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10/04/2010
The government can now compel foreign countries to assist in the recovery of money acquired from illegal and corrupt practices and stashed away abroad under an international convention signed last Friday, Sen. Edgardo Angara said yesterday.
The Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) and South East Asian Parliamentarians Against Corruption (SEAPAC) meeting concluded with member countries agreeing to implement new policies in the fight against corruption, Angara said.
Angara, founding member of SEAPAC and host of the conference, said the country now has an objective scorecard to judge whether a country has achieved progress in the reduction or elimination of corruption.
Under the agreement signed during the two-day convention, member countries were mandated to assist country victimized by corrupt or illegal activities, particularly in the area of asset-recovery, where money-laundering activities are concerned.
“In the case of the Philippines, for instance, some of our officials may have stolen and plundered our treasury, and deposited the money elsewhere, the depository country is obliged, under duty, under this convention, to assist the
Philippines to recover that money within their jurisdiction,” Angara said.
Angara also lauded a recent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report indicating that the Philippines, once considered as a haven for money-laundering activities, have now been taken out of the list of countries being known as “tax havens.”
“Our reputation as a tax-evading and money-laundering country has given the impression that the country is very corrupt. The OECD report is a vindication that we are improving our very own anti-corruption initiatives,” he said.
Angara also mentioned the recent grant of $434-million under the Millennium Challenge Fund, which President Aquino received during his trip to Washington.
“Recent actions by outsiders have indicated that there has been an improvement in our corruption index. Before, we could not access the Millennium Challenge Fund because we could not reduce poverty, graft and corruption. Second, the OECD blacklist is very damaging as foreign investments will shy-away from all our funds and financial institutions because we were characterized as having a money laundering and tax-evading banking system,” Angara explained.
“Getting the $400-million is an affirmation that the world has taken notice of our country’s efforts in eliminating corruption,” he added.
Among the policies agreed upon by participants to the two-day conference was to allow citizens full information about government operations. The Philippines is currently awaiting the approval of a similar measure, called the Freedom of Information act which Angara authored, seeking to grant access to files and other documents pertaining to government transactions and policies that will directly affect society.
The government also recent said it will start investigating offshore bank accounts of Filipinos as the government tries to clamp down on tax cheats.
The announcement comes a day after the finance ministry passed regulations that will allow it to swap bank information on individuals as part of an international convention on tax standards.
“Tax evaders now have nowhere to hide,” Finance Undersecretary Carlo Carag said in a statement.
Just five million people file their income tax returns, according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), leading to chronic budget deficits and poor delivery of basic services.
The National Statistics Office said there were 39 million people in the labour force as of July 2010, while the population sits at 94 million.
The Department of Finance (DoF) said the regulations signed into effect Wednesday fully enforces a 2009 law authorising the bureau to exchange of tax information with foreign counterparts.
The move immediately led the OECD to shift the country into the so-called “white list” of countries that have substantially implemented tax standards, Carag said.
“With the recent OECD announcement... the Philippines can now request information on bank accounts abroad from other countries,” Carag added.
Internal revenue bureau spokesman Rey Mari said the government agency intends to use all the weapons at its disposal to go after tax evaders.
Authorities have been waging a “name and shame” campaign by filing criminal charges against high-profile personalities and companies suspected of cheating the government out of taxes or import duties.
The OECD recently took the Philippines off its list of tax havens, leaving just 11 “grey list” jurisdictions that have not implemented internationally accepted tax standards.
“The Philippines today moved up to the list of jurisdictions that have substantially implemented the internationally agreed tax standard,” said the Paris-based OECD.
A Malacañang official, nevertheless, said the Aquino administration is on track in meeting its goals of reducing poverty and eradicating corruption.
“We believe that the administration is on track. The measure cannot be properly done within 100 days dahil marami tayong programa na ‘di maa-accomplish sa loob ng tatlong buwan,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said.