Govt to push for higher sin taxes – Finance dept »Story on B1 HH
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MONDAY, JULY 22, 2019
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HE President delivers his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) today. At this time last year, the Consultative Committee to study the 1987 Constitution that he had constituted to write him a draft for a federal Constitution had just submitted its finished work to him, after six months of continuous, animated — sometimes even acrimonious — debate and exchanges and intense study. äAquinoA9
FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO
Term-sharing deal may not push through – Salceda MEMBERS of the House of Representatives will elect a new speaker today, but according to Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, there is a chance that Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano would not be chosen. Rep. Alan Peter “I have a Cayetano strong feeling that [the term-sharing deal] will not push through,” Salceda said on Sunday. President Rodrigo Duterte had proposed a term-sharing deal for the House, with Cayetano sitting as
NO DARK HORSE?
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POWER PUNCH
Manny Pacquiao lands a punch against Keith Thurman in the fifth round during a welterweight title fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. AP PHOTO
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Pacquiao captures WBA crown
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AS VEGAS: Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao rolled back the years to become the oldest welterweight champion in boxing history with a thrilling split decision victory over World Boxing Association (WBA) champion Keith Thurman on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
What’s inside SKYWAY 3 PARTIALLY OPENS
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OUR VIOLENT AND MURDEROUS STATE OF AFFAIRS
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The 40-year-old Pacquiao, 10 years older than the previously undefeated Thurman, delivered a vintage performance before a sell-out MGM Grand Garden Arena crowd of 14,356, which included former welterweight king Floyd Mayweather. Pacquiao floored Thurman with an
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‘4th SONA to highlight Duterte’s legacy’ PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is expected to talk about his legacy since he assumed power in 2016 as one of the highlights of his State of the Nation Address (SONA) today, according to Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. The President would likely discuss his administration’s efforts to reduce
poverty, big-ticket infrastructure projects, and peace and order initiatives in his fourth SONA, Andanar said. “It’s going to be about the Duterte
legacy. And what the President would be doing for the next three years. And that would be, number one, poverty alleviation — bringing poverty rate down and making the economy upper middle class by the end of his term,” Andanar had said in a television interview.
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It’s a full House for SONA
PACQUIAO WANTS TO FIGHT WINNER OF SPENCE-PORTER BOUT NEXT
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RANDY ORTIZ, JO RUBIO GIVE SNEAK PEEKS INTO THEIR SONA DESIGNS
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THERE will be a bigger crowd at the House of Representatives when President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday. This is because the House has more members in the 18th Congress. House Acting Secretary General Dante Roberto Maling said from 297 in the 17th Congress, the number grew to 306. “Nagdagdag ho ng mga district representatives, may mga nadagdag na distrito. Sa ngayon ho ang prino-project namin is 306 (There are more district representatives now because there were districts added. Right now, what we project is 306),” he said. Maling added that Arman Ferrer would sing the
Philippine national anthem before the session opens. “Because of the restrictions in space, primarily because of the increase in membership of the House, kami po sa umaga, pakakantahin namin si Mr. Arman Ferrer, na naimbitahan na ho namin (we have asked Arman Ferrer to sing in the morning),” he said. Maling said the chamber turned down a request to have a choral group sing the anthem for lack of space. “Hindi po namin maa-accommodate kasi medyo dumami po ‘yung membership ng House, maliit na lang po ‘yung espasyong available sa kanila (We can’t accommodate a group, there’s very little space available),” he added. äHouseA2
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BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO
HE government will push for new sin taxes at the 18th Congress, the Department of Finance (DoF) said over the weekend.
In a statement, the Finance department said key measures in the Duterte administration’s legislative agenda for this year’s Congress include “new excise taxes on alcohol, e-cigarettes and vapor (vaping) products.” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd confirmed the statement, saying “the tax imposed is too low.” “[The] target is to make it (tax) equivalent to [that for] cigarettes,” he added, referring to electronic and vapor cigarettes. Introduced by the 17th Congress in
June last year, e-cigarettes and vapor products would be subject to a P10 excise-tax rate per 10 milliliter beginning in January. In contrast, ordinary cigarettes are subject to a higher P45 excise tax per pack next year, followed by a series of P5 hikes until the rate reaches P60 in 2023. This would be increased by 5 percent annually thereafter. Given this, Dominguez said the government had deemed it ideal to propose a one-time increase in the excise taxes of e-cigarattes and vapor products.
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n Alcohol products are displayed on the shelves of a convenience store in Intramuros, Manila, on Sunday. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA
‘2019 GDP growth to fall within govt goal’
n Jobseekers are being interviewed during a job fair at the San Andres Gym in Manila on June 12, 2019. FILE PHOTO BY DJ DIOSINA
fourth quarter due to the Christmas season; weaker peso against the US dollar; higher government spending on infrastructure; and the potential impact of African swine fever on local pork prices. According to the report, the latest assessment of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration showed that slightly warmer average temperatures would last until the end of 2019. In May, the country’s economic managers revealed their “catch-up plan” that set an infrastructure spending target of P792.97 billion for the rest of the year after actual infrastructure spending reached only P207.2 billion in January to March. Meanwhile, possible downside risk to inflation are base effects; the continued implementation of
FOUR of the biggest foreign banks operating in the country see the Philippine economy hitting the government’s growth target this year before expanding further in the next. The latest 2019 gross domestic product (GDP) projections from Citi Philippines, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC and ING Bank Manila, all project growth to settle within the Duterte administration’s 6-7 percent goal. The most optimistic was Citi, which forecast 6.2 percent for 2019 and 6.5 percent for 2020. “Citi analysts anticipate that domestic demand could see a sufficiently strong rebound in the second half of 2019, with more potential monetary easing by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP),” the bank said in a statement on Friday. Standard Chartered Bank econ-
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Gotianuns’ group of companies
EMILO J. San Pedro is one of two independent directors (ID) in a nine-person board of Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI). Val Antonio B. Suarez is Filivest Land’s other ID, who, along with Ernesto S. De Castro, is “lead independent director.” Suarez, according to a public ownership report (POR) as of June 30, 2019, holds a nominal share. So does De Castro. A filing posted on July 19, 2019 on the website of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) showed San Pedro’s initial ownership of a nominal FLI common share to qualify him to a board seat. Filinvest Land’s POR also attributed to the company’s public stockholders ownership of 8,092,673,876 common shares, which represent 33.37 percent of 24,249,759,506 outstanding FLI common shares. The same POR listed three principal or substantial stockholders as owners of 16,107,831,996 FLI common shares. They are: Filinvest Development Corp., 15,719,457,023 FLI common shares of which it directly owns 14,409,926,731; ALG Holdings Corp., with indirect ownership of 375,946,958 common shares; and Team Gladiola Inc., 12,428,015 common shares, or 0.05 percent, of which it directly holds 3.828 million common shares, , according to Sharon Refuerzo, FLI’s legal counsel/corporate information officer. Incidentally, Filinvest Land reported in a POR as of March 31, 209 having issued 24,470,708,506
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Govt to push for higher sin taxes – Finance dept T
BSP: Economists see 2.9% inflation in 2019 ECONOMISTS project inflation to settle at 2.9 percent this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said, noting that this figure was higher than its 2.7-percent full-year forecast, but still within its 2-4 percent target. In its Second Quarter Inflation Report released last Friday, the central bank said the latest figure was a decrease from 3.3 percent in the March 2019 survey. “Analysts expect inflation to remain manageable and within the government’s target range, with risks to the inflation outlook likely to be broadly balanced,” it added. Economists see key upside risks to inflation to come from the adverse effect of weather conditions, brought about by a weak El Niño, on domestic food supply; volatile global crude oil prices; higher domestic demand, particularly in the
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MONDAY JULY 22, 2019
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common shares of which 220.949 are treasury shares, resulting in 24,249,506 outstanding common shares. While the number of issued FLI common shares remained the same, the public stockholders owned 9,372,204,168 common shares, or 38.65 percent, which is less than their ownership of 8,092,673,876 common shares, or 33.37 percent. June 30 POR. A public ownership report (POR) as of June 30, 2019 placed the number of common shares at 9,319,872,387 issued by Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC). Of these issued common shares, 671.409 million FDC common shares are held in treasury, with 8,648,462,987 remaining outstanding. Of 8,648,462,987 outstanding FDC common shares, Filinvest Development credited the public with ownership of 925,234,288 common shares, or 10.70 percent. A.L. Gotianun Inc., which is formerly ALG Holdings Corp. holds 7,649,800,042 FDC common shares, or 88.45 percent of outstanding. In an explanatory note, FDC explained: There are 6,187,402 direct shares and 9,242,922 indirect shares
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Junk SoT bill, exporters urge govt
SHARES OUTLOOK FOR THE WEEK
DAYS before President Rodrigo Duterte’s delivers his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), Filipino exporters are calling for the rejection of some measures they say would harm their business, as well as for the quick passage of reforms that would increase the export competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). In a statement last Friday, Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport) President Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said it was “urgent and critical that [the] government provide more resources and attention to the needs of the export industry and MSMEs.” On the sector’s wish list is Duterte’s veto of Senate Bill 1826 or the Security of Tenure (SoT) measure, which the Philexport chief warned would “worsen the unemployment rate” if enacted. Although that rate dropped “to 5.1 percent this month,” Ortiz-Luis noted this was “still equivalent to nearly 3 million people.” Philexport also expressed disapproval of the proposed granting of 14th month pay and increasing the number of holidays,
‘Healthy pullback’ in market expected
saying these “put us at a disadvantage especially against our fiercest competitors, the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) manufacturers.” Lawmakers should also amend the Public Services Act and limit the definition of public utility to the distribution and transmission of electricity, water pipeline distribution system or sewerage pipeline system. Philexport also opposes the lowering of the $2.5 million current paid-up capital threshold to $200,000 that is being proposed to amend the Retail Trade Liberalization Act. “Small-time investors will only eat up on the already limited financing, technology and other domestic resources that otherwise could benefit our own MSMEs,” Ortiz-Luis said. While exporters support the lowering of corporate income taxes under House Bill 8083 or Tax Reform for Attracting Better and Higher-quality Opportunities measure, the fiscal incentives currently being enjoyed by exporters should be maintained. To lower business costs and enhance sustainabil-
ity, the group supports the amendment to the charters of the Philippine Ports Authority, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the Laguna Lake Development Authority. Other measures that Ortiz-Luis said deserved congressional approval include the Warehouse Receipts Act and Weather Index-Based Agricultural Insurance to improve agricultural productivity; Disaster Resilience Act to address the effects of climate change on agriculture; National Quality Infrastructure Act; and the Customs Amnesty Act. He also said exporters should also be exempt from the Asin Law, which mandates the sale and use of iodized salt, to help Filipino food exporters comply with specific export market requirements. Other measures on the wish list include those strengthening the government’s infrastructure efforts in support of development initiatives; addressing skills-job mismatch and human resources development; and simplifying business procedures for tax payments and refunds. ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES
PROFIT-taking on the Philippine Stock Exchange is anticipated to occur this week following the strength it showed in the prior trading week. In a market note over the weekend, AAA Southeast Equities Inc. research head Christopher Mangun said shares of banking companies were expected to suffer the heaviest selloffs after their solid performance last week. “This is considered a ‘healthy pullback,’ as investors [who] have been sitting on these issues since the beginning of the year are using this time to reallocate funds and position themselves better for the remaining months of this year,” Mangun explained. For today, market players will be watching out for any cues on President Duterte’s fourth State of the Nation Address, particularly on what to look forward to in the remainder of his term. Looking ahead, Mangun said events in the spotlight are the more
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