The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has raised concern over reports of business process outsourcing (BPO) companies operating underground in the wake of the confusion over the sector’s entitlement to incentives under hybrid work.
Charito Plaza, PEZA director-general, in a press conference last week said her dialogue with Cebu officials bared that there are information technology related businesses not registered with government that are operating virtually.
“They are offering high pay P30,000, P40,000 but there is no security of tenure,” said Plaza.
This is one of the reasons why PEZA has requested the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) for a status quo in the hybrid work and for it let the new administration decide whether or not to institutionalize this business model.
“Let’s not rock the boat… let us continue to be sensitive to the needs of our locator companies. We hope the new administration will address this immediately so we can put a stop to the worries, the frustrations of RBEs (registered business enterprises),” Plaza said.
According to Teresa Panga, PEZA deputydirector general, PEZA is just exercising its authority when it allows the canduct of work-from-home to RBEs as contained in the Corporate Recovery and Tax incentives for enterprises (CREATE) on business continuity plan.
“That is warranted because the
state of calamity has not been lifted, and it’s valid up to September. We’re still in a crisis as a result of the Ukraine-Russia war. And I read…this warning by the central bank that we might be in for an imminent occurrence of a global recession as a result of this war in Europe,” Panga said.
Panga cited the legal basis for allowing the WFH while honoring the sunset period under CREATE where the rules before the law was implemented still apply.
Panga said PEZA takes it as a good sign the pronouncement of Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, the agency’s board chairman, “that he is open to the idea of allowing the transfer of registration” from PEZA to the Board of Investments “although there is a restriction. “ – Irma Isip
