Section 46
SEC. 46. Powers and duties of the City Assessor.-The City Assessor or his duly authorized deputies shall annually assess all lands, buildings and other real properties subject to taxation within the jurisdiction of the city, and for this purpose he is empowered to administer oaths authorized to be administered in the assessment or collection of taxes. He shall make a list of all taxable real estate in the city and the names of the owners thereof, with, brief description opposite their names of the property owned by them and the cash value thereof. In making this list the City Assessor shall take into consideration any sworn statement made by the owners of the property, but shall not be prevented thereby from considering other evidence on the subject, and exercising his own judgment in respect thereto. For the purpose of completing this list he is authorized to summon witnesses, administer oaths to them and subject them to examination concerning the amount of real estate, its ownership, and cash value. If the City Assessor is unable to discover the owner of any real estate, he shall nevertheless list the same for taxation and charge against an unknown owner, In case of doubt or dispute as to ownership of real estate, the taxes should be levied against the possessor or possessors thereof. Where it shall appear that there are separate owners of the land and the improvements thereon, a separate assessment of the property of each shall be made. If it shall be discovered by the Assessor or brought to his attention that any taxable real estate in the city has escaped listing, it shall be his duty at once to list and value the same and it shall be the duty of the City Treasurer forthwith to charge against the owner thereof the taxes due for the current year and for all other years since the original assessment not exceeding four years and the taxes thus assessed shall be legal and collectible and if they are not paid before the expiration of the tax collection period next ensuing, penalties should be added to the back taxes as if they were assessed at the time when they shall have been assessed. He shall complete the listing and valuation of all real estate situated within the city on or before the thirty first day of December of each year, and when completed shall authenticate the same by signing the following certificate at the foot of the list: "I hereby certify that the foregoing list contains a true statement of the piece or pieces of taxable real estate belonging to each person named in the list, and its true cash value, and that no real estate taxable by law in Quezon City has been omitted from the list, according to the best of my knowledge and belief. "-------------------------------------------- City Assessor" He shall, when the list is completed, inform the public by notice published for seven days in a newspaper of general circulation in the city, if any, and by notice posted for seven days at the main entrance of the municipal building, that the list is on file in his office, and may be examined by any person interested therein, and that upon the date fixed in the notice, which shall not be later than the tenth day of January, the City Assessor will be in his office for the purpose of hearing complaints as to the accuracy of the listing of the property and the assessed value thereof. It shall be his duty carefully to preserve and record in his office copies of said notices. On the day fixed in the notice, and for five days thereafter, he shall be present in his office to hear all complaints filed within that period by persons against whom taxes have been assessed as owners of real estate, and he shall make his decision forthwith and enter the same in a well-bound book, to be kept by him for that purpose, and if he shall determine that injustice has been done or errors have been committed he is authorized to amend the list in accordance with his findings. He shall attend all meetings of the Board of Tax Appeals and furnish it with all written evidence in his possession relating to assessment and valuation. He shall likewise furnish the City Treasurer with a list of taxable real estate, the respective assessments thereof and against whom assessed, and such other information as the City measurer may require for the collection of taxes. He shall issue, upon request of the interested party, certified copies the declarations of real property and of all other records relative to the assessment of said real charging therefor such fee as may be determined by the City Council and the proceeds thereof shall be paid into the city treasury.