IN her selective policy of running after alleged tax evaders to collect more money for the Aquino administration, Commissioner Kim Henares of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) busies herself issuing press releases.
She finds it more convenient to expose through the media those who have failed to declare their true taxable income. In one of her recent exposés, she took pride in going after a small company that she claimed the BIR has yet to collect a deficiency tax of P1.84 million, inclusive of surcharges and interests for taxable year 2002, which would make the original assessment too small for the public to appreciate in view of her uncollected billions.
But then, nothing may be small for Henares to go after as long as she succeeds in collecting funds for this administration, and even going to the extent of subjecting her targets to trial by publicity. Ironically, while she mourns over a P1.84-million tax deficiency, she seems to fear Golden Donuts Inc. (GDI), which, as the corporate name suggests, sells donuts. In fairness to her and the Aquino administration, she and her boss have only inherited from the previous Arroyo administration the task of either forcing collection from or suing GDI for alleged deficiency tax of P1.51 billion for taxable year 2007.
The huge unpaid tax of GDI resulted from alleged under-declaration of revenues discovered by Othello Dalanon, a former BIR examiner. Dalanon has resigned apparently frustrated over Henares’s refusal to either enforce collection or charge the company not only for nonpayment of correct taxes but also for fraud for under-declaring its revenues in its 2007 income tax returns.
Why didn’t the BIR under the previous Arroyo administration go after GDI when Dalanon’s examination of the company’s books began in 2008? The same question should be addressed to Henares and President Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino 3rd, whose “matuwid na daan” is not straight after all. How come Aquino, the president, and Henares, his chief tax collector, remain sitting on Dalanon’s findings of tax deficiency and fraud against GDI?
Incidentally, since Henares and her President do not have the answer, Due Diligencer could only provide the readers of The Manila Times bits of information about GDI as they trickle in. Recently, it obtained the general information sheet (GIS) for 2007 the company submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). GIS is only one of a number of filings the SEC required for submission by stock corporations.
Among others, it lists a company’s officers and stockholders and their individual holdings.
In 2007, the SEC filing shows GDI had 13 officers and directors. Among them were Leopoldo Prieto, chairman; Walter Spakowski, president; Marixi Prieto, secretary; Miguel Prieto, treasurer; and Pedro Paraiso, chief financial officer. It also listed eight other officers without specific designations, namely, Ma. Pilar Prieto-Lorenzo, John Spakowski, Leopoldo Prieto 3rd, Paolo Romeo Prieto, Stephen Young, Cezar Corcuera, Ernesto. Co and Jocelyn Santos.
GDI had 45 stockholders whose investments amounted to P130.357 million in 2007, according to the same GIS but identified only 20 including corporate stockholders such LLP Enterprises, P35.08 million, or 26.91 percent; Marilex Realty Corp., P18.70 million, or 14.35 percent; Spare Enterprises, P4.69 million, or 3.60 percent; PAMM Inc., P2.36 million, or 1.81 percent; and Metro Bakers Inc., P2.362 million, or 1.81 percent. It also listed RCBC Trust Account as owner of P7.805 million, or 5.99 percent. Since the GIS shows only 20 owners, it is presumed that the rest were hidden under “others” who at No. 21, held 78,659 GDI shares, or 6.03 percent.
The individual stockholders complete the list of GDI’s stockholders in 2007. They were John Spakowski 2nd, P16.729 million, or 12.83 percent; Walter Spakowski, P11.694 million, or 8.97 percent; Richard Young, P3.903 million, or 2.99 percent; Jacinto Jimenez, P2.907 million, or 2 percent; Lucia Spakowski, P1.738 million, or 1.33 percent; Ma. Pilar Prieto-Lorenzo, Ramon Prieto, Eduardo Prieto, Carlos Prieto, Ma. Consuelo Prieto-Guerrero, Ma. Ines Prieto-Borromeo and Ma. Cristina Prieto-Moraza, P1.509 million, or 1.16 percent each; Pedro Paraiso, P2.776 million, or 2.13 percent; and Robert Spakowski, P1.474 million, or 1.13 percent.
For the information of Henares, all of the corporate and individual stockholders, along with GDI’s officers, listed “GDI Building, Reliance corner Sheridan Streets, Mandaluyong City” as their “current residential address.” If in the past, either she could not find them, perhaps, the information here should serve as lead where to find P1.51-billion dough for the government’s coffer.
esdperez@gmail.com
