Insurance firms roll out financial awareness program for students

 Economy
Sep 292016
 
Insurance firms roll out financial awareness program for students

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Life Insurance Association (PLIA) has launched two initiatives that seek to increase financial awareness among high school students. Gregorio Mercado, president of PLIA, cited the need to address the low rate of financial literacy in the country and help Filipinos understand how insurance can help them fulfill their goals. “PLIA strives to contribute to the Insurance Commission’s efforts to propagate the importance of financial literacy,” Mercado said. With this, the PLIA has started to roll out a program that aims to create a financial education curriculum geared towards Philippine secondary schools. The curriculum will cover topics such as identifying financial needs and choosing financial products, as well as sample lesson plans, student activities and assessment and downloadable classroom teaching aids. The Department of Education is expected to validate all the content included in the curriculum, PLIA said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Once created, it will be made available through an online portal, and will be  accessible to parents, teachers and students, alike. The insurance group said its long-term target was to have the curriculum adopted by secondary schools into their programs.  “PLIA is proud to have started developing something today that will eventually represent an institutionalized intervention in increasing public awareness on the value of life insurance through our education system,” Mercado said. Meanwhile, PLIA also announced its partnership with the Foundation for the Advancement of Life and Insurance around the World (FALIA) to conduct a series of lectures in Read More …

Alliance Global sets P150-B capex

 Economy
Sep 292016
 
Alliance Global sets P150-B capex

MANILA, Philippines – Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI), the holding company of tycoon Andrew Tan, is pouring in more than P150 billion this year and in 2017 to fund the expansion of its various subsidiaries. Bulk of the amount will go to property arm Megaworld Corp. AGI’s other business units include liquor firm Emperador Inc., Golden Arches Development Corp. (the operator of McDonald’s in the Philippines), and Resorts World Manila operator Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. “We continue to be optimistic about what lies ahead. That is why we have kept an aggressive capex plan moving forward. In 2010 to 2015, we spent an aggregate of P270 billion for our expansion projects. We will spend more than half of that amount for 2016 and 2017 alone, proving our positive outlook for our business,” said King Sian, president of AGI. Sian said Megaworld would continue to expand its office leasable portfolio with the aim of hitting 1.5 million square meters by 2020. This year alone, the company expects to have 730,000 sqm of office leasable area  For its whisky business, Sian said Emperador is now present in 100 countries, further strengthening its position as the world leader in terms of volume.  Travellers International will likewise continue to expand its portfolio, Sian said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 It is now working on the 10-storey Marriot West Wing annex, which will add 228 rooms to RWM’s target of over 4,000 keys. The company is also constructing two internationally Read More …

Court rules vs Bloomberry in management dispute

 Economy
Sep 292016
 
Court rules vs Bloomberry in management dispute

A Singapore-based arbitration court ruled that GGAM’s management services contract with Solaire Resorts had been unjustly terminated in 2013.  MANILA, Philippines – Enrique Razon’s Bloomberry Resorts Corp., the hotel and casino operator of Solaire Resorts and Casino, has lost a case it filed against its former manager, Las Vegas-based Global Gaming Philippines LLG (GGAM). A Singapore-based arbitration court ruled that GGAM’s management services contract with Solaire Resorts had been unjustly terminated in 2013.  In a Sept. 20 decision, the tribunal also upheld GGAM’s claim to an 8.7-percent take in Bloomberry Resorts. Bloomberry disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday that the Singaporean Arbitration Tribunal hearing the dispute between Bloomberry  and Sureste Properties Inc. (SPI) and GGAM had issued a “partial award on liability.” In its decision, the Singaporean tribunal ruled that GGAM did not mislead Bloomberry and SPI into signing the management services agreement (MSA) and that Bloomberry was not justified in terminating the MSA because the services rendered by the Bloomberry management should be considered as services rendered by GGAM under the MSA. The tribunal also upheld GGAM’s claim to some 921 million Bloomberry shares. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 There is no basis for Bloomberry and SPI to challenge GGAM’s title to the 921 million shares because the grounds for termination were not substantial and fundamental, thus GGAM can exercise its rights in relation to those shares, including the right to sell them. In 2013, Bloomberry terminated the management contract with GGAM, claiming a Read More …

Contact center industry getting more client calls – CCAP

 Economy
Sep 292016
 
Contact center industry getting more client calls – CCAP

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine contact center industry has received numerous inquiries from foreign clients and investors with regards to the country’s current investment climate given President Duterte’s ongoing war on drugs and other controversial pronouncements. “We’ve certainly been asked questions about what’s really going on in the Philippines. Questions started to be raised when the President declared a state of national emergency because of state of lawlessness. It did create questions from some of our clients,” Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) Benedict Hernandez said in a press briefing Wednesday. Hernandez, however, said none of the inquiries made were regarding safety concerns. “I think they were asking about what’s going on and we’re getting questions ourselves so help us get an answer,” he said. “For us, we prefer that they ask questions because that is an opportunity for us to clarify. It creates opportunities for us to clarify the reality on the ground,” Hernandez added. The CCAP official said it is business as usual in the local business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We don’t really see any impact right now and we just have to make sure we take care of the questions. It’s business as usual for our companies, our employees, in our work, and conducting our business. We haven’t seen travel advisory changes among our BPO companies and neither from our clients. So we haven’t seen our clients saying ‘I’m now prohibited from flying into the country,’” Read More …

Philippines eyes $2 B investments from Mexico

 Economy
Sep 292016
 
Philippines eyes $2 B investments from Mexico

PH strengthens commercial ties with Mexico: Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez recently met with Ambassador Julio Camarena Villaseñor to discuss economic ties with Mexico and put forward the interest of establishing a Joint Economic Committee in the future. Mexico is the Philippines’ second biggest trading partner in Latin America. Both countries have long-shared historical and economic ties.   MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is eyeing $2 billion worth of investments from Mexico following recent meetings among ranking officials that strengthened commercial ties between both countries. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said yesterday some $2 billion worth of investments is being allocated by Mexico to the Philippines, bulk of which is targeted for the telecommunications sector. Mexican Ambassador Julio Camarena Villaseñor, who met with Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez during a recent courtesy visit, emphasized the Philippines is a priority area for investments in Asia. The diplomat likewise expressed Mexico’s interest to make the Philippines an economic gateway to the ASEAN region, the DTI reported. Total investments between both countries in 2015 reached $6 billion. During the meeting, both sides also discussed the establishment of a joint economic committee that will further strengthen bilateral trade and investment between the Philippines and Mexico. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The Philippines is eager to know that one of our strong commercial allies, Mexico, has expressed its keen interest in the country. Our long-shared history with Mexico makes it easier to understand each other’s interest,” Lopez said. Lopez Read More …

Lopez, mining companies reach common ground

 Economy
Sep 292016
 
Lopez, mining companies reach common ground

Environment Secretary Gina Lopez and the country’s mining industry have reached a common ground and decided to work together to promote responsible mining. ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc. MANILA, Philippines – Environment Secretary Gina Lopez and the country’s mining industry have reached a common ground and decided to work together to promote responsible mining. Lopez yesterday met and engaged in a dialogue with top officials of mining companies. “The purpose of the dialogue is to join hands with them because I know I really rocked the boat. But, I’m not doing this because I don’t like them, what I don’t like is that our people would suffer,” Lopez told reporters. “I want to help them (mining industry) make things right and be on the positive side. I’ll be their friend and I will help them. What is non-negotiable to me is you cannot do anything there which would silt the rivers, silt the farmlands, silt the agricultural lands. I will be really strict,” she added. Shares of mining companies facing the prospect of suspension plunged Tuesday following the release of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ industry-wide audit. “At the end of the day, the Filipinos don’t know what stock market is. They want food on the table, they want to send their kids to college and make their place beautiful. My commitment is for the Filipino people not for the shares,” Lopez stressed. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Meanwhile, Lopez countered claims that the audit was inconsistent Read More …

Simplified tax exemption for nonprofit schools

 Economy
Sep 282016
 

Nonstock, nonprofit educational institutions may have reason to be upbeat this school year with the issuance of Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 44-2016, excluding them from the renewal requirements of their tax exemption status. Readers may recall that in 2013, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued RMO No. 20-2013, requiring nonstock, nonprofit organizations under Section 30 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) to secure confirmatory BIR rulings or certificates of tax exemption by submitting an application and supporting documents for evaluation. However, this requirement was declared null and void as far as nonprofit schools were concerned when a Regional Trial Court in 2014 cited the constitutional protections enjoyed by such institutions.

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