Bayan Muna solons want probe on Marcos estate tax liabilities

CEBU CITY - Lawmakers from Bayan Muna are calling for an investigation into the multi-billion-peso tax on the estate of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

In filing House Resolution 2553, Representatives Carlos Isagani Zarate, Eufemia Cullamat, and Ferdinand Gaite said it has been around 25 years since the Bureau of Internal Revenue assessed the estate tax deficiencies of the Marcoses. However, no amount has been paid yet.

“There is a need to probe the failure to collect the estate tax deficiencies of the Marcos estate now estimated to have ballooned to P203 billion, an amount, that if collected, could help fund much-needed aid and social services for the people, especially as the country continued to recover from the effects of the pandemic,” the lawmakers said.

The lawmakers cited Section 255 of the Tax Code, which states that any person who willfully fails to pay tax, in addition to other penalties, shall be punished by a fine of not less than P10,000 and suffer imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than 10 years.

In the Senate, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III lodged Senate Resolution 998 urging the upper chamber to investigate the reasons why the estate tax dues of the Marcoses were not yet collected.

The BIR said it sent a demand letter to the Marcoses last year regarding their tax deficiencies.

The Department of Finance said the BIR continued to demand the settlement of the Marcos family's estate tax debt.

GMA News had sought comment from the Marcos camp, but they have yet to respond as of posting time.

However, Attorney Vic Rodriguez, spokesman of presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., has maintained that the properties which were the subject of the tax case were still under litigation.

The lawmakers feared that if the former Senator Marcos would win the elections, the tax debt would no longer be collected. — DVM, GMA News