Today, Tax Collector Alfonso Trona fired back at the Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) in a paid advertisement, following a rectified press release in which the OM suggested that Curaçao’s Tax Department had granted repayment arrangements stretching as long as 200 years. Trona insists no such agreements were ever made, calling the OM’s statements “unfounded and damaging.”

The response sounds powerful, but the real question is whether Trona is in any position to strike such a confident tone. The problems within the Tax Department did not begin yesterday, and the criticism has not come from the OM alone.

Over the past years, reports from the government’s audit bureau SOAB and repeated warnings from the Board of Financial Supervision (Cft) have pointed to deep-rooted issues: disorganization, arbitrariness, and preferential treatment. These are not isolated incidents but signs of a structural problem in both culture and management.

Trona himself has faced criticism in Parliament and from Finance Minister Javier Silvania, particularly for failing to act on audit findings and for allowing tax arrears to spiral. His assurances that everything now operates under uniform and transparent rules sound like more of the same. Without fresh, independent audits to prove those claims on paper, they remain little more than words.

It is understandable that the Tax Collector wants to defend his department against mistakes made by the OM. But credibility is not regained through advertisements or public statements. It must be earned through accountability and openness. That means ordering new, thorough audits and making the results public. Only then will the people of Curaçao know whether the Tax Department is truly functioning with integrity.

Until that happens, Trona’s strong words will carry little weight.