News Roundup 22 June 2022
Jun 22, 2022 • 4 min Read
BIR to comply with court ruling on Marcos estate tax, says incoming chief | INQUIRER.NET – Incoming Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Lilia Guillermo on Wednesday said the agency will comply with the court’s decision on the estate tax issue of the Marcos family and will follow the agency’s mandate to collect. Guillermo however said she has yet to see the documents on the Marcos tax liabilities first so that she would have the “correct data” and information. “I have not seen any documents about it. Kung final and executory, then it is our mandate to collect; isa ‘yan sa mandato ng BIR ang collection enforcement,” Guillermo said in an interview over ABS CBN News Channel. While she has already met with President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Guillermo admitted that they had not discussed the issue. Should she meet with Marcos again about the issue, she said she would let the President-elect know that he is not solely responsible for paying the taxes but also those of Marcos’ estate. “Kung sakaling talagang BIR has to collect, sasabihin ko sa kanya na this amount, hindi na kayo ang magbabayad, it’s the estate,” Guillermo said. (If the BIR really has to collect, I will tell him that he will not be the one to pay for it but the estate.) “‘P’wede ba maging role model kayo?’ The Marcoses will now pay their taxes, because nagcomply sa batas, it came from the Supreme Court, its final and executory. ‘Yun lang naman ang sasabihin ko sa kanya pero I should have the correct data. I should know what really is in that decision,” she added. (Can you be a role model? The Marcoses paid their taxes because they complied with the law, it came from the Supreme Court. It’s final and executory. That’s what I will say to him but I should have the correct data. I should know what really is in that decision.) Guillermo admitted that the money from the Marcos estate “will really help the collections of BIR.”
PH peso at its weakest since 2005 at 54.47:$1 | INQUIRER.NET – After breaching past the P54 mark against the greenback, the Philippines’ local currency continued to weaken on Wednesday, closing at 54.47:$1, based on the Bank Association of the Philippines’ (BAP) foreign exchange summary. This puts the local currency at its weakest in over 16 years or since Nov. 23, 2005, when the Philippine peso closed at 54.56. This record low came in the same month the Philippine peso broke the 53:$1 mark on June 10. With the Philippine peso further weakening, this could lead to imports becoming more expensive for the country, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and as the country grapples with the rising prices of oil due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, making it harder for the country to attain economic recovery. London-based think tank Capital Economics earlier predicted in an April 28 report that the Philippine peso will become one of the worst-performing Asian currencies from 2022 to 2024, depreciating to 54:$1 in 2022 and further to 55 against the American dollar by 2023 and 2024.
DOJ: Court orders re-arrest of red-tagged community doctor Naty Castro | PHILSTAR.COM – The Agusan del Sur court has ordered the re-arrest of community doctor Natividad Castro, the Department of Justice said Wednesday. Castro was arrested in February in her home and brought to Agusan del Sur on a warrant for a kidnapping and serious illegal detention case. On March 25, Acting Presiding Judge Fernando Fudalan Jr. ordered her release after the Regional Trial Court Branch 7 dismissed the case due to “denial of her substantive right to due process” and “lack of jurisdiction over the person of the accused.” In a briefer on Wednesday, the DOJ said Judge Ferdinand Villanueva, following a motion for the prosecution, reversed the March order that dismissed the case and found that: • There was no denial of due process on the part of accused Dr. Castro as preliminary investigation was conducted by prosecution
• The court acquired jurisdiction over the person of accused Dr. Castro as she was arrested by virtue of warrant of arrest. “Upon personal review/re-evaluation of the evidence of records, including the affidavits of the victim, witnesses and the prosecution’s resolution in the conduct of Preliminary Investigation and considering the totality of the evidence on records, this court finds Probable Cause of the second time to issue Warrant of Arrest,” the ruling dated June 16 read. “Per Court Order dated 16 June 2022, an e-warrant of arrest will be issued against accused Dr. Maria Natividad Castro,” the DOJ said.
