By Louella D.
Desiderio (The Philippine Star) | Updated June 13, 2013 - 12:00am
MANILA,
Philippines - Household Development Corp., a subsidiary of listed Vista Land
and Lifescapes Inc. has filed an application with the Board of Investments
(BOI) to get incentives for a mass housing project in Bulacan.
The BOI said
in a published notice the firm “is applying for registration with the BOI as a
new developer of low cost mass housing project (Camella San Jose Del Monte)
with a total capacity of 217 low-cost mass housing units on a non-pioneer
status.”
The project
is located at Brgy. Sto. Cristo, San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.
The firm will
be able to enjoy income tax holiday for four years as well as other perks once
it is registered with the BOI.
Firms that
invest in activities listed in the 2012 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) are
being offered incentives by the government.
The
incentives are intended to encourage companies to make investments in sectors
which are seen to generate employment and help achieve economic growth.
Mass housing
is among the preferred activities in the 2012 IPP.
The 2012
IPP’s other preferred activities are agriculture, agribusiness and fishery;
creative industries or knowledge-based services; shipbuilding; energy;
infrastructure; research and development; green projects; motor vehicles;
strategic projects; disaster prevention, mitigation and recovery projects; iron
and steel; and hospital or medical services.
The
government comes up with an IPP list every year.
It has yet to
release the IPP for this year.
However, the
Finance department has recommended the removal of mass housing in this year’s
IPP, noting that projects such as condominiums which get incentives are not
geared towards the housing needs of the less fortunate.
Despite the
Finance department’s recommendation, Trade secretary Gregory Domingo said his
department is leaning on retaining the activities identified in the 2012 IPP in
this year’s list and prefers making adjustments in the 2014 investment
blueprint instead.
Household
Development is under one of Vista Land’s business units, Camella Homes, Inc.
Aside from
Camella Homes, Vista Land has other business units which are Brittany Corp.,
Communities Philippines Inc., Crown Asia Properties, and Vista Residences Inc.
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