Marcos estate tax debt ‘improbable, based on biased computation’ —DOJ chief

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla believes the billions of estate tax debt of the Marcos family "seem improbable," saying the figures were based on biased computation.

“First of all, if you look at the figures, they seem improbable. Figures were computed based on a biased computation,” Remulla said during a meeting with the Rotary Club of Manila.

“I don’t think it’s proper for us to really compute the figures the way they were computed,” he added.

In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled with finality that the family of the late President Ferdinand Marcos owed the government P23 billion in estate tax.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio said the amount has ballooned to P203 billion due to non-payment and interest.

“The original estate tax was only P23.2 billion computed at the time of death of Marcos over 32 years ago. It ballooned to over P203 billion today because of  mandatory interests and penalties for late payment as prescribed by law,” Carpio told GMA News Online.

However, Remulla said he believes the “premise is ridiculous” as assets that were never passed on to the heirs were being charged against them.

“I can be proven wrong by what I’m saying, no, but that is what I surmised, that’s what I understand from what I read before is that these assets never passed on to them but they are being charged taxes on these assets which are not theirs anymore or which were never theirs,” he said.

“So that way, taxation without representation is oppression. So it may be an oppressive way to look at the estate tax, I think,” he added.

For Remulla, individuals should be taxed for something they get and not something that they do not get.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue previously said it has sent a written demand to the Marcoses regarding their tax liabilities last year. Senator Imee Marcos, however, said they have yet to receive any communication from the agency.

Marcos' spokesperson during the campaign period, Victor Rodriguez, had also said that the pieces of property which were the subject of the tax case were still under litigation.

Rodriguez is now Marcos' Executive Secretary.

For its part, the Presidential Commission on Good Government rebuffed claims made by the Marcos camp that his tax liabilities are under discussion.—Richa Noriega/LDF, GMA News