Arum says Filipinos should be outraged at BIR action against Pacquiao
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, a Harvard law graduate who worked under the late Sen. Robert Kennedy when Kennedy was the US Attorney General during the presidency of his brother John F. Kennedy, says Filipinos “should be outraged” at what the Bureau of Internal Revenue has done to boxing hero Manny Pacquiao.
Arum said he cannot believe that the BIR decided to seize the bank deposits of Pacquiao, claiming that he had failed to declare his earnings in fights in the US in 2008 and 2009.
Arum, in a conversation with Yahoo Philippines, branded the BIR action “ ridiculous” and posed the question “what do they want from the kid?”
The timing of the news, one day after Pacquiao was welcomed home as a conquering hero after his smashing victory over former worlds lightweight champion Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios at the Cotai Arena in Macau, was, in Arum’s view “absolutely terrible.”
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Arum revealed that he had given the BIR “all the information including the exact dates the payments were made as well as the receipts from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).”
The world’s leading promoter couldn’t understand why the BIR was demanding a “certified copy from the IRS” pointing out that in the US, unlike in the Philippines perhaps, “any (US) government document is valid and you don’t go back and ask for a certified copy.”
He seemed upset when he said the BIR is in effect saying “what we gave them is a scrap of paper.”
However, he did mention that efforts are underway to get the IRS to present them with certified copies, but cautioned that they “tend to drag their heels.”
Arum believes the current tax issue with the BIR won’t be a distraction when Pacquiao resumes training for a scheduled return to the ring, tentatively on April 12 in the United States.
The astute promoter expressed confidence that Pacquiao “will be mentally ready” since what he termed “the hassle, is not going to last very much longer because he’ll get that resolved” adding “hopefully we’ll get the IRS certification now that the whole issue has been publicized.”
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
