Manila lags in Digital Cities Index

Source BusinessWorld

The Philippines may find it more costly to service its foreign debts, as the peso slumped to its weakest value against the US dollar in over 16 years, economists said...

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Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria "Joey" Concepcion 3rd and a group of experts have analyzed the continued wearing of masks, hospitalization as a gauge for determining alert levels, and vaccination policies in assembling a road map for the country's post-Covid pandemic recovery...

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Department of Finance (DoF) Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd has directed a committee charged with monitoring the use of the coco levy trust fund to make sure there isn't any "double-dipping" of funds when providing the estimated 2.5 million coconut farmers in the nation with crop insurance and health coverage...

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Following the termination of negotiations for the planned joint exploration between Manila and Beijing in the West Philippine Sea, a senior lawmaker on Sunday urged the government to lift the suspension of gas and oil drilling activities in Recto Bank...

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New taxes may have to be introduced to fund the incoming Marcos administration’s priority projects, but the timing would have to be carefully considered, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary-designate Arsenio M. Balisacan said...

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While “rejoicing” that the Supreme Court upheld the mandate of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate tobacco products, Sen. Pia Cayetano has joined doctors and health advocates pushing for the veto of the vape bill, which the 18th Congress approved, and gives to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), not FDA, the main task of regulating vape products...

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Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa on Sunday said he will refile his proposed mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) bill in the 19th Congress, which will open on July 25...

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Spectrum user fees (SUF), which telecommunications companies described as excessive, are unlikely to be lowered under the Marcos administration, as the government needs to boost revenue collection to cope with the crisis, the next chief of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said...

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The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) wants to resolve disputes involving amounts of up to P10 million as contained under the first draft of the proposed guidelines for the implementation of the Financial Consumer Protection Act of 2022 (FCPA)...

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Some countries impose harsher restrictions than others when it comes to online content, which can include the means by which people access specific types of content...

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A University of the Philippines journalism professor warned the Presidential Communications Operations Office that it should set guidelines for the accreditation of bloggers...

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If nations fail to curb global warming, 7.4 million people in the world’s largest cities, including Quezon City, will be exposed to severe flooding and drought in the next three decades, based on the findings of a new study that seeks to quantify the impacts of climate change...

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China is ready to revive negotiations on joint oil exploration with “the new Philippine government,” as it maintained that this was still the “right way” for both countries to manage their maritime differences in the West Philippine Sea...

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it recently secured membership as a partner in the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA), a global association that seeks to foster standardization within the financial industry...

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The launch of the first gateway connecting the Philippines with the Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) satellite network has been delayed beyond June, with the company yet to firm up the site for its gateway, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said...

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The world could see a repeat of the 2008 oil price shock this year if the Russia-Ukraine war escalates and an energy crisis blows up in Europe, an economist from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has warned...

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The Philippines and Bangladesh can further strengthen their 50 years of diplomatic ties by partnering in critical sectors that will address pressing challenges in both countries...

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In light of the recovery in the first three months of the year, Australia-based ANZ Research has raised its 2022 economic growth projection for the Philippines, but also issued a warning about expanding external imbalances and escalating inflation pressures...

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A unit of a South Korean company will produce tapioca starch in the Philippines via a P750-million project that is also expected to hire nearly 500 Filipino workers...

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AstraZeneca Philippines and Medasia Medical Products Corporation have signed a partnership agreement to broaden access to machine testing that can help in the early detection of chronic kidney disease (CKD)...

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In Sri Lanka, people queue for miles to fill a tank of fuel. In Bangladesh, shops shut at 8 p.m. to conserve energy. In India and Pakistan, power outages force schools to shut, businesses to close and residents to swelter without air conditioning through deadly heat waves in which temperatures top 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius)...

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The World Health Organization's (WHO) chief said Saturday (Sunday in Manila) that the monkeypox outbreak was a deeply concerning evolving threat but did not currently constitute a global health emergency...

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The World Health Organization said the escalating monkeypox outbreak in more than 50 countries should be closely monitored but does not warrant being declared a global health emergency...

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Group of Seven leaders on Sunday pledged to raise $600 billion in private and public funds over five years to finance needed infrastructure in developing countries and counter China’s older, multitrillion-dollar Belt and Road project...

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Four G7 powers will ban Russian gold exports in a new bid to stop oligarchs from buying the precious metal to avoid the impact of sanctions against Moscow, Britain said Sunday...

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Russian missiles struck an apartment block and close to a kindergarten in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Sunday, in strikes U.S. President Joe Biden condemned as “barbarism” as world leaders gathered in Europe to discuss further sanctions against Moscow...

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday said Ukraine would win back all the cities it had lost to Russia, including Sievierodonetsk, and admitted the war was becoming tough to handle emotionally...

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World leaders must recognize the price of supporting Ukraine including the surge in energy and food costs but must also acknowledge that the price of allowing Russia to win would be far higher, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said...

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The war in Ukraine could allow illegal drug production to flourish, while the opium market's future hinges on the fate of crisis-wracked Afghanistan, the United Nations warned Monday...

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US President Joe Biden on Sunday praised Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his leadership in the wake of Russia’s war against Ukraine and urged the West to stay united. “We have to stay together,” Biden told Scholz at a meeting ahead of the G7 summit in the German Alps...

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The US Supreme Court's opinion overturning Roe v. Wade on Friday could open the door for courts to overturn same-sex marriage, contraception, and other rights. It's already set off a debate among justices over whether overturning Roe puts those precedents in danger...

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United States (US) President Joe Biden said a US presidential delegation will attend the inauguration of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday, June 30...

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Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor and incoming Finance chief Benjamin Diokno said the attainment of an A-level credit rating will be part of his main focus as the head of the Department of Finance (DOF)...

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An economist-lawmaker has called on the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to mount a “concerted effort” to manage business-process outsourcing’s (BPO) shift from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to the Board of Investments (BOI). Allowing BPOs to implement work-from-home arrangements will help the country deal with the currency depreciation, he noted...

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A technicality is delaying booster shots against COVID-19 for children 12 to 17, the Department of Health (DOH) said Sunday. In a radio interview, National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) chairperson and Health Undersecretary Dr. Myrna Cabotaje said the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) had made a condition that boosters can only be given to health adolescents aged 12 to 17 if the booster coverage for senior citizens in their respective areas reaches 40 percent...

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“I think he should have waited for our own efforts to bear some fruit,’’ Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Sunday after the head prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) called for the resumption of the inquiry into the thousands of killings and other atrocities in the Duterte administration’s war on drugs...

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The best affordable transportation for all. This was the “marching order” of President-elect Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to his incoming Transportation Secretary-designate Jaime J. Bautista...

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As Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is poised to assume office on June 30, business groups are hoping the new president will focus on ensuring food security, creating new jobs, and eliminating corruption in his first hundred days...

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Less than one week before he officially begins his six-year term of office, President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has assured outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte of the continuity of his administration’s programs...

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Malacañang on Sunday welcomed the results of a recent Social Weather Stations survey indicating that a “very high” number of Filipinos are optimistic that their quality of life would improve in the next 12 months...

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ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro on Sunday renewed her call to put at par teachers’ pay with the wages of nurses, soldiers, and police officers...

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Smuggling of agricultural goods has remained lucrative despite the enactment of Republic Act No. 10845, the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) said on Sunday, after the Bureau of Customs (BOC) foiled the entry of some P124 million worth of smuggled agricultural products from China...

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The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday classified five areas in Metro Manila under “moderate risk” as the positivity rate in the region rose above the 5-percent World Health Organization benchmark...

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Quezon City and Metro Manila led the list of cities and regions, respectively, with the most number of new COVID-19 cases recorded on Saturday, independent pandemic monitor OCTA Research said on Sunday...

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Creation of inter-agency linkages among the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) could curb illegal tobacco trade and could generate much-needed revenues to fund government projects of the new administration...

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Poll watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) on Saturday urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to further investigate even the minor discrepancies in the vote count, although it did not find electoral fraud in the May 9 polls based on its preliminary information technology report...

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Filipinos should avail of the free medical checkup offered by the government under its Universal Health Care (UHC) Law amid the latest uptick of non-COVID-19 cases in the country, Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said on Saturday...

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The incoming administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos on Sunday vowed to empower officials of the country’s 42,046 barangays who will undergo capacity-building training to ensure optimal utilization of the additional funds to be injected by the Mandanas-Garcia ruling...

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An official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) has asked local government units (LGUs) next to the city of Manila to declare June 30 a non-working holiday for the inauguration of president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr...

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President Rodrigo Duterte promised to usher in the country’s “golden age of infrastructure” by enhancing mobility and connectivity across the country through the Build, Build, Build (BBB) program. But was this goal achieved?

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The construction materials retail price index (CMRPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) picked up in March, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed...

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Big companies in the country will invest $20 million (around P1 billion) to establish a shared hub for artificial intelligence (AI) research in the Philippines...

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The Department of Finance (DoF) reported over the weekend that the Bureau of Customs' (BoC) rice import tariff collections increased to P8.35 billion in the first five months of the year...

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Nearly 100 workers out of 1,000 either got a job or lost one in the last two quarters of 2021, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)...

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The 25-basis-point (bp) increase in the key interest rate of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced on Thursday that affirmed a gradual path to tightening of monetary policy was a disappointment to analysts who believe the BSP should be more aggressive...

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A shortage in pork, fish and some vegetables expected by yearend would put upward pressure on prices, but the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) sees supply being augmented by President Duterte’s order last month extending lower tariffs on various food and energy items...

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The volume of fish unloaded at regional ports rose by 4.4 percent amid the La Niña phenomenon, the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) said...

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A senator tipped to chair the chamber’s Ways and Means Committee in the 19th Congress said he considers sovereign debt management more important than revenue-eroding measures like a suspension of fuel excise taxes, which would impair government efforts to reduce such debt...

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The possibility of oil and gas exploration in the West Philippine Sea dimmed further after the Philippines terminated talks with China over joint energy exploration in the disputed sea, as resumption of any activities could escalate geopolitical tensions...

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The Philippine economy is expected to continue its recovery this year, with growth expected at seven percent, but external headwinds from elevated inflation could put a halt on this momentum...

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A group of local sugar producers maintained there is no sugar supply shortage in the country. United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) president Manuel Lamata said the country has enough sugar supply as he wondered why sugar prices doubled at present...

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ING Bank will quit its four-year-old retail banking operations before the end of this year while it bolsters its wholesale banking business and expands its global shared services operations, The Netherlands-based firm said on Friday...

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