MANILA – A group has filed an online petition to ask the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to file a case against presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. over his alleged non-payment of P203 billion in estate taxes.

Narzalina Lim, co-founder of the Alliance of Women for Action Towards Reform (AWARE), said they filed the petition as taxpayers seeking equal treatment under the law.

“We are taxpayers and we pay our taxes regularly and faithfully, and I don’t think that the Marcoses should be exempt from the law and we are sick and tired of the lies Bongbong Marcos is saying that there is no finality yet in the settlement of this estate tax,” she told ANC’s “Rundown.”

“That is a blatant lie because the Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that these estate taxes must be paid and we are just asking the BIR to do its duty. Now, sending a demand letter is not enough, now is the time to file criminal charges,” Lim added.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue has confirmed sending the family of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. a written demand to settle their estate tax liabilities.

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The Marcos camp, however, has yet to address the issue.

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AWARE’s petition has more than 17,000 signatures on website Change.org as of Thursday morning.

While saying that she is not surprised with the number of signatories so far, Lim expressed hope that more will sign their petition in the coming days.

“A lot of people are angry. April 15 we have to file our taxes again. And, you know, ordinary workers’ taxes are withheld automatically, we pay taxes to government, and it goes to corruption, not all of it is used, because there is a lot of leakage happens through corruption,” she said.

“It should be more. But it’s only been 5 days so we’re hoping there’ll be more signatories,” Lim added.

Lim said they hope to send their letter to BIR Commissioner Cesar Dulay soon.

“We will put pressure on the BIR and I think there are many other groups or citizens who are putting the same pressure. It has become a big election issue,” she said.

“The Marcoses should be held accountable. Not only for this estate tax but for the income taxes Bongbong Marcos failed to pay in 1981-1985 when he was governor of Ilocos, for which he should have been disqualified as a candidate for the presidency.”

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--ANC, 24 March 2022