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Senate OKs bill lowering required capital for foreign investors
May 19, 2021 8:02 PM PHT
Senators gave their final nod to the bill that would further open up the Philippine retail sector to more foreign investors by lowering their required paid-up capital.
On Wednesday, May 19, senators were able to approve on third and final reading Senate Bill (SB) No. 1840 – which amends Republic Act No. 8762 or the Retail Trade Liberalization Act of 2000 – just minutes after they approved the measure on second reading.
A total of 20 senators voted in favor of SB 1840, with no other member rejecting it or abstaining from the vote.
The Senate was able to do away with the 3-day mandatory interval between the second and third readings of bills after President Rodrigo Duterte certified SB 1840 as urgent.
Senate of the Philippines (Senate PRIB)
Senators voted to pass on Wednesday, May 19, Senate Bill No. 1840, which proposes to amend the Retail Liberalization Act of 2000 (Republic Act No. 8762) and lower the required paid-up capital of foreign retail businesses.
President Duterte earlier certified the bill as urgent, with government economic and finance managers saying it will encourage the entry of investors and further boost economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bill sets a minimum paid-up capital of P50 million for foreign retailers who want to engage or invest in the retail trade business. The current law sets the required capital at US$2.5 million, or its equivalent in Philippine peso.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III (Senate of the Philippines)
Duterte addressed on Monday, May 10, criticisms relating to his statements during the 2016 presidential debates, when a fisherman asked him about his plans to respond to China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
It was a “pure campaign joke” he said, saying that those who believed his bravado were “stupid” for thinking he would really ride a jet ski to challenge China.
“I knew it was a joke. I’m a jet skier and I knew that it was not possible,” Sotto said in text message sent to reporters.
“And I don’t feel alluded to,” he said of Duterte’s message to those who believed his campaign pledge.
Published May 7, 2021, 1:34 PM
The Senate will be looking into the suggestion to include a P54.6-billion allocation for the pension of police, military and other uniformed personnel under the proposed Bayanihan 3.
Senate President Vicente Sotto acknowledged varying views about the inclusion of pension funds in the measure that was supposed to sustain the COVID-19 response and recovery programs.
Senate of the Philippines (MANILA BULLETIN File Photo)
The bill, approved at the committee level in the House of Representatives, seeks to appropriate P405.6 billion as additional COVID-19 stimulus, including the grant of cash aid to families that were adversely affected by the pandemic.