More lawmakers buck Duterte’s tax proposals

 Economy
Oct 052016
 
More lawmakers buck Duterte’s tax proposals

MANILA, Philippines – More members of the House of Representatives are opposing President Duterte’s tax proposals, which Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez submitted to Congress last week. Opposition Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay joined an increasing number of colleagues yesterday in questioning the administration’s so-called tax reform package. He said the supposed tax reforms and other components of the administration’s economic agenda are not moving because of Duterte’s “preoccupation on his brutal anti-drug campaign.” He said the proposed tax reform package “is anti-poor and anti-marginalized because, among others, it taxes holiday pay, overtime pay, night shift differential pay, hazard pay, and 13th-month pay received by low-income earners and repeals VAT (value added tax) exemption of people with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens.” It would also impose a P10 excise tax on lubricating oils and greases, waxes and petrolatum, regular gasoline, leaded premium gasoline and aviation turbo jet fuel, and a P6 excise tax on processed gas, denatured alcohol, kerosene, diesel, LPG, asphalts, and bunker fuel, he said. “Since the burden of excise taxes on petroleum products cascades to the ultimate consumer or the general public, the brunt of the tax is borne by ordinary people who constitute the bulk of the consuming public who will not benefit from the tax package,” he stressed. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In a related development, Rep. Mikee Romero of party-list group 1-Pacman proposed yesterday the grant of a one-time tax amnesty to raise needed funds for the government. Romero said Read More …

UK backs NCC program to cut red tape

 Economy
Oct 052016
 
UK backs NCC program to cut red tape

MANILA, Philippines – The National Competitiveness Council (NCC)’s program of cutting red tape in the country has received backing from the United Kingdom. In a signing ceremony, the NCC received technical assistance from the British Embassy through the Asia Pacific Bilateral Program Fund to support Project Repeal. “The assistance will be used for the development, pilot–testing and initial rollout of the standard cost model for Project Repeal in a bid to come up with a systematic way of determining the savings brought about by reduced cost of compliance for businesses as a result of the streamlining of rules and regulations,” NCC private sector co-chairman Guillermo Luz said. Luz said the assistance would also be utilized to conduct a series of activities, including supplementary focus group discussions that will be held in several regions in the country to have a wider stakeholder engagement and ensure the project’s greater impact. Technical workshops on regulatory cost analysis and cost data capture and standardization will be organized in order to create a cost model that will provide a statistically robust, valid and reliable method in estimating the regulatory burdens imposed by existing regulations on businesses, the NCC said. The NCC’s Project Repeal is a government-wide deregulation system that addresses the growing need for a wider effort to cut red tape across agencies. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 An initiative that has drawn inspiration from UK’s Red Tape Challenge, Project Repeal was also initiated to facilitate an efficient government regulatory environment Read More …

Philippines, China firms work out joint venture deals

 Economy
Oct 052016
 
Philippines, China firms work out joint venture deals

MANILA, Philippines – President Duterte’s decision for the country to align with China is already spurring a number of Filipino and Chinese firms to embark on joint venture deals. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in an interview there are currently a number of joint venture deals being worked out between companies from Philippines and China in line with the government’s plan to renew ties with the world’s second largest economy. Lopez is set to join the President in his planned visit to China this month. “A lot of private businesses are saying that they will time their signing also there as with their counterpart. These are business to business deals,” Lopez said. “So far three groups have already talked to me. One is in the food industry,” he added. Aside from the expected business-to-business signings, the Philippine government will seek to further trade relations as well as enhance joint cooperation with China during Duterte’s visit, Lopez said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He said trade and investment opportunities in China remain large for the Philippines. “It will be for economic cooperation. Also for promotion of trade and investments. We invest more to China so we have to invite more Chinese investments here in the country. They also export more to us so we want to export more to China. So we want to approach a trade balance,” Lopez said. China-ASEAN Business Council executive president Xu Ning-ning earlier said Chinese firms are raring to invest in the Read More …

Perceived corruption in government grows – SWS

 Economy
Oct 052016
 
Perceived corruption in government grows – SWS

MANILA, Philippines – The perception on the prevalence of corruption in government rose in the final year in office of former president Benigno Aquino III, the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and National Competitiveness Council (NCC) showed. The 2016 Survey on Enterprises Corruption released yesterday revealed that Filipino businessmen who think there is “a lot” of corruption in the public sector increased to 63 percent this year from only 43 percent in 2012 and 56 percent in 2013—the only periods that such question was asked in the three surveys conducted under Aquino’s term. The extent of corruption in the public sector as viewed by businessmen under the final year of the Aquino administration placed it at almost the same level as the last round the survey was conducted under the term of former presidents Joseph Estrada (63 percent in 2000) and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (64 percent in 2009). The survey, which polled more than 950 executives from small, medium, and large businesses, was conducted from Feb. 2 to May 6 this year. “There was a great drop in the perception of corruption from 2009, the last round under Arroyo, and the first round under Aquino, it’s only 43. However, the following year it went up to 56. We don’t have data in the next two years but in this year’s data, it’s back to 63 so that’s a disappointment. There was a backsliding in the perception of businessmen,” SWS president Mahar Mangahas said. When asked on when Read More …

Economic team off to counter negative perception abroad

 Economy
Oct 052016
 
Economic team off to counter negative perception abroad

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine economic managers would seek to overturn the negative perception of the international community on the Philippines during the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington this week. While in Washington, the Philippine delegation would meet with prospective investors, business groups, banks, credit rating agencies and even foreign media which include the Washington Post and New York Times, said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia. “We want to counter the adverse media reports (about the Philippines),” he said. On its Facebook page, the Philippine Embassy in Washington said Pernia would guest in its “Talakayan sa Pasuguan” to discuss the current economic conditions in the country, growth prospects and ongoing reforms of the Duterte administration. Foreign credit rating agencies have expressed concerns about rising uncertainties in the diminishing policy predictability and stability of the Duterte administration as well as the government’s strong focus on law and order which has allegedly resulted in numerous instances of extrajudicial killings. Debt watchers fear this would undermine respect for the rule of law and the legitimacy of democratic institutions. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Pernia said the Philippine delegation would continually assure the international business community of the country’s macroeconomic stability and ongoing efforts to improve the business climate. “The macroeconomy is robust, continuously robust, and the government is focused on reducing inequality and poverty and is promoting peace and order. That in itself would attract more investors. And in addition Read More …

AboitizPower invests $1.2 B in 2 Bataan plants

 Economy
Oct 042016
 
AboitizPower invests $1.2 B in 2 Bataan plants

Buys out Blackstone stake in GNPower coal-fired facilities MANILA, Philippines – The Aboitiz Group is acquiring beneficial interests from Blackstone Group-affiliated investment funds in two GNPower coal-fired power plants in Bataan for  about $1.2 billion to meet its 4,000-megawatt (MW) capacity target in the next five years. Aboitiz Power Corp. announced yesterday its wholly owned unit Therma Power Inc. has finalized the purchase and sale agreements for the acquisition of the partnership interests held by affiliated investment funds of The Blackstone Group  – World Power Holdings L.P. and Sithe Global Power L.P. – in GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co. and GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co., respectively. Therma Power is the Aboitiz Group’s holding firm for investments in non-renewable energy. Under the deal, Therma Power will hold an indirect effective interest of 66.1 percent in GNPower Mariveles and 40 percent in GNPower Dinginin for $1.197 billion, subject to certain adjustments and approvals by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and the Board of Investments (BOI). The company has already filed a notification with the PCC, the country’s anti-trust body. “We have to go through PCC for clearance which we hope will not be a problem,” AboitizPower president and COO Antonio Moraza said in a text message. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 AboitizPower said the acquisition cost would be funded by a combination of internally-generated cash and financing from foreign banks. It said it has signed a facility agreement with The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., DBS Bank Ltd., Read More …

Manufacturing grows at record pace in Sept

 Economy
Oct 042016
 
Manufacturing grows at record pace in Sept

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine manufacturing sector grew at a record pace in September, outpacing the performance of other countries in Southeast Asia, according to the latest reading of the Nikkei Philippines Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI). The PMI registered a higher reading of 57.5 in September, higher than the August reading of 55.3 and is the steepest since data collection for the local manufacturing sector began in January. An index reading of above 50 indicates improvement in business conditions and activity while a reading below 50 indicates the opposite. The Nikkei manufacturing PMI is released monthly ahead of official economic data. The positive reading in September was attributed to strong client demand and higher production targets. “Driving the overall improvement in business conditions was another marked rise in new contract win as a number of firms reported having secured new customers. Moreover, the rate of growth was the sharpest on record so far,” said IHS Markit the entity that compiles the data for Nikkei. Purchasing managers surveyed during the reference period reported hiring more workers to enhance operating capacity and accommodate additional orders. Greater demand for goods also led manufacturers to purchase more input materials despite the higher cost brought about by the depreciation of the peso against the US dollar. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “All looks positive for goods-producing companies in the Philippines, with strong demand conditions leading to robust growth of new orders and output,” IHS Markit economist Alex Gill said in Read More …

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