a. Reforms in the power industry
b. Retail trade liberalization
2. Monetary, Financial and Capital Market
a. Amendments to the General Banking Act
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Allows 100 percent foreign participation in distressed banks (to be
gradually reduced to 70 percent over a 10-year period);
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Raises penalties by at least 10-fold for noncompliance with regulatory norms;
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Includes universal banks, Islamic Banks and cooperative banks in the
classification of banks to be supervised by BSP;
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Adopts the "control test" on citizenship of corporations in determining
foreign stockholdings in banks;
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Authorizes the Monetary Board to prescribe duties and responsibilities to
directors and officers of banks, quasi banks and trust entities to disqualify, remove or
suspend them and to regulate their compensation and other benefits;
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Increases the equity investment of a universal or commercial bank in allied and
nonallied enterprises and in another universal or commercial
bank;
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Increases the limit of the total amount of loans, credit accommodations
and guarantees by a bank to any person or entity;
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Expands limits on loans to directors, officers, stockholders and related interest;
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Enforces the publication of the financial statements of banks, quasi-banks
and trust entities;
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Limits investments of banks in real estate and decreases the loan value of
real estate collateral; and
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Lengthens the grace period for the initial amortization of loans and other
credit accommodations with maturities of more than five years up to the fifth year
from the date these loans were granted.
b. New Central Bank Act
c. Amendments to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation Act
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Strengthens the supervisory authority of the PDIC over insolvent banks; and
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Provides assistance to facilitate the sale of assets and assumption of liabilities
of banks receivership and increase the amount of permanent insurance fund.
d. Amendments to the Agri-agra Law
e. Securities Act of 1999
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New bankruptcy law that will transfer the SEC's quasi-judicial functions to the
court system;
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Gives authority to the Commission en Banc to provide its own organization
and staff of officers and employees so as to achieve greater efficiency; and
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Institutionalizes two core reforms of full-disclosure philosophy and
self-regulation concept.
3. Fiscal Sector
a. Tax census/tax amnesty program
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Requires all persons (natural or juridical) deriving income or owning properties in
the Philippines to file a true statement of Assets and Liabilities;
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Seeks to flush out those in the underground economy;
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Expands the tax base; and
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Builds a more reliable base for future taxation.
b. Comprehensive rationalization of tax incentives
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Fiscal incentives under Executive Order 226 shall be confined to industries
that are exporting, catalytic and those that undergo industrial adjustment;
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Universalizes tax incentives or granting of tax incentives to all firms; and
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Prescribes review, while keeping on hold, the implementation of Board
of Investment tax exemptions on capital equipment and spare parts (under EO
226 and RA 7844, which expired in December 1997).
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c. Reengineering the bureaucracy
d. Rationalization of taxation on the financial sector
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Restructures gross receipts tax (GRT) and documentary stamp tax (DST)
to minimize their cascading effect particularly on frequently traded instruments
and assets;
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Eliminates distortions arising from the non-uniform tax treatment of
financial institutions and assets; and
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Rationalizes tax treatment of pension funds, insurance and investments houses
to assist in the development of the capital market.
e. Road user charges
f. Idle land tax
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Redefines idle lands in terms of area and indicators of utilization;
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Provides a tax rate of 10 percent based on market value or zonal value; and
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Converts tax from a local to national imposition.
g. Tax to discourage conversion of agricultural lands
4. Labor Sector
a. Institutionalization of Public Employment Service Offices
b. Amendment to the Apprenticeship Law
c. Amendment to the Productivity Incentives Act of 1990
B. Other Legislative Agenda
1. Revised Investment Company Act
a. Establishes a comprehensive scheme of regulation to permit investment companies to
serve their role in the capital formation process, and at the same time prevent abuses and
protect the interest of the public who are investors in such companies; and
b. Provides a favorable framework in which investment companies can operate to
facilitate the flow of investment from sources within the country and abroad, and to
broaden participation in securities ownership by Filipinos.
2. Amendments to the Corporation Code of the Philippines
a. Removes the residency requirements for incorporators and directors and as well
as endorsement requirement for registration of articles of incorporation and by-laws to
other government agencies; and
b. Further liberalize certain sectors of the capital markets and rationalize the system
of supervision pertaining to them.
3. Securitization Program
a. Conveys government assets to a pool instead of individual sale; and
b. Offers investment participation to a wider range of investors.
4. Pre-need Plan Securities Code
a. Provides the regulatory framework for the efficient regulation of the pre-need
industry including the method of determining, computing reserves and annual valuation of
pre-need products.
5. Customs Modernization Act
a. Provides basis for computerization of operations, including measures such as audit
trails, unique identifiers, etc.; and
b. Reduces bond requirements from 150 percent to 100 percent of duties/taxes and
other charges, particularly conditionally free importation.