Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The peso weakened for the second straight day yesterday, hitting a near eight-year low anew despite the announcement of a strong third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth under the Duterte administration. The local currency shed 21 centavos to 49.56 from Wednesday’s 49.35 to $1. This was the weakest level in almost eight years after closing at 49.83 to $1 on Nov. 24, 2016 The peso opened weaker at 49.36 and hit an intra-day high of 49.22. Volume increased 23.2 percent to $821.5 million from $666.5 million last Wednesday. The country’s domestic output as measured by the GDP grew faster at 7.1 percent in the third quarter from seven percent in the second quarter in the back of growing investments and a strong rebound in agriculture. The agriculture sector grew 2.9 percent in the third quarter breaking five consecutive quarters of contraction. This is under the first three months of President Duterte who assumed office last June 30. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The GDP growth of the Philippines was also faster than China’s 6.7 percent, Vietnam’s 6.4 percent, Indonesia’s five percent, and Malaysia’s 4.3 percent. Economic managers penned a six to seven percent GDP growth target for this year. The GDP growth eased to 5.9 percent from 6.1 percent in 2014 due to weak global demand and lack of government spending.

MANILA, Philippines – Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. (SPAVI), the country’s top pizza chain, and British meat substitute producer Quorn Foods (Quorn TM ) have teamed up to bring meat-free pizzas to the local dining industry. Under the exclusive and limited agreement, SPAVI intends to offer Philippines’ first meat alternative pizzas. Shakey’s Quorn TM pizzas come in two meat free and soy free pizza variants, providing alternatives to pizza lovers who need to lessen their meat intake. SPAVI president and chief executive officer Vicente Gregorio said the partnership was in response to customers’ evolving tastes and habits. “The pizzas maintain the familiar taste and texture of meat with less of the calories that come with it. It’s like having the best of both worlds,” Gregorio said. He said Shakey’s success has always been anchored on the company’s mission to wow its guests and exceed their expectations. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Product innovation is one great way to do this. We always think of the customers’ evolving needs and eating habits. With Shakeys Quorn TM pizzas, we are catering to the growing number of guests looking for healthier food options that also taste good,” Gregorio said. Originating from the United Kingdom, Quorn TM is a range of meat-free protein products using Mycoprotein TM, a naturally healthy protein that is high in fiber, low in saturated fat as its main ingredient. It has zero cholesterol.

The country’s third quarter GDP growth rate is the highest since the second quarter of 2013 (7.6 percent). Jun Acculador/CC BY-ND MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine economy expanded by 7.1 percent in the third quarter of the year, higher than the revised second quarter growth of 7 percent, the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) announced on Thursday. The country’s latest GDP growth rate is the highest since the second quarter of 2013 (7.6 percent). The PSA said the services sector, which posted a growth of 6.9 percent, contributed much to the third quarter’s economic performance this year. “Services gave the highest contribution to the GDP growth in the third quarter of 2016 with 4.1 percentage points,” said National Economic and Development Authority Director Reynaldo Cancio said at a news conference. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The industry sector, meanwhile, accelerated by 8.6 percent this year, considerably higher than the 6.1 percent rate in 2015. This is a developing story.

THE Department of Energy (DoE) has asked the government agency that owns the Agus and Pulangi hydroelectric complex to allocate the output of Mindanao’s main power source to areas that need it the most.

MANILA, Philippines – The government continues to push for economic development in the country’s rural areas as four departments converge to address poverty and employment in the countryside. The departments of Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, Environment and Natural Resources, and Interior and Local Government recently signed resolutions for the National Convergence Initiative for Sustainable Rural Development (NCI-SRD). The NCI-SRD is a strategy among the four rural development agencies with the goal of reducing poverty and ensuring sustainable countryside development. The convergence also aims to provide integrated delivery of services and programs to rural farming, fishing, and upland communities of the country. “The convergence aims to lower poverty incidence, produce livelihood from rural areas, and generate economic activities. We will streamline the processes and make the turnaround time of every projects faster,” lead convenor and Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said. Through the enhanced framework, the NCI-SRD will undertake joint planning, programming and budgeting as well as monitoring and evaluation in the achievement of the sectoral goals and targets of the plan. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The convergence has requested the National Economic and Development Authority to task regional development councils to consider convergence initiative projects as regional priorities. It also recommended to the DENR the construction of on-farm roads and flood control dams in the National Greening Program Development Plan by tapping the Department of Public Works and Highways. The four agencies have likewise requested to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to classify convergence initiative sites as economic zones. Read More …