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SGV’s Indirect Tax (IDT) team conducted a virtual Strategic Trade Management Act (STMA) Awareness Forum for clients on 27 October 2022 via MS Teams. The forum aimed to provide valuable insights into Republic Act (RA) No. 10697, “An Act Preventing the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction by Managing the Trade in Strategic Goods, the Provision of Related Services, and for other purposes.” More than 100 clients from various industries engaged in importation and exportation, logistics, and freight forwarding services attended the event. SGV Tax Leader Fabian K. Delos Santos (FKS) delivers his opening remarks IDT Manager Erika Ruiz gives a brief background on the STMA The SGV IDT team led by IDT Principal Arlyn A. Sarmiento-Sy (fourth from left) awards a Certificate of Appreciation to DTI representative Atty. Dimayacyac SGV Tax Leader Fabian K. Delos Santos (FKS) kicked off the event by delivering his opening remarks. IDT Manager Erika Joy S. Ruiz served as one of the resource speakers. She discussed the relevant implementing rules and regulations (IRRs) of STMA including a brief background of the law, its implementation by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), relevant STMA issuances and common issues, and practical tips. DTI–Strategic Trade Management Office (STMO) Senior Trade Specialist John Derrick C. Anchinges and OIC-Director Atty. Janice S. Dimayacyac were also speakers at the event. Mr. Anchinges discussed the recent developments and implementation of STMA, DTI-STMO-conducted audits, the number of ongoing, registered, or licensed applicants, and other relevant topics, while Atty. Dimayacyac served as one of the panelists and moderators during the open forum session.  SGV IDT Leader Lucil Q. Vicerra (LQV) delivered the closing remarks and thanked the IDT team for organizing the event and the DTI–STMO representatives for sharing their knowledge and expertise on the subject matter. The STMA forum was led by IDT Principals Arlyn A. Sarmiento-Sy (AAS) and Victor C. de Dios (VCD) as Project Head and Co-Project Head, respectively. They were supported by IDT Senior Associate Gabriel B. Carumba as the Project Lead, and IDT Managers Erika Joy S. Ruiz and Edwin M. Sulit as the Co-Project Leads. IDT Senior Associate Jerry M. Santos acted as the event host. The IDT team paid a courtesy visit at the DTI-STMO on 17 November 2022 to physically award the Certificate of Appreciation to Mr. Anchinges and Atty. Dimayacyac. Programs and activities of the DTI-STMO were also briefly discussed during the visit.

Members of the SGV Indirect Tax (IDT) team conducted a webinar entitled Exploring Trade Opportunities Through the Lens of Logistical Challenges with the British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (BCCP) on 17 November 2022. Representatives from the BCCP and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) participated in the joint event, which was held online via Zoom. Speakers at the Exploring Trade Opportunities Through the Lens of Logistical Challenges webinar SGV IDT Senior Director Atty. Alden Patrick C. Labaguis and Ms. Genilyn D. Minardo, Customs Operations Officer V of the BOC, led the webinar. Atty. Alden commenced the webinar by giving a brief update about the Bureau of Customs’ collections as of 31 October 2022, and the factors contributing to the BOC’s revenue and collections. He shared his extensive knowledge on common customs issues and possible workarounds to help clients address these issues and, consequently, help the government to collect the proper taxes on importation. He discussed major customs issues relating to port congestion, logistical delays resulting in demurrage and detention fees, concerns on the issuance of import permits and government approval, and lengthy customs procedures.  Atty. Alden also discussed the governing customs laws in the Philippines, new rules on importation accreditation, Super Green Lane (SGL) accreditation and its benefits, lodgment procedures, post-clearance audit (PCA), the importance of the Prior Disclosure Program (PDP), advance rulings, and the computation of duties, taxes, freight, penalties, and interests. Meanwhile, Ms. Genilyn discussed the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Program.  Both speakers addressed questions from the participants during the open forum. SGV IDT Associate Director Atty. Gracia Mae A. Beronilla, and Senior Associates Attys. Michelle V. Alvaro, Charlene Joy W. Millares, Andrea Nicole C. Loreno, and Natividad G. Busa were part of the webinar's organizing team. 

SGV International Tax and Transaction Services (ITTS) Leader Atty. Romulo S. Danao Jr. (RSD) was one of the resource speakers at the Philippine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (PH-EITI) Beneficial Ownership Forum organized by PH-EITI [JDT1] at the Marco Polo Ortigas Manila on 7 November 2022. Atty. Danao talks about transfer pricing Atty. Danao shared his expertise on transfer pricing and its interface with beneficial ownership. He addressed questions on beneficial ownership's relevance to issues in transfer pricing particularly in the extractive industries. He also discussed how beneficial ownership disclosure or transparency can help address these issues. Atty. Danao received positive feedback and appreciation from various sector participants after the session.  The Beneficial Ownership Forum is part of PH-EITI’s Extractives Transparency Week (ETW) which is an annual series of fora and learning sessions on extractives resource governance and revenue management. For 2022, the ETW provided a space for the development of actionable recommendations to address extractive-industries-related priority issues of mining, oil, gas, and coal stakeholders.

SGV International Tax and Transaction Services Principal Atty. Veronica A. Santos (VAS) was a resource speaker at the Philippines-France Business Forum: Celebrating 75 Years of Bilateral Relations conducted by the Makati Business Club (MBC) and the Philippines-France Business Council on 24 October 2022 at the Discovery Primea, Makati City. About 60 guests, including both French and Philippine executives from the infrastructure, transportation, energy, water management, and banking industries attended the forum. SGV ITTS Principal Veronica A. Santos (second from right) with the other panelists during the panel discussion Atty. Santos served as one of the panelists in the Panel Discussion: Fireside Chat session, where they exchanged ideas and feedback, and provided a private-sector perspective on the keynote presentations. They also raised questions to fellow panelists, keynote speakers, and audience members and encouraged a lively exchange of ideas before proceeding to the Q&A session. Indirect Tax Principal Atty. Lucil Q. Vicerra (LQV) and Indirect Tax Associate Director Benedict B. Magat were part of the forum’s organizing team. The Philippines-France Business Forum highlighted key industry priorities and challenges, as well as strengthened bilateral ties between France and the Philippines to address these. It also explored bilateral infrastructure, transportation, and energy opportunities under the Marcos and Macron administrations. The event featured government presentations, panel discussions, open Q&As, and networking opportunities.

SGV Financial Accounting Advisory Services (FAAS) and Climate Change and Sustainability Services (CCaSS) Partner Benjamin N. Villacorte (BNV) and CCaSS Senior Director Crystal Aleli R. Cornell were resource speakers in the Sustainability and Integrated Reporting: Leading Beyond the Numbers webinar organized by the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) Quezon Province Chapter on 11 November 2022. Benjamin and Crystal accept their virtual certificates Benjamin talked about sustainability reporting and assurance and creating long-term value with sustainability, specifically the concept of sustainability and its four pillars (economic, environment, social, and governance), the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, the relevance of sustainability, and the drivers of long-term value creation such as institutional investors; standard setters, regulators, and government; and employees, consumers, and society.  Benjamin also shared the long-term value framework based on the premise that long-term shareholder value is driven by meeting the demands of stakeholders. He quoted Steve Varley and Steven Lewis saying that there is a need to have a stronger connection between the financial and non-financial aspects of the business – otherwise the true costs and opportunities are not properly measured. Other topics covered during Benjamin’s discussion were the global sustainability reporting ecosystem, journey towards reliable sustainability reporting, and the benefits of sustainability reporting assurance.  Crystal, on the other hand, discussed the global developments and regulatory landscape of sustainability reporting, as well as sustainability reporting in the Philippines. She also shared highlights from SGV’s publication titled “Beyond the Bottom Line: Sustainability Reporting in the Philippines,” where SGV's CCaSS team reviewed how listed companies responded to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) call to publish sustainability reports since 2019. She concluded the presentation by highlighting how accountants can lead sustainability and climate action and encouraged the participants to start their companies’ sustainability journey.

SGV Assurance Partner and DIWATA President Eleanore A. Layug (EAL) was a speaker at the 2022 Philippine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (PH-EITI) Extractives Transparency Week – Women Leaders Forum at the Marco Polo Ortigas on 7 November 2022. The event was organized by PH-EITI and Angat Bayi[JDT1]  (Bayi Inc.) to facilitate an exchange of perspectives on building the capacity of women to reshape initiatives in extractives and natural resources governance. SGV Assurance Partner and DIWATA President Eleanore A. Layug (far right) with PH-EITI officials  Eleanore and Prof. Ladylyn Mangada, Chair of the PH-EITI Technical Working Group (TWG) on Gender, talked about PH-EITI and its gender initiatives. There was also a mentoring session on the role of subnational women leaders on resource management governance and furthering Open Government Partnership (OGP) with PH-EITI’s first global mentor, Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. Key messages in the exchange were shared with other stakeholders in the PH-EITI National Conference.  The forum aimed to help women stakeholders define the concept of women empowerment in natural-resource management from the perspective of subnational women leaders, articulate comments on the framework for gender-principled initiatives in natural-resources governance, list key roles of women leaders for furthering open government partnership at the subnational level, and identify areas for collaboration between PH-EITI, Bayi Inc., and other resource governance advocate women’s groups. Bayi Inc.[JDT2]  is a non-profit organization that works to contribute to the full meaningful participation of women in decision-making in all spaces: home, community, educational institutions, workplaces, media, public sector, and regional/international formations.  PH-EITI website: https://pheiti.dof.gov.ph/Angat Bayi website: https://angatbayi.com/Angat Bayi Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bayiinc

The SGV Climate Change and Sustainability Services (CCaSS) team hosted a Sustainabits session on “Engineering a Greener World for a Better Future – Advanced Technologies on Waste Management and Garbage Recycling.” This session aimed to orient and inform the SGV community on sustainable waste management technologies. The session was attended by about 555 SGVeans on 28 October 2022. CCaSS Associates Ericka Mae G. Lima and Aljomar T. Pedrosa together with CCaSS Manager Ma. Rebecca S. Ruiz were the presenters for this session. Rebecca welcomes the participants Ericka discusses the basic definitions of waste and waste management. She is joined by Rebecca and Aljomar. Among the topics discussed in the session were the fundamentals of waste management, advancements in technologies for waste management, global and local policies, and SGV’s Total Resource Use and Efficiency (TRUE) Program for achieving its zero-waste goal. The definitions of waste and waste management were introduced followed by a discussion on the 5R guiding principles and the waste management process cycle.  The second part of the session focused on waste disposal methods, new waste management technologies, the concept and principle of upcycling, and an in-depth discussion on the 5Rs. The pitfalls and disadvantages of the current disposal methods were also discussed along with the dangers they pose to the open environment.  The current global and local policies implemented to protect and sustain the environment through socio-economic means were discussed in the third part of the session. The session concluded with a discussion on the TRUE Program implemented by the Firm as a form of integrated corporate initiative. SGVeans were encouraged to show their commitment to be part of this initiative to achieve the zero-waste goal through proper waste management in the SGV I and II buildings. The Sustainable Actions for Value Creation and Enablement (SAVE) Council’s Sustainabits initiative is a series of half-hour webcasts that cover ideas, movements, principles, and best industry practices on sustainability, social equity, and climate change. 

SGV Chairman and Country Managing Partner Wilson P. Tan (WPT) was elected as the 2023 Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) President during the 2023 Board of Directors' Organizational Meeting on 7 November 2022. 2023 FINEX President Wilson P. Tan Wilson served as the organization’s Treasurer for two years before he was elected President. He has been a longtime member of FINEX, which is the country’s premier organization of finance professionals composed of almost 700 executives including CEOs and CFOs of the country’s top corporations, academic institutions, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).  Congratulations, WPT!

SGV Clark Partner-in-Charge and Head Atty. Margaux A. Advincula (MAA) was one of the witnesses to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Federation of Philippine American Chambers of Commerce (FPACC) and the Clark Investors and Locators Association (CILA) on 16 October 2022 at the Alpha Aviation Group Philippines, Inc. (AAG) building. The CILA welcomed near 100 guests. SGV Clark Partner-in-Charge and Head Atty. Margaux A. Advincula (fourth from top-left) with U.S. East Coast/New York Consul General Elmer Cato, Clark Development Corporation Vice President Rynah Ventura, and FPACC and CILA representatives during the MOU signing Group photo after the MOU signing CILA signatories were Chairman Francisco Villanueva, Jr., Vice-Chairman Engr. Radito Tuazon, and President Cristopher A. Magdangal. The signing of the MOU between the FPACC and CILA marked the beginning of a fruitful partnership and the establishment of a consultative process for providing exchanges of information to promote the members and affiliates of both parties throughout the United States and their network of business contacts. 

SGV Financial Accounting Advisory Services (FAAS) and Climate Change and Sustainability Services (CCaSS) Partner Benjamin N. Villacorte (BNV), an accredited Verification Service Provider (VSP) of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), participated in the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) orientation for VSPs on 12 October 2022. The orientation was conducted by COMP in preparation for the mandatory submission of the TSM 2022 self-assessment reports. VSPs were welcomed by TMC officials and staff led by Resident Mine Manager Artemio Valeroso Benjamin and the other VSPs visited the Taganito Mining Corporation (TMC) mine site in Claver, Surigao del Norte in September to observe the project’s operations as well as its environmental protection and social development programs.  VSPs with TMC officials and staff As VSPs, they will be using measurement tools prescribed by the TSM program to review the performance ratings of the COMP members and ensure that mining operators’ management practices and performance are accurately reflected. They will ensure the objectivity and integrity of the TSM external verification process, which requires validation of the COMP members’ self-assessment reports. Benjamin and SGV Assurance Partner Katrina F. Francisco (KFF) were among the first batch of experienced independent experts in social, environmental, mining, and other related sciences who were trained by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) in February and March 2022 to be COMP VSPs.