Kim Henares putting up brave face

The Bureau of Internal Revenue desperately needs to collect more taxes to replenish what members of the House of Representatives and senators, in cahoots with high officials of the executive department, have stolen! Hundreds of billions of people’s pesos have remained unaccounted for. And what are the chances of recovering this lost humongous amount? Thirty to 50 years of court proceedings will practically come to naught. By then the government—and the people—will be left holding an empty bag.

Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares is just putting up a brave face for a decadent government. Whenever asked where the money paid by taxpayers over the years has gone, her standard answer sounds like, “Malay ko… it is not my business to know how taxes are being spent.” And she expects the taxpayers to say, “Ah, okay,” and hope that government officials will just do the right thing?

Filipinos are not that stupid. When it comes to money matters, they can outsmart any crook in government! “Kanya kanyang diskarte lang. Kaysa nanakawin rin lang naman ng mga kawatan sa gobyerno, ako na lang ang magnanakaw ng sarili kong pera!” (Each to his own scheme. If the money would just be stolen by thieves in government, I might as well steal my own money.)

President Aquino’s “daang matuwid” has failed to inspire taxpayers. The recent allegations of public funds misuse to influence the outcome of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona tend to prove that Mr. Aquino’s own style of governance is no better than those of previous presidents. His budget secretary, Florencio Abad, did admit such disbursements but lamely justified the same as nothing more than a fiscal necessity. P-Noy should have fired him for insulting the people’s intelligence.

(This is not to say that Corona was unfairly kicked out of the Supreme Court. As things unfolded, there was absolutely no need to bribe the senator-judges—on their own, they measured him and found him guilty.)

—JAN MONTECRISTO, [email protected]