Panelo: Mighty Corp. not yet off the hook

Homegrown cigarette maker Mighty Corp. is not yet off the hook despite President Duterte’s proposal for the company to pay double its estimated tax deficiency as a compromise to settle  its case, presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo said.

Panelo said Mr. Duterte just made a general statement, but this was subject to whatever is written in the law.

“Anything the President says is always grounded on what the law says, always subject to whatever imposition and conditions imposed by law,” Panelo told reporters.

He said Mighty would still have to talk to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and there would be a need to check if it is qualified to enter into a compromise on  its tax deficiencies.

To be qualified, there must be reasonable doubt on the claims against the company, and their violation must not include fraud, Panelo noted.

Asked if Mighty’s liabilities would be extinguished if, as the President proposed, they pay double their P1.5 billion tax deficiency, Panelo said this would not necessarily be the case.

He said this might refer to the civil aspect of a case, but a criminal case could not be compromised.

When Mr. Duterte made the proposal, what he meant was that Mighty should pay its deficiencies with the government, and then they could talk.

“It does not mean it would not be prosecuted,” he said.