by: Loding Cotaran

Local government officials have announced a proposal to temporarily hold off on a new real estate tax law, known as the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act (RPVARA or Republic Act No. 12001).

Speaking at the Flag Ceremony and Program on August 11, 2026, Assistant Provincial Assessor Salvacion P. Likigan shared that this delay is designed to protect home and business owners from sudden tax hikes.

The Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act (RPVARA or Republic Act No. 12001) is a national law designed to clean up and modernize how property is valued across the Philippines.

Normally, different government agencies use different prices for the same piece of land, which leads to confusion and under-valued properties. RPVARA changes this by creating a single, updated standard called the Schedule of Market Values (SMVs), aligning official property values with actual current market prices (https://radyosagada.com/news-3/). However, because many local governments have not updated their land values in decades, jumping straight to current market prices would cause property tax bills to skyrocket almost overnight for homeowners and business owners (https://radyosagada.com/news-4/ ).

To prevent this sudden financial shock, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. recommended a temporary two-year freeze during a Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting on August 6, 2026. Because RPVARA is a national law passed by Congress, executive officials cannot simply decide to ignore it on their own.

To make the delay legally binding, Representative Romero “Miro” Quimbo introduced House Bill No. 10808. This bill provides the legal pathway to freeze the enforcement of key parts of the reform, ensuring that local government units are legally protected when they hold off on implementing higher tax rates. In short, the freeze ensures that when the updated market values are eventually rolled out, the transition will be smooth, fair, and transparent for everyone involved.