Malacanang welcomes OECD move to strike off RP from gray list
Malacanang welcomed the move of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to strike off the Philippines from its list of tax havens.
“We are happy the Philippines is out of the gray list. It is a significant step in our fight against money laundering and tax evasion,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail de la Fuente-Valte said in a press briefing at Malacanang on Wednesday.
The OECD, in a statement, said the Philippines “moved up to the list of jurisdictions that have substantially implemented the internationally agreed tax standard."
The OECD statement further said the Philippines “overturned domestic legal restrictions that prevented its tax authorities from obtaining and exchanging certain types of information, such as bank information.”
The Philippines had been on the "gray list" of territories that had committed to internationally accepted tax standards but had not yet fully implemented them.
The OECD announcement came shortly after Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima signed Revenue Regulations (RR) 10-2010 that will be used to implement Republic Act (RA) 10021, or The Exchange of Information on Tax Matters Act.
RR 10-2010, which became a law in March this year, will still have to be published in a newspaper of general circulation before taking effect 15 days after.
The OECD statement noted that the Philippines has a network of more than 30 treaties that provide for exchange of information in tax matters. Until now, however, domestic legal restrictions prevented its tax authorities from obtaining and exchanging certain types of information ... The new law and regulations remove these restrictions, thus enabling many of the Philippines’ existing treaties to meet the international standard." (PCOO)
President Aquino visits La Salle blast victims
President Benigno S. Aquino III today visited the victims of the explosion that rocked the last day of the bar exams at La Salle Taft in Manila last Sunday.
The President talked to three of the 47 victims, most of whom are law students who joined the revelry outside the university.
First to be visited by the Chief Executive was Raissa Laurel, 23, second year law student of San Sebastian whose legs were amputated as a result of the blast.
Dr. Reynaldo Ang, an orthopedic surgeon from the Philippine General Hospital where the victim was confined, said Laurel’s legs were badly damaged by the blast.
“Mangled ang legs ng patient, the soft tissues were not very good, they are lost,” he said. “After a while the patient might need plastic surgery and prosthetics.”
Ang said, however, that Laurel is fast recovering, hinting that it might take a month for her to be discharged.
Raissa’s mother, Reggie, said her daughter, a member of a choir in their Christian church, was supposed to have a choral presentation at the PhilamLife Auditorium that fateful Sunday afternoon.
She said her daughter might have escaped injury had she left earlier for their choral presentation.
Also visited by the President at the Manila Doctors Hospital were Joana Ledda, 23, daughter of Sanggunian Bayan member and a Municipal Health Officer in Bauan, La Union and Camille Villasin, a sophomore student from San Beda and daughter of Philippine Association of Water Districts (PAWD) president Nestor Villasin.
Accompanying the President in the hospital visit were Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma and Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ramon Carandang. (PCOO)
Malacañang urges all Filipinos to join Philhealth
Malacañang urged all Filipinos today to join the government’s health insurance program by registering themselves and their qualified dependents with Philhealth on Saturday, October 2.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte issued the call during a press conference in Malacañang on Wednesday.
“I would like to remind everyone that October 2 is…going to be National Philhealth Day. We encourage everybody to go out if you have not yet registered at Philhealth, please go out on Saturday and do so,” Valte said.
The Department of Health has designated October 2 as “Philhealth Sabado” to allow non-members to become part of the government’s health insurance program to ensure themselves access to quality health services.
“PhilHealth Sabado is the start of a continuing advocacy program to increase Filipino’s awareness and knowledge on the importance of becoming a PhilHealth member,” the DoH said in a statement, adding that being a member “will ensure access to quality health services to the member and his/her dependents.”
“PhilHealth Sabado fullfills universal health insurance coverage within three years as promised in the first State of the Nation Address of President Benigno S. Aquino III,” the DOH statement said.
All interested applicants are invited to visit the Philhealth Registration Desk located in any of the following: Philhealth Regional and Service Offices, Department of Health Centers for Health Development and Hospitals, participating public schools and designated areas predetermined by local government units for registration instructions. (PCOO)
Palace lauds Comelec resolution granting exemptions to appointments ban
Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. on Wednesday lauded the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for granting Malacañang's request for an exemption on the appointment ban because of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls on October 25, saying this would allow President Benigno Aquino III to fill up critical government posts.
The government is prohibited from appointing or transferring officials and employees during the campaign period under a resolution issued by the poll body, but the Comelec en banc approved the request of Ochoa to grant exemptions for 143 key positions last Monday.
In a letter to Comelec sent September 24, Ochoa explained to the poll body that the appointments were being made “not for the purpose of influencing or affecting the results of the barangay elections” but to ensure the “proper functioning of the offices or agencies concerned.”
“The President arrived last Tuesday in good spirits, and this resolution was welcome news for him as he wants to continue naming individuals to posts that need to be filled as soon as possible,” the Executive Secretary said.
The exemptions cover 143 positions in government, such as non-career ambassadors, regional trial court judges, officials in line agencies and special bodies, and government-owned and -controlled corporations like the Manila Waterworks Sewerage System.
The Comelec has said that similar exemptions were granted to Malacañang and other offices in the past so as not to disrupt government operations and public service.
Specifically, the poll body eased the prohibitions set in Section 261 (g, h and x) of the Omnibus Election Code and Comelec Resolution No. 9040 on the appointment of new employees, whether temporary or casual; creation of any new position; transfer or detail any officer or employee, including public school teachers; and suspension of elective officials, without the prior approval of the Comelec.
Under Comelec Resolution No. 9040, no appointments shall be made from September 25 to October 25, and transfer or detail of employees from September 25 to November 10, 2010. (PCOO)
