EDITOR’S NOTE: For obvious reasons, the professional person who sent me this insightful letter shall remain anonymous.)
FYI In he Philippines, nobody pays the right taxes except the lowly salaried employees whose taxes are automatically deducted from their paychecks. Businessmen, lawyers, doctors, politicians, actors, and anybody without a fixed monthly paycheck barely pay anything. They usually have two sets of books, one real and one for the tax man. Just a few years ago, Manny was the number 1 taxpayer in the Philippines. He paid more taxes than Filipino billionaires listed in Forbes. Then, somebody probably whispered to Manny, that he does not need to pay the real amount he owes. He was likely told, why give your money to the government, the corrupt politicians will just pocket them anyway. During tax time, one’s accountant would usually ask the client, “how much do want to pay?” Once the amount is set, the computations will be based on that.
It is not unusual for well known politicians and celebrities with million dollar (not peso) houses, luxury vehicles and untold millions in bank accounts barely pay anything in taxes. Politicians from the lowly small town councilman, to the halls of congress, executive branch, judiciary and military brass who flaunt luxury, pay taxes based on their declared salary which is not much. Most high ranking officials are officially paid less than the equivalent of $1000 a month but live like gazzillionaires. The Philippine BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) is one of the most corrupt agencies in the government, although Bureau of Customs might want to be number one. Manny is one of only a handful of politicians who made millions the honest way. Politics also plays a major role. Manny is a well known friend of the former President, Gloria Arroyo who is currently under “hospital arrest” and a sworn enemy of the current President. Although Manny tried to be in his good graces, Manny has not completely voted in Congress the way the Administration would want him to do. Even the funding for his hospital in Sarangani is in jeopardy. In the Philippines, there is a saying “weather-weather”, meaning “panapanahon” loosely translated as “your time was yesterday, now it is our time”. Whoever is in charge and the friends of those in charge, call the shots. And the friends of the those previously in charge better fly under the radar. It appears that everybody and anybody who had some close relationships with the former administration are targeted. I don’t have any evidence but I speculate that Manny is being sent a message, “you may be the most famous Pinoy, but the only P’ Noy who counts is NoyNoy, the President. If Manny wants to succeed politically, he has to bow to the current king of Malacanang. Just like most high profile political drama in the Philippines, this will be a forgotten footnote a couple of weeks from now. There is another saying in the Philippines, “ningas kugon”, meaning sudden wild fire but fizzles in a second. There will be a lot of noise about this right now but will be forgotten and would seem a distant past by next month. By the time he fights in June, same politicians who are going after him will be jockeying for position among each other to gain Manny’s favor for a seat to see him at MGM. I would not be surprised that the BIR’s senior leadership would be at ringside. By the way, unlike the IRS which sent Al Capone to prison, the BIR has yet to send a single high profile tax cheat to prison. If The BIR actually prosecutes and sends tax cheats to prison, the Philippines will be left without a government. They will all be in Muntinlupa (Philippine Alcatraz).
