With 7,107 islands, many natural wonders, a colorful history, and a people known for their warmth and hospitality, the Philippines is a vast archipelago of stunning beauty, dramatic contrasts, and growing tourism attraction. The natural environment is a veritable paradise, with one of the longest coastlines in the world, rich marine life and wildlife, a tropical climate, pristine white sand beaches, vast mountains, and numerous volcanoes and caves. The lush green forests, famous rice terraces, and shimmering waters add to the enchantment of the Philippines.
The cultural environment is equally remarkable, blending the old and the new and the Oriental and the Occidental. In Manila, the rich heritage of Intramuros, a walled city that served as the center of church and state and includes Fort Santiago with its torture chambers and dungeons, is contrasted with the ultramodern Mall of Asia, the largest mall in Asia. With people of Malay stock, but with a long history of Western colonial rule, the Filipino culture offers a unique blend of east and west. The people themselves are particularly famous for their hospitality, spirit of kinship and camaraderie, close family relations, and piousness. Although there are more than 100 ethnic groups, with 111 dialects spoken, this is the third largest English-speaking country in the world.
Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan put this strategic archipelago on the map of the world when he arrived on March 17, 1521. The Philippines, dubbed Felipinas for Spain’s Philip II, became a window to the New World, stretching from China to the north, the Indonesian archipelago to the south, and the Indochina kingdoms to the west. After three centuries of Spanish rule and then American and later Japanese control, the Philippines finally obtained lasting independence on July 4, 1946. Today, the Philippines remains a natural hub for commerce and trade. With over 90 million people, the Philippines stands as the 12th most populous country in the world. And with its vast geography, it is one of the world’s most diverse countries ecologically.
There are an estimated 60,000 registered NGOs in the Philippines today.
The rapid increase in the number of NGOs in the Philippines has raised concerns about mechanisms to certify their accountability, legitimacy, and transparency. For such reasons, the Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC) was formed in 1998, organized by six of the nation’s largest national networks of NGOs. A Memorandum of Agreement between the government’s Department of Finance and the PCNC authorized the PCNC to certify NGOs based on the NGO meeting certain minimum standards for financial management and accountability. Such a certification is now the basis for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to grant Donee Institution status.
In the Philippines, tax-exempt status is given to all nonprofit entities enumerated under Section 30 of the Philippine Tax Code. This section does not require the NGOs to secure certification from an accrediting body to receive income tax exemption. However, to achieve Donee Institution status, there are some additional qualifications. Donee Institution status allows donations to these institutions to be tax-deductible and/or exempt from donor’s tax. That is, local donors (individuals or corporations) are not only exempt from donor’s tax, but also can deduct the amount they have donated from their taxable income (up to a certain extent).
Certification by the PCNC acts as a “seal of good housekeeping” that prospective donors and funders may consider in their selection of organizations to support. Once an organization has been judged to meet the minimum criteria for certification, the board of the PCNC offers a 3-year or 5-year certification to the organization and informs the Bureau of the Internal Revenue (BIR), which can then issue the organization a Certificate of Registration as Qualified Donor Institution. The PCNC, which is one of the few government recognized NGO certification systems in the world, also works to promote professionalism, transparency, and accountability among Philippine NGOs.
Another mechanism for Philippine NGO self-regulation grew out of the Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO). CODE-NGO is the largest coalition of NGOs in the Philippines. It is formed of ten groups of membership associations – one national NGO, seven national networks, and two regional networks – and includes an estimated total of 3,000 NGOs throughout the country. Formed in 1990, the organization was officially registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a non-profit organization in 1991. Also in 1991, CODE-NGO established a Code of Conduct for Development NGOs, the first such coalition to establish a Code of Conduct among NGOs in Asia and one of the first in the global community. This code has been signed by over 1,000 NGOs.
