PEZA VOWS TO MEET DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF RBE APPLICATIONS

THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has vowed to endorse all applications it received for the paper transfer of Pezaregistered business enterprises (RBES) to the Board of Investments (BOI) before the December 31 deadline.

At a media briefing on Monday, PEZA Deputy Director General (DDG) for Operations Vivian S. Santos said the PEZA came up with an internal deadline, which is on December 16, based on PEZA Memorandum Circular (MC) 2022-070. “e BOI would not extend PEZA’S endorsement. So, in order for PEZA to endorse on or before December 31, we need to also come up with a deadline and the deadline we have provided in our memorandum circular is December 16. at’s the last day of filing,” Santos said.

However, the PEZA official noted that the agency will see to it that applications with complete requirements will be endorsed to the BOI on or before December 31 as the effectivity of the paper transfer that will allow 100 percent work from home will be on January 1, 2023.

As of December 12, PEZA said it has received 351 applications for the paper transfer of registered business enterprises (RBES) to the BOI.

According to the PEZA MC 2022-070 dated October 24, “e earlier deadline of December 16 is to ensure that PEZA will have sufficient time to review the applications before we endorse it to BOI.”

“The endorsement by PEZA to BOI is considered as a certification of its no objection and that the endorsed RBES are compliant with the terms and conditions of registration and are in good standing,” PEZA told the BUSINESS MIRROR last month in a Viber message.

Pursuant to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Memorandum Circular No. 22-19, supported by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB), which was issued last October 18, the RBES have until December 31 to exercise the option to register with BOI.

e DTI said RBES that can exercise the option to register with BOI are: RBES that have remaining tax incentives under Section 311 of Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) law; and RBES with approved incentives on or before September 14, under the CREATE law with the concerned investment promotion agency, particularly those currently registered with Peza, that intend to register with the BOI.

However, those who did not exercise the option shall no longer be allowed to register and shall be covered by Section 309 of CREATE.

Section 309 of Republic Act 11534 or CREATE law states: “A qualified registered project or activity under an Investment Promotion Agency administering an economic zone or freeport shall be exclusively conducted or operated within the geographical boundaries of the zone or free port being administered by the Investment Promotion Agency in which the project or activity is registered.”