So even if you do things legally and the courts acquit you you still get deported?

[OnMyWay]

19 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Its the "control of a restaurant" part that goes agains the Foreign Investment Negative List. 

I found a reference for Foreign Investment Negative List but I am not sure how "control of a resto" applies.

I don't see it mentioned what his visa status was, or, what were the charges???

We have a lot of foreign owned restos and businesses in the Freeport.

[Dave Hounddriver]

38 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

I found a reference for Foreign Investment Negative List but I am not sure how "control of a resto" applies.

Then I suggest consulting with a Philippine lawyer before getting in the situation the victim is in.  Yep, I have consulted a Philippine lawyer in the past but I am not a lawyer so the best I can do is to give second hand info:

Foreigners may not own (or control through a proxy) any amount of a retail establishment with less than "a lot" of US$ in capitalization.  That includes restaruants and most of the businesses that foreigners like to "own" but it happens so often that BI usually turns a blind eye.  Still can get you deported though.

The fellows who run restaurants usually use a Philippine corporation to own it and they get themselves hired as managers.  As soon as it becomes clear they own or control the resto then they are in violation.  It would be stupid for anyone to get themselves into that situation, but there clearly is at least one who let himself get into it.  Additionally, there are a lot of lawyers and consultants who teach how to get around the law . . for a fee.

[OnMyWay]

8 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Then I suggest consulting with a Philippine lawyer before getting in the situation the victim is in.  Yep, I have consulted a Philippine lawyer in the past but I am not a lawyer so the best I can do is to give second hand info:

Foreigners may not own (or control through a proxy) any amount of a retail establishment with less than "a lot" of US$ in capitalization.  That includes restaruants and most of the businesses that foreigners like to "own" but it happens so often that BI usually turns a blind eye.  Still can get you deported though.

The fellows who run restaurants usually use a Philippine corporation to own it and they get themselves hired as managers.  As soon as it becomes clear they own or control the resto then they are in violation.  It would be stupid for anyone to get themselves into that situation, but there clearly is at least one who let himself get into it.  Additionally, there are a lot of lawyers and consultants who teach how to get around the law . . for a fee.

I have no interest myself and you probably know I will be leaving soon, like you.  Stupid stuff like this just keeps piling up.

It must be this part:

Retail trade enterprises with paid-up capital of less than USD 2.5 million

Severely restricting foreign investment is what keeps the Filipino class structure intact.  Rich get richer, etc.  A resto like the one in the article  only competes with rich Filipino businesses, while providing jobs to Filipinos.  I will speculate that a majority of foreign owners of businesses treat their employees better than rich Filipino owners.  That is also a threat.

Is a resto a "retail trade"?  We have a ton of Korean restos here that don't have 2.5 million capitalization.  I wonder if the freeport has special rules.

[Dave Hounddriver]

Just now, OnMyWay said:

I wonder if the freeport has special rules.

I think it does, as does Mactan Export Processing Zone.  I am sure there are others.  Those kinds of areas have rules that I am totally unaware of.

[Heeb]

On 6/12/2021 at 11:27 AM, OnMyWay said:

I have no interest myself and you probably know I will be leaving soon, like you.  Stupid stuff like this just keeps piling up.

It must be this part:

Retail trade enterprises with paid-up capital of less than USD 2.5 million

Severely restricting foreign investment is what keeps the Filipino class structure intact.  Rich get richer, etc.  A resto like the one in the article.  I will speculate that a majority of foreign owners of businesses treat their employees better than rich Filipino owners.  That is also a threat.

 

Those were my thoughts as well. I think only the super wealthy get to own franchise’s in this country also, it looks like guaranteed huge profit to me. A big mac meal isn’t that much cheaper than in the U.S. $2.90 in US dollars against $5.66 stateside, yet the labor here is peanuts in comparison. The difference in supply is negligible as Macdonalds has suppliers around the world and a bigmac meal in Japan is only $3.40. 

[Jollygoodfellow]

On 6/12/2021 at 11:29 AM, Dave Hounddriver said:

I think it does, as does Mactan Export Processing Zone.  I am sure there are others.  Those kinds of areas have rules that I am totally unaware of.

I believe its only for exporting business and has nothing to do with anything else. Tax breaks etc.