Open Letter of former ABS-CBN correspondent Ira V. Panganiban to BIR commissioner Kim Jacinto Henares regarding the "lien" and garnishment order to the bank assets and bank accounts of Manny Pacqiuao
An open letter addressed to Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares by journalist Ira Panganiban goes viral on Facebook after it criticized the latter's cherry-picking on who to prosecute.
In his letter, Panganiban defended the boxing champ Manny Pacquiao whose banks accounts were frozen following a ₱2.2 billion tax case after his failure to report the millions of dollars in taxes he paid in the US.
His open letter was first shared in his Facebook account garnering more than 5.9k shares and more than 4.5k likes. On Twitter, the letter was tweeted repeatedly especially among local celebs.
Panganiban, who was a former ABS-CBN correspondent and now a newscaster for Inquirer Radio, also questioned why BIR is not keen on looking at Lucio Tan "who owes the country more than ₱5-billion pesos in tax."
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Here's the full letter:
Dear Kim Henares,
I do not doubt your sincerity to collect taxes from every Filipino, living or dead.
I do not even doubt your integrity in making sure that you are able to collect the proper taxes from everyone.
I am however questioning your motives and arbitrary choice in the personalities you choose to prosecute.
I am going to cite one particular person who has been on the BIR's radar as a perennial tax evader for the last 20-years with cases going in and out of court.
His name is Lucio Tan and he owes the country more than ₱5-billion pesos in tax liabilities decided on numerous times by the Supreme Court as executory and final and yet no garnishment order was ever made until his petition reaches the SC, who would then reverse their decisions time and again.
Lucio Tan was never known for his philanthropy or good business practices. He authored the contractualization of PAL and Asia Brewery employees which was not only detrimental to Filipino Labor but also to taxes that could be collected from these workers had they been regular employees.
Lucio Tan is also accused of ill-gotten wealth from his Marcos days, and yet he continues to enjoy his money.
Congressman Manny Pacquiao's case is not even at the High Court and his earnings have already been garnished.
You have been given certified true copies of Pacman's tax payments in the US and yet you refuse to recognize this and insist on originals which I believe, but I may be mistaken, even US citizens have no access to.
And to think that Pacquiao earned his money through honest, literally blood, sweat and tears. And he is one of about ten persons who insist in keeping his money in the Philippines because he is a patriot.
He could have stashed it somewhere you cannot reach if he had things to hide, but he kept it here, so our economy can make use of it.
You cannot even freeze the money of politicians involved in the PDAF scam but you can do this to an ordinary man who managed to rise above all of you through hard work, guts, integrity and the work of his own hands.
And that is why your integrity is rapidly being eroded, because you don't seem to think anymore. You just grab the first victim that cannot fight you.
Because even if Pacquiao is a Congressman, he is not connected to the old boys club and so does not have the clout of the Tan's, Sy's, Dy's and others.
Oh, and Lucio Tan did give over 100 million to Noynoy's election kitty while Pacquiao was with the opposition.
I guess we know now the motivations don't we?
Yours disgustedly,
Your Boss's Boss
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