|
By Sam Mediavilla, Reporter
Internal Revenue Commissioner
Jose Mario Buñag was pressed into resigning by the President,
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita acknowledged Wednesday.
“I know that he was asked to
resign,” Ermita said of Buñag.
He also confirmed reports that
Bunag was offered an ambassadorial position reportedly either in
Norway or The Netherlands.
Deputy Commissioner Lilian Hefti
was named officer in charge of the Bureau of Internal Revenue while
the Palace waits for Bunag to decide whether to accept the
ambassadorial post.
In his letter to the President,
Buñag thanked Mrs. Arroyo for the opportunity to serve in
government.
“Although the task of tax
collection is very difficult and intricate, dependent upon variables
in economic development and growth, as well as the accuracy of the
estimated collection goal, we have tried our best to meet the
administration’s expectations,” Buñag said.
Rumors that Buñag was on the way
out surfaced after the BIR missed collection targets for the first
two quarters of the year.
Ermita dismissed speculations
that the dismal performance of the BIR was the offshoot of the rift
between Buñag and Finance Secretary Margarito Teves.
He said that fact that Teves was
pushing the BIR to shape up so that the national government could
keep its deficit target for 2008 did not mean that the two officials
were feuding.
He also denied that the
ambassadorial post offered to Buñag was meant to be an incentive
for him to leave the BIR.
In a radio interview, Buñag
announced he was turning down the offer.
|
