Arroyo certifies ecozone bills 'urgent'
By Dante M. Fabian, SunStar
CLARK ECOZONE -- President Arroyo announced on Friday that she has certified as urgent the two House bills seek amendments to Republic Act 7227 to honor the government's commitment to locators in various special economic zones and keep their multi-billion dollar investments in the country.
Arroyo announced this during her interaction with the local and national media at the Holiday Inn Resort Clark Field in the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) Friday afternoon.
Together with Vice President Noli "Kabayan" De Castro, Arroyo arrived in Clark Friday to attend the conference of Rotary Governors and meetings with local government officials in the province.
The President said the certification is just one of the measures taken by the government to address the July 29 Supreme Court ruling that nullified the granting of tax and duty-free incentives to the locators in Clark and other economic zones.
The ruling stated that incentives specified in RA 7227 are entitled only to locators in the Subic Freeport Zone.
Clark Development Corporation president and CEO Antonio R. Ng said Arroyo's endorsement of the tax, duty free incentives and tax amnesty bills would bring a legal resolution to the issues presently causing anxieties to the locators in Clark and other ecozones.
The government has also taken other steps to ease the apprehensions of investors in the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) including the registration of the ecozone with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and the CDC, through the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), have also filed a second motion for reconsideration to appeal the motion earlier denied by the Supreme Court.
Arroyo's letter endorsing the bills authored by congressman Jesli Lapus of Tarlac as urgent further ensures the deliberations on the measures very soon in the plenary sessions of the House of Representatives.
Lapus' bills have been approved by the majority of the members of Ways and Means Committee in its meetings last week.
Lapus, who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, submitted the committee report to House Speaker Jose de Venecia for plenary debates.
HB 4901, now officially HB 5604, calls for the amendments of the RA 7227 or the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 199 under Sec. 12 to provide solution to the Supreme Court's July 29 ruling nullifying the grant of tax and duty-free incentives to the locators in Clark and other economic zones.
The lifting of the incentives obligates Clark locators to pay the normal corporate income tax rate of 32 percent, instead of the preferential rate of 5 percent on gross income.
Ng said the state-owned firm is maximizing its efforts to provide corrective measures on RA 7227 that would not disenfranchise the investors in Clark.
HB 4900 - which calls for the declaration of a one-time tax amnesty on tax and duty liabilities, including fines, penalties and interests incurred by locators inside special economic zones and freeports - has been approved earlier.
CLARK ECOZONE -- President Arroyo announced on Friday that she has certified as urgent the two House bills seek amendments to Republic Act 7227 to honor the government's commitment to locators in various special economic zones and keep their multi-billion dollar investments in the country.
Arroyo announced this during her interaction with the local and national media at the Holiday Inn Resort Clark Field in the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) Friday afternoon.
Together with Vice President Noli "Kabayan" De Castro, Arroyo arrived in Clark Friday to attend the conference of Rotary Governors and meetings with local government officials in the province.
The President said the certification is just one of the measures taken by the government to address the July 29 Supreme Court ruling that nullified the granting of tax and duty-free incentives to the locators in Clark and other economic zones.
The ruling stated that incentives specified in RA 7227 are entitled only to locators in the Subic Freeport Zone.
Clark Development Corporation president and CEO Antonio R. Ng said Arroyo's endorsement of the tax, duty free incentives and tax amnesty bills would bring a legal resolution to the issues presently causing anxieties to the locators in Clark and other ecozones.
The government has also taken other steps to ease the apprehensions of investors in the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) including the registration of the ecozone with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and the CDC, through the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), have also filed a second motion for reconsideration to appeal the motion earlier denied by the Supreme Court.
Arroyo's letter endorsing the bills authored by congressman Jesli Lapus of Tarlac as urgent further ensures the deliberations on the measures very soon in the plenary sessions of the House of Representatives.
Lapus' bills have been approved by the majority of the members of Ways and Means Committee in its meetings last week.
Lapus, who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, submitted the committee report to House Speaker Jose de Venecia for plenary debates.
HB 4901, now officially HB 5604, calls for the amendments of the RA 7227 or the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 199 under Sec. 12 to provide solution to the Supreme Court's July 29 ruling nullifying the grant of tax and duty-free incentives to the locators in Clark and other economic zones.
The lifting of the incentives obligates Clark locators to pay the normal corporate income tax rate of 32 percent, instead of the preferential rate of 5 percent on gross income.
Ng said the state-owned firm is maximizing its efforts to provide corrective measures on RA 7227 that would not disenfranchise the investors in Clark.
HB 4900 - which calls for the declaration of a one-time tax amnesty on tax and duty liabilities, including fines, penalties and interests incurred by locators inside special economic zones and freeports - has been approved earlier.
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