panay news sept. 10, 2013 PEOPLE POWWOW HERBERT VEGO The unfriendly BIR THIS writer was interviewing the late Senator Rodolfo Ganzon at Hotel del Rio in “19-forgotten” when a common friend from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) came in. “Ari na ang taga-Bureau of Internal Remedyo,” Ganzon joked while reaching out to shake hands with the tax collector. At that time, the newspapers had just published a story that the BIR had threatened to file tax evasion charges against tycoon Lucio Tan and broadcast magnate Rogelio Florete amid public opinion that corrupt BIR officials were actually trying to extort money from the two. At another time, no less than then BIR commissioner Jose Ong spoke before the Iloilo media, vowing to change the “bigay ikaw regalo” image of his turf. In fact, to reverse the corrupt image of the BIR, Ong had instructed then revenue district officer Roger Zambarrano to partner with the media in an information drive. Unfortunately, little has changed since then. The present revenue district officer (RDO) of Iloilo City, for instance, seems “allergic” to media. On two successive Mondays last month, I paid a visit to her office. On the first Monday, I failed to see her because, according to her secretary, she had just started a meeting with her staff. I was back a week later, tugging a taxpayer who would like to talk to her. We arrived at a time when she was coming out of her inner sanctum. “Good morning, Nel,” I greeted her. “Long time no see.” If I expected her to return the greeting, it was because I had known her for a long time, since her days as an ordinary BIR employee in San Jose, Antique. “I have a meeting,” she quipped without greeting back. “You may see the assistant.” She was referring to the pretty assistant revenue district officer, Crister Marie Vallejo, who gladly welcomed us to her office. However, she could not act on the complaint of my companion without usurping the authority of her boss, the other lady. Choosing to hide a disappointment, I told her, “I wish you would be promoted. You are helpful.” Well, in fairness to the other lady, she must have grown bored of occupying the Iloilo district without the benefit of a reshuffle. She has been there since the GMA presidency. When I relayed my experience to a fellow journalist, he joked, “She probably thought you wanted a share of her pork.” How could BIR Commissioner Kim Henares expect to hit collection goal with media-shy subordinates? In contrast, incidentally, Henares has been very transparent and accommodating to media to the point of allowing her “kabarilan” image to be played up. In fact, as I was browsing the Internet yesterday, I saw a reproduction of an article on her in an international magazine. In the picture accompanying the article, she holds a machine gun. It was President Noynoy Aquino, she told the writer, who had taught her how to shoot so that she would not depend on her four bodyguards to defend her when attacked. The following are excerpts from the article: “When Kim Henares took over the Bureau of Internal Revenue in the Philippines three years ago, she began looking for tax dodgers by poring over the society pages of newspapers and magazines. She says that as a result, she sent federal prosecutors complaints against two television actresses, a doctor, and a Lamborghini-driving pawnshop owner. ‘If you’re ready to flaunt it, then you must have paid taxes on it,’ Henares says. “Her take-no-prisoners approach is part of President Benigno Aquino III’s crusade to erase a Philippine legacy of graft. Not paying taxes is one of the nation’s most common forms of corruption; the government estimates that $10 billion, or 4 percent of gross domestic product, goes unpaid every year. Henares says it’s her job to claw back as much of that as she can, and ‘if people don’t like me, that’s fine.’ “Her agency alleged in 2011 that former President Gloria Arroyo’s son Juan Miguel had evaded taxes. His mother, a friend of Henares’s in-laws, had played a prominent role at her 2001 wedding. The case is continuing. Ruy Rondain, Juan Miguel Arroyo’s lawyer, says his client believes the charges are politically motivated. “Last year, Henares’s agency asked prosecutors to file charges against former world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, who’s now a federal legislator, for allegedly failing to submit documents proving that he paid the correct amount of taxes in 2010. A city prosecutor declined the agency’s request to file charges. Pacquaio told the Associated Press the complaint against him was ‘plain and simple harassment.’ “The daughter of a luxury watch distributor, Henares helped keep the company’s books from the age of 12. She wanted to join the military, but her mother persuaded her to pursue law instead. After obtaining a master’s of law from Georgetown University, Henares became a tax and corporate lawyer in her home country. She did a stint in government as deputy tax commissioner under former President Arroyo and later worked for the World Bank.”/PN
Posted on: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 05:33:02 +0000
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