MANILA, Philippines – On Page B-11 of yesterday’s issue, the main story was erroneously headlined ‘Global Business Power mulls coal plant in Tanay.‘ The correct headline should have been ‘Global Business Power mulls coal plant in Panay.’ Our apologies to all concerned.
Intra-related transactions – transactions between related parties or associated enterprises – are a common practice in the globalization of trade. These transactions apply to a parent company and a subsidiary, or two or more companies controlled by a common parent (directly or indirectly and whether or not legally enforceable). When said parties establish a price for the above transactions, they are engaging in Transfer Pricing (TP). TP can be considered to be the most significant tax issue emerging from globalization confronting tax administrations worldwide. This is because related companies are more concerned in their income as a whole rather than as individual corporations, and as such, there is likelihood of manipulating the transfer price by taking advantage of the loopholes in the tax system. As a result, income reported from intra-related transactions decreases. Hence, revenue collection also decreases. And so transfer pricing may really be called transfer mis-pricing! Please note, however, that decrease in the transfer price should not at all times be attributed to manipulation by the related parties. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Transfer Pricing Guidelines provide that the tax administrators should not automatically assume that associated enterprises have sought to manipulate their profits as they may truly experience difficulty in accurately determining a market price, in the absence of market forces or when adopting a particular commercial strategy. OECD TP Guidelines are the motherhood guidelines after which most, if not all, TP guidelines of different jurisdictions have been patterned. By way of addressing the Read More …
With only three session days left to pass the Freedom of Information (FOI), House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Monday said the proposed legislation is “technically” dead at the House of Representatives. When asked by reporters if there is no more hope for the House approval of the FOI bill within the week, Belmonte replied, “Yes. I think so.” He said three session days are not enough to debate on, amend and approve the measure, which seeks to promote transparency in government data and transactions. “We cannot just curtail interpellation. May mga gustong mag-interpellate,” Belmonte said. Belmonte, however, said there is still a “slim chance” to pass the FOI bill if President Benigno Aquino III will certify it as urgent. “If the President certifies it, we can meet beyond Wednesday and Thursday. In that sense, there’s still that slim chance. Hanggang alas-dose ng gabi, basta huwag lang mawala ang quorum,” he said. Malacañang, however, maintained that Aquino—who won the presidency on a platform of government transparency—is not keen on certifying the FOI bill as urgent without debates at the House. The Senate last December unanimously passed its version of the FOI. At the House, the measure has yet to end the period of sponsorship—the first step in the plenary discussions of a proposed legislation. Push for debates Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, primary author of the FOI bill, admitted that while the FOI bill now needs a “miracle” to be passed, he Read More …
The panels from the Senate and House of Representatives have yet to agree on what age should minors start having criminal liability. In a text message to GMA News Online on Monday, Senate social justice, welfare, and rural development committee chair Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the bicameral conference committee is in a “deadlock” regarding the issue. “Sa Senate kasi… 15 years old pa rin. We maintained 15 years old, although nilagyan natin ng mga mandatory involuntary confinement processes kapag serious ang offenses. Ang House gusto nila ibaba sa 12 at gusto nilang for all offenses. So ‘yun ang naging snag,” he said in an interview. Under Republic Act 9344 or Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, a child who is 15 years old or below at the time of the commission of the offense shall be exempted from criminal liability but will be subjected to an “intervention program.” With Senate Bill No. 3324, children 15 years old and below shall remain exempted from criminal liability but can face civil liabilities in accordance with existing laws. Pangilinan, who authored RA 9344, said this should be the case since less than 15 percent of offenses committed by minors are serious offenses based on data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). “Kung merong 15 percent na serious offenses, dapat hindi buong 100 ilalagay mo sa ganong klaseng katayuan. Dapat ihiwalay ‘yun,” he said. He also said that 90 percent of the offenders are first timers. “So dapat din siguro medyo Read More …
The Supreme Court’s Public Information Office (SC-PIO) has been transferred to a new location to give space to Associate Justice Marvic Leonen’s new office. In a text message, the SC-PIO told GMA News Online that from the third floor of the Supreme Court Annex Building along Padre Faura in Manila, the SC-PIO has “temporarily relocated” to the building’s sixth floor. “We shall be holding office at the 6th floor Annex for about two weeks until renovation of our new office at SC-CA building is done,” the SC-PIO said. A highly placed SC source told GMA News Online that the transfer was meant to give way to Leonen and his staff. “Right after appointment, Leonen immediately inspected the SC-PIO as he was planning to transfer there,” the source said. This was confirmed in a letter by SC PIO chief and spokesperson Ma. Victoria Gleoresty Guerra to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. Sereno indicated that the relocation was a result of an “urgency for Justice Leonen’s chambers to have the privacy and space it requires.” The court source said Leonen ended up occupying the SC-PIO as a result of on-going building renovations at the SC. “Kapag may umaalis na justice, pasa-pasa lang iyang mga rooms ng justices. Eh kapag may inaayos pa na room, hindi kagad nakakalipat, kaya ang bagong pasok na justice will usually have to wait,” the source added. The most junior SC member, Leonen was appointed to the SC on November 21, shortly after the bilateral deal was signed, Read More …
A United States Navy guided missile destroyer will arrive in Subic Bay in Zambales on Tuesday for a routine port visit, the American embassy said Monday. The USS Stockdale (DDG-106), the third US vessel to visit the Philippines since January, will replenish supplies as well as offer its crew an opportunity for rest and relaxation, the embassy said in a statement. The Stockdale’s routine port call and goodwill visit at Subic Bay — once one of the largest US military installations in the world outside of the American mainland — “is a great opportunity to continue the long-term relationship between the Philippines and the United States,” said ship commanding officer Cdr. Lex Walker. This will be the Stockdale’s first visit to the Philippines. The visit is part of the ship’s nine-month deployment to the Western Pacific that began in January 2013. During the visit, Stockdale sailors will also engage in a number of community relations projects including visits to local orphanages, the embassy said. The USS Stockdale was commissioned on April 18, 2009, and is homeported in San Diego, California. It is named for Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, who was the highest ranking US naval officer to be held as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam. Walker also spoke about the diversity of his crew. “We have quite a few Filipino –American Sailors among our crew, and I hope that the citizens of the Philippines can look at our ship and see that their people and their culture are Read More …
The Senate has approved on third and final reading a bill declaring the waling-waling a national flower of the Philippines. The Senate approved House Bill No. 5655, which declares the waling-waling a national flower, joining the sampaguita. The sampaguita was declared the national flower of the Philippines by Governor-General Frank Murphy through Proclamation No. 652 on February 1, 1934. “Orchid lovers all over the world consider the waling-waling as one of the most unique and beautiful native orchids in the world and that while some adore it, most Filipinos have forgotten its natural beauty,” said the measure’s sponsor Senator Edgardo Angara, chair of the Senate committee on education, arts, and culture. Senator Loren Legarda, who co-sponsored the measure, said the approval of the bill will mandate the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources to promulgate rules and regulations that will protect, conserve, and propagate the waling-waling orchid together with the sampaguita. Angara said the waling-waling is known as “the Queen of Philippine Orchids.” Unlike the sampaguita, he said, the waling-waling is native to the Philippines and endemic to Davao, Cotabato, and Zamboanga. — BM, GMA News
By Jerry E. Esplanada Philippine Daily Inquirer 4:38 pm | Monday, February 4th, 2013 USS Guardian AP PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The United States Navy has presented to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) its USS Guardian “dismantling plan” that will utilize floating cranes in what it calls a “complex operation” to minimize damage to the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea. Lt. Commander Armand Balilo, the PCG spokesperson, however, told the Philippines they have to get word from the US Navy when the actual ship dismantling operation would start. In a text message, Balilo said on Monday “there’s no information yet on the exact date of the ship-breaking.” But he assured PCG personnel “will assist the US Navy personnel (involved in the operation).” Coast Guard vessels will also “conduct patrols to secure the Tubbataha Reef area while the operation is underway,” Balilo added. Reports reaching the PCG headquarters in Manila said the SMIT Borneo of SMIT Singapore Pte. Ltd., the floating crane contracted by the US Navy to remove the grounded Guardian, has arrived at the reef. US naval salvage experts have assessed that attempts to remove the Guardian intact, such as towing or pulling it off the reef, could cause more damage to the reef and the ship’s hull and most likely result in the vessel breaking up or sinking. The Guardian ran aground on Jan. 17, while transiting to Indonesia after a port visit at the former US naval base in Subic, Zambales. On Jan. 31, the US Pacific Fleet Read More …
By Fat Reyes INQUIRER.net 3:49 pm | Monday, February 4th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines – Another United States (US) warship is set to dock in Subic Tuesday as the US Navy is embroiled in a controversy over its minesweeper USS Guardian, which remains stuck on the southern atoll in the Tubbataha Reef. In a statement Monday, the US embassy in Manila said that the USS Stockdale, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, was set to arrive in Subic Bay on Tuesday for a “routine port visit.” As in previous visits by US ships, the embassy noted that the stop in Subic would permit the vessel to “replenish supplies as well as offer its crew an opportunity for rest and relaxation.” “Visiting Subic Bay provides us with a great opportunity to continue the long-term relationship between the Philippines and the United States and this is very important to us,” Lex Walker, commanding officer of USS Stockdale, was quoted as saying in the statement. The ship is the second vessel from the US to make a stop in Subic after the USS Guardian ran aground on the atoll last Jan. 17. The Guardian ran aground on the atoll while in transit to Indonesia after a port visit to Subic, a former US naval base. Authorities said that one of the US Navy’s plans was to dismantle the minesweeper and remove it in sections from the marine sanctuary, but a final plan had yet to be approved. The US had said that it would Read More …
By Fat Reyes INQUIRER.net 3:23 pm | Monday, February 4th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines – The Australian government on Monday announced that it would offer an additional P126 million in aid to the victims of typhoon “Pablo” as a response to the latest appeal made by the Philippine government and the United Nations for the ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by the disaster. In a statement, the Australian embassy in Manila noted that the additional funds would be used to provide emergency shelters, including improvements of existing shelter facilities in the worst-hit areas. It added that emergency cash-for-work programs would be funded for debris clearing and would provide critically needed income to workers across the affected areas. It noted that six weeks after the tragedy hit Mindanao, shelter and livelihood remained the “critical needs with over 840,000 people still displaced, including 700,000 people whose livelihoods were destroyed by the typhoon.” “The scale of destruction caused by typhoon Pablo is staggering, and I witnessed this when I recently visited Compostela Valley. My heart went out to the families who continue to suffer,” Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Bill Twaddell was quoted as saying in the statement. “We commend the Philippine Government for its effective and well-coordinated efforts to address this crisis. Australia stands ready to help Filipino families affected by this disaster get back on their feet – and I know they can. Visiting Compostela Valley and seeing the generous and sincere smiles of the people only made me admire and appreciate the Read More …