‘Focus on plugging tax leaks’ – Gov’t workers to BIR and PNoy

Bureau of Internal Revenue building (Wikipedia photo)

MANILA — The Supreme Court was asked to intervene by government workers to stop a BIR order on their taxes.

The employees of the Supreme Court and the lower courts stood up for a rally wearing red and black ribbons at the high court grounds, damning the BIR Memorandum Order No. 23-2014 that tolls their wages, Wednesday, Aug. 6.

“The order was merely signed by BIR Commissioner Kim Henares. Sa ilalim ng batas, dapat sanctioned ito ng Department of Finance (Under the law, it should be sanctioned by the Department of Finance),” said former Senator Aquilino Pimentel, Sr., lawyer of the government employees, in an interview with ABS-CBN news.

The group of government employees–saddened about the fact how government is after ordinary employees like them who are living on too little salary–said, “instead of increasing taxes, the government should raise the wages of all state workers.”

When asked by ACT Teachers party Representative Antonio Tinio on whether government is proposing an increase in the salary for state workers in the 2015 budget, Budget Secretary Butch Abad said that there will be no salary increase.

The Budget Secretary Abad explained that the government had commissioned a survey in salaries and benefits, but did not finish it on time because of the recent calamities. The survey will instead be commissioned in time for the preparation of the 2016 budget–an election year.

For this year, government is giving a performance enhancement incentive of at least P5,000 to one month’s salary in addition to the regular performance-based bonus.