Jueteng lords face lifestyle checks

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is conducting a lifestyle check on suspected jueteng lords led by Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda of Lubao, Pampanga in a bid to pin them down on tax evasion charges.

Newly installed BIR Commissioner Jose Mario Bunag said the lifestyle check would also cover presidential brother-in-law Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo, presidential son Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo, jueteng whistle-blower Sandra Cam and retired Bicol Region police director Chief Superintendent Restituto Mosqueda.

Bunag disclosed that the BIR had attended all the hearings conducted by the Senate in which Cam alleged that Iggy and Mikey received jueteng money through Mosqueda.

In one of the Senate hearings, Bunag disclosed that Sen. Alfredo Lim mentioned that during his term as National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director, they were able to inspect the properties of so-called jueteng lords.

These properties, Lim said, were under other people’s names and could not be easily traced to the gambling lords since many use the names of siblings, in-laws and even distant relatives as dummies.

But through rigorous lifestyle checks, the BIR would be able to determine whether the jueteng lords are paying the correct taxes.

Through the lifestyle checks, Bunag said they can determine whether these people have under-declared their assets. "We will check how many children they have and where they go to school," Bunag said.

The new BIR chief also explained that Iggy and Mikey Arroyo would be included in the lifestyle check because no one is to be spared.

"We are not sparing anyone. I will not tell you who they are because they would start hiding their properties. We will do that through the coordination of other government agencies," Bunag said.

Lingayen, Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz — who presented Cam and other witnesses at the Senate jueteng hearings — earlier said the illegal gambling operation is now a billion-peso industry.

The BIR, which launched the Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program along with the Department of Finance, said all citizens should pay taxes commensurate to their income to help the government raise revenues and save the country from economic crisis.