Aquino prods justice, finance execs on tax cases

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III has directed justice and finance officials to find a way to make the 42 tax evasion cases filed by his administration—including the one against party-list representative Juan Miguel “Mikey”’ Arroyo—move faster through the courts and secure convictions.

Mr. Aquino gave the directive at a meeting he called Wednesday to “review how the tax evasion cases are going” with Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.

“The President is happy with the pace in which the cases are being filed and we’re confident that the cases are solid. But there’s a tendency that once the cases go to court, the process tends to take a while,” Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang said.

Carandang said the discussions were “more of a general review of the progress of the cases” and did not specifically take up the case against Mikey Arroyo, the older of two sons of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

He said it was “not just the President” who wanted faster convictions.

“I think Purisima, De Lima and Henares also want the cases to move forward more quickly,” Carandang said, stressing that the administration would respect the judicial process while looking for ways to speed up the adjudication.

“They have to go back and look because [of] the many elements in this process that we don’t have control of, it’s the judiciary,” he said.

Carandang noted that some tax cases have been pending in the courts for five to six years, “so it is a little slow.”

“It’s something for the lawyers to figure out because it takes a lot of knowledge about the legal processes. The ideas would primarily come from Henares and De Lima,” he said.