Pay your taxes willingly and promptly. Citizenship implies not only rights but also obligations.

Title

Language

English

Source

Code of Ethics submitted to the President of the Philippines

Year

1940

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

the condition of""the masses, protect the poor and ignorant against exploitation, and otherwise insure the enjoyment of life, liberty and property. And the burden of effective law enforcement falls heavily on the citizen no less than on the government. For, unless the citizen jg imbued with an intelligent concept of the supremacy of the law, no government, but the most despotic and tyrannical, can be expected{ t<:> p1·eserve anB. Jl\aintain even' the semblance pf a well-orderd society. We should, therefore, .follow the injunction of Bonifh.cio, in his enumeration of the Du- , ties of the Sons of the People: "Let the acts of each, in good government and the performance of. his duties, be such as to serve as an example to .his neighbor." it is not. enough .that a citizen should take care that in his daily life he does not violate any of the many rules, regulations and ordinances of the State. He must' also see that the laws are observed by the whole communi~, that the officers of the law attend to their enfo1'cement and properly ' perform their duties. Pa'Ssive inaction or tolerance is worse than actual and fragrant infringement of the law of the land, for in the latter case the law itself provides a remedy and administers a corrective measure to the erring individual; but the l11w is powerless to d~al with that type of citizen who is so wanting in civic courage that' he allows crime to be committed in his presence without even lifting a finger to prevent ,its execution, who is so lacking in civic pride that he tolerates the evils of vice and gllaft in the community, without even taking any step. looking towards their eradication; who has . such a distorted sense of civic values that so long as his selfish pmsuits are not molested he does not even give a thought to whatever happens to his neighbo1"S or to his fellow citizens for that matter, and w-lio .does not care wliether 'here is such a thing as "government" or not. A public office is a public trust. The beneficiaries o:t: an established government are the people and the people only. The promotion of the common good is the guiding principle of all governmental activities. The holding of a public office is not an occasion for personal enhancement but is an opportunity for p;,blic service. Citizens should participate not only in the privileges but also in the duties of citizenship. They should take a d;rect interest in public ai'fairs, participate in the discussion of public policies, and exercise a prudent selection of the men who will carry out the measures for the attainment of the public welfarn. In the language of Rizal, "Peoples and governments are correlated and complementary; a fatuous government would be an anomaly among a righteous people, just as corrupt people cannot exist under just rulers and wise laws. 'What the peOple are, so .. is their governm~nt.'" • IV. PAY YOUR TAXES WILLINGLY AND PROMPTLY. CITIZENSHIP IMPLIES NOT ONLY RIGHTS BUT ALSO OBLIGATIONS. Taxatio~ is an essential power of government. Ma.n is a social and political being. His nature demands that he live in the Mcie-· ty .of his fellowmen. Living in society, however, entails rights\ and duties, among the most important of which is the duty of each and every citizen to pay his just share in the expenses of the government. · We enjoy rights and privileges under the p.rotec1jon of the established government and we must pay the price of that protection. Taxes are needed to defray the cost of public· administration, law enforcement and " dispensation of justice; national defense, and the promotion of social justice; and other important public services •like the promotion of education, •agriculture, .trade and industry, as well as the construction of needed public works and improvements. 'When the early Filipinos fell under the suzerainty of the Malayan empires of ShriVisaya and Madjapahit and the Chinese Ming Dynasty, taxation took the ~Orll! of tribute and it was distasteful ·because it was a mark of subjection to alien domination. And when the Spanish conquistadores came, this fo1·m of tribpte wa•s renewed and imposed in the guise of "polos y servicios.'' Tax revolts were fref!uent which were directed not only against the abuses of the tax collectors, but also against the principle itself. Whe1·e, however, the Filipinos believed that the contributions were for their benefit, they r'eadily paid their dues. When by proclamation of February 8, 1814 the Governor-General explained that civil taxes were eS'Sential in order to defray the expenses of the1 g·overnment, taxation proved / nevertheless irksome to the Filipinos because they did not have representation and hence • had no voice iii that government. Taxation without i·epresentation in the Spanish CorTHE LOCAL GOVERNMENT li:EVIEW SUPPLEMENT PAGE 7

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