Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Senator Pia Cayetano has filed Senate Bill 1357, the Committee Report on the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act or CITIRA, and has sponsored it in the Senate’s plenary session. Nine of the 15 regular members and all three ex-officio members signed the committee report. Of the 12, one signed with reservation, three said they will interpellate, and six said they might introduce amendments. One of those who did not sign said he would interpellate. There are no disclosed reasons for the other five not signing, except that they were not physically present (truest for a controversially detained Senator) at the time.

At the AmCham Legislative and Trade & Investment Committees forum last week in Makati, the recommended easing of constitutional restrictions on foreign equity amendments was the hot topic. Hot, because a joint statement of major Chambers of Commerce and business and trade organizations had already been submitted in July, 2019 to the 18^th Congress and to President Rodrigo Duterte for their consideration and enactment, recommending a list of priority legislation for business. This included the much-debated, top two laws, the Foreign Investments Act (FIA) and the Retail Trade Act (RTA) that would necessitate amendments to the 1987 Constitution.

CHAT GROUPS usually have a common bond. They are members of a civic club, homeowners’ association, alumni group, or family (one side of it). The chat is a way of keeping in touch, disseminating news (like meetings and required costumes), as well as sharing posts, which include homilies, jokes, cartoons, and fake news on prophecies of future eruptions and the spread of a virus -- decimating half of the world’s population.

FROM THE END of the World War II to the early 1970s, the Philippines was commonly reported to be in a pole position economically among the neighboring countries constituting the present Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Since then, however, we have sharply lagged behind. We are now near the bottom of the pack.

To most Filipinos who have become only too, too familiar with dishonesty in government, it may look like just another symptom of the corruption that is still metastasizing throughout the civilian and military bureaucracy that then candidate for president Rodrigo Duterte promised to end in 2016.

Moderation and restraint are alien concepts in a consumer society. People are calibrated (by others) according to a status rating scale. Material things in glittering packages are impressive. Form over substance. Everything is quantified according to a price index.

Don’t believe what they say: 50 is not the new 40. Fifty is just 50. It sucks. Sucky. Just downright pure suckage.

A VIRAL VIDEO of a man punching the back of a women’s reclined airline seat got Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian’s attention. But he made things worse, when he asked flyers to be polite and check with the passengers behind them before hitting the recline button. This angered many people who have watched seats shrink over the years, as airlines try to raise profit margins by packing ever-more paying customers onto their planes.

One media giant is now under fire from the government for alleged violations of its legislative franchise to broadcast. And while the concerns of ABS-CBN are now headlines, it is not really unusual for media companies -- or personalities -- to be in the sights of politicians at one time or the other. After all, news media have significant influence on Philippine political dynamics.

The Philippines’ average merchandise trade deficit in 2018 was $3.6 billion a month, went down to $3.1 billion a month in 2019. The US and Japan remain the Philippines’ main exports market while China remains our main source of imported goods.

I am currently in a quaint café along Bui Vien Walking Street in Saigon, enjoying a cup of egg coffee coupled with a glass of hot tea. Yes, you read it right -- coffee, tea, and me! While I had been in Vietnam twice before, this is the first time I’ve tried its famous egg coffee. When the server asked me if I wanted hot tea to accompany my coffee, I was a bit surprised and told her that I was fine with my coffee. Until I took a sip. A little bit embarrassed, I asked the lady if her offer of hot tea still holds, as the egg coffee was incredibly sweet and a bit too rich for my taste. With a suppressed giggle, she served the hot tea. I wonder how they say, “Sabi ko na sa iyo, eh!” (I told you so) in Vietnamese.

Globally, more than 80,000 people have been confirmed to have been infected by the coronavirus acute respiratory disease 2019 (COVID-19), affecting 34 countries to date. Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new coronavirus as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on Jan. 30, the world continues to closely monitor and respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. With close to 1,000 confirmed cases, South Korea has raised its infectious disease alert to its highest level.