MANILA -- Following the World Bank report showing a “great leap” in the country’s ease of doing business rankings, two House leaders on Thursday pushed for the passage of pending reform measures to further improve the country’s competitiveness.
House Ways and Means Committee chair Joey Salceda pointed out that while the improvement is significant, “it is by no means a ceiling for the Philippines.”
He said the House leadership led by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano will push forward with “greater vigor and speed” to pass a scope of reforms that would lead the country to bigger leaps in the worldwide rankings.
These include the proposed Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA), Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA), as well as the amendments to the Foreign Investments Act (FIA), Retail Trade Liberalization Act (RLTA) and Public Service Act (PSA).
The proposed measures are all part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s legislative agenda.
In the just-released Doing Business Report, the Philippines improved by 29 notches, ranking 95th from the previous 124th out of 190 economies surveyed by the WB.
“The biggest source of rigidity remains constitutional restrictions which compels many businesses desiring to do business in the Philippines to go through complex structurings to gain access to a fast-growing and robust domestic market with one of the most demographically dynamic population base,” Salceda said.
The Albay lawmaker said the passage of CITIRA would enable the government to accommodate the influx of new investment and business expansion that the Philippines expects because of the superior incentives and lower corporate income tax rates.
On the other hand, passing PIFITA will harmonize the tax rates on banks and financial institutions.
Meanwhile, he said the proposed amendments to FIA, RTLA, and PSA will ease up medieval restrictions on investment.
Also on the table is the proposed real property valuation reform bill which seeks to harmonize the land market and bring clarity to real property investors.
“Once those reforms are implemented, the Filipino people can expect even bigger leaps in our rankings,” the House Leader said.
“Our reforms bring clarity, harmony, and stability. As we expect to become an upper-middle-income country in the next couple of years, our message to the world has been simple: the Philippines is ready for the major league, and this country is open for business,” Salceda said.
This was echoed by House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, who also assured of the House’s continuing commitment to expedite the passage of measures that will improve the country’s economy and the people’s lives.
“We in Congress remain committed to the approval of other pending measures required to improve our credit ratings. With these reforms, we trust that our march to progress will be steady and swift,” Romualdez said. (PNA)
