EDITORIAL - Let the Marcoses be the example

During the launching of the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s national tax campaign in Pasay City, recently, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. asked the public to pay the right amount of taxes to the government on time.

“I encourage the public to pay the correct amount of taxes on time to support the country’s economic recovery and expansion so critical in this time... It is my confidence that you will continue to cooperate, collaborate, and coordinate with the government on how to improve the experience of our tax collection system,” he said in his speech.

In case he didn’t know it he has opened a can of worms with this statement. We would very like much like to see the president put his money where his mouth is.

Specifically, we would like to see him, or rather his family, pay the P203 billion they still owe the government in estate taxes.

In case he has forgotten, the Supreme Court has ruled with finality on this matter in 1998 yet when the amount was still just ?23 billion. There can be no more appeals for this. However it seems that until now not a centavo of that gargantuan amount has been paid.

We certainly don’t envy BIR chief Romeo Lumagui Jr. who is now in a very awkward position.

“We will study this and ensure that all our actions will be in accordance with the law. That would be the only thing that we will do,” Lumagui responded last year when asked about the taxes that the Marcoses still owed.

As much as we all hate taxes we know they are necessary to keep public service running, even if we feel they are sometimes too excessive and even if we don’t know where every centavo really goes.

Yes, the president is right. The public should pay the right amount of taxes and on time. Or did he mean by the “public” that it is just the ordinary citizens who should pay the right taxes and on time, and that the rich --including his family-- can dilly-dally or are even exempt from it?

As our president he should be the shining example of someone who pays his taxes.