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The government has filed a tax evasion case against Ang Galing Pinoy Representative Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo and his wife Ma. Angela for supposedly failing to pay P74 million in taxes.
The two allegedly did not pay their taxes from 2004 to 2009, during which Arroyo’s mother, Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was president.
"The cases that we filed today are testaments to the Aquino administration’s continued drive against tax cheats who think that they are above the law. The ways of the past are over," Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in a statement.
Purisima also noted that the Aquino's administration is "determined to send to jail all tax evaders and smugglers that rob the Filipino people of their much needed government revenues."
In a separate report, Arroyo, the ex-president's eldest son, denied the claims and said the case against him was mere political harassment.
Meanwhile, the Finance Secretary said that their drive against tax evaders and smugglers in the first two months of 2011 alone, has resulted in a collection increase of 10.7 and 9.7 percent for the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs, respectively.
"This helped the government maintain a fiscal deficit of only P8.1 billion from January to February, which was actually way below the P52.3-billion programmed for the period. It was also much lower than the P70.3 billion posted the same period last year," said Purisima.
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