THE PHILIPPINE economy expanded by a weaker-than-expected 5.2% in the third quarter, as bad weather hurt agricultural output and government spending, the statistics agency said on Thursday. Read the full story.
Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Thursday, November 7, 2024.
THE Philippine Coast Guard on Thursday said it would have taken delivery of 49 new ships by 2028, 40 of which be funded by a French loan worth P25.8 billion and five from Japan, as it boosts patrols in the South China Sea amid growing tensions with China.
The rest will be built locally, PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil L. Gavan told a security forum on Thursday.
This will be the largest single purchase in the modernization of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) , Commandant he told a news briefing at the presidential palace.
The purchase, which was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority Board, would let them deploy two patrol boats in every Philippine district “fast enough to reach the edges of our exclusive economic zone,” he added.
The coast guard also seeks to add to its 30,000-strong manpower.
“This is a game changer for us because this will enable the coast guard to hold the position as the youngest fleet in Southeast Asia,” Mr. Gavan said. “In five years’ time we foresee that we will become the most respected and the most able coast guard.”
In a statement, the NEDA Board said the purchase, which will be funded through official development assistance from the French government, includes 40 fast patrol craft, 20 of which will be built locally.
“These patrol craft will enhance the country’s response capabilities in search and rescue operations, environmental protection, maritime law enforcement and disaster response,” it added.
The new boats will also “help deter smuggling and illegal activities while ensuring the enforcement of maritime sovereignty in critical marine areas.”
Mr. Gavan said the Philippine Coast Guard had also been given the go-signal to buy five 97-meter vessels from Japan. “Once delivered, we will have around eight large ships.”
The coast guard will start taking delivery of the ships in 2027 until 2028.
These purchases reflect the success of the PCG’s assertive transparency campaign, which has generated domestic and international support, said Raymond M. Powell, a fellow at the US-based Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation.
“The decision by international partners like France and Japan to assist the Philippines was motivated by the compelling visual evidence their governments saw after Manila showed it to the world,” he said in an X message.
Launched last year after the Chinese Coast Guard’s use of a military-grade laser to drive away a PCG vessel, the transparency campaign seeks to expose Chinese vessels’ aggression at sea.
China claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety, including waters that are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
“A decision by a democratically elected government to devote its national resources toward improving its external security requires the support of its people, and the Philippine people have been energized to support their government because it showed them the pictures of the outrage that are occurring within their waters,” Mr. Powell said.
Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., who took office in 2022, has pursued closer defense ties with the US and other Indo-Pacific powers.
The PCG was under the Department of National Defense before it was transferred to the Office of the President on March 30, 1998 through an order issued by the late President Fidel V. Ramos.
Mr. Ramos later transferred the PCG to the Department of Transportation and Communications, which was split into two separate agencies in 2016 through a
law signed by the Late President Benigno S.C. Aquino III.
The PCG has since been under the Transportation department.
In his message at the South China Sea dialogue, Mr. Marcos said his government was pursuing “broad public diplomacy and awareness efforts” amid foreign intrusions into Philippine waters, as he denounced “aggressive actions” in the South China Sea.
“We seek to empower our citizens to become ambassadors for our cause.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter
THE Philippine government has earmarked P2.7 billion in next year’s funding for state drug rehabilitation centers throughout the country to address overcrowding in treatment facilities, a congressman said on Thursday.
“The government will spend up to P2.7 billion in 2025 to sustain the operations and augment the beds of Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers under the Department of Health,” Makati Rep. Luis N. Campos, Jr. said in a statement.
“The sum is P700 million higher than this year’s P2-billion allocation,” Mr. Campos, a vice-chairman of the House of Representatives appropriations committee, said.
The Health department operates 23 rehabilitation facilities across 15 regions. About P1.7 billion was allocated for their operations and P916 million more for construction and expansion, according to the 2025 National Expenditure Program.
Fifteen of them will receive almost P1 billion in infrastructure development funding, Mr. Campos said.
The drug rehabilitation facility for the Calabarzon region is set to receive the lion’s share of the health facility improvement fund at P350 million.
The Tagaytay City and Las Piñas City rehabilitation centers will get P101.5 million and P75 million, respectively.
Taguig City, Camarines Sur, Davao City and Zamboanga City will get P65 million, P63 million, P52 million and P50 million for their facilities.
Rehabilitation centers in Cebu province, such as the Cebu City and Argao municipality centers, will each receive P31 million. Albay province’s drug treatment facility in Malinao will get P30 million for its expansion.
Bataan and Mountain Province will get P15 million and P14.6 million for their centers.
The facilities in the Caraga region, San Fernando municipality of La Union Province and Malaybalay municipality in Bukidnon province will get P14 million, P8 million and P3.5 million in funding for infrastructure upgrades.
“We must keep under control the demand side by providing adequate treatment and rehabilitation services to drug dependents, while suppressing the supply side by putting traffickers and pushers behind bars,” Mr. Campos said.
The overzealousness of authorities to detain suspected drug users results overcrowding at rehabilitation centers, Hansley A. Juliano, who teaches politics at the Ateneo de Manila University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
He added that the government should look at motivating users to shun illegal drugs by reducing “punitive regulations,” and replacing it with “productive efforts.”
Authorities should also let their family members participate in the rehabilitation process to prevent users from backsliding to drug abuse.
“Usage is rooted in poverty, social isolation or alienation and socioeconomic insecurity,” Mr. Juliano said. “Addressing these issues will reduce, if not eliminate, the precarious population that drug markets rely on.”
PHILIPPINE President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. will not attend a key summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Peru, since he would be busy with domestic concerns, the presidential palace said on Thursday.
He would skip the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit — scheduled from Nov. 10-16 in Peru because he “prioritizes domestic concerns, including government responses to calamities,” Presidential Communications Secretary Cesar B. Chavez said in a Viber message.
Mr. Marcos as designated Trade Acting Secretary Cristina Aldeguer-Roque as the special envoy to the summit, the palace said.
In the summit, leaders, ministers and senior officials of the 21 APEC members, which account for half of global trade and 60% of world gross domestic product, will discuss trade and globalization policies.
The APEC members are the US, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
TOP LAWMAKERS welcomed Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House, with Senate President Francis Joseph G. Escudero saying the United States-Philippine relations were stable under his first presidency.
“I cannot foretell what President-elect Trump may or may not do,” Mr. Escudero said. “However, our country’s relations with the US were fairly well under his presidency before, so I am hopeful that his assumption would bode well for our country.”
Mr. Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris were almost tied in opinion polls, but official election results showed the Republican candidate securing 295 electoral votes against his opponent’s 226 electoral votes in the Nov. 5 polls.
Senate Majority Leader Francis N. Tolentino said Mr. Trump’s focus on the American economy “should extend to greater stability in global affairs, which should augur well for the Philippines.”
“Ultimately, what I hope to see under ‘Trump 2.0’ is the opening of a stronger and more dynamic chapter in the enduring relations between the US and the Philippines,” he said in a statement.
Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri said in a statement Americans have chosen to preserve their traditional institutions and values by electing the Republican candidate.
“We can see that the United States of America has once again leaned towards Conservatism, the protection of the Family and their respect for God and Country!” Mr. Zubiri said.
“When the other camp uses abortion as a key campaign slogan and heavily using a woke agenda, then the silent majority will awaken and say enough is enough.”
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Tuesday said he looks forward to working with Mr. Trump on a wide range of issues that “will yield mutual benefits to two nations with deep ties, shared beliefs, common vision, and a long history of working together.”
“I am hopeful that this unshakeable alliance, tested in war and peace, will be a force of good that will blaze a path of prosperity and amity, in the region, and on both sides of the Pacific,” he added.
The US is the Philippines’ major security partner. Last year, Manila gave Washington access to four more military bases, on top of the existing 5, under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
In a statement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo said he is committed to working with his counterparts to bring the Philippines-US “alliance to even greater heights under the administration of president-elect Donald Trump.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
THE Philippine anti-graft court has dismissed motions for reconsideration to overturn the guilty verdicts against those involved in the misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) between 2007 and 2009, citing the lack of merit.
In a 19-page resolution promulgated on Nov. 6, the Sandiganbayan Third Division resolved multiple motions filed separately by former public officials and private individuals who participated in the diversion of about P60 million in PDAF allocated to a congressman to bogus livelihood projects.
The convicted parties sought to overturn the anti-graft court’s ruling, arguing that state prosecutors failed to establish their role in the siphoning of public funds or show they conspired with other co-accused to divert the government money.
“After due consideration of the arguments raised by the accused- movants and the prosecution, as well as the assiduous review of the records, the Court finds no compelling reason to reverse their respective convictions,” read part of the resolution penned by Associate Justice Ronald B. Moreno.
“As defined by jurisprudence, “proof beyond reasonable doubt” does not mean such degree of proof as to exclude the possibility of error and produce absolute certainty,” it added. “Only moral certainty is required or that degree of proof which produces conviction in an unprejudiced mind.” — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
A BILL seeking to provide the Philippine government the authority to seize real estate properties fraudulently acquired by foreigners has been filed at the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The filing of House Bill (HB) No. 11043 comes amid a House quad committee’s investigation into illegal online casinos.
The committee last month submitted to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) documents showing how a Chinese national allegedly connected to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators acquired a Filipino citizenship fraudulently, allowing him to own land and set up businesses in the country.
The committee urged the OSG to start building a legal case against the implicated Chinese national, citing national security concerns and violations of Philippine laws.
“The bill seeks to provide for a civil forfeiture in favor of the State any unlawfully acquired real estate properties by any foreign national,” according to the explanatory note of HB No. 11043, which were filed by several lawmakers led by Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga Rep. Aurelio D. Gonzales, Jr.
Foreigners are not allowed to own Philippine lands, according to the 1987 Constitution.
Foreigners were able to skirt the land ownership restriction through their acquisition of falsified Philippine documentation, such as birth certificates, passports and driver’s licenses through “corrupt public officers,” according to the bill.
Properties allegedly obtained by any foreign national are presumed to be illegally acquired, unless proven otherwise by authorities, under the proposed law.
HB No. 11043 noted that any taxpayer could file a complaint before their city or provincial prosecutor, who will be responsible for conducting a preliminary investigation to determine its merit.
It could then be elevated for OSG action should local prosecutors find “reasonable ground” that properties in question were illegally acquired.
“The respondent foreign national shall have a period of 15 days to answer the complaint… from the receipt thereof from the city or provincial or prosecutor or the regional trial court,” Sec. 7 of the measure stated.
Properties forfeited in favor of the government will be distributed to farmers, if the estate in question is an agricultural land. Non-agricultural lands should be used for “schools, hospitals, and other establishments for socialized services,” according to the bill. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
HOUSE QUAD committee hearings should also include in its investigation ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s counter-insurgency campaign, a human rights group said on Thursday, citing gross violations against political activists.
“It is high time that the quad committee takes a serious look at Duterte’s accountability for other state-sponsored killings that were very likely perpetrated by the same death squads funded by government monies,” Karapatan Secretary-General Cristina E. Palabay said in a statement, referring to a House committee investigating alleged extra-judicial killings under Mr. Duterte’s administration.
The Philippine government estimates that more than 6,000 died under the campaign, according to a Facebook infographics published in June 2022 by RealNumbersPH, which is operated by the inter-agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs. Human rights groups say the death toll could be as high as 30,000.
Hundreds of activists were slain during Mr. Duterte’s administration, said Ms. Palabay, highlighting the need to investigate human rights violations against them.
“Revelations at the quad comm hearings already point to the involvement of some of Duterte’s anti-drug henchmen in perpetrating human rights violations against activists and other human rights defenders,” she said.
She cited Oplan Sauron, an internal security program meant to address “lawless violence” in Negros and Samar islands and the Bicol Region under a 2018 memorandum.
“Oplan Sauron, a bloody counter-insurgency operation jointly conducted by the military and police that was centered on Negros Island was actually framed as a plan not just against rebel groups, but criminals and individuals involved in the illegal drug trade,” she said.
Ms. Palabay said that Oplan Sauron was a “coordinate military and police operation” that “brutalized” activists, with them being tagged as members of the armed communist movement to justify their killings. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
FEWER families in the Philippines faced frequent struggles to meet basic needs in September 2024 compared to a year earlier, according to a survey by public opinion firm WR Numero.
The September 2024 survey showed that 34% of families reported difficulties in covering essential expenses, marking a decrease from 51% in December 2023.
It found that while 34% of Filipino families still “always” or “often” struggle to meet necessities, such as food, shelter, and transportation, 35% experienced these struggles “sometimes.”
Meanwhile, 31% said they “rarely” or “never” had difficulty meeting their families’ needs over the past three months.
Among families in Class E, 37% said they faced frequent struggles to meet their needs, followed closely by Class D families at 27%. In contrast, only 21% of Class ABC families faced such challenges. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
PAMPANGA 2 Electric Cooperative (PELCO II), an electric cooperative co-managed by Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), has begun operations of its first mobile substation to meet the power demand in Mabalacat City.
The 10-megavolt ampere (MVA) mobile substation provides capacity flexibility for PELCO II’s distribution network — augmenting the existing power capacity in the city and other areas it served, Meralco said in a statement on Thursday.
“This first of its kind project is intended to ensure availability of stable electricity service to meet the growing power requirements of homes and businesses in Mabalacat City,” PELCO II Chief Management Advisor Joe-Mel S. Zaporteza said.
“We are working closely with the local government and other relevant stakeholders to continuously implement innovative solutions and projects that will benefit our consumers in the long term,” he added.
PELCO II is also developing a new 20-MVA substation which is expected to be energized early next year.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
BAGUIO CITY — A truck driver died on the spot, while his two passengers were hurt after the truck dived in a 20 meter-ravine in Upper Cotcot, Bangao, Buguias town in Benguet on Tuesday.
Buguias town police named the fatality — Denver Adcapen, 33, from Barangay Guinzadan Bauko, Mountain Province. His two passengers are recovering now.
The two passengers were immediately taken out of the wreckage and to the Lutheran Hospital in Abatan, also in Buguias. Rescuers had difficulties in removing the driver pinned down at the front seat of the truck.
Probers added that the vehicle’s front landed first before it slid further down the ravine.
The truck reportedly suffered a mechanical defect. — Artemio A. Dumlao
