It is hard to ignore the latest machinations of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) who has managed to chook Manny Pacquiao's bank accounts on allegations that the people's champ has not paid the correct amount of taxes. The BIR, without calculating of the eventual backlash of its unpopular order, has made itself a “talk of the town” and the agency's obvious harassments on Pacquiao momentarily removed people's thoughts on the aftermath of supertyphoon Yolanda and the national government's incompetence to handle the crisis. BIR Head Kim Henares has made herself a punching bag as she gets wild reactions from ordinary taxpayers who have shown sympathy on Pacquiao, who at the time the BIR issued its harsh order had just emerged triumphant over his ring foe in Macau, Bambam Rios.

One particular afterthought that is hard to dismiss as we reflect on BIR's actuations is that if the agency could do such a cruel treatment on Pacquiao on the very days when the Filipino people were still scouring a source of inspiration amid the swath of destruction brought about by Yolanda, the BIR, given its vast reservoir of power and influence, could very well strangle any taxpayer's neck in enforcing its order, valid or invalid. Pacquiao's only fault is that he does not belong to the Aquino administration. His being a congressman has no impact on the handlers of the Aquino administration. His being a billionaire and most popular sports icon in the country could not cause intimidation on the minds of the BIR.

Granting without admitting that Pacquiao indeed has not presented genuine proofs that he already paid the correct amount of taxes in the US, is it an enough ground for the Philippine government to treat him harshly? We all believe that tax is the lifeblood of the nation. Without it, the government cannot perform its mandated functions, and without taxes, the government could cease to exist. We also encourage all citizens to pay the correct amount of taxes to the government. Whether one is a boxing champion or an ordinary street sweeper, all must give to Cesar what is due to Cesar. What appalled us is when the government would use its unbridled power, in the guise of enforcing tax laws, to oppress those who refuse to join its political troops.

There is no other sensible reason why Pacquiao has become a target of government's persecution: he is not a Liberal Party member. Let's look at the halls of the Philippine Senate and the House of Representatives where hoards of thieves have been stealing the country's financial resources leaving millions of Filipinos in deep poverty. Have the bank accounts of these honorable thieves been subjected to freeze order? One thing, are the cohorts of Janet Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the multi-billion pork barrel scam, faithfully paying taxes to the government? How about the likes of Lucio Tan who for years have successfully evaded paying billions worth of tax obligations? What is in Pacquiao that he should be made a sacrificial lamb by the BIR in an effort to employ damage control for the government's failure to respond to Yolanda crisis? The Filipino people would have appreciated the motives of the BIR and the Aquino Administration if, before hunting Pacquiao's bank accounts, they have retrieved what Napoles had stolen from us.