INTERNAL Revenue Commissioner Lilia Hefti has
resigned, citing health reasons, Executive Secretary Eduardo
Ermita said yesterday.
But there appeared to be more than that.
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said the reason could have been
under-performance. "Every official has to be measured by one’s
performance and apparently BIR has not met its self-assigned
targets," he said.
Ermita said Hefti submitted her resignation
letter a few days ago and President Arroyo accepted it.
Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez
said the President has already picked Hefti’s replacement but
has decided that Finance Secretary Margarito Teves should make
the announcement when he returns from the International Monetary
Fund-World Bank meeting in the United States.
The BIR had conceded that it might fall short
of its 2008 collection target of P854 billion, due to the
worldwide economic slowdown.
Sen. Mar Roxas warned the BIR against unfair
collections to meet its targets, particularly the bureau’s
interpretation of the coverage of R.A. 9504, or the law which
exempts minimum wage earners from income taxes, and increases
the personal exemptions of other workers.
The BIR has insisted on providing the tax exemption for
income of minimum wage earners only from July onwards, and to
exclude minimum wage earners who get extra allowances from their
employers.
Roxas has been pushing for the full implementation of RA 9504,
to cover the months of January to June of 2008, and has filed a
petition at the Supreme Court for this, together with the Trade
Union Congress of the Philippines. – Jocelyn Montemayor
