Here’s what you should look out for in TikTok Shop’s 6.6 Bigating Birthday Sale

June 5, 2024 | 4:35 pm

TikTok Shop’s 6.6 Birthday Sale is a not-to-be-missed event, packed with opportunities to save on a wide variety of products and categories including electronics, lifestyle, FMCG, and fashion.

With a bit of planning, you can make the most of the exclusive discounts, special offers, and engaging events. Whether you’re a seasoned TikTok Shop user or a first-time shopper, this guide will help you navigate the sale and score some fantastic deals.

Here’s an in-depth look at what to expect and how to make the most of this special birthday sale.

Tune in to TikTok Shop’s 6.6 LIVE Giveaway

James Afante, the top record holder for TikTok Shop Philippines’ Creator Live Sessions, will host a key live session wherein 12 winners will receive Infinix Zero 30 4G phones.

Exciting Deals on Trending Categories and Super Brands

The sale covers a wide range of categories, each offering unique discounts:

Fashion: Find deals on trendy clothing, shoes, and accessories from MPMG. Whether you’re updating your wardrobe for the season or looking for specific pieces, enjoy exclusive savings during these brands’ livestream sessions.

Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG): Expect great deals coming from Super Brand Klued and brands like SariSuki, Nestle, Haruharu, Mr Squirrel, SiLong Kitchen, with exclusive livestream prices and buy one, get one free special promotions on select items.

Electronics: Look forward to discounts on gadgets from Super Brands Simplus and Tecno, and technology companies like Realme, Infinix, and JISULIFE. Whether you’re looking for the newest smartphones or essential household electronics, you can discover substantial savings.

Home and Living: Take advantage of deals on home decor, kitchenware, and furniture to give your living space a refreshing update. Keep an eye out for exclusive livestream offers from Aquaflask, New Every Day, YuanDa Shangpin, and GeminiHome.ph on select items.

Aside from these special product offers, there will also be key live sessions from TikTok Shop 6.6 Idol Club and this will feature six top creators, including @zaralopez_official, @dave_villanueva, @shoplovechanelle, @
jmsfnt, @elmaasagra and @ser.geybin, each specialize in a distinct category within TikTok Shop: Beauty, Fashion, Personal Care, Electronics, and Lifestyle. These creators are experts in their fields, presenting the newest trends, products, and styles to captivate and motivate consumers.

Special Discount Vouchers

In addition to product-specific discounts, shoppers can get huge savings by using exclusive vouchers from 11 a.m. till 7 p.m. key live session, with up to 90% off capped at Php 150. TikTok Shop users can also receive up to 1 million livestream rewards.

TikTok Shop 6.6 Birthday Bash on It’s Showtime

Apart from the lavish offers and deals, don’t miss an exclusive TV segment on GMA Network’s “It’s Showtime” as it features the TikTok Shop 6.6 Bigating Birthday Sale with its ever-talented brand ambassador, Ivana Alawi. She will perform, highlight key products, and encourage viewers to join the anniversary celebration for a chance to win exciting rewards.

Keep these tips in mind to maximize your shopping experience and snag some great deals during TikTok Shop’s 6.6 Bigating Birthday Sale.

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Strong for Life with Kinetix+

June 5, 2024 | 2:10 pm

KINETIX+ is here to be your dedicated partner in promoting active lifestyle and enabling recovery from demanding activities

In order to lead a long and fulfilling life, one must strive to achieve physical and mental well-being. While it is not necessary to aspire to be the strongest individual, it is important to possess a basic level of strength to support our everyday activities. For the purpose of appreciating all that life has to offer, the objective should be to be Strong for Life.

Aside from prioritizing your mental, emotional, and social health, it is critical that you make time to be active and exercise on a daily basis in order to achieve optimal physical health.

Engaging in regular strength and conditioning training can provide significant physical benefits. It has the potential to decrease the probability of developing diseases, prevent injuries, promote healthy aging, manage weight, and enhance mood. The path to being Strong for Life may present challenges, but it will definitely bring great rewards. Kinetix+ is the ideal companion for this journey.

Kinetix+ is the first luxury boutique gym in the Philippines that prioritizes strength and conditioning training. It caters to individuals who are dedicated to enhancing their physical fitness while also valuing the advantages of exclusivity and a top-notch gym experience. Intense exercise sessions should not be as uncomfortable as they typically are. The vast area of the gym allows it to fit high-quality gym equipment, bespoke dumbbells and barbell plates, and the AI-driven BioStrength line machines.

As Kinetix+ prioritizes space and outstanding exercise equipment, one of its strengths lies in the knowledgeable professionals who play a crucial part in guiding your fitness journey.

The gym has carefully chosen coaches who can assist you in attaining a variety of goals, including weight loss to shifting from a sedentary lifestyle to a more active one or to enhance athletic ability in your favored sport. Kinetix+ coaches are qualified to create a program especially for you that will both challenge and develop you. On this road to strength, having a qualified coach to guide you through the process of reaching your physical goals will also function as the ideal accountability partner for you. Working with a coach at Kinetix+ is akin to having a team of experts at your side who are all dedicated to helping you become the strongest version of yourself. It will be the client and the Kinetix+ coach who will communicate most. The coach will, meanwhile, also have the opportunity to consult with the entire Kinetix team, which consists of other coaches and gym specialists. Along with offering instruction on proper form and exercise technique, your coach will also monitor your progress closely to make sure you are always being challenged, act as a trustworthy accountability partner, and be there to celebrate your physical achievements.

Should you feel any discomfort, Kinetix+ has the Recovery Lab, where you can utilize cutting-edge equipment and manual therapy from the gym’s in-house physiotherapists to help your body heal from strain and soreness. Any injuries you receive during sports or exercise can be treated with a rehabilitation plan by the skilled physiotherapists at Kinetix+. This strategy might include stretches, manual therapy, and Kinetix+ modalities.

The gym also has a nutritionist who can offer professional guidance by creating customized dietary recommendations to support your workouts and promote muscle repair. Working with the in-house nutritionist at Kinetix+ helps you gain a crucial understanding of how your diet affects your strength training and general health.

To further promote our Strong for Life campaign, Kinetix+ has designed a variety of membership packages to appeal to all individuals interested in joining the gym. We offer the Active Aging, Corporate Wellness, Muscle Foreging, and Fit for a Queen packages. All packages include a range of sessions for coaching, recovery, stretching, and nutrition guidance. To learn more about these programs, please visit Kinetix+ at Level 3, Shops, Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati, where we would gladly tell you more.

As per Kinetix+ Co-Founder Coach Marlon Lugue, “Strength is the summary of our days passed, current state and hopeful future. Live your best life by recapturing the vigor of your youth, making the most out of your present and training to be the best that you can be for days to come.”

Your dedication to maintaining being Strong for Life will likely be the most significant, challenging, and fulfilling commitment you will ever make. It entails dedicating a specified amount of time exclusively to pursue your own goals of valuing yourself. Being strong plays a crucial part in our existences. There’s no better time than the present to invest in our overall strength. Turn to the experts, turn to Kinetix+.

For more information, follow Kinetix+ on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/kinetixplus) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/kinetixplus). You can also visit its website at https://kinetixplus.com/. Kinetix+ is located at the 3^rd Floor, Shops at Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati.

#StrongForLife #KinetixPlus

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US Southwest expected to roast with pre-summer heat wave

June 5, 2024 | 12:03 pm

san-francisco-1630372_1280 — STOCK PHOTO | Image by Simon from Pixabay

LOS ANGELES – Millions of Americans from the Gulf Coast of Texas to California’s San Francisco Bay area were warned on Tuesday to curb outdoor activity and stay well-hydrated during a major pre-summer heat wave expected to roast much of the Southwestern US this week.

Unseasonably high daytime temperatures were forecast to soar above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) across several states into Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters attributed the excessive heat, coming more than two weeks before the official June 20 start of the summer season, to a strong ridge of atmospheric high pressure parked over the region and intensifying.

Areas of particular concern for triple-digit temperatures included California’s inland Central Valley and the state capital, Sacramento, where an “excessive heat warning” was in effect.

Closer to the Pacific Coast, a less dire “heat advisory” was for slightly milder but still oppressively high mercury readings in the Bay area.

In low-elevation areas of southern Arizona and Nevada, forecasters warned that temperatures would climb above 110 degrees F, likely topping 112 degrees F in Las Vegas on Thursday, which would become the city’s earliest recorded 112 degree reading on record.

Phoenix, Arizona’s state capital and its biggest city, could see highs reaching 115 on Thursday.

The heat wave as a whole, with temperatures 20-30 degrees above normal, was expected to peak over California’s Central Valley on Wednesday, before expanding into the Desert Southwest later in the week, the NWS said.

“Widespread temperature records are expected to be tied or broken across much of the aforementioned areas,” it said.

Forecasters and local officials urged residents to stay in air-conditioned indoor areas, especially during the hottest times of the day, drink plenty of fluids, and check on neighbors and relatives during the heat wave.

“Extreme heat is an invisible but dangerous consequence of climate change, and CA’s outdoor workers, seniors + children are particularly vulnerable,” California’s Environmental Protection Agency said in a social media post.

A bout of extreme heat that has baked much of Texas for about a week was expected to peak on Tuesday but persist for a few days more, the weather service said.

The prevailing conditions are seen as a prelude to hotter-than-normal temperatures that are likely to become a common occurrence over the next three months in many regions, according to the NWS.

In addition to risks posed to human health, the extreme heat puts a strain on power grids. In May, the North American Electric Reliability Corp, which sets energy reliability standards for the U.S. and Canada, said that large parts of the United States remain at risk for supply shortfalls due to the demands of summertime air-conditioning.

The hot weather outlook also could mean more wildfires in California this summer as arid, windy conditions fuel blazes. A 14,000-acre (5,665 hectares) wildfire, called the Corral Fire, was 75% contained after forcing thousands of residents to evacuate east of San Francisco over the weekend. – Reuters

Australia regulator files lawsuit against Medibank over data breach

June 5, 2024 | 11:57 am

SYDNEY – Australia’s privacy regulator said on Wednesday it had filed a lawsuit against the country’s biggest health insurer Medibank over a data breach that exposed personal information of millions of customers on the dark web.

In civil penalty proceedings filed in the Federal Court, the Australian Information Commissioner said Medibank “seriously interfered” with the privacy of Australians by failing to take reasonable steps to protect data from misuse.

Medibank in 2022 disclosed a hacker stole the personal data of 9.7 million current and former customers and released it on the dark web in one of Australia’s biggest data thefts.

“We allege Medibank failed to take reasonable steps to protect personal information it held given its size, resources, the nature and volume of the sensitive and personal information it handled, and the risk of serious harm for an individual in the case of a breach,” Acting Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd said.

The Federal Court can impose a civil penalty of up to A$2.22 million ($1.48 million) for each violation of the Privacy Act.

Australia’s banking regulator told Medibank last year to set aside A$250 million in extra capital, citing weaknesses identified in its information security after the breach.

Medibank, in a statement released to Australia’s stock exchange, said it intends to defend the lawsuit.

Ms. Tydd said in a statement the case should serve as a wakeup call to Australian companies to invest more in their digital defenses to thwart cyber threats.

Australia has seen a spike in cyber intrusions over the last two years, prompting the government to reform security rules and set up an agency to oversee government investment and help coordinate responses to hacker attacks. – Reuters

In heated debate, Britain’s Sunak, Starmer go head-to-head on the economy

June 5, 2024 | 11:53 am

LONDON – Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour challenger Keir Starmer went head-to-head on Tuesday over how to boost Britain’s economy, with the PM accusing the opposition party of wanting to increase taxes if it wins power at a July 4 election.

Both Mr. Sunak, a Conservative, and Mr. Starmer stuck to their campaign lines in their first debate just weeks before a general election opinion polls suggest Labour is set to win, with Mr. Sunak saying only he had a plan to spur Britain’s paltry economic growth and Mr. Starmer portraying the Conservatives as presiding over 14 years of economic chaos.

In a heated debate – a recent feature in Britain and one which sees more voters tune into politics – the two leaders battled over how to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, growing waiting lists in the public health service and reducing immigration.

Most of the questions illustrated what many voters are contending with: a cost-of-living crisis when some struggle to pay their household bills, long waits for the health service and lower standards in the education system.

Little new was gleaned from their answers, but an opinion poll taken immediately after the debate suggested Sunak had won the contest.

“Keir Starmer is asking you to hand him a blank cheque when he hasn’t said what he’ll buy with it or how much it’s going to cost you,” Mr. Sunak said in his closing comments. “In uncertain times we simply cannot afford an uncertain prime minister.”

Mr. Starmer responded saying he would never offer “the gimmicks or unfunded promises that Rishi Sunak does”.

“Imagine how you would feel waking up on July 5 to five more years of the Conservatives, five more years of decline and division, the arsonists handed back the matches,” he said.

“Now imagine turning the page with a Labour government that rolls up its sleeves and gets on with the job… The choice at this election is clear: more chaos with the Conservatives or the chance to rebuild Britain with a changed Labour Party.”

SUNAK ON THE ATTACK

Mr. Sunak repeated the Conservatives’ attack line that Labour had no plan for the country beyond putting “everyone’s taxes up by 2,000 pounds” ($2,550).

“Mark my words, Labour will raise your taxes. (It) is in their DNA. Your work, your car, your pension, you name it, Labour will tax it,” Mr. Sunak said.

Mr. Starmer did not deny the charge immediately, but he later called the 2,000 figure “nonsense”. Labour has repeatedly said it will not raise income tax or National Insurance social security contributions if it wins power.

“My dad worked in a factory, he was a toolmaker, my mum was a nurse. We didn’t have a lot of money when I was growing up,” the Labour leader told an audience member who said she was struggling to pay her bills.

“So, I do know the anguish of worrying when the postman comes with a bill, what bill is it, am I going to be able to I pay it? I don’t think the prime minister quite understands.”

Mr. Starmer attacked the Conservative Party for presiding over 14 years of chaos and Sunak’s plans to introduce mandatory national service.

The prime minister drew groans when he blamed growing waiting lists at the National Health Service on strikes, and was greeted by laughter when he said the numbers were going down “because they were higher” before.

But he seemed to make up some ground with the audience when discussing how he planned to tackle immigration, portraying his plan to send illegal asylum seekers to Rwanda as a deterrent the Labour Party was lacking and saying he would put the country’s security above any foreign court.

Mr. Starmer said he also had a plan to tackle immigration, which has become a prominent concern among voters, and that he would consider processing asylum claims in a third country if doing so didn’t breach international law.

Mr. Sunak, whose campaign has yet to reduce Labour’s lead of around 20 percentage points in opinion polls, was on the attack, repeating the line that only his party had a plan, whereas voters did not know what Mr. Starmer intended to do if he won power.

The two-way leaders’ debate comes a day after populist Nigel Farage said he was running in the election, a major blow to Sunak with the Brexit campaigner expected to peel off the votes of many right-wing voters.

At an earlier campaign launch, Farage said he would be a thorn in the Conservatives’ – and Labour’s – side.

“I will be unafraid, despite what everybody says, despite what names they call me, they are so stupid it only encourages me really,” he told dozens of supporters in southeastern England. “Send me to parliament to be a bloody nuisance.” – Reuters

US Senator Manchin encouraging industry to sue Treasury over EV tax credits

June 5, 2024 | 11:49 am

US Department of the Treasury Seal — GIORGIO TROVATO/ TOMMAO WANG/UNSPLASH

WASHINGTON – US Senator Joe Manchin said on Tuesday he was urging US companies to sue the Treasury Department over the local content rules it set for companies to receive clean energy tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Mr. Manchin told US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee that US manufacturers were being damaged by the content rules, which he said Treasury had halved from the original language in the law.

“I’m encouraging every manufacturer to sue you, and I will do the amicus brief on (their) behalf …. and you’ll lose every suit,” he said, holding up posters comparing the content requirements included in the legislation with those set in final rules by Treasury, which is implementing the IRA.

Mr. Manchin, often a thorn in the side of the Biden administration, last week left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent, blasting what he called “partisan extremism” in both major parties.

The 76-year-old West Virginia lawmaker has been particularly incensed by Treasury’s implementation of the IRA, arguing that its final local content rules have watered down the original intent of the bill and are hurting US companies.

He said last month that Treasury’s final rule allowing automakers another year to use Chinese graphite and other critical minerals in battery production before switching to domestic sources would “break the law.”

Mr. Manchin and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema were key votes on multiple pieces of legislation early in Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration, including a massive infrastructure bill.

Mr. Manchin told the hearing the IRA was written to ensure that the United States was not reliant on supply chains from China, but Treasury’s implementation meant China would stay “in the market for the entire extent of the IRA.“

Ms. Yellen said the Biden administration shared Mr. Manchin’s concerns about reliance on supplies from China, and offered to engage in technical discussions with Manchin about the concerns he raised during the hearing. – Reuters

ABS-CBN Corp. to hold annual meeting of stockholders on June 20 via remote communication

June 5, 2024 | 11:45 am

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SpaceX’s next Starship rocket test gets FAA go-ahead

June 5, 2024 | 11:45 am

WASHINGTON – The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday said it issued a license for SpaceX’s fourth flight of its Starship rocket system, another test mission along the company’s path to building a reusable satellite launcher and moon lander.

SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, is aiming to launch its nearly 400-foot-tall (122-meter), two-stage Starship as early as Thursday at 7 a.m. CDT (1200 GMT) from its rocket facilities in south Texas, from which past flights in the company’s test-to-failure development campaign have launched.

Starship represents the future of SpaceX’s dominant satellite launch and astronaut business. It is designed to be fully reusable and cheaper – but more powerful – than the company’s workhorse Falcon 9. NASA plans to use Starship later this decade to land the first crew of astronauts on the moon since 1972.

Each Starship rocket has made it farther in its testing objectives than previous tests before blowing up. The first launch in April 2023 exploded minutes after liftoff, and the most recent flight in March broke apart in Earth’s atmosphere as it attempted to return from space halfway around the globe.

On Thursday, the rocket system’s first stage, called Super Heavy, will ignite its 33 Raptor engines to lift off, then separate from the Starship second stage, which will blast further into space.

Meanwhile, Super Heavy will reignite some engines and return toward the Gulf of Mexico for a “soft splash-down” to simulate a landing that would otherwise be on land.

In space, Starship will trek around the globe and head for the Indian Ocean, where it will make a second attempt to survive the intense heat of atmospheric reentry – the crucial point at which it failed during the March test.

“The main goal of this mission is to get much deeper into the atmosphere during reentry, ideally through max heating,” Mr. Musk, CEO of SpaceX, wrote on X on Saturday.

Starship is shielded with hundreds of small black tiles on its exterior that SpaceX hopes will protect it from the extreme heat the spacecraft endures while plunging through Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.

Much is riding on SpaceX’s swift development of Starship, a key pillar of NASA’s moon program that rivals China’s moon ambitions.

Mr. Musk’s drive to rapidly build Starship has endangered SpaceX workers in Texas and California, a Reuters investigation earlier this year found.

E*Trade possibly ousting GameStop bull ‘Roaring Kitty’ spurs online backlash

June 5, 2024 | 11:41 am

A report on Monday that online broker E*Trade may consider banning Keith Gill, the meme-stock influencer who ignited frenzied trading in shares of GameStop in 2021, has triggered a backlash on social media sites.

The Wall Street Journal on Monday reported that E*Trade is considering banning Gill, who resumed posting online after a three-year hiatus in recent weeks.

E*Trade-parent Morgan Stanley, declined to comment on the report and the messages on social media calling for a boycott of the brokerage platform.

Brokerages have invited the ire of retail customers in the past, most notably in 2021 when Robinhood came under fire after it restricted purchases of certain heavily traded stocks, including GameStop, because of volatility.

“@etrade singled out their own customer @TheRoaringKitty taking marching orders from some smoke-filled back room somewhere and tried to say “nope, you don’t get to be rich, you don’t get to join the elites,” X user @welp007 posted on Monday evening.

Many of those commenting on the latest twist in the Roaring Kitty/Gamestop saga referred to their perception that the Roaring Kitty episode serves as an example of the way in which big Wall Street players, from hedge funds to trading firms, take advantage of small retail investors.

Several posters on both X, where Gill uses the moniker RoaringKitty, and on Reddit, where he posts under the username DeepF**kingValue, posted screenshots of their requests to close their E*Trade accounts. Reuters was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the screenshots and the posters did not respond to requests for comment.

“If they’re gonna ban the kitty, all of retail should leave their platform,” proclaimed Reddit user FalseDifficulty2340.

Posters also suggested the firm’s rivals likely would welcome Gill as a client if E*Trade removed Gill from its platform. – Reuters

Philippine inflation quickens for fourth straight month in May

June 5, 2024 | 11:31 am

fish-market — A wide variety of fish at the Marikina Public Market. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ WALTER BOLLOZOS

MANILA – Philippine annual inflation quickened for a fourth straight month in May due largely to the faster pace of increases in housing, utility and transport costs, the statistics agency said on Wednesday.

The consumer price index rose 3.9% in May from 3.8% the previous month, marking the fastest rise since November 2023, bringing the five-month average inflation to 3.5%, well inside the central bank’s 2.0%-4.0% target for the year.

Economists in a Reuters poll had forecast annual inflation at 4.0%.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said last month’s data was consistent with its expectations that inflation could accelerate over the near term due to the impact of adverse weather conditions on farm output.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, eased to 3.1% in May from 3.2% the prior month.

BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona reiterated on Tuesday the benchmark policy rate, currently at a 17-year high of 6.50%, could be cut before the U.S. Federal Reserve starts it easing cycle.

But Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at Manila-based Union Bank, believed the BSP would still prefer to wait for the Fed to move before it does to prevent the peso, down more than 5% against the dollar so far this year, from weakening too much.

“They may have to prioritize interest rate differentials over the speed of cuts,” Mr. Asuncion said in a phone message.

The Philippine central bank, which kept its benchmark rate steady at its last five meetings, has said it was looking to cut rates by 25 basis points as early as August and by another 25 basis points in the fourth quarter.

Its next meeting is on June 27. –Reuters

BSP may cut policy rate before Fed

June 5, 2024 | 12:34 am

Vegetable vendor — A FEMALE VENDOR accepts payment from a customer at Paco Market in Manila, April 6, 2024.— PHILIPPINE STAR/RYAN BALDEMOR

By Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson, Reporter

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) can cut its policy rate before the US central bank despite a volatile peso, Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. said on Tuesday.

“It’s possible that the Fed can cut in July,” he told reporters in mixed English and Filipino. “There are analyses that say July… We may go first, but it depends on whether their inflation is stubborn. They may not cut.”

The BSP chief earlier said the earliest the central bank could cut the rate is by August.

The Monetary Board last month kept its key rate steady at a 17-year high of 6.5%. The central bank raised borrowing costs by 450 basis points (bps) from May 2022 to October 2023 to tame inflation.

Mr. Remolona said the peso is depreciating not because it is weak but more because the dollar is strong.

“The story is not about the weak peso,” he said. “The real story is about a strong dollar. Anytime there’s tension, anytime there’s uncertainty, money goes into the US dollar and the dollar gets stronger against other currencies.”

The peso closed three centavos weaker against the dollar at P58.71 on Tuesday, according to Bankers Association of the Philippines data posted on its website. On May 21, it sank to the P58-a-dollar level for the first time since November 2022.

The dollar is also strengthening due to hawkish signals from the US Federal Reserve, the BSP chief said.

“The Fed has been saying that policy rates in the US will be high for longer. But the longer part keeps shifting, so that creates some uncertainty,” he added.

The BSP does not target a specific level for the peso, Mr. Remolona said.

“We don’t worry too much about the level itself,” he said. “We worry more about how it gets to where it’s going. We try to guide the market by occasionally expressing our own view on where it should go.”

The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) expects the peso to range from P55-P57 a dollar this year.

The central bank has not been intervening in the foreign exchange market daily, but it does so from time to time to “express our own view about where the peso should be going.”

“We don’t intervene every day,” Mr. Remolona said. “We intervene when we have to. And when we say we have to, it’s when the currency is under stress. Under stress means we find some dysfunction in the market.”

“Sometimes, the peso goes sharply in the wrong direction, and then we might intervene,” he added.

Diwa C. Guinigundo, country analyst at GlobalSource Partners, said comments made by central bank officials are affecting the peso’s performance.

“Market observers and traders attribute the recent weakness of the Philippine peso precisely to this less hawkish statement on monetary policy outside the formal press statement of the Monetary Board, which was unequivocally hawkish,” he said in a note.

“Immediately, the peso reacted by dropping to P58.27. It was not to be some temporary weakness, but it is now ushering in a depreciating trend beyond P58 a dollar,” added Mr. Guinigundo, who is a former central bank deputy governor.

He said the peso’s persistent weakness could add to inflationary pressures.

‘TOO AGGRESSIVE’
“If the weakness of the peso extends a year with such magnitude, and with an exchange rate passthrough of 0.08 percentage point (ppt) for every peso depreciation, we are looking at an additional inflation of 0.24 ppt,” he said.

“This means the market may even be more adaptive to the central bank’s forward guidance rather than to the actual stance of monetary policy as defined by its policy rate,” he added.

Mr. Remolona said cutting rates by as much as 150 bps in the next two years might be too aggressive and would require a “hard landing” scenario.

“Given the present trajectory (of economic growth), it could be too aggressive,” he said.

He said the BSP might cut the key rate by 50 bps this year and by another 100 bps next year, but there must be “a risk of a hard landing” for this to happen.

“In taming inflation, we don’t want unnecessary loss of output,” he said. “Although you sometimes can’t avoid a bit of loss of output because our calculations are not always precise. But if the loss of output will be significant, we will have to react to that.”

Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto earlier said the Monetary Board could reduce the policy rate by as much as 150 bps in the next two years.

The Philippine economy grew by 5.7% in the first quarter, below the government’s 6-7% goal this year.

Meanwhile, Mr. Remolona said the central bank is conducting a “post-mortem” exam after its probe of so-called ghost employees. “We’re doing a post-mortem on this. What else can we do to prevent this in the future?”

The central bank is conducting disciplinary proceedings on six employees under certain Monetary Board members. Four of these were “ghost” employees, while the other two were identified as supervisors.

The investigation was triggered in October after the Office of the General Counsel received reports about the workers.

“I was flabbergasted,” Mr. Remolona said. “I didn’t think this kind of thing would happen at BSP. We really need a good reputation and enough credibility just to make monetary policy work.”

The Monetary Board is the policy-making body of the central bank headed by the governor. Its members are Mr. Recto, Benjamin E. Diokno, V. Bruce J. Tolentino, Anita Linda R. Aquino, Romeo L. Bernardo and Rosalia V. de Leon.

NEDA board OKs low tariff regime amid rising prices

June 5, 2024 | 12:33 am

Rice market — A customer buys rice at a stall in Paco Market, Manila, April 6, 2024. — PHILIPPINE STAR/RYAN BALDEMOR

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

THE BOARD of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has approved a medium-term plan to lower tariffs on agricultural and industrial products, as the Philippines struggles with rising prices and declining factory performance.

The NEDA board approved the Comprehensive Tariff Program for 2024 to 2028 amid concerns about inflation, which is widely expected to have quickened further in May. The expansion in local manufacturing output also slowed in May.

Under the plan, the government would keep the rates for “more than half of the tariff lines” for products that have relatively low tariffs,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan told a news briefing at the presidential palace on Tuesday.

He said the program seeks to improve manufacturers’ access to inputs and boost their competitiveness.

“This measure will help our domestic industries by reducing the costs they incur for their inputs, enabling them to be more competitive, especially in the global market,” he added.

Mr. Balisacan said the board had approved a recommendation to reduce the tariff on certain chemicals and coal briquettes to “improve energy security and reduce input costs.”

Chemicals under reduced tariffs include inputs for antiseptics, detergents and medical research.

Reduced tariffs on coal are timely as the country faces “energy constraints,” he said.

Terry L. Ridon, a public investment analyst, said the decision to further lower coal tariffs goes against the government’s policy to phase out coal-fired power plants.

“While it is correct that there are pressures on the price of electricity, it is not solely because of the price of coal,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

The Philippines in 2020 declared a moratorium on new coal power plants, a move that policy makers including Senate President Francis Joseph G. Escudero have linked to massive brownouts on the main Philippine island of Luzon.

Philippine electricity prices are among the highest in Southeast Asia, according to a study by the Ateneo de Manila University’s Department of Economics and Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development.

The country’s residential rate was $0.16 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) as of December 2021, compared with Singapore’s $0.18/kWh, Thailand’s $0.10/kWh, Indonesia’s $0.10/kWh and Malaysia’s $0.05/kWh, it said.

Mr. Balisacan said the country needs a “balancing act” in its transition to clean energy.

“We cannot immediately and quickly transition to zero emission, otherwise that will also kill our industries,” he said. “But we are committed to be part of the global effort to reduce emissions.”

“Reducing the tariff of briquette will allow us to produce energy from coal, [which] will be more accessible to our population and particularly our industries.”

The government should continue to accelerate the transition to renewable energy while using coal to sustain its industries, George T. Barcelon, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said by telephone.

Mr. Barcelon hopes the NEDA board’s move would boost exports, which he said continue to be hounded by “weaknesses.”

Also approved by the NEDA board is a proposal to merge tariff lines on certain chemicals and chemical products, textiles, machinery and transport equipment to simplify the tariff structure and ease customs administration.

Philippine factory activity expansion slowed in May as employment fell for the first time in five months, S&P Global said on Monday.

Its Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the Philippines stood at 51.9, down from 52.2 in April, indicating “modest improvement” in factory activity. A PMI reading above 50 signifies improved operating conditions from the previous month, while a reading below 50 shows the opposite.

‘SAD DAY’
“The tariff reductions are only one phase of a medium-term plan,” Ateneo economics professor Leonardo A. Lanzona said in a Facebook Messenger chat, noting that the state should craft midterm employment and skill development plans to boost manufacturing.

“While the plan can increase the gross domestic product, we may end up with a lot of capital-intensive industries,” he said.

Aside from electricity costs, food prices continue to drive Philippine inflation, which Mr. Balisacan said threatens economic growth.

Under the tariff program, reduced tariff rates for corn, pork and mechanically deboned meat that started in 2019 would be kept until 2028. Rice tariffs will go down to 15% from 35% until 2028.

The policy is “a sad day for Philippine agriculture,” the Samahan ng Industriya ng Agrikultura said in a Viber message.

Rice prices accounted for more than half of Philippine inflation, which quickened to 3.8% in April.

Inflation likely quickened for a fourth straight month in May to 4%, mainly due to a spike in electricity costs, according to a median estimate of 16 analysts in a BusinessWorld poll.

Mr. Balisacan said the government aims to stay within the 2-4% inflation target “so that we can go back to the low interest rate regime.” “Once interest rates start falling, then economic activity will start and will be even more robust.”

The country’s largest farmers’ groups said in a joint statement reduced tariffs in the past four years on rice from non-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) have not lowered prices.

“Reduced rice tariffs paved the way for more rice imports and yet, rice prices have only gone up,” they said, noting that reduced rice tariffs have “not benefited consumers” and “have only penalized local producers.”

They have also deprived the government of much needed revenue, they added.

“As with all previous tariff reductions, a new round of tariff cuts will be useless as our foreign rice suppliers simply increase their prices,” said the groups including the Federation of Free Farmers, SINAG and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.

The Philippines has imported two million metric tons of rice as of end-May, equivalent to 53% of projected imports.