Malacañang is standing by Customs Commissioner Rozzano “Ruffy” Biazon despite the massive smuggling of petroleum products into the country that industry leaders claim is costing the government at least P30 billion in forgone revenue annually.
Households can expect some relief with a P2 per kilo rollback in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices effective Tuesday.
Concerns about the entry of smugglers should not deter efforts to raise excise taxes on the so-called sin products, such as cigarettes and alcoholic beverages, according to lawmakers.
The Home Guaranty Corporation, tasked with providing shelter for the homeless and the poor, has a P12-billion deficit and may not be able to accomplish all of its duties, according to the Commission on Audit.
Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said on Monday that Congress would surely respond positively to a bill being proposed by the Aquino government for a just revenue sharing scheme in mining agreements because government has sufficiently conveyed the need for it.
Brickbats against the administration’s new mining policy came fast and furious from militants on Monday, as they criticized President Aquino’s executive order for adhering closely to what they described as the country’s existing oppressive mining law and failing to underscore the need for environmental and people protection.
The Commission on Audit (COA) in its 2011 audit report has cited the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) for its record-breaking P36.659 billion income in 2011, its highest in 11 years.
The coconut industry is expected to get a further boost once it capitalizes on its potential to be a top exporter of cocopeat, a fibrous substance made from coconut husks.
The government is not content with the $50 million that businessman Herminio Disini has been ordered to repay the government for his role in defrauding the country of billions of pesos through the corrupt-ridden Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) deal.
Claiming that state prosecutors have failed to prove that his assets are ill-gotten after more than two decades of trying, ethnic Chinese businessman Lucio Tan has filed a P300 million counter-claim for damages from government.
The Philippine government should not pin too much hope on call centers and other business process outsourcing (BPO) companies as a means of boosting local employment and the economy, warned the independent think tank Ibon Foundation.
The government should not pin too much hope on the buiness process outsourcing industry, and recent statements by President Barack Obama to bring outsourcing jobs back to the United States highlight the risk of doing so, acording to the Ibon Foundation.
