Can Singapore save the world from sinking?
NEARLY a third of the global financial center of Singapore sits less than five meters above sea level. If global warming continues unabated, an area as large as 3,400 football fields in the center of the small city-state could be inundated by 2100, flooding the vital business district and some of its most valuable infrastructure.
The winners and losers in POGO’s Demise
The crackdown on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) has begun. Last week, China announced that it would cancel the passports of Chinese nationals working in the POGO industry for crimes relating to telecommunication fraud.
CITIRA’s passage: Light at the end of the tunnel
Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Senator Pia Cayetano has filed Senate Bill 1357, the Committee Report on the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act or CITIRA, and has sponsored it in the Senate’s plenary session. Nine of the 15 regular members and all three ex-officio members signed the committee report. Of the 12, one signed with reservation, three said they will interpellate, and six said they might introduce amendments. One of those who did not sign said he would interpellate. There are no disclosed reasons for the other five not signing, except that they were not physically present (truest for a controversially detained Senator) at the time.
Open arms for the Foreign Investments Act
At the AmCham Legislative and Trade & Investment Committees forum last week in Makati, the recommended easing of constitutional restrictions on foreign equity amendments was the hot topic. Hot, because a joint statement of major Chambers of Commerce and business and trade organizations had already been submitted in July, 2019 to the 18th Congress and to President Rodrigo Duterte for their consideration and enactment, recommending a list of priority legislation for business. This included the much-debated, top two laws, the Foreign Investments Act (FIA) and the Retail Trade Act (RTA) that would necessitate amendments to the 1987 Constitution.
Chats and conversations
CHAT GROUPS usually have a common bond. They are members of a civic club, homeowners’ association, alumni group, or family (one side of it). The chat is a way of keeping in touch, disseminating news (like meetings and required costumes), as well as sharing posts, which include homilies, jokes, cartoons, and fake news on prophecies of future eruptions and the spread of a virus -- decimating half of the world’s population.
