EDITORIAL - Bracing for monkeypox

Source Philippine Star

Foreign business groups have urged the Senate to let the Philippines join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest trade bloc, as doing so will help bring in more investments from abroad...

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Philippine presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. on Monday confirmed that a new stimulus measure will be part of his priority legislation for the incoming Congress, although potential revenue sources are still being studied...

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An infectious diseases expert on Monday said the public should prepare for, and not panic about, the entry of more transmissible COVID-19 Omicron subvariants into the country...

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There is no need for the government to once again raise coronavirus alert levels despite the reported local transmission of a new subvariant of the Omicron variant, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria "Joey" Concepcion 3rd said Monday...

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Various business groups, which include shipping companies, truckers, exporters, and customs brokers, want the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to stop its container monitoring policy, saying this duplicates the functions of the Customs bureau and disrupts port operations...

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The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) in partnership with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), aims to fast-track the implementation of Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), as this is one of the flagship programs of the outgoing administration...

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President Duterte has signed into law five measures related to local maritime industry offices and schools...

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The Senate has approved on third and final reading a measure providing permanent validity of the certificates of live birth, death and marriage, barring agencies from requiring a new copy of these certificates from individuals who transact business with them...

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The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) ordered all local government units (LGUs) to enact ordinances on the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems...

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The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will require all online stores and shopping platforms to include a feature that will provide the mandated discount for persons with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens...

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Countries that fail to reduce their carbon emissions as they had promised should be sanctioned, President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday in his weekly taped “Talk to the People” briefing...

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Investors and enterprises can now access the Fiscal Incentives Registration and Monitoring System (FIRMS), an online registration where investors can monitor their submitted applications for tax incentives, the Department of Finance (DOF) said...

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A Stockholm restaurant crew is wearing cotton aprons that capture greenhouse gas from the air, in a pilot of a technique that researchers supported by Swedish fashion retailer H&M are developing...

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The managing director of the International Monetary Fund says a global recession isn’t in the cards but “it doesn’t mean it’s out of the question.”...

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Multiple threats to the global economy topped the worries of the world’s well-heeled at the annual Davos think-fest on Monday, with some flagging the risk of a worldwide recession...

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Bangladesh is looking to expand its partnership with the Philippines in the future to scale up food production, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA)...

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With another $8 million (nearly P418 million) in financial assistance, the United States has upped its aid to the Philippines to respond to the damage wrought by typhoons “Odette” (international name: Rai) late last year and “Agaton” (Megi) early this year...

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Regional central banks are expected to bare monetary policy decisions in the coming weeks and seek an interest rate sweet spot to tackle soaring inflation...

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Executives in the food, pharma, energy and tech sectors are cashing in from Covid-19 as the pandemic is creating one billionaire and pushing one million people into poverty every 30 hours, a study by charity group Oxfam showed. Oxfam is a confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on alleviating global poverty...

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As ongoing factors continue hounding the industry, ING Group's global think tank (ING Think) advises companies that they should plan even further ahead as global supply chains are expected to remain under pressure in 2022...

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that President Vladimir Putin was the only Russian official he was willing to meet with to discuss how to end the war...

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The global economy is being brought to the edge of a precipice by crisis upon crisis. As the first World Economic Forum to be held in person since 2020 opened in Davos, Switzerland on Monday, the International Monetary Fund said the economy faces "perhaps its biggest test since the Second World War."...

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The World Health Organization does not believe the monkeypox outbreak outside of Africa requires mass vaccinations as measures like good hygiene and safe sexual behavior will help control its spread, a senior official said on Monday...

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The World Health Organization does not have evidence that the monkeypox virus has mutated, a senior executive at the UN agency said on Monday, noting the infectious disease that is endemic in west and central Africa has tended not to change...

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U.S. health officials are in the process of releasing some Jynneos vaccine doses for use in monkeypox cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday...

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North Korea said on Tuesday it was witnessing a “stable” downward trend in its first confirmed COVID-19 outbreak, reporting less than 200,000 new patients with fever symptoms for a third consecutive day on Tuesday...

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The leaders of Japan, India, Australia and the United States meet in Tokyo on Tuesday seeking common ground on countering China's growing regional economic and military clout...

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President Joe Biden arrived Sunday in Japan for the second leg of an Asia trip underlining US commitment to the region but overshadowed by concern that North Korea will test a nuclear weapon after ignoring Washington's attempt at outreach...

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China's foreign minister said Sunday US diplomatic strategy in Asia was doomed to fail, state media reported, as President Joe Biden underlined Washington's commitment to the region during a visit to South Korea and Japan...

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President Joe Biden met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo ahead of the unveiling of a multinational trade initiative on Monday as part of his push to reinvigorate US strategic power across Asia...

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The Omicron variant of the coronavirus does not have a negative affect on cardiovascular health in young adults who have been vaccinated, a small study suggests...

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The global job market is at risk of doing a U-turn on its path towards recovering to pre-COVID-19 levels as lockdowns in China and the war in Ukraine weigh on economies, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a report on Monday, May 23...

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The United States is "playing with fire," the Chinese State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office said Monday, after President Joe Biden vowed to defend the self-ruled island in the event Beijing attempts to take control, state media reported...

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The European Union will likely agree an embargo on Russian oil imports “within days,” Germany’s economy minister said on Monday, but making a dent in Russia’s war chest may require capping global oil prices...

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Russia said domestic exporting companies would have to sell 50 percent of their income in foreign currency, a reduction from 80 percent earlier, after Moscow said the ruble stabilized...

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Russia's war in Ukraine has pushed the number of forcibly displaced people around the world above 100 million for the first time ever, the United Nations said on Monday...

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Copenhagen’s pledge of Harpoon anti-ship missiles and a launcher to Ukraine, announced by the United States on Monday, is the first sign since the Russian invasion in February that Kyiv will receive U.S.-made weapons that significantly extend its striking range...

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Asian stocks were mixed Monday as inflation fears and concerns about low economic growth weighed on markets...

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The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced that it is launching a financial education game for local fisherfolk, targeting to educate over 1.9 million fishers nationwide...

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Three people have accepted the offer to be part of the incoming Cabinet of presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., spokesperson Vic Rodriguez said on Monday...

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Former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio S. Balisacan, former Labor Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma and migrant workers’ rights advocate Susan “Toots” Ople have accepted presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr.’s invitation to join his Cabinet...

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Presumptive President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has selected four more people to join his Cabinet, with his nomination of Cavite Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla as justice secretary at once drawing objections from advocates of human rights and press freedom...

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The Department of Health (DOH) has heightened its monitoring of monkeypox in coordination with other government agencies to keep it out of the country, Health Undersecretary Abdullah Dumama said on Monday in the weekly taped “Talk to the People” briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte...

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The random manual audit (RMA) of votes in the May 9 polls has posted an overall accuracy rate of 99.93175 percent, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday...

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Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday rejected proposals to close down the country’s borders amid the threat of the monkeypox virus...

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The country’s new president and vice president will be proclaimed by Thursday, at the latest, as Congress starts its “nonstop” canvassing of votes on Tuesday afternoon at the House of Representatives complex in Quezon City...

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The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday it may prosecute individuals who are found liable for the improper disposal of election paraphernalia in a vacant lot in Amadeo, Cavite...

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A government-funded comprehensive audit of the China-backed National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is already underway and the results are expected to be out within the third quarter of the year...

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Most of the country’s regions continue to be at “minimal risk” for COVID-19 transmission, while six others are currently at “low risk,” Health Undersecretary Abdullah Dumama said in the weekly “Talk to the People” briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte...

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Although the Philippines exceeded its 70% vaccination rate, the government admitted on Monday night that the administration of booster shots remains a challenge...

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Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte said he hopes his successor, Bongbong Marcos, would explore nuclear energy as an alternative power source to reduce the Philippines’ dependence on fossil fuels...

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The Senate today (May 23) approved a resolution calling on the Senate and the House of Representatives to meet in joint session at 10 A.M. tomorrow to count the votes cast in the May 9, 2022 national elections and proclaim the President-elect and Vice President-elect...

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COVID-19 infections in the Philippines are on the rise again following the detection of cases of the more transmissible subvariants of Omircon, data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed...

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The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is standing by its report, which found excesses in the implementation of the Duterte administration’s “drug war.”...

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The Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Monday announced that its Bayanihan E-Konsulta program is set to conclude its service on May 31...

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With his term ending next month, President Rodrigo Duterte reflected on his unfinished projects, saying six years are "not enough" to accomplish them...

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The rise in Covid-19 cases in Metro Manila could be caused by the more transmissible Omicron subvariants rather than superspreader events in election-related activities, a private research group said on Monday...

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Motorists filling up their vehicles with gasoline products will need to spend more on their fuel budgets this week, as the price of this commodity will rise by P3.95 per liter, as announced by oil companies...

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Treasury yields for full-year bonds nearly hit the four percent level due to monetary and political uncertainties hounding the debt market...

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Private-sector economists watching the Philippines expect headline inflation to average 4.6 percent in 2022, above the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 2 to 4 percent target band of manageable price hikes...

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The Philippine stock market declined yesterday due mainly to the volatility of foreign participation in the local market...

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Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion expressed support to a labor group’s proposal that government provide a subsidy loan to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), calling the move a “step in the right direction.”...

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Over a year after the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act became law in March 2021, the interagency, Cabinet-level Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) so far approved tax perks for 11 projects worth a total of P368 billion...

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Following the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) decision to hike key interest rates by 25 basis points (bps), domestic creditors sought higher yields for the Bureau of the Treasury’s (BTr) short-term borrowings...

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Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez on Monday offered an unsolicited advice to the next government on efforts to help the economy recover from the pandemic...

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