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Nestlé Philippines yesterday denied it was planning on closing down its coffee processing plant here because of the taxes being imposed on it by the government.

The denial came following a Japanese media report that it could shut down the plant unless it receives tax incentives.

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But in a statement posted on its website yesterday, Nestlé said it “is not planning to close any of its manufacturing facilities in the Philippines” and that “Nestlé is here to stay.”

The firm continued: “Coffee under our Nescafe brand remains to be a core pillar for us, and we are committed to support the local coffee industry and our coffee farmers to growth… We have been operating in the Philippines for 107 years now, and we look forward to doing business here in the next 100 years.”

Councilor George Goking, chairman of the city council’s trade and commerce committee, expressed alarm over the report published by the Nikkei Asian Review, saying he was worried about the job security of thousands of Nestlé workers in the city.

Goking said local officials would look into Nestlé’s situation in order to see how city hall could help.

“We want to know how we can help. The workers are our main concern,” said Goking.

Incidentally, he said, city hall has an over P1-billion real property tax claim from  Nestlé which is still under litigation.

“Let’s see what we can do,” Goking told the Gold Star Daily.

Quoting Nestlé Philippines senior vice president Ernesto Mascenon, Nikkei Asian Review reported on Wednesday that the firm “has taken a hit from rising costs and tighter sugar supplies in the domestic market” and because a prohibition on sugar importation by beverage makers, hence, the need for an exemption from the 12-percent value-added tax.

The report continued to quote Mascenon as saying that unless addressed, “the option for us is we will close down our manufacturing here and just move to Indonesia, or Vietnam, Malaysia, (and) import.”

Nestlé reportedly supports some 10 thousand coffee growers here. (HG)

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