Failing, falling

There is a reason bank secrecy laws are common among nations and not just in the Philippines. And if Kim Henares feels doing her job as the country's chief tax collector is being hampered by banking limitations, then she better resign because she apparently just does not get it.

Bank secrecy laws are there for a reason, not the least of which is to provide depositors some security from the prying eyes of those with evil intent against people who have money in the bank. Henares should be no stranger to security, she being an avid shooter, shooting being just another form of security.

Besides, if Henares really has a compelling reason to want to see what is inside the accounts of certain persons of interest to the BIR, it is not as if bank secrecy laws are as rigid and as inflexible as the equator. If she has the goods, Henares can always secure a legal order to open certain accounts.

It is not bank secrecy laws that hamper the tax collection efforts of the BIR. It is, number one, the deeply-rooted corruption in her agency and, number two, the wrong methods she employs in compelling those who cheat on their taxes to pay their correct obligations to the government.

For all her bitching about taxes and taxpayers, has Henares really lifted one of her thick and heavy fingers to crack down on the corruption that has made the BIR rank consistently high up there in any list of government agencies that citizens have little or no confidence in.

Sure, I cheered her on when she embarked on her controversial shame campaign against professionals who cheat on their taxes. But I cheered only because I did not want these professionals to think they are getting away with their cheating. I cheered to let my frustration and indignation out.

But not for a moment did I feel the shame campaign would work. In the first place, it's not as if these tax cheats didn't know what they were doing. These professionals are not kids, for God's sake. The moment they started cheating on their taxes, they knew they were doing a shameful act. You cannot shame the shameless.

In fact, it would be interesting to find out if Henares' tax collections would show a spike from the time she began her shame campaign, or whether a spike, if any, would be significant enough for her or anyone to conclude that her campaign worked.

In all likelihood, there will be no significant spike in tax collections. As I said, you cannot shame the shameless anymore than you can meet your targets if you look the other way from all the corruption that is gnawing at the very foundation of the tax bureau.

The refusal of Henares to take a long hard look at what is bugging her very own agency is the biggest proof that all this hoopla about fighting corruption that the administration to which she belongs has been singing as its theme song is nothing but a big and shameless sham.

This government and this administration never really intended to fight corruption in earnest. It can make a little show here and there, but the real fight it fought was nothing more than to come to power and keep it for as long as it takes.

Noynoy Aquino, the boss of Henares, never had what it takes to be president. And that was never lost on the people, which is why more Filipinos did not vote for him. Unfortunately, they could not decide on a single other person and thus spread their vote over several, allowing Noynoy to escape with a minority win.

Many of those who voted for Noynoy naively believed in his anti-corruption mantra and as a result mistook the tree for the forest. What "honesty" they saw in Noynoy they assumed was present in those who were around him. Big mistake. The other trees -- the rest of the forest -- made up the real corrupt scenery.

A strong and robust tree cannot disinfect a rotten forest. It is the rotten forest that infects the strong and robust tree. Right now, halfway through his term, Noynoy is already being swallowed by a corruption that he can no longer blame on his pet peeve Gloria Arroyo.

If Noynoy still doesn't see it, he better set his eyes closer to home. The action is way past Gloria's time. And if Henares still cannot meet her targets and has to resort to desperate means like a shame campaign or blaming bank secrecy laws, then Noynoy should know the rats are still very much alive in their new home.