Because majority of us are not lawyers, we ask questions not with the probity of a lawyer but with the curiosity of one learning the law. That is the gist of justice citizenship. We may not be lawyers but it is in our interest to speak up for equal rights for all people.
“Is government just?” is a question we had asked when Rodrigo Duterte began his extrajudicial killings in Davao City. It was a question we had also asked when his government entered into a compromise agreement with big tobacco businessman Alexander Wongchuking in 2017.
What was Wongchuking to Duterte? Let Duterte himself speak:
“I will tell you, he’s like my mistah. The two of us were adopted by Class 1967 of the Philippine Military Academy so I know him. I really know him.”
Wongchuking’s crime was mighty – fraud and economic sabotage – that his mistah ordered his arrest. Salvador Panelo even publicly announced the arrest. Except that the arrest never happened. Duterte, in his usual bluster and braggadocio, was just a man of charades and hot air.
Wongchuking owned Mighty Corporation, manufacturer of cheap cigarette brands. In raids conducted by the Bureau of Customs in Pampanga, General Santos City and Zamboanga City, the PMA mistah’s cigarette brands had fake tax stamps.
In the Philippines, tax stamps on cigarettes are mandated by the Bureau of Internal Revenue. If the stamps are fake, it means the manufacturer has avoided paying the required excise taxes. It can signal two things: the tobacco was illegally smuggled or there is domestic tax evasion.
A collateral issue: PMA should stop the ridiculous practice of “adopting” honorary mistahs.
As is usual with Duterte, the man is a double blade. Opposite the tough image was a leader who was soft on the corruption of his own friends. He said his friend Wongchuking once gifted him with cash and a gun when he was mayor of Davao City. He said he promptly returned them. One account of his had narrated that handyman Bong Go had to find Wongchuking’s flight at the Davao airport.
But what do we know? On the same event where he spoke about Wongchuking (a PDP Laban event in Pasay City), he also announced – aside from “arresting” Wongchuking – that government was open to a settlement.
Duterte said his cabinet ministers (Aguirre and Dominguez) want Mighty to pay 10 times what it owed government. He also embellished for some semblance of political will: give the money to hospitals in Basilan, Jolo and Manila.
Then he said: “I speak freely because the law itself allows compromise. What use will it be for me if I will have him jailed?” In other words, there was no arrest for fraud and economic sabotage.
A few months later in October 2017, Malacañang announced a P40B tax compromise settlement with Mighty Corporation. The proper question of curiosity to ask was: What arm twisting had happened in between? The BIR withdrew its complaints against Mighty at the Department of Justice. The case was then in the preliminary investigation level.
Under Section 204 of the National Internal Revenue Code, compromising with criminal fraud cases is prohibited when a case has already been filed in court. Because BIR had withdrew its complaints, no court case against Mighty had existed. It was a cleverly done corruption of scandalous proportions of the Duterte government for a chummy friend of Rodrigo. And did the P40B go to hospitals in Basilan, Jolo and Manila? Search us please.
So who headed the compromise team with Mighty? It was the tax lawyer Kristine R. Ferrer of the Sara Duterte impeachment trial.
And who lawyered for Alexander Wongchuking and Mighty Corporation? It was Carpio and Duterte Law.
“Duterte said he had no problem with his daughter and son-in-law becoming Mighty’s lawyers because it was their job to defend whoever gets their services.”
At that time, daughter was mayor of Davao City. Barred by law. Her husband Mans Carpio was son-in-law of the sitting president. Barred by the grace of what should be right.
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files.