Gov’t workers protest against new BIR ruling

Supreme Court of the Philippines. Photo by Mike Gonzales courtesy of Wiki Commons.

MANILA – Government workers wearing red shirts and ribbons trooped to the Supreme Court on Wednesday to protest against the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Memorandum Order (RMO) 23-2014 issued last June.

The order seeks to impose up to 32 percent tax on government employees’ tax on their civil service benefits.

“The RMO is like a boulder hurled to practically drown employees in the bureaucracy. It is oppressive and unfair. We are calling on the justices of the Supreme Court to put a lid on this seeming abuse of authority,” Confederation of Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage) national president Ferdinand Gaite told reporters.

They also insisted that the memorandum which imposes taxes on allowances, bonuses, compensations for services and other fringe benefits are unconstitutional.

“Those benefits are deemed property within the purview of the Bill of Rights of which government officials and employees, including the petitioners, may not be deprived without due process of law under Article III, Section 1, Constitution,” read the 75-page petition.

The employees filed the petition with former Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr as their legal counsel.

Taxes on government officials “thrash the principles of decentralization and local autonomy set forth in the Local Government Code of 1991, Republic Act 7160,” Pimentel said.

“The Local Government Code invests local government officials with certain powers that cannot be added on or diminished without violating its thrust of promoting decentralization and local autonomy that is mandated by the Constitution itself, unless done so by an appropriate legislation that amends the Code accordingly,” he added.