Philippines second in budget transparency in Southeast Asia

Source BusinessWorld

The peso on Monday breached the 55:$1 mark at an intraday weakest of 55.15 against the dollar, raising concerns that the local currency is sliding too fast despite government assurances that it remains stable...

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The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) overnight borrowing rate could rise to 3.25 percent by the end of the year, Fitch Solutions said on Monday...

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The number of Covid-19-positive tests in the National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila and eight other areas has exceeded the threshold set by the World Health Organization (WHO), OCTA Research said Monday...

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The 1-meter rule in classrooms is an “obsolete policy” and must be removed to improve the education being received by children nationwide, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda)...

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President Duterte will end his 6-year term as the most popular president of the post-EDSA I era, a latest PUBLiCUS survey showed...

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The possibility that the La Niña phenomenon will linger until the end of the year may add to upward pressure on inflation in the Philippines, even as prices of basic commodities are seen starting to peak...

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A food security advocacy called on the incoming Marcos administration to certify as urgent a measure establishing the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DFAR), billing such a move as in aid of containing rising food prices and reverse faltering productivity...

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Outgoing Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno, also the incoming Secretary of the Department of Finance, disclosed efforts for a collective commitment to accelerate financial inclusion...

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The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday once more urged President Duterte to veto the Vape Bill before stepping down in three days...

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Citing “reliable information,” Senator Pia Cayetano has revealed that the enrolled copy of the Vape Bill was already submitted to Malacañang for signature last June 24 – a move that she described as a “devious attempt to evade scrutiny by the outgoing administration.”

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The six-day gun ban in Metro Manila started on Monday as a security measure for the inauguration of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on June 30...

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Instagram is testing new ways to verify its youngest users' ages, including by using artificial intelligence that analyzes a photo and estimates how old the user is. Meta-owned Instagram said in a blog post on Thursday that AI is one of three new methods it's testing to verify users' ages on the photo-sharing site...

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The race among local big business to prospect for gas and oil in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) has been rebooted with the recent decision of the government to terminate all talks with China on joint development...

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Mounting inflationary pressures will lead to more rate hikes from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), an international think tank said in its recent assessment piece on the Philippines’s monetary policy landscape...

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As the debt of developing countries like the Philippines continued to increase, civil society organizations (CSOs) called on G7 countries and national governments to cancel debts and repeal automatic debt appropriations...

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Philippine company Asia Defense and Armament Corporation (ADAC) has set up a partnership with US-based Daycraft Systems Corp. to operate a weapons assembly facility inside the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB)...

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Manila Water vowed to maintain its non-revenue water (NRW), or level of water losses, after reporting an average NRW level of 12 percent as of March 2022...

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Central banks must not let inflation become entrenched as the threat of stagflation looms over the global economy, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) warned on Sunday...

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NATO will boost the number of troops on high alert by more than sevenfold to over 300,000, its secretary-general said on Monday, as allies prepared to adopt a new strategy describing Moscow as a direct threat four months into the Ukraine war...

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U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday signed a national security memorandum to fight illegal fishing, part of pledged efforts to help countries combat alleged violations by fishing fleets, including those of China...

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Any encroachment on the Crimea peninsula by a NATO member-state could amount to a declaration of war on Russia which could lead to "World War Three," Russia's former president, Dmitry Medvedev, was quoted as saying on Monday...

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U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday the “egoism” of some nations was hampering efforts to seal a long-awaited treaty to protect the world’s oceans...

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Russian missiles struck a crowded shopping mall in central Ukraine on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as Moscow fought for control of a key eastern city and Western leaders promised to support Kyiv in the war “as long as it takes.”

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, discussed global food security and confirmed their intention to strengthen their strategic partnership, the Kremlin said on Monday...

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The Group of Seven (G7) announced on Sunday it would attempt to compete with China's formidable Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by raising some $600 billion for global infrastructure programs in poor countries...

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Ukraine has called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council over Russian strikes on civilian targets, the UN body said, scheduling the event for Tuesday at 1900 GMT...

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A long-delayed conference on how to restore the faltering health of global oceans kicked off in Lisbon on Monday, with the head of the UN saying the world's seas are in crisis...

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Leading economic powers conferred by video link with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday as they underscored their commitment to Ukraine for "as long as it takes" with plans to pursue a price cap on Russian oil, raise tariffs on Russian goods and impose other new sanctions...

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Pollution is linked to more than 10 percent of cancer cases in Europe, a report by the European Environment Agency said Tuesday...

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The number of children who died in last week's devastating earthquake in southeastern Afghanistan has risen to at least 155, the United Nations said, as the scope of the deadliest temblor to hit the impoverished south-central Asian country in two decades comes into focus...

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World powers on Sunday agreed to ban gold exports from Russia, kicking off a G7 meeting aimed at taking new steps to deplete Moscow's war chest and bolster Ukraine's defenses...

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Russia rejected claims on Monday, June 27, that it had defaulted on its external debt for the first time in more than a century, telling investors to go to western financial agents for the cash which was sent but bondholders did not receive...

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Using recreational marijuana is associated with a higher risk of emergency room care and being hospitalized for any reason, a new study has found...

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The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the infrastructure of the future needs to be “smart,” “sustainable,” and aligned with development planning to a degree not seen in the unsolicited proposal process...

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Full resumption of face-to-face classes, climate change mitigation and smart infrastructure should be prioritized by the incoming Marcos administration, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said on Monday...

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The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday reported a total of 4,634 new COVID-19 cases between June 20 and 26, an increase of 53 percent compared with 3,051 cases recorded in the previous week...

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Oil companies raised local pump prices anew this week, but the upward adjustment was lower than the previous weeks...

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Just days before it ends its term, the Duterte administration launched on Monday a blueprint to revive the Philippine coconut industry...

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Various fisheries groups are asking President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to certify as urgent a bill creating the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DFAR) to unlock the full potential of the country’s fisheries sector...

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Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria "Joey" Concepcion 3rd on Monday criticized the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) for dragging its feet in administering Covid booster shots for minors ages 12 to 17...

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Before it exits on Thursday, the Duterte administration will still issue COVID-19 alert levels for the first half of July, officials said...

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Three days before stepping down from the Palace, President Rodrigo Duterte said the government won’t get rid of corruption...

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Outgoing Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Monday expressed hope that senators of the incoming 19th Congress will continue his crusade of poring over the national budget and keeping it free from congressional insertions or pork barrel and other “useless” appropriations...

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Some agriculture and customs officials have been identified as alleged protectors and smugglers of agricultural products, a report of the Senate Committee of the Whole showed Monday...

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A health reform advocate is recommending that the government consider administering the second booster shot for economic frontliners and people with comorbidities, amid rising COVID-19 cases in the country...

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Outgoing Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua is hopeful that lingering restrictions on face-to-face classes can be dismantled by the incoming administration when students return for the next school year...

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The Philippine National Police (PNP) continues to discourage protests during the inauguration of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, but if protesters insist, they would be allowed to gather in freedom parks and places that are not near the National Museum, where the oath-taking will be held on Thursday...

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The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is scheduled to hear today the petitions of transport groups to raise the minimum fare for public utility jeepneys (PUJ) to as high as P5 amid the fuel price crisis...

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State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) vowed to exhaust all legal means to collect its outstanding receivables, of which the bulk should come from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogos)...

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The Department of Health (DOH) logged 4,634 Covid-19 cases from June 20 to June 26, an average of 662 cases per day...

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The shipment containing 299,520 Pfizer-BioNTech doses allotted for those aged 12 years old and above, arrived at NAIA Terminal 3 past 9 p.m...

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The incoming Marcos administration should consider the full liberalization of the renewable energy (RE) sector as part of the government’s efforts on climate change mitigation, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said on Monday...

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The Philippine central bank should deliver more aggressive rate hikes in order to curb inflation that is now expected to reach 5% this year, economists said...

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Persistently high inflation is raising the odds that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will raise the key interest rate by as much as 50 basis points in the next policy meeting in August, contrary to Monetary Board (MB) signals for gradual tightening...

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Renewed government borrowings drove the local currency (LCY) bond market in the first quarter, with growth accelerating to 6.5 percent from three months earlier when the comparable expansion was a "marginal" 0.5 percent...

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For the first time in two years, the Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) industry is slowly making a comeback, taking up long-vacated offices and repopulating urban residences...

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Filipinos are now experiencing a sharp and sustained rise in prices of food, fuel, electricity and almost everything else...

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The research units of the Moody’s Group and Fitch Group see the need for more aggressive rate hikes from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to anchor inflation expectations and temper the depreciation of the peso...

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Outgoing Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua is confident the incoming Marcos government will put equal focus – if not more — on the impact of climate change on industries and sustainable development particularly in the use of smart infrastructure...

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The Philippine stock market opened the week on a positive note yesterday as investors picked up bargains...

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T-bill yields rose across-the-board on Monday (June 27) alongside higher interest rates imposed by central banks worldwide, including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), to arrest elevated inflation globally...

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