Explores the possible involvement of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in the investigation of money laundering cases. The BIR is an important stakeholder in money laundering cases because of the taxation aspect of the unreported income. BIR participation in the investigation will open up opportunities to go after untaxed income.
The article presents the recent poverty trends as the National Statistical Coordination Board indicates that poverty, notwithstanding slight improvements, has not changed significantly since 2003. It discusses the new methodology adopted in measuring poverty which is characterized by the use of provincial food bundles and the use of a constant food expenditures over total basic expenditures ratio. The Article also raises issues on methodology such as whether poverty lines are reflective of the overall poverty situation, how accuracy and consistency are issues in the use of poverty lines, and how to deal with lower poverty figures obtained using the new methodology.