Under the EO dated Feb. 28, the President warned that forcing power producers to pay back taxes on real property will result in “colossal economic losses across all sectors.”

“The forcible collection of real property taxes by the local government units concerned will trigger massive direct liabilities on the part of the National Power Corp. and the Power Sector Assets Liabilities Management, increase the cost of electricity, and may trigger further cross defaults, and colossal economic losses across all sectors,” the President stated in the EO. (JC Bello Ruiz)

A.B.S., others cited for being model taxpayers
Television network ABS-CBN and two other big corporations were named Tuesday as model taxpayers by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as it kicked-off its tax campaign to collect at least P564 billion from the country's top 2,000 corporations.

The two other awardees were Republic Cement and Smart Communications.

Revenue officials did not disclose how much taxes these three corporations remitted in 2010, saying such records were confidential. They said, however, that these firms were cited for sharply increasing their tax payments last year over the previous year's total. (Jun Ramirez)

Grant assistance from Japan used for mango processing plant
The government of Japan continued to be the top donor of official development assistance for the Philippines as it again provided grant assistance worth an estimated P4.3 million, this time to upgrade a mango processing plant and provide equipment to small farmers in Cebu.

Mango production is traditionally famous in Cebu Province. Mango export is a major contributor to the country's foreign exchange reserves, with about 20 foreign countries importing both fresh and processed mango from the Philippines. The annual revenue of the Philippines from the mango industry amounts to approximately $14 million. (Roy C. Mabasa)

Public-private partnership forum held
The League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), the British Embassy and the La Liga Policy Institute (La Liga) will hold the forum entitled “PPP 101: A Forum on the Public-Private Partnerships for City Governments” on March 10 in Manila, to orient local chief executives on the key concepts, objectives, and opportunities for PPPs particularly for city governments.

British Ambassador Stephen Lillie will deliver the keynote address along with Edward Farquharson and James Ballingall of the Infrastructure United Kingdom of Her Majesty’s Treasury who will be sharing the British experience on PPPs. (Marvyn Benaning)

Probe into C.A.A.P eyed
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada is now eyeing a Senate probe into the purported “messy” situation plaguing the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), saying it is high time the chamber considers amending the law that created the country’s prevailing aviation sector.

Estrada made the proposal in light of reports of alleged corrupt practices in the CAAP and the government’s continued non-compliance to the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Federal Aviation Authority of the United States.

Hannah Torregoza, Manila Bulletin