Teves should quit over revenue shortfall - father

MANILA, Philippines - Finance Secretary Gary Teves should take responsibility for the government’s huge revenue shortfall by handing in his resignation, his father said yesterday.

Former Negros Oriental Rep. Herminio Teves told the Serye Café’ forum in Quezon City that when Sixto Esquivias quit as commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), he suggested to his son that he, too, should resign.

“I told him he is ultimately responsible for the revenue shortfall since he is supervising the BIR and the Bureau of Customs,” he said.

The elder Teves said his son did not say anything to him.

“He’s too polite to tell me that he couldn’t resign. He’s loyal to the President,” he said.

Esquivias quit because of his agency’s failure to meet its collection target. He said he was ashamed to stay on.

The elder Teves recalled that two years ago, he asked his finance secretary-son to quit after the latter failed to convince President Arroyo to give him (Secretary Teves) authority to open the books of accounts of large taxpayers for tax examination purposes.

He said under the law, it is only the President who can authorize the opening of the books of taxpayers but that the President can delegate such authority to the secretary of finance.

“Secretary Teves asked Mrs. Arroyo to delegate such authority but he received no answer. So I told him to resign,” he said.

He said the tax examination of large taxpayers is also at the center of the reported quarrel between Esquivias and Narciso Santiago Jr., presidential adviser on revenue enhancement.

According to Santiago, he requested Esquivias for records on the tax payments of an unnamed taxpayer that he was allegedly investigating for non-payment of P7 billion in taxes, but that the former commissioner turned down his request.

Santiago, husband of Arroyo ally Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, denied he was interested in taking over the BIR’s large taxpayers’ unit.

Secretary Teves’ father said the former BIR commissioner could not just release the records of taxpayers without authority from the President.

He said Santiago should have asked for such authority from Mrs. Arroyo.

In 2007, before ending his nine-year term as a Negros Oriental congressman, the elder Teves accused some colleagues in the House of Representatives who are sitting in the Commission on Appointments (CA) of alleged extorting P5 million from his son in exchange for his confirmation.

He said his colleagues asked for money and other favors not only from his son but from other Cabinet members as well.

Those who felt alluded to by his accusation denied the extortion charge.

More than a year later, under the present Congress, in which those accused of alleged extortion are no longer members, Secretary Teves finally won confirmation after years of waiting.

Tax huge allowances of senators and congressmen

The older Teves also suggested to tax the huge allowances of senators and congressmen to look for additional revenues.

He said when he was a congressman, they used to receive allowances of about P100,000 a month, in additional to their P35,000 salary.

He said senators were then getting an additional P200,000 a month.

“I remember our allowances were not taxed. They should have been taxed, since they were part of our income,” he told reporters yesterday in a Quezon City news forum.

He stressed that the cash-strapped government would have earned tens of millions in additional revenues had the emoluments of members of Congress been levied an income tax.

He added that the amount of allowances lawmakers get has increased since his time as a congressman.

Teves was a member of the House of Representatives for nine years until 2007. His son Margarito or Gary is the secretary of finance.

Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor agreed with his former House colleague that allowances should be treated as part of income and should be taxed.

“The problem is part of the amount we get as so-called allowances actually represents our budget for our district office and staff. The portion intended for district office expenses should not be taxed,” he said.

He said he did not know how much he is getting in monthly allowances since the amount goes directly to his account at the Land Bank branch at the Batasan-House complex in Quezon City.

“But I can assure you that the House is deducting income tax from us,” he added.

Members of the House of Representatives are reportedly getting between P300,000 and P350,000 a month, including their salary, district office budget and a P100,000 travel allowance.

Toward the end of his stewardship of the House as Speaker, Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr., faced with accusations of favoritism in the grant of travel privilege and allowance, equalized the distribution of his chamber’s travel budget.

Members now thus receive a uniform amount for local and foreign travel, regardless of region or destination, and whether they go a trip or not. They can actually pocket the money, or spend it however they want to.

The government is desperately looking for sources of additional revenues. Taxmen are now planning to collect levies even from stallholders in flea markets.