Secret pact gives MILF taxing power — lawmaker

An opposition leader claimed yesterday that a secret agreement between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) gives the secessionists the power to impose taxes in the areas that they claim to control.

House Deputy Minority Leader Rolex Suplico made the revelation in the course of questioning Finance Secretary Margarito Teves and Commissioner Jose Mario Buñag of the Bureau of Internal Revenue during a budget hearing.

Suplico said the secret agreement was signed in Kuala Lumpur last Sept. 15 by a government panel led by Secretary Silvestre Afable and by an MILF team headed by Mohagher Iqbal.

"It gives the MILF broad powers to generate and manage their finances through taxation, foreign and domestic borrowings, and imposition of tariffs on inter-island goods. This means that products from Luzon and the Visayas that enter MILF areas would have to be levied tariffs, just like imported goods entering the country through the various ports," he said.

He said the pact also gives the separatists authority over budgeting and allocation of funds.

"The MILF will be an independent republic within the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines under this secret agreement," he added.

Suplico pointed out that the pact violates the Constitution, "which provides that only Congress can impose taxes, including tariffs."

"This agreement also dismembers the country’s territory as the government cedes authority over areas that it recognizes are under the control of the MILF," he stressed.

He urged Afable and Malacañang to immediately reveal the details of all agreements that it has made with the MILF.

He said the Afable panel kept lawmakers and the public in the dark over its dealings with the secessionists. — Jess Diaz