BIR exec wishes PH has training institute like China

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

URDANETA CITY – The top executive of the Bureau of Internal Revenue in Eastern Pangasinan wished each of the government departments in the Philippines has a training institute just like in Mainland China.

Eastern Pangasinan Bureau of Internal Revenue's top honcho
lawyer Maria Isabel Utit poses with Social Security System
Chairman Amado D. Valdez during the latter visit at the
Revenue District Office-6 in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan.

Lawyer Maria Isabel Utit, the Revenue District Office-6 Chief based here, observed that each Ministry, equivalent to a government department in the Philippines, in China has a training institute. Each of the training institute, she elaborated, is like a university that has a campus. Aside from administration building, she cited that inside the campus it has classroom buildings like testing center, hotel, infirmary, restaurant, canteen, a mini-grocery, and gymnasium.

She said the gymnasium of the training institute when  she attended late last year the “Seminar on Tax Administration and Taxpayer Service for Developing Countries II in 2006” held in Beijing, People’s Republic of China.

“It has an Olympic standard sports facilities like swimming pool, oval grounds, table tennis, body building gym, lawn tennis, volleyball court, basketball court, etcetera where training participants can avail of for free. Participants are accommodated in the institute's hotel and meals were served at each of the restaurants which can be rated as three- stars hotel.”

She fancied that the Philippines could emulate China on these innovations.
“Sana meron din ganoong training institutes ang Philippines. Sa atin kasi pag may trainings, kailangan pa mag-rent ng venue at maghanap ng hotels. And meals are usually served on the venue itself. Sa atin pag may pa-training, maiiwan muna ang usual na trabaho ng isang opisina para magprepare para sa training it is hosting. Doon e lahat ng trainings, seminars, workshops needed by an office e yon na ang trabaho ng training institutes nila kaya normal operations palagi  ang mga offices,” she said.

Utit, a Certified Public Accountant-Lawyer, could not hide her awe by the phenomenal economic development of Mainland China.
"Suzhuo Industrial Park or SIP is a 289 square kilometer industrial development park. It has an industrial, commercial, residential, and amusement areas. The industrial area is the manufacturing area for the latest and most advanced technology, residential area is intended to accommodate around one million residents of SIP to bring home the workers closer to the office. The amusement area is built around it's body of water. SIP is expected to be the world's new Singapore in 2030," she stressed.

She explained that the leaders in China and Singapore collaborated in how the former steered her booming economy as based on how Singapore developed her highly successful city- state.

Utit hailed too the efficient tax system of the Chinese.

She cited that immediately after a consumer bought say, a pair of shoes, the taxes the government indirectly collected from the taxpayer and the seller as seen on the receipt is automatically wired to the national government tax data.