Money News Roundup: Bank Officials Suspended For Fraud, A Two-Tier Auto Excise Tax, New P5 Coin Unveiled

3 min read By eCompareMo on December 4, 2017

It is the second week of December, that most wonderful time of the year when the Christmas holidays are almost upon us. We know your busy ticking things off your gift list but set aside a few minutes to look back at the important news in the financial and motoring sector.

BSP unveils new 5-peso coin

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reveals an overhauled version of the five-peso coin as part of the new series of coins minted by the agency. The new design, which will replace the 22-year old coin bearing the profile of Emilio Aguinaldo, will now feature Andres Bonifacio on the obverse side and the local vine tayabak on the reverse side. Aside from a new face, the brand new 5-peso coin will also have anti-counterfeiting measures and use a stronger alloy for longer wear and tear. The rest of the new coins will be out in January next year.

Source: The Business Mirror

Government stops anti-dengue vaccine program

The Department of Health (DOH) suspended their dengue inoculation program two days after Dengvaxia maker Sanofi announced the “severe disease” risk posed by the vaccine to people who haven’t contracted dengue fever. According to DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III, up to ten percent of the 733,713 children who already got the vaccine haven’t had dengue yet. Aside from the agency putting the program in review, some members of the Senate called for an inquiry regarding the issue when the Congress resumes next year.

Source: CNN Philippines

Top Gear Philippines crowns Honda Civic Type R as car of the year

Top Gear Philippines hailed the Honda Civic Type R as its 2017 car of the year. After the hot hatch, the reader favorite CR-V followed closely with new features like a diesel variant. Meanwhile, Mazda CX-5, Subaru XV, and Mazda CX-9 were the third, fourth, and fifth placers, respectively.

Source: Top Gear Philippines

Senate approves two-tier auto excise tax

Drifting away from the multi-level car excise tax provision in the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, the Senate introduced a simpler version of tax reform for the automotive sector. Under the Senate Bill 1592, excise tax rates will only have two tiers: 10 percent for cars worth P1 million or less and 20 percent for cars priced above P1 million. The Senate’s version of car excise tax will make more expensive vehicles like luxury cars more accessible than the House’s variant.

Source: Top Gear Philippines

MRT 3 original maintainers eyed by the government

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) revealed its high-level talks with the original maintenance firms of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT 3). The companies, Sumitomo Corporation and its technical partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, are currently being courted by the government after their problems with current maintenance provider, Busan Universal Rail Inc. The DOTr said that the new deal being cooked will last for three years and will be backed by a fresh loan from Japan.

Source: The Philippine Daily Inquirer

Metrobank officials suspended for P1.75-B fraud

The BSP ordered the suspension of dozens of officials of Metropolitan Bank and Trust after it was rocked by an internal fraud case that cost P1.75 billion. According to a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, officials ranging from mid to top-level in the Ty-controlled bank will be slapped with suspension ranging from one to three months. However, both the BSP and the bank didn’t disclose the names of the officials to receive suspension nor the exact number of people on the list.

Source: The Philippine Daily Inquirer

Uber says PH user data also compromised

A few weeks after Uber revealed a breach in its system, the National Privacy Commission claimed that Filipino users were also affected by the breach. While Uber confirmed that data of the local users was also included in the hack, according to the NPC revealed the impact to Filipino Uber riders is still uncertain. Last year, 57 million Uber users worldwide were compromised after hackers got into their system. The breach was made public only a few weeks ago when Dara Khosrowshahi took over as the CEO of the San Francisco-based transport tech company.

Source: The Philippine Daily Inquirer