2 BIR employees in Taguig City arrested for 'direct bribery'
Two employees of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) have been arrested in Taguig City for asking P600,000 in exchange for a lower tax assessment, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Wednesday, Oct. 1.
NBI Director Jaime B. Santiago on Wednesday presented before the media the two arrested personnel of BIR Revenue District Office 044 in Taguig City. They were identified by Santiago as Group Supervisor (GS) Grace Rikelle Lapu-os and her personal assistant Mila R. Yanson.
Santiago said that Lapu-os and Yanson were arrested last Sept. 29 during an entrapment operation conducted by the operatives of the NBI-Public Corruption Division (NBI-PCD) which acted on the complaint of Hitch Park Solutions, Inc.
He said those arrested were “caught in the act of receiving the money.”
Lapu-os and Yanson have been charged with violations of Republic Act (RA) No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; direct bribery under the Revised Penal Code (RPC); and RA 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
In a press statement, the NBI said that also included in the complaint was Revenue Officer (RO) Elisha Nesrin Dimayacyac.
It said that Dimayacyac and Lapu-os had conducted an examination of the company’s books of accounts and other accounting records for 2024 with an initial tax assessment of P36 million but later reduced to P6 million and finally to P800,000.
“They (DImayacyac and Lapu-os) proposed that only P200,000 would be covered by an official receipt, and the remaining P600,000 was to be placed in a separate envelope and delivered to the Subjects at their office in Taguig City on Sept. 29, 2025,” the NBI said.
It said that Hitch Park Solution, Inc sought the help of the NBI against the BIR personnel. An entrapment operation was conducted, it added.
“Babala sa ating kasamahan sa gobyerno, seryoso po ang utos sa amin ng ating Pangulo na tapusin itong lahat ng klaseng korapsyon (We warn our fellow government workers, President Marcos is serious in ending this kind of corruption),” Santiago warned.
“So, kami ay hindi tumitigil sa paghahanap ng mga ganyan (So we will not stop in looking for such activities),” he assured.