Isko, Leni, Ping, Leody eye unpaid Marcos P203-B tax for aid, subsidies

With the country's dire need for money to fund subsidies for farmers and PUV drivers, presidential candidates on Saturday turned their eyes on the P203 billion in estate tax which the government has yet to collect from the heirs of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

At the Comelec-organized presidential debate, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno found the opportunity to raise the issue after labor leader Leody De Guzman lamented the concentration of wealth to a few and the widesrpead incidence of poverty even after the election of many presidents.

“Umasa kayo mga kababayan, ‘yung isang pamilyang may utang na P203 billion na estate tax, sisiguraduhin natin na sisingilin ko ‘yun,” Moreno said.

“Kukunin ko ‘yung P203 billion na ‘yun, ibibigay ko sa magsasaka, ibibigay ko sa driver bilang ayuda ng taong bayan [na] nangangailangan ng tulong ngayon,” he added.

PCGG, BIR

The camp of presidential candidate former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has said pieces of property involved in the estate tax were still under litigation. 

It added that the Presidential Commission on Good Government and the Bureau of Internal Revenue already had an agreement as regards its collection.

This was later rebuffed by the PCGG and the BIR. The PCGG said the issue had been ruled upon by the Supreme Court with finality while the BIR said it already sent collection notices to the family.

The High Court in 1997 denied the petition filed by Marcos Jr. to reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA).

In 1994, the CA ruled that “the deficiency assessments for estate and income tax made upon the petitioner and the estate of the deceased President Marcos have already become final and unappealable, and may thus be enforced by the summary remedy of levying upon the properties” of the late dictator.

The candidate Marcos skipped the debate and was unavailable to answer Moreno and the other aspirants' reference to the unpaid estate tax.

Tax measures

Senator Panfilo Lacson pointed out that the uncollected P203 billion paled in comparison to the taxes collected following the revenue measures passed by Congress.

"Alam niyo yung mga pinasa naming mga tax packages ang dami non e ang na-attain lang, P101 B pesos. TRAIN 1, TRAIN 2, ang dami, P101 billion," Lacson said.

"E, mayroong P203 billion nga na sisingilin na lang, nandiyan na bakit ayaw singilin ng BIR," he added.

Vice President Leni Robredo said economic managers have opposed the suspension of the collection of excise tax on fuel amid the rising cost of petroleum products.

"Ayaw natin i-suspend ang excise tax kasi nasasayangan sa revenues na 'di papasok sa gobyerno. Iyong ayuda, P200, napakaonti nun," Robredo said.

"'Pag nasingil natin ito, hindi na natin kailangan tipirin ang ating mga kababayan," she added.

In an interview after the debate, Robredo said the estate tax showed how unqualified Marcos was for the presidency.

"It says a lot about the kind of person that he is, how unqualified he is for the presidency. Kasi na-imagine mo ba na somebody aspiring to be president e napakalaki ng utang sa pamahalaan," Robredo said.

"Hindi naman yun pwede but he gets away with it dahil sa disinformation, dahil sa propaganda. Hindi lang ito problema dahil kalaban ko siya pero problema natin ito lahat," he added.

Excise tax suspension

Moreno said the unpaid estate tax of the family would be more than enough to cover the losses the government would  incur if it cut the excise tax on fuel.

Stakeholders have called for the suspension of the excise tax to make fuel more affordable amid the series of oil price increases.

“Kung masisingil ko ‘yung P203 billion na estate tax sa isang pamilya at ia-atras ko ang buwis ng krudo at kuryente at 50%, we are going to lose P65 billion,” Moreno said.

“Now, meron pa ako P203 billion, minus P65, marami pa akong, daang-daang bilyon pa ang pwede nating maibigay sa tao. It’s a matter of management- fiscal management lamang at certainty of law,” he added.

De Guzman said he was in favor or the removal of the excise tax. He pushed for the imposition of a tax on the wealthy.

"Dapat ituloy 'yung pagiimpose ng pagalis ng excise tax para nang sa ganon, makaligtas ang ating mamamayan doon sa impact nitong oil increase na ito," De Guzman said.

"Labas pa diyan, dapat mag-impose tayo ng wealth tax laban sa mga bilyonaryo dito sa ating bansa nang sa ganon magkaroon ng pondo," he added.

"Sangayon din ako na kailangan nating kunin ang P203 billion dito," De Guzman said.

Lacson said he was for the temporary suspension of the excise tax.

"Ang matitipid po diyan P10 doon sa gasolina; sa krudo, P6; P5 doon sa regular; P3 sa kerosene. Temporary lang maski tatlong buwan. Itaas pa natin ‘yung threshold from $80 per barrel, gawin nating $90 per barrel," Lacson said.

"Pero temporary. Baka ang akala ng DOF permanently na i-su-suspend na. Hindi po, hindi ganoon kalaki ang magiging foregone revenues," he added. 

Senator Manny Pacquiao on Saturday said that the income that would be generated whether or not to remove the excise tax on fuel should be used to subsidize the drivers and commuters alike.

“Kung tatanggalin po ‘yang excise tax, makakabuti rin. Kung hindi po tatanggalin ‘yan, ‘yung income, ‘yung collection na lang ng excise tax, ‘yun na lang and i-subsidize sa ating mga motorista, ‘yung mga commuters natin para hindi naman sila mahirapan,” Pacquiao said.

'Leave it to lawyers'

Marcos on Wednesday said there was "a lot of fake news involved" in the issues regarding his family's ill-gotten wealth.

"There's a lot of fake news involved there, let's leave it to the lawyers to discuss it because the so-called facts that they quote are not facts at all," Marcos said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum when asked to comment on the ill-gotten wealth issue.

He was asked specifically about the estate tax debt of his family, reportedly worth at least P200 billion.

"They are just presumptions, they are not familiar with the cases or they choose not to be familiar with the case so yeah, it’s in the courts," Marcos said.

Moreno said during the debate that the tax was not fake news, adverting to the court rulings on the issue. —Joahna Lei Casilao, Hana Bordey, Llanesca Panti, Anna Felicia Bajo, Giselle Ombay/NB, GMA News