Proposed legislative measure to reduce corruption at BIR

The Revenue Integrity Protection Services (RIPS) may soon get legislative mandate as the government faces international pressure to address its revenue problems by reducing graft and corruption.

Talks are under way for the drafting of a proposed legislative measure that would create a permanent and independent revenue protection agency as a possible alternative to the failed attempt to overhaul the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

Sources privy to ongoing talks revealed that the proposed RIPS law could be passed in lieu of the bill that would have abolished the BIR and replaced it with the National Revenue Authority (NARA).

According to one source, the dispute over the NARA bill split Congress into two main camps.

One side wanted to abolish the BIR altogether and replace it with new people while the other side agreed with the abolition of the BIR provided former BIR employees would be given the option to apply for a position in the NARA.

The failure of the NARA bill, however, could be countered by another bill that would at least institutionalize the work already being done by the RIPS which was created by an executive order and put under the Department of Finance (DOF).

RIPS director and finance undersecretary Noel Bonoan said a RIPS law would provide the impetus for the government’s anti-corruption campaign by focusing its aim on the protection of government revenues.

"We already have anti-graft and corruption laws but a revenue protection law would be more focused on revenue-generating agencies," Bonoan said. "If we can not do the NARA law, this is a useful alternative."

Under its present mandate, RIPS’ primary function is to plug the most problematic leak in the revenue collection program that has been estimated by the DOF to cost the government at least P240 billion a year in foregone revenues.

Amatong expressed confidence that there will be no shortage of support from the foreign community as long as the government can show political will that it is serious about its efforts to weed out the corrupt elements in BIR and BOC, as well as other revenue-generating agencies under the DOF.

Bonoan said RIPS has been given the mandate to conduct lifestyle checks as well as other investigation into reports of graft and corruption in BIR and BOC.

"We have developed a three-pronged approach: prevention, deterrence and education," he said. "Prevention is particularly important; we intend to do this by addressing the weaknesses in the processes that give room to corruption."

If the operations of RIPS could be institutionalized, Bonoan said it would usher the cultural transformation of the bureaucracy.

"An executive mandate is still a mandate," Bonoan pointed out. "But the critical issue is to be able to institutionalize what we’re doing so that it will be in place no matter who is in position at the DOF or in Malacañang."