How serious are we in fighting corruption?

How serious is the Arroyo administration in running after tax evaders? Last Friday, it seems that there was an effort to test GMA’s resolve by the filing of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) of tax evasion charges against many prominent people or celebrities, and perhaps the biggest fish in the BIR net is actor Richard "Goma" Gomez.

Of course, we heard Goma on television crying "foul," protesting that this is political revenge and claiming that he has always paid his taxes. Well, the BIR says that he didn’t file anything with them in the last three years, and yet he was able to buy a Forbes Park property. At this point, we can only wait in the sidelines as to who is lying and who is telling the truth. However, Goma must understand perfectly well that all of us must pay taxes. If he didn’t pay taxes in the last three years as the BIR claims, just think what Goma would do if FPJ would have been President.

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This brings us to our next topic, still on the seriousness of the Arroyo administration to rid this government of corruption. Well, last Friday, I wrote a blind item in my column Shooting Straight in The Freeman questioning the ownership of a spanking new and very beautiful BMW 645 Ci Coupe bearing a number eight (8) plate. This is one particular model that I have not seen even in the streets of Metro Manila.

That item brought a flood of queries to my cellphone from friends, asking me if I had a name to text them. Nope, I didn’t text them anything... yet. Naturally, with a cash-strapped nation like the Philippines, a lot of people are keenly interested in who among the members of the House of Representatives drives around in a luxurious BMW in an arrogant, ostentatious display of wealth. Now I haven’t accused anyone of ill-gotten wealth here. I’m only announcing that some filthy rich congressman or congresswoman has just acquired a new BMW and is flaunting it to the public.

Naturally, in our article, we asked Customs Commissioner Billy Bibit to identify this vehicle so at least the media can spot whether it is really owned by a congressman or not. I mean, the fact that this luxurious land yacht is running around Metro Cebu sporting a number eight (8) plate tells us that the owner of this vehicle would surely not be stopped by any upstart traffic cop who may just get himself in hot water. Since no one would dare inspect that vehicle, we have taken up the cudgels and as of this writing, no one has openly declared that he or she owns this luxury vehicle.

As of this writing, Billy Bibit hasn’t issued any statement about this vehicle. I’m willing to bet big money that Mr. Bibit knows who owns this vehicle; after all, a beautiful and expensive car like that could never escape the watchful eyes of the Bureau of Customs. But why the silence of Mr. Bibit? Could it be that he is "protecting" the real owners of this BMW Coupe?

This brings us back to the question of how serious is the Arroyo administration in dealing with smugglers because in Cebu, this has become the biggest joke of all. Too many people are on the take from Customs people (yes, I submit, including the media) involved in smuggling activities that whenever some news about smuggling gets into the newspapers, we only see photos of the shipments of vehicles and no smugglers. God knows what happens to the smuggled cars when the media is no longer sniffing around.

Last Feb. 22, I got a call from a good friend, who doesn’t want me to mention his name, for me to verify an article written by Mon Tulfo in the Inquirer as the issue was about an incident at the Cebu Customs. This incident was about the visit of acting Deputy Customs Commissioner for Intelligence and Enforcement Celso Templo who came to Cebu and was virtually snubbed by Customs Collector Billy Bibit. My friend simply wanted to validate Tulfo’s story, whether this was true or not. Strangely, this embarrassing incident never landed in any Cebu-based newspaper or radio.

No doubt, Mon Tulfo probably got this report from Templo himself and eventually, Bibit gave explanations as to what happened here, that he really hadn’t snubbed his superior officer, rather the people guarding his door didn’t recognize Templo. But there was no apology about this incident from Bibit, giving credence to the tsismis being peddled in the coffeehouses in Cebu that he could do this because he’s too well-connected to be scared even of a direct superior officer.

Perhaps proof of Bibit’s rock-solid connections stem from Templo himself. If he really is the numero dos top gun at the Bureau of Customs, why then did he not show Bibit that he is the boss and transfer this fella out of Cebu? Unfortunately, that’s not the way the national government works. Political patronage is still very much the order of the day... the President can appoint someone to a lower position and his bosses can’t do anything if that lower-ranked official doesn’t follow orders.

So we wait for Bibit to come across and reveal the owner of this beautiful BMW. Meanwhile, I saw a report in The Philippine STAR last week about that proposal contained in Bill No. 4069 known as the Anti-Smuggling Act of 2005, that seeks to impose the maximum penalty, from life imprisonment to the death penalty, for smugglers and tax evaders, which the congressional committee on ways and means chaired by Tarlac Rep. Jesli Lapus has so easily endorsed.

Why are these people seeking the death penalty against smugglers and tax evaders when up to now, I still haven’t heard of any smuggler or tax evader for that matter who has been thrown in jail for their crimes? Now bloodthirsty congressmen want to put these tax evaders or smugglers to death? Talk about a culture of death prevailing in Congress!

Meanwhile, last Holy Week, a big raid was conducted in Cebu by the Bureau of Customs on car smugglers. Well, after two days of news, we’re only hearing silence, no convictions, no arrests... perhaps only "cashabutan." Incidentally, two years ago in July, Deputy Customs Collector Edgardo "Wewe" Lao was murdered in broad daylight just a few meters from the PNP headquarters on Osmeña Boulevard. Today, this is still an unsolved crime. Again, how serious is the Arroyo administration in fighting corruption?

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.