SUBIC Bay Freeport—The government campaign to flush out illegal operations in this free port gained headway with the closure of a cigarette manufacturer here for tax evasion.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said SBMA padlocked Qiu Tobacco Industrial Co. Ltd. Corp. following an inspection of its facilities which yielded cigarette products without excise tax stamps.

Eisma and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Region 3 Director Ed Tolentino led a joint SBMA-BIR team on Friday that swooped down on six cigarette manufacturers at the Gateway Park here to flush out those involved in the circulation of untaxed and fake cigarette products in the country.

Inspection showed that Qiu Tobacco, which produces cigarette brands like Belmont, Navy and D&B, did not have excise tax stamps on their soft packs.

Upon investigation by the SBMA-BIR team, a Chinese national identified as caretaker of the Qiu facility said the cigarette brands were sold outside the country.

However, the inspectors noted that the cigarettes had markings indicating they were intended for the Philippine market.

Tolentino said this was a violation of Section 263 of the National Internal Revenue Code, which
prohibits the possession or removal of articles subject to excise tax without payment of tax.

The BIR official added that the lack of stamps meant the firm was not paying the proper tax for each pack that was manufactured and sold. The excise tax is a duty that must be levied on manufactured goods at the moment of manufacture, rather than at sale.

Eisma said that the Qiu representative also was not able to present a copy of the firm’s Certificate of Registration and Tax Exemption (CRTE), which the SBMA requires to be displayed in company premises.

A check with the SBMA Business and Investment Group indicated that Qiu Tobacco was issued a CRTE on December 5, 2018. The permit was good until May 31, 2021.

Eisma said, however, that because of its failure to pay excise taxes, the company will be closed until further notice from the BIR.

The SBMA chief also warned business locators here to pay the proper taxes to ensure smooth operations in the free port.

Last week, the BIR also shut down the facilities of the Philippine offshore gaming operator Great Empire Gaming and Amusement Corp. here, along with its other offices in Quezon City, for tax evasion.

Eisma added that if a company complies with the law and the rules and regulations of the agency, the SBMA will protect that company. “If not, we will prosecute to the full extent of the law,” Eisma said.

Source : Business Mirror

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AS OF this month, counting only athletes and officials, nearly 11,000 application for accreditation from various sports have been received with barely three months to go before the opening ceremonies of the SEAG.

Alona Quintos, the director of accreditation and uniforms, on Thursday said at least 35,000 people are expected to sign up for the Games as the Sept. 30 accreditation deadline scheduled by the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee draws near.

According to Quintos, 9,552 have been screened while 8,213 personnel have been granted access to the 11-nation sportsfest to be held at New Clark City in Tarlac, Subic and Metro Manila from Nov. 30–Dec. 11.

“We are closely coordinating with the security department to ensure that everyone who gets accredited have cleared all security protocols,” said Quintos.

She explained that the printing of pre-valid accreditation cards (PVAC) of the 11 national Olympic committees would commence end of September.

Quintos likewise announced that around 1,500 journalists, photo journalists, videographers and broadcast personnel will comprise the covering media during the entire duration of the Games.

“We have set up a specific lane for every client group such as media, athletes and officials, etc. We want to make the experience of getting an accreditation as easy and comfortable as possible,” said Quintos.

The World Trade Center in Pasay City will be the Main Accreditation Center set to cater sports to be played in Manila and Southern Luzon while the ASEAN Convention Center will serve both clusters in Clark and Subic.

The Main Accreditation Center will begin operations on November 20.

Source : Business World

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SUBIC FREEPORT — The Ocean Adventure Park and its facilities are set to be repossessed by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) due to multiple contract violations and failure to implement development commitments.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma Eisma said she has served a notice of pre-termination of contract to the Subic Bay Marine Exploratorium Inc. (SBMEI), which operates the marine theme park complex under a lease agreement signed in 2007.

Aside from its failure to comply with its lease contract, the SBMEI also committed violations like illegal subleasing of property, constructing without permits, improper storing of waste, and closing public roads, according to Eisma.

The company also has arrears of about P25 million on their payment scheme, as well as P7 million on its current billing, SBMA records showed.

“This is actually sad news for us, because Ocean Adventure Park is the pioneer theme park in the Subic Freeport and is a hugely popular tourist destination. However, its multiple contract violations have been a long-festering problem that must be addressed now,” Eisma said.

She added that the SBMA has notified SBMEI of its violations as early as July and assiduously provided guidance to cure the problems, but the company did not submit a satisfactory proposal to correct the violations.

“We wanted them to stay, of course, but there was not much concrete action from their side,” Eisma said. “So after months of negotiation and attempts to help SBMEI keep its lease, there is no longer any other recourse but to apply the law and pre-terminate the company’s lease agreement.”

The SBMA official also stressed that SBMEI’s failure to deliver its development commitments not only constituted violations of its contract, “but also prejudiced the SBMA’s financial interest because it curtailed the agency’s earning potential.”

She added that even as the SBMA was willing to reconsider SBMEI’s decades-old breach of contract, the park operator along with two other locators came out with a story accusing the Subic agency of not adhering to “ease of doing business” law.

Eisma said that the news report only served as a further irritant between the parties, since the SBMA has already put in place various measures to further ease business in the Freeport, including putting up a one-stop shop for permits and extending the validity of the Certificate of Registration and Tax Exemption (CRTE) from one to three years.

“We’re firm but fair,” Eisma said. “We agree that the SBMA should adhere to the ‘ease of doing business’ law, but that doesn’t mean we’d relax our rules to the detriment of the government.”

Under the pre-termination order, the SBMA will repossess all of the SBMEI’s 493.16 hectares of undeveloped property upon the lapse of the 30-day reckoning period. Then it will give the SBMEI 24 months to slow down its activities at the 11.6-hectare developed area that includes the Ocean Adventure Park, the Camayan Beach, and the newly-opened Adventure Water Park.

“We’re giving them sufficient time to wind down their operations at the marine park, remove all their animals and movable property, and vacate the premises. We are also concerned about the disruption and stress this would cause to the animals, hence the two-year leeway,” Eisma said.

The Ocean Adventure Park started operations in 2000 under a contract that covered only the marine park. In 2007 the SBMEI entered into a new agreement for the lease of a total of 436.89 hectares of land, and 67.87 hectares of bay area with a commitment to develop 101.71 hectares for more tourism.

Eisma said the SBMA has already informed the Office of the President of its decision to foreclose the SBMEI but the agency has not yet closed the door to renegotiation

Source: Sunstar

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THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) shut down on Wednesday a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo), billed the second biggest in the country, for its failure to pay the appropriate taxes.

The BIR, which led an interagency raid on Great Empire Gaming and Amusement Corporation (“Gegac”) for its failure to register for Value Added Tax (VAT), padlocked its offices that occupied 11 floors of a building in Libis, Quezon City.

The Department of Finance said the company, with over 8,100 employees, also has offices at the Subic Freeport and Aseana City, Parañaque.

No employees were arrested, as the tax agency said it had jurisdiction only over the corporation and its compliance with tax laws.

‘Results of the investigation showed that GEGAC is not registered for VAT purposes, violating the Section 108 vis-a-vis with Section 115 of the Tax Code as certified by the Revenue District Office 019 – Subic Bay Freeport Zone,’ BIR said.

The Closure Order was issued by Deputy Commissioner for Operations Group Arnel SD. Guballa.

BIR said the actions of Task Force Pogo, which padlocked the offices of Gegac, were guided by the directive from Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez, who in the past six months had led an interagency campaign to get all Pogos in the country to comply with immigration, labor and tax laws.

The company, the BIR said, violated Section 115(b), in relation to Section 236 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended (Tax Code).

Moratorium

Earlier, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) disclosed that it has imposed a moratorium on the issuance of licenses to new Pogos.

Pagcor Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrea Domingo said the moratorium, which will last until the end of the year, will likely negatively affect its Gross Gaming Revenues (GGR).

Domingo said, however, that imposing a moratorium on the issuance of new licenses will give Pagcor time to take stock of the situation of Pogos and what policies can be crafted moving forward.

Domingo said the number of Pagcor licensed Pogos could reach 61 by yearend. To date, there are 58 Pogos operating and three more are expected to be approved.

The three Pogo applications that may or may not be approved by yearend would be the last for the year, as Pagcor started to embark on its review of Pogo policies two to three weeks ago.

Source: Business Mirror

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 23) — Barangay Ginebra mentor Tim Cone has been named the Gilas Pilipinas head coach for the upcoming 2019 Southeast (SEA) Games, he confirmed Monday.

“Even though my appointment is just a stop gap measure and a short term commitment, I am incredibly honored and proud to be selected to coach in the SEA Games. Wow! I’m very happy to help in any way. I will sit down with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) over the next couple of days and come up with a plan of attack in terms of preparation, and we’re hoping by the end of the week we’ll have a pool of players working together at full force. I’m extremely excited to get going,” Cone said in a statement sent to CNN Philippines.

Cone, the winningest coach in Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) history with 21 championships, is now tasked to guide the men’s national basketball team to its fifth consecutive gold medal in the biennial sports meet.

Leading the national squad is nothing new for the 51-year-old American as he already served as head coach back in 1998 when he steered the Filipinos to a gold in the William Jones Cup and bronze in the Asian Games of that year.

ASPeaks : A familiar face with a winning pedigree will take on the challenge of steering our #GilasPilipinas this coming SEA Games! ?? #SBP #ParaSaBayan #LabanPilipinas pic.twitter.com/Tex2Yeo3aP

— SBP (@officialSBPinc) September 23, 2019

The 2019 SEA Games will run from November 30 to December 11 this year. It’s the biggest SEA Games yet as it features 56 sports and 523 events spread across 39 venues in Clark, Subic, Tagaytay, La Union, Batangas, and Metro Manila.

Tim Cone (@manilacone): We're going for gold in the Southeast Asian Games. https://t.co/6LLjLsjTna pic.twitter.com/pC2ccRR4x1

— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) September 23, 2019

Source: CNN Philippines

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