Owners didn’t pay correct taxes worth P5.8M, issue receipts
by Vanessa Claire Lucero
Correspondent
At least 14 employees and four trainees of Blu Tops, a Korean resto-bar in Nivel Hills Cebu City,
found themselves out of work yesterday after the establishment was padlocked by the Bureau of Internal
Revenue for tax liabilities amounting to P5.8 million.
The owners, both Koreans, were not around when BIR officials came to serve the temporary closure order.
BIR Assistant Regional Director Manuel Mapoy said during a press briefing that the owners failed to pay
the correct tax to BIR.
The restaurant was cited for under declaration of sales and revenue, and non-issuance of receipts.
Blu Tops president Marlita Robledo, 37, was present when the BIR closed the restaurant.
She said they were sent notices about the violations but failed to respond in time.
¨The documents were already sent to Manila by the time we were able to respond,¨ said bookkeeper Mark
Jugar, a certified public accountant.
At the restaurant, Robledo and the workers were told to remove perishable goods and unplug all electric
devices.
The front door was locked with a chain by BIR officials led by Regional Director Hermenio Palamine and
BIR Deputy Commissioner for Operations Nelson Aspe.
A sheet of paper was glued over the closed door panels like a seal and signed.
A tarpaulin hung in front of the establishment notified the public of the closure order.
Robledo, a Filipina, was Blu Tops president for around five years after Melissa Sosmena, its first
president.
Robleod said the restobar owner, whom she knows only as ´Sir Gigi´, travels often and his wife “Ma´am
Olive´ frequently oversees the restaurant.
Now that the she and the staff are jobless, they worry about where to get their income.
Robledo said she was helping support the treatment of her husband´s brother was in the hospital for
dialysis.
¨Mao lagi nagproblema mi karon. Karon nag sirado mi, asa na pod mi ron og bayad (That’s why we have
have a big problem. Now that we´ve closed, where will we get money for payments?),” she said tearfully.
According to the BIR, Blu Tops will be closed for at least five days and will remain so until the
owners pay tax liabilities amounting to P5.8 million as of July 20.
This amount had accumulated over the years from 2013 to the first quarter of 2015.
Before serving the order, the BIR conducted surveillance for 15 days through its special investigation
division for Revenue Region 13 (RR 13). The division was able to prove the restobar was not able to
accurately declare their gross sales and revenues.
Mapoy said the establishment was given fair warning through an initial notice, preliminary 5-day notice
and a 48-hour notice, but that the management “did not pay attention”.
Under Mapoy, five establishments, including Blu Tops, have been issued temporary closing orders by BIR.
The four other establishments were issued the order two years ago but have resumed operating after
paying the tax liabilities.
Blu Tops is the first establishment closed by the BIR this year, but Mapoy revealed that several other
businesses are under surveillance.
In general, most of he establishments under Revenue Region 13 comply with revenue regulations.
¨We hate doing this. We hate this kind of activity but we cannot do anything. We sent them all the
notices. They have an opportunity to settle their tax liabilities but they opted not to,” he said.
The tight watch is part of the Oplan Kandado program of BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares.
BIR Revenue Region 13 was recognized as the top performing region in 2014.
It was one of two regions that surpassed their tax collection goal of P20 billion. It’s target this
year is P25 billion, a goal which Mapoy said the district is close to meeting.