Mercado: Fairy tales and fables?

Saturday, January 28, 2012

WILL Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares be to Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona’s impeachment what banker Clarissa Ocampo was for president Joseph Estrada’s impeachment?

Strait-jacket Henares’s testimony into merely confirming Corona income tax receipts (ITR) as authentic, the defense panel insisted. “Confirming can be done by any notary public,” fumed Sen. Miriam Santiago, before her blood pressure bolted to a worrisome 180/90.

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Notarization of ITRs in some obscure office, as demanded by “Maid Miriam,” would have blotted out the crisp documented answers Henares provided. They bear on the example set by the chief justice on tax paying. Some points of Henares testimony:
Corona’s gross income ranged from P465,000 in 2006 to P657,000 in 2010, shown in Alpha List of payments by justices. His net worth, declared at P9.5 million in 2006, rose to P22.9 million in 2010.

Wife Cristina became a taxpayer in September 2003. She purchased an P11-million house in La Vista subdivision, Quezon City. What about income as a Camp John Hay officer?

“Daughter Carla declared a ‘taxable income’ of P8,476 in 2009. She bought an P18-million property on Oct. 18, 2010--10 months after she filed her ITRs. Sellers? Dad and Mom.

Daughter Charina had no ITR when she bought a McKinley Hills property in Taguig City from Megaworld Corp in October 2008. Henares noted: "The buyer is registered as an one-time taxpayer.”

So, how could Corona buy into Bellagio condos, etc? Will we hear in future hearings “fairy tales and other bedtime stories” to explain overnight financial capacity?

In Erap’s trial, prosecutors presented a “surprise witness”: the “impeccably groomed…Equitable-PCI Bank’s Clarissa Ocampo. She sat to (Erap’s) left side, “about a foot away,” as he signed “Jose Velarde” on documents for a P500 million investment in the Wellex group, owned by a presidential crony.

“He did not sign his real name,” Ocampo said. “So, I did not authenticate his signature.” She was one of the very few who could link Estrada to the Jose Velarde persona. She was very, very scared.”

“She (testified) in December after Senate prosecutors alleged that a mansion, bought for one of Estrada's mistresses, had been paid for with a $2.8 million check--signed by Velarde. Philippine law requires officials declare their assets. But Estrada admitted to only $700,000, recalled Bloomberg Businessweek.

Ocampo's revelations sparked Edsa II, forcing Estrada to quit. She flew to the US after testifying. She joined ABS-CBN this year as chief financial officer.

Henares reminds many of Filipina professionals with grit: Justice Cecilia Munoz Palma, PCGG’s Haydee Horac, Commission on Audit’s Heidi Mendoza, etc. Tiene cojones is the irreverent accolade paid to them by some. “They have balls.”

A De La Salle University graduate, Henares became a certified public accountant in 1981. After passing the bar, she got a Masters of Law degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

She worked as a tax lawyer at SGV & Co, then World Bank and BIR before President Aquino asked her to head BIR. She hasn’t gotten used to having Presidential Security Group members tail her even when shopping for groceries, Henares admits.

The defense panels frets if the prosecution will connect dots that Henares spelt out with cool professional profession. Relax. Filipinos are doing that--now.

(juan_mercado77@yahoo.com)