Malacanang has taken a direct hand in solving tax evasion and smuggling problems to raise more money for the government, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Joel Tan-Torres announced Thursday.

Tan-Torres said President Arroyo has formed a committee to review, assess and evaluate tax cheating cases filed in the courts but which were subsequently dismissed.

In signing Administrative Order No. 277, the BIR chief said the President was concerned of the twin problems and wanted to determine the reasons why the courts sided with smugglers and tax cheats.

The President also instructed the independent review committee to conduct an inventory of all pending cases and identify priority cases for stepped-up prosecution and immediate resolution.

She also instructed the panel to come out with recommendation to boost chances of getting favorable decisions.

Tan-Torres said the committee will be headed by a retired member of the judiciary with two representatives from the private sector and the media.

The BOC and the BIR will provided secretariate support.

The President also instructed the Department of Justice and the Department of Finance support the panel in the discharge of its functions. (Jun Ramirez)