Bicam panel approves ecozone tax perks bill
CLARK FIELD, Pampanga —A congressional bicameral conference committee has approved a measure exempting 375 companies from paying taxes to the government.
At the same time, more than 1,000 employees of the state-owned Clark Development Corp. urged members of the bicameral committee to consider the welfare of the 47,000 people who work in companies located inside the Clark Special Economic Zone.
But the bicameral panel has not approved the bill that will amend the Bases Conversion Act of 1993 and specify the tax exemptions of companies that have set up shop in the economic zones formed from former US bases.
The bills were filed in Congress after the Supreme Court declared on July 29, 2005 that the tax perks the companies enjoyed were unconstitutional because the Bases Conversion Act specified that such perks should only be extended to companies located at the Subic Freeport.
But during the CDC employees rally at Clark, vice president for corporate affairs Pepito Galang announced that the bicameral panel approved the tax amnesty bill.
“This is a good news for the entire Clark Zone area [because] the passage of the two bills are vital for the development of the former US facility as well as to prevent economic disaster such as the pull-out of locators and the displacement of the 47,000 workers in the zone,” Galang said.
Irvin Joy Rivera, assistant manager of the CDC’s customer service division, also said that should the bicameral panel fail to approve the tax bills, only 147 locators out of the current 375 firms in the economic zone will be covered by the tax exemption.
Caloy Cabrera, president of the Association of Concerned Employees of CDC, said “the employees of CDC implore our local and national leaders to rally behind the cause of Clark Special Economic Zone and save the existence of CDC, the very organization that made the former military base bustling with activity and ushered economic revival to its surrounding towns.”
“The bills pending before the Senate now will not only kill the investments inside Clark but will also bring back the now lively world class industrial aviation area into a ghost town. The Senate bill will not only kill Clark but also its environs,” he said. “It will not only drive away investments, it will leave more than 47,000 workers hapless and jobless.”
By Rendy Isip - Manila Standard Today
At the same time, more than 1,000 employees of the state-owned Clark Development Corp. urged members of the bicameral committee to consider the welfare of the 47,000 people who work in companies located inside the Clark Special Economic Zone.
But the bicameral panel has not approved the bill that will amend the Bases Conversion Act of 1993 and specify the tax exemptions of companies that have set up shop in the economic zones formed from former US bases.
The bills were filed in Congress after the Supreme Court declared on July 29, 2005 that the tax perks the companies enjoyed were unconstitutional because the Bases Conversion Act specified that such perks should only be extended to companies located at the Subic Freeport.
But during the CDC employees rally at Clark, vice president for corporate affairs Pepito Galang announced that the bicameral panel approved the tax amnesty bill.
“This is a good news for the entire Clark Zone area [because] the passage of the two bills are vital for the development of the former US facility as well as to prevent economic disaster such as the pull-out of locators and the displacement of the 47,000 workers in the zone,” Galang said.
Irvin Joy Rivera, assistant manager of the CDC’s customer service division, also said that should the bicameral panel fail to approve the tax bills, only 147 locators out of the current 375 firms in the economic zone will be covered by the tax exemption.
Caloy Cabrera, president of the Association of Concerned Employees of CDC, said “the employees of CDC implore our local and national leaders to rally behind the cause of Clark Special Economic Zone and save the existence of CDC, the very organization that made the former military base bustling with activity and ushered economic revival to its surrounding towns.”
“The bills pending before the Senate now will not only kill the investments inside Clark but will also bring back the now lively world class industrial aviation area into a ghost town. The Senate bill will not only kill Clark but also its environs,” he said. “It will not only drive away investments, it will leave more than 47,000 workers hapless and jobless.”
By Rendy Isip - Manila Standard Today
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
7:27 AM
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