MANILA, Philippines — There is still time for the Senate to hold hearings on why the Bureau of Internal Revenue has yet to collect the Marcos family's estate tax liabilities, which are said to be at P203.82 billion, although it is unclear which members of the Senate would support the resolution filed by Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III.
The unpaid estate taxes have become a talking point in the presidential campaign, with the Marcos campaign as well as supporters of presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. dismissing the issue of unpaid taxes as politically motivated.
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"Yes, it is possible," Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III told Philstar.com. Sotto, who is running for vice president, said he would be willing to participate in the hearings if they push through.
He said he has yet to talk to Pimentel and decide which Senate committee the resolution would be referred to.
Historically, work at the legislature — on break until May 23 — takes a backseat to the election campaign as members focus on the local and national races.
In a March 28 resolution made available to media on Sunday, Pimentel said "there is an urgent and pressing need for the Senate to look into the reasons that [Bureau of Internal Revenue] officials, past and present, who are responsible why the government, after almost 25 years has failed to collect on these amounts...due and demandable against the heirs of Ferdinand E. Marcos."
The resolution was issued on March 28 and made available to media on Sunday.
Lacson to skip hearings
Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, who is running for president alongside Sotto, said in a chance interview on Tuesday that he will inhibit himself from hearings on the Marcos estate taxes since he is also a candidate.
Asked whether it is worth holding hearings on, Lacson acknowledged in a CNN Philippines video, that "[because it's] P203 billion and collectible by the BIR, I think that is of national interest."
Meanwhile, Sen. Richard "Dick" Gordon, who chairs the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, said it is the BIR's responsibility to enforce the law.
"This is a government of laws and....the law [should] be applied equally. If somebody is playing tax evasion or tax avoidance or whatever, it is up to the BIR, which is the arm of the government, to make sure that they collect the taxes properly and they enforce it against those who don't pay taxes," he said in an interview on ANC Headstart on Tuesday.
"The public has the right to know whether taxes have to be paid, taxes have to be exacted and you know, government has to enforce the law otherwise people will stop paying taxes," he added.
Gordon is a guest candidate on the senatorial slate of Vice President Leni Robredo. Many of the members of the Senate are either candidates or are linked to candidates in the May elections by political or familial ties.
'Tax liability could fund government subsidies'
According to Pimentel, the Marcos' estate tax liability, if settled, would be "more than enough" to fund the government's proposed subsidies to help Filipinos cope with the sustained increase in the prices of goods, transportation and services.
It has been 25 years since the Supreme Court affirmed a decision of the Court of Appeals that held that the deficient income tax assessments and estate tax assessments of the heirs of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos were "final and unappealable."
In 1997, his estate tax liability hit P27 billion and in 2021, it ballooned to around P203.82 billion, interests, surcharges and penalties considered.
Last month, BIR Commissioner Caesar Delay confirmed to Aksyon Demikratiko party chair Ernesto Ramel that the bureau already sent a written demand letter to Marcos' heirs for them to pay the government.
In an interview over DZMM last week, Sen. Imee Marcos — brother of the presidential candidate — said her mother Imelda had yet to receive any demand letter from the BIR.
Pimentel, who filed the resolution to hold a probe, leads a faction of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) alongside Sen. Manny Pacquiao, who is also running for president.
Pimentel has called out the move by a rival PDP-Laban faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, to support Marcos' presidential run, saying it was an insult to the history of the party.
PDP-Laban, a merger between the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino founded by Pimentel's father Aquilino Jr. and Lakas ng Bayan (Laban) of then-Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., was originally founded as an opposition coalition during the Marcos dictatorship.