OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT
Diwa C. Guinigundo
1Sambayan could not have clarified it more clearly, that no less than the Supreme Court in January 1999 ruled that the Marcoses owed the government ₱23.3 billion in estate taxes. For their failure to pay, the Marcoses accumulated tax liabilities amounting to ₱203.8 billion representing ₱23.3 billion in principal; ₱139.8 billion in interest; and ₱40.7 billion in penalties.
These tax liabilities have remained unpaid for the last 23 years.
Former Senator Bongbong Marcos’ spokesman, lawyer Victor Rodriguez, should know better than dismiss the issue of tax evasion on the ground that the case “is still pending in court” and that “the ownership of the properties in litigation has yet to be settled.”
For the records show otherwise.
On Jan. 13, 2003 the BIR and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) agreed to enforce the BIR assessment and collection of the estate taxes due on all Marcos assets pursuant to the Tax Code except on one, those assets sequestered or subject of recovery case by the PCGG; and two, the Swiss funds under escrow by the then state-owned Philippine National Bank.
The PCGG itself made it abundantly clear that this agreement was not meant to determine the fair and just tax base. The BIR, 10 years earlier, had already made its final assessment when it levied and sold 11 Marcos properties in Tacloban City.
As Justice Tony Carpio had argued in one of his columns in The Daily Inquirer last year, there could have been no more case pending in court because the BIR itself executed a final assessment of the Marcos properties and their corresponding tax obligations. Ownership was not even an issue. Such an assessment was based on property records, documents abandoned in Malacañang when the Marcos government was deposed by People Power in 1986, and the pleadings of his heirs after his death in 1989. As Marcos Jr. is one of his heirs, he should know.
In one of the BIR’s public advisories, the tax bureau defines an estate tax as a “tax on the right of the deceased person to transmit his/her estate to his/her lawful heirs and beneficiaries at the time of death…” An estate tax return shall be filed by the executor, or administrator or any of the legal heirs. Marcos Jr. qualifies under any of these categories and since Marcos Sr. died in 1989, he should have filed the tax return within one year. The public advisory is also clear that unless the estate taxes are paid, the heirs cannot legally transfer the property to their name and use it.
Which makes us wonder how some BIR field officials could say that the heirs and administrators of Marcos’ estate “cannot be compelled to pay or be sued in court for tax evasion even if they refuse to pay…” One of them even opined that “I can’t recall of any individual being sent to jail for non-payment of the said tax.” It looks like these BIR officials are unable to distinguish between the law and its enforcement.
Section 205 of the Tax Code authorizes the BIR to file both civil and criminal cases and Section 254 of the Tax Code provides that any person who willfully attempts to evade tax shall be punished by a fine of no less than ₱500,000 but not more than ₱10 million and suffer imprisonment of not less than six years but not more than 10 years.
Yes, the tax bureau can certainly file criminal charges against Marcos Jr. and the other Marcos heirs. If found guilty, they can do time.
The Marcoses cannot benefit from RA 11213 or the Tax Amnesty Act because they are not qualified. Only non-delinquent tax payers can take advantage of the law. If the assets are under the jurisdiction of the PCGG, or ill-gotten, or they involve tax evasion and other criminal offenses, they cannot be subject of amnesty.
In a public forum last week, Carpio stressed another word besides final and executory. It is “unappealable.”
1Sambayan was therefore spot on: “Timing is not an issue here. The issue here is that the estate taxes remain unpaid. There is no best time to bring this up because the best time for the Marcoses to pay what is due to the Filipino people is more than 23 years ago.”
This much was also expressed by Mayor Isko Moreno and later, by other presidential aspirants.
Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez disclosed that the BIR has been collecting and demanding payment from the Marcos estate administrators. They have not paid.
It’s just as well that the Senate will be conducting an investigation of the ₱203 billion this week following Resolution 998 filed by Senator Koko Pimentel. With a quorum, the Senate committee will probe the alleged failure of the BIR to collect.
The Marcoses’ estate tax liabilities are definitely of national importance.
Taxes finance public spending to advance public welfare. Paying ₱203 billion to the government will go a long way to secure it. If properly resolved, this case will send a strong signal that the culture of impunity has barely a space in an enlightened society. Public service will be anchored on a new standard of integrity, morality, leadership, and a better sense of servanthood.