Senator Pia Cayetano on Monday expressed hope that the bicameral conference committee report on the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) bill could be formally discussed soon and be finalized.

Cayetano, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said passage of the CREATE bill into law would help end business uncertainty and usher the Philippines into economic recovery from the pandemic.

The senator said she has already met informally with the members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives to discuss the disagreeing provisions in the versions of the two chambers.

"I would like to report to the Filipino people and to our business community that the CREATE bill, the landmark legislation that the Senate passed in November last year, is finally moving forward,” Cayetano said.

“I can now say more confidently that the cloud of uncertainty that has hovered over our country's investment climate due to unwarranted delays in CREATE's passage is about to end,” she said.

“The wait-and-see period would soon be over and investors can look forward to doing business in our country under a tax and fiscal incentives regime that favors job generation, ensures flexibility and accountability, and promotes sustainable and inclusive growth,” she further added.

According to Cayetano, the Senate version mandating the immediate and substantial lowering of the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) would be retained.

The current 30 percent CIT rate would be reduced to 25 percent for all enterprises, and to 20 percent for qualified micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with a net taxable income below P5-million and total assets below P100-million.

The CIT reduction, she said, would bring much-needed economic relief to businesses, especially to MSMEs and allow the Philippines to be more competitive in the ASEAN region.

This will also help the Philippines position itself more firmly as a viable investment location, she said.

The lawmaker also said the incentives scheme for registered enterprises under the Senate version would also be retained, except for some changes in the incentives to be granted for both exporters and “critical” domestic market enterprises, and for general domestic market enterprises.

“The passage of CREATE will guide our economic recovery, following the contraction of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) last year by -9.5 percent, the worse on record since the post World War II era,” the senator stressed.

“We need to act decisively to turn our economy around, bring in more investments and jobs and position ourselves more strategically for the challenges of the future and the rapidly changing times,” Cayetano emphasized.

Once the bicameral conference committee report is finalized, both houses of Congress will ratify the measure and submit the bill to Malacañang for President Duterte’s signature.