Bracing for the inevitable

With less than six months to go, there seems to be no urgency to comply with the April 2008 deadline set by the Maritime Industry Association (Marina) to phase out single hull tankers in transporting oil and gas products.

This despite Marina Memorandum Circular number 2007-001, which states that tanker operators who fail to replace their single hull vessels with double hull, double bottom tankers will be slapped with a daily fine of P50,000 plus a two-month suspension. Repeated offense will cause operators their license and their vessels will be delisted from the Philippine registry.

As a signatory to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) convention, Philippine regulators have agreed to implement the phase out of the use of single hull tankers for petroleum products by 2008. However, the representatives of the maritime industry seem to be dragging their feet in meeting the terms set out by the IMO and the Marina.

Even the directive issued by President Arroyo to immediately implement corrective measures in the maritime transport and logistics industry, coming at the heels of the country’s largest maritime disaster in August 2006, seems to have solicited, at most, discussions on extending the deadline and the challenges of funding the retrofitting of their existing fleet and/or the acquisition of double hull tankers to replace the single hulls.

Interestingly, a low-key Filipino-owned company has quietly gone about acquiring double hull tankers way ahead of the deadline set by Marina. At present, Petrolift Inc., an oil and gas tinkering and bulk logistics company, owns the most number of double hull tankers in the domestic trade. And before the month ends, the company will commission its fourth brand-new, ocean-going double hull vessel.

Petrolife, we found out, is also preparing to launch its initial public offering (IPO) before yearend. Sources say that the company intends to use the IPO proceeds to fund the acquisition of more double hull vessels as the company expands its fleet and extends its reach in the Philippines and Asia.

Not so hidden agenda

Overseas, Security Bank ranked number one among the sellside for Philippine peso government bonds in The Asset Magazine’s Asian Currency Bond Benchmark Survey 2007. The Bank will receive the award at a cocktail presentation this week that culminates The Asset’s 2nd Annual Asian Bond Markets Summit. Also to be recognized and honored at the affair is Security Bank’s Alan Atienza as among the Most Astute Local Currency Bond Investors as well as the top local Fixed Income Trader and Salesperson in the Philippines.

This recognition comes on the heels of our recent report that the bank once again achieved stellar shareholder value with a 20 percent return on equity. Net income for the first nine months of 2007 reached P1.83 billion, up 36 percent from the same period last year.

As we said earlier, a crucial component of its performance is a remarkable 26-percent growth in its loan portfolio to P42.3 billion, pushing its year-to-date net interest income to P3.4 billion, a 25 percent increase over the same period in 2006.

Security Bank likewise reported an average return on assets of 1.8 percent. Earnings per share for the nine-month period was at P5.56 per share compared to P4.11 per share last year.

 There was a16 percent increase in its share price from P65.50 per share at year-end 2006 to the current level of P76 per share. A job well done indeed.

Impressive performance

One project of the government probably worth every peso spent for it is the contact center of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

The BIR Contact Center (BIRCC) was launched on August 4, 2003. Around P45 million was invested by the BIR for the installation and maintenance of the facility as well as technology and skills development while the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) provided technical assistance during Phase 1 (pilot) and Phase 2 (expansion) of the project.

The project aims to provide real time information, increase service efficiency through giving of accurate and consistent tax information at a single point of contact, provide a repository of data for planning and management strategies, and provide immediate feedback mechanism to the public or internal client that it serves.

What the BIRCC does is respond to general inquiries via telephone, e-mail, or voice mail, log comments and suggestions as well complaints on revenue personnel and reports of violations of taxpayers which are referred to the appropriate BIR office for resolution, and give support to BIR revenue-generating projects

Since the project started in Aug. 2003, the BIRCC has received a total of 1.14 million inquiries via VoIP, e-mail and voice mail, has escalated some 398 complex taxpayer inquiries to concerned BIR offices for resolution. The project has also given much-needed support to revenue-generating projects of the bureau. For instance, it made possible the walkthrough of new eFPS filers resulting in increase in tax collections from eFPS users from P156.79 billion to P233.36 billion. And the number keeps on growing.

Tax matters can be very complicated, so we take our hat off to the men and women of the BIRCC who bother to patiently explain these things to us and make our lives simplier. Let’s hope that the present BIR leadership will continue to support the contact center project. After all, when people understand what they are paying for, there will be less resistance to taxes and government can expect increased cooperation in its tax collection efforts.

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