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MANILA, Philippines -- A bill seeking a provident personal savings plan for retirees or the Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA) has been approved by a bicameral conference committee.
The measure, principally authored by Senator Edgardo Angara and Cebu Representative Ramon Durano, was ratified by the Senate and the House of Representatives Tuesday evening. It can now be transmitted to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for her signature.
Under the proposed legislation, contributors could set up a retirement account with a maximum annual contribution of P100,000.
Laguna Representative Justine Chipeco, member of the House panel, said a five-percent tax incentive would be given to a maximum PERA contribution of P100,000.
The bill also provides tax exemption for all income earned from PERA.
?This is a mechanism to encourage the people to put their money in an institution,? Chipeco said.
The savings scheme will be supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines), Securities and Exchange Commission, Insurance Commission, Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Earlier on Tuesday, radio reported that the measure would also cover overseas Filipino workers who were not covered by the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System.
