The Department of Finance (DoF) is now turning to Facebook and Twitter in its campaign to track down tax cheats and meet President Aquino’s pledge to boost revenue.

Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, said the department will be launching Pera ng Bayan Facebook and Twitter accounts where anyone can report erring revenue and customs collectors and suspected tax evaders and smugglers.

“We are embarking on an ambitious effort to recruit the populace in bringing our fight against tax evaders and smugglers to every doorstep, every neighborhood, and every office space,” Purisima said.

The finance department will launch its Facebook and Twitter accounts tentatively this week.

“And in the days to come, we will continue to develop ways in which we can enjoin the public in being proactive managers of the public’s funds,” Purisima said.

The government is resorting to the social networking sites to help boost collection after tax revenue fell to 12.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2009 from a record 17 percent in 1997.

Purisima said he was inspired by a case in China where someone took a picture of a corrupt bureaucrat wearing an expensive Rolex watch and posted the picture on the Internet, leading to the prosecution of the official.

He said that with so many Filipinos carrying camera-equipped mobile phones, it would be harder for smugglers, tax evaders and other criminals to hide evidence of their misdeeds.

The national government is losing about P250 billion a year due to tax evasion.

Purisima said the present tax revenue ratio of the government to gross domestic product (GDP) is only about 13 percent, which is significantly lower compared with about 16 percent in neighboring countries.

“From that, it's obvious that we're losing roughly 3 percent of our GDP. There's really a room for improvement,” Purisima said.