BIR Experience

I had two major issues during my struggle with BIR.

• My RDO code was 028, which pertained to my residential address as compared to my employer's address.
• My TIN's taxpayer type was listed under E.O. 98. Because I applied for a TIN to acquire a driver's license, I was listed as unemployed. When I began working 3 years after that, I was not able to update it with my company (and since I already had a TIN, we didn't think it needed any updating). 

This is what roughly happened during my FOUR trips to BIR offices just to file my Income Tax Return (ITR) or Form 1700 on time.

Trip 1 to RDO 028, West Avenue

During my trip to RDO 028, I filled out Form 1905 so I could do the following:

• Transfer my RDO from 028 to 047
• Change my taxpayer type

I explained the situation to the counter lady, and she just asked me to fill out the form so they could process it. Among the choices was "Change Tax Type". THIS IS NOT THE SAME.

Filling out a 1905 takes at least 5 working days for it to be processed.

Of course, I didn't learn this until our company HR attempted to submit it along with the other employees to RDO 047 a week after, but came back with the explanation that my TIN wasn't under any employer, so that had me attempting to call someone at RDO 047.

Among their many listed numbers, only 1-2 worked, and the rest was scarcely picked up or were telefaxes and were seldom answered. When someone answered, they told me to call a particular number. But upon mentioning to them that the number was always leading me nowhere, she decided to answer my query. She confirmed that my TIN was successfully transferred to RDO 047.

Trip 2 to RDO 047, Gil Puyat Ave

Now the problem was the taxpayer type. She told me to fill out a Form 1905 and submit it to Counter 4 (Tin Issuance). I filled 3 copies out and went to BIR the following morning (April 14) where I talked with the Officer of the Day (O.D.), who then explained to me that it was a Form 1902 that I needed to fill out.

I returned to my office and requested for one. Because BIR had downloadable forms available, we decided to grab those and I took a second jab back at BIR.

Trip 3 to RDO 047

When it was finally my turn at Counter 4, I was expressly told that it was an old copy and they wouldn't be accepting those anymore (the downloadable copies were circa 2008 as opposed to the 2014 physical forms handed out).

Now, the 1902 has a particular requirement -- an NSO-certified birth certificate. I went through the trouble of seeing if my mother already had one of mine, which she did but from 14 years ago. But after a call to the NSOHotline, I was assured that those had no expiration date, which lifted my spirits as well as the shave off some of the stress levels I had been feeling with all these issues.

So I was forced to take some 1902 forms back to the office, have it signed and return the next day, April 15 (deadline of filing taxes) one last time.

Trip 4 to RDO 047

While I was informed that I just needed to show my number from my prior visit, I decided to get new queue numbers to be fair to the others in line. When my number was called for Counter 4 once again, the same man who didn't accept my outdated 1902 accommodated me.

What I was grateful for at this point was that he knew my situation as I mentioned it to him yesterday and he personally updated my taxpayer type on another counter's computer after some debate that I still needed to fill out a Form 2305 (which tied me to a company basically). Nothing became of the xeroxed copy of the birth certificate I scavenged for, but with the 1902's stamped, I was prepped for submitting my ITR!

As was a tactic, I arrived at the RDO and requested for queue numbers for Tin Issuance and Collection, so by the time I finished with Counter 4, I waited for about another half hour to an hour for my number to be called before I successfully submitted my ITR.

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Hopefully this helps anyone who may have gotten themselves in the same situation as me to make sure that you have the right taxpayer type. It's more hassle than it's worth to update, but government offices here seem to be keen on making things difficult for the masses.

Regular Status + APE

Talking about something semi-work related now, I had two things I wanted to talk about for this post.

1. JM's Regularization

JM first took internship with Anino Games back in May 2014. I vividly remember him being the only applicant to date who actually created a Test Plan for one of our games Manila Rush. While I was impressed with the gesture, I similarly questioned who would go through the trouble. A simple thought of 'He must really want this opportunity' crossed my mind, so I reviewed it after I confirmed that he had passed the Skills Test and set him up for Interview.

To me, everything felt awkward - he was older than me though he was taking an internship (a long story about his educational background that need not be said here), and this was the first time I was screening interns since I was already the lead of the department at the time. Nevertheless, I saw that he had potential so I gave him the go signal to work for our company.

After his internship finished, I was impressed with his work and urged him to come apply again when he was done with school. Come August, just at the time of the Playlab merge, he applied and entered the company. It was a hard 6 months from there, but I was glad to see him grow and tease him in-between. While he showed signs of emotional scarring due to the teasing (all in good nature of course), I encouraged him to push onward, and I'm happy he did. Now he's officially been regularized, and I look back and pat myself on the back a little for setting him on the same path as I once took 4 years ago.

2. 2015 Annual Physical Examination

Shifting topics, we always have this annual examination. What company doesn't right? I dread it for the reason that I get pricked with a needle, and I have a history of not taking that too well unless I eat something beforehand. Thankfully this didn't require fasting, and I didn't want to think about it all too much. Luckily, the person who took my blood this year had excellent light hands that left me with no bruise like I've experienced the past 2 years. The only odd thing though was since I had blood taken from me from my right arm, my blood pressure was similarly taken on the same arm. You could imagine my confusion and slight panic, but nothing bad happened anyway, so I guess that was a good sign.

Planning Sessions

In the 6 years we've been together, Kai and I filled our time with plenty of random discussions of the future -- what we'll be doing in the next x years, where we'll eventually live, when we plan to do one thing or another -- amidst all the everyday conversations of the TV shows we follow or the stories that we write. I've always felt that couples talking about the future together is usually a good sign -- that they're ready to take the next big step into their relationship.

Nowadays I don't find it the least bit embarrassing telling people that I have a girlfriend. It's a phase I've long since overcome and I'm quite settled with the idea that I want to spent forever with her. There's just this crazily deep understanding we have of each other that I love that might be misinterpreted by other people.

These past 6 years have never been the smoothest course. After all, we were two girls facing the world, and we sometimes get pretty paranoid with how the world might judge us. Whether it be family, friend or officemate, the whole idea of publicizing that we were dating has always been a touchy subject. It's only just recently that I (a bit more than we maybe) have just stop caring about how other people might think and just charge ahead. After all, we have that right just as everyone else does to plan our own future.

That being said, we're taking the first step by doing something we've been wanting to do for sometime now -- taking an out of the country trip together. Of course, this would have some very elaborate plan to pull off, but we're really just checking things off our list.

Earlier this week I chanced upon the Piso Fare from Cebu Pacific and booked our flights in November already, so now what's left is the hotel and any other itinerary we end up doing.

APT 2015

Happy 2015! 

2014 saw an all-time low of blog posts, but mainly because I rarely found the time or patience to do any recent blog entries. Hopefully this time will be better now that I have Trello reminding me of topics to write about~

The Annual Asuncion Texas Hold'em  Poker Tournament is probably the first highlight of my year, so this calls for an semi-immediate blog post to commemorate the occasion. Why? I've joined the family tournament since 2011 (4 years into the tradition), and I've been getting varied results of my placing. The closest I got to tasting sweet victory was back in 2013 when I placed 3rd. 

Tonight though, with fewer participants (there were just 10 of us), I joined the tournament sponsored by my Dad who paid for my (and my sister's) buy-in fee. And with a whole bit of luck, I won it all!

For winning 1st place, I got most of the grand pot, the neat Chip trophy provided by our cousin Troy, and a prize sponsored by last year's champion Matthew (who didn't participate this year due to his 3-time win over the past 7 years)! 

Me with 2014 Tournament winner Matthew

The prize turned out to be a beer tower (or a tower for any beverage actually)! It was fitting really, since my Dad loves beer, so since he sponsored me in the tournament, it goes to him! 

Me posing with the prizes. This was actually the third shot my Dad took of me since my Uncle Chris kept photobombing!

Overall, I think this was definitely a great way to kick off 2015. Last year saw some crazy ups and downs, but I'm keeping positive that things will definitely be bigger and brighter this year!!