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Wed-Thu, September 23-24, 2020
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P6.42 billion in taxes in 2019—a 169 percent increase from the preceding year; • The digital transformation program of the BIR, which introduced additional electronic channels for the filing and payment of taxes. In 2019, total revenues collected through digital channels reached P1.83 trillion, representing 84 percent of the total BIR collections last year. This amount is 11 percent higher than the 2018 level and 54 percent more than in 2015. Dominguez said that by 2019, there were already more electronic filers at 58 percent of all taxpayers versus 25 percent in 2015. He said this is targeted to increase in the coming years as the BIR fully digitizes its operations; • The continuing improvements in the delivery of services by the BOC through the streamlining of its operations and modernization of its infrastructure; and • It worked closely with the Congress in crafting the fiscally responsible Bayanihan to Heal As One law and the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2.
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Poe that once the FIST bill is passed into law, the BIR would swiftly act on the issuances necessary to
effectively implement its tax provisions. “Once the law is approved, we will see to it that the revenue regulations and the IRR (implementing rules and regulations) will be issued out, maybe within the next six months,” Dulay said during the hearing. Senate Bill (SB) No. 1594 or FIST aims to create specialized asset-managing firms that would acquire “bad loans and stagnant properties” from distressed financial institutions. The House of Representatives earlier passed its version of FIST—House Bill (HB) No. 6816—before the sine die adjournment of the Congress in June. President Duterte described the FIST bill as a key component of the government’s plan to recover from the pandemicinduced crisis, and urged the Congress to act swiftly on the measure during his 5th State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III stressed that swift action to preserve the asset quality of banking institutions will ensure the continued strength of the financial sector and help the economy recover faster from the global health and economic crises spawned by the pandemic. Dominguez said during the same Senate joint hearing that the FIST bill will guarantee a steady source of credit for the pandemic-hit sectors of the
economy while providing safeguards to consumers. The prop os ed ass et management companies under FIST are an “improved version” of the special purpose vehicles (SPVs) provided under a 2002 law passed by Congress to stem the economic damage from the 1997 Asian financial crisis that lasted till the early 2000s, Dominguez said. Allowing banks to outsource the handling of their non-performing assets to asset management companies will enable them to focus on their primary task of lending to sectors in need of credit and encourage the private sector, government financial institutions (GFIs) and gover nment-ow ne d or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) to help rehabilitate distressed businesses, he added. The measure provides tax incentives to defray the transaction and transfer costs of non-performing assets to asset management companies. Dominguez said this would entail foregone revenues of between P3.3 billion and P13 billion every year for the next five years to clear the books of banks of bad debts, and to keep the economy going. “We believe that the economic benefits of strengthening the financial sector through this effort outweigh the fiscal costs of doing so,” he said.
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get and internet usage,” said Darius Delgado, Head of Broadband Business at Globe. From as high as P26 per GB, the Globe At Home Postpaid LTE has gone down to P9 per GB over the last two years or a 65.38% price decrease. Likewise, Globe at Home Prepaid WiFi customers now pay P9 per GB only from as high as P23 in 2017; P15 in 2018; and P10 in 2019 or a decrease of 60.87% since 2017. Globe At Home wired customers, on the other hand, now have unlimited data access compared to paying up to P13 per GB in 2016. The company’s price per GB for its prepaid customers is also among the lowest in Southeast Asia. Globe’s P11.25 per GB with its new Go prepaid promo is more affordable compared to Thailand (P190.59); Singapore (P35.60) and Indonesia (P32.76).
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The company booked a 64.6-percent decline in net income in the first semester of the year, as the enhanced community quarantine imposed on the whole of Luzon starting March 17, 2020 required it to close all 44 of its Luzon stores. Sales from its Luzon stores accounted for 84 percent of Wilcon’s total
sales pre-ECQ. Wilcon was allowed to re-open stores only on May 16, 2020. Wilcon president and chief executive officer Lorraine Belo-Cincochan attributed the surge in the demand for some of their products to home improvements projects during stayat-home orders. “We use aircon, electric fan, everything, more often then, the tendency is there will be more wear and tear… Your home is now your restaurant, it’s your school, everything so you have to buy extra furniture, extra appliances because everybody is living in the house, because everybody is doing everything there,” she said. In support of an expanding store network, Belo-Cincochan said the company has completed the construction of additional warehouse buildings in its existing main distribution center, and will open a new regional hub in the south of Metro Manila by the end of the year. “The regional hub is meant to improve our fulfillment and distribution processes to our growing number of stores and customer base in the region. We have also grown our in-house and exclusive product offerings. We not only introduced new brands and added to our categories but also expanded product lines under existing brands,” she said during the company’s
stockholders’ meeting. (PNA)
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Municipalities of Villanueva and Tagoloan as the host LGUs; Barangays Tambobong and Balacanas, both in Villanueva, and Sta. Cruz in Tagoloan, as the affected barangays; and Northern Mindanao as the host region. “FDC Misamis understands how essential it is to strengthen the capabilities of our stakeholders. The immediate remittance of the financial benefit provides our host communities with added security and available resources to ensure they have a fighting chance of enduring the effects of COVID-19,” said FDC Misamis President and CEO Juan Eugenio L. Roxas. “We are thankful to the Energy Department, especially to Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, for giving the green light to reallocate the ER 1-94 funds to back communities as they strategically overcome the new uncertainties brought about by the pandemic.” FDC Misamis is a subsidiary of FDC Utilities, Inc. and a member of the Filinvest Development Corporation. It owns and operates the 3x135-MW circulating fluidized bed coal thermal plant situated in the PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate. It is one of Mindanao’s biggest baseload power plants and is among the cheapest source of reliable power.
