Duterte crony Dennis Uy has approved a major retrenchment to stop Phoenix Petroleum (PNX) from sinking deeper in red ink.
Based on documents uncovered by Bilyonaryo.com, PNX sought tax exemptions on separation benefits for its employees from the Bureau of Internal Revenue back in March.
“The retrenchment is reasonably necessary and likely to prevent business losses,” said PNX, which racked up a staggering P6.7 billion in losses from 2021 to the first of 2023 (80 percent were incurred in last 18 months).
“The losses, if already incurred, are not merely de minimis, but substantial, serious, actual and real, or
if only expected, are reasonably imminent, with appropriate supporting evidence of said losses,” it added.
PNX, which has 595 retail stations as of end-2022, did not reveal how many of its 654 employees (including 249 supervisors and 268 rank and file employees) would be affected by the layoffs. But it assured that the selection of employees to be let go would be based on fair and rational criteria.
The company had previously reduced its workforce by 30 percent, bringing the total number of employees down to 753 as of the end of 2020 from 1,076 in 2019.
PNX stressed that this retrenchment is being carried out “in good faith for the advancement of its interest and not to defeat or circumvent the employees’ right to security of tenure.”
Over the past few years, PNX has been optimizing its supply chains and rationalizing road transport operations, including a significant 61 percent reduction in capital expenditures in 2022.
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