The Board of Investments (BoI) has ruled that assistance provided by its registered enterprises in this timeof calamity would qualify as compliance to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) requirement even as the agency hinted at strictly monitoring compliance of the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) requirements for the continued availment of incentives of its registered enterprises.

This was revealed by Trade and Industry Undersecretary and BoI managing head Elmer C. Hernandez as part of their effort to encourage its registered enterprises to undertake CSR programs.

“In light of the calamity, we wrote all BoI-registered enterprises to provide assistance during this time of calamity and these activities can qualify as their compliance of our CSR requirement,” Hernandez said.

In August 2007, the BoI has implemented the CSR requirement to put social conscience into its registered companies to ensure that the fiscal incentives granted to them trickle down to the communities hosting their projects.

The new policy is mandatory for companies that registered under the 2007 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) but its implementation for pioneer projects was deferred under the 2009 IPP as BOI’s assistance to companies following the global financial crisis.

Based on its 2007 policy, companies that were granted six years income tax holiday (ITH) incentive should submit their CSR programs on the fourth year of its availment. The CSR must be implemented on the last two years of the company’s six year incentive period.

The BoI will require companies to report on their CSR programs. Non-submission of the required annual report could mean suspension of the remaining investment perks.

The CSR policy applies only to companies that were granted six-year ITH or those classified under pioneer status. Companies with four-year ITH are not required to submit their CSR programs but are also strongly encourage to adopt their own CSR programs.

The policy requires that CSR programs should be a certain percentage of the fiscal incentives they are enjoying. "This is ensure that the benefits granted to these companies in terms of the fiscal incentives trickle down to community hosting them and uplift the people's lives," Hernandez explained.