BIR: Unaccredited printers are still used

When our article making a plea to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) came out last Thursday, on the same day on page 16 of The Philippine STAR there was a report entitled, “Old receipts, invoices valid only up to Aug. 30 - BIR” which is actually a response to our previous articles about this issue. It only means that BIR Commissioner Kim Henares isn’t made of stone, she does listen to the pleas of the small and medium scale businesses that would have been at a loss if the BIR insisted on its June 30 deadline to surrender these receipts and come up with new ones. Thanks Kim Hernares!

Again, allow me to reprint the BIR’s statement why they are doing this. “The issuance of new receipts is also aimed at reforming the process of accrediting printers as well as addressing complaints against some BIR personnel engaged in the printing business, who make it difficult for taxpayers to register and secure authority to print unless they get to print the receipts of said taxpayers. The regulations disqualify printers with relatives working in the BIR.”

I also learned that in Cebu there are only 22 accredited printers who already expressed their sentiments that they cannot handle the huge volume of business that was suddenly dropped on their laps. I gathered from an unnamed source that these so-called accredited printers are now outsourcing the printing of those cash invoices to printers who are not accredited by the BIR, or worse, printers having relatives working inside the BIR.

So in the end, it doesn’t solve the complaints lodged against BIR personnel whose families are involved in the printing business. I dare say that outsourcing the printing should not be allowed for the simple reason that these printers are not accredited in the first place. For as long as a business enterprise already has a job order from an accredited printer, the BIR should still allow an extension to the Aug. 30 deadline for as long as the printer issues a certificate that a particular business has already ordered from them.     

In my book, I still believe that BIR personnel engaged in the printing business should be filed graft cases because this is clearly and obviously using their positions within the BIR for personal profit. So where is the Office of the Ombudsman on this case? But instead, the entire business establishments in the Philippines have been hassled because of this BIR move.

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I fully support the move of Department of Justice Sec. Leila de Lima who is set to file charges against the Philippine Coast Guard involved in the shooting incident off Batanes island where a Taiwanese fisherman was killed and caused an additional strain on our relations with China. The DOJ Secretary clarified that there was no pressure from Taiwan on this findings.

It’s about time that we call a spade, a spade and not just side with our enforcement people if they crossed the line. We have known for the past decades that Taiwanese fishing boats more often than not fish in Philippine waters, but such incidents usually end with the fishing boat apprehended and a fine is paid. What happened a month ago was a deliberate killing of a defenseless fisherman… which is out of bounds in any civilized government.

With this decision by the DOJ, it is in no way a conviction against our Coast Guard officers, who after all have to fight this case in an open court. It is up to them to prove that they were in a dire situation and had to fire at the fisherman. Unfortunately for them, the poor Taiwanese fisherman was unarmed, so in the end, it was the Philippine Coast Guard that used excessive force. They should have held back emotions.

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There is no doubt that the United States of America (USA) is taking the cudgels for gays all over the world, especially when they allowed gays to join the Boy Scouts of America. While I am tolerant of gays, however in my book, the USA should let gays choose where they should be, either with the Girls Scouts or the Boy Scouts, or if that is not acceptable, come up with a Gay Scouts in order to put them in their proper place.

But in the world stage whatever the US does, apparently the Russian Republic does the opposite. We just got news from International news media outlets that in Moscow, the State Duma passed a Kremlin-backed law that virtually stigmatizes gay people and bans giving children any information about homosexuality. This law was passed in an overwhelming 436-0 vote with one abstention.

The State Duma passed this law despite the presence of two dozen pro-gay protesters, who were attacked by hundreds of anti-gay activists who were detained by the police. The Amnesty International condemned the Russian law. But the question is…will it start a new trend? It would be interesting how things would turn out for the gays all over the world.

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