House Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta, a candidate for senator in the May 9 polls, claimed that media giant ABS-CBN Corp. “hid” the “right amount” of taxes it should pay through its subsidiary, Big Dipper.
This is false.
STATEMENT
In a Feb 5. interview, MJ Montejar, host of SMNI News’ Point of Order, asked Marcoleta to weigh in on the ongoing investigation of Big Dipper, an “IT-enabled company” that focuses on digitization and distribution of content in the local and international market.
Marcoleta, without presenting any evidence, replied:
“‘Yung Big Dipper kasi, MJ, dapat ang nanguna sa imbestigasyon nito [ay] ‘yung Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) sapagkat ang pinag-uusapan natin dito ay ‘yung malalim na isyu ng tax evasion. Talagang ginamit nila ‘yung Big Dipper para … itago nila ‘yung karampatang buwis na dapat na bayaran ng ABS-CBN.”
(MJ, the Bureau of Internal Revenue should have led the investigation of Big Dipper because we’re talking about the deep issue of tax evasion here. They (ABS-CBN Corporation) really used Big Dipper to … hide the right amount of taxes that ABS-CBN should pay.)
Source: SMNI News Official Youtube Channel, LIVE! Point of Order | February 5, 2022, Feb. 5, 2022, watch from 38:10 to 38:33
Big Dipper is a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corp. that oversees the network’s Media Asset Management system, including digitizing its analog video materials and checking video quality, among other responsibilities.
FACT
Big Dipper and ABS-CBN have been paying their taxes correctly over the years, according to officials from the BIR and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) who testified in a congressional hearing on ABS-CBN’s franchise on July 1, 2020.
Read the full story on VERA Files Fact Check.
