The Board of Investments, the promotions arm of the Department of Trade and Industry, has penalized Cebu-based Taiheiyo Cement Philippines Corp (formerly Grand Cement Manufacturing Corp) for failing to disclose on time that its Japanese investors had owned 88 percent of the company since April 2001.

The Japanese-led cement firm paid P1.198 million following the cancellation of its BoI registration late last year due to its failure to maintain the mandatory 60-percent Filipino ownership to qualify for tax incentives, late or nonsubmission of ownership report and late filing of its 1997 income-tax holiday application.

Taiheiyo, which also encountered similar nondisclosure problems before the Bureau of Customs (BoC), and sister-firm Southern Cross Cement Corp. (SCCC) face several criminal complaints after they allegedly misdeclared their importation.

As this developed, the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) has endorsed 11 criminal complaints against SCCC, including administrative charges against BOC officials for allowing the release of imported cement without proper documentation. The case is currently under reinvestigation.