Ira Panganiban’s ‘Dear Kim Henares’ open letter for Pacquiao goes viral ( Pacquiao of ₱2.2 billion vs Lucio Tan of ₱5-billion' no garnishment)

Open Letter of former ABS-CBN correspondent Ira V. Panganiban to BIR commissioner Kim Jacinto Henares regarding the "lien" and garnishment order to the bank assets and bank accounts of Manny Pacqiuao 

An open letter addressed to Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares by journalist Ira Panganiban goes viral on Facebook after it criticized the latter's cherry-picking on who to prosecute.

In his letter, Panganiban defended the boxing champ Manny Pacquiao whose banks accounts were frozen following a ₱2.2 billion tax case after his failure to report the millions of dollars in taxes he paid in the US.

His open letter was first shared in his Facebook account garnering more than 5.9k shares and more than 4.5k likes. On Twitter, the letter was tweeted repeatedly especially among local celebs.

Panganiban, who was a former ABS-CBN correspondent and now a newscaster for Inquirer Radio, also questioned why BIR is not keen on looking at Lucio Tan "who owes the country more than ₱5-billion pesos in tax."

Check new Jobs posts in PilipinasMall.com Jobs Board

Here's the full letter:

Dear Kim Henares,

I do not doubt your sincerity to collect taxes from every Filipino, living or dead.

I do not even doubt your integrity in making sure that you are able to collect the proper taxes from everyone.

I am however questioning your motives and arbitrary choice in the personalities you choose to prosecute.

I am going to cite one particular person who has been on the BIR's radar as a perennial tax evader for the last 20-years with cases going in and out of court.

His name is Lucio Tan and he owes the country more than ₱5-billion pesos in tax liabilities decided on numerous times by the Supreme Court as executory and final and yet no garnishment order was ever made until his petition reaches the SC, who would then reverse their decisions time and again.

Lucio Tan was never known for his philanthropy or good business practices. He authored the contractualization of PAL and Asia Brewery employees which was not only detrimental to Filipino Labor but also to taxes that could be collected from these workers had they been regular employees.

Lucio Tan is also accused of ill-gotten wealth from his Marcos days, and yet he continues to enjoy his money.

Congressman Manny Pacquiao's case is not even at the High Court and his earnings have already been garnished.

You have been given certified true copies of Pacman's tax payments in the US and yet you refuse to recognize this and insist on originals which I believe, but I may be mistaken, even US citizens have no access to.

And to think that Pacquiao earned his money through honest, literally blood, sweat and tears. And he is one of about ten persons who insist in keeping his money in the Philippines because he is a patriot.

He could have stashed it somewhere you cannot reach if he had things to hide, but he kept it here, so our economy can make use of it.

You cannot even freeze the money of politicians involved in the PDAF scam but you can do this to an ordinary man who managed to rise above all of you through hard work, guts, integrity and the work of his own hands.

And that is why your integrity is rapidly being eroded, because you don't seem to think anymore. You just grab the first victim that cannot fight you.

Because even if Pacquiao is a Congressman, he is not connected to the old boys club and so does not have the clout of the Tan's, Sy's, Dy's and others.

Oh, and Lucio Tan did give over 100 million to Noynoy's election kitty while Pacquiao was with the opposition.

I guess we know now the motivations don't we?

Yours disgustedly,

Your Boss's Boss

Share this to your friends at Kaibigan.Me (www.kaibigan.me) 

Continue reading

Court of Appeals freezes bank accounts of small Pork Barrel fishes; big fish bank accounts “Empty”

Court of Appeals freezes bank accounts of four ex-solons over pork scam

Pork scam suspects continue to feel the wheels of justice. The Court of Appeals has issued a freeze order covering the bank accounts of four former congressmen and six staff members of three senators who are implicated in the ₱10-billion pork barrel fund scam.

In a 43-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Manuel Barrios, the CA Former Second Division said covered by the freeze order were the bank accounts of the following:

• former APEC party-list Rep. Edgar Valdez;
• former Agusan Del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza;
• former Benguet Rep. Samuel Dangwa
• former Cagayan de Oro Rep. Constantino Jaraula

Also covered were bank accounts of:

• Atty. Jessica Lucila "Gigi" Reyes, former chief of staff of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile;
• Richard Cambe, chief of staff of Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr;
• Ruby Tuason, a representative of Enrile and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada;
• Pauline Labayen, staff of Estrada;
• Jose Sumalpong, chief of staff of former Masbate Rep. Rizalina Seachon-Lanete; and
• Erwin Dangwa, chief of staff Dangwa.

These individuals are among the 38 individuals earlier slapped with criminal complaints at the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the supposed misuse of ₱10 billion of Priority Development Assistance Fund (Pork Barrel).

De Lima knew about it 'weeks ago'

For her part, De Lima admitted she knew about the OSG requesting the CA to issue the freeze order "a few weeks ago." She, however, kept mum about it in the media.

"I was advised not to be announcing it kasi alam niyo na, kapag ina-announce ang pag-freeze ng mga assets, bank accounts ay baka unahan tayo nung mga iyan, nung mga may hawak ng accounts na iyan. So it's not safe at all to be disclosing those things," De Lima told reporters in Manila.

She said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was "closely coordinating" with the Anti-Money Laundering Council in relation to moves by the government to have assets of people involved in the fund mess frozen

Plaza, who according to the NBI had amassed P42.1 million from the scam, left the country on September 11.

Tuason left on August 26, while the Bureau of Immigration has also confirmed that Reyes left the country August 31.

The CA said the freeze order, served to the banks on Wednesday, would be in effect for three months.

The CA ordered the banks covered by the order to submit within 24 hours a return of the freeze order, to show that they have complied.

The freeze order stemmed from an earlier request to the CA made by the AMLC through the Office of the Solicitor General.

Concurring in the resolution were Associate Justices Remedios Salazar-Fernando and Normandie Pizarro.

Janet Lim-Napoles herself, the supposed mastermind of the fund scam, could not touch her bank accounts after the CA in August issued a similar freeze order against her bank and investment assets, and those of her family, employees, and supposed non-government organizations. —KG/HS, GMA News

Continue reading

Philippines Tax Authority Seized Million Dollar Properties of Manny Pacquiao “Lien” to lease or sell; closing evading establishments

Manny Pacquiao Forbes House. Photo from Inquirer.net

 Arum blames BIR in tax mess

Philippine Internal Revenue authorities demanded that boxing great Emmanuel "Manny" D. Pacquiao pay a ₱2.2-billion tax bill or risk having assets seized, but the national hero vowed to take the fight to court.

The battle between one of the best boxers in history and the tax bureau has shocked his army of fans in the Philippines, emerging just days after a comeback win in the ring was hailed as a moment of hope amid the aftermath of a deadly typhoon.

Mr. Pacquiao disclosed  that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) wanted ₱2.2 billion for alleged unpaid taxes in 2008 and 2009, when he was at the peak of his career and one of the world's highest-earning athletes.

Mr. Pacquiao, 34, insisted he had paid his taxes in the United States, and so did not need to do so in the Philippines because the two countries have an agreement allowing their citizens to avoid double taxation.

But tax commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares, who has spearheaded a high-profile campaign against tax evasion in the Philippines, stood firm yesterday, saying Mr. Pacquiao had failed for two years to provide documents proving his US payments.

"₱2.2 billion is what [Mr.]Pacquiao owes now because of surcharges and interest," Ms. Henares said on ABS-CBN television.

Ibinta mo nalang ang Bahay mo pag may iba ka na, kung ayaw mo e-pa rent mo. E post mo sa "Philippines Online Shopping Mall" [ www.PilipinasMall.com] 

Ms. Henares said the tax bill may be cut if Mr. Pacquiao did provide certified documents proving he paid the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

"What we want is evidence that he (Mr. Pacquiao) actually paid the tax."

But she said that even if he had paid the 30% tax rate in the United States, there would still be extra charges due in the Philippines because it had a higher rate of 32%.

The tax office has frozen his bank accounts in the Philippines, which Mr. Pacquiao said had left him financially paralyzed.

Ms. Henares said the tax office could eventually take the money owed by stripping him of his assets.

She said the tax office had already placed a "lien" on a Pacquiao property, worth millions of dollars, in one of Manila's most exclusive gated communities.

A lien is a form of security which allows the tax office to take back money it is owed, via lease payments or sale of the property.

NOT A THIEF

Mr. Pacquiao went on a publicity blitz on Tuesday night, appearing on all the major domestic television networks, to insist on his innocence and brand the tax office's actions "harassment."

"I am not a criminal or a thief. I am not hiding anything. I will face my problems as they come," Mr. Pacquiao said.

Mr. Pacquiao's American promoter Robert "Bob" Arum, chief executive of Top Rank Promotions, also released a statement saying his Top Rank firm had paid the 30% taxes directly to the US Internal Revenue Service, and certified paperwork to show proof would be available "very soon."

"Filipino authorities confirmed that [Mr. Pacquiao] is not required to pay double tax," Mr. Arum said in a statement.

"If [Mr. Pacquiao] paid US taxes for fights and endorsements that occurred on US soil, he is not required to pay double taxes in the Philippines," he added.

He added that Top Rank has deposit confirmations for each payment made and that the boxing agency has done the same for all US endorsements it has facilitated on Mr. Pacquiao's behalf.

Mr. Arum, in the same statement noted, however, that BIR officials wanted certified paperwork of those transactions from the IRS rather than bank deposit confirmations.

"Top Rank submitted copies of the EFT deposit acknowledgements to the BIR as proof of payment. The BIR has received the documents but directed [Mr. Pacquiao] to obtain 'certified' documents directly from the IRS itself," he said.

"Obtaining certified copies of documents from the IRS takes time. Manny made the formal request to the IRS and we have every expectation that the necessary documents will be furnished to the BIR very soon," Mr. Arum added.

But Mr. Pacquiao's Manila lawyer told AFP yesterday that he would not give the tax office those documents, preferring instead to fight the issue in court.

"This is no longer within the jurisdiction of the BIR," lawyer Tranquil Salvador said.

"The tax case is now with the Court of Tax Appeals. We do not have to submit anything to the BIR." A court hearing has been set for Dec. 5.

Mr. Pacquiao, a former street kid who did not finish high school, has used his sporting career to launch a successful political career -- he is a second-term congressman with publicly declared ambitions of eventually becoming president.

Mr. Pacquiao, a member of the main opposition alliance to President Benigno S. C. Aquino III, hinted the case against him may be political, calling for those involved to "forget about playing politics."

At his peak Mr. Pacquiao was regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, becoming the only man to win world titles in eight weight divisions.

He lost two fights last year, leading some to predict his career was finished.

But a convincing win over American Brandon Rios in Macau on Sunday reignited his career, sparking talk once again of a long-awaited bout against Floyd Mayweather.

BIR orders 2 Pasig firms closed

Published in Business World Online, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has ordered the closure of two establishments in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, after they allegedly underdeclared their income to cut back on taxes.

Events place JCM Exhibit Depot, located at Mega Plaza, ADB Avenue corner Garnet Road, as well as Baldo Construction and Development Corp., in PSEC West Tower, Exchange Road, were shuttered on Friday, the BIR said in a statement.

JCM Exhibit Depot is owned by event's organizer Carlo Naguit Martin. The BIR said the firm failed to file its income tax and value-added tax (VAT) returns for 2011, underdeclaring all of its earnings for that year, estimated at ₱57.068 million.

Naghahanap ka ng Accountant? E post mo sa  "Philippines Online Shopping Mall" [ www.PilipinasMall.com] 

Baldo Construction, headed by Christopher A. Baldo, is engaged in general contracting for roads and buildings, counting among its clients the San Miguel group of companies. It allegedly underdeclared its 2011 taxable sales by more than 40%, disclosing only ₱15.413 million.

"The closures were effected after the subject taxpayers failed to comply with the requirements specified in the 48-hour Notice and the 5-day VAT Compliance Notice..." the BIR said in the statement.

The tax bureau has been shutting down establishments that violate the National Internal Revenue Code under its Oplan Kandado program. It is the main revenue collection agency of the government, accounting for some 70% of revenues.

The BIR is mandated to collect a total of ₱1.253 trillion in revenues this year. As of October, it has netted P993.54 billion. – Business World Online / AFP with Imee Charlee C. Delavin

Continue reading