Foreign investors told to pay taxes, give workers ‘right salaries’

Foreigners interested in investing in the country must pay taxes and give the “right salaries” to their workers, President Duterte said last Wednesday night.

The President made the appeal after reminding businessmen not to allow undocumented workers and illegal drug activities in their places of business.

“Go ahead. Make money. Make your profit. Pay the right taxes, pay the laborers the right salaries, and then I will assure you that your return of investment, your ROI, you can get it anytime you want. That is the long and short of my guarantee to you,” he said during the launch of Golden Topper Group in Parañaque City Wednesday.

“Just do it right, follow the rules and we will follow as… If there’s a breakage in the rule, let me know and I will correct it immediately at once,” he said before a group of Chinese business executives.

The President recognized that the investments would not only generate tax revenues for the government but also provide job opportunities for Filipinos.

“You come and do business and make your profit, as many as you can and as plenty as you can. In that way, you can help the Filipino worker find jobs. That is my only gain there. Not so much about taxes. It’s employment generation for my brother Filipinos,” he said.

Earlier in his speech, the President said he appreciates investments coming into the country but made an appeal against hiring undocumented workers.

Golden Topper, a Chinese real estate firm, intends initially to build two residential development projects in the country.

“While I recognize the potential of these projects to help the Philippines withstand future challenges in the global (economic) setting, I nonetheless stress that your buildings should never serve as a haven for undocumented foreign workers or for the manufacture of and trafficking of illegal drugs,” he said.

Duterte also urged the foreign businessmen to “behave” and follow the country’s laws. He likewise warned against involvement in the illegal drug trade, saying he would not hesitate to kill those involved.

“If you go into drugs, if you are a drug lord, or if I catch you importing or manufacturing drugs in this country and you destroy my country in the process, I will kill you. Make no doubt about it,” he said.

As he pledged a businessfriendly climate for investors, the President again urged government agencies to eliminate red tape and corruption to ensure efficient service to the people.

He asked the agencies to provide the public with a checklist of requirements for application of permits, licenses and documents for hassle-free processing. The list should include the period of processing of a certain application.

“You give the applicant the list of papers and documents he has to submit. Make sure that shopping list you give to the applicant or whoever would like to do some business here, give him a complete requirement,” Duterte said.

“And after that, you give it to him, let him sign, and place there in that paper how long would it take you to process the papers and at what time should he be back, at what hour in the afternoon or morning,” he said.

He reminded public officials to follow his latest directive, adding that he would not hesitate to slap them if they were engaged in anomalies in the bureaucracy.

“If you fail to do that, then it means that you are delaying it so that he’d be coming to you back and forth, back and forth, because you want to ask for money. That’s the only conclusion,” he said.