Page 6 - Hello Philippines December 2015 'B' ISSUE

4 www.hello-philippines.com
TmIoMreTAinveesntaocrtsmteonPtHLto- Aatntgraarcat
MANILA – Expect more
investments in the country with the
signing by President Benigno Aquino
III of the Tax Incentives Management
and Transparency Act (TIMTA).
That’s the upbeat prediction Thursday
by the Senate ways and means panel
chief, Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny”
Angara.
Angara, principal author of the law,
said that TIMTA aimed to promote
transparency and accountability in
the grant and administration of tax
incentives to registered business
entities, something he sees triggering
a surge of foreign investments.
With investors encouraged to
“bring more businesses to our
country, [such could] provide more
employment opportunities, and boost
our economic growth,” said Angara.
He thanked colleagues, particulary
AMLC fails to get asset protection order vs P1.7-M Binay account
MANILA - The Anti-Money
Laundering Council (AMLC) has failed to
secure an asset protection order for a
bank account of Vice President Jejomar
C. Binay, vice presidential spokesperson
and lawyer Rico Quicho said Monday,
describing such failure as an indication
that it had no case against Binay in the
first place.
“The court did not grant AMLC’s
petition and was instead ordered to
comment on the motion of the Vice
President. This only shows that the case
being presented by AMLC has no legal
basis to stand on,” Quicho said.
Nonetheless, according to Quicho,
the Vice President has volunteered to
the court that he will not touch the
funds just yet.
BACK TO WHERE IT BEGAN Robinsons Galleria Cebu opens December 10
MANILA - Back to where it all
began. That’s the theme of Thursday’s
(December 10) opening of Robinsons
Galleria in Cebu, the flagship mall
of the empire built by tycoon John
Gokongwei, who began his inspiring
story in the queen city nearly three
quarters of a century ago.
“Sir John,” as he later came to be
called, built in the 1940s a multi-
billion dollar empire by diligently
trading basic goods on a bicycle and
on board a small boat off the pier of
Cebu. As a young man, he supported
his widowed family with sheer hard
work while growing to become one of
the country’s captains of commerce.
On Thursday, Gokongwei - a living
legend in the country’s food, real estate,
aviation, and telecommunications
industries - returns to the Queen City
with a retail landmark that is seen to
crown his efforts to give flesh to the
Filipino family’s pursuit of a better life. The new Robinsons Galleria Cebu
The 4.7-hectare Robinsons
his House counterpart Rep. Miro
Quimbo and Rep. Leni Robredo for
supporting the passage and helping
reconcile the conflicting provisions.
He also thanked President Aquino
for signing this bill, a priority economic submit to the Department of Budget
reform given the administration’s
good governance thrust.
“We are now working for
the passage of another of the
administration’s priority bills, the
Customs Modernization and Tariff
Act. We are hoping that this would be
reciprocated with the consideration of
our income tax reform bill,” he added.
Under Republic Act 10708 (the
TIMTA), registered business entities
must file with their investment
promotion agencies a complete
annual tax incentives report, which
will be then submitted to the Bureau
of Internal Revenue, the Bureau of
“Since the 20-day provisional asset
protection order was deemed lifted, Vice
President Binay volunteered to the court
that he will not touch the funds in his
account in order for the court to properly accounts, the AMLC had asked the Manila
resolve the legal issues,” Quicho said.
“This is a voluntary act to show that
the Vice President has nothing to hide and against Binay.
is confident in his position that the AMLC
Galleria Cebu is located on busy
General Maxilom Avenue, touted as
incorporating the best lessons distilled
by Robinsons Land Corporation from
over 35 years of real estate and retail
excellence.
In a press statement on the eve of
Robinsons Galleria Cebu’s opening,
RLC promised to bring together
“the finest formulas found in the
world’s most celebrated malls while
introducing newer experiences.”
Largely accessible through public
transport vehicles, the Galleria
Cebu “aims to become the urban
center where the best of the islands
converge, mixing local flavor with the
international mindset that has long
been attributed to the Cebuanos,” said
the RLC statement.
Novel feature: traveller’s lounge.
offers something novel: a Traveller’s
Lounge, which provides efficient and
convenient shuttle service to and from
BUSINESS & FINANCE
Customs, and the Department of
Finance (DOF).
For monitoring and analysis of
tax incentives granted, the DOF
shall maintain a single database and
and Management (DBM) the actual
amount, estimate claims, current
year’s programmed amount, and the
following year’s projected amount of
tax incentives.
For transparency purposes,
these data and information will be
reflected by the DBM in the annual
Budget of Expenditures and Sources
of Financing, which shall be known
as the Tax Incentives Information
section.
Meanwhile, the National Economic
and Development Authority (NEDA)
is mandated to conduct a cost-benefit
analysis on the investment incentives
petition is not only illegal, but also a clear family members.
act of political harassment,” he added.
Quicho noted that after claiming earlier
that Binay had billions deposited in 242
Regional Trial Court (RTC) to freeze only
one account with a deposit of P1.7 million,
an admission that it had no solid evidence
When the matter of Binay having “over
200 accounts” was first reported in the
Philippines Daily Inquirer (PDI), the VP’s
camp had said he only had five accounts,
and the case was apparently part of a
continuing demolition job to derail his 2016
presidential run. The Binay camp rued that
the massive dragnet had unfairly included
accounts of businessmen associated with
him, as well as personal accounts of their
the Port of Cebu every half hour, giving
the mall unmatched access to the rest
of the Visayan region. The Lounge
also provides travel ticketing, baggage
depository, and concierge services.
The Robinsons Galleria Cebu will
feature the mall’s rich assortment of
merchants, each of which has crafted a
name for retail excellence. Robinsons
Galleria Cebu also unveils a luxurious
list of international retail brands.
December 2015 / Fortnightly – No. 24 • UK & Europe Edition
to determine the impact of tax
incentives on the economy.
TIMTA, Angara explained,
“provides a solution for the lack of
empirical data on fiscal incentives and
what it reciprocates to the economy.
With NEDA’s cost-benefit analysis,
it will allow the government and
policymakers to make better decisions
in overseeing the implementation of
existing investment-related laws, and
in managing the nation’s finances.”
Angara, however, stressed that the
proposed TIMTA would not tamper
with the fiscal incentives presently
enjoyed by the private sector given
a provision under the bill which
explicitly states, “nothing in this Act
shall be construed to diminish or limit,
in whatever manner, the amount of
incentives that IPAs may grant.”
Any registered business entity
On Monday, the Vice President’s camp
described the AMLC’s latest petition
[for an asset protection order] as a
“blatant violation” of Republic Act 1379
or the Act Declaring Forfeiture in Favor
of the State Any Property Found To Have
Been Unlawfully Acquired By Any Public
Officer or Employee and Providing for the
Proceedings Therefor.
Section 2 of RA 1379 provides that “that original six-month freeze order on the
no such petition shall be filed within one
year before any general election or within
three months before any special election.”
Quicho said this prohibition was
explicitly provided for by the law to deter 13 on several accounts, including only
political harassment.
He lamented that the present AMLC
has allowed itself to be part of the
The mall, said RLC, is set apart from
other commercial centers in the area
by its support for the local businesses,
by featuring the best homegrown
brands of the region.
Robinsons Galleria Cebu also
opens Cebu City’s most state-of-the-
art cinema complex in the region,
Robinsons Movieworld, built with the
legacy of John Gokongwei’s father’s
first air-conditioned movie complexes
Sen. Sonny Angara: expect more investments with
TIMTA’s signing. ©InterAksyon.com file
which fails to comply with the filing
and reportorial requirements will be
penalized with a fine of P100,000 for
its first violation; P500,000 for the
second violation; and, cancellation of
the registration of the business entity
for the third violation.
“Fiscal incentives cannot be
evaluated in a vacuum because of the
many benefits such as jobs and rural
development that come along with
these incentives. We need to better
monitor the incentives we give to
ensure that they actually lead to more
investments, high-income jobs, and
inclusive growth for our countrymen,”
Angara said. n Ernie Reyes / InterAksyon.com /
December 10, 2015 / 5:24 pm
demolition team formed to discredit
the Vice President and prevent him from
continuing his fight for the poor Filipinos
ignored by the present administration.
The AMLC filed a petition for civil
forfeiture on November 12 against the
Vice President, Makati Mayor Jejomar
Erwin S. Binay, and 62 other individuals
and corporations.
AMLC filed the petition after the
Binays’ assets filed on May 11 lapsed.
Based on the AMLC petition, the
Manila RTC issued a 20-day “Provisional
Asset Protection Order” on November
one account in the name of the Vice
President. The order lapsed December 3.
n InterAksyon.com / December 8, 2015 / 9:48 am
in the Visayas.
Robinsons Galleria Cebu is designed
with the main goal of sustainability
in mind, utilizing energy-efficient
lighting and air-conditioning system
throughout the mall, as well as
water-conserving plumbing fixtures
among its restrooms, and extends
this thoughtful approach to its
architecture. n InterAksyon.com / December 9,
2015 / 4:54 pm