Lmst

[Vantage Point] After BIR freezes LOAs, should PH revisit gross-income taxation?

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/vantage-point-bir-freeze-letters-of-authority-philippines-revisit-gross-income-taxation/

<p class="has-drop-cap"><em>Finance Secretary Frederick Go and newly appointed Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Charlito Martin Mendoza have jointly announced that the tax agency was freezing all field audits and <a href="https://www.rappler.com/business/bureau-internal-revenue-suspends-field-audits-alleged-extortion-scheme-probe/">halting the issuance</a> of every Letter of Authority (LOA) and Mission Order (MO) throughout the country. For decades, LOAs have been the most feared instruments in Philippine tax administration — capable of interrupting business operations, delaying investments, and dragging even compliant taxpayers into months of costly negotiations. To suspend them entirely was a sign that something deep inside the institution had broken.</em></p>

<p>The government, through the Finance department under Go explained that taxpayers had raised concerns about LOAs which could no longer be dismissed. Go says the nation’s tax base — millions of workers, entrepreneurs, and corporations — deserved honest, predictable, and professional audits. Those qualities, he implied, had not always been present. </p>

<p>Mendoza then <a href="https://www.rappler.com/business/bir-chief-mendoza-letter-authority-issuances-require-clearance/">formalized the freeze</a>, directing all regional, district, and special audit units to stop issuing LOAs, except in the narrow cases allowed by law. A technical working group would begin reengineering the audit process from the

[Vantage Point] The ₱500 Noche Buena: Rewriting math, economics, and the laws of physics

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/vantage-point-noche-buena-budget-controversy-2025/

[Vantage Point] Why the Philippines should slow down on offshore wind transition

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/vantage-point-why-philippines-should-slow-down-offshore-wind-energy-transition/

A quotation from Douglas Adams

He was constantly reminded of how startlingly different a place the world was when viewed from a point only three feet to the left.

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humourist, screenwriter
The Salmon of Doubt, “The Salmon of Doubt,” ch. 4 (2002) [ed. Peter Guzzardi]

More about this quote: wist.info/adams-douglas/80481/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #douglasadams #salmonofdoubt #location #perspective #pointofview #vantagepoint

[Vantage Point] Why global investors see PH flood control scandal as systemic red flag

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/vantage-point-global-investors-see-flood-control-corruption-philippines-red-flag/

Nvidia Earnings: CEO Jensen Huang Says AI Boom Is Just Getting Started

Nvidia president and CEO Jensen Huang pushed back against fears of an AI bubble on the company’s blowout…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #%year-over-year #aibubble #blowoutearningcall #CA #Canada #ceojensenhuang #CHIP #company #concern #contact #earningreport #email #gpu #huang #majorshift #NVIDIAearnings #vantagepoint
https://www.newsbeep.com/261811/

[Vantage Point] How the treasury drained PDIC’s shield – right when we needed it strongest

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/vantage-point-how-treasury-drained-philippine-deposit-insurance-corporation/

<p>In a banking system built on confidence, deposit insurance is the keel that keeps the ship upright when seas turn rough. In the Philippines, that keel is the <a href="https://www.rappler.com/philippines/government/g87167066-philippine-deposit-insurance-corporation/">Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation</a> (PDIC). And yet, in 2024, the government chose to plane down that keel — r<a href="https://www.rappler.com/business/pdic-remits-excess-funds-national-treasury-january-2025/">emitting over ₱117 billion from PDIC to the Bureau of the Treasury</a> — just months before doubling deposit coverage in March 2025. I don’t see that as an act of prudence, but of self-inflicted fragility.</p>

<h5 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-numbers-that-should-make-you-uneasy"><strong>The numbers that should make you uneasy</strong></h5>

<p>Start with the hard facts. PDIC’s total assets fell by about 18% in 2024, dropping to roughly ₱278 billion after the state took ₱107.2 billion (under the GAA or General Appropriations Act) plus ₱10.7 billion in dividends. I did not dream up these statistics; they’re in PDIC’s 2024 reporting as <a href="https://www.philstar.com/business/2025/10/15/2479888/pdic-assets-fall-18-fund-remittances">covered by the press on October 15, 2025</a>. </p>

<p>Now, consider the exposure side of the ledger. Effective March 15, 2025, the maximum deposit insurance coverage (MDIC) doubled from ₱500,000 to ₱1,000,000 per depositor per bank. Regulators and banks fr

#happybirthday #sigourneyweaver #actress #alien #aliens #alien3 #resurrection #gorillasinthemist #workinggirl #ghostbusters #afterlife #avatar #TheWayofWater #FireandAsh #galaxyquest #TheMandalorianandGrogu #TheGorge #chappie #vantagepoint #thedefenders #walle #thecabininthewoods #docmartin #thedarkcrystal #ageofresistance #MasterGardener #Exodus #GodsandKings

[Vantage Point] The Senate probe absurdities

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/vantage-point-senate-probe-absurdities/

<p>On September 30, Tuesday, the Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises (CGPE) conducted a hearing to probe alleged malfeasance committed specifically by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).</p>

<p>During that particular session, it was found out that the GSIS still has to account for its investment in Alternergy Holdings Corporation which the pension fund president Jose Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso promised to immediately address. </p>

<p>For context, <a href="https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/vantage-point-public-money-unsafe-gsis-hands/">Vantage Point had exposed on July 22</a> that <a href="https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/vantage-point-alternergy-financials-used-defend-gsis-deal/">Alternergy had insufficient market capitalization/financial strength</a> and its market capitalization was way below the minimum required under GSIS investment rules. </p>

<p>Alternergy was also heavily leveraged (i.e. high debt relative to equity) and had weak interest coverage, which made it financially risky. We also reported that the shares (preferred shares) purchased by the GSIS were not listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) at the time the agreement and payment were made. Since GSIS rules require investments in listed companies (or at least properly listed securities) for such equity exposures, this non-listing is a violation. </p>

<p>Representatives of the <a hre

Sala IV pide explicaciones al Minae por dar viabilidad ambiental a empresa que dañó ecosistema de humedal de Coris

El diputado Antonio Ortega denunció que “Setena, que pertenece al Minae, otorgó un permiso de viabilidad ambiental a una empresa que construye, realiza quemas y dragado en el humedal”.
La entrada Sala IV pide explicaciones al Minae por dar viabilidad ambi [...]

#Cartago #FiscalíaAmbiental #HumedalCoris #HybridaFarm #MINAE #País #SINAC #Setena #VantagePoint