The enemy within

The head of an agency attached to the DOTC better beware of an underling who has been trying to undermine his authority by messing up vital administration programs, Spybiz informants disclosed. One of the priority programs outlined by the President in her previous SONA included infrastructure projects and the upgrading of transport networks. While the agency’s engineering group is trying hard to meet deadlines, this underling allegedly finds ways to delay the implementation of these projects by posing objections and citing operational defects. As a result, the agency’s batting average on implementation has been dismally low. Insiders said the underling campaigned for another presidential bet in the last elections and had been telling a number of contractors that the post was his for the taking once his bet made it to Malacañang. Well, no such luck, for his candidate lost, so now he is stuck as an ageing subordinate. Nevertheless, he seems to have made it his lifelong mission to derail administration goals of bringing progress and development to the countryside by engaging in delaying tactics to make sure that his agency falls short of its commitments. Unless the agency honcho gets wise to the antics of the underling, flagship projects will continue to be derailed, along with it GMA’s SONA commitments.

The taxman extends deadline

Taxpayers will have more time to settle liabilities with the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s extension of the implementation of the Improved Voluntary Assessment Program (IVAP) to Dec. 29. Under the IVAP, taxpayers are given last priority in BIR’s audit while minimizing administration costs for the government’s revenue collection efforts. Covered under the program are all internal revenue taxes for taxable years ending Dec. 31, 2005 and fiscal year ending on any day not later than June 30, 2006. However, the bureau clarified that those not covered by the IVAP include taxpayers who have already been issued a preliminary and/or final assessment notice, persons under investigation as a result of verified information filed by a tax informer and recorded by the bureau before the effectivity of regulations, tax fraud cases filed and pending before the DOJ or the courts and persons with unpaid tax liabilities already recorded in the financial statements for the covered periods. Unless there is strong evidence of understatement in the payment of correct tax liabilities by more than 30 percent, the tax agency will not audit a taxpayer who has availed of the IVAP unless previously authorized by the commissioner, the BIR said.

Terror in black

Regular travelers to the national highway from Lipa to Batangas have been complaining about the terror placed on them by this convoy of black vehicles composed of Pajeros, Land Cruisers, Nissan Patrols and a hulking Suburban. While ordinary drivers with no plates on their vehicles get apprehended the minute they are spotted, several vehicles from the black convoy sport no license plates, with the Suburban even escorted by a PNP motorcycle. With lights flashing, these road terrorists aggressively cut through traffic at high speeds and weave in and out of lanes, even opening up their own counter-flow lane, the informants claimed. These black riders have no compunction in cutting off motorists traveling in the same direction and forcing oncoming vehicles into the shoulder of the road. Someone should stop this arrogant display of power before a road mishap occurs.

Tidbiz: Weber Shandwick bags Network of the Year award

Weber Shandwick Worldwide (WSW) is on a high after bagging for the first time the coveted Network of the Year award at the recent Asia Pacific PR Awards in Hong Kong. The PR firm walked away with the "big one," with judges taking note of the agency’s impressive performance which emphasized its "ability to lead in a diversity of client sectors" and for shifting into a truly cohesive regional presence. A part of the Interpublic Group of Companies IPG), Weber Shandwick recently launched its Manila office with Atty. Michael Toledo at the helm as President and CEO. The Asia Pacific PR Awards has become one of the most coveted in the industry, which honors the best that the region has to offer on all aspects of the PR community, "from campaigns and research that define cutting edge work to the communicators and agencies that act as ambassadors for an increasingly buoyant industry."

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