the city will continue showing the confidence of the investors.
The mayor said that from January to May of this year, they have earned over P44 million out of the local taxes it collects from businessmen.
Last year, the city government earned P66 million from local sources which were higher compared to the P51 million it collected in 2015.
Data from the Business Process and Licensing Office shows that there are 1,380 businesses operating in the city covering the first five months of the year.
Last year, 1,424 business establishments secured permits from the city government which was higher compared to the 1,319 licenses issued in 2015.
Among the newly-opened businesses in the city includes coffee shops, hardware stores, restaurants and department stores.
In terms of capitalization, about P2.9 billion so far has been poured in by those currently doing business in Catbalogan covering January to May period.
This is already relatively higher compared to last year’s P2.7 billion and P2.1 billion in 2015,respectively.
“This shows that more investors are confident in putting up businesses in the city,” Mayor Uy-Tan.
Among the new investors that are to open in Catbalogan are the Prince Warehouse and the Primark Properties that will develop the central public market of Catbalogan into a mall-type establishment.
Mayor Uy-Tan added that soon, they will welcome two new branches of banks in their city, the Bank of Philippine Island (BPI) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Based on the information provided to them by the BSP, Catbalogan City has the most number of deposit accounts in the entire island of Samar with 57,000 bank accounts compared to the 51,151 in Catarman, Northern Samar that is on second; 45,754 in Borongan City; 44,433 in Calbayog City and 12,171 in Guiuan, Eastern Samar.
“On the total deposit liabilities in Samar province amounting to more than P 8.826 billion, more than half are in Catbalogan Banks amounting to more than P 5.272 billion,” said Mayor Uy-Tan.
“This only shows that indeed Catbalogan is the center of economy in the province,” Mayor Uy-Tan added.
She attributed the good performance on local economy to the good peace and order situation of the city and the influx of people from other places in Samar Island that
Although it is good that there businessmen and corporation are coming to the city to invest and do business, the city mayor said that she hopes that local businessmen will do business in the city.
“We continue to invite more investors from the national especially our local businessmen to make our local economy more productive and give more jobs not only for the residents of Catbalogan but also for those from our neighboring towns,” Uy-Tan said.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
