Top firms highlight ways to digital transformation ÂťStory on B1 ++
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THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2019
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No House coup on SONA day – lawmakers SOME lawmakers expressed confidence that no coup will be mounted at the House of Representatives on Monday to prevent Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano from assuming the post of speaker. Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Michael “Mike� Defensor on Wednesday said there would be no coup d’etat to challenge Cayetano as lawmakers have accepted the announcement of
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Members of Congress: Look before you leap into the dark First WORD HE road is dark. You can see only dimly through the fog. You do not know the real composition of your chamber. and what kind of lawmakers will come to work on -ONDAY *ULY FOR THE OPENING OF THE 18th Congress. ÂłMakabentaA4
OBSERVER YEN MAKABENTA
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A coup without people’s support will fail
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HANCES of the military staging a coup and succeeding are nil. Zilch. Zero. IN MY LINE A OF SIGHT military power grab will never succeed in this country without the consent and participation of civilians.
RAMON T. TULFO
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Where President Duterte needs to do better
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REPUBLIC SERVICE RICARDO SALUDO
HEN Presi d e n t Rodrigo Duterte delivers his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, he will have little trouble convincing most Filipinos that he has governed the nation well. ÂłSaludoA5
A SEA OF TRASH
A man stand amid tons of garbage that washed up in Manila Bay on Wednesday as tropical storm ‘Falcon’ pelted Metro Manila with occasional rains. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA
Gather fleet vs China, Duterte prods US BY CATHERINE S. VALENTE
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RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesd ay p r o d d e d t he United States to prepare its lEET FOR A FACEOFF WITH #HIna amid the Philippines’ TERRITORIAL ROW WITH "EIJING in the West Philippine Sea 3OUTH #HINA 3EA “I’m calling now America. I’m invoking the RP-US pact. I would like America to gather all their Seventh Fleet in front of China. I’m asking them now. I will join them,� Duterte said during an interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy. It was the second time the President declared that he was invoking the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), which the US and the Philippines signed in 1951. 4HE 3EVENTH &LEET PART OF THE 53 0ACIkC &LEET is stationed in Japan. The President said he would join the US forces in challenging China. “I will ride on the boat where [the] admiral of the US [is]. But I will drag along this Carpio and
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What’s inside CA JUNKS LAWYERS’ PLEA FOR PROTECTION ORDER
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Antonio ContrerasA5 NAUTICAL HIGHWAY: WATER TRANSPORT
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A NEW DARNA IS READY TO FLY HIGH! EntertainmentD4
KHAN CLAIMS PACQUIAO HAS AGREED TO SAUDI ARABIA SportsC1 BOUT
Duterte most trusted govt official – survey PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has remained the “most apPROVED AND TRUSTEDu OFkCIAL IN the country, the latest Pulse Asia survey showed. The result of the survey that was released on Wednesday showed that 8 in 10 respondents trusted the President. The same survey showed that former Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was the least trusted, while Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni� Robredo and Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd enjoyed majority approval and trust scores. The survey held in June found that Duterte continued to enjoy the highest approval and trust scores, both at 85 percent. 4HE kGURE WAS POINTS BELOW the 87 percent he received in March. His highest approval ratING WAS PERCENT IN *UNE Earlier this month, the President also received a new personal record-high satisfaction rating of 80 percent, according to a Social Weather Stations survey. Duterte received the highest approval score in his bailiwick in
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LOOK, NEW SHOES
Sen. Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go shows to President Rodrigo Duterte the shoes he gave to a former New People’s Army member. The President and Go attended the awarding of housing units to former rebels in Tagum City. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Pandemonium greets Pacquiao at MGM Adoring fans greeted the 40-year old fighting senator on Tuesday during LAS VEGAS: Eighteen years after making grand arrival rites in connection with HIS kRST APPEARANCE ON !MERICAN SOIL his clash with American “super� titlist Filipino boxing great Manny Pacquiao’s Keith Thurman on Saturday (Sunday in popularity has not diminished among Manila) at the MGM Grand Arena here. Pandemonium broke loose as Pacfans, Filipinos and Americans alike, quiao appeared at the ceremony, especially in this city.
BY EDDIE G. ALINEA
with hundreds of fans yelling as they welcomed him in a reception that overshadowed that accorded of “One Time,� or Thurman who arrived an hour earlier. The “Pambansang Kamao� responded by raising his hands upon reaching
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189 governors, mayors stripped of police powers A TOTAL of 189 local government OFkCIALS ‡ EIGHT GOVERNORS AND MAYORS ‡ HAVE BEEN STRIPPED OF THEIR police powers, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Wednesday. 4HE LOCAL OFkCIALS LOST THEIR POLICE powers for engaging in illegal drugs,
failing to stop terrorism and supporting extremist groups, according to Assistant Secretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya. Having lost such powers, they cannot control police forces, choose a chief of police and become chairman of ‘the
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Top firms highlight ways to digital transformation P BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO
HILIPPINE companies are taking different approaches in reshaping and transforming their businesses in the age of digitalization.
Q UnionBank Senior Executive Vice President Henry Aguda. PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTE
Representatives from Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and PLDT Inc.Smart Communications Inc. REVEALED THEIR kRM S STRATEGIES for digital transformation during The Manila Times Digital Transformation and Innovation Forum in Pasay City on Wednesday According to UnionBank Senior Executive Vice President Henry Aguda, the listed Aboitizled lender did not only change its business model through technology, but also its context. “We said [that], beyond the balance sheet and the income STATEMENT WE WILL DEkNE OUR
success in the context of how MANY &ILIPINOS WE SERVE u !GUDA said. “We aligned almost everybody in the bank in terms of our aspiration. We call it the moonshot — whether we get there or not, it’s not so much about the number. It’s the aspiration of doing something greater and GRANDER u HE ADDED Aguda, also UnionBank’s CHIEF TRANSFORMATION OFkCER AND chief technology and operations, said the bank’s strategic objectives during its digital transformation were quality, availability of products, straightthrough service and security.
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BSP to mint Ease of Doing Biz law’s IRR signed Govt nets P142.6-M P20 coin income from Mile Long – official THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will mint a P20 coin to replace the banknote of the same amount in circulation now, accordING TO A SENIOR CENTRAL BANK OFkCIAL In a recent interview, BSP Senior Assistant Governor Dahlia Luna told reporters that the central bank’s policymaking Monetary Board had approved the coin’s minting. “Hopefully we can release it (P20 COIN IN THE kRST QUARTER OF NEXT YEAR if not the end of this year, because the Monetary Board had already INSTRUCTED US TO MAKE THE DESIGN u said Luna, also the head of the BSP Security Plant Complex that is responsible for producing Philippine banknotes and coins. The decision to mint a P20 coin, she also said, is based on a University of the Philippines study that found the P20 bill is the country’s most widely used banknote, and thus prone to have a shorter lifespan. Compared to the less-than-a-year lifespan of a banknote, a coin can last for as long as 15 years. Asked for further details, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno told reporters that it was “still under deLIBERATIONS BY THE -ONETARY "OARD u Coins in circulation now is the New Generation Currency (NGC) Coin Series, made up of the 10peso, 5-peso, 1-peso, 25-cent, 5-cent and 1-cent coins. The series’ design features enhanced
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THREE government agencies signed on Wednesday the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 11032, or the Ease of DoING "USINESS %O$" AND %FkCIENT Government Services Delivery Act of 2018, which is expected to help considerable improve the country’s business climate. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chairman Alicia dela Rosa-Bala and Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) Director Jeremiah Belgica signed the IRR, which the latter said would be published today and take effect 15 days afterward. “The IRR was meant to supply all of the details for the full implementation of the [EoDB]. This will also include the procedure on how THE COMPLAINTS SHOULD BE MADE u Belgica explained. “We cannot do that before without the IRR. The complaining proCESS WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE LAW u he added. Signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on May 28, 2018, RA 11032 standardizes the processing time for
applications and transactions with the government: three working days for simple transactions, seven for complex ones and 20 for those requiring highly technical assessment. The law also imposes hefty penalties on violators: a six-month SUSPENSION ON THE kRST OFFENSE AND a maximum of six years in prison, A kNE OF BETWEEN 0 AND 0 billion, and termination of retireMENT BENEkTS ON THE SECOND The law amended RA 9485, or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007. !PPLICANTS MAY kLE COMPLAINTS through text messaging and even their social media accounts, according to Belgica. “One salient point that we have included is the recommendation for us to preventively suspend erring government employees. [The] law that created the ARTA did not give us the power to preventively suspend. 7HAT WE COULD ONLY DO IS kLE CASES OR ASSIST CITIZENS u HE SAID “In partnership with other government bodies, we are now also deputized to investigate and also recommend a preventive suspen-
sion, but subject to the discretion of THE #OMMISSION OR /MBUDSMAN u he added. Belgica said another critical point listed in the IRR is the all-inclusive application of the law. “It is pretty much very comprehensive, except for those constitutional bodies [that] are exercising quas judicial functions. When it comes to constitutional commissions, they are not covered as to their QUASI JUDICIAL OR DECISION IN CASES u he added. “The discussions when it comes to quasijudicial agencies, they should be bounded within their own internal rules. We would surmise that if you have internal rules, THEN FOLLOW THAT u International treaties are also exempted in the coverage of the EoDB, according to ARTA Deputy Director General Ernesto Perez. “These are [an] active part of the exemptions. We respect international treaties [and] agreements, and we’ve been saying that [the EoDB] is a general law, so that if
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THE government has netted more than P142 million since it took over the management of the 2.2-hectare Mile Long property in Makati City, the Department of Finance (DoF) reported on Wednesday. In a statement, the Finance department quoted Gerard Chan, CHIEF PRIVATIZATION OFkCER OF ITS Privatization Management OfkCE AS SAYING THAT THE GOVERNment has earned a gross income of P185 million in rental fees since taking over the property’s management from Sunvar Realty Development Corp. in August 2017. Deducting expenses totaling P42.46 million from August 2017 to June 2019 yields a net income of P142.6 million. Chan said the government’s net earnings of P142 million in rental fees over a 21-month period from Mile Long represents an average profit of about P6.7 million a month.
PROFIT-TAKING DRAGS PESO BACK TO P51:$1 LEVEL THE peso erased the gains it posted the previous day as news of positive US economic indicators resulted in profit-taking, dragging the local currency back to the P51:$1 level on Wednesday. The local unit, which opened at P50.95 against
the greenback, lost 23 centavos to close at P51.13:$1. “The dollar rallied after better-than-expected reports on US retail sales and factory output provided signs of steady economic growth,� BDO Unibank Inc. chief market strategist Jonathan Ravelas told The
Manila Times. US Commerce Department has reported that retail sales increased by 0.4 percent in June. Growth in May was slightly revised to 0.4 percent from the previously reported 0.5-percent expansion. Meanwhile, US Federal
Reserve data showed that manufacturing output climbed by 0.4 percent in June from May’s 0.2-percent increase. “This caused some profittaking on the local currency,� Ravelas said. “USD/PHP at 51.13 is on track to test the 50/50.50
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N this country, there are few more quintessentially populist issues than that of labor contractualization, and there are almost no issues that the country gets as thoroughly wrong. On Tuesday, a joint statement signed by seven of the largest business groups in the Philippines and the six biggest foreign chambers of commerce called on the government to reject the
ROUGH TRADE BEN KRITZ proposed Security of Tenure Act (SB 1826), which was unanimously passed by a 15-0 rump vote in the Senate back
in May. SB 1826 would require employers to directly hire employees, instead of getting them through contracting agencies. The bill would also oblige employers to offer regularization to all employees hired on a contract basis, although it does not specify exactly WHAT THE PARAMETERS THAT WOULD DEkNE AN ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE ARE THE INTENT
however, is to abolish the practice OF gENDO u OR HIRING WORKERS ON kVE month contracts to avoid existing laws that require regularization after six months of employment. That SB 1826 is clearly redundant is the main argument made by the business organizations resisting the proposed law, and it is an absolutely
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services in the ordinary course of trade MORE TO or business. It is governed by a separate FOLLOW (MTF) title in the Tax Code. The deductions for income tax purposes are allowed generally based on the principle that amounts are paid or incurred by a taxpayer in the developWHEN THERE IS gINlOW OF WEALTHu )T IS ment, management, operation and governed by Title II of the National conduct of business to generate taxable Internal Revenue Code (Tax Code). income. On the other hand, input VAT VAT, on the other hand, is a trans- as a deduction from output VAT is alaction tax imposed on the sale or lowed based on the principle that VAT exchange of goods, and provision of IS IMPOSED IN WHAT IS gVALUE ADDEDu OR
EUNEY MARIE MATA-PEREZ
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION FOR SMES – MANAGEMENT BusinessB2 ACTION
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ELECTRONICS IMPORTS HITS $11.64B IN JAN-MAY
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PSEI DOWN ON US TARIFF THREAT
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Input VAT as income tax deductions
HOULD input value-added tax (VAT) or VAT passed on by a taxpayer’s supplier of goods or services be allowed as a deduction from income tax, if the claim for refund or tax credit was denied or disallowed? To answer that question, one has to understand the difference between income taxation and the imposition of VAT. Income tax is imposed on net taxable income (gross income less allowable deductions). In principle, it is imposed
levels in the near-term. Look for another attempt to break below the 51 [level] to resume the assault 50/50.50 levels,� he added. Last year, the peso ended at P52.58 versus the dollar, sharply down from its 2017 close of P49.93:$1. MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO
What’s inside
PH gets it wrong on contractualization
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“That’s roughly (an income of) 0 MILLION A MONTH FROM ZERO u &Inance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd was qouted as saying during a meeting. He was referring to the 14 years the government was earning nothing from the property because it was embroiled in a legal battle with Sunvar, which refused to vacate the property even after its lease contract expired in 2002. Chan said that, as of June, 128 establishments now occupy 219 of the 309 available units in Mile Long, representing a 71-percent occupancy rate. The government also earns from leasing out the three parking areas in the property, he added. Mile Long is made up of several parcels of land between Pasong Tamo (Chino Roces) Ave. and Vito Cruz (Pablo Ocampo) St. Extension in Makati City, with a total area of 125,607 square meters. MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO
the increase in the value of a product or service at each stage of production or distribution. In seeking a refund of excess or unutilized input VAT (input VAT which is not applied against output VAT), a taxpayer has to present several documents, particularly the VAT invoices. The evaluation of such documents is strict, under the principle that claims for refund are akin to tax exemptions, and thus, should be strictly construed
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