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Tuesday, August 20, 2002
BIR chief gives up on Glo's revenue target
WITH a "sad heart", President Arroyo Monday accepted the resignation of Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Rene Bañez who gave up on the government's revenue target, saying it would be difficult to achieve.
In a statement read by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, Mrs. Arroyo cited Banez for his contributions in the government during his short stay in the office.
"He is a strong advocate of instituting reforms at the BIR, and a staunch ally in my own advocacy of good and effective governance," the President said.
The President said during his stint, Banez institute some reforms which prompted her to issue Executive Order No. 114, which authorizes the restructuring of the BIR by January 2003 into a taxpayer-focused organization.
Banez, according to the Chief Executive, also made possible the completion and filing by House Speaker Jose de Venecia of House Bill No. 5054.
Mrs. Arroyo added that the former BIR chief was also instrumental in the discovery of the tax diversion case involving some Land Bank employees and the under declaration of value added taxes by 312 corporate and individual taxpayers to which cases are currently being filed.
"Commissioner Banez' desire to restructure the BIR comes with very good intentions to expand the revenue base of the country. He also worked toward freeing the system from political pressures to ensure the long-term sustainability of our collection efforts," the President noted.
Bunye, at a press briefing, admitted that the President did not try to convince Banez to stay on after he explained thaat the short term goals of the government in meeting the collection target is in jeopardy due to some resistance to the long-term reforms that he has started to implement in the commission.
"The situation was explained to the President and the President accepted this explanation and that's the reason for the acceptance of the resignation," Bunye said.
Bunye acknowledged that Banez has been having meeting the BIR revenue target due to "deliberate" resistance of some revenue officers and employees to the reforms that he has initiated.
The BIR's performance last year yielded P388.1 billion in revenues. For the coming year, the BIR had been tasked to achieve a growth rate of 10.2 percent.
The BIR is expected to come up with P447.6 billion in revenues at the end of the year. (Joel San Juan) |
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