Behold, the taxwoman cometh

In the news again is the family of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona, with the filing of tax evasion charges against them by the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The presence of BIR Commissioner Kim Henares at the Senate hearings for the Corona impeachment must have convinced her that the country still has a treasure trove in the form of unpaid taxes from that family. In filing the charges, Henares enumerated the number of years when the Coronas did not even bother to file their income tax returns.

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That certainly hits those of us who had faithfully filed our returns and paid the prescribed taxes all through the years when we worked as employees, either of the government or of private companies. Whether we felt like it or not, we paid, because it was obligatory, our offices deducted the amount from our pay without fail in the form of “withholding taxes”. So why should a wealthy family like the Coronas be exempt?

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They cannot claim that they did not have the money, because this was all revealed during the hearings. And now the BIR says, the former chief justice himself owes P120.05 million in taxes, while his daughter, who is said to be a hospital worker, owes P9.43 million. Corona himself has claimed that this is part of his persecution by the incumbent administration, but hasn’t he heard that the only things that one can’t escape are death and taxes? Even the most notorious gangster of America could not be pinned down on his other activities, but what got him in the end were his unpaid taxes.

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Still on justices, Corona’s successor, now Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, is going through her baptism of fire in the High Court where she is reportedly getting an icy treatment from the other justices she had bypassed. Well, the lady did not scramble for it, she just happened to be the President’s choice. And picking the one for that office is his prerogative, nobody can dispute that.

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Meanwhile, rumors that the new Chief Justice almost failed her psychological test have been denied by members of the Judicial Bar Council, whose members were the ones who vetted the candidates for the position, and recommended the names for the president to choose from. But yesterday, media reports said that Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago is asking CJ Sereno to require the disclosure of the psycho reports of all the justices. Oh, oh. What about yours, Ma’am? Some people have long been waiting to see yours, too.

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There are at least six persons prominently mentioned as the possible successor of Jesse Robredo at the DILG. Among them is former one-shot governor of Pampanga, former media woman, Grace Padaca. I have no doubt about the capability of Padaca, who managed to be governor of Pampanga for one term, but the DILG job requires a lot of mobility involving traveling around the country, so, will she be able to cope, being physically handicapped as she is? It would be nice to have another woman in such a sensitive office, but there is that problem. As for Davao former Rudy Duterte, we might find a lot of naughty local government leaders “committing suicide” all over the country.

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It was a very successful celebration that Kaisei, Bacolod’s well-known Japanese restaurant, staged for its 13th anniversary. When it first opened, there were some who doubted that it would succeed, because local palate was not yet so used to Japanese cuisine, even if there already were a few restos offering it. But Kaisei has developed its own clientele, and this is also due to the fact that it has rooms where one can hold private gatherings or meetings. I know of a lot of meetings where major decisions were made there.

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Members of the Ciocon family, who are the ones who nurtured and made it grow, were all present on Monday for the big day – from Roseller and his wife Ditas, sister Delia and daughter Marilou, sister-in-law Gina, and Roseller and Ditas’ daughters and sons-in-law Marides and JB Mapa, Maridel and Mondi Dilag – in full force, because all of them are involved in the family projects that include the famed L’Fisher Hotel and The Chalet, the Chicken Deli branches and the Kaisei branches, too. Congratulations to all of them for the role they have played in developing Bacolod City!*

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