Isko: Marcos' P203-billion estate tax debt a fact, not attack

Presidential candidate and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno on Thursday said he does not see his calls for the payment of the Marcos family’s P203-billion estate tax debt as an attack.

In an interview at the KandidaTalks, Moreno was asked about comments saying that he and presidential rival Ferdinand Marcos Jr. share the same voter base, leading him to attack the latter as a strategy.

“Actually, hindi ko siya tinira, with all honesty. I don’t see myself na inaatake ‘yung kandidatong yaon. May batas, ito maliwanag. May batas,” he said.

The Aksyon Demokratiko bet stressed that the decision of the Supreme Court in 1997 in which the high court denied the petition filed by Marcos to reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals is already considered final.

In 1994, the CA ruled that ”the deficiency assessments for estate and income tax made upon the petitioner and the estate of the deceased President Marcos have already become final and unappealable, and may thus be enforced by the summary remedy of levying upon the properties” of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

He called on Marcos anew to pay for the tax debt if he really loves the people.

“[W]ith all due respect to Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., tutal hindi mo naman pinaghirapan ito, minana mo na lang eh… kukunin mo na lang tapos babawasan mo ng P200 billion, ibigay natin sa utaw kung talagang mahal natin ang tao.”

“‘Yun ang point ko doon. Kaya I don’t see myself attacking, unlike ‘yung inaakusa sa kanila, alam mo ‘yung inaakusa sa kanila, subject to interpretation, eh. ‘Yung inii-state ko naman is already a fact,” he added.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue also said it has sent a written demand to the Marcos family regarding their tax liabilities last year.

For his part, Marcos has said that there is "a lot of fake news involved" in the issues regarding his family's ill-gotten wealth.—LDF, GMA News