A HOUSE committee reworking the decades-old Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) law heard testimony last week on the need to better address the needs of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) investors, including mechanisms to bypass delays in the bid process and proposals from business groups to institutionalize the PPP Center.
DAVAO CITY — Expropriation proceedings are now under way in some parts of Davao Region to resolve right-of-way issues that have been hampering several road projects leading to tourist destinations.
THERE IS no question that everyone welcomes payday, which is when all of us are sure to have at least some resources to pay for our needs and desires. What isn’t often realized is that the government has paydays of its own, in the form of tax collections. It is these funds that pay for public goods and services which, in theory, help improve the people’s quality of life.
THE BUREAU of Internal Revenue (BIR) plans to implement an alcohol tax stamp later this year, Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares said last week.
THE PHILIPPINE Ports Authority (PPA) has declared congestion to no longer be an issue at the Port of Manila, with the clearing up of crowded docks coming weeks ahead of schedule.
(First of two parts) IN THIS INSTALLMENT of our series on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiatives of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), we will tackle Action Plan 8 on the revisions to Chapters I, II and VI of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations (2010) (the “2010 OECD TP Guidelines”), which addressed a number of transfer pricing issues on intangibles, namely:
Woman of many hats: Salud Tesoro, here in her first Tesoro’s shop on Escolta, has been hailed as a souvenir trade pioneer, a patron of local crafts, a service-driven shop owner, and a steadfast and resilient businesswoman. MANILA, Philippines – Despite the global outlook of the Filipino, our cultural heritage remains deeply inlaid, carved, woven, or embroidered in our collective consciousness. Credit for this goes to a handful of people like Salud Tesoro, who, despite our fixation on all things foreign, went against the odds and built one of the most enduring edifices dedicated to Filipino folk craft. “Tesoro’s is not just a store. We are the repository of the cultural heritage of the country,” explained Tesoro’s current CEO Beng Tesoro, the youngest daughter of its founding matriarch. “In our stores are the best the Filipinos can do and show the world.” Now, with the country’s tourism boom and a renewed lease on aesthetic patriotism, Filipino handicraft stores are now standard fare in popular retail centers. But, despite our malls’ quick, consumption-driven commercial strategies, the freestanding Tesoro’s store remains intact, enjoying the same level of success it did when it was the only store of its kind 70 years ago. “It didn’t happen overnight,” shared Tesoro, who has a Kellogg MBA. “It was something that we were able to do because we stuck to the values of our founder, my mom, which is ‘customer first, Filipino first, honesty, integrity, innovation, leadership,’” she enumerated. The legacy of the past In order Read More …
BRUSSELS – Following weeks of recrimination and distrust, Greece and its creditors in the 19-nation eurozone reached an agreement Friday on extending the country’s rescue loans, a move that should dramatically ease concerns it was heading for the euro exit as soon as next month. The agreement, which looked a long way off Thursday when one German official compared Athens’ request for more time to the infamous Trojan Horse, will mean that Greece will avoid going bankrupt, at least over the four months of the extension. It should also mean that capital controls won’t be needed and that Greek banks will have enough money to stock up their ATMs. To get the money though, the Greek government has one more hurdle to clear. On Monday, it has to present a series of unspecified economic reforms measures that are deemed acceptable by creditors and rooted in Greece’s previously enacted bailout agreement – something the government had promised not to do. Still, the Greek government will be the author of the reforms pursued and that represents a change from the past five years when Greece has relied on rescue money to avoid going bankrupt and was effectively ordered to enact a series of austerity measures. “We have established common ground again,” said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the eurozone’s top official, after the meeting in Brussels. And Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said the deal allows both Greece and Europe “to turn a page … As of today, we are beginning to be co-authors of Read More …
Call it straight talk on an “undiscussable,” and do that before the marriage. If your relationship survives that, maybe you were meant to be. If it doesn’t, who knows if you just blew away your real chance to be truly happy? Prenuptial agreements describe what will be owned in common after two people get married, and what will remain exclusive property of the spouses. These marriage settlements are almost not attuned to the Filipino culture and concept of marriage. It is like arranging for separation even before the wedding happens. It is also like creating a second-class citizen, in a marriage only for two. It is the situation when in a marriage, one is affluent, and the other, middle class. So when this popular father cried when his daughter refused, despite his insistence, to enter into a prenuptial agreement with her fiancé, it is because—for the first time—someone, an outsider, is more important to his daughter. It is also because he may just need to share part of the family wealth, or at least those that can be allocated to his daughter, with the family members of her husband. Social status does not even need to be a factor for property dispute to happen. An average couple bought a house and lot while they were still engaged. Then their marriage soured. He left the wife who was residing in their house. A relative of her husband got interested in the property. And because the husband’s family does not have a Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – With the mandate of the SEC to require all board directors of public and publicly-listed companies to attend a corporate governance seminar once a year to be eligible for election / re-election to the board of a corporation, the Center for Global Best Practices (CGBP) is launching a pioneering program entitled, “Board Effectiveness Best Practices” on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at the EDSA Shangri-la Hotel, Mandaluyong City, Philippines. This seminar would provide a new and fresh perspective from the repetitive lectures done by other corporate governance providers. As one of the few SEC-accredited training providers, CGBP will feature the best practices for board directors to help them enhance their skills to become better members or leaders of the board. For details and a complete list of upcoming best practices seminars including How to Set Up an Internal Audit System, Board Directors’ Guide for Audit Committees, Best Practices in Corporate Housekeeping for Board Secretaries, and more, you may log on to www.cgbp.org or call (+63 2) 842-7148/ 59 and 556-8968/ 69, Cebu lines: (+63 32) 512-3106 or 07 or Baguio line: (+63 74) 423-5148 and Legaspi City telephone (+6352) 736-0126. This one-day special corporate governance program is designed to address two important issues: (1) To provide capacity building for board directors by presenting to them the global best practices in board effectiveness drawn from the most updated global research of the largest accounting firm in the world – PriceWaterhouse Coopers / Isla Lipana to be presented by former Read More …