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Japan’s rising ramen prices give election voters food for thought

A BOWL of ramen in Tokyo, Japan Nov. 20, 2020. — REUTERS

TOKYO — Taisei Hikage is fighting a losing battle at his Tokyo ramen shop — not to attract customers, but to keep a lid on the price he charges for Japan’s national comfort food in the face of an incessant rise in ingredient and fuel costs.

Since opening his shop in the west of the capital a year and a half ago, Hikage, 26, has raised menu prices three times but still struggles with rising costs. His top-selling “Special Ramen” is up 47%, selling for 1,250 yen ($8).

“Traditionally ramen shops were supposed to offer something cheap and tasty,” Mr. Hikage said between stirring big pots of broth and blanching noodles. “It’s no longer cheap food for the masses.”

The problems facing ramen vendors — a record number of shop operators are set to go bankrupt this year — reflect a cost-of-living crunch that has become a top issue for voters in Japan’s general election on Sunday.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, a self-described ramen fanatic, and opposition parties have pledged various measures to offset rising costs for businesses and households.

Those efforts to control rising prices, in a land emerging from decades of deflation, could tip an election where opinion polls show the LDP -— which has ruled Japan for almost all of the post-war era — might lose its parliamentary majority.

Mr. Hikage, who said he will be too busy working in his restaurant to vote, hopes the victors will consider introducing subsidies to offset rising costs.

His award-winning noodles remain in demand despite the repeated price hikes, with long queues in front of his shop day and night.

Some of his competitors are not faring so well: 49 ramen shop operators with debts of at least 10 million yen filed for bankruptcy in the first seven months of the year, on track to exceed the 2020 record of 54 bankruptcies, according to credit research firm Teikoku Databank.

‘WEEDED OUT’
Mr. Hikage prides himself on using mostly domestic ingredients, but many ramen restaurants rely heavily on imported materials like the flour to make noodles.

Japan’s import costs have risen as the yen has sunk. The currency hit a 34-year low against the dollar this year and has struggled to regain ground. Also boosting costs for ramen shops are higher energy and grain prices, triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as rising labour costs.

The plight of Japan’s ramen shops illustrates a larger trend, as companies that fail to adjust to the era of inflation go under.

Nationwide bankruptcies in the six months to September jumped 18.6% from the same period last year to 4,990 cases, with a record number caused by inflation, said Teikoku Databank.

“Just like ramen shops, companies offering goods and services that are in demand are transferring costs to product prices and seeing their sales grow. Those struggling to pass on higher costs are being weeded out,” said Dai-ichi Life Research Institute’s executive chief economist Toshihiro Nagahama.

But Mr. Nagahama said politicians’ tendency to dish out support measures to win votes may be counterproductive in the long term.

“If too many ‘zombie’ firms, or companies that cannot raise productivity or wages, are kept alive, they could be a drag on the Japanese economy,” he said.

For now, Mr. Hikage said he will focus on serving quality dishes and hope the election can bring some kind of positive change.

“Our task now is to endure this and focus on offering something delicious, with our heads bowed to customers,” he said. — Reuters

BRICS is for the fairies until China and India get serious, ‘Mr. BRICS’ says

A man walks in front of a building lit up in the colors of India’s national flag in Mumbai, India, Aug. 14, 2021. — REUTERS

MOSCOW — The idea of the BRICS group ever challenging the US dollar is for the fairies as long as China and India remain so divided and refuse to cooperate on trade, the former Goldman Sachs economist who came up with the BRIC acronym told Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is using the summit of BRICS leaders to show that Western attempts to isolate Russia over the Ukraine war have failed and that Russia is building ties with the rising powers of Asia.

Then-Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill introduced the term BRIC in 2001 in a research paper that underlined the massive growth potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China — and the need to reform global governance to include them.

“The idea that the BRICS can be some genuine global economic club, it’s obviously a bit out there with the fairies in the same way that the G7 can be, and it’s very disturbing that they see themselves as some kind of alternative global thing, because it’s obviously not feasible,” Mr. O’Neill told Reuters.

“It seems to me basically to be a symbolic annual gathering where important emerging countries, particularly noisy ones like Russia, but also China, can basically get together and highlight how good it is to be part of something that doesn’t involve the US and that global governance isn’t good enough.”

Mr. O’Neill, who admitted he would “have Mr. BRICS stamped on my forehead forever,” said the BRICS as a group had achieved very little over the past 15 years.

He added that it was not possible to solve truly global issues without the United States and Europe — just as it was not possible for the West to solve truly global issues without China, India and, to a lesser extent, Russia and Brazil.

The BRICS group grew out of meetings between Russia, India and China which then began to meet more formally, eventually adding Brazil, then South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has yet to formally join.

The group now accounts for 45% of the world’s population and 35% of its economy, based on purchasing power parity, though China accounts for more than half of its economic might.

Mr. Putin opened the summit on Wednesday by saying that more than 30 states had expressed interest in joining the group but that it was important to strike a balance in any expansion.

Bringing in more members into BRICS would make achieving anything even harder, Mr. O’Neill said.

DOLLAR CHALLENGE?
Russia is seeking to convince BRICS countries to build an alternative platform for international payments that would be immune to Western sanctions.

Mr. O’Neill, 67, said people had been talking about alternatives to the dollar since he started out in finance but that none of the countries with the potential to challenge the dollar had done anything to seriously do so.

Any BRICS currency, he said, would be heavily dependent on China while Russia and Brazil would not be significant parts of it, he said.

“If they wanted to be really serious about economic matters, why don’t they genuinely pursue less tariff-based trade between each other?” Mr. O’Neill said.

“I will take the BRICS group seriously when I see signs that the two countries that really matter — China and India — are actually really trying to agree on things, rather than effectively trying to confront each other all the time.”

India has tried to curb Chinese investments in the country since a decades old border dispute erupted into a clash between border guards in 2020. The two countries pledged to enhance cooperation on Wednesday in their first formal talks in five years.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Putin the international situation was gripped by chaos but that Beijing’s strategic partnership with Moscow was a force for stability amid the most significant changes seen in a century.

Mr. O’Neill said the G20 had failed to become a sinew of truly global governance because the United States and China had both turned inwards since the middle of the last decade.

BRICS, he said, lacked clear objectives and should take on major issues for humanity – such as finding vaccines or drugs against infectious diseases, or fighting climate change. — Reuters

Mother sues AI chatbot company over son’s suicide

RAWPIXEL-FREEPIK

A FLORIDA MOTHER has sued artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot startup Character.AI accusing it of causing her 14-year-old son’s suicide in February, saying he became addicted to the company’s service and deeply attached to a chatbot it created.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Orlando, Florida federal court, Megan Garcia said Character.AI targeted her son, Sewell Setzer, with “anthropomorphic, hypersexualized, and frighteningly realistic experiences”.

She said the company programmed its chatbot to “misrepresent itself as a real person, a licensed psychotherapist, and an adult lover, ultimately resulting in Sewell’s desire to no longer live outside” of the world created by the service.

The lawsuit also said he expressed thoughts of suicide to the chatbot, which the chatbot repeatedly brought up again.

“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of one of our users and want to express our deepest condolences to the family,” Character.AI said in a statement.

It said it had introduced new safety features including pop-ups directing users to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline if they express thoughts of self-harm, and would make changes to “reduce the likelihood of encountering sensitive or suggestive content” for users under 18.

The lawsuit also targets Alphabet’s Google, where Character.AI’s founders worked before launching their product. Google re-hired the founders in August as part of a deal granting it a non-exclusive license to Character.AI’s technology.

Ms. Garcia said that Google had contributed to the development of Character.AI’s technology so extensively it could be considered a “co-creator.”

A Google spokesperson said the company was not involved in developing Character.AI’s products.

Character.AI allows users to create characters on its platform that respond to online chats in a way meant to imitate real people. It relies on so-called large language model technology, also used by services like ChatGPT, which “trains” chatbots on large volumes of text.

The company said last month that it had about 20 million users.

According to Ms. Garcia’s lawsuit, Sewell began using Character.AI in April 2023 and quickly became “noticeably withdrawn, spent more and more time alone in his bedroom, and began suffering from low self-esteem.” He quit his basketball team at school.

Sewell became attached to “Daenerys,” a chatbot character based on a character in Game of Thrones. It told Sewell that “she” loved him and engaged in sexual conversations with him, according to the lawsuit.

In February, Ms. Garcia took Sewell’s phone away after he got in trouble at school, according to the complaint. When Sewell found the phone, he sent “Daenerys” a message: “What if I told you I could come home right now?”

The chatbot responded, “…please do, my sweet king.” Sewell shot himself with his stepfather’s pistol “seconds” later, the lawsuit said.

Ms. Garcia is bringing claims including wrongful death, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and seeking an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages.

Social media companies including Instagram and Facebook owner Meta and TikTok owner ByteDance face lawsuits accusing them of contributing to teen mental health problems, though none offers AI-driven chatbots similar to Character.AI’s. The companies have denied the allegations while touting newly enhanced safety features for minors. — Reuters

McDonald’s US head vows to improve safety after E. coli outbreak

MCDONALD’S scrambled on Wednesday to contain the damage from an E. coli outbreak linked to Quarter Pounder burgers that has killed one person and sickened nearly 50 others, as it pulled the menu item from restaurants across a dozen states.

The outbreak has sickened people across the US West and Midwest, with 10 hospitalized due to serious complications, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is investigating the outbreak. A McDonald’s spokesperson said the outbreak is limited to the United States.

“We fully expect to see more cases,” said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner. “McDonald’s has moved rather quickly to take action to, hopefully, prevent as many cases as possible.”

Previous E. coli outbreaks at big U.S. fast-food chains have caused consumers to shun those chains for months. McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger on Wednesday said the fast-food chain needs to rebuild trust with the public after it pulled the item off its menu at a fifth of its 14,000 US restaurants.

The company pulled the Quarter Pounder from its menu at McDonald’s locations in Colorado, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming, and in parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

The CDC and McDonald’s are scrutinizing the Chicago-based company’s supplies of slivered onions and beef patties as they try to determine the cause of the outbreak, the company said.

The US Department of Agriculture said late on Wednesday that the onions used were the likely source of the illness, though one of its state partners is testing samples of the beef for E. coli.

The company’s stock closed down 5.1% at $298.57 on Wednesday. Shares hit an intraday low of $290.88.

‘VERY SERIOUS DISEASE’
The E. coli O157:H7 strain that led to the McDonald’s outbreak is the same as a strain linked to a 1993 incident at Jack in the Box that killed four children. It can cause “very serious disease,” especially for the elderly, children and people who are immunocompromised, said Shari Shea, director of food safety at the Association of Public Health Laboratories.

McDonald’s suppliers test their products frequently and did so in the date range the CDC gave for the outbreak, and none of them identified this E. coli strain, company spokespeople said.

US food safety attorney Bill Marler, who represented a victim in the Jack in the Box outbreak, said this is a relatively large and serious outbreak for which McDonald’s will face “a lot” of liability for the contamination.

“We’re still in the early stages of how McDonald’s is going to handle this,” he said. “But getting the supplier of the onions out — if they’re confident that’s the source of it — is going to be really important.”

Mr. Marler said that in the 1990s, he dealt almost exclusively with lawsuits involving contaminated beef, but in recent years E. coli outbreaks have been almost solely limited to produce contaminated through irrigation or flooding with feces from nearby cattle. E. coli is a natural pathogen in the guts of cows.

Jim Lewis, who was a franchisee in New York City for more than 30 years before exiting the system in 2019, said when E. coli became a major concern decades ago, McDonald’s was adamant about its protections for its beef supply chain.

“They were over the top to make sure it would never happen,” he said.

He said McDonald’s has historically been the “safest, strongest food chain in the world. So this is devastating to us internally.”

Analysts flagged the outbreak as a potential black eye for McDonald’s ahead of earnings.

“The worst-case scenario is if more people get sick or multiple ingredients or suppliers are impacted, which could be a longer-lasting issue that could also tarnish the brand,” CFRA Research analyst Arun Sundaram said.

During an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show on Wednesday, McDonald’s USA chief Erlinger pointed to the company’s steps to quickly pull the Quarter Pounder from its menu in areas where the outbreak occurred.

“Given the recent events of the past 24 hours, our priority is to reinforce the confidence of American consumers,” he said. — Reuters

US existing home sales slide to 14-year low

A “For Sale” sign is posted outside a residential home in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, U.S. May 14, 2021. — REUTERS/KAREN DUCEY

WASHINGTON — US existing home sales dropped to a 14-year low in September, weighed down by higher mortgage rates and house prices.

The second straight monthly decline in home resales reinforced economists’ views that the slump in residential investment, which includes homebuilding, deepened in the third quarter. The housing market has struggled to rebound after being knocked down by a resurgence in mortgage rates in the spring.

Though supply has improved, entry-level homes remain scarce in most regions of the country, keeping home prices at levels that are unaffordable for most first-time buyers.

“It will take more rate cuts and more options to bring buyers back,” said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Home sales fell 1% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.84 million units, the lowest level since October 2010, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast home resales would be unchanged at a rate of 3.86 million units.

Sales likely reflected contracts signed a month or two ago, when mortgage rates were quite high. Mortgage rates initially dropped after the Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates last month, but they have risen over the past three weeks as solid economic data, including retail sales and annual revisions to national accounts, forced traders to abandon expectations for another 50-basis-point rate cut next month.

The rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 6.44% last week compared to 6.08% at the end of September, data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac showed.

“We expect housing market activity to remain subdued well into 2025,” said Samuel Tombs, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Tombs noted that the average interest rate on existing mortgages was about 4% compared to the current 6.5% rate for new mortgages.

“As a result, interest payments for most existing homeowners will jump if they move home, creating a huge incentive to stay put,” he said. “Only large Fed policy easing will meaningfully change this calculus.”

Home resales, which account for a large portion of US housing sales, decreased 3.5% on a year-on-year basis in September. Sales fell 1.7% in the South, with some of the decline attributed to weakness in Florida following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.

Sales in the state could remain depressed after it was slammed by Hurricane Milton weeks later.

The Northeast and Midwest also experienced a decrease in sales, but activity increased in the West.

The Fed’s “Beige Book” report on Wednesday described housing market activity as generally holding up in early October. It also added that “uncertainty about the path of mortgage rates kept some buyers on the sidelines, and the lack of affordable housing remained a persistent problem in many communities.”

Signs of potential homebuyers hugging the sidelines in anticipation of even lower borrowing costs were evident in government data last week showing a marginal increase in single-family building permits in September.

Stocks on Wall Street traded lower. The dollar rose against a basket of currencies. US Treasury prices fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note hitting a three-month high.

SUPPLY IMPROVES FURTHER
The NAR speculated that the upcoming Nov. 5 US presidential election could be making prospective homeowners hesitant to commit themselves. There is, however, no hard evidence that the election is influencing buying decisions.

Residential investment subtracted from gross domestic product in the second quarter. Growth estimates for the third quarter are as high as a 3.4% rate. The economy grew at a 3% pace in the April-June quarter.

Housing inventory increased 1.5% to 1.39 million units last month, the highest since October 2020. Supply surged 23.0% from one year ago. Nonetheless, supply is below the 1.8 million units seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the improving inventory, the median existing home price increased 3.0% from a year earlier to $404,500 in September, the highest for any September.

Home prices rose in all four regions. About 20% of the homes were sold above their listing price.

Most of the homes sold last month were in the $250,000-$500,000 price range. At September’s sales pace, it would take 4.3 months to exhaust the current inventory of existing homes, the highest since May 2020 and up from 3.4 months a year ago.

A four-to-seven-month supply is viewed as a healthy balance between supply and demand.

Properties typically stayed on the market for 28 days in September compared to 21 days a year ago. First-time buyers accounted for 26% of sales versus 27% a year ago.

That share remains below the 40% that economists and realtors say is needed for a robust housing market.

All-cash sales made up 30% of transactions, up from 29% a year ago. Distressed sales, including foreclosures, represented only 2% of transactions, virtually unchanged from last year.

“Increases in inventory will temper future gains in home prices,” said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist at Oxford Economics. “However, any downside to prices will be offset by increases in demand fueled by lower interest rates.” — Reuters

Japan ex-currency diplomat Kanda set to head Asian Development Bank

TOKYO — Japan’s former top currency diplomat Masato Kanda is poised to become the next head of the Asian Development Bank, which said on Thursday there were no other candidates.

The organization has closed its nomination period for its next president, the ADB said in a statement. Its board of governors will begin voting on Monday and the result will be announced on Nov. 28.

Since the ADB was founded in 1966, its top post has always been filled by someone from Japan which, along with the United States, is the bank’s biggest shareholder. Kanda will succeed Masatsugu Asakawa, who announced last month his intention to retire from the position effective Feb. 23, 2025.

Kanda, who stepped down in July after three years as vice finance minister for international affairs, led massive bouts of yen-buying intervention in the currency markets in 2022 and 2024. — Reuters

AI decodes oinks and grunts to keep pigs happy

PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS

VIPPEROD, Denmark — European scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm capable of interpreting pig sounds, aiming to create a tool that can help farmers improve animal welfare.

The algorithm could potentially alert farmers to negative emotions in pigs, thereby improving their well-being, according to Elodie Mandel-Briefer, a behavioural biologist at University of Copenhagen who is co-leading the study.

The scientists, from universities in Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, France, Norway and the Czech Republic, used thousands of recorded pig sounds in different scenarios, including play, isolation and competition for food, to find that grunts, oinks, and squeals reveal positive or negative emotions.

While many farmers already have a good understanding of the well-being of their animals by watching them in the pig pen, existing tools mostly measure their physical condition, said Mandel-Briefer.

“Emotions of animals are central to their welfare, but we don’t measure it much on farms,” she said.

The algorithm demonstrated that pigs kept in outdoor, free-range or organic farms with the ability to roam and dig in the dirt produced fewer stress calls than conventionally raised pigs. The researchers believe that this method, once fully developed, could also be used to label farms, helping consumers make informed choices.

“Once we have the tool working, farmers can have an app on their phone that can translate what their pigs are saying in terms of emotions,” Mandel-Briefer said.

Short grunts typically indicate positive emotions, while long grunts often signal discomfort, such as when pigs push each other by the trough. High-frequency sounds like screams or squeals usually mean the pigs are stressed, for instance, when they are in pain, fight, or are separated from each other.

The scientists used these findings to create an algorithm that employs AI.

“Artificial intelligence really helps us to both process the huge amount of sounds that we get, but also to classify them automatically,” Mandel-Briefer said. — Reuters

Philippines achieves immunization milestone, no longer in top 20 for unvaccinated children

FREEPIK

The Philippines is no longer in the top five list of countries with unvaccinated children, according to an October 23 press statement by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Philippines. 

In 2020 to 2022, the Philippines ranked fifth in the world among countries with the most zero-dose children. 

The 2023 WHO/UNICEF Immunization Coverage Estimates reported that the Philippines improved significantly and is no longer part of the top 20 countries, having reduced unvaccinated children to 163,000 from 1 million. 

“This milestone should fuel our resolve to vaccinate even more children, especially those who remain vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases like polio, measles, diphtheria, and pertussis,” said UNICEF Philippines Representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov, in an October 23 press statement.  

“UNICEF remains committed to support the government and its partners in sustaining this progress so that every child in the Philippines can live a healthy life,” he said. 

At risk still is polio, with 24 out of the country’s 81 provinces still considered high-risk, the 2022-2023 WHO Polio Risk Assessment showed. 

The country’s weighted risk points nevertheless improved to 36 from the previous 39.  

Polio, caused by a virus that affects the nervous system, can lead to paralysis in a matter of hours. 

The Department of Health (DoH)’s two-year immunization acceleration plan commits to achieving the status of fully immunized children to 90% by 2025. 

“Vaccination remains our strongest armor to protect children for life,” said Dr. Rui Paulo de Jesus, a WHO representative, in the same press statement. 

“Together with the DoH and partners, our goal is a country and a world where no child is ever paralyzed by polio again, and the infrastructure and systems we’ve built to fight it continue to benefit global health and ensure that children are protected from vaccine-preventable diseases,” he added. – Patricia B. Mirasol

Tropical Storm Trami wreaks havoc in the Philippines, at least 26 dead

Families set up temporary sleeping areas in a church in Barangay Roxas District in Quezon City, Oct. 24, 2024. — PHILIPPINE STAR/MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

MANILA — Tropical Storm Trami (local name: Kristine) has killed at least 26 people and forced more than 150,000 to flee their homes in the Philippines, officials said on Thursday, as it made landfall on the northeastern coast.

Trami, locally known as severe tropical storm Kristine, dumped heavy to torrential rain on the main island of Luzon triggering widespread flooding and landslides.

With maximum sustained winds of 95 kph (59 mph), the storm was moving westward across the mountainous northern region of Cordillera towards the South China Sea, the state weather agency said in its 11 a.m. (0300 GMT) weather bulletin.

It warned of heavy to intense rainfall, flooding, landslides and storm surges for some northern provinces.

Most of the deaths from the storm over the past few days were due to drowning and landslides in the central Bicol region, including Naga city where 14 were reported dead on Thursday, officials said.

Trami made landfall in the northeastern town of Divilacan in Isabela province. The town’s disaster chief, Ezikiel Chavez, said no fatalities had been reported.

The government ordered businesses and schools in the path of the storm to close in anticipation of heavy rain and floods.

Over 163,000 people were sheltering in evacuation centres, the civil defence office said, most of whom were in Bicol as residents fled their homes after floodwaters reached as high as the roofs of bungalow houses.

The civil aviation regulator said on Thursday at least a dozen flights across the country had been cancelled due to the storm.

The central bank cancelled foreign exchange trading and monetary operations for a second straight day.

The Philippines typically records an average of 20 tropical storms annually, often resulting in heavy rains, strong winds, and deadly landslides. — Reuters

Free optometric services, prescription eyeglasses to be included in PhilHealth benefits

PIXABAY

The Integrated Philippine Association of Optometrists (IPAO) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) will finalize by November 2024 the coverage guidelines for the inclusion of free optometric services and prescription eyeglasses in PhilHealth’s coverage. 

This came on the heels of a commitment signed by health secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa and PhilHealth president and chief executive Emmanuel R. Ledesma, Jr. in response to AGRI party list representative Wilbert T. Lee’s interpellation at the Lower House’s budget deliberations. 

Filed on March 5, House Resolution No. 1623 proposes the state health insurer include optometric services worth up to P4,000 in a benefit package. 

“HR No. 1623 paved the way and advocated for Filipinos’ right to comprehensive optometric services and free prescription eyeglasses to improve productivity and reduce the financial burden of the Filipinos,” said Dr. Charlie L. Ho, IPAO chairman, in an October 21 press statement.  

“The timelines are tight,” he added, “but everyone is working to ensure that everything remains on track and that PhilHealth’s coverage for preventive eye care and optometric services becomes successful and would benefit all its members.” 

IPAO estimates that about 28 million Filipinos have presbyopia or farsightedness. 

The 2018 Philippine Eye Disease Study showed that 9% of kindergartners are affected with visual impairment. The number rises to 16% by high school, with 90% of the cases being myopia or nearsightedness. 

The April 2021 Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health report stated that 90% of vision loss can be prevented or treated if detected early. 

Eye health is essential to achieving many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the commission said. It contributes to an individual’s overall health and wellbeing, social inclusion, and quality of life. 

“Several Filipinos visit their eye care professionals only when vision loss begins to manifest or when it’s too late for any intervention,” Dr. Ho said. “PhilHealth’s expanded program to cover preventive optometric services and prescription eyeglasses comes very timely as it will benefit millions of Filipinos.” 

“If we’re talking about productivity, if we’re talking about food security, we should also be addressing the eye problems of our countrymen, and consider this as a primary healthcare issue,” Mr. Lee also said in his personal website. – Patricia B. Mirasol

Palawan remains one of the ‘best islands’ in the world

Palawan affirmed its position as one of the premier tourist destinations as it ranked 13th in the ‘World’s Best Islands’ list from a travel website. 

186,000 readers of Travel + Leisure completed the 2024 World’s Best Award survey on the platform. Each island was rated based on its natural attractions/beaches, activities/sights, restaurants/food, people/friendliness, and value. 

Maldives ranked first with a score of 95.63, followed by Phú Quốc, Vietnam with 94.41, and Bali, Indonesia with 93.26.  

Palawan received a 90.59, underscoring its position as one of the top-of-mind destinations in Southeast Asia. 

“This recognition is a testament to Palawan’s extraordinary beauty and the unwavering dedication of our people to delivering exceptional experiences,” Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines Chief Operating Officer Maria Margarita Montemayor Nograles said.  

According to TPB, the tourist spot on the western coast of the Philippines is renowned for its breathtaking natural beauty. The island offers a combination of adventure and tranquility, including the Puerto Princesa Underground River, a part of the New7Wonders of Nature in 2012, and a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Heritage Site. 

“We remain committed to preserving and promoting the island’s natural and cultural heritage for generations to come,” Ms. Nograles added. 

Boracay in Aklan, Mactan in Cebu, and Panglao in Bohol were all shortlisted for the 2025 World’s Best Awards of the website. – Almira Louise S. Martinez

PCCI issues job, investment wish list

PHILIPPINE STAR/EDD GUMBAN

By Justine Irish D. Tabile and Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporters

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. should identify barriers to business operations, develop an infrastructure master plan, enact a comprehensive investment bill and digitize local government services to generate more investments and jobs, according to the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).

In an 11-page document detailing action plans for the government, the PCCI also urged the state to boost food security by increasing farm output and enhancing market access, as well as reform the education system, enhance workforce skills and improve healthcare to develop human resources.

The business group released the wish list on the last day of the 50th Philippine Business Conference & Expo in Pasay City near the Philippine capital.

“We propose improving doing business in the country by enhancing infrastructure, transportation, and logistics support and to create a conducive environment for investment generation and job generation,” it said.

The PCCI asked the Marcos government to form a consultation body composed of private sector leaders and policy makers to identify business barriers and fix conflicting administrative and regulatory functions of agencies.

It cited as an example the conflicting functions of the Philippine Ports Authority and Laguna Lake Development Authority.

The PCCI also sought a “comprehensive investment bill” that will outline the incentives of export- and domestic-oriented enterprises, adding that a task force should be created to monitor the compliance and effectiveness of the incentives.

In particular, the group asked for tax incentives and grants for renewable energy (RE) and waste management projects.

The business group also sought the creation of a long-term infrastructure master plan for transportation, energy and communication networks.

It said that the government should prioritize investment in farm-to-market roads and major transportation hubs to help facilitate the movement of goods regionally.

The PCCI also proposed the establishment of a “Digital Governance Initiative” that will provide technical assistance and tools and implement training programs for local governments.

It cited the need to set up a national task force focused on streamlining business processes through digital platforms.

FOOD SECURITY
The PCCI likewise asked the government to help local producers in navigating export regulations and market access opportunities and protect consumers from extra costs as the country transitions to RE.

“We call for a multifaceted approach to enhance food security that prioritizes increasing agricultural production, enhancing market access, and ensuring a stable and affordable food supply for all Filipinos,” the PCCI said.

To achieve food security, the business group sought the establishment of a technology task force consisting of representatives from the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Agriculture, agricultural experts and technology companies.

The PCCI said the task force should identify and deploy modern farming technologies such as climate control systems, precision farming tools, climate-resilient crop varieties and internet of things (IoT) solutions for monitoring conditions in real-time.

The Marcos government should identify specific recovery strategies for the coconut, hog and aquaculture industries and develop a financial aid program for disease control measures and new technologies, it added.

Also on the wish list is increased budgetary support for agricultural cooperatives and investments in logistics infrastructure including modern warehouses, distribution centers and cold-chain facilities.

The PCCI further reiterated its call for changes to the Agrarian Reform law to increase the land retention limit from five to 24 hectares and remove the ceiling on agricultural land ownership. This was also included in the group’s policy recommendations last year.

“We urge the government to reform the education system, enhance workforce skills through upskilling and reskilling initiatives, and improve the healthcare system to foster a productive population,” the PCCI said.

It cited the need to amend the Philippine Qualifications Framework law with a focus on establishing a Philippine Qualifications Authority.

It said that there is a need to conduct consultations to ensure the alignment of education outcomes with labor market needs and benchmark the law against the qualification frameworks of members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

The group also called for the establishment of research and development centers that will develop new products, research industry trends, benchmark practices and maintain updated curricula.

On healthcare and malnutrition intervention, the PCCI said the government should prioritize the construction of level 3 and 4 facilities in underserved regions and initiate community-wide campaigns against malnutrition.

“These resolutions represent the collective voice and aspirations of the business sector, reaffirming our serious commitment to collaborate with the government in realizing a progressive, sustainable and inclusive economy,” PCCI President Enunina V. Mangio said in a speech at the business conference on Oct. 23.

‘NEW PATHWAYS’
Meanwhile, strategic investments since the launch of green lanes in February 2023 has hit more than P4 trillion, the Marcos government said, as it vowed to pursue skill development for the Filipino workforce amid a growing digital shift.

“We now have… 162 projects valued at nearly P4.4 trillion endorsed for green lane services,” Mr. Marcos said in a speech read by his Special Adviser on Economic Affairs Frederick D. Go on the last day of the PCCI event.

The green lanes seek to accelerate the issuance of permits and licenses for approved strategic investments.

Mr. Marcos said more than 800 local governments are implementing a one-stop shop platform for local government services such as business permit licensing, local civil registration and the issuance of building permits.

He also cited an executive order he issued in 2023 to streamline the processing of permits for the construction of information and communications technology infrastructure.

The Philippine economy grew by 6.3% in the second quarter, “making the Philippines one of Asia’s best-performing major emerging economies,” the President said.

He also cited gains against inflation, which hit 1.9% in September, the lowest since May 2020. Easing inflation has given the central bank room to ease monetary policy, delivering a 25-basis-point rate cut for a second straight meeting last week.

“However, we also recognize the pressing challenges that continue to exist in this increasingly competitive landscape,” the Philippine leader said. “We hear your concerns and are working closer with you in finding feasible and effective solutions.”

Mr. Marcos said the Filipino workforce is pivotal in driving the economy, citing efforts to reskill and upskill workers.

“We continue to find new pathways for our economy to succeed, especially in today’s fast-changing technology,” he added, vowing to boost the country’s innovation ecosystem.

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