The Jetour G900 at Auto Shanghai 2025. The large off-roader boasts an ‘embedded ladder-frame composite chassis and triple differential locks’ to tackle the most difficult of terrain. The story on this and other Jetour releases next week.
DIGITAL healthcare platform mWell has partnered with De Los Santos Medical Center to digitalize the hospital’s corporate clinic management system to boost efficiency and the care quality for corporate clients.
Under the deal, the healthcare platform’s mWell HealthSuite is integrating its electronic medical records and clinic management systems into the hospital’s corporate health services, mWell said in a statement at the weekend.
The system provides real-time access to patient data, faster appointment scheduling, secure record-keeping and enhanced operational reporting. Employees can use the system to book and manage appointments through a secure online portal, while clinicians can access and update patient records.
The system also streamlines inventory monitoring and delivers actionable insights to support operational decision-making, mWell said.
Among the beneficiaries of the corporate clinic management system include corporations such as Maynilad Water Services, Inc., NLEX Corp., Metro Pacific Water Solutions and Maya.
“The demand for digital healthcare is growing, which is why mWell has continued building future-ready systems for the Philippines,” mWell Chairman and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said in the statement. “These digital transformations will widen the coverage of our healthcare system and hopefully lead to much better outcomes for Filipino patients.”
MWell, which is part of the MPIC Group, offers a health and wellness mega app and enterprise health solutions.
De Los Santos is one of the hospitals under the MPIC Group’s hospital unit Metro Pacific Health Corp.
MPIC is one of the three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., alongside Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., holds a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
The Philippine capital’s prime office rent was the fourth cheapest in the Asia-Pacific region at $31.58 per square foot a year in the first quarter, latest Prime Office Rental Index by Knight Frank showed. Despite this, Manila’s premium office rent grew by 1.7% year on year in the first three months of 2025, faster than the 1.4% average decline in the region.
Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Friday, April 25, 2025.
By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter
THE US military on Saturday deployed its advanced anti-ship missile system in the northern Philippines for combat exercises as part of the annual Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) war games, the Philippine military said on Sunday.
The US Marine Corps brought the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) aboard a C-130 cargo plane to an undisclosed location in northern Luzon, where it would participate in military drills within Cagayan and Batanes provinces, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“The NMESIS provides the combined and joint force a flexible and expedient sea denial capacity, contributing to the collective defense of both countries,” it said in a statement.
The military exercise in northern Luzon would see Philippine and US forces rehearse how to repel an invasion and test the Philippines’ coastal defense system. It is intended to strengthen security cooperation and enhance force interoperability in response to China’s actions to asserts its expansive claims in the region.
The Balikatan exercises, the Philippine and US militaries’ largest annual drills, this year held combat exercises near regional flashpoints, such as Batanes province near Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Since its launch on April 21, about six Chinese research vessels have been detected sailing near Batanes province, Raymond M. Powell, a fellow at Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, said.
“An unusual number of China’s research vessels have been deployed around Batanes last week,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat. Beijing may have deployed the ships in response to the joint military drills that will mostly be concentrated in the northern Philippines and its west coast, he added.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.
This also followed a Philippine Navy report that a Chinese aircraft carrier group and a spy ship were monitored sailing near the coast of the Philippines’ northernmost islands last week.
Separately, the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) on Friday said its Nimitz aircraft carrier group is operating in the Philippine Sea, where it would practice day and night flight operations and the ability to rapidly deploy military jets in a variety of weather conditions.
“These activities support maritime security and ensure the US Navy maintains the combat readiness to project power across the theater,” the US INDOPACOM said in a statement published on its website.
The South China Sea has become a regional flashpoint as Beijing continues to assert sovereignty over almost the entire sea, seen as a vital global trade route that is believed to be mineral-rich.
Philippine and Chinese forces have repeatedly sparred over competing claims in the sea, with tensions flaring around disputed maritime features such as the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal.
Just last week, Chinese state media reported that Chinese coast guard has asserted sovereignty over a disputed reef near a Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, in a development that could lead to an escalation of tensions in the disputed sea.
China’s coast guard has “enforced maritime management” on Sandy Cay, landing on the maritime feature that lies just kilometers away from Thitu Island (Pag-Asa Island) which hosts a Philippine military facility, China’s state-backed Global Times reported on April 24.
The Philippine Defense department and Armed Forces of the Philippines did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.
The Chinese coast guard did “on-reef inspection” and recorded “illegal activity,” all while coast guard officials displayed China’s national flag on the reef, Global Times reported.
By Adrian H. Halili, Reporter
THE ALLEGED interference of Beijing with the upcoming election is intended to undermine the Marcos administration and to support pro-China candidates, an analyst said at the weekend.
“The intention is indeed to weaken and delegitimize the current administration as well as its allies in light of the upcoming national and local elections,” Gary D. Ador Dionisio, dean of the De La Salle — College of Saint Benilde School of Diplomacy and Governance, said via Messenger chat.
He added that there has been “a pattern of malign influence peddled by the Chinese government” in the Philippines similar to Taiwan.
Mr. Dionisio said that pro-China candidates have been rising in latest polls due to Beijing’s “well-funded campaign” in the country.
He added that to increase its influence in the Philippines’ political institutions, the Chinese government has been using a “sharp power” approach to meddle in election affairs. This typically involves the attempt by one country to manipulate and control information to mislead or divide the public opinion.
In a senate committee hearing last week, National Security Council Assistant Director-General Jonathan E. Malaya said that there are “indications” that Beijing has been running a disinformation campaign in the Philippines to disrupt the elections.
Mr. Malaya said that Chinese state-sponsored information operations are being conducted in the Philippines and are interfering in the upcoming May 12 polls.
Filipinos will pick a new set of congressmen, 12 of the 24-member Senate and thousands of local officials on May 12.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila had denied the accusation, claiming that some politicians have used the “China card” to boost their election prospects.
Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco, a fellow at the Ateneo de Manila Policy Center, said that it is irresponsible for the government to report about mere “indications” and “rumors” of malign foreign interference.
“The responsible act is to report when there is evidence of such interference. Evidence that can stand up in court because criminal acts are involved here,” Mr. Yusingco said in a Messenger chat.
He added these “rumors” of Chinese interference could be used against candidates who have been openly friendly with Beijing.
“The problem with this is that because this is just a rumor, after the election the public may lose interest of the issue. Which is a bad thing because malign foreign interference is a serious national security breach,” Mr. Yusingco said.
THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) has sounded alarms over the growing cases of human trafficking involving Filipinos who are being sold between online scam syndicates in Cambodia.
Four trafficking victims — all in their 20s and 30s — were repatriated to Manila on April 19, arriving at Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Phnom Penh.
Investigations revealed the victims were recruited via Facebook advertisements, which promised lucrative jobs as encoders and customer service representatives.
Upon arriving in Cambodia, however, their passports were confiscated and were then forced to work in online fraud operations.
The syndicates allegedly made them pose as FBI agents or romantic interests on dating sites to scam foreign nationals.
Victims who failed to meet their targets reportedly faced harsh punishments, including physical abuse and forced labor, with workdays lasting up to 20 hours. In some cases, they were “sold” or transferred to other scam groups.
“They were treated like property — bought, sold, and abused,” Commissioner Joel Anthony M. Viado said in a statement on Sunday. “Their stories are clear proof that these syndicates operate with no regard for human dignity. This must stop.”
One of the victims shared that after failing to meet quotas, they were handed over to another group, which eventually allowed them the opportunity to escape.
Three trafficking victims were also repatriated in March after they were lured into working as “love scammers” in Cambodia.
The BI chief said that the Philippine government remains firm in dismantling human trafficking networks, noting that efforts are being intensified under the leadership of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
He also urged Filipino job seekers to verify overseas employment offers through official channels.
Authorities from the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking are continuing their investigation to identify those responsible for facilitating the victims’ illegal deployment, the BI added. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter
THE PHILIPPINES should leverage its wide Filipino-American community as a soft diplomacy tool to negotiate the 17% reciprocal tariff imposed by US President Donald J. Trump, analysts said at the weekend.
With over 4 million Filipino Americans across the US, Federation of Free Workers President Jose Sonny G. Matula said the community represents a powerful, largely underutilized force in influencing American policy through lobbying and advocacy efforts.
“They are well-placed to support lobbying efforts,” he told BusinessWorld in a Viber chat. “By organizing advocacy campaigns, working with Filipino American elected officials, and partnering with US-based labor and business groups, we can amplify calls for fairer tariff structures and trade practices.”
“The key is mobilization with a unified message that aligns with US values — like support for democratic partners, labor rights and fair competition,” the labor leader added.
Strengthening ties with US-based trade unions and global federations could also allow overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to play a more active role in advancing fair trade, he noted.
Josue Raphael J. Cortez, a diplomacy instructor at De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, said the Filipino American community is among the largest Asian-American communities in the US.
“With this alone, we can already speculate about the pivotal role they play in propelling the American economy,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “Given that Trump considers the people who rallied for him during the recent elections, the number of Filipino Americans who voted for him to be back in the White House may be something he should look into.”
Mr. Cortez added that if the reciprocal tariffs prove to be a bane for the Philippines, the perception of Filipino Americans and their relatives might negatively shift against Mr. Trump.
“Given the tensions happening already in the US today, Trump would not want this to transpire, as this may also serve as impetus for the entire Asian-American community to lose their faith in him and the Republican Party as a whole,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Matula said that cooperation on digital trade, cybersecurity or labor reforms also creates room for negotiations.
“The US is keen on forging alliances in digital trade and cybersecurity, especially in the Indo-Pacific,” he added. “The Philippines can position itself as a trusted digital ally, offering secure digital infrastructure, a skilled information technology workforce, and data governance frameworks.”
He urged the government to enact credible labor reforms to signal readiness for deeper economic engagement, which can open doors for preferential tariff treatment, specifically in garments, agriculture, and electronics.
Manila, in return, should also benefit from a genuine transfer of technology from Washington so that it equally benefits from the trained and skilled workforce that serves the American market and potentially offers the same growth for the local market.
Washington slapped Manila with a 17% reciprocal tariff earlier this month. It is set to take effect in mid-July after it ordered a 90-day pause in implementation.
It is the second lowest among Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries after Singapore’s baseline rate of 10%.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Sunday said the government is working with Canada to investigate the fatal Filipino street fest in Vancouver, which left at least nine people dead.
In a statement, he said the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver is coordinating with Canadian authorities to ensure a thorough investigation into the incident, which occurred around 8 p.m. Saturday (Vancouver time).
He added that efforts are underway to provide support and assistance to the victims and their families.
“On behalf of the Philippine Government and the Filipino people, Liza and I would like to express our deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and to the strong and thriving Filipino community in Canada,” he added.
The incident occured during a gathering of Filipinos in Vancouver to celebrate Lapu-Lapu, the indigenous chief who led the defeat of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521.
A male suspect has been taken into police custody, the Vancouver Police reported in an X post.
It confirmed that at least nine people died after the man drove through a crowd at the block party. – Chloe Mari A. Hufana
THE PESO may trade sideways against the dollar this week as investors await the release of key US and Philippine economic data.
The local unit closed at P56.265 per dollar on Friday, jumping by 29 centavos from its P56.555 finish on Thursday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed.
This was the peso’s best close in nearly seven months or since its P56.178 finish on Oct. 2, 2024.
Week on week, the peso surged by 53.5 centavos from its P56.80-per-dollar close on April 16.
“The dollar-peso closed [stronger], still on dollar weakness due to recession fears after China delayed trade talks with the US. Later on, there were news that China was suspending tariffs on US imports,” a trader said in a phone interview.
The dollar was weaker in the Asian session on Friday after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said in a Bloomberg Television interview that he would support rate cuts if the Trump administration’s tariff policies hit the labor market, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.
For this week, the trader said peso-dollar trading could be driven by the release of first-quarter US gross domestic product and March US personal consumption expenditures index data, as well as the latest US jobs report. At home, the market will monitor the release of march trade data.
The trader said the peso may move between P56.20 and P56.70 against the dollar this week, while Mr. Ricafort sees it ranging from P56 to P56.50.
The dollar staged a broad retreat on Thursday, as investor gloom over the lack of progress towards defusing the US-China trade war reasserted itself following an interlude of optimism the previous day, Reuters reported.
US assets, including the dollar, rallied on Wednesday after US President Donald J. Trump backed down from threats to fire the head of the Federal Reserve and appeared to soften his stance on China.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said separately that the de facto embargo on US-China trade was unsustainable, but that the US would not move first in lowering its levies of more than 100% on Chinese goods.
By Thursday, those dollar gains had unraveled. China said there had been no negotiations on the economy and trade and it urged the US to lift all unilateral tariff measures if it really wished to resolve the issue, leaving investors roughly where they were earlier in the week in terms of clarity.
In the US session on Friday, the dollar headed for its first weekly gain since mid-March after China granted some exemptions to US imports, raising expectations that the trade war between the world’s two largest economies may be closer to abating.
The dollar was higher against a basket of currencies, rising around 0.3% on the day and set for a modest weekly gain of 0.6%, its first since the middle of March. — Aaron Michael C. Sy with Reuters
PHILIPPINE STOCKS may continue to climb this week on hopes of easing trade tensions between the United States and China.
On Friday, the bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 1.79% or 110.27 points to close at 6,268.75, while the broader all shares index went up by 1.02% or 37.44 points to end at 3,695.69.
Week on week, the PSEi surged by 2.19% or 134.13 points from the 6,134.62 finish on April 16, marking its second consecutive week of gains.
“Strong corporate earnings sustained the PSEi’s plight above 6,000 despite geopolitical tensions and global growth downgrades throughout the week,” online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said in a market note.
“The local market rose last week, mainly attributable to its Friday jump. In the process, the market was able to get past its 50-day exponential moving average. Value turnover is not convincing yet, however, as many are still staying on the sidelines amid lingering uncertainties especially on the global trade front,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.
For this week, the PSEi may continue to build on the upward momentum seen on Friday, Mr. Tantiangco said. “Investors are still expected to monitor the developments on the global trade frictions initiated by the US’ tariff policies. Positive developments mainly on trade negotiations are expected to boost market sentiment. Lack of such, however, may cause investors to exit the bourse.”
Mr. Tantiangco put the PSEi’s support at 6,000 and resistance at 6,400.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the benchmark’s immediate minor support is pegged at 6,110-6,180, while minor resistance is at 6,360.77-6,490.
For its part, 2TradeAsia.com placed the PSEi’s support at 6,000 and resistance at 6,400.
US President Donald J. Trump asserted in an interview published on Friday that tariff negotiations were under way with China, but Beijing denied any talks were taking place, the latest in a series of conflicting signals over what progress was being made to de-escalate a trade war threatening to sap global growth, Reuters reported.
Mr. Trump told Time magazine that talks were taking place and that Chinese President Xi Jinping had called him, an assertion he repeated to reporters as he was leaving the White House on Friday morning for Rome to attend the funeral of Pope Francis.
“China and the US are NOT having any consultation or negotiation on #tariffs,” China shot back in a foreign ministry statement posted by the Chinese Embassy in the US. “The US should stop creating confusion.”
The back-and-forth adds to the substantial uncertainty surrounding Mr. Trump’s erratic tariff policy, not just around China, but also as it pertains to the dozens of countries scrambling to strike their own deals to ease the burden of the hefty import taxes he has unleashed since returning to the White House in January. — R.M.D. Ochave with Reuters
WASHINGTON — Global policy makers gathering in Washington last week breathed a collective sigh of relief that the US-centric economic order that prevailed for the past 80 years was not collapsing just yet despite Donald J. Trump’s inward-looking approach.
The Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were dominated by trade talks, which also brought some de-escalatory statements from Washington about its relations with China.
But some deeper questions hovered over central bankers and finance ministers after Mr. Trump’s attacks on international institutions and the US Federal Reserve: can we still count on the US dollar as the world’s safe haven and on the two lenders that have supported the international economic system since the end of World War II?
Conversations with dozens of policy makers from all over the world revealed generalized relief at Mr. Trump’s scaling back his threats to fire Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell, the guardian of the dollar’s international status whom he had previously described as a “major loser.”
And many also saw a silver lining in US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s call to reshape the IMF and World Bank according to Mr. Trump’s priorities because it implied that the United States was not about to pull out of the two lenders that it helped create at the Bretton Woods conference of 1944.
“This week was one of cautious relief,” Austria’s central bank governor Robert Holzmann said. “There was a turn (in the US administration’s stance) but I fret this may not be the last. I keep my reservations.”
The politicization of the Fed and, to a lesser extent, the hollowing out of the IMF and World Bank are almost too much to fathom for most officials.
Deprived of a lender of last resort, some $25 trillion of bonds and loans issued abroad would be called into question.
NO ALTERNATIVE
At the heart of policy makers’ concerns is that there is no ready alternative to the United States as the world’s financial hegemon — a situation that economists know as the Kindleberger Trap after renowned historian Charles Kindleberger.
To be sure, the euro, a distant-second reserve currency, is gaining popularity in light of the European Union’s newly found status as an island of relative stability.
But policy makers who spoke to Reuters were adamant that the European single currency was not ready yet to dethrone the dollar and could at best hope to add a little to its 20% share of the world’s reserves.
Of the 20 countries that share the euro only Germany has the credit rating and the size that investors demand from a safe haven.
Some other members are highly indebted and prone to bouts of political and financial turmoil — most recently in France last year — which raise lingering questions about the bloc’s long-term viability.
And the euro zone’s geographical proximity to Russia — particularly the three Baltic countries that were once part of the Soviet Union — cast an even more sinister shadow.
With Japan now too small and China’s heavily managed currency in an even worse position, this left no alternative to the dollar system underpinned by the Fed and the two Bretton Woods institutions.
In fact, the IMF and the World Bank could scarcely survive if their largest shareholder, the United States, pulled out, officials said.
“The US is absolutely crucial for multilateral institutions,” Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski told Reuters. “We’re happy they remain.”
Still, few expected to go back to the old status quo and thorny issues were likely to await, such as widespread dependence on US firms for a number of key services from credit cards to satellites.
But some observers argued that the market turmoil of the past few weeks, which saw US bonds, shares and the currency sell off sharply, might have been a shot in the arm as it forced a change of tack by the administration.
“When President Trump talked about firing Jay Powell, the fact that markets reacted so vigorously to that ended up being a disciplining reality just reminding the administration that, if you cross that line, it could have some very severe implications,” said Nathan Sheets, global chief economist at Citi. — Reuters
