Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – High income inequality is still widely prevalent in the Philippines and government must collect more taxes from the country’s conglomerates to narrow the gap and boost revenues, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. The Washington-based fund said the government has achieved progress on the fiscal front but still needs to improve tax administration, cut tax exemptions and broaden the tax base further to boost revenues.  “As we discussed, there are still issues related to inequality. There is still very high poverty. Those issues you need to tackle in the medium term,” Naoyuki Shinohara, deputy managing director of IMF told The STAR in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on East Asia. While he lauded reforms and progress achieved on the fiscal front, he said the government must raise taxes slapped on conglomerates. “I think what is important is to strengthen the tax administration, broaden the tax base by eliminating various exceptions. Get more cooperation from conglomerates. Tax administration needs to be stronger,” he said. He said that generally, increasing income tax is better than relying mainly on value added tax (VAT). Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He also said the government must fight smuggling to plug revenue leakages. “Your government is carrying out prudent fiscal policy. The budget deficit is under control. There’s not much concern on that level,” he said. The National Government fiscal deficit for the first month of 2014 stood at P34.2 billion, an indication of Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – As the principals in contracting relationships, employers are not liable for the claims of individuals deployed by contractors since these persons are not their employees. However, there are pitfalls which if companies fail to avoid can make them liable for various employment claims as if the workers of contractors are their employees. To avoid such costly mistakes, Center for Global Best Practices invites business owners, management decision-makers, HR practitioners, lawyers and all those in outsourcing businesses to attend this one-day pioneering seminar entitled “Best Practices Guide to Valid Job Contracting and Subcontracting” scheduled on Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Cebu City, Philippines. For details and a complete list of seminars including lectures on Legal Best Practices in Crafting Your HR Code of Discipline, Best Practices in Designing Your HR Forms, Notices and Contracts, Labor Laws for School Owners and Administrators, you may log on to www.cgbp.org or call (02) 842-7148/ 59 and 556-8968/ 69; Cebu lines (032) 512-3106 or 07 or Baguio telephone (074) 423-5148. Mistakes committed in dealing with contractors will hound companies relating to liabilities such as illegal dismissal, back wages, reinstatement, separation pay, money claims, SSS, Philhealth, Pag-Ibig and social legislation benefits, among others. This can cost you millions of losses years ahead when unchecked and unresolved. With that, you have to make sure that you know all the technicalities, strategies and best practices to ensure that you prevent liabilities from unnecessary labor claims and illegal dismissal judgements.

MANILA, Philippines – Global Business Power Corp. (GBP), the power generation company of banking tycoon George Ty, has partnered with Lafarge Republic, Inc. (LRI) in developing an initiative aimed to lower the costs of rehabilitation projects in areas affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda. The project involves the introduction of a special cement variant, GBP said over the weekend. Under the project, the two companies would provide a type of cement that could be used for the rehabilitation of homes in Yolanda-affected provinces. Dubbed Kapit-Balay, the project involves the use of a high quality proprietary cement blended with fly ash, particularly coming from the Cebu Energy Development Corp. and Toledo Power Co., that provides appropriate structural strength suited for one- to two-story homes being built by non-government organizations (NGOs), local government units and other government agencies. Fly ash is a non-hazardous coal power plant by-product derived from clean coal technology, a process involving injection of limestone during combustion of coal. It is a fine powder that could be utilized as a pozzolan, a material that has greater compressive strength and lesser environmental impact used in high-performance blended cement, the company said. LRI director Don Lee said that GBP’s fly ash has passed the cement company’s standards. Cement with fly ash possesses good workability, smoother finish, enhanced durability, and good strength. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 GBP  chairman Francisco Sebastian, for his part, said the company has had projects in the areas of health, environment, education and development. Read More …