Tax Reform Package Reaches Legislative Assembly
After more than two years of debate by the country’s lawmakers, the fiscal reform package has finally reached the legislative assembly, although there remains much work to be done before the tax reforms are passed.

Today's Stories: Tax Reform Package Reaches Legislative Assembly Philippines, Costa Rica Agree to Boost Bilateral Ties Heavy Rains Cause Damage Miss Costa Rica Mundo 2004 Did You Know?

The cruise liner Ecstacy was the first to dock at Puntarenas, kicking off the season full of hope for residents of the Central Pacific port town. Ecstacy is the first of the 109 cruise ships that are expected to arrive between now and July 2005. More than 250.000 tourists are expected to visit the port, travelling on cruise liners.

Did You Know? With a relatively small population of roughly four million inhabitants, Costa Rica also boasts one of the oldest and more consolidated democracies in Latin America: - In 1869, primary education for both sexes was declared obligatory and free of charge, defrayed by the State. - In 1882, the death penalty was abolished. - In 1949 the armed military forces were abolished. - In 1983 Perpetual Neutrality was proclaimed. - and, in 1989, former president Oscar Arias S. was honored with the Nobel Peace Price.

The reform package proposes to make some fundamental reforms to the country’s taxation system in order to bolster the government’s tax revenues, pay off the country’s growing foreign debt, and reduce the deficit to 2.65% of GDP.

Under one of the plan’s major proposals, income tax in Costa Rica will cease to be levied on a territorial basis, meaning that a resident’s worldwide income will fall under the tax net.

The top income tax bracket would also be raised from 25% to 30% along with a general overhaul of income tax thresholds.

Another major change will see the 13% sales tax transformed into a value-added tax, extending the levy to services such as legal fees and medical services in addition to payment for goods. However, private education services would be exempt.

Corporate income tax under the plan would gradually be reduced from 30% to 25%, and special tax breaks would also apply to small and medium-sized businesses in the hi-tech sector or located in under-developed areas.

The tax-reform bill would also make permanent taxes on casinos and online gambling firms, and attempt to improve tax collection methods in general.

A decision by the Constitutional Court earlier this month to reject a legal challenge by two lawmakers opposed to the plan appeared to give its supporters fresh impetus when all seemed lost.

However, lawmakers now have to review 1,182 reform motions that were rejected by the legislative commission responsible for drafting the bill, before it can be approved.

This in itself could cause fresh conflict amongst lawmakers. Supporters of the plan have reportedly said that they are working on ways to speed up this process within accepted legal boundaries. However, those opposing the plan counter that any attempt to force through the reforms would be “undemocratic.”

Philippines, Costa Rica Agree to Boost Bilateral Ties
The Philippines and Costa Rica marked a new milestone in their relations with the signing of a memorandum of understanding that calls for regular consultations between both countries.

The "Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of a Bilateral Consultation Mechanism between the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines and the Ministry of External Relations and Culture of Costa Rica" was signed at the United Nations on Friday by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo and his counterpart, Foreign Minister Roberto Tovar Faja.

The signing was witnessed by Ambassador Lauro L. Baja Jr., Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations, and Ambassador Bernd Niehaus, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica, as well as diplomats from the permanent missions of both countries.

The agreement, the first to be entered into by both countries since formal relations were established in 1946, called for the holding of regular consultations between the two countries to further enhance relations and exchange views on important bilateral and international concerns.

"The bilateral consultation mechanism is an important step to reinvigorate relations between the Philippines and Costa Rica on various matters of mutual and beneficial concern," Romulo said. "This development further reaffirms Philippine foreign policy vis-à-vis revitalizing ties with countries in the Latin-American region.

Romulo said the bilateral consultations shall include a review of all aspects of the relationship between the two countries in, among others, the political, economic, commercial, investment, tourism, financial, industrial, scientific, cultural, educational, social, sports, technical, and technological fields.

Although the Philippines and Costa Rica initiated formal relations as early as July 5, 1946, it was only on Friday that the two countries entered into a formal bilateral agreement. Prior to this, relations between both countries have mainly been in the multilateral sphere such as the United Nations and the Forum for Asia and Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC).

Romulo said Philippine participation in FEALAC had contributed significantly to "the deepening desire of the Philippines to undertake trans-Pacific cooperation in a borderless global society."

Costa Rica is the Philippines’s fifth largest export market in Latin and South America, after Mexico, Brazil, Panama, and Chile.

Manila’s interests in Costa Rica are covered by the Philippine Embassy in Mexico, which looks after the 128 Filipinos based in that country. Both countries also have honorary consuls based in their respective capitals.

Heavy Rains Cause Damage
The heavy rains of the last several days have left five bridges damages in Cartago, Oreamuno, Turrialba and Vázquez de Coronado. Also, the rain has caused damage to various roads.

The worst of the damages is being suffered in the Province of Cartago.

The bridge over the Toyogres river is probably the worst damaged, as vehicles and pedestrians have had to find an alternative route to get to and from Cartago and Oreamuno.

Edwin Aguilar, regional director at the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) in Cartago, says that there has been infrastructural damage in most of the province.

Miss Costa Rica Mundo 2004
Miss Costa Rica Mundo 2004, Shirley Calvo Jiménez, is set to travel to city of Sanya, Hainan Island, in China to participate in the Miss Mundo 2004 contest, in December.

The beauty queen is 22 years old and a student of business administration. A resident of Sabanilla, Jiménez is off to work daily at the Legislative Assembly.

Jiménez, is about to to conclude her thesis in Business Administration and the Degree in International Relations.

He experience in beauty pageants include participation in the Reina Internacional de los Carnavales de Guayaquil in Ecuador, where she was crowned and the Reina Maya Internacional in Belize, where she came in first finalist.

This year she was an invited guest at the Nuestra Belleza en Honduras in August and in Guatemala two weeks ago.

Jiménez is expected to leave for China on November 8, where she is expected to tour China and get ready for the December 4 contest.