INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Justice (DoJ) should be faulted for the two-year delay in resolving the charges filed against professional cager Paul “Asi” Taulava for alleged violation of the Tax Code, the judge hearing the case said Thursday.

At the hearing of the case, Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 37 Judge Augustos Diaz rescheduled the arraignment of Taulava to March 25 after the Coca-Cola player and the Bureau of Internal Revenue failed to show up.

Diaz said had the Taulava been present today before the court, he would have to provisionally dismiss the case because the player’s right to speedy disposition of case has been violated.

Taulava's lawyer, Eduardo Francisco, told the court that the DoJ has not yet resolved the motion for reconsideration filed by the BIR 2 years ago.

"If the accused is present, he could be arraigned and his case will be provisionally dismissed. If the BIR is here, I will ask them if they want to continue with the case. But the principal players are not around," the judge said.

"So it’s not the fault of the court. It's the fault of the DoJ," Diaz said.

The BIR filed an appeal after the DoJ ordered the city prosecutor to withdraw the case against Taulava.

Taulava is accused of failing to file returns for taxable years 1999 to 2003; failure to register for taxable years 1999 to 2000; failure to pay the annual registration fee for taxable years 2002 and 2003; and illegally securing more than one tax information number (TIN).