Maria Criselda A. Sarmiento
2009 – 26175
BA Communication Research
25 Nov 2011
Paper 1: Diagnostic Comm130-FRU

Coke Green: The Drink That Isn’t This year saw a noisier ground for the Corporate Social Responsibility as the two legislative chambers both filed a bill institutionalizing it. Corporate Social Responsibility, as defined by the World Bank, is “the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community, and society at large to improve quality of life, in ways that are both good for business and good for development.” (Petkoksi & Twose, 2003) House Bill 4575 or the “Corporate Social Responsibility Act of 2011” advanced to the final reading and had finally been approved in June, while the “Act of Institutionalizing Corporate Social Responsibility Among Large Tax Payers And Providing Incentives Therefor,” Senate Bill 1239, still finds no space of getting across the Higher House. The different fate these two bills have had parallels to their dissimilar directives. In the House Bill 4575, CSR is highly encouraged among all business enterprise, big and small alike. In the said bill, recognitions will be awarded to businesses that have outstandingly advanced CSR initiatives. Assuming a heavier, thus more disputable, take on CSR, on the other hand, the Senate Bill 1239 mandates CSR only among large tax payers. While said section seems the be reasonable, the latter version could have taken it through the Congress smoother had it not include tax incentives as its main component—CSR expenses of companies shall be reflected against their taxable net income, making them pay lower tax than the normal appropriation on the basis of the companies’ net profits. Although issues on CSR still steam on the hot seat, many companies have already