The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) yesterday said the hybrid and flexible work arrangements afforded to registered business enterprises (RBEs) are an integral part of the agency’s red carpet treatment to investors.
Tereso Panga, director-general of PEZA, in a text message said these schemes will help the agency retain locators in ecozones at a time when flexible working arrangements have become the new norm globally.
“PEZA remains consistent with its position to allow for hybrid or flexible work arrangement. This is the right thing to do to keep up with forward thinking economies that have long adopted WFH (work-from-home) as the new workplace reality post- pandemic,” Panga said.
This was the reaction of Panga to an opinion issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that essentially restricted incentives to RBEs that operate 100-percent on site ecozones.
Panga expressed hope the DOJ opinion will be addressed with the enactment of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy or CREATE More to formalize government’s policy and legal framework om WFH.
PEZA -registered companies were allowed to implement hybrid work during the pandemic through a resolution issued by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board and by virtue of the Telecommuting Act. The move allowed RBEs, mostly the information technology-business process management industry retain its workers during COVID and operate unhampered amid mobility restrictions.
The DOJ opinion said PEZA’s head agency, the Department of Trade and Industry, has proposed to the House of Representatives a 30-percent threshold in WFH. CREATE More is authored by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda.
The DOJ opinion also said the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Investment and Economic Affairs proposes to implement a standard maximum of 30 percent WFH policy for RBEs across all investment promotion agencies, including the Board of Investments and PEZA.
