BILANG PILIPINO | Mayor Isko will run after unpaid Marcos estate tax to fund pandemic response

March 1, 2022 , 03:48 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(March 1, 2022) – The Manila City mayor, who is running for president, has vowed to run after billions of pesos of unpaid estate tax by the heirs of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and use the money to fund the government’s pandemic response.

Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso , standard bearer of Aksyon Demokratiko Party, said he will make sure to implement the Supreme Court decision ordering the Marcos family to pay the estate tax, which has accumulated to over P203.8 billion including penalties.

“If and if ako’y maging presidente, yung pera na yon na buwis ha, hindi po ito regular na buwis, estate tax, ngayon po P200 billion na ang halaga. E kung ipamigay ko rin na ayuda? Tutal pera niyo naman yon e,” Domagoso told reporters and labor groups.

Domagoso was referring to the court’s decision in 1997 ruling to scrap the petition of Marcos’ son and namesake, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, questioning the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) assessment and collection of tax delinquencies on the estate left by his late father, amounting P23.29 billion.

Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio wrote a column that the unpaid estate tax have ballooned almost ten times over the years.

“There is a decision they should pay, those people should pay, whoever they are,” Domagoso said. “Kung siya ay collectibles na, dapat kolektahin.”

Some concerned citizens and groups clamored for adequate financial aid to poor families in areas hit by lockdowns, as poverty and joblessness worsened due to movement restrictions since the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first detected in 2020. Others were also forced to go outside and work due to a lack of financial support from the government.

Despite mounting criticism over inadequate “ayuda,” President Rodrigo Duterte’s government has insisted that the government has run out of money to set aside for aid.

Domagoso has shot down claims that he won’t run after Marcos’ ill-gotten wealth, after he criticized rivals for engaging in a so-called “feud” between the Marcoses and Aquinos. He said that he would not abolish the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

The PCGG, which was created after the popular uprising that deposed the late dictator, has gotten back about P174.2 billion pesos of the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth as of March last year. The agency is still chasing after P125 billion more.

Marcos Jr, who is also leading the presidential polls in pre-election surveys, has also been convicted for his failure to file income tax returns for four years when he was a local government official. This has been the subject of numerous disqualification cases against his candidacy.

Opposition groups have raised concerns that Marcos Jr might abolish the PCGG if he wins. The former senator, whom PCGG officials have criticized for having a hand in blocking the recovery of his family’s ill-gotten wealth, has said that abolishing the agency has not crossed his mind.

(MM)

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