Read our lips: ‘No more new taxes’
August 5, 2004 | 12:00am
After a brief survey, the conclusion was reached that many businessmen are against new taxes. Instead, most of them agree that the government should be more aggressive in its tax collection. In fact, Ramon ‘Boy Blue’ del Rosario Jr., the vice chair of the Makati Business Club, suggested that the President should catch just one "big fish" for tax fraud. It was obvious he was referring to taipan Lucio Tan. Del Rosario seems to have an axe to grind against Lucio Tan. Apparently, he has never forgiven the taipan for being responsible for his rejection as finance secretary by the Commission on Appointments during FVR’s time. In fact, Jake Macasaet in his Aug. 3 Malaya column believes that ‘Boy Blue’ is the wrong person to say that and we quote: "The members of the MBC and the entire business community may well be reminded that Del Rosario, with that statement, made himself the pot calling the kettle black. I recall that the Commission on Appointments rejected, not just bypassed, his nomination as secretary of finance. For a very valid reason: Del Rosario, being the then chief financial officer of San Miguel Corp., presided over the sale of the company’s subsidiary – Neptunia – in Hong Kong. There are two things here that don’t make Del Rosario clean as a whistle as he loves to portray he is. First the documentation of the sale was made in Hong Kong. Therefore, he avoided – we might say evaded – payment of millions of pesos in documentary stamp tax. He admitted before the CA that his act was legal, but could be immoral. That is the tax part. Worse, if he had his way, he would have used the proceeds of the sale to buy SMC’s sequestered shares reportedly for the Sorianos. This is illegal because shares were bought by company funds are to be retired. They are to be called treasury shares. Let him without sin cast the first stone. Del Rosario did, but he is not without sin. What else can we say.
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