EDITORIAL - Severe problems

Source Philippine Star

The Philippines is likely to achieve its goal of becoming an upper middle-income economy by 2024, incoming Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said...

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The Philippines has withdrawn from a global initiative on extractives transparency as it cried foul over the body’s “unfair” metrics and procedures for assessing the countries’ compliance with its requirements...

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The Philippine Peso on Wednesday slumped against the US dollar, closing at its lowest value since November 2005, amid the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) signals of gradual policy tightening...

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Moody’s Analytics hiked the gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimate for the Philippines to above seven percent from 6.1 percent for this year after a stronger-than-expected expansion in the first quarter...

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The Philippine national government's budget deficit is expected to shrink this year and the next, Fitch Solutions said, which bodes well for debt sustainability...

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With the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) seemingly set for gradual tightening, based on signals from officials and contrary to calls from some analysts for more aggressiveness, GlobalSource Partners believes taking it slow makes sense considering the different situations in the Philippines and the United States...

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The government on Wednesday began administering COVID-19 booster shots to adolescents between 12 and 17 years old as part of preparations for their return to in-person classes this coming school year...

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The “Bayanihan” cash doleouts to vulnerable households and businesses during the Philippines’ most stringent pandemic lockdowns lessened the number of Filipinos who slid to poverty, the World Bank said...

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Following the decision of the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) to recommend Covid-19 booster shots for minors aged 12 to 17, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion is urging the body to approve second booster shots for company employees, or those 50 years and older...

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Jeroen O. Manahan, 21, will get his Bachelor’s degree in business administration and management this October after taking classes online amid the coronavirus pandemic...

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The Department of Health (DOH) is seeings a significant increase in COVID-19 cases and a possible peak that may reach as high as 2,000 daily cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) toward the end of July...

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The country’s major mobile network operators said on Wednesday that they are ready to support the legislative process for the proposed measure mandating the registration of subscriber identity module or SIM cards under the Marcos administration...

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Industry leaders urged the Insurance Commission (IC) anew to postpone the mandated increase in their minimum capital set for this year’s end, saying many companies are still far from meeting the higher requirement...

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The National Capital Region (NCR) Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board has approved a P1,000 increase in monthly pay for domestic workers in Metro Manila, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said...

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Cases involving adoption of children are now administrative instead of judicial proceedings and should be filed before the National Authority for Child Care (NACC) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and not with the trial courts...

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The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and Better Internet PH (BIP) urged the next administration to pass key internet connectivity legislation in the next six months...

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said its online payments tool will start accepting later this year fee payments to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)...

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The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) yesterday launched a free solar charging station for e-bikes and e-scooters to encourage the public to use alternative modes of transportation amid the surging cost of fuel products...

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Antibody therapies are offering promising treatment breakthroughs for cancer and other illnesses, generating greater investor interest more than 20 years after they were first commercialised...

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Amazon.com Inc wants to give customers the chance to make Alexa, the company's voice assistant, sound just like their grandmother -- or anyone else...

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The Department of Health (DOH) has developed a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to detect possible monkeypox virus cases in the country...

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International think tank Fitch Solutions said on Wednesday that the country is “on track” for a gradual fiscal consolidation over the coming years, following the recent release of the country’s National Budget Memorandum (NBM) earlier this month...

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The Science for Change Program (S4CP) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) won in the 2022 United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA)...

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Reducing the cost of remittances is crucial, especially in trying times such as pandemics, as these transfers represent lifelines for millions of families, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB) experts...

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Nearly 7 in 10 employees across Asia say not being able to work remotely or hybrid permanently is a deal breaker when considering whether to join or stay with an organization, according to Mercer’s 2022 Global Talent Trends Study...

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From February to April of this year, phishing attempts in the Philippines were targeted at financial transactions seven out of 10 times, or 68.95 percent of the time, Kaspersky reported...

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The government will donate two million doses of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to Myanmar by the end of June or the first week of July, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday...

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Soaring jet fuel prices will result in higher plane fares. Aviation fuel reached a high of $163 per barrel in May 2022, more than double the $78 per barrel in 2021...

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Sri Lanka's head of government says its debt-laden economy has "collapsed" after months of shortages of food, fuel and electricity, and the South Asian island nation cannot even purchase imported oil...

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President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia is rerouting trade to "reliable international partners" such as Brazil, India, China and South Africa as the West attempts to sever economic ties...

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Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 appear to escape antibody responses among both people who had previous COVID-19 infection and those who have been fully vaccinated and boosted, according to new data from researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, of Harvard Medical School...

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continued to preside over the second day of the nation’s major party meeting on its military and defence policies on Wednesday, the state media reported on Thursday, amid concerns over a potential imminent nuclear test...

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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday hailed the European Union’s expected offer of candidate status for his battle-weary nation as Russian forces pounded Ukraine’s second-biggest city Kharkiv and the eastern Donbas region...

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The Biden administration will announce on Wednesday it is expanding monkeypox testing capacity to five commercial laboratory companies amid rising cases, a source told Reuters...

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Asian currencies fell on Wednesday, highlighting the pressure wrought by a stronger dollar as the Federal Reserve races ahead with interest rate hikes...

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The Austrian capital Vienna has made a comeback as the world's most liveable city, according to an annual report from the Economist published Thursday...

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Russia may cut off gas to Europe entirely as it seeks to bolster its political leverage amid the Ukraine crisis, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday, June 22, adding Europe needed to prepare now...

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The once ubiquitous Russian signs along Montenegro’s picturesque Adriatic coast have all but disappeared as the war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia keep tourists from those countries away from one of their favorite destinations...

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Nearly 1 in 5 American adults who reported having COVID-19 in the past are still having symptoms of long COVID, according to survey data collected in the first two weeks of June, US health officials said on Wednesday...

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A powerful earthquake jolted a remote border region of Afghanistan overnight killing at least 1,000 people and injuring 1,500 more, officials said Wednesday, with the toll expected to rise as desperate rescuers dig through collapsed dwellings...

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The days of illegal recruitment of Filipinos via Facebook and other social media platforms may soon be over, as incoming secretary of Department of Migrant Workers Susan “Toots” Ople vowed to go after them...

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Despite the implementation of guidelines for flexible work arrangement (FWA) for public sector workers last week, several government offices are still undecided on whether to adopt the measure or not...

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The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has ordered Internet service providers to block 24 websites of progressive groups and alternative news sites, which National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. linked to communists-terrorists...

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Malacañang on Wednesday justified the order of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to block websites linked to terrorist organizations...

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The Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) has no authority to ban the websites of independent media and progressive groups being linked to the communist rebels, retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said on Wednesday...

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Senate President Vicente Sotto III confirmed on Wednesday that there were at least 197 Congress-approved bills already “signed into laws” by Malacañang under the Duterte administration during the 18th Congress...

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The Philippines can now detect possible cases of monkeypox through the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), the Department of Health (DoH) announced Wednesday...

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Should the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) pursue the estate tax case against the Marcos family, its incoming chief will ask President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to be a “role model” and ask him to settle their tax liabilities...

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More than 126,000 medical frontliners from the private sector have yet to receive their sickness and death benefits as provided for in the two Bayanihan laws that President Duterte signed during the two-year pandemic...

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The state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) has yet to collect P2.328 billion as its share in the income of Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) more than a year since the amount fell due, according to the Commission on Audit (COA)...

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The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s (LTFRB) “Libreng Sakay” program, will need a supplemental budget from the incoming administration for its sustained operations, an official said Thursday...

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Public utility vehicle drivers who have reportedly not received their pay for their services under the government’s “Libreng Sakay” program should file a formal complaint so that the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) could act on it, an official said Thursday...

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Metro Manila recorded a sharp rise in new COVID-19 cases, which are also on the rise in the rest of Luzon and the Visayas, the Department of Health said Wednesday...

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It could have been a case of overfunding, but just the same, the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) for ostensibly slow utilization of funds intended for the government’s COVID-19 pandemic response...

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Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday urged more government agencies and private companies to work flexibly to save on fuel and transportation costs...

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Independent pandemic tracker OCTA Research Group has urged President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. to renew the appointment of businessman Jose Maria "Joey" Concepcion 3rd as Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship...

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The Commission on Population and Development (Popcom) will recommend the reduction in tariffs for modern contraceptives as the peso continues to depreciate against the dollar...

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The incoming administration of President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. must shell out over P160 billion in the next six years for a proposed program that would allow poor Filipinos to buy rice at P20 per kilogram...

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While stock prices near bear market territory amid various economic challenges, global investment bank Credit Suisse (CS) has urged investors to load up on Philippine equities to ride “stable” earnings growth and cheap valuations...

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The Department of Finance (DoF) announced on Wednesday that the Philippines has left the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) on the back of questionable metrics and procedures in assessing whether adopting nations are complying with the organization's transparency standards...

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The sugar supply situation in the Philippines has taken a turn for the worse as the industry’s government regulator warned of a shortage in raw sugar, with manufacturers now forced to source the product locally, competing for already limited supplies in the market...

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Following the entry of Elon Musk’s Starlink in the Philippines, more companies are eyeing to provide satellite-enabled internet services as the country progresses in the digitalization era...

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The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) weakened to a new one-year low on Wednesday as investors continued to sell off their positions amid uncertainties brought about by a slew of factors from inflation to rate hike plans...

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The Philippine Association of Feed Millers Inc. (Pafmi), the biggest group of animal feed producers in the country, is pushing for higher import volumes for corn at lower tariffs to allow them flexibility to keep feed input costs low amid global supply chain disruptions...

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The outgoing Duterte government is now studying the petitions for a fare increase for jeepneys, transport network vehicle services (TNVS), and buses, an official of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said Wednesday...

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Manufacturing output in the first quarter of 2022 has stood at P975 billion or 10.1-percent growth, a trade official said...

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Albay Rep. Joey Salceda is urging the incoming Marcos administration to hasten tax perks for agricultural subsectors under the Strategic Investment Promotion Plan (SIPP) which will be the “country’s top instrument of industrial planning.”...

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Sardines canners have scored the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for crafting a proposed department administrative order (DAO) on products under price monitor, citing the lack of legal foundation and enabling law that will support the Suggested Retail Price (SRP) monitoring function of the agency...

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The next administration must ramp up investment in irrigation, starting with the retrofitting of dams to boost their capacity to capture more rainwater, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said...

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Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means backed the position of incoming Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Felipe Medalla that inflation is the priority of the central bank and not supporting the value of the Philippine peso against the US Dollar or any other foreign currency...

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The incoming Marcos administration is encouraged to continue President Rodrigo Duterte’s focus on infrastructure projects and to pursue game-changing policies to attract more investments into the country...

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Local stocks plunged further into the depths of despair yesterday, with the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) sinking to the 6,100 level to end at its lowest in over a year...

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