Two cases a month vs. erring BIR, BOC personnel

THE Department of Finance (DOF) will file at least two administrative and criminal cases against erring government officers every month. Newly appointed Finance Undersecretary Carlo Carag, who heads the Revenue, Operations and Legal affairs Group, told reporters that “at the very least” he would file two cases under Republic Act (RA) 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act before the Office of the Ombudsman against Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs (BOC) employees every month this year.

“That would be the minimum objective that I would have to live up to,” Carag said.

Carag replaced Estela Sales, who moved to the BIR as Deputy Commissioner for Legal and Enforcement.

“You cannot file cases indiscriminately and in the end lose a case. Hence, I have to make sure that we have a strong case first to secure a more favorable decision rather than just filing just because,” Carag said.

Another constraint is lack of legal counsels in his division. At present, the group is only operating with three lawyers.

Carag said that notwithstanding budget constraints, his group is now hiring about seven lawyers to meet its objectives.

The 52-year-old lawyer is a graduate from the University of the Philippines and pursued post-graduate studies at the London School of Economics as the first Filipino lawyer awarded a scholarship by the British Government Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Prior to this appointment in the Finance department, Carag worked as managing partner in a private law firm and as an associate lawyer with Sycip, Salazar, Hernandez & Gatmaitan.

Carag said his group is now preparing up to 10 cases that would be filed against BIR and BOC employees. “Most of them are [BIR] officers,” he said.

“These are what we call shotgun of cases and may be filed immediately,” he said.

Under RA 3019, employees who are found to be administratively liable would be perpetually disqualified from public office and their assets and properties forfeited in favor of the government.

Criminal punishment includes imprisonment of one year to10 years.

The Aquino administration has been filing every week cases against tax evaders under its Run After Tax Evaders and Run After Smugglers programs.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said he now has a “long list” of cases pending investigation with Carag.

“If we go to the Office of the Ombudsman we have to be prepared and know first that our case has probable cause,” Purisima said. –KATRINA MENNEN A. VALDEZ, Manila Times