Mayoralty bet arrested on tax evasion charge confined in hospital for hypertension

ILOILO CITY , Philippines   â€” A businessman running for a mayoralty post was arrested for tax evasion charges while he was on a campaign rally at Barangay Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City Wednesday evening.

The arrest of Rommel Ynion of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) was not made easy by his supporters who barricaded the arresting team from the Intelligence Group from the PNP National Headquarters in Camp Crame.

After a negotiation and a two-hour standoff, Ynion yielded on the condition that he would be brought straight to the Iloilo St. Paul’s Hospital for a routine check-up. His attending physicians later advised for hospital confinement after his blood pressure shot up to 160/90.

With Ynion still in hospital confinement, as of press time, around 15 policemen and 100 supporters have camped out at the hospital.

The arresting team, led by Sr. Supt. Benjamin Elenzano flew in from Manila to serve the three arrest warrants against Ynion for alleged violation of Section 254 (attempt to evade or defeat tax) of the National Internal Revenue Code.

Elenzano said his office received the copy of the arrest warrant last April 30 from the Court of Tax Appeals of Quezon City. Last March, the Department of Justice filed the P46.-5-million tax evasion cases against Ynion.

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares, who visited Iloilo City that time, said that Ynion was facing 19 counts for failure to file quarterly value added tax (VAT) returns from 2006 until third quarter of 2010.

Ynion was also sued for three counts more for failure to supply correct accurate information on his income tax returns for fiscal years 2006, 2008 and 2010 and also allegedly attempted to evade taxes in the same years.

Amid claims of political persecutions, Henares said she does not know Ynion or his political plans in the city.

Ynion’s political officer Manuel Mejorada however assailed the manner of the arrest as an overkill.

“The number of policemen was simply too big for a simple tax deficiency case. The force sent to carry out the arrest looked like a raiding team on an Abu Sayyaf hideout,” he said, citing that aside from the 7-man team from Camp Crame, local policemen armed with high-powered guns, also served as a back-up.

Mejorada also claimed that the arrest was patently illegal and arbitrary.

“The alleged offense is bailable; this was set at P20,000 per count. The total bail is just P60,000. There’s a DOJ and PNP circular that prohibits the serving of warrants of arrest for bailable offenses after office hours and legal holidays. Last night was both: Labor Day and evening,” he said.

He also scored the malice in the manner and place of which the warrants were served.

“There can be no doubt that Senator (Franklin) Drilon and (Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick) Mabilog were behind this. The arresting team came from the PNP Intelligence Group, a unit tasked to hunt down terrorists and big-time syndicates. The job of serving warrants of arrest is a menial duty given to a warrant officer of the local police station,” he said. (FREEMAN)