Members of the Information Technology Business Process Association of the Philippines (IB-PAP) were divided over the paper transfer of their registration fromthe Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to the Board of Investments (BOI) which would allow registered business enterprises (RBEs) to avail of the 100-percent work from home (WFH) setup without losing their incentives.
PEZA had so far endorsed 786 projects for transfer to the BOI as of the Dec. 16, 2022 deadline. Of these, 627 were issued certificates of registration by the BOI.
Jack Madrid, IBPAP president and chief executive officer, said.
in a statement the group continues “to work with our government partners towards a resolution that will be for the benefit of the RBEs.”
Madrid said the IBPAP is aware of RBEs which would rather not undertake the paper transfer of their registration to BOI and stay solely with PEZA as their investment promotion agency .
At the same time, Madrid said IBPAP acknowledges that the reported number of applicant enterprises that sought the paper transfer may also be due to the expectation of many RBEs on the possible continuing validity of the 30 percent WFH arrangement enabled by the letters of authority (LOAs) issued by PEZA.
PEZA issued those LOAs in April and were valid only until September 2022. However, there were calls to extend the LOAs until March this year.
“The matter is currently being clarified by PEZA through a legal opinion sought from the Department of Justice.” Madrid said.
IBAP also expressed appreciation to the proposal of Rep. Joey Salceda to the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) the for a one-month extension of the application period beyond the Dec. 31, 2022 deadline.
