Big job losses forecast under Trabaho bill – Peza
At least 700,000 workers in the information technology-business process outsourcing and manufacturing sectors may lose their jobs once the second tax reform package is passed. Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) director general Charito Plaza said the possible job losses represent 50 percent of the existing workforce in the country’s economic zones. Currently, businesses in the zones have created 1.49 million full-time or direct jobs. Plaza warned that the passage of the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities (Trabaho) bill will have a negative impact on foreign direct investment in economic zones across the country. She said IT-BPOs and manufacturing firms can easily transfer to their other operations in other countries. Trabaho aims to cut fiscal incentives granted to ecozone locators and offsetting them by reducing the corporate income tax rate.