‘Pay P3B in withholding taxes’
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•• 5 SECTIONS PAGES • VOL. 120 NO. 269 28
FRIDAY, JULY 12, 2019
Trusted since 1898
House coup looms
n Plot leader Diokno: And he wanted to be senator of the Republic?
BY CATHERINE VALENTE
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UST days after President Rodrigo Duterte endorsed Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano as the next speaker of the House of Representatives, the fight for the top House post seems to be far from over, with an alleged coup d’etat being plotted against the Taguig lawmaker, according to Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte.
Imbecilic kalikasan writ suit will result in political chaos and economic collapse
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R w w w.manilatimes.net
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UN approves global ‘review’ of PH drug war
HE socalled w r i t of kalikasan suit asking the Supreme Court to compel government to enforce our environmental laws in the Spratlys and Scarborough Shoal is a cheap, despicable and stupid political plot by the Yellows and Reds. If it wins, it will result in political chaos and economic ruin, at a level worse than we’ve ever seen.
RIGOBERTO D. TIGLAO
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PACKED
Patients lie or sit on the hallway of the emergency room of the Philippine General Hospital, which has run out of space for the huge volume of patients seeking medical attention. The hospital’s emergency room has been under renovation since last year, but a makeshift room set up could not accommodate the hundreds of patients who arrive every day. PHOTO BY DJ DIOSINA
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What’s inside PIÑOL VOWS JUSTICE FOR SLAIN RADIO COMMENTATOR NewsA2
GENEVA: The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Thursday narrowly approved a resolution mandating a “comprehensive” international review of the Philippines drug war, which watchdogs say had killed more than 20,000 people. The resolution had faced strong pushback from President Rodrigo Duterte’s government, which counters that the toll had been exaggerated — its estimates say 5,300 had died — and that the crackdown had the strong support of many Filipinos. Duterte’s three-year so-called drug war has unleashed a surge of bloodshed in the Asian nation, with reports of nightly slaying of suspects by police and masked gunmen.
TAGUIG Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano has yet to assume his post as speaker of the House of Representatives, but he has started pushing for a term extension for lawmakers. Cayetano, in a meeting with fellow
lawmakers late Wednesday, said he wants representatives to have either four years with no term limits or five years with term limits. “While we will push for
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Most Pinoys want govt to regain control of WPS Build to last
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KATHRYN AND ALDEN — PERFECT STRANGERS EntertainmentD4
Activists said they had initially hoped the UN resolution would call for a formal “inquiry,” but compromised on a “report” to win a majority. The text, initially proposed by Iceland, secured the backing of 18 states in the 47-member rights council, with 14 nations voting against and 15 abstentions. It calls on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to prepare a “comprehensive written report on the situation of human rights in the Philippines,” over the coming year. Manila’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva Evan Garcia immediately
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Cayetano eyes longer term for lawmakers
SWS SURVEY
FREDDIE ROACH WANTS PACQUIAOMAYWEATHER 2
A screenshot of a text message, which reportedly came from Paolo was shared with the media on Thursday, claiming that one of the three other speaker hopefuls is planning a coup against Cayetano. “May election pa sa July 22 at doon ako mas interesado, kung sino ang mananalo. Kasi may balita-balita, may isa sa tatlo
ABOUT 93 percent of Filipinos want the Philippines to regain control of the West Philippine Sea (WPS or South China Sea), including the islands being occupied by China, according to the latest survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS). Of the 93 percent, 74 percent said it was “very important,” while the remaining 19 percent believed it was “somewhat important” that
the Philippines assert its territorial rights over the contested waters. Only 1 percent said it was “somewhat not important” and the other 1 percent thought it was “not at all important.” Four percent, meanwhile, were undecided. The latest figure of 93 percent was 4 points higher than the 89 percent recorded in December 2018, according to SWS.
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n Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano
Duterte to fire 64 Customs officials PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday escalated his threat against officials and employees of the Bureau of Customs (BoC), this time telling them to either resign or face charges over allegations of corruption. In his speech during an event in Malacañang, Duterte said he would fire 64 Customs officials and employees next week. “I’d like to just give you an extra news for the day. I was reading the dossier from
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TA X B U R E AU T E L L S M O R E P O G O S :
‘Pay P3B in withholding taxes’ BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO
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HE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has issued another set of notices that require employers involved in online gaming operations to pay withholding tax discrepancies amounting to about P3 billion.
“We released some more letter notices. That’s worth about another P3 billion (in withholding taxes),” BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay told reporters on Thursday. The amount is on top of the estimated P4.4-billion total taxes due on notices the bureau issued earlier. According to the tax bureau, it
came up with the said estimates after it matched the list of foreigners hired by local companies with the records provided by government agencies, such as the Department of Labor and Employment, the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Immigration. Earlier, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd said most of these
foreign workers were from the Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) industry, to which the government is losing about P2 billion a month for every 100,000 foreign workers. At P2 billion a month, the amount of taxes to be collected from the industry would hit P24 bil-
Govt, ADB ink $1.3-B loan for CLuzon railway THE government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a $1.3-billion (P66.55 billion) loan for the Malolos–Clark Railway Project, which is expected to ease traffic in Metro Manila and spur growth once it is built. In a statement on Thursday, the Manila-based multilateral lender said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd and ADB Vice President Ahmed Seed inked the loan — the first tranche of a bigger one worth $2.75 billion — in a ceremony witnessed by President Rodrigo Duterte at Malacañang.
MEMBERS of the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) collectively saved more than P23.40 billion in the first half of 2019, the state-run agency said on Thursday. In a statement, Pag-IBIG said the amount was a P4.94-billion or 27-percent increase from the P18.46 billion collected in the same period last year. The amount, it added, was also the highest amount saved by members with the agency for any January-to-June period. “The members’ savings collections continue to grow at an unprecedented rate due to our
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members’ trust and confidence in our programs,” said Secretary Eduardo D. del Rosario, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and of the Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees, in the statement. “We welcome this development because the increased savings collections allow the Pag-IBIG Fund to sustain the rapid growth of home loan and short-term loan releases, allowing us to serve more members, in keeping with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s directive to uplift the lives of our Filipino workers,” he added.
What’s inside NFA PALAY PROCUREMENT EXCEEDS TARGET FOR JUNE BusinessB2
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PH, SKOREA TO FINISH FTA TALKS THIS YEAR
»BusinessB2
PSBANK RAISES P6.3B FROM BOND ISSUANCE
»Corporate NewsB3
FED LEAVES DOOR OPEN TO US RATE CUT
»Foreign BusinessB4
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Fed rate cut hopes lift bourse
“Our work in the Philippines has always held a special place in the history of ADB. Now, under President Duterte’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ infrastructure program, ADB is considerably scaling up its own support to the government,” Saeed said in the statement. “The Malolos–Clark Railway Project is ADB’s single largest infrastructure project financing ever at $2.75 billion. We are pleased to be supporting this important flagship project in our host country,” he added.
Pag-IBIG members saved P23.40B in H1
lion a year — a revenue source that was non-existent some four or five years ago, before President Rodrigo Duterte handed over control of these POGOs to the state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. Earlier, the BIR reiterated that foreigners and nonresident aliens
BYE-BYE, BEETLE
A Volkswagen “Beetle,” the final edition of the iconic car, is pictured inside the factory in Puebla, Puebla State, Mexico, on July 10, 2019. AFP PHOTO See story on B4
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THE stock market approached the 8,200 level on Thursday, joining a global rally, as investors took heart from renewed interest-rate cut hopes from the US Federal Reserve (Fed). The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.94 percent or 76.28 points to close at 8,154.49, while the broader All Shares grew by 0.73 percent or 35.80 points to end at 4,957.97. Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said market players bought up after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell testified to the US Congress and said the American central bank intended to
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CAR SALES STRONGER IN JUNE – CAMPI, TMA AFTER posting nearly flat growth in the last few months, automobile sales increased in June by 8.7 percent and 3.07 percent from figures posted a year and a month earlier, respectively. In a joint report on Thursday, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) said car companies sold 31,950 units in June, higher than 29,395 in the
same month last year. Last month’s figure also improved on the 30,988 units sold in May, when the growth was only 1.23 percent. The bulk or 70.17 percent of total sales came from the commercial vehicle (CV) segment, which sold 22,418 units in June, a 3.9-percent jump from last year’s 21,584 and a 2.2-percent climb from May’s 21,945. The passenger car (PC) segment, meanwhile, saw sales grow by
22 percent to 9,532 units in the month from 7,811 in June 2018 and by 5.29 percent from 9,053 the month before. Toyota Motors Philippines Corp., which captured 45.60 percent of the industry pie, saw its sales rise by 27.8 percent to 14,568 units from the year-ago’s 11,403. Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. and Nissan Philippines Inc. followed with 5,315 and 3,872 units sold, respectively.
“We remain very optimistic that the local auto industry is already on a path of steady growth after we conclude the first half of the year on a positive note,” Campi President Rommel Gutierrez said in a statement. “The automotive brands’ collective efforts, highlighted by fleet sales, good financing deals, and model updates and upgrades show that we have learned to adjust and adapt
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Benguet classifies common stock into Class A, B shares B ENGUET Corp. (BC) has 616,119,252 issued common shares, divided into 371,050,755 A common shares and 245,068,497 B common shares, according to the company’s public ownership report (POR) as of June 30, 2019. Of Benguet’s A and B shares, the company held in treasury 310,794 and 37,275 common shares, respectively, for a total of 348,069 treasury shares. Minus the Benguet A and B treasury shares, the company has 616,771,183 outstanding BC common shares, of which 370,739,961 common shares are A shares and 245,031,222 are B shares. Of the outstanding Benguet A shares,
Luis Juan L. Virata holds the biggest number of common shares with direct ownership of 303,603 common shares, or 0.05 percent. Of his total holdings, he directly owns 234,003 A common shares and 69,600 B common shares. Daniel Andrew G. Romualdez has 21 A common shares; Maria Remedios R. Pompidou, 15; and Rohdora L. Dap-
ula, Jose Raulito E. Paras and Rginald S. Velasco, one qualifying share each. Jennelyn F. Go, Jesse Hermogenes T. Andres and Edgar Dennis A. Padernal have one B common share each. Five Benguet executives directly own 197,052 A common shares and 300 B common shares for total ownership of 197,352 A and B Benguet common shares. Principal stockholders. Benguet listed for companies as principal stockholders, which directly hold 327,098,853 A and B common shares, or 53.15 percent, divided into 223,310,412 A shares and 103,788,441 B shares. These are Palm Ave. Hold-
ings Co./and/or Palm Ave. Realty Co., 94,754,865 A common shares, or 15.39 percent; Palm Avenue Holding Co. Inc., 65,624,727 A common shares, or 10.66 percent; Palm Avenue Realty & Development Corp., 43.68 million B shares; and RYM Business Management Corp. (PCD Nominee), 62,930,820 A shares and 60,108,441 B shares, for a total of 123,039,261 A and B shares, or 20 percent. As an investor on listed common shares, Social Security System directly holds 30,000 Benguet A common shares while China Banking Corp. directly owns 5,685 Benguet
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