INVESTOR worries over the Duterte government’s political, diplomatic and economic policy have been exacerbated by the souring relations between the Philippines and the US, with financial markets negatively responding to the unfolding diplomatic drama, an economist at ING Bank N.V. Manila said.
According to Einstein, fear and greed are two of the three great forces that exist in the world. In this context, fear and greed are likely the drivers of a human being’s irrational action and behavior. We can say that greater fear and greed occur in our later years, when we start experiencing the increasing degrees of pressure from factors that shape our perspectives. It comes as no surprise that a relatively mature or sensible person is possibly a fraudster induced by an insatiable desire to gain status or wealth, or by an equally overwhelming fear of losing such things. When this happens, someone else is made to pay the price — the victim.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said there is no risk of capital flight once the government pushes through with its plan to slap a higher tax rate of 35 percent on high-income earners or the so-called ‘ultra rich.’ MANILA, Philippines – Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said there is no risk of capital flight once the government pushes through with its plan to slap a higher tax rate of 35 percent on high-income earners or the so-called ‘ultra rich.’ “It’s not really a big concern,” Dominguez told reporters. Newly-appointed Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko agreed, adding that the additional three percentage points is “not that much” of an increase from the current highest individual tax rate of 32 percent. The plan, which will be included in the tax reform package to be submitted to Congress, will see only “less than 1,000 people” getting affected, according to Bureau of Internal Revenue data cited by Tionko. This will easily cover the bureau’s top 500 individual income taxpayers, which included businessmen and celebrities led by Jacinto Ng of Rebisco Corp. and now Senator Manny Pacquiao. In that year, the two paid P280.11 million and P210.31 million in income taxes at a rate of 32 percent. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Local businessmen were also in the list, including San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang, Ayala Corp.’s Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, and Metro Pacific Corp. chief Manuel Pangilinan. “I really don’t think they would mind paying a higher tax rate since they Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – ABS-CBN Corp. has partnered with Filipino mobile phone brand MyPhone for the use of the media and entertainment company’s multimedia reading app NoInk. Under the partnership, the NoInk app would be pre-installed in two million MyPhone smartphones and devices beginning next month. The app is expected to give users access to the most up-to-date and relevant features on pop culture, celebrities and lifestyle content. Through the app, users can purchase digital copies of ABS-CBN Publishing’s magazines and books in its newsstand, as well as titles from different publishers in the country. The app also has a feed that showcases a good selection of articles, videos and photo galleries about the hottest topics and trends in the country. It can be downloaded for free on any iOS and Android device. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The app forms part of ABS-CBN’s growing list of digital platforms as the firm transitions to become an agile digital company with greater reach and presence online amid changing needs of consumers. “This is the first time that our product will be pre-installed in mobile phones. We are very happy to be partnering with a trusted phone brand in our goal of bringing engaging experiences and trending content to the public in a more interactive manner,” ABS-CBN Publishing head Ernie Lopez said. MySolid Technologies & Devices Corp. (the maker of MyPhone) president David Lim also welcomed the new endeavor with ABS-CBN Publishing as such would allow the companies to Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Congress is set to look into the performance of revenue officials by virtue of a law passed in 2005 which the government admitted has not been implemented. “We would like to inform you that we will soon activate the joint congressional committee,” House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said during a hearing by the House ways and means committee Monday. He was pertaining to a provision of Republic Act 9335 or the Lateral Attrition Law, which lays out penalties and rewards against officials and employees of the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Customs. The law allows for the convening of a joint oversight committee composed of members from the House of Representatives and Senate to evaluate the BIR and Customs performance in collecting revenues. Under the measure, employees and officials may be terminated by a revenue performance evaluation board if he or she is proven to have committed negligence in his or her duty that caused the government to miss its revenue targets. Rewards and incentives, meanwhile, are given to those who will exceed their goals. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The board is chaired by the Department of Finance with the Department of Budget and Management and the National Economic and Development Authority as its voting members. In Monday’s hearing, Alvarez asked the DOF if the law has been implemented in recent years given the government’s consistent budget deficit or the gap between spending and revenues. To this, BIR deputy commissioner Nestor Valeroso Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – PLDT Inc. posted a double-digit growth in enterprise business in the first six months from a year ago amid strong usage of data and broadband services. In a statement yesterday, PLDT said revenues from the enterprise business reached over P15 billion in the first six months, 10 percent higher than last year’s level following aggressive roll out of enterprise data-driven services and solutions. “We are seeing sustained double-digit growth as of August this year, further solidifying our position as the preferred digital enabler among the country’s industries and government entities. Our robust growth also reflects the emerging requirements of industries, and businesses to become more connected and utilize innovative IT (information technology) solutions to run their operations,” Eric Alberto, PLDT executive vice president and head of the enterprise group said. To better cater to the needs of companies in keeping up with the digital economy, PLDT’s efforts are being planned by taking into account the different industry roadmaps. “The PLDT Group has steadily put in place the infrastructure necessary to support this growing digital ecosystem that businesses need to thrive in a globally competitive environment, and formed strategic partnerships with IT leaders to serve and grow our portfolio of digital services for the benefit of our country’s enterprises,” Alberto said. In line with PLDT’s digital pivot, the group’s enterprise revenues from data and broadband services jumped 23 percent year-on-year to over P9 billion in the first half with mobile internet revenues surging 121 percent during the period. Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The power unit of sugar miller Roxas Holdings Inc. (RHI) has suspended the operations of its bioethanol plant in Negros Occidental upon orders by the local government unit due to complaints of foul odor. RHI disclosed yesterday La Carlota City Mayor Luis Jalandoni III issued a cease and desist order (CDO) against its ethanol unit Roxol Bioenergy Corp. (RBC) for 30 days due to alleged foul odor coming from its plant at Barangay Nagasi. “The local government said the suspension of the CDO, which was served last Friday evening, may be lifted at any time as soon as RBC demonstrates a substantial mitigation of the complained odor,” RHI said. RHI said RBC is committed to institute long-term solutions to address the issue. Operations of the bioethanol plant had already been suspended prior to the issuance of the CDO. RHI also said RBC immediately implemented the regular annual off-season repairs and maintenance of its plant, 15 days earlier than scheduled, to address the alleged foul odor. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 This is not the first time operations of the RBC plant was suspended. In March 2015, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has temporarily suspended the operations of RBC for polluting the Marayo River, a violation of the Clean Water Act. Bioethanol is produced using molasses, a by-product of the sugar refining process. RBC started operating its bioethanol plant in 2011, after the government announced the guidelines for the much-awaited pricing Read More …
The Manila International Airport Authority announced that a number of Philippine Airlines, China Airlines and SkyJet were affected by the bad weather. Philstar.com/Stock MANILA, Philippines — Three airlines were prompted to cancel some of their domestic and international flights on Wednesday due to Typhoon Ferdie. The Manila International Airport Authority announced that a number of flights of the Philippine Airlines, China Airlines and SkyJet were affected by the bad weather. Most of the domestic flights canceled are headed or coming from Basco, Batanes where the eye of Ferdie was located. Batanes is also under tropical cyclone warning signal number 3. On the other hand, the international flights grounded are headed or coming from Kaohsiung,Taiwan. Below appears the list of canceled flights due to bad weather.
THE Trade department is priming for a second round of negotiations with the European Union (EU) over a free trade agreement, it said in a statement yesterday as it announced a series of consultations with businesses and government agencies.
THE European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) said it would hold monthly dialogues with local government units (LGUs) to identify growth areas outside Metro Manila ahead of the country’s planned shift to the federal system.