Philippines ranks 46th out of 85 in ‘best countries’ list

Source BusinessWorld

Government agencies raised their cash utilization rate to 98% at the end of September, as the economy continued to reopen, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reported on Thursday...

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After 13 years of receiving cash grants, about 90 percent of the active beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) are still below the poverty threshold and most of them may be delisted from the program if necessary steps are not taken immediately, according to a report by the Commission on Audit (COA)...

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The Philippines will continue to pursue arrivals from China, which was the second top source market for tourists, pre-pandemic...

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The Philippines remains a world laggard in closing the gap between the rich and poor, as a consequence of meager funding for social services, dismal tax collection rates and low respect for labor rights during the pandemic, according to a study by Oxfam International and Development Finance News (DFN)...

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Despite the resumption of in-person classes, young children are still ineligible to receive COVID-19 booster shots as drug manufacturers have yet to apply for an emergency use authorization (EUA) of vaccines for kids 5 to 11 years old, according to the Department of Health (DOH)...

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The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday said the new Omicron subvariant known as XBB, which is driving new infections in Singapore, has not yet been detected in the country...

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The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) reminded cell phone users to register their SIM (subscriber identity module) cards to avoid their deactivation...

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Substance use and vices have primarily declined in the youth in the year 2021 compared to consumption in earlier years. This was indicated in a study conducted by the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI)...

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The Department of Finance (DOF) is backing the extension of lower tariff rates on various commodities, including rice and pork, to temper the increase in domestic food prices amid supply woes...

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Of the 30 proposed laws to come out of the recent Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) as Common Legislative Agenda (CLA) between the House of Representatives and Senate, at least six are targeted for passage before year’s end, at least from the lower chamber’s part...

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An advocacy group has informed lawmakers from the House of Representatives that a law placing an eight percent per year interest cap on loans taken by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is not being implemented properly...

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The country’s largest business group is backing a proposed legislation at the House of Representatives to remove the value-added tax (VAT) on basic commodities, which include bread, sugar and cooking oil, saying it will help both consumers and businesses...

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A senior lawmaker is pushing for the passage of a bill creating a government entity that would focus on the development of renewable energy (RE)...

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The bill seeking to ease the country’s deposit secrecy law to give the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) the power to look into accounts of bank officials and employees for fraud is expected to hurdle the House of Representatives by next month...

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The Tariff Commission ordered the lifting of anti-dumping tariffs imposed on imported cement from Vietnam as it rejected a petition by local cement manufacturers for an extension of the safeguard measures...

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A panel in the House of Representatives has recommended for plenary consideration several pieces of legislation that aim to protect the remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)...

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Candidates who are 25 years old by next year’s Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections will be screened and will not be allowed to run for office, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Thursday...

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The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will release the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the SIM Registration Law in 60 days after the measure becomes effective...

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Neuroscientists have shown that lab-grown brain cells can learn to play the classic video game "Pong," and could be capable of "intelligent and sentient behavior."...

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The government is conducting a “regular diplomatic briefing” with envoys from different European nations to assure them that the Philippine government is “committed” to comply with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW)...

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The Philippines and Norway have committed to strengthen maritime ties with focus on sustainability and green initiatives...

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Developing countries are heavily dependent on outside financing to execute their climate-change mitigation plans, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington, DC...

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Danish Ambassador Franz-Michael Mellbin on Thursday said President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has asked Denmark to invest in agriculture and energy sectors...

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For the first time, the United States deployed the world’s most advanced fighter jet in tandem with its advanced long-range rocket systems in live-fire drills with the Philippines as part of the Kamandag (Venom, in Filipino) military exercises in several parts of Luzon which analysts saw as a preparation for a potential conflict in Taiwan and South China Sea...

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The Transportation department said on Thursday that it expressed to European governments the Philippines’ commitment to complying with seafarer training standards...

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The Philippines joined 142 other nations in voting to condemn Russia's annexation of four regions of Ukraine...

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Ensuring decent work amid the effects of climate change, the pandemic, and other calamities topped the agenda of labor groups in Southeast Asia during the forum held by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Makati earlier this week...

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Most Asian central banks must tighten monetary policy further as rising commodity prices and their currencies’ depreciation, driven by steady U.S. interest rate hikes, push inflation above their targets, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday...

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As the world reboots after being shut down by a global health crisis and traditional media fighting to stay relevant in the advent of social media and proliferation of disinformation and misinformation, the Confederation of ASEAN Journalists on Thursday pledged to "enhance the spirit of cooperation" in the pursuit of a "healthy, free, and responsible press" in the Southeast Asian region...

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the launch of two long-range cruise missiles, state media reported on Thursday, adding that the weapons had already been deployed to "tactical nuke" units of the East Asian country's army...

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Federal Reserve (Fed) officials at their last meeting stressed their commitment to taming "unacceptably high" inflation before announcing that they were raising their benchmark interest rate by a substantial three-quarters of a point for a third straight time and signaling more large rate hikes ahead...

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Even as extreme weather and climate disasters are multiplying, half of the countries lack the advanced early warning systems needed to save lives, the United Nations warned on Thursday...

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Wild populations of monitored animal species have plummeted nearly 70 percent in the last 50 years, according to a landmark assessment released Thursday that highlights "devastating" losses to nature due to human activity...

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Case numbers in the global monkeypox outbreak have now topped 70,000, the WHO announced Wednesday as it warned that declining new cases did not mean people should drop their guard...

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Kim Jong Un supervised the launch of two long-range cruise missiles, state media said Thursday, adding that the weapons had already been deployed to “tactical nuke” units of the North Korean army...

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South Korea scrambled fighter jets after a group of about 10 North Korean military aircraft flew close to the border dividing the two countries, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, amid heightened tensions over repeated North Korean missiles tests...

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The Russian-installed governor of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region proposed residents take their children and leave for safety, in one of the starkest signs yet that Moscow is losing its grip on territory it claims to have annexed...

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Russia’s mobilization of reservists has brought uncertainty and chaos to businesses already hard-hit by sanctions and still recovering from the fallout of the pandemic...

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Turkey’s parliament on Thursday approved a tough pre-election law that could see reporters and social media users jailed for up to three years for spreading “fake news”...

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Microsoft Corp. has avoided billions in taxes in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, where it has lucrative public sector contracts, because of its complex corporate structure, according to a study published on Thursday...

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The global property boom is coming to an end, according to a study published on Wednesday by UBS, with Frankfurt and Toronto topping the list of imbalanced markets...

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A divided G20 holds talks on Thursday under the shadow of multiple crises, from Russia’s war in Ukraine to a global economic slowdown, on top of soaring inflation and climate change...

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Climate change risks undermining global energy security unless the use of renewables is dramatically scaled up, the UN warned Tuesday, suggesting the Ukraine conflict’s ripple effects could speed up the green transition...

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An infectious diseases expert said that the country could be nearing the COVID-19 endemic stage as cases are now on a downward trend and severe and critical infections remain low...

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The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. has assured its members anew of continuing benefit coverage and reiterated that their fund remains strong to meet its obligations in the long term...

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The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said there will be an online system to register subscriber identity module (SIM) cards after Republic Act No. 11934, or the SIM Registration Act, was enacted into law last Monday...

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Information and Communications Technology Secretary Atty. Ivan Uy said that due to the lack of the availability of the national ID, Filipinos can use passports or driver's licenses when they register their SIM cards...

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Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy assured the continued release of the digital Covid-19 vaccine certificates under VaxCertPH even as the government's contract with the software developer has expired...

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Senator Pia Cayetano on Thursday asked the officials of the University of the Philippines (UP) to exert effort in implementing face-to-face classes not only for medical and health allied programs but also for general education and liberal arts programs that are currently still holding full online classes...

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The Covid-19 positivity rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) is down a bit, but is up in nine provinces, OCTA Research reported...

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The Philippine National Police (PNP) said that its sustained anti-criminality drive has resulted in a drop in non-index crimes in the country...

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The Department of Education on Thursday denied claims that it plans to rebrand the teaching of martial law as “Bagong Lipunan” (New Society) in the basic education curriculum...

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The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Technical Education and Skills Authority (TESDA), and Department of Education (DepEd) led the 10 government agencies that garnered the highest “trust ratings” based on the results of the latest PUBLiCUS Asia survey...

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The Commission on Human Rights condemned the online threats made against TV5 journalist Ed Lingao and host Lourd de Veyra, calling on the government to address these violations and take proactive measures to stop media attacks...

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The local cement industry is weighing its option regarding its next step after the 5 October decision of the Tariff Commission to end the safeguard duty on imported cement...

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Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Koko Pimentel on Thursday prodded the DPWH to act switfly to untangle the problems that have caused undue delays in many big government projects, causing loss of resource and opportunity...

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The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said on Thursday that it has improved its processes for determining the feasibility of infrastructure works, which were found to have contributed to delays in a number of projects...

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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s decision to enact a bill suspending the 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections is a move against democracy, the Kabataan party-list claimed on Thursday...

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The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Thursday that voter registration for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) will resume in November...

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The Department of Health (DOH), through the leadership of Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire, has highlighted Primary Care as its flagship reform toward realizing Universal Health Care (UHC)...

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Detained former Senator Leila de Lima on Thursday asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to “order” the Department of Justice (DOJ) to “stop blocking the testimony” of a recanting witness in her ongoing drug-related trial...

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The “highly immune-evasive” XBB Omicron subvariant could possibly enter the Philippines amid the country’s opened borders, an infectious disease expert warned Friday...

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The Department of Agriculture (DA) is teaming up with Nestle Philippines to boost local coffee production and enable the country to go beyond the 15 percent sufficiency level...

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The Department of Finance (DOF) is pushing for the extension of lower tariff rates on major agricultural commodities to bring down prices as inflation remains a concern...

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Local stocks got a boost from bargain hunters yesterday, bucking the downtrend in most Asian markets, as investors await the release of the latest inflation reading in the US...

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Tourism arrivals in the country already hit 1.7 million to date, exceeding the target for the entire year, Tourism Secretary Maria Esperanza Christina Garcia Frasco reported...

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The peso weakened again on Thursday after closing at P59 against the United States dollar...

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Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Thursday said the demand for real estate services will continue to pick up now that the economy has reopened.

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Pag-ibig Fund's top officials announced on Wednesday that the agency's home loan releases in the last three quarters of 2022 posted double-digit growth and reached P83.31 billion, the highest amount released by the agency for any January to September period...

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Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said that at least nine regional airports are up for privatization due to lack of funds on the part of the government to support their operational expenses...

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United Sugar Producers Federation President Manuel Lamata said that at least 200,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar have been produced in the ongoing milling season...

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