The Bureau of Internal Revenue, in a desperate move to increase tax collections and meet its target, is now zeroing on small retailers, especially those in the many Metro Manila bazaars which proliferate during the Christmas season, and even those small entrepreneurs in flea markets.

Pretty soon, even those shops put up by the families of overseas Filipino workers with their dollar remittances will be prone to the raids of BIR agents.

This brings to fore how desperate the bureau has become after Commissioner Sixto Esquivias resigned out of shame for not meeting the agency’s collection targets. Bureau insiders, however, know that Esquivias resigned for a reason other than what has been published in the newspapers. This involved a Swiss company that proposed to monitor cigaret tax collection using stamps.

But that’s another story.

Making small entrepreneurs who constitute what is called the underground economy is a reflection on how desperate the bureau has been because of its inability to collect from rich individuals and businesses.

One of the reasons for shortfalls in tax collection and even Customs duties is the propensity of Malacañang to layer accountability and responsibility.

There’s, for instance, the accommodation of the husband of Senator Miriam Santiago, Jun Santiago, as presidential adviser on taxing big business. Similarly, there’s the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group going after smugglers at Customs which blurs the line of responsibility and accountability of Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales.

The failure of both the BIR and Customs to meet their collection targets is due to lack of dedication and efficiency. While we understand these agencies’ constraints, we also know improved collection is not an impossibility.

It can be done with less corruption, which is the real reason for the shortfalls.

* * *

Almost on cue, the propaganda machine of Liberal Party standard-bearer Senator Noynoy Aquino, led by Yellow Fanatics, disguised as columnists, jumped on former Senate President Manny Villar. This was after Villar told his Manila Overseas Press Club audience that with him, “what you see is what you get, not the son of a father or mother, not somebody with a taipan behind him.”

Villar could only refer to Senator Noynoy Aquino, whose only credential is that he is the son of famous parents, and Senator Chiz Escudero, who has bolted the Nationalist People’s Coalition which was founded by businessman Danding Cojuangco.

Noynoy’s followers, who have practically canonized him, went on to attack Villar on non-sequitur and illogical arguments. They remained quiet, however, on how a presidential aspirant should run as his own man.

Santa Banana, should we, the voting public, settle for somebody whose only claim to the presidency are his famous parents? We would be stupid if we simply bought this line of the Corystas and the members of the Yellow Brigade.

* * *

I would like to warn the Commission on Elections that the National Movement of Free Elections, with its 800,000 volunteers nationwide, could be used for electioneering purposes. Former Philamlife president Joey Cuisia, now chairman of Namfrel, and former Aquino Cabinet member Ting Paterno, now vice chairman, are both rabid Corystas.

Recall that Namfrel has a history of being used as a tool of many presidential candidates in activities like “Quick Count.” While Namfrel cannot now engage in quick count because of poll automation, it could still be used by its leaders to influence the outcome of the polls.

How? By having its volunteers enter the polling precincts to influence voters to shade the name of Namfrel’s choices for president and vice president.

My gulay, can you imagine Namfrel volunteers telling the elderly and the illiterate what to shade in their automated ballots? That is of course if the Comelec will commit the mistake of allowing Namfrel volunteers to enter polling precincts.

* * *

Interior Secretary Ronnie Puno hit the nail on the head when he said the Moro Islamic Liberation Fund knew the kidnappers of Columban Irish priest, Fr. Michael Sinnott.

Ask any Mindanaoan and he’ll tell you that the MILF knows every kidnap case in Mindanao or even has been a part of it.

Remember when three rogue commanders committed atrocities in Mindanao, and even beheaded captured government soldiers? They were identified, and when the government sought their surrender through the MILF, the separatist movement leaders demurred. Until now, the MILF hasn’t done anything about these rogue commanders.

In the case of the kidnapped Columban priest, a rogue commander has asked for $2 million in ransom. Now the MILF wants to join the military in its effort to rescue the priest. That is the biggest joke of all. A Muslim will always protect another Muslim. That’s just how it is.

Note also that when the military try to go after the dreaded Abu Sayyaf in Sulu, it ends up fighting with the Moro National Liberation Front instead. This is another proof that Muslims will protect their fellow Muslims.

The government is so trusting of Muslims in Mindanao! No wonder it is losing the war against separatism.

* * *

Why the government insists on talking peace with the MILF despite its knowledge that this group is involved in the kidnap of the priest is difficult to understand.

The government peace panel continues to bend over backwards to accommodate the MILF even as it knows that the MILF comes to the peace table with bloody hands. It has blatantly violated ceasefire conditions.

Isn’t that masochism on the part of government?

It’s a matter of trust. How can the government still trust the MILF?

If the MILF truly wants peace in Mindanao, it should start by prevailing upon the kidnappers to release Fr. Sinnott.

* * *

If Senator Chiz Escudero insists on running for president, even without a party, a running mate, and with only a motley group of guest senatorial hopefuls, he really wants to commit political suicide.

By abandoning the Nationalist People’s Coalition that nurtured him as a lawmaker for nine years, Escudero actually painted himself in a corner. He now has only three options: He could run for president without a party. He could run for vice president, also without a party. Or he could stay in the Senate and try again in 2016.

If the kid continues with his bid for Malacañang, he must really be naïve and immature. How can he win at the grassroots level?

It has been said that those who cannot learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. Escudero should be reminded that in 1992, Miriam Santiago ran alone and even led in surveys. In the end, she lost to President Fidel V. Ramos.

* * *

The move of the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita to eject some 5,000 alleged “trespassers” from the Tarlac sugar estate could be the acid test of Senator Noynoy Aquino’s bid for the presidency.

First of all, with Hacienda Luisita in the headlines again, we cannot but recall how the late president Cory Aquino circumvented the agrarian reform law so that the hacienda would not be partitioned among its thousands of tenants. Recall that the Cojuangcos opted for the stock distribution scheme.

This scheme in effect made the Cojuangcos the managers of the Hacienda Luisita, giving the tenants stipends of the profits of the estate.

That ripoff of the tenants betrayed the insensitivity of the late President to the conditions of the tenants. It also showed how she used her office to circumvent the agrarian reform law.

And yet, the propagandists of the Liberal Party standard-bearer dare foist on the people the myth that the late Cory was a saint.

Hacienda Luisita’s attempt to ejects the so-called “trespassers” should become Noynoy’s litmus test as a presidential candidate. If Noynoy is truly the person of integrity that his supporters are portraying him to be, he should do what is moral by submitting his family’s estate to agrarian reform. Santa Banana, will Noynoy do it only to purify himself of the sins of his parents? I wonder.

The hacienda spokesman claims that 96 percent of the original tillers of the estate prefer stock distribution than agrarian reform.

Oh yeah? Tell that to the marines. Who are the Cojuangcos trying to fool? Note that for years, there has been unrest in the hacienda because of the clamor of tenants to own their farms. To say that the hacienda tillers prefer stock distribution is to tell an outright lie.