Now the BIR has a lot of explaining to do!

Did the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner commit a faux pas when she announced that controversial Presidential sister TV host and product endorser Kris Aquino paid P49.87 million in fiscal year 2011 and topped every business mogul in this country who even made the Forbes Magazine’s list of richest people in the world? It looks like Comm. Henares has a lot of explaining to do because Mega World founder Andrew Tan just reported to the press that he paid some P60.1 million in the year 2011.

What probably irked Andrew Tan, chairman of Alliance Global, Inc. was that he was not even mentioned in the BIR’s list. Come now, if you pay the Philippine government so much in taxes, the least one can get for this is bragging rights. Alas, Kim Henares even denied Andrew Tan his bragging rights and gave Presidential sister Kris the honor of being the nation’s top taxpayer. Methinks that the BIR has a lot of explaining to do, why they made this mistake? Could it be because Henares wans to play “sip-sip” to the powers that be? If what Andrew Tan reported to the press is true and validated, Kim Henares must publicly make an apology to Mr. Tan because ignoring them is not the way the BIR should treat its “valued clients.”

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Last Thursday was a rather hectic but a red-letter day for me, The Philippine STAR and The Freeman because the Rotary Club of Manila bestowed upon this writer its most prestigious Tourism Award for print-media, during the 9th Tourism Awards held at the Manila Polo Club. This award comes from an unexpected but highly welcomed source as the Rotary Club of Manila (which is celebrating its 94th year), the Mother Club of my own Rotary Club of Cebu which last year celebrated its 80th year.

What makes the award much sweeter is the fact that last year, the Tourism Award for print media was bagged no less by our STAR Group of Companies President Miguel Belmonte, so as Sir Miguel texted me... “It’s a back to back win for The STAR!” Of course, all this would not have happened if 27 years ago I did not meet then Philippine Daily Inquirer publisher and a week later Philippine STAR publisher Maximo V. Soliven. Of course we thank God and His Holy Spirit for connecting me to Sir Max Soliven.

A year later the saintly Betty Go-Belmonte interviewed me when she agreed to let me write a weekly article under the Good News section of The STAR. Ma’am Betty only had one advice that she gave to me, “Only write the truth so that you will not compromise the newspaper. This is why we placed on the masthead of the Philippine STAR the words, ‘Truth Shall Prevail.’” I can proudly say in my prayer to Sir Max and Ma’am Betty that I have kept my word and wrote only the truth. My thanks also to my editor Mon Lim.

The 9th Tourism Awards ceremonies was also an occasion to meet up with good friends and fellow Rotarians, notably Rotary Club of Manila president Obet Pagdanganan, whom we wrote about as he assumed office last year had a more fulfilling task as president rather than a life as a politician... and he validated this last Thursday. I suspect that the Manila Rotary Club came up with this Tourism Award nine years ago because they have as their members two former Tourism Secretaries — Obet Pagdanganan and Vince Carlos. The Manila Rotary is the oldest and the largest Rotary Club in Asia.

I also got to meet the Best Mayor Manila ever had since Mayor Arsenio “Arsenic” Lacson, no other than Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim. But this time he refused to be called “Dirty Harry” but Mr. Clean. I concur, after all, he has cleaned the streets of Manila especially in the Avenida area where I used to stay whenever I come to Manila. With me in our table was my co-awardee himself is Johnny Chan, chairman of the Bellevue Hotels, Inc. who was with his son Dustin Chan. Kane Errol Choa, corporate affairs of ABS-CBN accepted the award for Charo Santos-Concio.

Emceeing the meeting was no less than the hoteliers’ hotelier, Sir Arthur Lopez himself, and Latvian Consul Sir Bobby Joseph who chaired the Tourism committee and other Rotarians like Frank Evaristo, Rudy Bediones (he always makes up in our Rotary Club in Cebu) the eminent Don Pepe Rodriquez, Justo Ortiz and Dean Amading Valdez of UE and DzMM. My wife Jessica was with me, including my close friends from Cebu Honey Loop and former Tourism Regional Director 7 Patria Dawnee Roa.

But last Thursday’s affair did not end at the Rotary Club’s Tourism Awards as later in the evening we trooped to the New World Hotel for the launching of Sir Bobby Joseph’s book, “Guide to Global VIPs.” This book is truly a “protocol” guide on what tourists ought to do in the many countries that he mentions in his book. These are things you never get to learn in school, like how to greet people in foreign countries down to the rules of etiquette on where to place your guests on the table, including even the table settings. Kudos Sir Bobby for this very educational book.

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Email: [email protected] or vsbobita@ gmail.com