SENIOR members of the Lower House are training their guns on
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Lilian Hefti over the tax agency's
poor revenue collection performance during the first quarter of the year.
Citizens' Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) Rep. Joel
Villanueva, an assistant minority floor leader of the Commission on
Appointments, said Hefti should explain why she should remain in her office in
view of the huge shortfalls.
The BIR's target collection for 2008 set by the cabinet-level
Development and Budget Coordinating Committee was P70.41 billion monthly but the
bureau only collected P56.7 billion in January, P50.9 billion in February and
P55.4 billion in March.
Villanueva said the BIR's monthly average take of only P50
billion means it is already short by some P60 billion for the year. "That is
even worse than the shortfall for the entire 2007. This is an issue that must be
addressed by (Finance) Secretary (Margarito) Teves before the Commission."
Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez said Congress should grill revenue
officials on the shortfall, saying there should be a strict enforcement of the
Attrition Law against those who fail to meet their goals. The 2005 Lateral
Attrition Act gives the President the power to remove or penalize BIR and
Customs officials who miss their collection targets by over 7.5 percent while
recommending rewards to those who exceed theirs.
Hefti took over as BIR chief last July 2 after Commissioner
Jose Mario Buñag got the boot for posting huge collection deficits.
Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, chairman of the House oversight committee which
oversees the implementation of the Attrition Law, earlier said at least 35 BIR
officers headed by Hefti are already in hot water for underperformance in 2007
when the bureau collected only P712.09 billion against its P765 billion goal for
a shortfall of P53.7 billion. - Peter J. G. Tabingo
