Forward-looking legislation
T he Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) lauded Congress for enacting into law two crucial legislative measures: the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) bill and the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) bill. According to the FINEX statement issued on Feb. 25, CREATE and FIST are “important components of the economic relief plan of the government to address the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and to make the Philippines an attractive investment destination for the longer term.” FINEX has strongly urged the immediate passage of other forward-looking measures that have been pending in Congress such as the GUIDE bill, which stands for Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery. At the Senate, a bill seeking to regulate the Philippine liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) industry was passed on third and final reading last week. Senate Bill No. 1955 was approved by the upper house via a unanimous 21-0 decision. Its principal author, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, said the bill would help in stretching the budget of Filipino consumers especially during the current pandemic. More than eight million out of the country’s 20 million households will stand to gain from the proposed LPG Act of 2021. Data from the Department of Energy (DoE) and the Philippine Statistics Authority show that LPG is widely used for heating, lighting, and cooking — more so now as a result of quarantine and travel restrictions that force most Filipinos to dine and stay in their homes.