BIR colluding to bully 90-year-old widow

My reports on nepotist Constancia Posadas de Guzman, head of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission, drew a flurry of readers’ e-mails. Like:

Bon Ali: “She was only following the leader when she hired her son, his fiancée, the fiancée’s sister, a nephew, and a goddaughter. Didn’t Gloria Arroyo just sign a law granting son Dato a congressional district, with P700 million to boot for an unwanted dam?”

Atty. Castor Hontanosas Jr., Mandaue: “I cannot help but recall and relish my friendship with Dario Rama, ex-Comelec commissioner, PAGC chairman and Postmaster General. He served with utmost responsibility and integrity. Government employees under him can attest to it. He never availed himself of a service vehicle. Whenever we dined out during his official visits to Cebu, he would ask for separate bills, one for his share of the meal to charge to his office and another for my share which he personally paid for.”

Bing Jose: “The sad question is, quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who will guard the guards?”

Juniper C. Dominguez: “Your articles enlightened me about the fate of graft cases I filed three years ago against then-DPWH Cordillera regional director Mariano Alquiza and assistant Daniel Domingo, for constructing a DPWH rest house in Sayangan, Benguet. After spending P5 million, it had only posts and beams, and parts of floors and roofs. There was obvious overprice of P2.5 million. I told the PAGC it would take only one day to validate my findings. Sad to say they are still investigating, or so they say. Now I can say that nepotism breeds incompetence.”

Concerned Alumnus: “The Lyceum of the Philippines Alumni Association should take back De Guzman’s outstanding alumna award (in 2005). She is a shame to co-awardees Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca, Lourdes Siytangco, Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz, among others.”

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It’s not only the register of deeds who’s hostaging the property titles of a 90-year-old widow in Makati. The taxman is in cahoots to prolong the release of her papers. In squeeze play the two officials are setting piecemeal requirements for the transfer conjugal property in the name of Eufemia P. Almeda. Undue delay is a tool for extortion. A fixer has offered to hasten the process if the desperate nonagenarian would give under the table. But bribery is against Eufemia’s moral values. She’s ready to pay the rightful transfer tax, if any. In fact she already remitted P256 million estate tax, depleting her cash. The re-titling would enable her to sell property for medical treatment, including thrice-weekly dialysis and frequent hospital confinement.

All Eufemia wants is to do things right. She prays the Ombudsman, Land Registration Authority (LRA), and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) would help (Gotcha, 18 Nov. 2009).

Husband Ponciano L. Almeda died in 1997, leaving behind several tracts of land and buildings. In Makati these include: Marvin Plaza with 27 condos, Almeda Arcade, a Forbes Park manor. The titles are in the spouses’ names. For Eufemia and ten children to divide the inheritance, they needed judicial settling. The estate court granted it Dec. 22, 2008, after payment of the staggering estate tax and a momentary family feud.

Last March Eufemia’s lawyers began working on the estate re-titling. During a visit to the office of Makati Register of Deeds Dorylene SB. Yara, a certain “Baby” pitched a deal. Eufemia was to pony up P1 million per condo, but only P200,000 would be receipted; “the RD and BIR would split the difference.” The Almedas turned down the indecent proposal. Then problems came.

Yara and subs started giving the Almedas the runaround, asking for new items whenever they followed up the transfer. Sometime May, Yara’s office said the heirs had documentary tax deficiencies. Eufemia wondered why the RD thought so, when the court resolution of Dec. 2008 stated that all taxes had been paid. Besides, she had submitted to Yara a BIR certificate of such full compliance.

Eufemia’s lawyers wrote Makati Revenue District Officer-48 Florante de Castro, soliciting Yara’s new imposition. Five letters went unanswered in May-July. Finally on July 28 De Castro replied, denying the request for an amended certificate and claiming, like Yara, that taxes remained unpaid. The lawyers recounted how then-BIR Commissioner Guillermo Parayno no less had assessed the estate tax Eufemia paid. To which De Castro allegedly retorted: “Ayusin niyo na lang si (you just fix) Attorney Yara.”

All through Aug.-Oct. the lawyers contested the supposed deficiency. But they also conveyed Eufemia’s request for an assessment of the amount, promising to pay though under protest. Meantime, Eufemia complained about Yara to the Ombudsman and her boss, LRA head Benedicto Ulep. On Oct. 22 De Castro agreed to compute the back-tax, asked for additional documents, and told them to await his correspondence. To the Almedas’ surprise, De Castro in a Nov. 6 letter said he had elevated the matter to the regional office’s legal department. In effect, they were to wait some more.

The Almedas asked around and were informed that Yara’s husband is also with the BIR, in the same region as De Castro. Today they will sue the BIR officer for red tape. He is legally liable for failing to assess their supposed back-tax and for sitting six months on their case.

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Tonight and tomorrow are the big nights. “Healing thru Laughter: Willie Nep @ Music Museum,” Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan, 8:30 p.m. For reservations, call 0918-9054580.

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“Truth is best seen through an innocent child who has no hidden agenda, or by those close to death who have transcended all hidden agenda.” Shafts of Light, Fr. Guido Arguelles, SJ.

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