Tag: government

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Passport Renewal

My passport was due to expire mid-year so at the start of the year, I applied for renewal at the DFA’s vaunted online system. I found that I can only schedule an appointment by the end of March. I learned later that there’s a 3-month lag time in appointments. No problem. I’ve no travel plans in the next few months so I set my appointment.

Wrong! Two weeks ago, I learned I’ll be heading off to Vietnam courtesy of the company! I estimated the delivery of the passport given my appointment and there was no way my new passport will be available by the travel date. Not good! Fortunately, the company has good travel agents. They were able to schedule me to an interview this morning (how, I don’t know). So there I was at DFA at 7AM on a weekend morning.

Continue reading “Passport Renewal”

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AIR (aka SALN for Private Individuals)

In a bid to mask their inadequacy in meeting collection objectives and rationalize a bigger budget, BIR is requiring all private individuals earning over half a million to submit so-called Annual Information Return (AIR) which is essentially a Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) which is required from public officials and government employees. Apparently, BIR is wondering why the top Filipinos in the Forbes’ Richest List are not on their list of top individual taxpayers. Hence, this new scheme.

Duh! If you’re that rich, you’re probably very smart. And if you’re very smart, you’re probably drawing only a minimal taxable salary and instead own whole companies. For example, Carlos Slim, who at $74B is on top of the Forbes list, travels in a Chevy Suburban (but armored, no doubt) and limits his monthly salary to $24,000 dollars. Tax that!

Aside from the warped logic, there’s the further intrusion to privacy of private individuals, the dubious effectiveness of the measure, and the timing. They originally want this AIR submitted by April 15! Good think they got some sense left  and will require it only by next year so no need to worry about it this year.

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The EDSA Bus Hazard

A bus ran over a two-year old girl and her mother at EDSA yesterday. The girl died while her mother sustained injuries. It was not too long ago when a prominent doctor’s car got hit by a bus killing the doctor and causing the car to go up in flames. That and many more.

Every driver knows how hazardous EDSA is with all those buses. They weave in and out of their dedicated bus lanes and cause accidents with private vehicles, other buses, and pedestrians.

And when they’re not speeding around like the maniacs that they are, they’re causing monstrous traffic jams at intersections where they wait and wait and wait for passengers. One thing you would notice is that most of the buses have few passengers if any. You have to wonder, do we need so many buses and bus companies?

It’s too bad that the government, is not acting on this menace. For as long as they don’t do anything, there will be no justice for all victims of accidents involving buses. But I wouldn’t hold my breath for that. There’s just too much money involved.