Daily Archives: January 5, 2020 | 11:58 pm

IT IS WELL understood that S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals. In my book, The HeART of the Close, there is an offer to make goal-setting SMARTer.

TRADE Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the sugar regulator needs to allow the food industry that sells to domestic markets to import sugar if local sugar prices cannot match import prices for the sweetener.

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has set its production target for palay, or unmilled rice, at 19.6 million metric tons (MT) for 2020, with production receiving a boost from seed distribution backed by the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

FEDERAL RESERVE officials downplayed concerns about the impact of geopolitical uncertainty on the US economy amid flaring tensions with Iran, even as a record of the central bank’s meeting last month showed that downside risks remain on their minds.

THE Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture has asked the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to assist in the accreditation of 15 local government-run universities and colleges to make them eligible to offer free education.

THE prize pool for the government’s retail-investor targeted Premyo Bonds has been expanded to P4.5 million every quarter from the initial P3 million, according to the Department of Finance (DoF).

THE MOTHBALLED airport in M’lang, Cotabato will need at least P2.6 billion to rehabilitate and put into operation, according to the Mindanao Development Authority (MiNDA), citing an assessment from the Department of Transportation.

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is set to conduct a public hearing for the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) application of Cebu-based mining firm Citadel Mining Corp. (CMC) for its mine site in Danao City.

THE Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) is inviting bidders to offer consulting services for the rehabilitation of the Lucena City fishport, as well as the construction of fish ports in Davao and Iloilo.

THE United States launched an air strike against a leading Iranian military commander on Friday, heightening fears of a conflict escalation in the Middle East that could hurt crude supplies in the region.

As a new decade begins, we reflect upon the year that just passed and look forward to what may be in store for us in 2020 and beyond.

FIGHTING in a Philippine Basketball Association finals for the third time in the last four years, the Meralco Bolts and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings are not putting much on talk and instead are bent on letting their game speak for themselves when their best-of-seven championship series rolls off tomorrow.

DERRICK HENRY rushed for a franchise playoff-record 182 yards and scored a touchdown to lead the Tennessee Titans to a 20-13 victory over the New England Patriots in an American Football Conference (AFC) wild-card game on Saturday night at Foxborough, Massachusetts.

SYDNEY -- Tennis world number two Novak Djokovic said he is concerned that smoke might cause some problems at the Australian Open later this month as bushfires continued to blaze across large sections of the southeast on Sunday.

JAE CROWDER scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and the visiting Memphis Grizzlies coasted past the Los Angeles Clippers, 140-114, on Saturday.

EVER GROWING as an organization since being established in 2011, ONE Championship stays committed to its thrust of further expansion in the new decade, unveiling newly inked regional partnerships.

THE NATIONAL Basketball Association has fined Washington Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas $25,000 for making inappropriate physical contact with a game official, the league announced Saturday.

When the Lakers host the Pistons today, they won’t simply be going for a fifth straight victory. They’ll likewise be angling to keep intact a perfect run against opponents with losing records. Since the season began, they’ve faced 18 such rivals, and they’ve emerged triumphant every single time. Not that they’ve done so with ease; against the Suns and the Pelicans last week, for instance, they needed to keep perennial All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the court deep into the fourth quarter to preserve an outcome they appeared to be well in position to secure as early as in the first.

THE Philippine Embassy in Iraq advised Filipino workers there to go on leave after a US strike killed a top Iranian commander in Baghdad’s international airport.

THE Health department warned Filipino travelers to check themselves for flu-like conditions after reports of a mysterious respiratory disease that is affecting people in China.

A GROUP of legislators will ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision denying jurisdiction over the provincial bus ban along the main thoroughfare EDSA in Metro Manila.

THE REHABILITATION and expansion of the Concepcion fish port, which was damaged by typhoon Haiyan in 2013, will soon be underway after the initial $1 million fund was downloaded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to the provincial government of Iloilo last month.

STO. TOMAS, a first class municipality in Davao del Norte, has adopted a “no contact policy” in the registration and renewal of business permits through the establishment of a business one-stop shop (BOSS), where documents will simply be submitted for immediate processing.

THE PHILIPPINE Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) is holding a bidding on Feb. 6 at its Makati City office for 62 closed banks’ assets consisting of residential and commercial lots with a combined minimum disposal price of PhP 57.7 million.