By Fernan J. Angeles
The Daily Tribune
The Daily Tribune
Even before knowing the finer details of the P158-million tax evasion charges filed against former Chief Justice Renato Corona and members of his family, Malacañang had shut the door on the possibility of the Coronas striking a compromise deal with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on the case.
Charged with the tax fraud case were Corona, his daughter Carla Corona-Castillo and son-in-law Constantino Castillo III. President Aquino’s spokesman Edwin Lacierda claimed there is enough evidence against the Coronas to warrant the filing of the tax evasion charges.
“It has been an issue even way back, whether or not the government should consider amnesty. The position of the government is, let’s file the tax evasion case to set examples. Because this is the only administration that has consistently filed tax evasion cases against personalities, individuals who underdeclare their income. So this is an ongoing policy of our administration,” Lacierda said.
Warding off allegations of vindictiveness against perceived enemies from the previous administration, Lacierda claimed the act of filing tax charges against the Coronas is not something that the BIR had just started, adding that the government has long been taking cases to court if only to ensure that leakages in the government revenues are plugged.
“This is our commitment to plugging the leakages in the tax administration system. This is not something extraordinary. It just so happens that the personality involved is the former Chief Justice. Like we said, every other week, the BIR files a tax evasion case against personalities” Lacierda said.
President Aquino, however, has long been training his guns ar Corona even mentioning in his third State of the Nation Address (Sona) last July that his administration won’t stop with Corona’s impeachment, and indicated that he would be made accountable for “abuses and corruption” during the Arroyo presidency.
During the same Sona, Aquino also cited the court cases filed against former President Gloria Arroyo as part of his pursuit for the “straight path”.
Corona became the first chief justice to be removed from office by the Senate, acting as an impeachment court, which found him guilty for failure to make a full disclosure of his bank deposits in his statement of assets, liabilities and networth (SALn).
The administration has been in a relentless effort to pin down Arroyo and people known to be her allies.
Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares said the ousted chief magistrate was charged for allegedly attempting to avoid payment of tax liabilities, in violation of Section 254 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 1997.
Corona was also accusezad of failing to file returns, and supply correct and accurate tax information in violation of Section 255 of the NIRC for the years 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2010.
The BIR computed Corona’s tax deficiency to reach an estimated P120.5 million for the nine years he was in public office.
Corona’s daughter was charged for allegedly also violating Section 254 and Section 255 of the NIRC in 2010. The BIR said Carla only filed tax returns for 2008 and 2009, where she declared a total income of P228,040.
Carla’s husband, meanwhile, was charged for evading taxes in 2003 and 2009, and failing to file a tax return in 2003.
Despite the couple’s total declared income amounting to P3 million.
The BIR computed the couple’s income tax deficiency at more than P30 million: P20.25 million for Mr. Castillo, and P9.93 million for Carla.
Aquino’s House ally Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III said the BIR’s filing of tax evasion charges against Corona cannot be equated to the persecution of a former Chief Justice “but the prosecution of an alleged tax evader.”
Those who see politics in this move are probably blind to the truth that the BIR has been filing tax evasion cases, without fanfare, fear or favor, against individuals regardless of their stature in society.
It is against this backdrop that the BIR’s move to charge the Coronas for their alleged failure to comply with one of the most basic duties of citizenship, the payment of taxes, must be appreciated, Tañada said.
He cited estimates that the equivalent of three percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) or P300 billion is lost to tax evasion yearly. In this case, the BIR must be commended, not condemned for doing its job, Tañada said.
“The filing of charges should give the Coronas the opportunity to air their side, and even clear their names, if abuse has been done to them,” he added.
For his part, Bayan Muna party-list Rep.Neri Colmenares said the filing of tax evasion charges against the Coronas is a good start, “otherwise the impeachment was useless because the purpose of impeachment is to remove the official so he can be charged in court.”
“The government must not forget the former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and her subordinates (Mark) Jalandoni and (Emilio) Gonzalez (III), the cases against them must also be seriously prosecuted,” he said.
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