03 | February | 2020 | BusinessWorld

Senate panel threatens NGCP with franchise review

THE Senate Committee on Energy on Monday found sufficient grounds to recommend the “review and revocation” of the franchise granted to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

Global face mask market tightens amid dwindling domestic supply — Trade dep’t

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it is encountering difficulties in sourcing 5 million face masks from overseas with domestic inventories running out.

Palace eager to clarify reasons behind Rio resignation from DICT

MALACAÑANG said it will look into alleged irregularities at the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) which reportedly led Undersecretary Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. to resign.

BSP rate cut seen as more likely in March — HSBC

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is more likely to cut key policy rates in March rather than this month due to stronger fourth quarter economic growth and the uptick in December inflation, HSBC Global Research said.

Cagayan port touted as improving connectivity with Babuyan chain

THE government on Monday inaugurated the Port of Claveria in Cagayan, which it hopes will boost transport connectivity between the far north of Luzon and islands beyond.

Kennon Road rehab to be offered as PPP; toll road setup seen as ‘sustainable’

THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) hopes to modernize Kennon Road by offering its rehabilitation to toll-road operators as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), the PPP Center said.

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Assessment and 2019 nCoV

The Department of Health (DoH) confirmed on Thursday, Jan. 30, the first case of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the Philippines. This alarmed many Filipinos.

Post RTL: Rice can be profitable

In 2015, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), with funding support from the Department of Agriculture (DA), released a landmark six-country study of rice production in Asia.

Public opinion survey respondents not competent

The Social Weather Stations (SWS) latest report that 76% of Filipinos see many human rights abuses in President Duterte’s war on illegal drugs and that 78% of Filipino adults believe the accusation that there are “ninja cops” among members of the police force raised many a curious eyebrow. To political pundits, SWS’ findings seem to go against the results of past SWS surveys that show that a great majority of the population find President Rodrigo Duterte’s performance satisfactory. An earlier survey showed that 93% disapprove of his inaction towards Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea.

Musings on Identity and the Internationalization of Higher Education Institutions

Internationalization “at the national, sector, and institutional levels is defined as the process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of postsecondary education” (Knight, J. 2015).

Power security and competition

Last week I attended two energy fora where some important data and issues were discussed. First the “Market Operations 2019,” a media briefing by...

Preventing climate change is a human rights issue

EVERY SOCIETY in the world is going to pay a price for global warming. But it’s the poorest countries and communities who will suffer the most from rising seas and burning lands -- and likely also from any drastic measures taken to prevent climate change. The environmental crisis is closely linked to the humanitarian one, and requires the joint action of climate and human rights activists.

Djokovic beats Thiem in 5-set thriller

MELBOURNE -- Novak Djokovic endured a fierce challenge to his Melbourne Park reign before overhauling Dominic Thiem 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 in a thriller on Sunday to clinch an eighth Australian Open crown and reclaim the world number one ranking.

Chiefs end 50-year Super Bowl drought

MIAMI -- The Kansas City Chiefs ended a half-century Super Bowl drought with a dramatic 31-20 comeback win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in a breathtaking finish to the National Football League’s 100^th season.

Generational sports heroes to be feted by Philippine Sportswriters Association

FILIPINO sports heroes, both old and new, will be celebrated at the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Awards Night in March.

Karateka Tsukii determined to make it to the Olympics

WHILE a spot in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, is not yet guaranteed for her, Filipino-Japanese karateka Junna Tsukii is in no way deterred by it and still very much focused on seeing her push completed.

Stephen Loman named Brave fighter of the year

BOOSTED BY two quality victories in 2019, bantamweight champion Stephen “The Sniper” Loman of Team Lakay was adjudged “fighter of the year” in Brave Combat Federation for the second year in a row.

Caruana wins Tata Steel Masters

The chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands is traditionally the first Super GM (Grandmaster) event of the year. The main sponsor of the chess festival, which started in 1938, remains the steel factory in Ijmuiden, which is now part of the Tata Group, one of India’s oldest and largest business empires with subsidiaries involved in steel, power, chemicals, communications, beverages, motor vehicles, hotels, and many more.

Comeback masters

The Chiefs headed into Super Bowl LIV as the favorites, however slight, backed by a solid defense and an offense that had hitherto proven its capacity to score in bunches. In fact, their road to yesterday’s winner-take-all affair was marked by a couple of improbable from-behind triumphs. They won the divisional round 51-31 after spotting the Texans 23 points, and then the AFC championship 35-24 despite having been down by double digits. For much of yesterday, though, it appeared as if they finally ran out of luck. And behind by 10 with 11:57 left in the final period, they looked just about ready to fold after yet another interception gave the Niners the ball.

PSEi sinks to 7,100 level on increasing concern

THE MAIN INDEX sank to the 7,100 level on Monday as it continued to take a hit from the novel coronavirus scare.

Peso ends higher ahead of inflation, BSP

THE PESO ended stronger against the dollar on Monday as the market expects a strong inflation reading and a possible rate cut from the central bank on Wednesday.

Philippines containing coronavirus; no outbreak yet

THE Philippines is at the “containment stage” in its fight against a deadly coronavirus strain that has killed hundreds in China and sickened thousands more, health authorities said on Monday.

Review VFA first before ending it, Duterte told

SENATORS urged President Rodrigo R. Duterte to reconsider a plan before to end an agreement with the US on the deployment of troops and equipment for war games.

NLEx, San Fernando City update traffic management agreement

NLEX Corp. and the city government of San Fernando, capital of Pampanga province, have signed a new traffic management agreement to keep up with developments at the interchange, one of the busiest along the North Luzon Expressway.

LGUs told to equip local workforce for Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridges construction

THE NATIONAL Economic and Development and Authority (NEDA)- Western Visayas regional office has called on local governments to build up a workforce that can be tapped for the anticipated construction of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros interisland bridges.

Cebu hotels suffer up to 20% occupancy rate drop amid nCoV

HOTELS IN Cebu City and its surrounding metro area are feeling the impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) as occupancy rates drop by up to 20% in the past week.

Davao Occidental ready to augment DA’s ASF fund for culled pigs

DAVAO OCCIDENTAL Governor Claude P. Bautista said on Monday that the provincial government is ready to buy pigs from farmers as another measure to prevent the further spread of the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak that started in Don Marcelino town.

Confiscated lumber donated to earthquake victims

LUMBER confiscated through the government’s anti-illegal logging operations have been donated to Davao del Sur province for distribution to families affected by the series...

Nation at a Glance — (02/04/20)

News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.

Two Marawi students win first JICA video blog contest

In their vlog, the pair talked about witnessing the effect of the armed conflict in Marawi City in 2017 and their wish for peace and solidarity in the city.

Saving lives, one drone at a time

https://youtu.be/mTXKyxuU3bE Zipline is the world’s first drone delivery service providing life-saving medicines to isolated communities otherwise considered unreachable. To date, they’ve made well over 14,000...

A visionary marketer and communicator

Philstar Media Group’s Lucien Dy Tioco leads 2020 Philippine Marketing Association Board By Mark Louis F. Ferrolino, Special Features Writer With his impressive style of leadership and...

Inflation likely quickened in January

INFLATION likely quickened further in January mainly on the back of an uptick in food prices, some supply side shocks from the Taal Volcano eruption and continued diminishing base effects, analysts said in a BusinessWorld poll, with the central bank seen easing rates this week ahead of emerging risks to prices.

Gov’t hoping talks with China could spur faster disbursement of ODA

MORE MEETINGS with the Chinese government could help address the “slow pace” of disbursement of official development assistance (ODA), a top official said.

PSA chief stands by choice of 2018 as base year for measuring GDP

THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is confident in using 2018 prices as the base for measuring the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), saying that there are no implications in doing so despite multi-year high inflation rates during that year.

Analysts’ January inflation rate estimates, monetary policy action expectations

INFLATION likely quickened further in January mainly on the back of an uptick in food prices, some supply side shocks from the Taal Volcano...

SEC lifts investor warning vs DV Boer

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has lifted its investor warning against DV Boer Farm International Corp. after it agreed on the company’s P3.015-million settlement offer.

Consumers set to start retaining phone numbers

MOBILE phone users may start applying for mobile number porting in the third quarter of this year, Globe Telecom, Inc. Chief Commercial Officer Alberto M. de Larrazabal said.

Bill collection of ‘stranded’ power costs ends in Feb.

THE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) will cease collecting the P0.0543 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) universal charge for stranded contract costs (UC-SCC) starting this month, the government agency said.

Banana exporters push gov’t to set cap on exit prices

DAVAO CITY -- The banana export industry wants the government to set a cap on the exit price of the commodity to help smooth out seasonal swings in demand and fluctuations in the harvest.

DoE appeal to suspend P18-billion tax deficiency denied

THE Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) denied for lack of merit the appeal of the Department of Energy (DoE) over the dismissal of its petition to suspend the collection of its P18.4 billion alleged tax deficiency.

Sharing our way out of a crisis

ALMOST TWO WEEKS have passed since the historic Senate hearing for the legalization of motorcycle taxis. In internet speak, that means four to five different news cycles; or in the old language, yesteryear’s news. But here’s why you should still care.

Daily Archives: February 3, 2020 | 11:26 pm