DOF chief corrects Duterte: No settlement with Mighty Corp.

Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez III on Friday said the government is bent on running after Mighty Corporation, as he denied President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement that the cigarette manufacturer may settle for an amount of P3 billion. 

“There’s no settlement. How can we settle? We don’t know the total amount due yet,” Dominguez said, noting that only three of the company’s warehouses have been raided so far. 

“As soon as we get all the evidence, of course, we will file a case. That’s our duty. It’s not a question of whether we want or not. It’s our duty to do so,” he told reporters in an interview on the sidelines of a tax reform forum in Makati City. 

Dominguez said what Duterte meant was for Mighty Corp. to return to the government the excise taxes it failed to remit, so that these may be used to fund hospitals through the national budget.

“That’s the message you have to take from the President; that he wants us to collect the tax so that we can improve the health care services, which is the real intent naman of the sin tax law,” the Cabinet official said. 

Duterte on Thursday said he is ready to settle the tax case of Mighty if the manufacturer would pay double the excise tax it failed to remit, pegged at P3 billion. He said the amount will be used for the rehabilitation of hospitals in the country.

"Ako, kalimtan ko na pero ang iyang gi-imprinta, 1.5 billion of the fake stamps. Ako, musugot ko ani. Doblehun niya, kalimtan ko na. Anyway, akong saad sa iya na if someone in power pursue, I can always pardon him," he said, referring to Mighty Corporation president Alex Wongchuking.

[I will forget about the printing of 1.5 billion worth of fake stamps. I will agree to this: Pay double, I'll forget about it. Anyway, I assure him that if someone in power pursues the case, I can always pardon him.]

Dominguez said Duterte has not had “the benefit of seeing the whole amount.” —KG, GMA News