Palace defends BIR chief from tax ad backlash: She’s not arrogant

Malacañang on Wednesday came to the defense of Bureau of Internal Revenue chief Kim Jacinto-Henares, saying she is not arrogant for refusing to apologize over a tax ad portraying doctors as tax evaders. 

 

"Hindi arogante si Commissioner Kim Henares. She is just her natural self. I know Commissioner Kim Henares personally," presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said during a press briefing.

 

Earlier, the Philippine Medical Association said the BIR should apologize for the ad which showed a doctor riding piggyback on a school teacher with a tally of their incomes.

 

Lacierda, however, said the ad does not shame the profession itself but those who do not pay the taxes.

 

"And if there’s a class that they want to shame, it’s those people who don’t pay their taxes properly; and as result, it burdens other people who pay their taxes like you and I," he said.

 

"We pay our taxes; we are compensation employees, so those who do not pay their taxes, yun ang talagang puntirya ng campaign na ito, hindi yung profession mismo," he added. 

 

Lacierda said some of his doctor friends even told him that they are not affected by the ad.

 

"Sa kanila, [sabi nila] we pay our taxes and tama lang dapat na yung doctor, mga abogado na hindi nagbabayad ng wastong buwis ay magbayad ng wastong buwis," he said.

 

"Kung sila naman ay nagbabayad ng wastong buwis, ano ang ikahihiya nila bilang isang taxpayer?" he added.

 

Earlier, the Palace had also said they were not singling out the doctors in its tax collection efforts.

 

"We’d just like to assure the public that any complaint against a certain person who does not pay taxes properly—when the BIR is informed, they undertake a confidential investigation," said Lacierda. — RSJ, GMA News