BIR exec denies allegations

A former director of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (BIR) belied accusations that she defrauded the government of millions of pesos in taxes by allegedly compromising the payment of many taxpayers in Baguio City.

As of today, former BIR-CAR director Estrella Martinez said she has not received any summons from the Office of the Ombudsman regarding graft charges.

Martinez was accused of having compromised the cases of the Estate of Munsayac and the Copper Kettle Catering Services Inc. and the capital gains tax of the Lopez family in Baguio City.

"As a free legal advice to that honest and dedicated dzRH radio broadcaster, (I) happily informed him that the (Munsayac) estate paid P4 million and not P28,000 as erroneously broadcast in TV Patrol (last) June 4. The official receipts were submitted to the media for their enlightenment, but were never presented," Martinez said in a statement.

The Copper Kettle case, she said, is a protested case lodged with the Court of Appeals per CA Case No. G.R. SP No. 73679.

She said the alleged P6-million tax deficiency of the taxpayer was forwarded to the assistant commissioner of the National Evaluation Board in the BIR national office last Dec. 5 for "re-evaluation of the protest."

Martinez said a regional BIR director "is not a signatory to any certificate authorizing registration." Nevertheless, the capital gain tax of the Lopez family was "strictly based on zonal valuation," she said.

Martinez said "gross ignorance of the law is the mainspring of all injustices."

She advised the broadcaster to "verify his facts and figures before he can damage the reputation of a CPA-lawyer, Master of Laws, major in taxation, and was awarded by President Arroyo a rank of CESO V (Career Executive Service Officer V) after passing the stringent requirements of such a position."