Thirty-eight out of 51 passed the Dental Hygienist Licensure Examination given this month, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced Friday. [Click here for the complete list of passers.] The PRC said registration for the issuance of Professional Identification Card (ID) and Certificate of Registration will be on July 11, 2013. The date and venue for the oathtaking ceremony of the new successful examinees will be announced later, the PRC added. — KBK, GMA News
MANILA, Philippines – The country’s foreign exchange reserves dropped to its lowest level in 10 months last June after the central bank’s gold holdings plummeted in value, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday. Gross international reserves (GIR) — buffer funds in times of external shocks— fell to $81.64 billion last month, preliminary data showed. It marked the third straight month of decline since GIR peaked at $85.273 billion in January. The latest tally was also the lowest level for reserves— one of the drivers tagged by credit rating agencies for their upgrades— since August 2012 when they hit $80.728 billion. Despite the decrease, BSP Governor Amando Tetangco, Jr. said in a statement that reserves remain sufficient to cover 11.8 months worth of imports of goods and services. They are also equivalent to 8.3 times the country’s short-term foreign debt based on original maturity, and six times based on residual maturity. The BSP expects GIR to hit $87 billion this year. “The slight decline in reserves was due mainly to revaluation adjustments on the BSP’s gold holdings arising from the decrease in the price of gold in the international market…,” Tetangco said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 According to official figures, gold holdings decreased 11.33 percent versus the previous month to $7.663 billion, the lowest level in nearly two years. It was the single biggest drag to reserves last month. “These outflows were partially offset by inflows from foreign exchange operations of the BSP, Read More …
SEOUL, South Korea — Even after setting a record high profit, Samsung Electronics disappointed investors who increasingly doubt its mainstay smartphone business can maintain rapid growth. Samsung Electronics Co. on Friday estimated its April-June operating profit at a record high of 9.5 trillion won ($8.3 billion). That is a 47 percent jump from a year earlier and 8 percent growth from the previous quarter. But it fell short of forecasts by analysts who held higher expectation for the world’s largest smartphone maker. Analysts surveyed by FactSet, a financial data provider, forecast operating income of 10.2 trillion won on average. Samsung shares dropped nearly 4 percent in Seoul. Samsung said sales grew 20 percent to 57 trillion won ($50 billion). Sales of the latest iteration of Samsung’s flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, hit 10 million units in May, less than a month since its debut. Sales of the S4 hit the 10 million mark about 20 days faster than the previous model. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Analysts say high marketing costs probably weighed on Samsung’s mobile business despite the robust sales in the first month. The South Korean company will announce net income and details of quarterly financial results later this month.
File photo from 2012 Asia on the Edge conference. MANILA, Philippines – Filipino creative entrepreneurs, thinkers and leaders and their counterparts from Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Myanmar attempt to make Asia among the world’s foremost creative capitals as they let ideas simmer at the Hong Kong Fringe Club for the 2013 Asia on the Edge (AOTE). Much anticipation for conference, said to be especially for the “mentally agile, frighteningly creative and daringly enterprising,” is also brewing in social media. [View the story “Asia on the Edge 2013 in social media” on Storify] Poached Mag writer Valerie reports that delegates are already looking forward to a “robust” creative dialogue with its unmatched lineup of guests and speakers. Yuchengco Museum owner and serial entrepreneur Marco Santos as well as Intellectual Property Ventures Group chief executive Enrique Gonzalez will be involved in the creative mapping of the Philippines. Other leading creative minds to be heard from at AOTE are filmmaker Antony Szeto, Singaporean ambassador to Russia Michael Tay, Filipino politician Imee Marcos and Press Room Group HK director Alan Lo.
File photo of consumers in the Philippines. MANILA, Philippines – Consumer prices slightly accelerated in June from the previous month but the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said inflation continues to remain manageable. Inflation picked up to 2.8 percent in June from 2.6 percent in May, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported on Friday. “This was due to higher annual increments in the indices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco, health, transport, recreation and culture, and education,” the state agency said in its website. Excluding food and oil prices, core inflation settled at 2.9 percent, slightly losing pace from three percent in May. The BSP welcomed the latest inflation print, which fell within its 2 to 2.9 percent forecast for the month. The result “further supports our assessment of manageable inflation and the current appropriateness of our current policy stance,” BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a text message to reporters. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 As of the first half, inflation settled at 2.9 percent, slightly below the BSP’s three- to five-percent inflation target. The central bank, Tetangco said, will be watchful of external developments, especially on how other monetary authorities abroad will calibrate their policies. “We will monitor the impact of these factors on global and domestic investor sentiment and growth dynamics to see if there is any need to adjust our own policy settings,” Tetangco pointed out. The BSP has kept policy rates at record-lows of 3.5 percent and 5.5 percent since October, Read More …
Trader Peter Iocolano works in the oil options pit at the New York Mercantile Exchange. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) NEW YORK — The price of oil rose to its highest level in 14 months on concerns about possible disruptions to Middle East supplies and signs of an increase in U.S. demand for fuel. U.S. benchmark oil gained $1.64 to $101.24, its highest close since May 3, 2012. Brent crude, which is used to price oil used by many U.S. refineries to make gasoline, rose $1.76 to finish at $105.76. Two events propelled the price of oil above $100 a barrel for the first time since the middle of September: unrest in Egypt, and a big drop in U.S. oil supplies. Traders were worried that political upheaval in Egypt could slow the flow of oil from the Middle East to world markets. Embattled Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi vowed not to give in to protesters’ demands for his resignation. But the head of Egypt’s military announced late Wednesday night local time that Morsi will be replaced and new elections will be held. Egypt is not an oil producer but it control of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes gives it a crucial role in maintaining global energy supplies. The Middle East accounts for about a quarter of the world’s crude oil output, or 23 million barrels per day. About 2 million barrels of that, or 2.2 percent of world demand, are transported daily through the Suez Canal, which links the Mediterranean with Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino Administration is making a big push to expand its manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure and tourism sectors as it works toward achieving sustainable, inclusive growth. Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said the government would focus its efforts on attracting investments into the country as well as creating jobs to keep the local economy moving forward. “There’s going to be a greater push for expansion in industries because of the challenge of inclusive growth, that’s why more investments are needed to promote poverty reduction and job generation,” Abad said. In particular, he said the Aquino Administration is looking to get more investments into the country’s infrastructure development program as it rolls out more projects to boost infrastructure spending to five percent of GDP by 2016. Abad said increased infrastructure spending would help spur the growth of key industries like agriculture and tourism while at the same time getting more people into work. Between now and 2016, the government must adopt measures to create a total of 14.6 million jobs. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We’re going to be rationalizing the infra program because unlike in the past, each agency was worrying about its own infra program. But since we’re very clear about economic targets, this time around we have to operate differently, meaning there has to be somebody who will oversee the government’s infra plan,” he said. In the five months ending May this year, government infrastructure spending reached P106.4 billion, up 35.6 Read More …
By Michael Mathes WASHINGTON (AFP) – After months of wrangling, the U.S. Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed its comprehensive immigration reform bill that aims to put 11 million undocumented people on a path to citizenship. Chants of “Yes we did!” erupted from the public galleries after senators voted 68-32 to approve the landmark legislation, which […]
INQUIRER.net 6:13 pm | Thursday, July 4th, 2013 DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has raised crisis alert level 1 in Egypt amid ongoing political and civil unrest in the country. “Our priority is the safety of the nearly 6,000 Filipinos in Egypt. Upon the recommendation of our embassy in Cairo, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs has raised crisis alert level 1 over Egypt,” DFA spokesman Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez announced in a televised press conference Thursday. “Under this alert level, Filipinos are advised to stay indoors, avoid places where protests are being held and take all necessary precautions,” he said. The Egyptian military ousted president Mohammed Morsi after four days of mass demonstrations by millions of anti-Morsi protesters. “[Our] embassy has intensified its monitoring of the political and security situation in that country and has assigned duty officers to man the embassy and its communication lines 24/7,” Hernandez said. “Our citizens should likewise be on standby for any advisories that the embassy might issue regarding developments on the peace and order situation in the country,” he said. Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Tags: Egypt , Features , Global Nation , Middle East unrest Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Read More …
By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 4:03 pm | Thursday, July 4th, 2013 Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has invited Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Manila for “consultations” as the Philippines wished to defuse tensions over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). In a brief interview Thursday, Del Rosario told reporters that Wang said “he will consider” the invitation. The two top diplomats had a “testy exchange” over the dispute at the close of the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations ministers’ meeting in Brunei, where the regional maritime question became a centerpiece issue. “What might be of interest is I invited the (Chinese) foreign minister to come and visit Manila so that we can have a full and constructive discussion on all issues,” Del Rosario said. “I indicated to him that perhaps it’s time for him to do this because I have been to Beijing three times since I became foreign minister and all throughout that time, we have had no visits from the Chinese foreign minister,” he added. Del Rosario did not deny what happened behind closed doors during Sunday’s tense meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan, where he reportedly rebuffed Wang’s speech in which the Chinese official enumerated complaints against the Philippines over the West Philippine Sea. “I don’t think I should be discussing that but I did not deny what has been reported. As I said, there’s probably no need to add to it,” Del Rosario Read More …