MANILA Mayor and Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso yesterday urged former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to pay the family’s estate taxes after the lawyer of Marcos’ party admitted that the Supreme Court’s decision on the case is “final and executory.”
Moreno was referring to Partido ng Federal ng Pilipinas counsel George Briones, who agreed last Wednesday that the Marcos family has unsettled tax liability amounting to P23 billion as ruled by the SC more than two decades ago.
But Briones said the surcharges, interests and penalties that led to the amount ballooning to P203 billion could still be subject to reconciliation.
Moreno said the Marcos family could settle the initial P23 billion before paying the rest of the amount to the government.
“That the original P23 billion estate tax has ballooned over time to P203 billion due to penalties and surcharges, the Marcos family has no one to blame but themselves partly because of their sense of entitlement and partly due to arrogance of power. Talagang wakang intensyon na ibalik ang yaman nila sa bayan,” Moreno told reporters after a townhall meeting with residents and officials of Roxas, Oriental Mindoro where he and his team are campaigning.
“Pero pagbigyan natin si Attorney (Briones). Pero bayaran mo na ‘yung P23 billion. Final na pala, nasaan na (But let’s indulge Attorney (Briones). But the P23 billion must be paid. Where is it)?” he added.
Moreno challenged Marcos to settle his tax liabilities as soon as possible, saying the amount in question is meager compared to all the assets the Marcos family had accumulated after decades in power.
“Whether P23 billion or P203 billion based on final assessment, what matters most is may P23 billion na dapat kang bayaran. Bayaran mo na. Dami mo namang pera. Buwis mo pa lang P23 billion na, paano pa kaya ‘yung natira?” Moreno said, adding the money can be used to purchase fertilizers for farmers or provide assistance to public utility drivers affected by the continued hike in fuel pump prices.
He also called on his presidential rival to be honest with himself, adding that if he really cares for the people, as Marcos repeatedly claimed, then he should pay taxes to the government.
Aksyon Demokratiko first called the public’s attention to the Marcos family’s failure to settle its multi-billion estate tax ahead of the May 9 elections where Marcos is the survey frontrunner.
Moreno’s camp has denied it is trying to score political points against the Marcoses. Moreno has insisted that if he won the presidential race, he would collect the amount, and even file a case against the Marcoses if they refuse to cough up the amount.
CARPIO WEIGHS IN
Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said that if Marcos really wants to become the country’s next president, he should be a model to the citizenry by paying taxes his family owed the government.
Carpio said Marcos must settle the P23 billion estate tax liabilities before the May 9 elections.
“The next president should be the number one model for the country. As the president, he’s the father of the nation. We have to ask him: You want to be the president? Then you should be the model to the Filipino people, to the nation, in terms of paying taxes. He has the biggest tax liabilities among Filipinos. If you’re the biggest tax evader, who will now pay taxes to the government?” Carpio said a television interview.
Carpio said the government runs on taxes and without it, it would not be able to provide basic services to the people.
“The president must set an example. Everybody’s saying now, “pero siya nga di nagbabayad ng buwis, bakit ako magbabayad? It has to be settled before the election date,” he said, adding the Marcoses should have paid their estate tax when the Supreme Court decision on the case became final.
A copy of the entry of judgment showed that the SC’s ruling on the case — G.R. 120880 — to affirm the Court of Appeals decision on the Marcos estate tax in 1994 became final on March 9, 1999.
Carpio said if Marcos won the presidential race, the government may no longer be able to collect the amount as winning would give him the power to appoint the next chief of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the main agency going after tax evaders.
“The president has supervision and control over the entire executive department. Control means he can reverse their decision. He can preempt and make the decision himself,” the former magistrate explained.
He lamented the failure of the BIR to collect the amount over the years, saying that it should have frozen the bank accounts of the Marcoses, garnished levy on all their properties and filed cases against them for violation of the Tax Code for willful refusal to pay taxes.
He said if the BIR can sue an ordinary individual who committed similar violations of the law, the more it should do against the Marcoses.
