BARMM chief minister assures investors of continuity of incentives

COTABATO CITY - Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim was lauded and thanked, on behalf of investors in the region, by the Board of Governors of the Regional Board of Investments (RBOI) of the BARMM in its Resolution No. 1 dated March 11, 2020 for maintaining the distinct legal existence of the RBOI, as provided in the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL). 

Early in the year Chief Minister Ebrahim issued Administrative Order No. 1 s. 2020 attaching the RBOI to the Office of the Chief Minister. 

The said Administrative Order provides that the RBOI shall continue to exercise its powers and functions, as expressed in existing laws, in particular the BOL.

The BOL specifies that the tax exemptions and incentives administered by the RBOI shall continue to apply in accordance with its devolution under Executive Order No. 458 s. 1991 in relation to the Omnibus Investment Code of 1987.

According to the RBOI there were concerns expressed by the existing registered firms of the RBOI and investors of the region as to whether or not they can still enjoy the National Tax incentives that they have availed of, or they are entitled to, if the RBOI is extinguished as a board and becomes a bureau under a merged Ministry of Trade, Investment and Tourism.

The Administrative Order of the Chief Minister affirms that RBOI shall continue to administer fiscal incentives under the Omnibus Investment Code of 1987, such as income tax holiday, reduced duties for importation of capital equipment and exemption from wharfage dues for exporters, among others.

The RBOI has registered a total of P4.1 billion worth of investments and recorded 2,724 number of employment in 2019, which investments are entitled to avail of National Tax incentives.

This record of investments is considered one of the highlights of the accomplishments of the BARMM for its first year of existence, as reported during last Tuesday’s hearing of the Senate Local Government Committee chaired by Senator Francis Tolentino on the status of the BOL implementation.

Every three years the RBOI is required to submit the autonomous region list of industries allowed to avail of fiscal incentives to the BOI-Manila to form part of the National Investment Priorities Plan that is promulgated by the President of the Philippines. 

In the recently concluded formulation of the National Investment Priorities Plan submitted to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the RBOI included investment activities in relation to Islamic banking and finance in view of the recent passage of the Islamic Banking Act.

According to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, foreign investments recorded by the BOI-BARMM, rose to P306.8 million last year from P235.1 million during the previous year.

The RBOI is specifically mentioned as one of the Investment Promotion Agencies of the country with National Tax incentive-giving powers in the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act (CITIRA) bill that has been passed in the House of Representatives and is now being deliberated by the Senate.

The RBOI as one of the National Tax incentive-giving bodies in the country is mandated by the Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act (R.A. 10708) to comply with its reportorial requirements as to the companies receiving fiscal incentives in the region, particularly to the Department of Finance and the agencies under it such as the Bureau of Internal Revenue. (END)