House to open probe on P5.3-B tax scam

The House committee on good government opens today its inquiry into a P5.3-billion tax fraud and allegations that Ombudsman Aniano Desierto has been deliberately whitewashing the scam.

Among those invited to testify in the initial hearing were Finance Undersecretary Cornelio Gison, Deputy Executive Secretary Waldo Flores, Director Ernesto Hiansen of the inter-agency office in charge of tax credit certificates, and Justo Yap, head of the anti-graft unit of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Gison heads Task Force 156, which is tasked with looking into the tax credit certificate scam and filing charges against those responsible for it. The task force is directly under the Office of the President.

The good government committee, chaired by Rep. Ruy Elias Lopez of Davao City, intends to invite Desierto and owners of the Chingkoe group of companies in future hearings.

The Chingkoe group is accused of having defrauded the government of about P2.5 billion using fake tax credit certificates.

The tax fraud was exposed by Rep. Oscar Moreno (Lakas, Misamis Oriental) about two weeks before the House dismissed the bribery-related impeachment complaint against Desierto last Feb. 13.

Moreno was the principal filer of the second tax scam-related complaint, but this was considered dead in the water as the decision on the first complaint insulated the Ombudsman from impeachment for one year.

The Misamis congressman claimed that Desierto is allegedly engaged in a conspiracy to whitewash the tax scam by filing a weak case against the Chingkoe group and sparing others from prosecution. The Ombudsman has denied the accusation.

Recently, the Sandiganbayan castigated Desierto’s office for the unnecessary delay in the reinvestigation of some cases connected to the tax fraud.

If the good government committee finds basis for a criminal case against the Ombudsman, he can be prosecuted after he retires in August, but not while he is in office. – Jess Diaz