New BIR chief seeks higher pay for employees

Newly appointed Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Sixto Esquivias IV vowed to push for the exemption of BIR employees from the Salary Standardization Law.

Esquivias, who took over the helm of the BIR this month, said he would exert all efforts to provide higher salaries to the agency’s employees.

“I promised every effort to try to exempt BIR from the coverage of the Salary Standardization Law,” he said during his first day of office last Monday.

Republic Act 6758 or the Salary Standardization Law sets a uniform salary rate for all government employees but some state-owned corporations and financial institutions including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipnas are exempt from this rule.

The Finance department has also been pushing for the exemption of employees of the BIR and the Bureau of Customs from the law.  The BIR has roughly 11,000 employees while the BOC has around 4,000 employees.

Esquivias noted that the “BIR is populated with people who are intelligent and hardworking but underpaid.

“We really need to do something about the perception of the people outside,” he said.

Finance officials also believe that the two agencies can attract more competent employees if they can offer bigger pay to their people.

The BIR, the government’s main revenue agency, has a target to collect P845 billion this year while the BOC, the second largest revenue office, has a collection target of P245 billion.

The two revenues agencies have been missing their targets due to a host of factors such as corruption and rampant smuggling.

To exempt the two agencies, however, Congress needs to pass a law that would amend the Salary Standardization Law in favor of the BIR and the BOC.

Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said the department is ready to support Esquivias in his plan to exempt BIR employees from the Salary Standardization Law.

Esquivias, a 52-year old taxation lawyer and a professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman, replaced former Commissioner Lilian Hefti.

Hefti tendered her resignation last month due to health reasons although talks circulated that she has been removed from office due to her failure to meet collection targets and her rumored discordant relationship with the Finance department.

Esquivias was with the BIR for 23 years until he resigned in 2000. He rose from the ranks, starting as an examiner to his last position as deputy commissioner. He is a graduate of the Ateneo Law School.