More medicines tagged tax-exempt

By Julito Rada

THE government has expanded its list of medicines that are exempted from value-added tax to include 59 drugs for cancer, diabetes, and hypertension, among other diseases.

"We have exempted from VAT a total of 59 medicines for cancer, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, mental illness, tuberculosis, and kidney disease. This is a welcome addition to the list of VA-exempt products,” said Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. Lumagui’s Revenue Memorandum

US...

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Ayungin is also referred to as Second Thomas Shoal.

During his conversation with Teodoro, Austin "highlighted the United States' ironclad alliance commitment with the Philippines and reiterated that the Mutual Defense Treaty extends to Philippine public vessels, aircraft, and armed forces — to include those of its Coast Guard — in the Pacific, including anywhere in the South China Sea," the readout said.

It added that Austin and Teodoro also reaffirmed their commitment to continue upholding the rules-based order and supporting the livelihoods of local Philippine communities in the South China Sea consistent with the Arbitral Tribunal Ruling in 2016.

"The Secretaries agreed to meet in person for in-depth discussions on defense and security priorities," the Pentagon said.

In 2016, the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, based on a case filed by the Philippines, junked China's nine-dash line claim covering the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.

It was a major legal victory for the Philippines but China has refused to acknowledge the ruling.

On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin insisted that the maneuvers of their vessels during the June 30 incident were “professional and restrained.”

P57b...

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Succeeding administrations passed the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law.

The current DAR Secretary, Conrado Estrella III is the grandson of Estrella Sr., who signed the PD 27 with the elder Marcos. Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Friday that the condoning of the unpaid amortizations of agrarian reform beneficiaries would not hurt govern-

Speaker:...

From A1 approved during the 2nd Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) on Wednesday.

“Your House of Representatives will work even harder when the 2nd regular session of Congress opens this month, beginning with the State of the Nation Address of our President,” Romualdez said.

“With our firm commitment to approve the remaining priority measures agreed upon during the LEDAC meetings, various House panels will continue working during committee deliberations of the proposed 2024 NEP," he added.

Romualdez said that if the productivity of the House of Representatives during the first year of the 19th Congress was any indication, he is confident that the chamber can accomplish its goals for the rest of 2023.

“If members of the House of Representatives will work with the same pas-

Marcos...

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“She moved fast in that she terminated the contracts that were in question. She has also since put under review all of the other contracts that were in the pipeline. So in my opinion she has it under control. She knows what to do," he added of Frasco.

DOT has been under fire from netizens since the release of its new campaign slogan and video.

Netizens were quick to point out that the video used different stock footage from other countries such as Thailand,

Sugar...

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The latest order was signed by Mr. Marcos, who as the concurrent secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA) chairs the SRA, along with Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Pan-

Circular 72-2023 updated the list of VATexempt products under Republic Act 10963 or the TRAIN Law and Republic Act No. 11534 or the CREATE Act. Of the 59 drugs added to the list, 25 were for the treatment of cancer, 11 for kidney diseases, 10 for diabetes, six for hypertension, four for mental illnesses, two for high cholesterol, and one for tuberculosis.

"In accordance with the law, the Chinese Coast Guard vessel carried out law enforcement activities to uphold China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime order. The Chinese side’s maneuvers were professional and restrained," Wang said at a press conference. The Chinese official asserted that the Ren’ai Reef (Ayungin Shoal) was part of China’s Nansha Islands, adding that it was the PCG vessels that supposedly intruded Chinese waters.

Earlier on Wednesday, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian paid a courtesy visit to Teodoro to discuss China and the Philippines' defense and military relations as well as maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea.

"We had a constructive discussion on promoting defense and military relations between China and the Philippines, and maintaining peace and stability in the region," Huang said of his meeting with Teodoro.

On Friday, US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson called out China's "irresponsible behavior in the South China Sea," saying it "threatens the security and legal rights" of one of the US allies, the Philippines.

In a statement, Carlson also called on China to comply with international law, including the legally binding 2016 Arbitration Award that turned in favor of the Philippines.

She said it is "a starting point to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific," which many countries are pushing for.

Within the past three years, Manila ment revenue. At a press briefing after the President signed the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, Diokno said the amount that was condoned was not included in the estimation of the government's revenues.

“This will have no impact on the fiscal picture of the government because we have planned our deficit target in the next five years, including our revenues. This is not included in the computation,” Diokno said in Filipino.

The newly-signed law, Republic Act No. 11953, will benefit 610,054 agrar- sion and vigor they exhibited during the First Regular Session, I have no doubt that we can do better this time around,” he said.

During the first 10 months of the 19th Congress, the House has processed a total of 9,600 measures: 8,490 bills, 1,109 resolutions and one petition, or an average of 30 measures for each session day.

Lawmakers were also able to approve on third and final reading 33 out of 42 bills listed as priority measures of President Marcos and the LEDAC.

“Processes and systems can always be improved. I believe there are still better ways we can perform our mandate of legislation without sacrificing the quality of our work,” the Speaker said.

The FDA, however, removed from the list of VAT-exempt drugs the cancer medicine with the generic name Ixekizumab.

“Upon the evaluation of the certificate of product registration and package insert of [Ixekizumab], it was noted that it is approved as a treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults who are candidates for systemic therapy,” the FDA said.

In an interview with the Philippine Information Agency, Sylvia Gonzaga, a 60-yearold sari-sari store operator in Caloocan City who has been living with hypertension for over 20 years now, welcomed the expanded list of VAT-exempt medicines. She said it will help her “save around filed a total of 427 diplomatic protests against Beijing, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) figures showed.

Meanwhile, the Western Command (WESCOM) reported 48 Chinese fishing vessels have been spotted swarming the Iroquois Reef, which is located south of the oil and gas-rich Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea.

The WESCOM, in a Facebook post on Friday, said this was based on information from their air patrol on June 30.

"During multiple flights over Iroquois Reef in the past week, pilots aboard NV312, a Britten Norman Islander light patrol aircraft of the Philippine Navy, observed an alarming presence of Chinese fishing vessels," it said.

It noted that the presence of these vessels is visible from the air, based on the reports of the pilots of the patrol aircraft.

The Chinese vessels “were observed to be anchored in groups of five to seven, and no fishing activities were noticed,” WESCOM said. “They seem to just loiter in the area."

These recent observations by the Britten Norman Islander patrol aircraft confirm earlier intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance flights conducted in the area, which indicated an increasing trend of Chinese fishing vessels.

In February, WESCOM reported the sighting of only 12 Chinese fishing vessels compared to the 47 spotted on June 12.

"Simultaneously with this surge at Iroquois Reef, an increased presence of Chinese maritime assets has also been noted at Sabina Shoal. Three China Coast Guard ian reform beneficiaries as it writes off P57.557 billion of their loans.

Lawmakers commended the President for signing the New Agrarian Emancipation Act which will serve as a catalyst for rural development and would contribute to the overall growth and prosperity of the country.

“The groundbreaking legislation is a testament to President Marcos' unwavering commitment to the welfare of our farmers and the promotion of agricultural development,” Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said in a statement.

Diokno:...

From A1 be operational before the end of 2023. “In a week or two, he [the President] will sign it,” he said.

Senate President Miguel Zubiri earlier said the final version of the bill has been sent to the President.

MIF will be the Philippines’ first-ever sovereign wealth fund that will optimize national funds by generating returns to support the present administration’s economic goals as set in the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF), the 8-point Socioeconomic Agenda, and the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 20232028.

On Wednesday, the LEDAC chaired by the President approved 20 bills that must be passed by the end of the year, including the Bank Deposit Secrecy measure that will allow the Central Bank to open accounts for cases involving money laundering and terrorism. (See full story online at manilastandard.net) 9-hr....

Indonesia, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates, instead of using clips of the country's own areas.

"Love the Philippines" garnered interest from international news outlets, prompting DOT to hastily terminate its contract with DDB Philippines and initiate an investigation.

DBB Philippines apologized for the incident, noting that the use of stock videos was for internal purposes only. But the mood video was posted on social media and the DOT's official website before it was taken down.

"We sincerely hope this will not diminish the genuine love and appreciation the stakeholders and the public have been showing for the 'Love the Philippines' campaign,” DDB Philippines said.

ganiban, SRA acting administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, and SRA acting board member Ma. Mitzi Mangwag, representing the millers' sector.

"Any imported volume of refined sugar that arrives under this sugar order shall be classified as ‘C’ (Reserve Sugar) subject to future disposition or reclassification, as SRA deems necessary," SO7 read.

P500 per month on her medication.”

“This is a big help for me, especially since I am a senior citizen relying only on my small pension and a little income from my sari-sari store,” Gonzaga said.

Susan De Leon, a senior information officer, said the discount will be a huge relief as she spends close to P10,000 a month for her daily medicines.

“That's favorable for senior citizens and even ordinary citizens because medicine is expensive. When you are a senior citizen and a PWD, you can save a lot because on top of the 20 percent discount, there is even less cost for maintenance medicines,” said De Leon. (See full story online at manilastandard.net) ships and two People's Liberation ArmyNavy (PLA-N) vessels are regularly loitering there compared to two wooden resupply boats from the Philippines and two Philippine Coast Guard vessels," it said.

“These developments raise an alarming concern about China's intentions and actions within these disputed waters.“ it added.

Recto Bank, a significant feature for the Philippines holding immense potential for the country’s energy security and economic growth, “stands as a focal point in this rising concern over China’s recent behavior,” it added.

“Recto Bank is a vital feature within the Philippine’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and China must cease its swarming of vessels to respect our sovereign rights," WESCOM spokesperson Navy Commander Ariel Coloma said in an earlier statement.

Also on Friday, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson CG Commodore Jay Tarriela said his earlier comments during his interview in ANC were taken out of context and “misinterpreted” by the media.

"I would like to clarify that in my ANC interview yesterday, I wanted to emphasize that our efforts to expose China's aggressive actions in recent months have resulted in some changes in the behavior of the Chinese Coast Guard, particularly in terms of how they shadow our PCG vessels," Tarriela said in his tweet.

"However, I made it clear that their behavior is still concerning when it comes to Ayungin Shoal. Unfortunately, my statements were misinterpreted and taken out of context," he added.

He said Republic Act 11953 would free the agrarian reform beneficiaries from the shackles of indebtedness as the new law aims to condone the debt of agrarian reform beneficiaries tilling 1.173 million hectares of land.

Under the old law, beneficiaries are required to pay for the land awarded to them in annual installments with 6 percent interest for a maximum period of 30 years. The measure condones all the unpaid amortizations of the principal debt, including interests and surcharges. (See full story online at manilastandard.net) ects, and projects that contribute to the attainment of sustainable development.

The Senate’s version of the bill addresses the issues concerning MIF’s capitalization and management.

The final version of the bill explicitly prohibits government agencies and government-owned and controlled corporations that provide for social security and public health insurance (of government employees, private sector workers and employees, and other sectors and subsectors) to contribute to and invest in the Fund.

These include, but are not limited to, the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Home Development Mutual Fund, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and Philippine Veterans Affairs Office.

The fund will be invested in a wide range of assets, including foreign currencies, fixed-income instruments, domestic and foreign corporate bonds, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and high-impact infrastructure proj-

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The water interruptions will affect at least 591,000 households, or over a third of the 1.5 million affected households in April, Dizon said. “Manila Water will not be affected by the reduction of allocation,” he added. Angat Dam supplies over 90% of Metro Manila’s potable water requirements. Its falling water level – at 180.45 meters yesterday – will trigger a reduction in the water allocation for the concessionaires of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System. The National Water Resources Board

The order also provides sanctions and penalties for eligible importers who fail to bring in any of their imported refined sugar allocation or raw sugar allocation on or before the designated deadline.

This is the second import program approved by the SRA for 2023, following Sugar Order No. 6, which autho-