MANILA, Philippines — The camp of Manila City mayor and presidential candidate Isko Moreno is set to file a case for a mandamus compelling the Bureau of Internal Revenue to collect the P203-billion estate tax debt that has gone unpaid by the Marcos family for the past 25 years.
Lito Banayo, the campaign strategist of the Aksyon Demoratiko standard-bearer, made the revelation in passing over veteran journalist Christian Esguerra’s “Facts First” podcast. The report was first carried by PressOne.PH.
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Moreno's camp is back on the offensive against the presidential frontrunner weeks after Moreno and other male presidential candidates lagging behind in the surveys held a joint press conference to urge Leni Robredo, the only female candidate standing at second place, to withdraw.
"In fact, our lawyers are about to file a case for mandamus in the court of tax appeals to compel the BIR to collect the tax," he said. Banayo was talking about how the Moreno camp was the first to dig up the Marcos family's estate tax issue.
"That was all us. What the other candidates are doing is to invoke Martial Law issues," he also said in mixed Filipino and English.
In law, a writ of mandamus is an order from a court to an inferior government agency or official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties.
Aksyon Demokratiko chair Ernest Ramel has sent a total of three letters to BIR. The first correspondence asked the BIR if it sent a demand letter to the Marcoses, to which Dulay responded then that they did indeed send a demand letter on Dec. 2, 2021.
Most recently, the Moreno camp also called for the garnishment of the bank accounts relating to the estate of the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. It is unclear if the BIR responded to that letter.
Beyond its confirmation of the demand, however, the BIR has refused to publicize the actual copy of the letter. Marcos himself has claimed that there is "a lot of fake news involved" with the case, but the Supreme Court itself has said that the decision on the tax owed is final and executory.
Banayo said that the Marcos family benefitted from "continuous years of historical revisionism."
"Most of Class D and E think that the sins of the father should not vest upon the son. I do not agree with that, especially since there is no apology whatsoever from the Marcos family. But that is the political reality we are facing," Banayo said.
Banayo is a seasoned campaign strategist who was involved in the winning run of President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, the late President Noynoy Aquino in 2010, President Joseph Estrada in 1998, and the late President Cory Aquino in the February 1986 snap elections.
Responding to conspiracy theories by social media users that Moreno is the "secret candidate" of Marcos, Banayo pointed out that the Moreno camp has been going after Marcos more strongly than other candidates.
"They all go after the family and the father of Marcos. But us, we strike the candidate himself," he said in Filipino.
During speeches and public events though, Moreno has resorted to namecalling and mudslinging against Robredo, even once implying that she only read her speeches off teleprompters. He also challenged Robredo's spokesperson to stop speaking for her.
On the other hand, Moreno has never asked Marcos to withdraw from the presidential race.
Asked why the Moreno camp routinely takes aim at the second-place Robredo, Banayo said: "Well, why would they go after us too, when we're number three [in the surveys]?"
— Franco Luna