Our presidents were jailed for less

Not only would the Republic of the Philippines be short changed, it would be a serious injustice to enter into compromise for so huge an amount knowing two Presidents have gone to jail for much less.

News reports indicate that the tobacco firm Mighty Corporation has offered to settle their tax deficit amounting to an estimated P37.88 billion, by paying the government P25 billion. That would mean the government being short-changed or losing out P12.88 billion. Just imagine what 12.88 billion can do for Marawi and Leyte. The offer proposes a down payment of P3.5 billion for their tax deficiencies on their excise tax for cigarettes and P21.5 billion for their liabilities with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, including unpaid income taxes since the year 2010 to present.

The whole offer is hard to swallow even if 25 billion is a lot of money to consider. The government gets less than what they stand to collect, by law anyone who fails to pay taxes on time is subject to a continuing penalty. Many celebrities and local officials have ended up in court or gone to jail for tax evasion or under payment of taxes. President Joseph Estrada and President Gloria Arroyo were accused of corruption for much less and ended up under “detention” for way less than the estimated 37.88 billion pesos in unpaid taxes. So in terms of penalties – fines or jail time are concerned, why should the government accept a compromise that comes with a “Stay Out of Jail” card as well as a P12.88-billion discount?

Note that the P3.5 billion will be paid on or before July 20 when Mighty Corp. sells out to Japan Tobacco Industry or four days before the second SONA or State of the Nation Address of President Duterte. Feng Shui or numerology, but the timing would also be just enough for the President’s speechwriters to mention the deal and the payment to draw applause or brag about! A very big IF in the proposal is that the balance of 21 billion will be paid on or after Mighty and Japan Tobacco closes their deal. Remember that the 3.5 billion down payment is suppose to be paid “on or before” the closing of contract, so in effect 25 billion could all be “on, or after.” The worrisome part is the “after” because that could take much longer especially when the company no longer exists or has been sucked in as a mere asset of Japan Tobacco Industry.

The offer might become too tempting in terms of cash flow for government. So how can the DOF get to have its cake and eat it too? The fact that Mighty Tobacco has made the offer in the absence of any announcement for a Tax Amnesty suggests that they recognize their sins. Given the fact that they recognize Tax deficiencies since 2010 and are currently facing multiple counts of counterfeiting, isn’t that enough for the government to confiscate the assets of Mighty Corporation? Sequester everything, turn around and sell it all to Japan Tobacco Industry for a better price. Why should Mighty Tobacco get a lifeline instead of a noose? Are government officials willing to take the risk of going to jail for what could be labeled as “grossly disadvantageous to government”?

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One area of Police work where cops should learn to shut up is in the conduct of an investigation. While I am very supportive of the PNP and encourage them to let the people know what they are doing as well as their accomplishments, the one thing cops should never do is keep yapping about a case especially when it is sensational, high profile or the focus of media attention. Developments in an investigation are reported only to authorities concerned or as required by protocol and procedure and should not be shared with media because the information could affect the outcome of future court cases.

In the case involving the massacre of the Carlos family, the cops shared everything that happened in the investigation with the media. All that seemed alright until somebody decided that they had not milked the case enough so someone started talking about “new angles”, developments and review of the case. The tipping point was when the cops started to suggest that Dexter Carlos, the man who lost his wife, children and mother-in-law to such a violent crime, was now a person of interest!

Why say the case was closed, solved and then retract your own statement? That was a really bad move especially after the principal suspect says he was tortured. When cops do a sloppy job or get too eager for publicity, what happens is they “burn” themselves. The Chief PNP should really start punishing investigators who share, leak or speak about details of an investigation.

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Many people comment that the government wastes so much money on Foot Bridges especially when most Filipinos don’t really use them. I am reminded of an image on Facebook where planners and architects build sidewalks “around the corner” but in the same photo you see a path that has been made by so many people who prefer to shortcut through the grass or ground and avoid having to go around. My wife frequently points out that Filipino architects and designers still miss gender behavior when designing toilets in the Philippines. Women’s toilets should be bigger with more stalls and not be “balanced” with Men’s toilets because women have a longer process and requires stalls.

This week I discovered that Foot Bridges are the curse for senior citizens. A man in his mid 70’s shared how he had to walk to the drugstore and had to walk up a Foot bridge in Biñan, Laguna. He got to the top and flopped on the floor from exhaustion and vertigo. There was no elevator for the elderly or PWD unlike in the countries where we copied the Foot bridges from!

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