Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – As the principals in contracting relationships, employers are not liable for the claims of individuals deployed by contractors since these persons are not their employees. However, there are pitfalls which if companies fail to avoid can make them liable for various employment claims as if the workers of contractors are their employees. To avoid such costly mistakes, Center for Global Best Practices invites business owners, management decision-makers, HR practitioners, lawyers and all those in outsourcing businesses to attend this one-day pioneering seminar entitled “Best Practices Guide to Valid Job Contracting and Subcontracting” scheduled on Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Cebu City, Philippines. For details and a complete list of seminars including lectures on Legal Best Practices in Crafting Your HR Code of Discipline, Best Practices in Designing Your HR Forms, Notices and Contracts, Labor Laws for School Owners and Administrators, you may log on to www.cgbp.org or call (02) 842-7148/ 59 and 556-8968/ 69; Cebu lines (032) 512-3106 or 07 or Baguio telephone (074) 423-5148. Mistakes committed in dealing with contractors will hound companies relating to liabilities such as illegal dismissal, back wages, reinstatement, separation pay, money claims, SSS, Philhealth, Pag-Ibig and social legislation benefits, among others. This can cost you millions of losses years ahead when unchecked and unresolved. With that, you have to make sure that you know all the technicalities, strategies and best practices to ensure that you prevent liabilities from unnecessary labor claims and illegal dismissal judgements.

MANILA, Philippines – High income inequality is still widely prevalent in the Philippines and government must collect more taxes from the country’s conglomerates to narrow the gap and boost revenues, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. The Washington-based fund said the government has achieved progress on the fiscal front but still needs to improve tax administration, cut tax exemptions and broaden the tax base further to boost revenues.  “As we discussed, there are still issues related to inequality. There is still very high poverty. Those issues you need to tackle in the medium term,” Naoyuki Shinohara, deputy managing director of IMF told The STAR in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on East Asia. While he lauded reforms and progress achieved on the fiscal front, he said the government must raise taxes slapped on conglomerates. “I think what is important is to strengthen the tax administration, broaden the tax base by eliminating various exceptions. Get more cooperation from conglomerates. Tax administration needs to be stronger,” he said. He said that generally, increasing income tax is better than relying mainly on value added tax (VAT). Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He also said the government must fight smuggling to plug revenue leakages. “Your government is carrying out prudent fiscal policy. The budget deficit is under control. There’s not much concern on that level,” he said. The National Government fiscal deficit for the first month of 2014 stood at P34.2 billion, an indication of Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Property firm Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) is beefing up its shopping malls, hotels and office space offerings in the medium term, riding on the strength of the economy. “Given the growth prospects of the Philippine economy, we will continue to expand all our businesses,” said RLC president and chief operating officer Frederick D. Go. “For our commercial centers division, we will open seven malls in fiscal year 2014. All our locations are carefully selected in the fast-growing cities in the provinces,” Go said. By the end of 2014 fiscal year in September, RLC’s total leasable area will hit 1.07 million square meters (sqm.), up 18 percent from 913,000 sqm a year ago. RLC will further increase its shopping centers with one new mall in fiscal year 2015, and four new commercial centers and two expanded projects in fiscal year 2016. Hence, its leasable area will reach 1.15 million sqm and 1.29 million sqm in fiscal year 2015 and 2016, respectively. For its part, the Robinsons Offices will also put up more business process outsourcing (BPO) towers. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Backed by the robust BPO industry of the Philippines, we continue to be bullish on the growth prospect of our office buildings division,” Go said. Construction are under way for Cyberscape Alpha and Beta while two new office buildings will be created in the P30-billion Bridgetowne mixed-use project in Quezon City. Net leasable area for the office division will climb from 193,000 Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Costlier operations and more expensive raw materials cut through the earnings of listed restaurant chain Pancake House Inc., which is now a part of the Max’s Group of Companies. Pancake House said net income attributable to equity holders of the parent firm slipped by nearly a quarter to P31.75 million in the first three months from P41.56 million a year ago. Consolidated revenues rose 4.81 percent to P926.73 million from P884.19 million. “The growth was attributed to a sustained growth in same base store sales and increase in store network by 4.54 percent or 22 stores to 310 stores as of Mar. 31, 2014 from 288 stores as of March 2013,” Pancake House said. Specifically, store sales rose 4.54 percent to P778.20 million while commissary sales climbed 11 percent to P120.93 million in the first quarter. However, franchise revenues, or the continuing license fee and franchise income, dropped 12 percent to P27.59 million “due to lesser number of franchise stores opened this quarter versus last year,” Pancake House said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 But costs and expenses grew faster than revenues, increasing 6.4 percent to P895.45 million from P841.52 million. For instance, cost of sales increased six percent to P340.1 million from P320.85 million “due to increase in the price of Japanese rice caused by importation problem,” the company said. Consolidated operating expenses jumped nearly 10 percent to P292.68 million from P266.23 million “mainly attributable to change in electricity and LPG rates, Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Cosco Capital Inc., the investment vehicle of retail tycoon Lucio Co, has completed its debut in the debt capital market, raising P5 billion to support acquisitions. The company said Friday it signed a P5-billion notes facility with a group of institutional lenders composed of banks and insurance companies. “The facility, which consists of seven- and 10-year notes, will be used to fund strategic acquisitions and for general corporate purposes,” Cosco Capital said. “This notes issuance is indeed a clear confirmation of the financial community’s trust and confidence in Cosco Capital,” said company president Leonardo Dayao, adding that the offering was 2.5 times oversubscribed. Metrobank Group’s First Metro Investment Corp. acted as the sole arranger and book runner for the issue, which marked Cosco Capital’s maiden offering in the debt capital markets following the consolidation of the Co family’s assets in 2013. Dayao earlier said the company in on the lookout for opportunities in food and real estate leasing for retail. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Cosco Capital is into supermarkets (Puregold Price Club Inc.), liquor importation (Premier Wine & Spirits Inc.), commercial real estate and oil storage and oil exploration activities. It is the country’s leading importer of liquor with exclusive distribution rights for some of the world’s top brands like Cuervo, Jim Beam, Fundador, Absolut Vodka, Johnny Walker, Chivas Regal and Alfonso. Pro-forma net income of the investment firm hit P5.3 billion last year, up 83 percent from P2.9 billion a year Read More …