Business establishment owners are told by the City Council to comply in granting the mandatory 20 percent discount for national athletes and coaches and tasked the city’s Business and Licensing Division to inform said owners that such benefits are provided for by law.
During its regular session last Monday, councilors reiterated Resolution No. 355 that was passed in July 13, 2020, that strongly enjoined all business establishments covered by the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 10699 to strictly observe and comply with the granting of the said mandatory discount.
In a resolution, local legislators reiterated Resolution No. 355, series of 2020 calling for the observance and compliance of establishments to RA 10699, its implementing rules and regulations (IRR) and to Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Revenue Regulation No. 13-2020 to the very least provide the necessary support and accommodation to the various national athletes and coaches.
About 60 national athletes are from Baguio and the Cordilleras most of them enrolled in local universities here and some of them successfully represented the country in the recently concluded 2021 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan like boxers Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam and Irish Magno. Petecio and Paalam went on to win silver medals.
RA 10699, or the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act, grants a mandated 20 percent discount to all national athletes and coaches. Each athlete is provided a purchase booklet like voucher which is shown to the establishment along with the athletes Philippine Sports Commission issued identification card to avail of the discount.
RA 10699 states that a national athlete and coach is eligible to the discount if “is recognized by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and PSC including athletes with disabilities (AWD) who are recognized by the Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC) and the PSC and ‘who have represented the country in international sports competitions,’”
It added that these international competitions do not grant monetary prizes like the Olympics, world-level championships, Asian-level competitions and qualifying competitions for world-level games.
The PSC refresh names of national athletes every seven months.
Said law specifically identified the establishments that shall observe the granting of the prescribed 20 percent discount in transportation services, hotels and other lodging establishments, restaurants and recreation centers and purchase of medicines and sports equipment anywhere in the country for the actual and exclusive use or enjoyment of the national athlete and coach.
Athletes and coaches can also enjoy discounts on admission fees charged by theaters, cinema houses and concert halls, circuses, carnivals, and other similar places of culture, leisure and amusement for their actual and exclusive use and enjoyment.
The council noted that all privately-owned establishments shall enjoy tax deductions equivalent to the discounts extended to the national athletes and coaches under said law’ Implementing Rules and Regulations subject to the rules and regulations to be issued by the Finance Secretary as recommended by the BIR Commissioner.
On May 27 last year, the BIR promulgated Revenue Regulation No. 13-2020 to implement the tax privileges granted to privately-owned establishments granting sales discounts and incentives to national athletes and coaches.
The council noted that despite said resolution, most owners of privately-owned business establishments in the city are not granting the mandatory discount, allegedly, because they are unaware of the existence and implementation of RA 10699.
