Ayala units settle P9.86B in taxes ahead of deadline

Conglomerate Ayala Corp. and key operating units settled P9.86 billion worth of taxes ahead of the extended June 14 deadline, aiming to help the government shore up revenues during the difficult environment caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The taxes were paid by the parent conglomerate along with Ayala Land, Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands, Globe Telecommunications Inc., AC Energy and Manila Water Corp.

Brothers Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and Fernando Zobel de Ayala, who serve as the group’s chair and president, respectively, expressed their gratitude to President Duterte for recognizing Ayala’s support to the government’s initiatives.“We are committed to help the President tackle the many challenges he has to deal with and are confident that by working together, our country can overcome each challenge, save lives and gradually put the country back on a path of growth,” they said.The brothers also emphasized the importance of public–private cooperation as the country deals with the vast impact of the pandemic.

To date, the Ayala group has contributed about P5.71 billion in anti-COVID-19 initiatives aimed to protect its employees, support its partners and clients, and provide for the communities it serves.The P5.71 billion includes donation to charities, concessions to customers such as mall rental condonation, assistance to employees of contractors and vendors (salary continuance even if they are on a no-work-no-pay basis), quarantine facilities for the government, Red Cross testing labs, testing booths for returning overseas workers, donations in cash or in kind to health-care workers and government hospitals, as well as personal made donations by employees to give back to the community. INQ