Pacquiao says P2.2 billion tax case an old issue

Senator Manny Pacquiao on Friday said the issue on his P2.2 billion tax woes was an old one, asserting that the case previously filed against him was “baseless.”

He made the remark after President Rodrigo Duterte raised his multi-billion tax liabilities in a televised PDP-Laban meeting last week.

“Alamin niya na muna yung sitwasyon ng case na ‘yun dahil malinaw naman yun at matagal na yun na issue at nag-grant na tayo, nasa Court of Tax Appeals na ‘yan,” he said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

(He should look at the status of the case because that is already cleared and that was an old issue. The Court of Tax Appeals has already ruled on that.)

“Inakyat nila sa Supreme Court dahil wala naman silang basehan. Wala naman silang basehan para magkautang ako ng ganyan. Puwede ba yung magbe-base ka lang sa isang diyaryo sa isang balita, 'di naman puwedeng ganon,” he argued.

(They tried to raise it before the Supreme Court because that case was baseless. They cannot prove that I have these liabilities. They cannot just base it on one news report.)

His lawyers can respond and give further details on all his tax cases, Pacquiao added.

Previously, Duterte said he was “forced” to raise Pacquiao’s tax evasion case after the lawmaker claimed that corruption had worsened under the President's watch.

"He has been assessed to pay. P2.2 billion ang utang niya na hindi niya nabayaran ang gobyerno (His tax deficiency amounted to P2.2 billion)," Duterte claimed.

The President didn't mention the details of what he said was Pacquiao's P2.2-billion tax assessment but the senator in 2018 won a favorable ruling from the Court of Tax Appeals.

Duterte said he didn't intend to run after Pacquiao for unpaid taxes.

"Not because gusto ko siya habulin but sabi kasi niya corrupt. Eh, kung corrupt kami, eh ikaw, when you cheat government you are a corrupt official," Duterte said, adding that he would check these reports.

(Not because I want to catch him but he said we are corrupt so when you cheat the government, you are  also corrupt.)

The President earlier challenged Pacquiao to name the corrupt officials and he would do something about the matter.

Pacquiao accepted the president’s dare and bared alleged corruption in the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, and Department of Energy.

Pacquiao first earned the ire of Duterte after he criticized the President's stance on the West Philippine Sea issue. -Hana Bordey/MDM, GMA News