Davide Explains Previous Income Tax Payment

Challenged PJ to Lifestyle Check

Cebu gubernatorial aspirant Hilario “Junjun” Davide III has claimed that he has no unexplained wealth and he paid the correct income taxes to the government as he challenged his main opponent Cebu’s 3rd District Representative Pablo John “PJ” Garcia to allow himself to be subjected to a lifestyle check.

The lawmaker earlier asked Davide, son of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., to explain on why his income tax paid at the Bureau of Internal Revenue in 2010 and 2011 was only P16,000 and P25,000, respectively.

According to the PJ, son of then Cebu governor, a barangay captain is even paying higher taxes out of his little amount of honorarium compared to Davide who owns a house, cars and whose children are studying in prestigious schools.

Davide’s main opponent for governor recalled that during the 2010 State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Aquino even hit some professionals such as lawyers and doctors for not declaring correct income thus stealing taxes from the government.

Some of Davide’s political allies also requested the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to find out if Garcia really revealed the correct amount of his assets and income considering that he was able to maintain an expensive mansion in Barangay Guadalupe.

The report said that Garcia had declared an acquisition cost of his lot at P900,000 in 2008 but the value reportedly ballooned to P10.4 million as of December 31, 2011.

Garcia said the house was built through a P10 million loan from a bank in 2008 and that he has paid P14,000 of real property tax for the said house.

But Davide said his political opponent should first show his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN) first and prove how he would be able to pay his amortization for his mansion and luxury vehicles “if he wanted us to believe that all these were acquired through his bank loans given his income is anchored only from his compensation as a
congressman.”

Reacting to Garcia’s challenge for him to answer why he only paid a little amount of taxes in 2010 and 2011, Davide explained that “The individual income tax I paid represents my share of the partnership net income in the law office, which I co-founded. I have hardly been practicing since entering politics and whatever legal work I have been working on is mostly even pro bono.”

“My income tax for 2010 and 2011 is low because, as provided by law, the net income of the professional partnership was divided among the partners. I have no other income sources since I did not have any government position. Will PJ now submit himself to a lifestyle check? Yes or no?.” Davide said.