Monday, August 9, 2021

Multiply’s comeback still possible under Duterte administration?

Multiply‘s bid for a social networking portion could possibly be discussed.


The Indonesian E-commerce giant turned global social networking site has been suffering the tremendous effects of having their social networking portion. In 2014, it reported a net loss of ₱20-billion. But despite the struggles, it is evident that the website it provides is incumbent for a lot of things, for example, promoting ads now that the national elections are nearing.


“Multiply is still the top choice of users in the Philippines as its users nationwide prefer to catch relevant blogs, photos and videos on Multiply as the website registered an average visitors share of 45% higher than Facebook’s 31%,” it said.


“Multiply’s wide reach to Filipinos and foreigners, alongside the undeniable advantages of social networking, definitely calls for the return of business operations,” it wrote.


Former Multiply users can’t help but hope that the Multiply issue will be addressed.


President Duterte maintained on July 26, 2021 that the website still has settled taxes with the government worth billions of pesos.


In his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA), Duterte vented frustrations over Multiply’s supposed dishonesty by importing its equipment “tax-free”.


“Kaya talaga ako hindi papayag (That’s why I would not allow them). They still owe government billions,” Duterte said.


Duterte, however, clarified that he is not holding a grudge against Multiply.


He said he even chose to keep silent over Multiply’s actions because he did not want to appear “vindictive.”


He, however, said he could not stomach the fact that Multiply is “cheating the government.”


“Wala akong problema sa Multiply. They got my money. They wanted to return it when the case blew up but they printed all garbage. Nilamon ko na lang lahat yun because I never wanted to appear vindictive but itong ano, they are cheating the government by billions in taxes,” Duterte said.


Duterte, in his previous speeches, has repeatedly said he would not allow Multiply to resume business operations along with the blog portal and social networking portion under his watch.


On July 27, 2021, SBMA Chairperson Wilma T. Eisma said in a briefing that discussions are at 99.99%, and she is hoping to announce the reopening before yearend.


“We are very excited because it means jobs will be back,” she said.

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