Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 28) — Aksyon Demokratiko has asked the Supreme Court to release a certificate of finality on the Marcos family’s unsettled P203-billion estate tax liability case despite the high court’s unappealable ruling 25 years ago.
Ernesto Ramel Jr, chairman of the party supporting presidential bet Isko Moreno, on Monday said they have formally asked the high court to issue the document to disprove claims of the camp of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who is the son and namesake of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Marcos’ spokesperson Vic Rodriguez said the family’s estate taxes liability is “pending in court” despite earlier statements of two government offices. He added Marcos’ rivals in the upcoming elections are using the issue for politics.
“Our rivals are misdirecting everyone by claiming that the case has attained finality when the truth of the matter is, it is still pending in court and the ownership of the properties in litigation has yet to be settled,” he said on March 26.
Marcos himself has also claimed there is “a lot of fake news involved” in the talks about the tax liabilities.
The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) earlier said the Supreme Court’s ruling in 1997 that demands the Marcos heirs to settle the P23 billion tax liabilities, which retired Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said has ballooned to P203.8 billion, is final and executory. The Bureau of Internal Revenue also assessed that the estate tax deficiency is final and unappealable.
The 1Sambayan convenors — composed of Carpio, retired Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, and esteemed lawyers, among others — have debunked the claim of the Marcos camp.
“With all due respect to Mr. Rodriguez, there is no pending case. The 1997 Supreme Court decision upholding a judgment ordering the Marcos heirs to pay P23 billion in taxes has long been final and executory,” it said in a statement.
It said that the insistence of the Marcos camp that the case is pending “sounds like fake news.”
Aksyon Demokratiko has been in touch with PCGG and BIR as it ramps up efforts to spread information online about the Marcoses’ refusal to pay the estate taxes.
The outgoing Duterte administration, through the Department of Finance, is pushing the BIR to collect the Marcoses’ unpaid dues to help generate more state revenues.
