The Philippines has lost a potential investment of about P1.5 billion from a Japanese company engaged in the production of microchips due to the administration's priority bill, which seeks to rationalize corporate tax perks, an official said.

Philippine Economic Zone Authority Director General Charito Plaza said other exporters in PEZA are preparing for their "exit plans" if the proposed Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities (Trabaho)/Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA) bill would remove the "ease of doing business."

"All other exporters are getting ready of their exit plans if the rationalization of incentives will remove the ease of doing business and expose them to the red tapes and corruption once dealing with different agencies of government which will happen in a CIT ( Corporate Income Tax) regime rather than the present GIE (Gross Income Earned) regime which will even assure the government of gross and bigger share of the taxes paid by export industries under PEZA," she said in a text message to the Daily Manila Shimbun.

She cited because of the bill, Mitsumi, which initially proposed to expand its business in Danao, Cebu has transferred in Cambodia.

The supposed investment was supposed to be P1.5 billion for a factory, which could be as big as a mall and which could possibly create 3,000 jobs for Filipinos, she said.

"The increasing world market demands of Mitsumi’s products of microchips for cellphones, appliances, medical instruments, cannot wait on the final Trabaho/Citira bill which created uncertainties and worries on the unstable investment policies and laws when they are here because they’re contented with the PEZA incentives and efficiency of PEZA’s services," she said.

Asked if she raised PEZA's concern with President Rodrigo Duterte regarding the Trabaho bill, Plaza said, they were talking to "President's men" like Senator Christopher "Bong" Go and to each senator to support their appeal for exemption. Celerina Monte/DMS