By PNA and U.S. News Agency / Asian

A Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) district office will soon open at the new Mandaue City Public Market.

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes said a BIR office will spur economic activities at the market, which is located in Barangay Centro.

“Definitely, it will stir economic growth in the area,” he said.

BIR 7 officials and Mayor Cortes have signed a memorandum of agreement for the agency’s district office at the market building.

“We are planning to transfer within the month,” BIR 7 Assistant Director Hermeno Palamine said. The existing district office is located in Barangay Subangdaku.

Palamine said the office will occupy a spacious area at the market, which also has sufficient parking space.

“It is larger than the existing office,” he said.

The district office, which serves four cities and 223 towns, has operated in Subangdaku for 17 years.

Palamine said they have requested Mayor Cortes to provide a back-up generator, increase police visibility in the area and make the market more accessible to public utility vehicles.

Under the contract, which is renewable every two years, the BIR will pay a monthly rental of P250,000.

Mayor Cortes said he has instructed city executive secretary Jamaal James Calipayan to meet with the chief of the Mandaue City Police Office and the head of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue to discuss the requests of the BIR officials.

Cortes said the Philippine Tourism Authority will also soon hold office in Mandaue.

The agency will occupy the building of the Department of General Services (DGS), across from the Mandaue City Hospital.

The DGS will be transferred to another location.