BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Presidential bet and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso urged the Marcoses to pay the P203.8 billion estate tax debt to the government, “because this is what they rightfully owe.”
This was after the Bureau of Internal Revenue, through Commissioner Caesar Dulay, sent a letter to the camp of Domagoso confirming it has sent a written demand to the Marcos heirs on December 2 last year, regarding their tax liabilities.
Domagoso said that the amount of more than P200 billion is a big help to the Filipino people, in reducing prices of electricity and petroleum products, especially now, in times of crisis and pandemic.
In an interview with reporters outside of the San Diego Pro-Cathedral in Silay City, where he made the first stop on his two-day campaign sorties in Negros Occidental, Domagoso said that since the Marcoses have much money, they should help their fellow countrymen by paying the tax liability they owe to the Philippine government.
“They should not circumvent the law,” he added.
The Marcoses, especially estate manager and presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., had been ordered to pay the government after the Supreme Court in 2007 affirmed the Court of Appeals decision on the Marcos estate tax liabilities.
“I hope they will follow the law, follow the rules,” Moreno said, stressing that the decision of the Bureau of Internal Revenue is final.
While BIR Commissioner Dulay did his job last December, Domagoso said there is a possibility that the P203 billion tax liability of the Marcos heirs will not be collected and will eventually be waived should another Marcos become president in May.
“Now, there is a challenge. There is a rule that we checked that after five years if nothing is rewritten or prescribed, all that will be waived. Now, if that is the case, if that family is elected and they run the government for six years, the P200 billion will be for nothing,” he warned.
If elected as president, Domagoso said he will see to it that the P203-B Marcos tax liability will be collected by his administration, and will be used for the Filipino people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.*
