Isko Moreno on alleged Divisoria sale: ‘Baka may nasaktan sa P203B tax’

PULILAN, Bulacan — Presidential candidate and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno on Thursday said someone may have been ‘hurt’ by his insistence for the Marcos family to pay their P203 billion estate tax debt.

Moreno issued the remark when asked about allegations that he sold the Divisoria Public Market.

“Good luck to them. I wish them good luck. Talaga with all honesty, good luck. Eh, kasi, baka may nasaktan sa P203 billion. Eh, ako hindi naman ako naninira,” Moreno said in an ambush interview here.

(Good luck to them. I wish them good luck. With all honesty, good luck. Maybe someone was hurt by the P203 billion. I’m not destroying anybody’s name.)

“Wala naman kasiraan ‘to kasi ang sinasabi ko lang, meron tayong kokolektahing buwis. Ibig sabihin, ang maganda dito, doon sa tao na ‘yun, hindi naman kanya ‘yun. Hindi niya pinaghirapan, minana lang niya,” he added.

(I’m not destroying anybody because all I’m saying is we need to collect the tax. This means that - the good thing about this is - the tax is the people’s. It’s not his. He did not work for it, he just inherited it.)

Moreno has previously vowed to retrieve the P203 billion estate tax debt of the Marcos family, saying he would use it for aid.

He has also warned that if the “other” presidential candidate wins, the estate tax debt will be erased.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue has also sent a written demand to the remaining Marcoses regarding their tax liabilities.

For his part, Marcos has said that there is "a lot of fake news involved" in the issues regarding his family's ill-gotten wealth.

Moreno also lamented how the law is immediately implemented for the poor.

“Kapag anak ka ng mga dating pangulo o dating mga alta sociedad o mga political oligarch, no, eh excused ka sa batas at kaya pa tumagal ng 25 years. So sa akin, nasaan doon ang pagka pantay-pantay ng tao,” he said.

(If you are the child of a former president, a former alta sociedad, or a political oligarch, you are excused from the law.  And you can last for up to 25 years. So for me, where is the equality there?)

He reiterated, “siguro may mga nasasaktan. All of a sudden, something popped out (maybe someone was hurt. All of a sudden, something popped out).”

When asked if he thought someone was digging into records of Manila, Moreno urged these supposed individuals to visit Manila.

“Wag nila kalkalin, bumisita sila. Bigay ko sa kanila. Bibigay ko sa kanila. Walang problema,” he said. — RSJ, GMA News