THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) was pressed to crackdown against tax-dodging Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators owing P40-billion in unpaid taxes, as Senator Riza N. Hontiveros renewed calls for law enforcers to compel errant POGOs to “pay up and ship out.”
Sen. Hontiveros affirmed Tuesday calls for the BIR to collect the over P40 billion unpaid franchise taxes that POGOs owed to the government and compel them to “leave the country: upon paying their tax debts.
“They (POGOs) need to pay up and leave (Kailangan na nilang magbayad at saka lumayas),” the Senator emphasized, noting reports that assorted crimes were linked to the arrival of POGOs, ranging from “kidnapping and prostitution.” (Iba’t ibang klase ng krimen ang nakakabit sa pagpapasok ng mga POGO, mula kidnapping hanggang prostitusyon.)
The lawmaker lamented that “the social costs that came along with the spike of POGOs in our country will always outweigh any revenue that the government may generate from them. We simply do not need them.”
As chairman of the Committee on Women, Hontiveros led a year-long Senate inquiry into the POGO-related prostitution and sex trafficking that also affirmed findings that “opening up the country to POGO exacerbated the corruption in the Bureau of Immigration.”
“Let us not forget the ‘pastillas’ scam at the Bureau of Immigration started upon the entry of Chinese nationals, mostly hired as POGO workers,” she added, lamenting that “kahit puro pasakit na ang dala ng mga POGO sa ating bayan, hindi pa makabayad ng tax nang tama.” [While POGOs have brought pain to our country, they don’t pay the proper taxes.]
The Senator emphasized that the BIR needs to collect tax debts owed by POGOs that can be used in government projects for Filipinos, at a time when jobs are hard to find amid the pandemic.
“Ngayon pa’t kaliwa’t kanang Pilipino ang nawawalan ng trabaho sa gitna ng pandemya, napakalaking tulong ng perang makokolekta diyan para masuportahan ang ating mga mamamayan,” Hontiveros said. [While Filipinos lose their jobs left and right amidst the pandemic, a huge amount of money can be collected there to support our people.]
She recalled that during the plenary interpellations on Senate Bill (SB) 2322 seeking to tax POGOs, Senators were told that POGOs had an estimated unpaid franchise tax of P15.285 billion. The BIR told lawmakers that in 2019, their unpaid tax amounted to P14.230 billion, while in 2020, they owed P10.78 billion. As a result, she added, from 2018 to 2020, POGOs had a total unpaid franchise tax of P40.295 billion.
Moreover, Hontiveros recalled that in 2020, the joint task force of the BIR, Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Labor and Employment was able to inspect 196 offices, in which there were 23,000 foreign nationals in total, adding that of the 23,000, 1,632 did not have Alien Employment Permits.
The Senator said she was “sure there is more to this number of over 1,000 illegal POGO workers.”
“Hindi na panibagong balita na may mga ilegal na POGO workers. Malamang, sila din itong mga kasali sa mga krimen laban sa ating sariling mamamayan. Kapag hindi sila dokumentado, mas malakas ang loob nilang maghasik ng lagim sa ating lipunan.” [The presence of illegal POGO workers is no longer news. Most likely, they are also involved in crimes against our own people. If they’re not documented, they become more brazen to sow terror in our society.]
Hontiveros suggested that “the joint task force of the BIR, DOLE and BI should do a better job at updating and providing us with historical data on the number of illegal POGO workers.
“Kung hindi natin alam kung sino ang mga ilegal, paano din natin malalaman kung sino ang mapapanagot? Hindi natin kailangan ang mga POGO at mas lalong hindi natin kailangan ang mga ilegal na POGO. At the end of the day, I remain resolute in my position that POGOs should pay up and ship out.”
[If we don’t know who the illegals are, how can we also know who will be held accountable? We don’t need POGOs and, even more, we don’t need illegal POGOs. At the end of the day, I remain resolute in my position that POGOs should pay up and ship out.]
Senators on Monday opened interpellations on the pending bill to tax POGOs after President Duterte wrote the Senate to include it among bills certified as urgent, in response to requests from economic managers scrounging for more funds for the pandemic response.
Hontiveros interpellated the “Tax-POGO” bill’s sponsor, Sen. Pia S. Cayetano, who chairs the Ways and Means committee.
SB 2232 amends the National Internal Revenue Code to allow for the taxation of POGOs, from which the government is looking to get P120 billion in revenue over the next four years.
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