Manila judges, court employees join state workers' protest in SC vs BIR


By: Brian Maglungsod, InterAksyon.com
August 21, 2014 3:18 PM
InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - More groups have petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) from enforcing its June 2014 regulation imposing taxes on bonuses, allowances and other fringe benefits of public sector workers.

The latest groups are the Regional Trial Court Judges Association of Manila (RTCJA) and the Philippine Association of Court Employees-Manila Chapter.

The judges and court employees group said in a 48-page petition filed August 19, that BIR committed grave abuse of discretion in issuing Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 23-2014. It also violated their right to due process since the agency came up with the regulation without even bothering to consult them, petitioners said.
“We respectfully submit that this plainly illegal act should be struck down. RMO No.23-2014 deserves no less than a categorical declaration of its nullity and should forthwith be annulled and declared null and void, as it was obviously issued with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdictions,” said the petition filed by RTCJA President Judge Armando Yanga and the court employees president Ma. Cristina Carmela Japson.
They called on the SC to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) or a preliminary injunction against the BIR’s regulation.

Imposed new burden without due process
The assailed revenue memorandum order, they added, "significantly increased the burden of the officials and employees of the judiciary without due observance of the requirements of notice and hearing for the benefit of those affected thereby, and without being duly published in accordance with the prescribed legal formalities.”

Moreover, said petitioners, BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto Henares usurped the power of the Secretary of Finance in crafting the assailed regulation, as well as the power of Congress to come up with tax laws. They argued that RMO 23-2014 is basically a law that was cleverly disguised as a mere memorandum order.

Also, the petitioners said the RMO violated the fiscal autonomy of the courts, as protected under Sections 3 and 10, Article VIII, of the 1987 Constitution.

Also violated was Republic Act 9227, the law governing the special allowances of members and employees of the judiciary. The order, stressed petitioners, affects the fiscal independence of the judiciary.

First petitioners

Earlier, government employees led by the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) petitioned the SC to annul RMO 23-2014.

COURAGE and the original petitioners said the BIR and the DOF committed grave abuse of discretion in issuing the regulation.

They said respondents also exceed their power and authority by also coming up with the prescribed penalties, including imprisonment and fines for local government units and local officials, as well as those from government-owned and -controlled corporations to withhold the taxes due from the said benefits.
With this, the respondents usurped the power of Congress to define new offenses and prescribe the corresponding penalties, petitioners claimed.

Finally, in an interesting twist, they asserted that the assailed BIR regulation essentially means taxing the government, since it is the one that granted the benefits to the employees from where the taxes would be collected. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more