GLORIAGATE roundup: The timing is suspicious...

-- From the Tribune:

Fire hits DBM, records feared burned, missing
ANOTHER PALACE COVER UP JOB ON FUNDS SCAM, AFTER BONCODIN’S SPILLED BEANS

By Angie M. Rosales and Jun P. Yap
Saturday, 10 29, 2005

Amid a heavy downpour, a fire of still-unknown origin struck the computer records division of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) near the Malacañang complex in Manila early yesterday morning.

Manila Fire Marshal Pablito Cordeta said the fire, which started at 6:24 a.m. and reached the fifth alarm at around 6:27 a.m., took place barely two days after former DBM Secretary Emilia Boncodin gave her deposition on the controversial P3-billion fertilizer scam.

“From what we learned, the fire destroyed the room housing the computer servers, which stores virtually all the DBM's information. The fire destroyed 20 percent of the first floor and caused damage to the second floor. The computers were practically destroyed,” Cordeta said in an interview.

No one was reported injured during the fire, which hit the two-story Building-3 of the DBM, a Spanish-era structure that houses the repository of computerized records.

Cordeta said the fire was placed under control at about 6:57 a.m. with the fire eventually declared out at around 7:39 a.m., adding there was little chance that anyone was inside the computer center.

“Security guards said the doors of the building had been locked. There were already some early employees at the other building, but they were immediately evacuated,” he said.

-- GMA, allies scramble to clear FVR on coup plot:

President Arroyo, her aides and congressional allies yesterday quickly cleared former President Fidel Ramos on the reported plot to stage a coup d'etat against her, saying Ramos was a “true patriot” and that it was 'out of character for him to even dream of ousting Mrs. Arroyo.

The absolution of Ramos came in reaction to a newspaper report Friday that Ramos was planning a coup against Mrs. Arroyo and had given his former national security aide, Jose Almonte, until June to implement the coup plot.

The basis of the newspaper report was a United States Embassy report dated February this year, before the scandals of jueteng and poll-rigging erupted.

My question is, who's been leaking to the PDI? Halos lahat na yata ng mga "sensitive" na US intelligence report na di-nownload ni Mr. Aragoncillo ay napupunta sa front page ng PDI ah!

-- More on E-VAT from Ducky Paredes:

By our next column, the e-VAT would already have been operational. Again, I point out the Russian roulette provision that will kill off a lot of businesses. This is found in the Implementing Rules and Regulations and it goes like this:

"Illustration: For a given taxable quarter XYZ Corp. has output VAT of 100 and input VAT of 110. Since input tax exceeds the output tax for such taxable quarter, the 70 % limitation is imposed to compute the amount of input tax, which may be utilized. The total allowable input tax, which may be utilized, is 70 (70 % of the output tax). Thus, the net VAT payable is 100 less 70 = 30. The unutilized input tax amounting to 40 is carried over to the succeeding month."

I urge all of my readers to apply this illustration to their own businesses by computing for their VAT.

When you have the figures, ask yourself whether you can continue to go on with your business.