Telecommuting law’s updated IRR done by Sept B S P. M @sam_medenilla
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MPLOYERS and workers who will engage in workfrom-home arrangements could expect better protection of their rights in the updated implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act (RA) No. 11165 or the Telecommuting Law, which is expected to be completed in the coming weeks, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Labor and Employment Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma said he wants the new IRR to be finalized before
September 12, 2022. “We like to make sure that the companies who engaged in work from home are able to provide for the services which are needed by their principal. Secondly, for the part of the Department of Labor and Employment, we would like to ensure the non-diminution of benefits on works similarly done,” Laguesma said during the 43rd National Conference of Employers last Wednesday. The existing IRR of RA 11165 was issued in 2019 through DOLE’s Department Order No. 202. Under that issuance,
telecommuting should be mutually agreed upon by the concerned employer and worker. It also ensures telecommuting employees are given the same treatment as those working onsite. The telecommuting scheme was supposed to be piloted in some industries, including the Information Technology-Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPM) sector, for not more than three years to allow DOLE to conduct “baselining, scoping, and profiling research” on the implementation of RA 11165. The result of the study will then be used for the mandatory review
of the IRR. Laguesma, however, noted that since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, most establishments implemented telecommuting to continue their operations amid the lockdowns implemented by the government. “Although it was a voluntary [scheme], during the pandemic it became mandatory in a sense,” Laguesma said. This provided DOLE a wealth of information on telecommuting experiences in various environments and sectors along with the issues, which cropped up in its implementation.
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Thursday, August 25, 2022 Vol. 17 No. 321
P. | | 7 DAYS A WEEK
PIFITA, MINING REGIME
IMPASSABLE Residents wait to cross the Pinacanauan Overflow Bridge, rendered impassable due to heavy rains brought by Severe Tropical Storm Florita, in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, on Wednesday, August 24, 2022. The overflow bridge allows for low-water crossings of the Pinacanauan River, a tributary of Cagayan River, the country’s biggest river. Stories on the aftermath of “Florita” on pages A3 and A5. ROY DOMINGO
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B J M N. D C
@joveemarie
HE House Committee on Ways and Means on Wednesday endorsed for plenary approval the Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation (PIFITA) or Package 4 of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) and the proposed Fiscal Regime for Mining, which will provide the government P63.5 billion in new revenues. The panel chairman and Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda said members of his committee passed the unnumbered substitute bill to House Bills 375, 2111, and 3244 or the proposed Package 4 of the CTRP, which seeks to make passive income and financial intermediary
taxes simpler and more efficient. This proposed measure, popularly known as the PIFITA, was approved on third and final reading during the 18th Congress. It will redesign the taxation of the finanC A
Refined sugar retail price hit record high of P126/kilo ‘INVESTMENTS B J E Y. A
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@jearcalas
HE retail price of refined sugar in Metro Manila rose to a record-high of P126 per kilogram in the aftermath of the fallout from the government’s 300,000-metric ton (MT) importation program that saw a mass resignation of officials. The Sugar Regulatory Administration’s (SRA) monitoring report showed that the price of refined sugar in Metro Manila supermarkets ranged from a low of P86.55 per kilogram to a high of P126 per kilogram in the week ending August 12. It was a few days after the recall of the infamous Sugar Order (SO) 4 that was declared “illegal” and “unauthorized” by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the concurrent agriculture chief. This is the first time that the price of refined sugar, which has been seeing depleting stocks amid lackluster production, broke past the P125-per-kilogram level, based on historical
data. SRA monitoring reports, as of August 12, indicated that the average price of refined sugar in Metro Manila supermarkets is now at P99.27 per kilogram. Meanwhile, the price of refined sugar in Metro Manila public wet markets is now ranging from a low of P90 per kilogram to a high of P100 per kilogram, based on SRA’s monitoring report. The average price of refined sugar in Metro Manila public wet markets is at P96.93 per kilogram. President Marcos has repeatedly stated in recent days that the priority is to bring down prices of the sweetener at the grocery and store levels after economic managers cited the price spike’s impact on millions of small entrepreneurs, while the shortage of sugar for bottled soft drinks and juices—resulting in manufacturing stoppage in some plants—was seen to dent revenues of government from excise taxes on such products. On a weekly basis, the average retail price
of refined sugar in Metro Manila supermarkets and public wet markets rose by P6.26 and P1.93 per kilogram, respectively. The increase in retail prices of refined sugar tracked the 3.6-percent uptick at the wholesale level. The average wholesale price of refined sugar as of August 12 rose by P160.71 weekon-week to a fresh record-high of P4,615.38 per 50-kilogram bag, based on SRA monitoring. SRA data also showed that the resumption of milling operations this month was welcomed with a new all-time-high millsite prices. SRA data, as of August 7, showed that the average millsite price of raw sugar was at P2,821.50 per 50-kilogram bag, or 19 percent higher than the P2,370 price level recorded last July 10 when milling operations were terminated. Since the fiasco surrounding SO 4, the government has said huge supermarket chains in the country—Robinsons Supermarket, SaveC A
IN ENERGY URGENT FOR GROWTH’ B C U. O @caiordinario
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NVESTMENTS in the energy sector must “come quickly” if the Philippines is to build up the necessary energy reserves to support the government’s growth targets, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda). In an open forum at the 43rd National Conference of Employers of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) on Wednesday, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said S “I,” A
PESO EXCHANGE RATES ■ US 56.1070 ■ JAPAN 0.4081 ■ UK 66.0323 ■ HK 7.1508 ■ SINGAPORE 40.1539 ■ AUSTRALIA 38.5792 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 14.9411 ■ EU 55.8096 ■ KOREA 0.0418 ■ CHINA 8.1935 Source: BSP (August 24, 2022)