By Roy Stephen C. Canivel, 5 May 2021
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) has asked President Duterte to lift the ban on new economic zones in Metro Manila that had discouraged call center companies from either setting up shop or expanding in the capital.
Peza Director General Charito Plaza told Pres. Duterte in a May 3 letter that it was time to lift Administrative Order No. 18 issued in June 2019 as the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (Create) had already been passed.
High vacancy rate
The recently enacted Create law cut corporate taxes across the board while rationalizing tax breaks, giving them only to strategic investments that meet certain performance-based standards. Plaza noted that the law also provides for incentives located in Metro Manila and other metro cities.
“As you pointed out in your veto of some items of the Create, provision of laws cannot be hardcoded and must adapt to the changing of times. In the same vein, this applies also to administrative orders,” Plaza said in the letter.
“Lifting the moratorium on the establishment of IT building[s] in NCR (National Capital Region) is an opportune time in this time of pandemic and will provide job generation and relief to SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) in Metro Manila,” she said.
Recovery measure
Plaza added that with the exit of online gambling firms and the shift to work-from-home arrangements, the office space vacancy rate in Metro Manila is at its worst since the global financial crisis. Thus, allowing IT-BPO firms to enjoy perks in NCR should provide some relief.
“The multiplier effects of allowing establishments of IT building[s] in Metro Manila provides [a] recovery measure for developers and support industries still reeling from the effects of COVID-19,” she said.
Benedict Hernandez, chair of Contact Center Association of the Philippines, previously stressed the importance of first setting shop in Metro Manila before anywhere else, especially for Fortune 1000 companies that want to offshore their operations.
“Typically, if they want to invest in the Philippines for the first time, they will first think about going to Manila,” he said.
“There is rarely any new investor who jumps to the province. Their first safety comfort is to see how this works [when they establish] Metro Manila as a location,” he added. INQ
June 2025
Philippine Environment Month!
“Action for Nature, for the Future!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideosturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
1 Jun – World Day of Parents
5 Jun – World Environment Day
7 Jun – World Food Safety Day
8 Jun – World Oceans Day
12 Jun – World Day Against
Child Labour
15 Jun – World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
16 Jun – International Day of Family Remittances
17 Jun – World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
20 Jun – World Refugee Day
25 Jun – Day of the Seafarer
27 Jun – Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day
Daily Observances:
First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
in the Philippines
