Hail to the chief

It’s a job that only the brave and optimist wants to take on – especially these days when all eyes and ears are cocked for anomalies and wrongdoing in government. The new man at the helm of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), lawyer Jose Mario Bunag, is brave and dauntless, the right guy for the job at the right time. Perhaps he should have been bureau chief a long time ago, though.

His recent moves are reassuring for those of us honest taxpayers. First, he has given more teeth to the RATE ("Run After Evaders") program, which is aimed at throwing tax cheats behind bars. That should convince skeptics that behind the amiable façade of this law topnotcher is a steel nerve that gives no quarters to those who would make a mockery of our tax laws.

Bunag is not one given to recklessness. He knows that his job is to increase tax collections. And so, with deliberate speed, he is piling up evidence upon evidence against individuals (some of them celebrities) and companies known for financial shenanigans and reputed to be large scale tax evaders. He is not the type who strikes first and be sorry (or be embarrassed) later. Thus, you can appreciate his insistence on close coordination with the Department of Justice in prosecuting tax cases.

The bureau’s collection target for 2005 is P547 billion, which is his collection goal. Collection in July is short by P11.2 billion. "This figure reflects past efforts before I took over," he said. "Please note that I was just sworn into office last July. I had only ten working days in July."

He didn’t come into BIR from the cold, having served as the bureau’s deputy commissioner, in charge of legal and inspection, from Dec. 16, 2002, to July 10, 2005. Prior to that he practiced law, and was co-managing partner of the Roco Bunag Kapunan & Migallos Law Office.

The problems he faces as tax man (or ax man?) are, he said, "the usual difficulties encountered by any BIR chief. People are not oriented to like paying taxes. There is a natural tendency to resist any tax burden."

"Of course, there are also some internal problems related to turf protection, power play by a few, and charges of dishonesty. I want to quickly add that I am doing something about this internal problem, and I am telling my associates to have the political will to help clean up the bureau."

There is something reassuring about Bunag. Even as he is bent on wiping out corruption in his bureau, or Augean stables, if you may, he seems to have utmost appreciation for the demands of human rights as he vigorously pushes the RATE program. As a law professor and, earlier, one teaching philosophy at the Ateneo, he has more than adequate moorings in the philosophical basis of justice and fair play. I don’t know if he sees it that way, but I do.

"You know, the cleaning up process takes time. Under my watch, the getting rid of liabilities in the bureau is a continuing process. I am balancing that with encouraging honest and dedicated personnel to do their best. Most of our BIR employees, you may not believe it, want to do a good job - given the change and the right environment. I am providing that chance and the environment by setting an example.

"We need public cooperation in our unwavering effort. First, taxpayers – big or small – should not tempt our officers with some inducements. Second, taxpayers must report to me any attempt from our personnel to require favors in whatever form. Third, I hope that citizens could muster enough courage to testify against known tax evaders."

It is so easy for any BIR chief to go for an overkill, and scare people with reckless investigations and indiscriminate filing of cases. BIR Commissioner Bunag is certainly not lacking "fire in the belly" in running after tax cheats hammer and tongs. In the same vein, he also demonstrates a sense of balance, a certain sense of deliberation that assures freedom-loving citizens that, yes, taxes must be collected to beef up our national treasury but not at the expense of human rights.

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While the nation’s attention seemed to have been singularly riveted on the congressional hearings on the supposedly explosive revelations and the tall tales of jueteng and wiretapping witnesses, we were suddenly conked on the head by the steep rise in the price of oil in the international market.

The price increase surged to a record $65.23 per barrel and this immediately reverberated in the local market. Oil companies promptly announced a 50-centavo hike in the pump price of gasoline, with more increases to follow very soon. Almost simultaneously, housewives were also greeted with the news that they have to fork over 50 centavos more per kilo of LPG cooking fuel.

With the household budget stretched to breaking point, what are the poor housewives to do? To our surprise, many housewives recommend limiting cooking to once a day and serving the same fare for both lunch and dinner. That should help trim expenses, at least on food and cooking fuel.

So how do we survive the unabated increases in the price of oil and other petroleum products?

The Department of Energy has an ongoing campaign to promote the efficient use of energy, not just among homemakers but for everyone who uses energy in one form or another. Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla calls it the "EC Way of Life." EC stands for Energy Conservation.

The judicious use of such appliances as air conditioners, electric irons, TV sets, refrigerators and washing machines should allow one to lock in the cold cash in one’s wallet long enough for them to get warm. An electric range or stove is a certified Meralco ally. So if you are using one, it would be practical to replace it with an LPG stove.

The DOE says that when buying an airconditioner you should choose the model with a higher energy efficiency ratio (EER). Sunlight and outside heat should be kept from streaming into the air conditioned room. The aircon filter should be periodically cleaned, as dirt and dust reduce the unit’s cooling efficiency. Set the thermostat at just the right level. Turning the aircon off one hour before leaving the house would leave the room still cool enough for comfort while saving that much in electricity.

Other practical ways of trimming energy consumption are ironing clothes one batch at a time, preferably once a week; scheduling the study period of your children at the same time in the same room; limiting the use of the family car (no more frequent family outings and trips to the malls), and keeping the car engine well maintained.

On a bigger scale, President Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered government agencies to adopt drastic energy conservation measures. These include charging higher tariffs on gas guzzling vehicles, lowering and enforcing speed limits on expressways and highways, and limiting the operation of gas stations to 4 a.m. up to midnight.

Industry sources say the price of oil has jumped some 46 percent of what it was a year ago. And Secretary Lotilla said that the country’s oil import bill rose by more than 27 percent, from $1.8 billion to $2.3 billion from January to May this year compared to the same period last year. That is bleeding our country dry. Yet many of our senators and congressmen seem oblivious to this crisis. They continue their grandstanding on the jueteng and wiretapping scandals that so far have produced nothing in terms of concrete benefit to our economy.

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