Reel Time docu bags award at Monte Carlo TV Festival

 News
Jun 292017
 
Reel Time docu bags award at Monte Carlo TV Festival

GMA Network’s Reel Time documentary “Isinulat sa Tubig (Forgotten Children of the Waves)” has received the Golden Nymph Laureate Special Amade Prize at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival – the first to be received by a Philippine TV program. Reel Time documentary “Isinulat sa Tubig” via TV Festival Reel Time was also the lone Asian country television show awarded at the 57th edition of the Monte-Carlo TV Festival European awards. AMADE jury president Michel Merkt praised the Philippine program saying, "The access to education is crucial and we were all touched and amazed by the determination of these children from the remote village of Matnog in the Philippines." "This year, we wanted not only to give the award to a project which shares AMADE’s vision but also brings hopes and a strong positive message to the community,” Merkt said during the awarding ceremonies in Monaco. A GMA network release described the winning documentary a feature on students crossing oceans and trekking up mountains on foot every day just to get an education, written and directed by Reel Time's executive producer Jayson Bernard Santos. "The students from Matnog, Sorsogon in the southern part of the Philippines no longer have to swim going to school after several individuals and organizations have sent their donations. These kids will forever remind us of our responsibility to give voices to the marginalized especially the children," said Santos. The Golden Nymph Awards are among the most prestigious prizes in international television, rewarding the best TV programs and Read More …

Limited representations of a representative office

 Economy
Jun 282017
 

Section 123 of the Corporation Code allows foreign corporations to establish their presence in the Philippines provided that a license is secured from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A foreign corporation is defined as one which is formed, organized, or existing under the laws of a country other than those of the Philippines. One option that may be considered by a foreign corporation, which does not intend to operate and engage in profit-generating activities, is to establish a representative office (“RO”) in the Philippines.

UN tourism org tells world to experience Philippines

 News
Jun 252017
 
UN tourism org tells world to experience Philippines

United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary-General Taleb Rifai has hailed the experience of visiting the Philippines and said the world’s people must come visit because “You haven’t lived if you have not experienced the Philippines.” Dinagyang Festival [via Iloilo Today] The Department of Tourism posted how the UNWTO chief praised the Philippines and the Filipinos for managing to survive difficulties and still come out with their best saying, “The world is lucky to have the Philippines. Culture, nature, upbeat people give the country so much life. The Philippines is a country to travel and respect, and its greatest gift is its people.” Rifai told delegates of the 6th UNWTO International Conference on Tourism Statistics, “We are here, ladies and gentlemen, to tell the world to come to the Philippines and make no mistake about it. Anybody who tries to present any other version of the story should come and see with your own eyes.” “All of the countries of the world that have experienced difficulties have come back and have shown their best and their beauty comes out,” the UN organization head said during the WTO meeting hosted by Manila – the country’s second time to host WTO after 1980. UNWTO described the Manila Conference as “a landmark opportunity to discuss methodological advances, explore emerging issues and learn from pioneering country experiences in this area of measurement.” The 3-day conference gathered Tourism Ministers from Thailand, Seychelles, Fiji, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and 721 international and local delegates Read More …

VAT on importing from within

 Economy
Jun 212017
 

If a buyer in the Philippines purchases goods from a Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) registered enterprise, is the purchase subject to value-added tax (VAT)? Under Section 107 of the Tax Code in relation to Section 26 of Republic Act No. 7916 (PEZA Law), sale of goods by a PEZA-registered enterprise to a buyer in the Philippines (i.e., domestic sales) is considered a “technical importation,” i.e. the buyer is treated as the importer and the sale shall be charged the corresponding VAT. The rationale for this tax treatment is that an ecozone is considered a separate customs territory which creates a legal fiction that it is a foreign territory, even though located within the Philippines. In essence, purchases from an ecozone are likened to purchases made from abroad. Thus, the sale is treated as a technical importation.

FB celebrity makes $100 tourism video on PHL

 News
Jun 202017
 
FB celebrity makes $100 tourism video on PHL

Nas Daily, a daily video site by Nuseir Yassin who has become a Facebook celebrity after generating over 150 million views, has produced a $100 tourism video on the Philippines. Nuseir Yassin [via Facebook] Nas Daily’s Day 434 video “This doesn’t cost millions” shows the many tourism offerings of the Philippines and the Filipinos, was posted on Facebook on June 17 and has already raked in 412 thousand views after 2 days. Yassin’s video actually lasts 1 minute like his other viral videos – with the feature on the Philippines running 30 seconds. Yassir, an Israeli Arab who has declared the Philippines as his favorite country after visiting it in 2017 and posting videos about his stay, produced the tourism video on his own in New York. In the video post Yassir, an Economics and Computer Science graduate from Harvard University, said he wanted to show how a mere $100 dollars budget can produce an effective promotional video for so much less than what governments spend usually on agency-produced videos. Yassir captioned his Day 434 video with: “I am always amazed by how much money is wasted in the media business. Governments spend millions of dollars to make simple videos while agencies take a huge cut of that. Why? When it's not your own money, it's so easy to spend it the wrong way. And in countries where every dollar is needed, that becomes wasteful. So I tried to take a swing at making a tourism video for the Philippines Read More …

Martha Atienza wins Baloise Art Prize at Art Basel

 News
Jun 172017
 
Martha Atienza wins Baloise Art Prize at Art Basel

Filipino-Dutch cinematographer Martha Atienza has received the 19th Baloise Art Prize at the Art Basel 2017 in Switzerland. Martha Atienza [via CNN Philippines] Atienza’s winning video installation, “Our Islands 11°16’58.4”N 123°45’07.0”E, 2017”, is a single channel HD video (00:01:12:00 min, loop) with no sound that shows a traditional Philippine procession done underwater. The prize of CHF 30,000 is presented at the Statements sector of Art Basel by a jury of international experts. The prize includes the acquisition by Baloise of a group of works by the Atienza, which are donated to two important museums in Europe: the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and the MUDAM, Luxembourg. The Art Basel show gallery captions Atienza’s work as a six- screen life-sized projection of an underwater procession moving from one wall to the next that shows men wearing costumes depicting religious and iconic images in the Philippines such as the Santo Niňo, Ati-Atihan, Yolanda survivors, and even Manny Pacquiao’s boxing gloves. “We watch the procession passing by as if in an aquarium: Christ carrying the cross, men in women’s clothes and demonstrators carrying tableaux with political slogans, threatened from behind by menacing, armed henchman. Through her cast of characters and choice of setting, Atienza presents a both critical and humorous take not only on the state of society in the Philippines but also on the threat of climate change to which the country is increasingly exposed through the warming of the world’s oceans,” according to the 2017 Baloise Prize. Atienza’s works are Read More …

Tax implications of ‘passed-on’ Gross Receipts Tax

 Economy
Jun 112017
 

On Nov. 15, 2016, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 127-2016, which lifted the suspension of revenue issuances previously suspended under RMC No. 69-2016. One of these issuances is RMC No. 62-2016 (Circular), dated June 13, 2016, which clarifies the proper tax treatment of “passed-on” Gross Receipts Tax (GRT). GRT is a form of percentage tax, which is defined as a business tax imposed on persons or on entities that sell or lease goods or services in the course of trade or business in the Philippines.

PHL internet speed makes huge gains, Akamai says

 News
Jun 092017
 
PHL internet speed makes huge gains, Akamai says

The Philippines is enjoying a co-leadership status in Asia Pacific, together with Thailand and China, in gains in average speeds for internet connection. The State of the Internet first quarter 2017 report of Akamai cited the Philippines’ 20% quarterly boost in on the average connection speed metric despite the country’s 5.5 Mbps rating which placed it at the bottom rank of the 15 APAC countries surveyed. Akamai, the world’s largest and most trusted cloud delivery platform, further suggests that despite the Philippines’ lowest ranking position, it foresees improvements based on the current administration’s plans and projects. “…first quarter announcements suggest it may see improvements to its infrastructure in coming years, as Philippine President Duterte approved a plan to deploy a national broadband network at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion to $4.0 billion (77 billion to 200 billion pesos). The network will be used to host a national portal and other online government services, as well as to connect remote areas of the country that are underserved by existing broadband providers. Deployment could begin as early as June, with a three- to five-year timeline for completion,” said the Akamai report. In terms of 15 Mbps broadband adoption, the Philippines’ first quarter showing at 72%places it at 3rd rank after China and SriLanka. Akamai also reported the Philippines enjoys solo lead for the region’s 4 Mbps broadband adoption, with the largest quarterly increase pegged at 26%. The Philippines ranking on the Akamai report is based on data gathered from the Akamai Intelligent Read More …

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