‘MISFIT SARA’

KASALUKUYAN kong tinatapos ang aking ikaapat na aklat na may pamagat na “Misfit Sara The Life and Times of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio; The Impeachment Trial of the Filipino Vice President.” Tinalakay ko sa bagong aklat ang buhay ni Sara at ang paglilitis ng Senate Impeachment Court (SIC) sa paratang na mayroon sila hindi naipaliwanag na yaman ng kanyang maybahay na si Manash Carpio.

Nasa huling yugto na ako sa pagsusulat. Maaaring matapos ko ito sa huling araw ng Nobyembre o kahit sa kalagitnaan ng Disyembre. Inaasahan ko na maililimbag ang mga kopya ng aking aklat sa pagbubukas ng 2027. Ilulunsad namin ito sa National Press Club (NPC) kung saan ako ay isang lifetime member. Itinuturing namin na tahanan ng malayang pamamahayag ang NPC.

Sa aking aklat, tinalakay ko ang relasyon ni Misfit Sara at Manash Carpio sa pulitika ng bansa. May mga pagtalakay ako sa ilang kontrobersya na kinasasangkutan ni Manash. Naghain kamakailan ng isang sakdal na cyberlibel sa akin si Manash sa Davao City. Hinihingi ng aking mga manananggol sa pangunguna ni Dino de Leon na ilipat sa Metro Manila ang anumang paglilitis laban sa akin.

Kinuwestiyon ng aking mga abogado kung paano isinampa ng City Fiscal ng Davao City ang sakdal sa Davao City RTC Branch 10 kahit wala akong pagkakataon na ipagtanggol ang sarili. Basta ako dinakip noong ika-24 ng Oktubre sa isang media forum at ikukulong sana. Nakapagharap ako ng piyansang P48,000 para sa aking pansamantalang kalayaan.

Hindi namin alam kung paano tatanggapin ni Manash Carpio ang aming isinulat sa aming bagong libro. Kalayaan niya ang magreklamo kung niyurakan ang kanyang natitirang dangal. Halaw ang bahaging ito sa aming bagong aklat. Ang masasabi namn ay handa kami sa lahat ng sakdal at reklamo na maaaring isampa ni Manash Carpio. Hindi kami magaling. Hindi kami matapang. Pero hindi kami takot sa kanya. Isinulat ko ito sa Ingles.

ANOTHER CONTROVERSY. These controversies were not all. Manases Carpio’s name has been linked to Mighty Corporation, one of the largest cigarette manufacturers in the country. Mighty is among the clients of the Carpio and Duterte Lawyers, the law office which Mans Carpio and Sara Duterte have formed in 2008. A controversy hounded Carpio when he visited then Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon sometime in 2017. At that time, the controversial P6.4 billion shabu smuggling broke out, triggering many speculations. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee was investigating “in aid of legislation,” the unprecedented shabu smuggling.

At that time, Mighty was facing at least three criminal tax cases involving P37.9 billion for use of fake stamps. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed those cases in early 2017, putting Mighty in hot water. What happened next defied imagination. Mighty, largely through the legal representation of Mans Carpio’s firm, wangled a P25 billion tax settlement with the government. It was the biggest tax settlement the government had with a private firm.

The antecedents to this tax settlement were astounding by all standards. In early 2017, BIR agents raided Mighty Corp warehouses in Bulacan, Pampanga, and Gen. Santos City in Cotabato, discovering in their premises cigarette packs with fake tax stamps. The BIR filed three criminal tax evasion complaints before the Department of Justice (DoJ). It alleged that Mighty’s tax liabilities could reach a total of P37.9 billion, of which P26.9 billion constituted deficiency in excise taxes. Then Mighty president Oscar Barrientos wrote DoF, offering P25 billion to settle deficiency in excise and income taxes and voluntarily shutdown for Mighty.

BIGGEST TAX SETTLEMENT. In his second State of the Nation address ( SONA) on July 24, 2017, Duterte announced: “I have directed DOF and BIR to accept Mighty’s offer of P25 billion to pay its tax liabilities.” Duterte’s statement signalled the executive fiat to the settlement accord. For its part, the DoF said the P25-B tag could go up to P30 billion because it would include the collected value added tax (VAT) from the sale of Mighty to Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and that Mighty would voluntarily shut down. Then Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III hailed the tax settlement accord because it came from “a single entity in the country’s history.”

Since Rodrigo Duterte is Carpio’s father-in-law, speculations that Mans himself influenced his father-in-law flew thick. Business newspapers here reported that JTI bought Mighty at a purchase price of P45 billion. The sale included Mighty’s manufacturing and distribution, business, assets, and Intellectual Property Rights, including those owned by Wong Chu King Holdings Inc. and affiliates. It was funded via an interim loan from JTI. Mighty paid the government P3.44 billion initial payment in July 2017. It was followed by P21.5 billion after closing the JTI takeover sometime in Sept. 2017. The VAT of P5 billion followed, reaching a total of P30 billion for the government.

Of the P46.8 billion, P26.8 billion went to the government and P20 billion to the original owners. After the payment, the DoJ withdrew the criminal complaints.Cigarettes with fake stamps were destroyed. The Department of Finance (DoF) said JTI compliance led to a 200% increase in “sin tax” payments in two months. It was argued at that time that the government won because it got cash immediately instead of years of court litigation. Tax experts argued that the BIR and Bureau of Customs (BoC) historically lose or are on the wait mode because it takes a decade or longer to reach a decision on big tax cases.

The P30 billion was an unprecedented single collection, according to the DoF and it was used to fund non-budget items like calamity expenditures. Moreover, the JTI, being partly owned by Japanese government, is a better tax complier, so future excise tax collection would not be a problem. Mighty then closed its operations and the brand became a casualty. It was policy win against illicit trade, it was argued.

ONE-TIME ‘GIFT’.Critics said the P25 billion tax settlement could be what is called in business circles a “sweeheart contract” because the discount could reach a little over P12 billion. The withdrawal of criminal charges also signalled that any erring firm could negotiate after getting caught with fake stamps ad the original owners earn P20 billion from sale after paying tax liabilities. There were perceptions that it was Rodrigo Duterte’s one-time “gift’ to the couple, as they stood to earn a fortune from the tax settlement issue. It was Rodrigo’s way to atone for the many years of neglect he did to his only daughter, whom he professed to be her favorite. The Carpio couple was said to have earned a windfall from the deal, possibly reaching at least P2 billion All Carpio had was the presidential power of his father-in-law to swing the deal.