The Bureau of Internal Revenue is looking for a new look to its logo to celebrate its 120th anniversary this year through a competition with the best entry to be rewarded P100,000.
One of the factors that led to the decision to have the logo changed for the first time since the bureau’s establishment was due to the “negative perception” that it entails, BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. said.
“Historically, alam naman natin na negative ang perception sa BIR, pag nakita mo yan, negative agad. Eh ang aim ko when I took over is we want to change the image of BIR so with the changing of logo we change the perception na hindi naman na ganyan ang BIR. We also want to reflect na maraming changes ang nangyari sa BIR,” Lumagui told reporters.
[Historically, we know that the perception of the BIR is negative, when you see it, you think of negativity. Well, my aim when I took over is we want to change the image of BIR so with the changing of logo we change the perception that BIR is not like that anymore. We also want to reflect that there have been many changes in the BIR.]
He also stressed that the current logo only represents a few major taxpayers, noting that all Filipino taxpayers should also be included in the representation in the logo.
“If you look at BIR logo, yung mga andon puro industries yan, manufacturing, telcos, agriculture, shipping kasi those were the major industries at the time so yun lang nakafocus na major taxpayers before tapos hindi naman na lang yan ngayon, napakadaming iba, baka hindi na sila yung biggest taxpayers so bakit ang nasa logo select industries,” the BIR chief said.
[If you look at the BIR logo, those are all industries, manufacturing, telcos, agriculture, shipping, because those were the major industries at the time, so those were the only major taxpayers that were focused on, but now it's not just that, there are many others, maybe they are no longer the biggest taxpayers so why only select industries are included in the logo.]
“I don’t like to see industries in the logo kasi lahat tayo taxpayers. Pinakamalaki is employees pag aggregate, bakit sila wala dyan eh sila bida dyan,” he added.
[I don't like to see industries in the logo because we are all taxpayers. The biggest taxpayers are employees when aggregated, but why aren't they there.]
He further explained that the BIR logo should depict the bureau’s mission of “collecting taxes for nation-building and upliftment of lives of Filipinos.”
The first and second runner-ups for the best entries of the BIR logo design will also receive tokens of P50,000 and P25,000, respectively.
Lumagui said that he would personally choose the best entry of the logo, along with the BIR Management Committee.
The BIR chief also stated that the chosen BIR logo will be submitted to the National Historical Commission for evaluation and necessary modification as per the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines.
The logo is expected to be revealed during the BIR’s anniversary in August.