Amicus Curiae

Much has been said about the feature of the Revised Corporation Code (RCC) allowing corporations to have perpetual existence under Section 11 of the RCC. Yet, there is also a nifty feature tucked in under the same section allowing the revival of those corporations whose corporate terms have expired.

On Jan. 12 — nearly half a century after its last eruption — Taal Volcano had a phreatic eruption, causing ash to fall on numerous cities and necessitating the evacuation of families living near the volcano. With the sudden turn of events, immediate evacuation and disaster preparations were necessary for the affected areas, and schools and offices were constrained to suspend their operations to make way for the same.

How difficult is it to do business in the Philippines in comparison to other economies?

One way to answer this complex question is to look at the annual Ease of Doing Business Index issued by the World Bank. As its name suggests, the Index ranks almost all the world’s economies according to how easy it is to do business.

To quote Former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban: “Trial courts are the dispensers of justice closest to the poor.” But when the demand for justice is clearly disproportionate to that of the number of our judges in the lower courts, how can justice even be dispensed?

“Quick and Easy Online Loan,” “Fast, Easy, Loan Online,” “Quick Cash Online” — these are only a few of the marketing and advertising slogans of online lending companies which have emerged among the online community. Oblivious of the consequences, these online loans became popular among the mass of Filipino people who, in some way or other, needed the “quick and easy” cash.

With the enactment of Republic Act No. 11360, rank-and-file employees of restaurants, hotels and similar establishments are now entitled to 100% of the service charges collected from customers.

R.A. No. 11360 — or “An Act Providing that Service Charges Collected by Hotels, Restaurants and other Similar Establishments be Distributed in Full to All Covered Employees”

Taxes are integral to any economic policy. Investments flow in and out of the economy based on fiscal incentives as much as human capital. For Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) locators, investors were enticed to invest in the Philippines with tax incentives, such as the Income Tax Holiday (ITH) or 5% Gross Income Taxation (GIT), VAT zero-rated purchases, and duty-free importations.

The common practice of advertising services through television, social media, websites, radio and the like, as well as the use of online lending platforms are becoming tools of fraud, leading to the increased number of borrowers falling prey to unlawful acts of lending and financing companies.

According to the 2019 World Bank report, the Philippines ranks 124th out of the 190 economies in terms of ease of doing business. Meanwhile, its neighbors, namely: Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, rank 15th, 69th, 2nd, 27th, and 73rd, respectively.