Elitism and Impunity: When the Government’s ‘too soft ‘ toward the Influential and Allies, while too hard on the poor and the dissent

The lead vocalist of the ‘90s band, Ely Buendia, recently took a swipe at the country’s tax collection agency for failing to apprehend the big-time and rich tax delinquents.

“When the BIR can’t even do anything about certain individuals who owe us tons of money, isn’t that the very definition of elitism? Fight me” asked Buendia, suggesting that the agency’s failure to go after some people reeks ‘too much’ of elitism.

When the BIR can’t even do anything about certain individuals who owe us tons of money, isn’t that the very definition of elitism? Fight me😁

— Ely Buendia (@elybuendia9001) March 31, 2022

Selective justice has taken a toll in many societies for centuries, with many government leaders even at the helm of it. Elites exist because governments allow them to thrive, and in return, empower them to remain in power for an indefinite period. In a society dominated by the elites, impunity and selective justice prevail, while the poor and the dissent are thrown to the sidelines, and left to receive the punishment that governments are too tame to apply on allies and enablers.

It has been more than a decade already, since the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court, affirmed 1997 ruling on the Marcoses’ estate tax liability as final and executory, and yet the case has barely moved an inch. Nearly twenty-three years later, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) remains a failure in fulfilling its mandate to collect those billions of pesos, back to the public coffers.

Is the government being selective in its actions against wrongdoers? Is BIR, which is directly under the executive branch of the government, soft in executing its task on influential people and government allies, while being too hard on smaller entities like the poor or dissenters? If the answer is no, then why are the very same people who are supporting the Marcoses are the ones who pushed for ABS-CBN’s franchise denial because of the company’s alleged failure to settle its taxes (which the BIR already clarified and disproved).

In an interview, Imee Marcos already agreed the family has to settle their family’s tax obligations, albeit questioning the timing of the critics in bringing it up. However, the senator seems to be just trying to find an escape hole out of this issue because it has been entirely within their power to close the case long ago. Did she forget that the matter was only resurfacing now because they did nothing to settle it before?

The Marcoses seem to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of selective justice and elitism in our government. While an old man got apprehended for stealing mangoes from his neighbor, Imelda Marcos, who got convicted for seven counts of graft, was able to freely walk away without seeing herself confined in a prison cell even for a day. 

Can this government try to be a little discreet in its being selective? It seems that it is utterly incapable.