EDITORIAL - Workers and micro enterprises

Source Philippine Star

The next administration will need at least P326 billion in new revenues each year to cover the principal and interest payments for the country’s debts incurred amid the COVID-19 pandemic...

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Money sent home by overseas Filipinos rose by 3.2% in March, reflecting improved economic conditions in many host countries as pandemic restrictions eased...

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Transition talks between the outgoing Duterte and incoming Marcos administrations will be put on hold until the proclamation day, the latter’s camp revealed on Monday...

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There is no local transmission of the Omicron BA.2.12.1 subvariant in Metro Manila and Palawan despite the detection of the more transmissible COVID-19 strain, according to the Department of Health (DOH)...

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The Philippines is “likely” to achieve upper middle-income status by next year, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said, given the strong first-quarter print and economic reforms...

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The decision of the Regional Tripartite Wage Board to raise the minimum wage by P33 per day would not be inflationary, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda)...

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Personal remittances from overseas-based Filipinos received in the first quarter grew slower by 2.3 percent year-on-year to reach $8.6 billion from $8.5 billion in the same period last year...

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President Rodrigo R. Duterte ordered all government agencies to use digital methods in disbursing and collecting payments, a step that could put the Philippines closer to becoming a cash-lite society...

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The Commission on Audit (CoA) has disallowed more tax credit certificates (TCCs) issued to textile companies worth a combined P3.83 billion, the Department of Finance (DoF) said in a statement on Monday...

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The Supreme Court has declared void—for being issued beyond its authority—a 2011 revenue regulation of the Department of Finance (DOF) that limited the allowable deductions for costs and expenses of banks and other financial institutions for purposes of computing taxable income...

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To ensure better professionalism in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), President Duterte has signed a new law imposing a three-year tour of duty as well as extension on the retirement age for key military officials...

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The regional wage boards are not vested with the power to grant mass exemption to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from the minimum wage limit, according to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC)...

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President Duterte has signed Executive Order (EO) No. 169 that aims to create a Franchise Registry for the protection of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)...

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State workers are now entitled to night shift differential pay...

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President Rodrigo Duterte’s chief economic manager warns against moves to repeal the rice tariffication law (RTL), pointing to its benefits to Filipino consumers such as the big reduction in rice prices as more imports were allowed into the country...

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Retail and service businesses with 10 workers or less as well as micro enterprises that have not recovered from the pandemic may apply for exemption from paying the new minimum wage rate in Metro Manila and Western Visayas...

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Small enterprises with few employees may apply to be exempted from recently approved minimum wage hike order, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Monday amid appeals for exemption...

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Team EIA from the Philippines was among the winners of the Microsoft Artificial Intelligence for Accessibility (AIA) Hackathon in the Asia Pacific Region with their project that aims to build a more inclusive banking experience for the blind and elderly...

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Suspension railways today seem like an anachronism — a 19th-century vision of what the future of transport would look like. By the year 2022, surely we would all be commuting to work on upside down railways...

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The United States Trade Representative (USTR) kept the Philippines out of its watch list of countries with intellectual property (IP) concerns and even recognized the country’s efforts to combat counterfeiting and piracy...

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The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will send four vessels to take part in the Regional Maritime Pollution Exercise or MARPOLEX 2022 with counterparts from Indonesia and Japan...

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The Philippines remained excluded in the United States Trade Representative's (USTR) special report for the ninth consecutive year, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (Ipophl) said...

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Asian equities retreated on Monday following last week's short-lived rally on Wall Street due to fears of surging inflation and supply chain woes inflicted by Beijing's punishing zero-Covid policy...

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Moody’s Analytics, a unit of Moody’s Corp., said Monday the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas may be compelled to raise interest rates this week amid the rising inflation rate...

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U.S. health regulators are expected to authorize a booster shot of Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 as soon as Tuesday, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter...

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President Vladimir Putin said on Monday Sweden and Finland joining NATO would be no threat to Russia but warned the Western alliance that moving troops or weapons into the Nordic neighbours would provoke a "response"...

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Troops holed up in the last Ukrainian stronghold in the besieged port of Mariupol began evacuating on Monday, appearing to cede control of the once prosperous city to Russia after months of bombardment...

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Ukraine was preparing Monday for a new Russian push in the eastern Donbas region, as Kyiv said its army's counterattack around Kharkiv had gained momentum...

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President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that there was no threat to Russia if Sweden and Finland joined NATO but cautioned that Moscow would respond if the US-led alliance bolstered military infrastructure in the new Nordic members...

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The European Commission on Monday sharply cut its eurozone growth forecast for this year to 2.7 percent, blaming skyrocketing energy prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine...

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Russia’s foreign ministry said on Monday that attempts by the West and the G7 group of nations in particular to isolate Moscow have worsened global food shortages...

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Oil prices rose on Monday on optimism that China would see significant demand recovery after positive signs that the coronavirus pandemic was receding in the hardest-hit areas...

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Standing tall in bright red hazmat suits, five North Korean health workers stride towards an ambulance to do battle with a COVID-19 outbreak that – in the presumed absence of vaccines – the country is using antibiotics and home remedies to treat...

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North Korea on Tuesday reported six additional deaths from "fever," days after announcing its first Covid case, and said it was ramping up the military distribution of medicines...

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The US Food and Drug Administration has decided not to authorize the antidepressant fluvoxamine to treat COVID-19, saying that the data has not shown the drug to be an effective therapeutic for fighting the virus...

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A chain of events possibly triggered by unrecognized infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus could be causing the mysterious cases of severe hepatitis reported in hundreds of young children around the world, researchers suggest...

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Presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr.’s spokesman on Monday dared the former head of a government commission tasked to go after ill-gotten assets of the late dictator and his cronies to file a case over a missing Pablo Picasso painting seen in the house of his mother Imelda...

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The incoming Philippine government needs to raise about P326 billion in new revenues annually to pay for debts incurred for the coronavirus response, according to the House Ways and Means Committee chairman...

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Daily reported COVID-19 cases during the week of the May 9 national elections remained below 200 and were mostly mild or asymptomatic cases, while hospital admissions stayed at low-risk levels, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday...

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The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Monday said it hoped that the incoming administration will implement a closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance system project that was earlier awarded to a Chinese firm but was shelved after security and funding issues were raised...

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The head of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) took to social media to defend the election watchdog’s role after questions about its mandate and her background started circulating online...

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Some teachers’ groups have joined the Department of Education (DepEd) in pressing the Commission on Elections for an across-the-board additional pay for teachers who rendered extra hours of service during the elections...

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The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to proclaim the 12 winning senators tomorrow afternoon...

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Three government hospitals in Quezon City have over P445.069 million in claims that were denied or returned by the state health insurer due to incomplete documents and other deficiencies...

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The official website of Malacañang, which has the repositories of the Philippine Museum and Library, was reported inaccessible on Monday...

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Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria "Joey" Concepcion 3rd on Monday appealed to the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) to adopt and apply the guidelines set in place by the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on administering the second booster shot against the coronavirus disease...

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The executive committee tasked to vet the candidates and aspirants for various Cabinet positions in the incoming administration of presumptive President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is moving in the right direction in forming a “responsive” team amid the challenges besetting the country, his chief of staff, and spokesman said Monday...

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The Senate has already received 128 certificates of canvass (CoCs), or 73.99 percent of the total 173 CoCs expected to be transmitted to the chamber...

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All participants in the May 9 elections, including candidates who had withdrawn their candidacies, are required to submit their Statement of Contribution and Expenditures (SOCEs), Commission on Elections (Comelec) said...

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The campaign promise of presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to reduce retail price of rice to P20 or P30 is “possible,” but needs careful study, an official of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Monday...

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The camp of presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. sees nothing wrong with the plan of his archnemesis, Vice President Leni Robredo, to establish a non-governmental organization (NGO) after her term...

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Abolishing the country’s party-list system will require amending the 1987 Constitution, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner George Garcia said...

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Social Security System (SSS) President and CEO Michael G. Regino clarified on Monday that the net loss of P843.9 billion shown in its unaudited financial statements for 2021 is a result of a change in accounting standard brought by Philippine Financial Reporting Standards (PFRS) 4...

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After appealing to candidates to take down their campaign posters following the May 9 general elections, an environmental group yesterday asked winners not to hang plastic tarpaulins to thank their supporters...

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Leyte Representative Martin G. Romualdez, cousin of presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr., continues to meet with leaders of mainstream political parties as he is now poised to assume the speakership of the House of Representatives in the incoming 19th Congress...

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The Commission on Elections, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), has finalized the dates for the proclamation of the winning senators and some of the party-list groups this week...

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Retail prices of goods in Metro Manila grew in January at their slowest pace in six months, preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed...

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The Philippines is among those economies exposed to a heightened risk of imported inflation due to its depreciating currency, according to Nomura Global Markets Research...

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Motorists and consumers are up for a relief, albeit minimal, starting Tuesday after oil companies announced slight cuts in the pump prices of petroleum products...

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Construction activity grew in the fourth quarter of last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported last Friday, rebounding from year-earlier contraction when much of the country remained under strict quarantine restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic...

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The impending interest rate liftoff by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) may dent demand and employment recovery, especially in the absence of fiscal support to cushion the economy from higher borrowing costs, according to Moody’s Analytics...

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High debt load and low revenue collection will become bottlenecks to the country’s return to a rapid and sustainable economic growth path, the Department of Finance (DOF) said...

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The country’s 45 universal and commercial banks’ non-performing loans (NPL) ratio improved to 3.73 percent as of end-March, the lowest since December 2021...

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Initial findings of a survey showed that a number of college graduates are not prepared enough for jobs in certain subsectors of the growing business process outsourcing industry, according to the Board of Investments (BOI), an urgent problem that should be addressed by both the private sector and the academe...

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