Maniolas

The horrendous traffic that motorists and commuters experienced last Friday was one of the worst, with everything on a standstill for almost half the day with the roads resembling giant parking lots, the congestion aggravated by trucks and other delivery vehicles plying the streets of the metropolis. Malacañang’s appeal for more patience has lost its appeal with people complaining that nothing has really been done in the last five years of the administration. It was simply pathetic that Mar Roxas – the anointed Liberal Party standard bearer – characterized traffic as a sign of “economic prosperity,” earning the ire of people who see traffic as a clear sign that Metro Manila is dying with the congestion choking the life out of the city. Nobody knows who has been delaying the rollout of key infrastructure projects that contribute to the everyday “Calvary” that people have to go through every single day. The perception is that the administration is now trying to “fast-track” everything just so it can be said that they “started” something – without carefully evaluating the viability of the projects. Take for instance the P171 billion Philippine National Railways improvement project, in particular the South line of the North-South Railway Project.  A government think-tank had previously proposed that cargo be diverted to the Batangas Port to ease the congestion in Metro Manila, along with a suggestion for ICTSI to revive the PNR rail freight operations at its depot in Calamba, Laguna during off-peak hours. Just recently, the DOTC and Read More …

People cross a street in front of an electronic stock indicator of a securities firm, showing Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225, center, which gained 84.13 points or 0.4 percent and closed at 20,808.69, in Tokyo, Monday, Aug. 10, 2015. Asian stock markets were lackluster Monday as weak data added to jitters about China’s economy and the monthly U.S. jobs report reinforced expectations for a Fed interest rate hike. AP/Ken Aragaki TOKYO — Japan’s economy contracted at a 1.6 percent annual pace in the April-June quarter, as bad weather and slowing demand in China posed further setbacks for the “Abenomics” growth strategy. The gloomy preliminary growth data reported Monday was in line with expectations, and raises the likelihood the central bank may opt for fresh stimulus measures in coming months, Masamichi Adachi of JPMorgan said in a research note. Slower-than-expected consumer demand, exports and corporate investment have stunted growth after the economy expanded at a relatively robust annual pace of 3.9 percent in January-March. The contraction in April-June represented a 0.4 percent decrease from the previous quarter. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has championed a strategy of massive monetary easing that is pumping trillions of yen (hundreds of billions of dollars) into the economy. But stagnant wage growth and corporate investment have so far slowed progress toward a strong, sustained cycle of growth.

DAVAO CITY — The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is assuming a rebound in economic growth despite the lack of a clear resolution on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), officials told BusinessWorld.

MANILA, Philippines – Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., the retail arm of the Gokongwei family, plans to spend another P6 billion next year to ramp up expansion of its network across all store formats and fully utilize the increasing spending power of Filipino consumers. In an interview, Robinsons Retail president Robina Gokongwei-Pe told The STAR the company is earmarking for 2016 the same amount it did this year to put up between 250 to 300 stores. Next year’s store expansion is likely the biggest in the company’s history as it is expected to top 2014’s record of 263 new stores opened in a single year. Robinsons Retail offers a diverse array of retail offering which includes supermarkets, department stores, convenience stores, drug stores, and specialty stores. For next year’s expansion, bulk will be composed of convenience store chain Ministop. Gokongwei-Pe said the company remains undeterred despite the growing number of competition in the country’s convenience store segment as it eyes 100 new stores next year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Ministop at present has nearly 500 operational stores in the Philippines. “It has become quite competitive so we’re focusing on our strength which is ready-to-eat. There’s still room to grow for our convenience store business,” Gokongwei-Pe said. Gokongwei-Pe said there are still a plenty of areas in the country where Ministop is not yet present but she noted the company intends to grow over the near term on its existing markets. “We have presence in Cebu, Iloilo, Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Dutch financial institution ING Bank sees a more robust capital market in the Philippines after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued the guidelines on the issuance of commercial papers. Consuelo Garcia, country manager of ING Bank in Manila, said in a statement the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) easing the rules on the issuance of debt papers is out.  The bank said the new amendments would entice more companies to raise funds in the domestic market, plug regulatory gaps, strengthen market and regulatory structures, and encourage global best practices. “The relaxation of the rules on commercial paper issuance, in particular, will widen the availability of instruments in the market and deepen the capital markets,” Garcia said.  Garcia chairs the Capital Markets Committee of the Bankers Association of the Philippines. She said the committee worked closely with the SEC and other industry organizations in coming up with amendments to the IRR that would be more responsive to current market conditions. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 She added the streamlining of the process for the issuance of commercial papers and corporate notes is expected to encourage more corporate issuers to raise funding from the capital markets instead of the bank market. Early this month, the SEC approved the new guidelines to enhancing the existing requirements including the ability of companies to raise funds in the domestic market. SEC chairperson Teresita Herbosa earlier said the new guidelines address regulatory Read More …