在菲律賓的美麗景色中醒來絕對是在疫情過後讓人期待的一件事！
在此之前，讓我們先透過菲律賓2020年最新的旅遊宣傳影片來遊覽菲律賓令人屏息的景色和多采多姿的活動。

Wake up in the Philippines! Definitely something to look forward to post-covid!
Until this pandemic is over, stay safe and travel the entire length of this country paradise virtually with this Complete Compilation of the 2020 Philippine Tourism Ad Campaign SeriesParagraph. 

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales 

THE Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. (Seipi) on Tuesday backed the Philippine Economic Zone Authority’s (PEZA) proposal to create a separate set of incentives for export and domestic firms in the proposed second package of tax reforms.

“Seipi supports PEZA’s position to retain the current incentives and separate the incentives for domestic versus export industries like electronics,” said Seipi President Dan Lachica in a statement.
PEZA Director General Charito Plaza earlier urged senators to consider two separate regimes of tax incentives for export and for domestic market enterprises.

The Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (Create) Act, the second package of the government’s tax reform, proposes to reduce the corporate income tax from the current 30 percent to 25 percent this year, and further trim it by 1 percentage point starting in 2023 to reach 20 percent in 2027.

The proposed bill, however, also seeks to rationalize incentives currently being enjoyed by select firms especially those in economic zones.

“First of all, please let me make it clear that Seipi supports Create’s proposed immediate reduction of corporate income tax. However, we are concerned about Create’s proposed incentives rationalization,” said Lachica.

Lachica said they are supporting Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto’s proposal to include a grandfathering rule in the proposed bill.

The grandfathering provision would allow businesses to continue operations and enjoy the perks received under old laws, and be exempt from new ones that would be applied to new investors or enterprises.

The industry group earlier warned that from the year the second package of tax reform takes effect, the industry will suffer an estimated 38,000 direct and 266,000 indirect job losses.

Lachica also disclosed that two electronic companies have stopped their operations in the country due to the “uncompetitive business environment.”

Source: The Manila Times

JUN ENDO,
​Nikkei staff writerOctober 13, 2020 03:35 JST

MANILA -- The Philippines began Monday registering millions of citizens for its national identification system, hoping to promote electronic payments and make it easier for low-income earners without bank accounts to access financial services.
All Philippine citizens and resident foreigners are required to register such information as name, sex, date of birth, place of birth, blood type, address and nationality. Biometric data -- fingerprints, facial photos and iris scans -- also will be stored.
The country's current system, in which different agencies issue their own numbers, has been criticized as inconvenient. The new system will grant each person a unique number that can be used across agencies. The government hopes to make financial services more accessible to low-income workers who lack bank accounts as well as facilitate delivery of government services.
Officials from the Philippine statistics agency will visit homes to collect the personal information, completing the process before President Rodrigo Duterte's term ends in June 2022. The system is scheduled to begin operation in the second half of 2021 for services such as visa issuances.
A survey found 73% public support for the new ID system, suggesting that little concern exists over the collection of personal information by the government.
Karl Kendrick Chua, acting secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority, said the ID system will accelerate growth of the digital economy. He expressed hope that the national system will spark widespread use of electronic payments. Partnerships with the private sector also appear to be on the table.
Cash remains king in the Philippines despite moves by telecommunications companies PLDT and Globe Telecom to bring e-money into the mainstream. Online shopping has been slow to catch on, in part because payment on delivery is the norm. The new national ID system could change how companies do business.

Source: Nikkei Asia

MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Corp., the country’s diversified conglomerate, will commence construction of its massive P734-billion airport project in Bulakan, Bulacan this month, SMC president and COO Ramon Ang said yesterday.

Ang said the first phase of the project would comprise two runways and is expected to be completed in five to six years.

By that time, Ang said the global aviation industry is expected to recover from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One thing’s for sure, in five to six years’ time, that airport will be operational,” Ang said.

Ang said the New Manila International Airport project is huge in scale.

“Even government has not done a project of such scale,” he said.

Ang also plans to put up his own airline company when the market has recovered.
“The airline business will be a problem for the next six years. I will get into airlines – mark my word, but six years from now,” he said.

The House Committee on Ways and Means has approved the tax provisions of the proposed legislative franchise that would pave the way for SMC to build and operate the 2,500-hectare “Airport City” in Bulacan.

Source: Philippine Star

During the height of the lockdowns imposed in the Philippines as measures to help contain the spread of the covid19 pandemic in the country, four colleagues belonging to the Philippine Foreign Trade Service Corps, all Philippine Commercial Diplomats heading the various Philippine Trade and Investment Centers in Tokyo, Seoul, Brussels and here in Taiwan, respectively -- countries which did not impose total lockdowns and community quarantnes -- joined hands to work quietly together on a project to produce reusable face masks with relatively higher levels of protection by adding an insertable hepa filter-feature.
Together, they sought donations from various members of the business community from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to source materials such as fabrics, hepa filters, labels and packaging and elastic bands and worked with kind-hearted businessmen, institutions and individuals from the Philippines to tap differently-abled, disabled and less fortunate individuals whose livelihoods have been adversely affected by the pandemic.
The project was able to produce more than 10,000 reusable and washable masks to be distributed to frontliners and less-fortunate families and communities, whose means could not afford for them to buy much-needed disposable facemasks, which were in great scarcity at the time, to protect their families and loved ones.
The video gives a brief description of the project and explains the science and effectivity of using face masks to minimize the risks of getting covid19. Not new knowledge here, but from time to time, it would be good to remind ourselves of the critical importance of wearing face masks, especially now that everyone seems to be having covid19 fatigue.
Please watch in your spare time and share to your contacts, as a reminder. It might help save lives.
#ilovemycountryPhilippines
#Pilipinaskayanatinito
#PilipinasAkingMahal

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan is joining hands with Stanford University in the U.S. to design a mechanism for effective testing and quarantine as the island country prepares to relax travel restrictions next month.

The collaboration involves Stanford University School of Medicine sending 500 people from San Francisco to Taipei, where they will undergo testing every two days in a 14-day quarantine period. These individuals must test negative for the coronavirus (COVID-19) and be placed under quarantine prior to their flights to Taiwan, reported the Financial Times.

The aim of the experiment is to work out the shortest possible isolation requirement for travelers, instead of the two-week rule currently being applied by most countries, said Jason Wang, a professor at Stanford Medical School who is participating in the project. Details of the scheme are being hammered out, said Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳), an infectious disease doctor and member of Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

Read more: Taiwan News