Isko party to BIR: Demand Marcos heirs to pay P203 billion owed to gov’t

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso, Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential candidate Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso’s party on Monday asked the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to demand the Marcos family to pay their tax liabilities estimated to be worth P203.819 billion.

According to Aksyon Demokratiko chair Ernesto Ramel in a letter addressed to BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay, the BIR must renew written demands on the Marcos heirs to pay these tax liabilities once every five years, “otherwise they prescribe and become uncollectible.”

“Past administrations under Presidents Ramos, Arroyo and Aquino have faithfully issued such written demands,” Ramel claimed.

“As Chairman of the Aksyon Demokratiko, the political party of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso, I would like to inquire if the BIR under the Duterte administration has done the same.” he added.

Ramel also pointed out that the party’s presidential candidate, Moreno, promised to give these unpaid liabilities as “ayuda” to Filipinos who lost their jobs during the pandemic.

“The aggregate amount of ₱203.819 billion which the Marcos heirs owe the Philippine government is such a big amount that Mayor Isko, if elected president, promised to give as ‘ayuda’ to millions of Filipinos who lost their jobs during the pandemic,” Ramel’s letter read.

This came after Ramel also earlier criticized the Marcoses, particularly presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., for refusing to pay the P200 billion estate tax despite an order from the Supreme Court.

In response to this, however, Marcos Jr.’s spokesperson Atty. Victor Rodriguez said that the estimated P200 billion estate tax of the Marcos family remains unsettled since the properties linked to the case are still under litigation.

“In fact, even BIR and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) have arrived at an agreement for the BIR to wait for the decision on the said case before any collection enforcement activities and to establish ownership of the subject properties with certainty to determine with accuracy the fair and just tax base to be used in computing estate taxes, if any,” he said.

In 1997, the Supreme Court affirmed an earlier ruling made by the Court of Appeals, which states 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 late president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

The Marcoses, however, contested the case, leading the amount to accumulate to over P200 billion, as estimated, including penalties that have accumulated in the decades that the Marcos heirs failed to pay it.

INQUIRER.net has already reached out both to BIR and Marcos Jr.’s camp for a comment regarding Ramel’s letter, but has yet to receive a reply as of writing.

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JPV