BIR officials and employees declares mass resignation on July 1, as they were offended with President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s claim that the bureau is one of the most corrupt agencies in the government.
A ranking official from the bureau said she will take the lead in resigning saying Duterte’s accusations against the bureau is “below-the-belt” and cannot substantiate allegations because of having no concrete proof.
One of the three deputies of BIR Commissioner Kim Henares, Deputy Commissioner Lilia Guillermo, admits that she was hurt of Duterte’s tirades.
She said that she will now file an early retirement as a sign of her protest.
“If asked for a courtesy resignation, I will comply,” Guillermo told The Daily Tribune. The deputy has been working for BIR for three decades.
Kim Henares also said she was hurt by Duterte’s allegations.
“I am hurting for my subordinates because I worked with them for six years and now their hard work is not being recognized,” Henares said.
Duterte indicated his desire to abolish ‘most corrupt agencies’ in government which he stated are the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Land Transportation Office (LTO), and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), in his briefings one midnight held in Davao City.
Henares presses that Duterte is the President and he can do whatever he wants to do. Guillermo also questioned the motive of Duterte in abolishing agencies in the government to lessen rampant corruption.
“Do you think our country will survive without BIR?” Guillermo said.
Record shows that BIR collected P2 trillion in taxes last year which was the first time that collection was reached.
2009 collections reached over P800 billion which was nearest to the 2015 figures, that was under BIR officer-in-charge Lilian Hefti.
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