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Dennis Uy to buy stake in ISM via share issue

ISM Communications Corp. said its board has authorized the executive committee to issue shares, adding that Udenna Group’s Dennis A. Uy has “committed” to participate in the fund-raising exercise.
The company told the stock exchange on Friday that the approval, which was given during a board meeting yesterday, covers the issue of 841,945,107 treasury shares and 883,730,659 unissued shares at a minimum price of P1.45 per share.
The price per share is equivalent to a 20% discount to the 60-day volume-weighted average price as of Thursday, “and on such other terms and conditions as the Executive Committee may find appropriate and proper.”
“The Executive Committee has a period of 90 days from date of this approval to exercise this authority granted by the Board. One of the investors who has committed to participate in the private placement is Mr. Dennis A. Uy, the founder of the Udenna Group of Companies,” ISM said.
It did not elaborate on the size of the intended purchase.
“ISM intends to use the proceeds of this issuance to fund the investment opportunities currently being pursued by management,” it added.
A former mining company, ISM in the early 2000s shifted to information technology, multimedia telecommunications, and other similar industries. It became a holding company in November 2016.
ISM currently owns 32% of Acentic GmbH, a German provider of Internet connectivity and inter-room entertainment solutions for the hospitality business. It also owns a 37.1% stake in the Philippine Bank of Communications.
On Friday, shares in ISM jumped 13.46% to close at P2.36. Before noon yesterday, it had requested a voluntary trading halt for the remainder of the day. — Victor V. Saulon

BPI to offer up to $2-B medium term notes

BANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) said it has been authorized by its board to establish an up to $2 billion dollar-denominated medium-term note (MTN) program, with the notes to be listed in Singapore.
BPI said in a filing on Friday that the MTN program will help the bank “maximize flexibility in accessing funding expediently.”
BPI has tapped BPI Capital as sole global coordinator and lead arranger for the program, while Deutsche Bank, HSBC and J.P. Morgan will serve as joint lead arrangers.
The arrangers, along with BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, ING, Mizuho Securities, MUFG, Standard Chartered Bank, UBS and Wells Fargo Securities, were appointed as dealers.
Philippine National Bank and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. have also tapped the foreign debt market recently, raising $300 million and $150 million, respectively, from medium-term note facilities.
In April, BPI raised P50 billion through a rights offer, selling 558.7 million common sharesat P89.50 per share.
Proceeds from the fund-raising activity will be used to finance its digitalization program, expand its retail loan portfolio and put up more branches.
BPI, the third-largest bank in the country in terms of assets, booked a net profit of P6.25 billion in the first quarter, little changed from a year earlier, due to lower trading gains. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Senators question PDEA plan for drug testing in schools

By Camille A. Aguinaldo
SENATORS on Friday questioned the plan of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to conduct mandatory drug testing for teachers and for students from Grade 4 and up, saying that ten-year-old Grade 4 students were too young to undergo such testing.
Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III, who once chaired the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), said he has asked PDEA to raise the grade level to at least Grade 6 students
“I think I was able to convince them to follow the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program…which focuses on Grade 6 and up,” Mr. Sotto told reporters in a phone message.
Instead of an all-out mandatory testing, Mr. Sotto said PDEA may consider a combination of random and mandatory testing.
“Generally random but mandatory if they believe the school is reportedly notorious for illegal drugs. Guidelines have to be drawn out so as not to violate any laws or rights,” he said.
For their part, Senators Aquilino L. Pimentel III and Joseph Victor G. Ejercito said the plan was expensive, given the number of elementary students in the country.
“That’s a huge expense, hence I’m interested to know who came up with such a ‘brilliant’ idea. It was made mandatory so there would really be a huge expense,” Mr. Pimentel told reporters via phone message in a mix of Filipino and English.
“Another consideration will be the cost as it is quite expensive to have a drug test. Just imagine how many billions (of pesos are) needed if kids from Grade 4 onwards are to have mandatory drug testing,” Mr. Ejercito said in a phone message to reporters.
Mr. Pimentel also called the plan “pointless,” saying the person who tested positive cannot be forced to supply essential information related to drug use.
“That is pointless because what is the use of the test result? If positive, then what? And how many false or wrong positives and even negatives will our system produce?” he said.
“Assume there is a positive test result. Start drafting the information or even the complaint which starts the preliminary investigation. What will you put there? When did he take the drug? Where? What kind of drug? What quantity? We cannot force the person concerned to supply all of these essential information,” the senator added.
PDEA chief Aaron Aquino said mandatory drug testing was meant for students to get necessary intervention while they were still young.
Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2002 only provides random drug testing for students in the secondary and tertiary level.

Higher corn imports seen this year

By Janina C. Lim, Reporter
A GROUP of corn stakeholders is expecting the country to import half a million metric tons of the grain this year as farmers have refused to plant the crop amid low market prices.
“Nagimport tayo ng corn this summer from Indonesia. Marami [There have been corn imports this summer from Indonesia. It was a lot],” Roger V. Navarro, president of Philmaize Federation Inc., said in a phone interview on Friday, noting that shipments have been arriving since January.
“Siguro aabot na yan ng [It might reach] 500,000 MT,” Mr. Navarro added, referring to projections for the rest of the year. This is more than double the estimated 200,000 shipped in last year.
Mr. Navarro said some farmers did not plant corn this crop year due to depressed market prices which Mhe attributed to the robust stocks of feed wheat, a cheaper alternative to livestock feeds.
“Last year, surplus tayo tapos naghahanap tayo ng merkado. Marami nagsasabi na kukunin, pero wala din kasi marami din import ng feed wheat [Last year, we had a surplus so we we’re looking for a market. Many said they will buy but that did not happen because there has been much importation of feed wheat],” Mr. Navarro said.
He said about 2.5 million MT of feed wheat were imported last year, higher than the average 1 to 2 million MT the country used to import annually.
As such, inventories ran out of space for local corn and was filled instead by the cheaper feed wheat.
PhilMaize will continue monitoring the market through the harvest period of July to August to see whether more feed wheat will be shipped in.
“Kung babagsak ang presyo, kaunti na naman magtatanim [If prices fall, only a few again would plant],” he added.
During the first three months of the year, corn production stood at 2.476 million MT, up 4.66% from the 2.366 million MT in the first quarter last year.
Corn production in 2017 stood at 1.629 million MT, down from 1.728 million MT.

Boracay Water to accelerate development of sewage treatment projects

BORACAY Island Water Co., Inc. (Boracay Water) said it will be fast-tracking its sewer projects as requested by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which will mean accelerated spending this year.
Boracay Water General Manager and Chief Operating Officer Joseph Michael A. Santos said Friday that while the company has no plans to alter its overall capital budget, implementing projects two years earlier than planned would mean increased spending this year.
The company, a joint venture between Manila Water Company, Inc. and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), has budgeted P2.4 billion for capital expenditure between 2018 and 2022.
“This year, we were supposed to spend P677 million but it may balloon to P700 million because of acceleration of the project,” Mr. Santos said.
“We are trying to manage with the P2.4 billion because that was the amount discussed during the rate rebasing period… as per projection, we can still meet the P2.4 billion [budget] even [as we] advance the projects.”
Based on its approved business plan, Boracay Water will deload the Balabag sewage treatment plant (STP) which has a capacity of 6.5 million liters per day (MLD) by transferring some 3 MLD in the next two months to the Manoc-Manoc STP.
The Manoc-Manoc STP, which only has 5 MLD capacity at present, will be upgraded to 8.5 MLD by year’s end.
The company will also begin the construction of another STP in Barangay Yapak by next year to increase the total capacity on the island to 21 MLD.
Mr. Santos said that the new facility is budgeted at P450 million, while a 20-kilometer sewer network which will add to the existing 22 km will cost about P700 million.
Mr. Santos expects lower increases at the next rate rebasing in 2022.
“Come next rebasing, based on my best estimate, we may not be spending that much for the reason that for this current rate rebasing we’ve already laid out the projects that we foresee especially addressing the water issues,” he added.
“By that time, by 2022, we’ll already have three STPs which will have the capability of more or less 21 MLD. By that time, it (rate adjustments) will only be very minimal so hopefully, we’re just talking about centavos’ worth of increases.”
So far, Boracay Water said that it has blocked 36 pipes illegally connected to the drainage system and has built a temporary interception and diversion system to redirect the drainage water to its Balabag STP as part of its efforts to assist the government in cleaning up the island.
The company said it will also accommodate non-customers in connecting to its network. It was discovered that 95% of its residential accounts and 49% of its commercial accounts are not connected to its STPs. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato

AUB to tap more automation, mobile services

ASIA United Bank Corp. (AUB) said it hopes to improve the user experience for its customers with more automation and a push to move services online, especially to mobile.
AUB President Manuel A. Gomez said: “Our innovation initiative will help us to find and focus on our identified markets and their needs and the best strategy is to address these needs.”
Mr. Gomez was speaking at a briefing after the AUB shareholder meeting Friday.
AUB Operations and Technology Head Wilfredo E. Rodriguez, Jr. said in a statement: ”We have so far incorporated InstaPay in both our mobile app and internet banking to allow our customers to do real-time fund transfer to other banks on a 24/7 basis.”
In April, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas launched the InstaPay platform which allows customers to do real-time and interbank fund transfers of up to P50,000 per transaction.
Mr. Gomez added that AUB has also launched a credit card mobile app, allowing cardholders to access their accounts anytime.
Mr. Rodriguez said AUB’s information technology bill is expected to grow 20% this year.
“A big portion of the increase is actually going into security software and services that will enable us to further protect our investments in technology and systems,” Mr. Rodriguez said.
He added that AUB is able to generate savings by developing systems in-house.
“In most of the banks, the majority of their IT expense is on the application software itself. However, since we do our applications in-house, we are able to save.”
AUB is also open to collaborations with financial technology (fintech) companies, he said.
Recently, AUB partnered with mobile payment providers WeChat Pay and Alipay to service the influx of Chinese visitors in the country.
“After our WeChat collaboration last year, we actually entered into the same arrangement with Alipay early this year, AUB Group Business Head for Cards, Wechat & Alipay Maria Magdalena V. Surtida said.
In a previous interview with BusinessWorld, Ms. Surtida said the bank will also launch its own digital wallet to allow AUB’s partner-merchants to digitally receive payments from domestic customers.
Ms. Surtida said the bank has partnered with 5,000 merchants on the payment schemes.
AUB, the 14th biggest bank in the country in terms of assets at the end of 2017, reported a first quarter net profit of P797.7 million, up 21.3%.
AUB shares closed at P59.15 on Friday, up 15 centavos or 0.25%. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Sereno to be ‘legal activist,’ mulls political options

By Charmaine A. Tadalan
FORMER chief justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno in an interview Thursday said she is still considering where politics will fit in her life outside the Supreme Court (SC).
“I get contradictory observations. May mga politiko na nagsasabing kaya, may mga nagsasabing huwag, Chief, remain a purist. So tingnan natin. (There are politicians saying it’s possible, but there are those saying, don’t, Chief, remain a purist. So let’s see),” Ms. Sereno said in an interview with The Chiefs at One News.
The SC on Tuesday ruled her ouster as final, after it denied her motion for reconsideration on the quo warranto case filed by the government’s lawyer, Jose C. Calida.
Ms. Sereno, who now refers to herself as “Citizen Meilou,” has maintained public appearances that have prompted speculations as to whether she will run for public office.
Asked if she will pursue legal challenges against “anything that is being done by the administration,” Ms. Sereno said, “As a lawyer, as a legal activist, hindi muna (not for now). I will take a step back from that role in the meantime. Mas nag-ko-concentrate ako sa pag-consolidate ng consensus ng mga tao.” (I would rather concentrate on consolidating the consensus among the people.)
As for speculations on her life outside the high court, she said, “Hindi naman talaga mahirap isipin na natural lang na marami nang nagsabi sa akin na tumakbo. Ngunit gaya ng sinabi ko dati sa inyo, may proseso tayong pagdadaan,” she said. (It’s not difficult to think that it’s only natural that many would say I should run. But, like I said, there’s a process we need to go through.)
“I have to go through a process of finding out what is best for our country, what is required to enter into a political contest,” she added.
“The priority right now is to encourage unity among all those who have coalesced their forces in order to fight for judicial independence. All of those people, so many, went to me these past few months and said ‘Chief, you have to speak about these issues, you’re able to articulate them, you’re able to understand what is in our minds, and because you have a platform that history has given you, go ahead.’”
“I believe the best in us can still come out. Hindi pwedeng hindi eh, kasi ang dami nating pwedeng paghugutan (We can’t say it’s impossible, because there’s so much we can draw from): the Filipino-Spanish War, the revolution against the Americans. They call to mind so many heroic deeds of our people. We were always outnumbered, we were always outgunned, but, boy, did we fight.”
“Once a justice always a justice,” she also said.

Robinsons targets MICE market for new Summit Hotel in Tacloban

By Maya M. Padillo, Correspondent
TACLOBAN CITY — Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) is targeting the meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) market for its Summit Hotel Tacloban, which was formally opened on Thursday.
“We acknowledge that Eastern Visayas is a very strong MICE market as there are a lot of corporate and government activities and there’s very few MICE facilities in Tacloban and Eastern Visayas,” RLC General Manager of Hotels and Resorts Elizabeth Kristine D. Gregorio said in an interview at the event.
Ms. Gregorio said the company is optimistic about cornering a slice of the MICE market in Tacloban, which serves as the regional center of Eastern Visayas. Summit is currently the largest hotel in the city.
“We hope to get a sizeable portion of the MICE market in Tacloban and Eastern Visayas given that we have a very superior product, we have a lot to offer,” she said.
The 138-room hotel, which had a soft opening earlier this year, has a ballroom that can accommodate up to 600 people, and smaller function rooms for meetings.
Maria Trinidad C. Dacuycuy, officer-in-charge of the Department of Tourism-Eastern Visayas office, told media during the event that the department is positioning Tacloban as a MICE destination, especially now with more flights available and a resurgent hotel sector
“About 14 flights (a day), and also more and more hotels are being constructed after typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan), and boutique hotels started mushrooming also because of the demand. So we really need more hotels,” Ms. Dacuycuy said.
Ms. Dacuycuy said in the past, MICE hosting bids would fail due to lack of available accommodations and meeting venues.
“We don’t have a (big) venue and the opening of the Summit Hotel is a welcome development in terms of tourism. So now we can bid confidently for more bigger MICE,” she said.
Ms. Gregorio said RLC is ramping up its hotel projects outside the capital due to growing regional markets.
She said, “There’s a lot of activities outside Metro Manila and each region we’re growing more of our Summit Hotel alongside expanding our Go Hotels. But defntiely Summit Hotel will be a MICE facility. This is the first in Eastern Visayas and the first time that we have both a Summit and a Go Hotel in the same city.”

Peso rebounds as trade war fears weaken dollar

THE peso rebounded on Friday as the dollar weakened amid continued concerns over the trade dispute between the United States and China.
The peso ended Friday’s session at P53.28 against the dollar, against the P53.46 finish the previous day.
The peso was stronger from the outset, opening the session at P53.38. The high for the day was P53.23, while the low was P53.46.
Volume rose to $921.5 million from $860.95 million on Thursday.
A trader said that the peso corrected on Friday as the dollar slipped against a basket of Asian currencies.
“The peso corrected after a few sessions trading near P53.50. We’re seeing dollar-Asia trading [higher]. That’s one of the reasons why dollar-peso moved along with other currencies in the region,”
The trader attributed the “slight weakness” of the dollar to the lingering concerns over the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
Since last week, the US and China have been threatening to impose new tariffs on each other’s products, sparking concerns of a looming trade war.
Washington has also threatened Canada, Mexico and the European Union by lifting the temporary reprieve from a 25% duty on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum.
“The dollar is trading a little bit weaker from [Thursday] night and the peso is taking its cue. For one, the trade tensions are still the main thing this week,” the foreign currency trader said in a phone interview.
Meanwhile, another trader said: “The peso closed stronger still due to the recent policy rate hike from the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas).”
The monetary authority raised its policy rates by another 25 basis points during its fourth review for 2018. Rates now stand in the 3-4% range.
“I guess traders were also trying to reduce some long dollar positions after we saw the BSP hiked its rates again last Wednesday,” the first trader said.
Michael L. Ricafort, head of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.’s Economics and Industry Research Division, attributed the strengthening of the peso to “relatively lower global crude oil prices” and a decline in 10-year US government bond yields. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Bourse sinks deeper as gloom persists

THE BOURSE sank deeper on Friday after straying briefly into positive territory moments before closing, marking what an analyst noted was one of the market’s steepest weekly falls in recent history.
The market has recently been reeling from both domestic and foreign developments — a worsening, spreading trade war between the United States on the one hand and China, the European Union and lately India on the other, as well as rising inflation, a nagging current account deficit and a weakening peso at home — that sent it officially into bear territory on Thursday, falling more than 20% from the year’s peak so far.
Unlike Thursday however, which saw all six sectoral indices end lower, two managed to claw their way back from the red on Friday.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed 34.95 points or 0.49% lower at 7,063.2 — down 6.19% on the week and 17.47% from end-2017 — while the all-shares index gave up 22.15 points or 0.51% to end 4,347.06.
PSEi — which fell to a low of 6,923.67 and a high of 7,132.71 on Friday — remained a bear market, down 22% from its peak so far this year at a 9,058.62 finish on Jan. 29.
“The PSEi looked to be headed into another bloodbath as it opened in the red and blitzed past major support at 7,000, sinking 2.46% to a low of 6,923.67 just 30 minutes into the session,” RCBC Securities, Inc. said in a Stock Market Weekend Recap prepared by Research Analyst Fiorenzo D. De Jesus.
“However, the bulls came to the rescue and managed to push the index back into the green by the afternoon,” he added.
“Selling at the close dragged the composite back into the red at 7,063.20, 34.95 pts
or 0.49% lower, although it ended above the 7,000 support.”
Asked for comment, Timson Securities Inc. Equity Trader Jervin S. De Celis noted in a mobile phone message that “[t]he PSEi is still bearish as major support levels have been broken down due to the absence of strong local catalysts.”
“Investors are also worried about the escalating trade tension between China and the US. The Eurozone and India also announced their plan to impose tariffs on some US goods and I think this smothers market sentiment,” he added.
“I also think that the weakness of the peso and the wider current account deficit are turning off investors, but I guess the market will find support once we see developments in the second package of the TRAIN bill as well as the groundbreaking of the major infrastructure projects later this year,” he continued, referring to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion whose second package — now in the House of Representatives — seeks to slash corporate income tax rates to Southeast Asian levels but at the same time remove fiscal incentives the government deems redundant.
The first package — Republic Act No. 10963 — which slashed personal income tax rates but raised or added taxes on several items and removed certain value added tax exemptions helped fuel PSEi’s 10 record highs in January after coming into force as 2018 began.
Noting that “Philippine stocks fell below the 7,000 level for the first time this year,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile message that “bargain hunting kept the market from sliding much further.”
“Still, the PSEi ended more than -5% down this week, which is one biggest in recent trading history,” Mr. Limlingan added, noting that “local issues were sold down heavily in the morning” particularly as “US stocks closed solidly lower on Thursday, with major indexes suffering one of their worst sessions of the month…”
Reuters noted that the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for an eight straight session, giving up 0.80% to finish 24,461.7, while the Nasdaq Composite Index and the S&P 500 dropped 0.88% to 7,712.95 and by 0.63% to 2,749.76, respectively.
Asian markets were a mixed bunch, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Index and the MSCI AC Asia Pacific falling by 0.78% to 22516.83, 0.33% to 1,744.83 and by 0.46% to 169.02, respectively, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, the Shanghai SE Composite index and the blue-chip Shanghai-Shenzhen’s CSI 300 gaining 0.15% to 29338.7, 0.49% to 2889.952 and 0.44% to 3,608.90, respectively.
Back home, four sectoral indices closed lower: services by 15.9 points or 1.14% at 1,370.78, holding firms by 69.9 points or 0.99% at 6,988.38, financials by 13.24 points or 0.74% at 1,775.49 and industrials by 58.81 points or 0.57% at 10,242.62.
The remaining two managed to end Friday with gains: mining and oil by 119.88 points or 1.25% at 9,649.55 and property by 22.2 points or 0.64 at 3,444.18.
Local stocks that lost outnumbered those that gained 129 to 76, while 46 others steadied.
Friday’s list of 20 most active stocks showed 13 that ended lower, led by Bloomberry Resorts Corp. that fell by 5.67% to P9.81 apiece, Megawide Construction Corp. that dropped 2.78% to P21, Bank of the Philippine Islands that gave up 2.76% to P88 and Alliance Global Group, Inc. that also went down by 2.76% to P12 each.
The seven others that gained were led by Universal Robina Corp. that increased by 1.95% to P115 apiece; Ayala Land, Inc. that rose by 1.35% to P37.55 and SM Prime Holdings, Inc. that went up by 1.06% to P33.25 each.
Trading thinned slightly to 1.837 billion shares worth P8.05 billion from Thursday’s 1.914 billion shares worth P7.893 billion.
Foreigners largely continued to dump shares, though net selling fell 37.79% to P1.41 billion as overall selling slipped 3.81% to P5.205 billion and overall buying gained a fifth to P3.796 billion.
The week saw some P6.6 billion in foreign selling, RCBC Securities noted, while daily turnover averaged P6.7 billion, “lifted by more active trading” after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Wednesday lifted policy interest rates for a second straight month and for the second time in nearly four years in the face of rising inflation that has breached the BSP’s 2-4% full-year 2018 target range at 4.1% in the five months to May.
“Foreign investors are still on a selling spree as risky assets become less attractive compared to safer instruments like bonds,” Timson Securities’ Mr. De Celis noted. — quotes by Janina C. Lim

Judge behind Matobato arrest appointed CA associate justice

THE judge who issued an arrest warrant last year against confessed killer Edgar P. Matobato has been appointed new associate justice of the Court of Appeals (CA).
As per her appointment last Tuesday, June 19, signed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, Regional Trial Court Judge Dorothy P. Montejo-Gonzaga of Panabo City, Davao del Norte, assumes the former post of Presiding Justice Romeo F. Barza, who was appointed to his current post in December last year.
Ms. Gonzaga ordered Matobato’s arrest in March last year, in connection with the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Turkish national Sali Makdum in the Island Garden City of Samal.
BusinessWorld had earlier reported that Matobato himself confessed to Mr. Makdum’s disappearance when he testified before the Senate last year about his crimes which he claimed were ordered by then Davao City mayor Mr. Duterte.

Senate panel to continue regional hearings on effects of TRAIN

By Camille A. Aguinaldo
THE Senate will hold another regional hearing in Mindanao next month to check whether the social mitigating measures under the tax reform law are being implemented by the government as promised, Senator Grace S. Poe-Llamanzares said on Friday.
“This coming July, maybe before the Senate opens, I will have a hearing in Cagayan De Oro (about the effects of the TRAIN law on basic commodities),” Ms. Poe, who heads the Senate committee on public services, said in a radio interview as also issued in a press release.
“Drivers and other beneficiaries coming from different parts of Mindanao will no longer have to go to Manila so we can hear their complaints and find out if the DoTr (Department of Transportation) stayed true with its promise to distribute the subsidies,” she added.
Ms. Llamanzares’s Senate panel earlier held public hearings in Iloilo City and in Legazpi, Albay, on the effects of Republic Act 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law on the transport sector. It was revealed during the hearings that the DoTr has yet to implement its Pantawid Pasada Program for jeepney franchise holders since rules for the program have not been published.
Malacañang last week assured that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the DoTr would fully implement the social mitigating measures provided under the TRAIN law in July.
The law provides such measures for Filipinos to cope with inflation, such as the unconditional cash transfer, fuel vouchers for jeepney franchise holders, rice discounts and 10% transportation fare discounts for minimum-wage earners, and free skills training from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

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