Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda has committed to work with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to set up a "Digital Investments Program", as requested by investors from the United States (US).
"The committee supports the recommendation towards a Digital Investments Program,” Salceda, the House Committee on Ways and Means chairman, said in a statement on Saturday, Oct. 29.
He said that move was requested by the US-ASEAN Business Council, which recently held a Philippine Business Mission at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, in Taguig City,
“The chair has also expressed to the DTI that the strategic investment priorities plan (SIPP) cannot be merely a list, but must be a full strategy. A Digital Investments Program including both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives can be a section of the comprehensive SIPP," reckoned the economist-lawmaker.
Salceda also cited the committee’s role in boosting investments in startups and tech services, citing the panel’s decisive role in getting the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) to craft regulations on allowing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies to work from home while sustaining their tax perks.
The ways and means panel also took the lead in creating the country’s tax regime for employee stock option plans, a compensation option that many tech startups take at the pre-profitable stages.
The mission, which conducts interviews between leading US companies and top Philippine decision-makers, consulted Salceda on a variety of economic, fiscal, and strategic issues.
Salceda, however, pushed back on the request for amendments to the Special Economic Zone Act, saying that he “generally believes that ecozones should be significantly reduced in number and be focused on manufacturing, as services can locate anywhere in the country".
He also cited that there are at least 416 ecozones in the PH, 10 in Thailand, 3 in Malaysia, 18 in Indonesia, making looser rules a significant smuggling and tax leakage risk.
The ranking congressman, however, reiterated his commitment toward ease of doing business, including his “four eases”: ease of paying taxes, ease of citizen services such as business registration, ease of social services, and ease of procurement.
Salceda cited his House Bill (HB) No. 419, or the proposed Government Modernization Act, as a measure that aims to reengineer government toward these four eases, and asked the council to study and support the measure.