‘Filipino-Chinese tax evaders will be prosecuted’

MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III’s call for certain Filipino-Chinese businesmen to pay their taxes is only a “gentle” reminder for them, Malacañang said on Saturday, March 23.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte however said this does not mean the government is being soft on these businessmen.

She assured the public that the Aquino administration would prosecute them like any other Filipino who is not paying his taxes.

“The reminder of the President does not mean the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) is not doing its job. Again, we are going to review the cases filed by the BIR before the Department of Justice and those under litigation, and we can see there is no discrimination of any sort in the filing of those cases. The bases are only pure evidence,” she said in Filipino.

“If you can see, among all those charged by BIR Commissioner (Kim) Henares, there is no discrimination. There is no such thing as being selective as the cases with strong evidence are the only ones filed by Commissioner Henares before the DOJ,” she added.

Valte’s statement came after the President cited 2011 and 2013 records that show failure on the part of authorities to detect tax evasion among the Filipino-Chinese community and file charges promptly.

Valte refused to comment if the tagged businessmen are Team PNoy campaign donors. – with reports from Carlos Santamaria/Rappler.com