CONSUMER PRICES growth likely accelerated in December, the chief economist at the Department of Finance (DoF) estimated, citing the seasonal uptick in demand, after-effects from fuel price movements and typhoon Nona.
Jan 042016
Jan 042016
GREGORY L. DOMINGO yesterday formally turned over the reins of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to incoming Secretary Adrian S. Cristobal, Jr., who will have about half a year to hold office before a new Philippine president is sworn in.
Jan 042016
DAVAO CITY — When President Benigno S. C. Aquino III took his oath as the President of the Philippines in 2010, Mindanao didn’t have enough power.
Jan 042016
Six oil companies will implement price adjustment on diesel, kerosene and gasoline effective Tuesday morning. File photo MANILA, Philippines – Six oil companies on Monday announced that they are cutting diesel prices and will increase gas prices on Tuesday. PTT Ph, Phoenix Petroleum, Eastern petroleum Flying V, Shell and Petron will reduce its diesel price by P0.15 per liter and increase its gasoline price by P0.10 per liter. On the other hand, Flying V, Shell and Petron will also decrease the prices of kerosene by P0.25 per liter. Flying V will be the first to apply the price change at 12:01 a.m., January 5, Tuesday, while the five oil firms will implement the price change at 6 a.m. The coming adjustment of fuel prices is the first in 2016 as the last price cut was announced before the New Year, last Dec. 28, 2015, where gasoline prices were slashed by P.60 per liter and diesel by P.20 per liter due to the downward movement of oil prices in the world market. There was also a rollback on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) last January 1.
Jan 032016
THE PHILIPPINES should focus on addressing a number of issues — including its poor infrastructure and the way the government does business — for it to reap the full benefits of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU).
Jan 032016
DAVAO CITY — The Department of Tourism (DoT) has solicited the services of a Singapore-based accreditation body to look into the readiness of Philippine establishments for halal tourism.
Jan 032016
American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker Jim Rohn once said: “All good men and women must take the responsibility to create legacies that will take the next generation to a level we could only imagine.” This is timely food for thought as we open the New Year because it is, in essence, forward thinking.
Jan 032016
MANILA, Philippines – State agencies are now holding roughly P1.5 trillion of their respective budgets, handed out to them automatically when the 2016 national outlay took effect last Friday. “With the GAA-as-release-document, it means that 90 percent of the budget of agencies can immediately be obligated without waiting for the DBM to issue allotments,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad told The STAR. According to data from the Department of Budget and Management, departmental budgets under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) amounted to P1.66 trillion. Departmental budgets accounted for 55 percent of the total P3-trillion outlay signed by President Aquino last Dec. 22. Budget released means agencies are now free to incur obligations by contracting products and services. Once obligated, agencies would still need to secure notices of cash allocation (NCA) from the DBM. NCAs, in turn, are given to the Bureau of the Treasury, which issues checks to pay for government services. Once encashed and paid to contractors, the amount is deemed disbursed. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The introduction of the GAA-as-release-document us-hered in a budget regime in which the GAA is the primary fund release document,” Abad. “That is, agency budgets are practically released the moment the national budget is enacted,” he added. According to the GAA or RA 10717, the 10 agencies with the largest allocations were the departments of education (P437 billion), public works and highways (P400 billion), national defense (P175 billion), interior and local government (P154 billion), health (P128 billion), social welfare Read More …
Jan 032016
MANILA, Philippines – The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is reviewing new capacity and market share limitations (MSL) for generation companies to ensure competitiveness in the electric power industry. The power regulator is coming up with a new study for the updated capacity threshold, ERC chairman Jose Vicente Salazar said. The study is still ongoing. We are discussing with PEMC (Philippine Electricity Market Corp.) and GMC (Grid Management Committee),” he said. PEMC is the operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, while GMC gives advice on the country’s power grid. Salazar said PEMC and GMC would be given until the third week of January to submit reports on the market share limitations. “We’re going to impose on the second or third week of January a deadline for their reports so we can compare this two decisions and determine how we’re going to move forward,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In December, PEMC had informed the power regulator it already has a preliminary position. Meanwhile, GMC is in the process of preparing a report. Under RA 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA), the ERC is to set the MSL annually to prevent a person, company, related group or independent power producer administrator (IPPA), singly or in combination, to own, operate, or control more than 30 percent of the IGC of a grid, and/or 25 percent of the national IGC. For 2015, the ERC updated the limit to 3,917.32 megawatts from 3,612.42 Read More …
Jan 012016
Last April, President Aquino transferred the coordination, monitoring, and evaluation of all disaster-related programs projects and activities (PPAs) from the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery to NEDA.Marcelino Pascua/PCOO MANILA, Philippines – More than two years after the massive destruction brought by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), only 13,335 housing units have been completed, with construction of 79,219 houses ongoing and scheduled for completion by December 2016. In a report released by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), it attributed the slow pace of building resettlement sites to policies on procurement and land acquisition and the many required permits and clearances needed to start certain projects. “NEDA is intensively coordinating efforts to address these policy and implementation issues with the concerned agencies,” Arsenio M. Balisacan, Economic Planning Secretary and NEDA director general, said. Last April, President Aquino transferred the coordination, monitoring, and evaluation of all disaster-related programs projects and activities (PPAs) from the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery to NEDA. Balisacan noted that resettlement of the survivors from the danger zones remains the most challenging among the recovery efforts. “Nevertheless, the Philippine government – working closely with its development partners, the private sector and non-governmental organizations – continues to see steady progress in the Yolanda recovery and rehabilitation efforts,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The overall weighted physical accomplishment (OWPA) of completed and ongoing Yolanda PPAs now stands at 63.2 percent – or 30.3 percent completed and 33.1 Read More …