Big business has welcomed the clearer investment rules plus enhanced fiscal perks under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) Act.

"CREATE MORE will certainly help improve the global competitiveness of the Philippines by improving the ease of doing business (EODB), sustaining an enabling business environment for local and foreign investors, and attracting greater and more diverse job-creating investments for more Filipinos to be gainfully employed," Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) president Rene D. Almendras said in a statement on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed the CREATE MORE Law under Republic Act (RA) No. 12066 last Monday, Nov. 11.

Almendras pointed out that MAP's members, composed of the country's top corporate managers, have always considered EODB as a "top concern."

Specifically, Almendras said MAP is "glad that CREATE MORE will be addressing EODB issues pertaining to VAT [value-added tax] refund, local taxation, investment-approval process and flexible-working arrangements, among others."

CREATE MORE is expected to speed-up processing of VAT refunds, a responsibility which the law transferred to the Department of Finance (DOF) from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

Last September, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines (JCCIP) executive director and vice president Nobuo Fujii told Manila Bulletin that they were awaiting CREATE MORE's passage to hopefully fast-track the return of up to P200 billion in pending VAT credit claims, which he claimed has been deterring the entry of new and expansion Japanese investments into the country.

In particular, Japanese-led export-firms had complained about the previously unclear rules as well as tedious and costly refund process under the CREATE Law, which was enacted in 2021 to serve as a relief to struggling businesses amid the then-harder times wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

No less than President Marcos Jr. himself had ordered legislators to prioritize CREATE MORE's passage. The President had supposedly received a flurry of complaints about CREATE, especially on the refund of the 12-percent VAT slapped on imported production inputs, from foreign investors—most especially the Japanese—during his many overseas trips.

"We thank President Marcos Jr. for signing a law that signifies his administration's unwavering commitment to empowering the business sector and fostering a climate where businesses will flourish and continue to contribute meaningfully to the Philippine economy," Almendras said.

Almendras also thanked the two chambers of Congress for passing CREATE MORE, which he said "will address investors' pain points, preserve jobs, create more opportunities for Filipinos, and cultivate an investment-friendly playing field."