Gov’t finds fewer Filipinos poor in 2018
FEWER FILIPINOS were mired in poverty in 2018, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.
Trade chief tempers 2019 export hopes
THE DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry (DTI) now expects overseas sales of Philippine goods to remain at last year’s level, reflecting a potential improvement from last year’s drop but still short of the already-tempered target set last July by state economic managers.
Pasay-SM Prime Manila Bay reclamation project set to proceed
SM Prime Holdings, Inc. has received the official notice from the Pasay City government to proceed with its 360-hectare reclamation project within the city’s municipal waters, the Sy-led listed company said in a disclosure on Friday.
Shares flat in listless trade
PHILIPPINE SHARES managed to crawl back above 7,800 on Friday even as investors had already factored in November inflation that came in as expected by the market.
Hallasgo dethrones Tabal in SEAG women’s marathon
CAPAS, TARLAC — Unheralded Christine Hallasgo pulled off a huge surprise early Friday morning, dethroning defending champion Mary Joy Tabal to secure the women’s marathon crown of the 30th Southeast Asian Games that began and ended inside the New Clark City Athletic Stadium here.
Philippines, Singapore bag gold in golf
LPGA Tour-bound Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines snatched victory from the clutches of defeat, pouncing on Thai Kan Bunnabodee’s late mishap to turn a one-stroke deficit in the last two holes into a rousing three-shot triumph Thursday and bag the individual gold in the 30th SEA Games golf competitions at the Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac.
Pole vaulter EJ Obiena guns for gold in SEAG trackfest
CAPAS, TARLAC — Will it be third time a charm for Olympic-bound pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena?
Philippine Volcanoes, Lady Volcanoes aim for golds
CLARK — The Philippine Volcanoes and the Lady Volcanoes shoot for a rare double-gold medal as the rugby competitions of the 30th Southeast Asian Games kick off Saturday at the Clark Parade Grounds here.
Taekwondo action gets going
TAEKWONDO action in the 30th Southeast Asian Games gets going Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, with reigning champion Thailand expected to be challenged by the Philippines for dominance in the discipline where 22 gold medals are at stake.
Flaship projects seen slowed by ODA delays, skilled-worker shortages
THE government is likely to struggle to complete most of the infrastructure projects on its flagship list before President Rodrigo R. Duterte steps down in 2022, largely due to slow implementation of foreign-aided loans and unresolved bottlenecks, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said.
OSG to pursue ‘all options’ in contesting water arbitral ruling
THE Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) said it will exhaust all legal remedies in response to the P7.39 billion award granted by an arbitral tribunal to Manila Water Co., Inc.
PAL Holdings confirms departure of two board members
TWO board members of Philippine Airlines (PAL), Inc., former central bank governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. and lawyer Estelito P. Mendoza, have resigned, PAL Holdings, Inc. confirmed Friday.
Ayala Healthcare acquires Healthway chain of clinics
AYALA Healthcare Holdings, Inc. (AC Health) said it acquired 100% of clinic network Healthway from Hong Kong’s HKR International Ltd (HKRI).
PECO to appeal SC TRO blocking Mandaluyong RTC expropriation ruling
PANAY Electric Co., Inc. (PECO) said it will “immediately “ ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to block the implementation of a local court’s judgment that stopped Iloilo City’s new distribution utility from taking over the company’s assets.
ICC says it can’t hear harassment case vs China
THE International Criminal Court said it does not have the authority to hear a complaint against China for alleged harassment of Filipino fishermen in the South China Sea.
Filipinos worried about influx of Chinese workers
MAJORITY of Filipinos are concerned about the rising number of Chinese workers in the country and regard them as a threat to security, according to the latest poll by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
Duterte wants to resume talks with Maoist rebels
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte will send an agent to talk to Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria C. Sison in the Netherlands in a bid to resume peace talks.
FDA allows ASF-free Mekeni to sell pork products
THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed the redistribution of pork-based products of Pampanga-based Mekeni Food Corp. after these were cleared of the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus.
Dollar reserves hit $86.39B at end-November
THE country’s dollar reserves rose by $560 million from a month earlier to $86.39 billion at the end of November, giving the central bank enough buffer against liquidity shocks, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Friday.
Peso continues rally against dollar
THE peso continued to rally against the dollar on Friday on positive market sentiment about inflation.
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Collateral registry up by May
A PROPOSED online registry for loan collaterals will go live in May next year and is expected to widen the access of micro, small and medium enterprises to credit, the Finance department said on Friday.
Pru Life UK brings PRURide PH 2020 to Clark, Pampanga
Pru Life UK is set to launch another edition of PRURide PH, the country’s biggest cycling festival. In 2020, Pru Life UK is bringing...
Approved foreign investment pledges (Q3 2019)
COMMITTED foreign direct investments (FDI) approved by the government’s seven main investment promotion agencies (IPAs) grew more than fourfold to the biggest amount in...
Committed investments surge
COMMITTED foreign direct investments (FDI) approved by the government’s seven main investment promotion agencies (IPAs) grew more than fourfold to the biggest amount in nearly seven years last quarter, helping to fuel a year-to-date surge, according to preliminary data the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Thursday.
Oct. finds fewer Filipinos jobless, though underemployed ranks grow
THE LATEST official labor data showed the ranks of jobless Filipinos decreasing in October, though those wanting more work to augment income increased slightly, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.
Inflation picks up in Nov., but on target — PSA, BSP
INFLATION inched up to 1.3% in November following five straight months of easing, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.
December Ave. is most streamed artist in PHL
ORIGINAL Pilipino Music (OPM) reigned supreme in 2019 according to music streaming service Spotify, as indie rock band December Avenue topped the Most Streamed Artists list in the Philippines, the first time a Filipino did so.
High Court halts Mandaluyong RTC ruling vs MORE franchise
ILOILO CITY — The Supreme Court (SC) has temporarily blocked the decision of a regional court in Mandaluyong that declared as void and unconstitutional some provisions of MORE Electric and Power Co.’s (MORE Power) new congressional franchise covering Iloilo City.
4th CineFilipino Film Fest finalists announced
THE CineFilipino Film Festival has announced the finalists for its fourth installment. Organized by Cignal TV and Unitel Productions, Inc, the film festival will showcase stories in feature length, shorts, and series categories by young and aspiring Filipino filmmakers.
Fitch blames slow credit growth on trade issues
THE SLOWDOWN in credit growth despite the rounds of monetary easing by the central bank could be blamed on a decline in loans to the manufacturing sector, according to Fitch Ratings.
AC Energy plans to focus on renewables, peaking plants
AC Energy Philippines, Inc. targets to build around 1,300 megawatts (MW) of power generation plants by end-2020, or about three times the size of the company’s installed capacity before the Ayalas’ energy arm bought the former Phinma Energy Corp. last year.
Day6: Defying Gravity
WITH AT least two of Korea’s rock bands currently on hiatus, there is a clamor for musicians to fill the void. The members of CNBLUE and FTIsland are serving the military and audiences worldwide are craving for more talents to step up to the plate and provide the kind of music that these two established bands are known for.
Negative rates starting to worry ECB
FIVE WEEKS since Mario Draghi retired from running the European Central Bank (ECB), finding an outright fan of his legacy of negative interest rates has become a lot harder.
SMC plans fundraising for infrastructure projects
SAN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC) is planning to raise funds from the overseas and local debt markets for its major infrastructure projects and investments.
Strange fruit
WITH THE contentious SOGIE (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression) Equality bill pending in congress, a film that purports to tackle the obscure and oft-misunderstood matter of intersexuality raises expectations. To make sure that even the thickest audience member understands what he’s getting at, the writer-director Jose Tiglao repeats every heavy-handed metaphor at least twice. For example, the opening lines about a legendary mango tree in the Bonifacio family’s orchard which bore an atis comes up every so often. In case you didn’t get it, the atis is supposed to stand for the protagonist: 14-year-old Adam Bonifacio (Gold Azeron).
AMA Online Education to offer students data analytics courses
AMA Online Education (AMA OEd) said it hopes to graduate over a hundred thousand data analytics-ready students beginning 2021 as part of a partnership with technology firm SAS, which will help develop basic and advanced courses for both IT and business students.
Reserve Bank of India unexpectedly holds benchmark interest rate as inflation spikes
INDIA’S CENTRAL BANK unexpectedly kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged as headline inflation breached its medium-term target for the first time in more than a year.
PECO hits back at ERC over ‘heavily worded’ notice
PANAY Electric Co., Inc. (PECO) said the “heavily worded” notice of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on the power distribution company’s alleged operational lapses omitted the valid points in its favor.
Employers call for ‘balanced’ NCR wage for domestic workers
THE EMPLOYERS Confederation of the Philippines (ECoP) said the Metro Manila wage board needs to come up with a “balanced” wage ruling for domestic workers, adding not all household employers can afford higher pay.
I heard you make movies
IN The Irishman (2019) someone puts a question to Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), the same question that is title of Charles Brandt’s 2004 book (I Heard You Paint Houses) — the same question one might ask of Martin Scorsese with the same innocuousness, and just the hint of something more.
Life insurers in Japan are taking more dollar risks
AS THE DECADE that welcomed unprecedented quantitative easing (QE) comes to a close one thing is clear: Japan life insurers are taking more and more risk with their investments.
Roxas Holdings swings to loss
ROXAS Holdings, Inc. (RHI) swung to a net loss in its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, due to lower sugar production and higher costs.
HK bankers say city’s divide infecting office life
HONG KONG -- An economist says he was pushed out of his job at a Chinese bank in part due to his views on the impact of Hong Kong’s protests. A brokerage employee in the city is looking for a new job because she disagrees with her bosses’ politics. An investment banker says he avoids talking to most colleagues about the unrest, fearing it may damage his career.
S. Korean actor found dead in latest K-pop tragedy
SEOUL — South Korean actor Cha In-ha was found dead in his home, police said on Wednesday, the country’s third young celebrity to die over the past two months as concern mounted over the intense social pressures that artists face.
Nestlé to implement gender-neutral parental leave policy
NESTLÉ S.A. on Thursday announced a new global gender-neutral parental support policy, extending parental leave to a minimum of 18 paid weeks from 14 weeks.
