Jesus Christ taught us: “Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” But how can I do that if Caesar makes it difficult to even qualify or comply before I can even pay my dues?
As a first step to settling estate taxes the Bureau of Internal Revenue requires the family or the estate, to inform the BIR of the death. This done by securing a Death Certificate from the NSO, which in turn will issue a certificate on their special Security paper. However, this can only be done if the Civil Registrar has submitted or forwarded their official version of the death certificate to the NSO.
So, one month and four days after my Mother Marita Beltran passed away, the Civil Registrar of Quezon City has not yet managed to submit or forward their copy of my mother’s death certificate to the NSO. Given the fact that the Quezon City Hall is less than a kilometer away on the same road (East Avenue) as the NSO, one would think that transmitting or forwarding the hard copy would be the equivalent of a “walk in the park.” Given that 15 days or two weeks have passed since the end of September I doubt if the QC Civil Registrar can say that they are only completing the filings for September.
This may seem like a small concern for the Civil Registrar but our Family Lawyer is worried that the delay may go beyond the two-month deadline of the BIR and result in us having to pay fines or penalty for “Non-Compliance” or late filing of the notice of death. Here we are doing our best to comply with the requirements of the BIR but the current procedure prevents us from doing so until the Quezon City Civil Registrar sends the September batch of death certificates to the NSO. Unfortunately, it is another case of: “Not their death – Not their Problem.”
The only silver lining in the matter is that now I have a possible legislative suggestion for my friends in Congress to impose a deadline and fines against any and all Civil Registrars who fail to transmit such documents or information at the end of every month. Perhaps our lawmakers can also review the process because the system is actually susceptible to delay or red tape. Hospitals, attending physicians or funeral parlors should be able to, or required to send the death certificate not only to the Civil Registrar concerned but also to the NSO. In fact, the BIR might consider pushing for mandatory submission of a copy to the BIR whenever a person dies and a death certificate is issued. While I fully appreciate the synergy and reason for requiring “only NSO certificates,” the BIR must also be realistic enough to consider “Temporary submissions” where a notarized copy of the death certificate maybe submitted until such a time when the NSO has received and can issue their own document to the BIR. This way families can comply with the BIR requirement without being under the gun or being pressured to fast track or facilitate matters through “Fixers” at the City hall!
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President Duterte expressed surprise that Congress Impeached Comelec Chairman Andy Bautista even after he declared his resignation. It’s no surprise because it was an act of “Saving Face” or “Bangon Puri” for the Congressmen after Andy Bautista stole the thunder from under their feet. Instead of having the privilege to impeach or announce Bautista’s resignation, the Congressmen were clearly caught off guard and eventually frothing at the mouth because their egos could not handle being denied or robbed of the chance to strip Comelec Chairman of his power.
The impeachment was equivalent to a Roman soldier stabbing or breaking the bones of a crucified person just to make sure they are dead or that they die quicker. I’m glad that President Duterte was merely surprised and not insulted as he should be because at the end of the day, the Office of the President would have to deal with the unexpected mess created by Congressmen who have become giddy with their power to impeach people they don’t like. At the rate this people are going even the President of the Philippines may be at risk of one day being impeached by his Minions.
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You know that something is seriously wrong if teenaged students start to complain whenever classes are suspended. Yesterday was the third time I had to inform my daughter Hannah that classes will probably be suspended because a bunch of Jeepney drivers have declared yet another transport strike to express their opposition to the government’s “Jeepney Modernization program.” Students no longer find it fun for classes to be suspended because they end up having to give up their weekends to make up for the class suspensions.
Why is the government’s only response to such strikes is to suspend classes? There have been too many suspensions lately and it is a limp wristed response on the part of government because they are merely creating another problem for millions of students while allowing the troublesome lot of Jeepney drivers to violate their franchise and inconvenience the riding public and disrupting the economy.
If Jeepney operators and drivers are against the Jeepney Modernization Program then they should take their case to court, to Congress, organize Press conferences or visit various Media outlets, “If” the media can still find any value in their argument. Otherwise, the LTFRB should stop using lip service and live interviews to threaten the strikers because every time the drivers go on strike, they are actually telling the LTFRB: “We are not afraid of you” or that the LTFRB is all bark but no bite! If the LTFRB can stand up to Uber and colorum taxis, why can’t they stand up against Wild Cat strikers called Jeepney Operators?
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