The Senate Bill 3404 or the Philippine Immigration Act of 2010 has provision that raised concern to some business sectors. Section 30 of the said act grants Immigration Officers the power to assign personnel to do overtime work at rates fixed by him when the services rendered is to be paid for by the shipping [...]

Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. filed Senate Bill 3966 which is aimed in amending the Insurance Code in the Philippines. Pimentel believe that insurance firms should be compulsorily required to indemnify owner of motor vehicles that have been damaged or destroyed by floods, landslides, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.

The bill which grants a one-time condonation of penalties on unremitted or delinquent Social Security System (SSS) contribution by employees has been signed by President Arroyo into a law. The Republic Act 9903 or the Social Security Condonation Law of 2009 allows erring employers to remit their employees’ delinquent payments for contributions without paying penalties.
Per [...]

The Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) warned that prices of goods with imported raw material sold in the country would likely increase next year. That is once the government has implemented the law requiring all imported bulk and break bulk cargo to be surveyed by an accredited surveying company at the port of origin.

The Magna Carta for Disabled Persons which would mandate local governments to have specific programs for people with disabilities has been approved by the Senate on its second reading. The act which was under Senate Bill 3650 or the proposed act establishing the institutional mechanism to ensure the implementation of programs and services for persons [...]

The last week of the year will see the field personnel of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) going out and visiting businesses and their warehouses. The revenue agency will be deploying its personnel to check out and monitor taxpayers’ year-end inventory.
BIR Commissioner Joel Tan-Torres issued Revenue Memorandum Order No. 40-2009, which seeks to validate [...]

At least 24 bids from 10 possible contracts under the geothermal energy contracting round were received by the Department of Energy (DOE). Energy assistant secretary Mario Marasigan said, “We received strong interest because of the renewable energy law. Now we are seeing the fruits of Republic Act 9513, wherein the incentives are really attractive.” Marasigan [...]

The proposed P1.514-trillion national budget for 2010 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was approved last night on the third and final reading by the House of Representatives who voted 175-6 in favor of the proposed budget.
House Speaker Prospero Nograles said the budget would now be sent to the Senate. “We hope to approve it before the [...]

The PERA Law or the Personal Equity and Retirement Account Law will be implemented by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in 2010 after different agencies of the government signed its implementing rules and regulations (IRR). BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. spearheaded the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) and IRR of PERA [...]

The culture of “Filipino Time” has long been ailing the country and it has caused many a discomfort and even losses and misunderstandings to some. To cure this Filipino’s culture of tardiness, which commonly called the “Filipino time,” Senator Edgardo Angara filed Senate Bill 3479 which aims to “breed a new culture of promptness” among [...]

The 700-megawatt Pagbilao coal-fired thermal power plant in Quezon has been officially turned-over to the Therma Luzon Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp (APC).
APC assumed management of the independent power producer contract of the said facility, making Therma Luzon the first IPP administrator in country.

The business process outsourcing (BPO) service providers in the Philippines are urged by the chairman of the House committee on information communications technology to donate computers under the Adopt-a-School Program and avail themselves of gainful tax benefits in return.

Party-list Representative Vigor D. Mendoza II has filed a bill that seeks to establish a single traffic ticketing system nationwide that would consolidate penalty rules that are currently set by local government units (LGUs). The House Bill 6652 would require all traffic enforcers to issue a single traffic ticket that would come from the Land [...]

As the 2010 elections draw nearer, the business community is becoming wary because of some bills that are still pending both on the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Believing that lawmakers attention would be shifted once the campaign season starts, sixteen local and foreign business groups wrote a letter to House Speaker Prospero C. Nograles [...]

House Bill No. 6625 has been approved by Congress on Tuesday, in the hope of getting a bigger slice of the profits of telecommunication firms. A committee of the House of Representatives the bill which seeks to impose a five-centavo excise tax on every text, picture, video and audio clip sent through mobile phones.

Last June, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) Charter has been amended via Republic Act 9576 which effectively increases the maximum deposit insurance coverage to P500,000 per depositor. Aside from the increased insurance coverage, the said amendment also strengthened PDIC against deceitful activities that “compromise the stability of our banking system and take advantage of [...]

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero filed Senate Bill 3381 where he calls for an increase and automatic release of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of local government units (LGUs) to boost funding for job and income generation programs for their communities.
Included in his bill is the proposal to impose a penalty of six percent interest per [...]

To promote a healthier citizenry and a more empowered sector and an environment-friendly atmosphere, a lawmaker is pushing for organic farming, or a chemical-free agricultural method. A bill called Organic Farming Act of 2008 has been filed by Quezon Rep. Proceso Alcala.
The bill seeks to establish a comprehensive organic farming program and designate a dedicated [...]

A new law which was just signed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo grants the Bureau of Food and Drugs more regulatory muscle and at the same time  renaming the agency into the Food and Drug Administration.
The Republic Act 9711 was signed into law on Tuesday by President Arroyo. RA 9711 or the Foods and Drugs [...]

Republic Act 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women has been signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday. The new law prohibits discrimination against women and recognizes promotes and protect their rights. It also guards them against all forms of violence, including those committed by the state.