Pasay BIR exec faces extort raps

An examiner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue was arrested by agents of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force for allegedly trying to extort P114,000 from a tax clearance applicant.

PAOCTF officials identified the suspect as Felicito Tarago, 30, BIR examiner assigned at the Pasay City Revenue District Office.

Tarago was nabbed while in the act of accepting P70,000 from accountant Marietta Grajo at the Ho Chin Ho restaurant in Pasay City last Tuesday.

In her complaint, Grajo said that she was requested last December by a certain Antonio Pablo Jr. to help him apply for a tax clearance for a piece of real estate given to him by his mother.

According to Grajo, the suspect computed the tax due at P1.08 million. She then asked Tarago if the amount could be reduced.

Tarago allegedly offered to reduce the amount to just P600,000 in exchange for another P250,00 in "goodwill" cash.

Grajo told probers that her client agreed to pay the full amount of P1.08 million but the tax clearance was not given by the suspect.

According to Grajo, the suspect allegedly demanded an additional payment of P10,000 before releasing the tax clearance. After a week, Tarago allegedly demanded an additional P228,000 on the grounds that the land was allegedly classified as commercial and not residential.

Sensing that the suspect will not release the tax clearance and will ask for more money, Grajo sought the help of the PAOCTF.

PAOCTF officials then coordinated with BIR Commissioner Dakila Fonacier and conducted the entrapment operation.

Tarago, is now detained at the PAOCTF headquarters in Camp Crame for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

In a press briefing, Fonacier stressed that corruption in the BIR can only be curbed with the effective cooperation between taxpayers, BIR officials and the police.

"For tax administration to be effective, close cooperation between the taxpayers and the BIR is necessary. Without the support of the aggrieved taxpayer and his accountant, this (entrapment) operation would not have succeeded. The BIR under the present system of laws can only go far without the open support of the taxpayers," he said.