Why now?

In the Philippines we know there is a Pacquiao fight because the streets are practically empty. Filipinos are home, preparing to watch the fight with drinks and snacks laid out on the table for a big party even before the boxing bout has begun.

I am an exception. First I don’t like boxing and I think adulation of any kind can be damaging in the long run.

After his victory in Macau was announced, there was bedlam and the small print saying that if he ran for president in 2016 he would be a winner.

But the very next day, with Filipinos still celebrating with victory parties, savoring joy and pride everywhere, even in the god-forsaken barangays destroyed by Yolanda, killjoy President Aquino through tax collector Henares froze his bank accounts for charges that he had not paid his taxes in 2008 and 2009.

With this move, Aquino did not hit only Pacquiao, he hit Filipinos telling them to stop celebrating, stop being joyful and stop being proud of Pacquiao. He tries to justify the cruel act and his followers chorused —  yeh, that’s the way to teach him to pay his taxes.

That appears good but it is not good. In boxing, timing is crucial, President Aquino struck at the wrong time. Could he not have waited for a few days, or even a week to allow Filipinos to celebrate?

Instead he walked into a blunder of “going after Pacquiao for taxes” when Filipinos were still celebrating and savoring their hero’s victory. By going after Pacquiao immediately after he won in Macau, Aquino threw cold water on millions of Filipinos that were still into celebrating. I have no doubt that Pacquiao will come back roaring after him and knock him down. Will you blame Filipinos for celebrating?

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It is hard to believe that President Aquino could have fallen into the trap but that is the best way to self-destruct. One would think that with all the problems of the country and accusations against him for failing his people by his government’s incompetence, he would dare to make Filipinos even angrier by picking a fight with Pacquiao at this time, when the boxer gave glory to his country and retrieved its honor after Yolanda.

My FB friend, Benjamin F. Cardinez, a Filipino lawyer in America said it plainly and succinctly.

“As if freezing the Pacquiao family’s total assets is not a big political blunder enough, BS Aquino’s telling him, in effect, to “put up or shut up” is a most disingenuous move, among so many unwise actions he has done since becoming president. He may be a head of state but he is no king or emperor. Pacquiao has every right, legal moral, to voice out his grievance against a government that he perceives to be violating his rights. Whether legally or politically, this is a fight that the president cannot win, and I am not sorry for him.”

Indeed, that blunder has people revisiting the issue of his capability as president. Timing is a delicate nuance. That comes naturally from a compassionate and thinking leader.

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The double taxation of Filipinos working abroad was one of the issues that the Confederation of Filipino Organizations abroad fought hard for during martial law. We were exiles in London then. My late husband, Ambassador Alberto Pedrosa did extensive research of workers in the UK at the time. Filipinos were the only foreign workers paying both to the host government, the UK and the Philippines.  That made them the highest tax paying workers.  This was hard on the workers who were also paying for their own keep while abroad and sending monies to the Philippines.

During Fidel V. Ramos campaign to be president we promised to Filipinos in the UK that the issue of “No double taxation” would be taken up in the new government should Ramos win. I have lost touch since then but after negotiations between the UK and the Philippine governments, a treaty or agreement was made between the two countries. A bigger campaign was also launched in the US where passports would not be renewed or issued unless the taxes have been paid. In one of the consultations by my late husband with other labor exporting countries on double taxation, they were horrified that Filipinos were doubly taxed because their own workers would not countenance such a policy.

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I first encountered this bureaucratic creation “certified true copies on the original death certificate of my husband” in a government office. I was told they could not accept it. Even if it is the original?  Can’t they can photocopy right then and there? No, they said you have to go to another office, queue and pay for certified true copy first.

So I can understand why Bob Arum expressed surprise why the BIR should demand a “certified copy from the IRS” of the receipt that Pacquiao did pay for US taxes.

In the US, any (US) government document is valid and you don’t go back and ask for a certified copy.” This is an added layer of bureaucracy, takes time and money.  Arum took it as an insult to be asked certified copies from the IRS as if “we gave them a scrap of paper.”

I can understand his shock because in the Philippines it is only government that can give its imprimatur if a document is true or false. Funny. But the government in the Philippines has had such a bad reputation that other countries turn down certified copies because any document whether it is a certification or an original can be “faked”.

It does seem more like finding a justification for harassing Pacquiao (right after his victory) and that cannot wait. Since the IRS has other things to do other than “certifying” their own documents, expect the delay and more inconvenience for the boxer.

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The champion boxer, hero to Filipinos was quick with the punch. “The money that was garnished by (the Bureau of Internal Revenue) is not stolen,” he said. “This came from all of the punches, beatings, blood and sweat that I endured in the ring.” Right on the jaw.