MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – Will Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino finally end his bachelor status?
Aquino, who has been rumored to have dated Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, reportedly asked the Filipina beauty for her hand in marriage.
Wurtzbach has confirmed the private meeting with Aquino at the presidential palace today.
“He did ask for my hand … to congratulate me for winning Miss Universe,” Wurtzbach clarified.
PRAHA, Czech Republic (The Adobo Chronicles) –Diamonds International Corporation (DIC), the Miss Universe sponsor that created the $300,000 crown of the Philippines’ Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach is suing the Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. (BPCI) for patent violation.
The Czech Republic-based DIC told reporters in Praha that it is suing BPCI, the local franchisee for the Miss Universe Pageant in Manila for unauthorized replication of the bejeweled Miss Universe crown.
BPCI built a float for Wurtzbach for use in the welcome and homecoming parade held yesterday in Metro Manila. The float had a giant canopy which basically re-created the crown.
DIC declined to state the amount that it is suing BPCI for.
MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The Philippines’ Congress is at it again. Members want to exempt Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach from paying taxes on her income as Miss Universe. But Wurtzbach has declined, saying she will continue to pay her taxes just like she always did in the past.
This is not the first time that such a proposal has been filed in Congress. There have been several attempts to put forward a similar bill exempting Filipino champion boxer Manny Pacquiao from paying taxes. (Incidentally, Pacquiao is facing a P3.2 billion tax evasion case before the Court of Tax Appeals. The case was filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue after assessing that Pacquiao had incurred “deficiency income and value-added tax” from 2008 to 2009, worth P2.2 billion. Penalties and surcharges caused the deficiency to balloon to P3.2 billion.)
Congress wanted to grant the tax exemptions, arguing that Wurtzbach and Pacquiao are the “pride of the Philippines, putting the country on the world map, and considering them as “heroes.”
Well, what about the true heroes of the Philippines — the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)? They are the backbone of the Philippine economy, infusing more than $26 Billion in remittances to the country annually?
Currently, the wages or income of OFWs arising out of their overseas employment are exempt from income tax. Since OFWs usually already pay income taxes in the country they are working in, the Philippines exempts those taxable income of Filipinos through the virtue of tax reciprocity. With the tax reciprocity rule, Filipinos working abroad are taxed for incomes received there and are exempt from paying income taxes in the Philippines, in the same way that foreigners working in the Philippines are taxed here for incomes sourced within the Philippines and are also not required to pay income taxes anymore to their home country.
But now, some smart members of Congress want to lift that exemption, and the Aquino administration — especially Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares — favor the proposal.
“Sure, it would be a case of double taxation,” Henares said, “but think about the huge tax revenue that the Philippine government will earn from taxing OFW income abroad.”
It’s more fun in the Philippines!
The Adobo Chronicles 
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