Skinning a cat

At last, the revenue police is using its powers to promote integrity and accountability in public office.

While the nation waits to see those behind the budget and flood control scandal behind bars and speedily prosecuted, the Bureau of Internal Revenue has filed complaints for tax evasion against dismissed engineers Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza of the Department of Public Works and Highways. The BIR says the three DPWH engineers owe taxes totaling P1.6 billion between 2020 and 2024.

Last month, the BIR also filed tax evasion complaints for P7.18 billion against contractor couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya.

For its part, the Anti-Money Laundering Council is obtaining court orders to freeze billions in assets believed to be fruits of corruption belonging to mostly dismissed DPWH officials and contractors.

Both the BIR and AMLC have promised that more cases and freeze orders covering other people can be expected in the coming weeks.

The moves are being carried out amid public impatience for solid moves in holding accountable those behind the systematic diversion of trillions in public funds to personal pockets.

The consequences of this institutionalized thievery, which by most accounts starts in the national budgeting process, are again illustrated dramatically in Cebu and Negros, with the horrific death, displacement and destruction caused by torrential flooding spawned by Typhoon Tino.

Officials have said a probe is underway to verify suspicions that the state of calamity is not only due to extreme weather from climate change, but also aggravated by substandard, non-existent or useless flood infrastructure projects.

The BIR and AMLC must not limit their work to flood control and other infrastructure anomalies. Pursuing cases for tax evasion and money laundering can pin down many other crooked public officials and their cohorts, as well as those engaged in other crimes such as illegal gambling, drug trafficking and smuggling.

Prosecutors have cited the difficulty of pinning down crooks for plunder. The country does not have a law against racketeering. But there’s more than one way to skin a cat. The tax and money laundering police can flex their muscles and use their powers to pin down criminals. The BIR and AMLC must do this relentlessly, without sacred cows, without hesitation.