The Philippine National Bank (PNB) and Allied Banking Corporation, both controlled by tycoon Lucio Tan, will continue with its scheduled merger which will happen in the second half of 2010, said PNB president Omar Byron Mier.
The merging of the two banks will create the fourth largest privately owned bank in the Philippines, behind the three [...]

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 Department of Energy (DOE) has started accepting proposals for the bidding of the nine geothermal areas offered under the latest Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR). At least 10 local and foreign groups have already been pre-qualified.
According to Mario Marasigan, DOE assistant secretary, they are evaluating the submitted proposals at present to verify if they [...]

They could have been prepared with all their firepower, but they weren’t even able to fire them. Because Malacañang beat them to it and lifted the proclamation of martial law in Maguindanao today at 9 p.m. Hence, the Congress decided to terminate the joint session it scheduled for the deliberation of the martial law proclaimed [...]

To reach to people who have no access to banks, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) looks into tapping third parties such as retail outlets to be conduits for money transfer through mobile phones. While considering the said option, BSP governor Amando M. Tetangco, cautioned while that the business arguments for the establishment of a [...]

The big companies were clamoring for the lifting of it, while the Philippine government was adamant in its resolve to keep the Executive Order 839 enforced. EO 839, which was issued by President Arroyo on October 23, freezes fuel prices at October 15 levels.
In line with this, the joint Task Force of the Department of [...]

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 [...]

Trade Secretary Peter Favila and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo were in London recently to attend the Emerging Markets Summit, where he had a meeting with several British companies who have expressed interest to invest in the Philippines, either via fresh infusions or the expansion of their existing projects. Areas of interests include mining, energy and business [...]

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 Philippine Airlines (PAL) will report a net loss for the period July to September, mainly due to low passenger demand and a slowdown in traffic. Its fiscal year ends in March.
PAL president Jaime Bautista said, “From our original target, our passenger load is 10 percent below. So there is a reduction in capacity from [...]

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 Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), a government agency mandated to keep aviation facilities safe from structural obstruction near international airport, recently approved the applications of new investors to construct 32 buildings near the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) inside Clark Special Economic (CZES).

Last week, the Union Bank of the Philippines (Unionbank) also went into capital-raising effort as it started offering unsecure subordinated notes to investors to beef up its capital by P5 billion, in order to lift is capital adequacy ratio (CAR) to a more comfortable level that would allow it to absorb more risk through aggressive [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Failing to submit their bids in the previous auctions held by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp, Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development is keen on bagging the IPP (independent power producer) administrator contract of three hydro-electric power plants.

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.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is imposing a basic fine on pre-need companies on the late submission of annual and interim financial statements to ensure compliance with its reportorial requirements.
According to SEC spokesperson Gerard Lukban, the fine also covers even the inactive pre-need companies. This involves a basic fine of P10,000 that will be [...]