Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Submission of bids for the P50.2-billion Regional Prison Facilities public-private partnership (PPP) project has been moved to April 27, 2017 to give prequalified bidders more time to prepare their offers, the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center said yesterday. The bid submission was originally slated for Nov. 24, 2016. The prison project to be implemented by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) entails the construction  and maintenance of a modern facility in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija. This new facility would provide for the basic needs of inmates incarcerated in the New Bilibid Prison and the Correctional Institution for Women. It would be constructed in a way that there are adequate living spaces for inmates and at the same time fitted with high security equipment. The facility, which can accommodate 26, 880 inmates, would also contain housing for staff, administrative buildings, as well as areas for rehabilitation activities. Three firms have prequalified to submit offers for the project: Mega Structure Consortium, San Miguel Holdings Inc. and DM Consunji Inc. The private sector partner would be responsible for the financing, detailed design, construction as well as maintenance of the facility. Several services pertaining to the maintenance of buildings as well as accommodation related services may be outsourced. These cover waste treatment and disposal, sewage water treatment and power generation. BuCor, in turn, would have complete control over the operations of the regional prison. The project would be conducted under a 23-year build-transfer-and-maintain contract, inclusive of a Read More …

Before, audits were halted during Christmas season to avoid tax examiners asking gifts, an official of industry group Tax Management Association of the Philippines said. Philstar.com/File  MANILA, Philippines — There will be no let-up on the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) audits this holiday season as it aims to reverse a revenue slowdown toward “maximum” collection by the end of the year. “All field audit and other field operations, including all enforcement activities, shall continue during this holiday season,” Revenue Memorandum Circular 109-2016 dated November 7 stated. “It is reminded that all efforts should be directed to ensure maximum revenue collection throughout the year,” it added.  In previous years, BIR stops audits from December 15 until January 1 of the following year. Eleanor Roque, a director of industry group Tax Management Association of the Philippines, said halting audits during Christmas season before was meant to avoid “tax examiners asking gifts.” “But I guess now, given the promises and the declarations of the new administration, taxpayers are assured that will not happen or if it does, they have ways to report it,” she said in a phone interview on Wednesday. BIR, which accounts for around 80 percent of state revenues, had fluctuating performance since the Duterte administration took over on June 30. It increased revenues by one percent in July, a seven-month low, before recovering to a 10-percent uptick the following month. In September, it slowed again to one percent. It brought the nine-month tally to P1.17 trillion, still up 9 percent Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Why do you save money? According to a 2015 report by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), 97 percent of Filipino adults believe that saving money is important. And the top three purposes for saving money, as the results show, are emergencies, food and education. While these are great goals, do you realize that how you save money can directly impact whether you’ll meet your financial goals? Unfortunately, there are some “money-saving” habits that are not actually helping you. Let’s take a look at a few: 1) Buying promos Discount coupons, buy-1-take-1 items, zero-percent interest. They’re some of the most attractive offers you often fall for, right? You believe that you’re saving money by buying items and services that cost less than their original price. Well, think again. Buying promos is not frugality anymore when you do it too frequently than you need to. For example, a coupon says it can slash the price of a prestigious buffet dinner to half. Looks like a great deal, isn’t it? But do you actually need it? Are you going to celebrate something soon or do you just feel like it’s an opportunity missed if you don’t purchase it now? Think carefully. More often than not, you’ll find yourself spending more—and not saving when you let yourself get overwhelmed by discounts. Again, take a good look at your needs and finances before jumping into a purchase. 2) Income – expenses = savings When you were younger, did you have elders Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is now considering more options to finally put an end to the widespread illegal contractual employment scheme in the country. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello yesterday reported that DOLE was looking at four proposals submitted by different employers and labor groups on how to address the issue of contractualization. Bello said DOLE was studying the recommendation of the Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce in addition to the win-win solution proposed by the Department of Trade and Industry and the middle ground position of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines. He declined to elaborate on the proposal of the Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce, except to say it was a “radical” measure to address contractualization. “We will have to assimilate all these inputs that will address the focal position of President Duterte which is to end illegal forms of contractualization,” he said. Bello earlier said DOLE was inclined to adopt ECOP’s proposal as a temporary policy to resolve illegal forms of contractualization. Speaking at the 6th national forum of the Philippine Association of Legitimate Service Contractors, Bello assured service providers that DOLE would be fair in deciding a new policy to address contractualization. The labor chief said it was “unrealistic” for the government to impose a total ban since there are legal forms of contractualization provided under the law. After holding two labor summits this week, Bello said DOLE would come out before the end of the year with a final policy Read More …