Isko Moreno's party to Marcos: Prove unity call, pay P203-billion estate tax

The party of presidential candidate Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno on Monday urged former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to take the initiative and pay his family’s estate tax debt if he was sincere in his call for unity.

In a statement, party chairman Ernest Ramel said Marcos should show that his call for unity is true by paying their estate tax debt amounting to P203 billion.

“Clearly there is no intent for the Marcoses to pay the P203-billion estate tax liability, or even the principal amount of P23.29 billion the family incurred since the 90s,” Ramel said.

The party earlier called on Marcos to avail of the Estate Amnesty Act and pay off the P23 billion estate tax debt ruled with finality by the Supreme Court in 1997 after the Marcos camp claimed that the remainder of the P203  billion that ballooned over the years may be subject to reconciliation.

Ramel also said that Marcos was found guilty of tax evasion when he was the governor of Ilocos Norte.

The Court of Appeals on October 31, 1997 upheld Marcos' conviction beyond a reasonable doubt for violating tax laws relative to his failure to file income tax returns from 1982 to 1985.

“Paying the taxes is one of the duties of a responsible and caring Filipino. How can you entrust a whole nation to a man who can’t even abide by a single obligation to our country? Remember that Marcos was also found guilty of tax evasion when he was Ilocos Norte governor,” he said. 

For his part, Moreno has also dared the Marcos family to pay their P23 billion estate tax debt, something he has vowed to use for aid if elected. —NB, GMA News