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 [...]

After the implementation of the Bureau of Internal  Revenue’s (BIR) Oplan Kandado program, the agency’s preliminary figures on VAT collection as against the total revenue rose from 18% to 22%, according to revenue agency commissioner Nelson Aspe.
More companies now see to it they remit their as a result of the BIR’s drive to shut down [...]

In the efforts to crack down software piracy in the Philippines, the Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team (PAPT) caught two men installing counterfeit software as an “add-on service” at the Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan City recently.
The two men, who are now facing up to nine years imprisonment and a fine of P1.5 million for violating [...]

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.

Because of the difficulty in obtaining a franchise from Congress, the Gatchalian Group has temporarily shelved its planned airline business.
Atty. Miguel Varela, one of Gatchalian’s partners in the proposed airline company, told reporters they cannot operate yet because they failed to get a franchise, which is an act of Congress. “It is difficult to get [...]

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 [...]

Despite of a lot of oppositions from candidates and political parties, the 5% withholding tax on campaign expenditures will soon be imposed. In fact, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has already issued last Friday the guidelines on the said campaign tax.
Revenue Memorandum Order 35-2009 was issued by BIR officer-in-charge Joel Tan Torres which lays [...]

The Executive Order 839, the government order which froze the price on petroleum products and basic commodities, has been lifted by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The lifting of EO 839 will made effective on Monday. EO 839 froze pump prices at October 15 levels in Luzon, which is still officially under a state of calamity.

The last days of November this year was supposed to give the Filipino employees a five-day weekend with November 27 and 28 declared as national holidays based on the Proclamation 1808 issued earlier this year. The said national holidays was supposed to be in celebration of the Muslim feast of Eid’l Adha.

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 Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) National Capital Region have caught 63 supermarkets, stores and stalls violating government-imposed price controls. Trade Assistant Secretary Angel Pelayo said that they have served Notices of Violations to the erring retail establishments. The overpriced items, said Pelayo, include sardines, laundry detergents, coffee and instant noodles.
Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera [...]

The government on Thursday warned traders who will take advantage of recent calamity that struck our countrymen and raise the prices of basic commodities. The Department of Agriculture said that those who will be caught overpricing will have their business closed and will be filed with criminal charges.

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.

The Philippines’ Supreme Court (SC) reversed its earlier decision and said that health care agreements of health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are exempt from documentary stamp taxes (DST).
HMOs are the companies that provide various forms of medical insurance. Their health care agreements cover prepaid medical services, including medical check-ups. What they are not are contracts are [...]

No one could be happier other Senator Richard Gordon after the bicameral conference has approved the addition of a ninth ray to sun in the Philippine flag to represent the Muslim people. Sen. Gordon is the primary author of the Ninth Ray Bill, and said that the major alteration of the Philippine flag is a [...]

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 [...]

The Oplan Kandado program of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) continues on its quest to keep business following on the agency’s directives. Recently, BIR padlocked another establishment, a popular coffee shop at that, in upscale Taguig City.
The latest establishment to be hit by the BIR’s campaign is the Coffee Bean Tea Leaf (CBTL) located [...]