QC Director lauds Pangasinan BIR Exec

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

QUEZON CITY – “She’s a performer,” quipped by the director of the second biggest tax regional office in the country to a chief executive of the Bureau of Internal Revenue in Eastern Pangasinan that has been excelling in tax collection's every month.

Director Marina de Guzman cited that Revenue District Office (RDO) - 6 Chief Maria Isabel Barcia-Utit is efficient and assiduous as seen on the Weekly Weekender.

TAX HONCHOS. Quezon City Regional Director Marina de Guzman
 and Revenue District Office - 6 Chief Maria Isabel Barcia - Utit

“Mahusay siya kasi trained na iyan sa akin sa Tuguegarao kasama ko siya sa Tuguegarao. Tapos magkasama kami dito. Actually iyon ang program that we put in place during my time they are just reaping,” she stressed.

Utit was under then Region 2 Director De Guzman when the former was the RDO Chief of Nueva Vizcaya’s province.

She was also the superior of Utit when then Region 1 BIR Director De Guzman covered Eastern Pangasinan.

She said that the Eastern Pangasinan’s honcho can be a shoo-in the post of assistant regional director.

“Oo, she is qualified CPA-Lawyer by profession”.

De Guzman cited that the burgeouning economy of Urdaneta City is one of the reasons why RDO-6 leads in the tax collection in the six RDOs in the Ilocos Region.

"RD De Guzman and RD Dizon are both dedicated to the service and are themselves real performers. They settle for nothing less than excellent so their subordinates have no choice but to be performers as well," Utit reacted when told about the praises to her of De Guzman.

 De Guzman cited the lack of enforcers as one of the reasons why some revenue district offices in the region did not hit or exceed their tax collection in the first semester of this year.

“Siguro, first and foremost kulang ng tao that’s why when I was there we were working on 45% capacity. The RDOs there have lots of taxpayers but they could not tap because of lack of personnel”.

She said however that businesses in Region 1 are already there waiting for the tax officials to bill them.

When she was the top woman of  BIR Region 1 last year she collected P11.8 billion while her successor Teresita Dizon was given a tax goal of P14 billion this year.

De Guzman said that one of the hard working RDO chiefs in Region 1 is Central Pangasinan RDO-4 Chief Merlyn Vicente.

“She came to the office earlier and left late after office hour,” she said of the Calasiao, Pangasinan based executive.

De Guzman was mandated by the government to collect P144 billion this year in the entire Quezon City.

“My annual (goal) in Region-1 was only a tax target of one of my revenue district offices here,” she cited.

Quezon City’s P144 billion is second in the country after Makati City’s P160 billion collection goal.