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MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Come January, expect Senator Alan Peter Cayetano to focus on tax collection and the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
In an interview with radio station DZRH on Wednesday, December 24, Cayetano said one of the issues he will bring up is “the widespread corruption in tax collection and customs, because of the huge amount of funds that the government can earn.”
Cayetano said the bigger corruption problem isn’t the ghost employees or ghost projects – through which about 20% of the P2.6 trillion budget or P50 billion is estimated to be pocketed – but in tax evasion and smuggling.
“The World Bank said that in every peso collected, two pesos are not collected. This mean tax evasion and smuggling is a bigger corruption issues,” he said. “Because between two to 4 trillion pesos is the amount that does not get to the government.”
He said it makes sense that people under-declare the value of their cargoes to avoid losing money, but said the consequences for the government are significant. He said collecting the right taxes could result in changes that are tangible to the public, such as using the extra funds collected to subsidize Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) fares, which would result in a decrease in fares for commuters.
Probe fare hike
Cayetano in fact wants the Senate to find out just how much money the government is losing in subsidizing the MRT and LRT. “Baka naman merong ibang alternative na pagkakakitaan para naman ang tao, hindi malaki ang binabayad dyan,” said Cayetano. (Maybe there are other ways to earn money so that the burden doesn’t fall on commuters.)
Just last week, the administration announced the approval of fare hikes for the MRT line and the Light Rail Transit effective January 4.
Like Senator Grace Poe, Cayetano questioned the hike which he viewed as “excessive” and too abrupt. “Medyo nakakalungkot diba ang Pasko ay (It saddens me because Christmas is a) time of giving, hindi (not) taking,” said Cayetano.
The government has launched an aggressive tax collection campaign under tax chief Kim Henares, while new BOC chief John “Sunny” Sevilla was appointed to institute reforms in the corruption-riddled agency. Cayetano is considering running for the country’s top post come 2016. – Natashya Gutierrez and Bea Cupin/Rappler.com
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