Section 13
SEC. 13. Section thirty of Commonwealth Act Numbered Three hundred and twenty-six is hereby amended so as to read as follows: "SEC. 30. Taxes on real estate.—A tax, the rate of which shall not exceed one and one-half per centum ad valorem to be determined by the City Council, shall be levied annually on or before the second Monday of February on the assessed value of all real estate in the city subject to taxation. Taxes shall be due and payable annually on and after the first day of March. "At the option of the taxpayer, the tax for any year may be paid in two installments to be fixed annually by the City Council simultaneously with the rate per centum of ad valorem taxation: Provided, That the time limit for the first and second installments shall be set at not later than the thirty-first day of May and the thirtieth day of November of each year, respectively. "Any person who, on the last day set for the payment of the real estate tax as provided in the preceding paragraph, shall be within the premises of the municipal building willing and ready to pay the tax but is unable to effect it on account of the large number of taxpayers therein present, shall be furnished a properly prescribed card that will permit him to pay the tax the following day without penalty. "If a property owner is not in a position to pay the total amount of taxes due on real estate in his or her name, partial payment may be made on account of one or more lots, or part thereof. "The words 'paid under protest' shall be written upon the face of the real estate tax receipt on request of any person willing to pay the tax under protest. Confirmation in writing of an oral protest shall be made within thirty days. "At the expiration of the time for the payment of the real estate tax without penalty, the taxpayer shall be subject, from the first day of delinquency, to the payment of a penalty at the rate of two per centum for each full month of delinquency that has expired, on the amount of the original tax due, until the tax shall have been paid in full or until the property shall have been forfeited to the city as provided in this Act: Provided, That in no case shall the total penalty exceed twenty-four per centum of the original tax due: And provided, further, That the provisions of this section shall be applicable to such delinquencies of real estate taxes as may be existing on the date of the approval of this Act. "In the event that the crop is extensively damaged or that a great lowering of the prices of products is registered in any year, the City Council may, by resolution passed on or before the thirty-first day of December of such year, remit wholly or in part the payment of the tax or penalty for the ensuing year; but such resolution shall have to specify clearly the grounds for such remission and shall not take effect until it shall have been approved by the Secretary of Finance. "The President of the Philippines may, in his discretion, remit or reduce the real estate taxes for any year in the City of Bacolod, if he deems this to be in the public interest."