SBMA extends grace period for rents, business fees

Business locators in this Freeport received yet another relief from the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown when the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) extended the suspension of rentals and other payments due since the start of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in March.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the SBMA board of directors passed a resolution on June 30 that gave a 119-day grace period for the collection of all due accounts, thereby moving the payment date for such collectibles to October 28.

The extended suspension period covered the March to September 2020 billings for lease rentals, common use services area fees, port charges, garbage collection fees, sublease shares, and gross revenue shares.

Eisma said the measure took off from Memorandum Circular 20-29 of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which provided for a minimum 30-day grace period for the cumulative amount of residential and commercial rents that fell due during the quarantine.

“But to better assist the businesses here in Subic, the SBMA opted for a longer time when payments could be deferred to give the local businesses enough time to recover,” Eisma explained on Tuesday.

“This is actually the third extension we granted since the ECQ was imposed last March,” Eisma pointed out. “There is really a need to cushion the impact of the lockdown and provide economic relief to Subic stakeholders in support of RA 11469, or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act,” she added.

Under the approved measure, the SBMA management also allowed amortized payments of all the unpaid billings from March to September 2020 in six monthly installments, or from October 2020 to March 2021.

Said billings will not earn any interest or penalty until March next year if the installment is completed, Eisma added.

Those who will benefit from the payment grace period include business locators leasing lands, buildings and other infrastructure from the SBMA, and residents paying lease on a monthly basis.

Eisma added that while sub-lessees are not covered by the suspension because only sub-lessors have contracts with the SBMA, the latter are encouraged to extend the same benefit to their tenants.

The SBMA official also clarified, however, that the regular policy on credit and collection applies to billings issued prior to the March ECQ, although interest and other charges are waived for such billings for the period July 1 to October 27, 2020.

Interests and other penalties will also be applied to installments that were not paid on time, and all unpaid bills by the end of the October 27 grace period will start earning interests, charges, and penalties the following day, Eisma added.

According to SBMA deputy administrator for finance Dea Sanqui, those who want to avail of the six-month installment scheme would have to apply by filling out a pro-forma promissory letter addressed to the SBMA chairman and administrator not later than September 30, 2020.

Companies availing of the installment scheme should attach a Secretary’s Certificate authorizing the signatory of the promissory note. Application forms may be obtained by sending an email to accounting@sbma.com, treasury@sbma.com, or oda.finance@sbma.com or from the account offices assigned to companies registered in the Subic Bay Freeport.

Sanqui said the SBMA Treasury Department will compute and determine the schedule of the six monthly installments and will notify the applicants before payment date. (MPD-SBMA)

PHOTO:

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma addresses business concerns during a meeting with representatives of Subic Bay Freeport locators at the start of the ECQ in March. (MPD-SBMA)

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SBMA grants another 30-day extension for business permits

Another 30-day extension has been granted by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) to business locators here whose company registration had expired since the imposition of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in March.

According to SBMA Deputy Administrator for Business Kenneth Lemuel Rementilla, the SBMA will extend the validity of the Certificate of Registration (CR) and Certificate of Registration and Tax Exemption (CRTE) until July 13 to give business locators enough time to renew their permits.

The extension has been approved by SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma upon the recommendation of Senior Deputy Administrator for Business and Investment Renato W. Lee.

Rementilla said the latest extension from the SBMA effectively granted a 120-day validity extension for business registrations since the Subic Bay Freeport operated under quarantine rules starting March 17.

He said that during a referendum on March 20, the SBMA board of directors initially approved to grant a 30-day reprieve to Subic Bay Freeport enterprises whose registration would have expired within the ECQ period, or from March 17 to May 13, as well as to those whose CR or CRTE expired prior to the ECQ but had already applied for renewal before March 17.

This extension also applied to sub-lessees whose sublease would have expired during the said ECQ period, provided that no protest was received from the sub-lessor during the extended period, Rementilla added.

Following the initial extension, Chairman Eisma, who was authorized by the SBMA board to further extend the validity as needed and pursuant to national government directives, first granted an extension until June 13.

“In view of the continuing community quarantine imposed in the Subic Bay Freeport, Chairman Eisma further extended the validity of the CRs and CRTEs of Subic Bay Freeport locators until July 13, 2020,” Rementilla said.

Prior to this, the SBMA also further suspended the collection of penalties and other fees from business locators and residents until the end of June to help ease economic difficulties during the pandemic.

The extension covered penalties on late payment of billings, fees on deferment of deposit for maturing post-dated checks, and due dates covering payment schemes with deed of undertaking, which were all initially suspended from March to May 2020.

The SBMA had similarly granted a validity extension for the IDs and access passes of SBF workers until June 30 and allowed the renewal until July 31 of vehicle decals with one-year validity issued in 2019. (MPD-SBMA)

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Firm tampering with product expiry faces cancellation of permit

A company found to be tampering with the expiration dates of food products kept in its warehouse here is facing revocation of its permit to operate, and may eventually lose its certificate of registration as a Freeport enterprise.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said she has ordered the suspension of the certificate of registration and tax exemption (CRTE) of Phil-Em Enterprise Incorporated after the firm’s employees were caught red-handed in a raid by law enforcers last Monday.

“It saddens me to know that some unscrupulous people are taking advantage of others especially in this time of a pandemic,” Eisma said.

She said that the consent to sublease given to Phil-Em Enterprise for the use of a warehouse at the Global Industrial Park here may also be withdrawn if warranted.

“We will not tolerate any activity that violates the law and besmirches the solid reputation of the Subic Bay Freeport as the leading economic center in the part of the country,” Eisma added.

According to a report from the SBMA Intelligence and Investigation Office (SBMA-IIO), elements of the National Bureau of Investigation and the SBMA-IIO raided the Phil-Em warehouse early Monday on the strength of a search warrant issued by the Regional Trial Court in Olongapo City.

During the operation, law enforcement agents caught Phil-Em employees in the act of erasing the expiry dates on packs of Clover Chips and replacing the same with new dates using printing machines, said SBMA-IIO officer in charge Rodel del Rosario.

Subsequently, the operatives confiscated four Citronex printers with conveyors, 150 reams of label stickers, 50 reams of various printed label stickers, and two cans of eraser fluid.

The agents also seized several boxes of food items like Clover Chips, Ligo sardines, Nissin Cup Noodles, Century Tuna, Milo energy Drink, Sky Flakes crackers, Star margarine, Magnolia cheese, Royal and Fiesta pasta, Lily’s peanut butter, and food seasoning.

Phil-Em owner Philip Velasco was arrested along with employees during the raid, Del Rosario also reported. They were brought to the NBI office in Olongapo for further investigation.

Velasco’s business partner Amanda Pathak, who was also named in the search warrant, will also be charged by the NBI, said Del Rosario.

The suspects will be charged with violation of RA 7394, or the Consumer Act of the Philippines, RA 9711 of the Food and Drugs Administration Act of 2009, and RA 10611 or the Food Safety Act of 2013. (MPD-SBMA)

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Issue permit to operate to locator, SBMA told

A local court has ordered the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority to issue a certificate of registration and tax exemption (CRTE) to a locator, which filed a contempt case against SBMA.

In a decision dated Oct. 31, Olongapo City Regional Trial Court Branch 74 Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde granted the petition of Brighterday Subic Ltd. Inc., operator of All Hands Beach, for a preliminary mandatory injunction.

Brighterday filed the petition last March, citing SBMA’s refusal to issue the CRTE because of a dispute on All Hands Beach’s supposed unpaid obligations.

The locator said SBMA refused to follow the terms and conditions of an earlier court ruling for the period of notices and observance of due process in case of any alleged violation to be taken into consideration and pre-termination to be exercised with caution by recognizing the right of Brighterday to seek remedy for 60 days.

SBMA administrator and chairperson Wilma Eisma and senior deputy administrator Ramon Agregado were among those named respondents in the contempt case.

Diosdado Rongcal, counsel for Brighterday, said SBMA refused to issue the CRTE even though the locator submitted the required documents and paid the prescribed three-year fees. (Bebot Sison, Jr., Philippine Star)

PHOTO:

All Hands Beach inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2019/11/17/1969388/issue-permit-operate-locator-sbma-told

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