Philippine tax collectors dance while collecting taxes in office
Philippine tax collectors dance while collecting taxes in officeIn the land of dancing prisoners and airline cabin crews, Philippine tax collectors have also caught the toe-tapping bug.
Hundreds of people now queue to pay their business and property taxes in Cebu, the country's number-two city, with the added incentive of watching the staff shake their hips, said city treasurer Ofelia Oliva.
"We say to them, paying your taxes is no longer a burden," said Oliva, a grandmother who leads the dancing troupe.
She said daily local tax collections had risen 42.8 per cent since Monday, when the 320-member staff launched the dance routine with pop star Shakira's song Waka Waka.
The twice-daily performances, one in mid-morning and another in the afternoon, now also include routines complete with colourful tribal costumes.
Oliva said she developed the shows following an order from city mayor Michael Rama.
"The mayor said we should get the taxpayers to pay with a smile," she said.
Just 5.5 million of the Philippines' labour force of nearly 40 million pay income taxes, according to the internal revenue bureau.
New President Benigno Aquino had launched a name-and-shame campaign to get more people to pay their taxes with a series of high-profile criminal cases filed against celebrities and businessmen.
Cebu made its name in the world of dance with prisoners dancing to Michael Jackson's zombie Thriller tune.
A 2007 clip of their performance logged nearly 45 million hits on YouTube.
Cebu Pacific, followed suit recently, and footage of its female cabin crew dancing to Lady Gaga.
8.7 millionThe number of hits the flight attendants' dancing video received on YouTube
