TYPHOON Yolanda has been tagged as the deadliest Philippine typhoon on record and the strongest storm to make landfall in modern history. It has claimed thousands of lives and left many homeless, stunned and grief-stricken. As of Nov. 20, 2013, the National Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) estimated the damage to properties to amount to P12.2 billion. But, as they say, there is always a rainbow after the storm.
MANILA, Philippines – Innovation is part of MediCard’s commitment to quality healthcare as it continuously embodies the latest systems and technology in the health management industry. That is why, recently, its employees and officers took part in the ICD-10 seminar workshop, a training program designed to reinforce the latest medical classification list endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), adopted and mandated by DOH for use among all health institutions locally. “ICD-10, which has over 16,000 codes, allows a much more specific coding of diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or diseases of our patients in MediCard,” says Dr. Nicky Montoya, MediCard president. “We’re proud to say that we have been embracing this system for almost five years now.” Dr. Montoya adds that the coding system is helpful in utilization analysis to help companies manage their healthcare costs. Further, having claims personnel and clinic staff who are well-versed with the codes produces a faster and more reliable service to MediCard patients. The ICD-10 is a universal language used in different health organizations. With this, medical records are easily understood worldwide because diagnosis is easily discerned from the records. Conducted by National ICD-10 trainers Teresa Timbang and Fe Sinson of the Department of Health (DOH) National Epidemiologic Center (NEC), Philippine Medical Records Association (PMRA) president Lilian Garcia and PMRA secretary Elizabeth Tayag, the seminar produced a 95% passing rate among the participants. Topping the new team of ICD-10 coders are: Dr. Jaen Castillo, Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Over 20,000 workers nationwide lost their jobs due to closures of commercial establishments, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported. Data from the DOLE’s Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) showed that closures of establishments affected a total of 20,222 workers nationwide in the first half of 2013. From January to June, BLES noted that a total of 1,137 commercial establishments closed due to various reasons. Metro Manila accounted for the biggest number of displaced workers resulting from the closures of various commercial establishments nationwide. A total of 706 commercial establishments in Metro Manila filed notice of closures that affected 10,783 workers. The top causes cited for retrenchment and closures of establishments was downsizing, which led to the displacement of more than 5,414 workers in the country. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Employers also claimed financial losses and lack of market as among factors that forced them to lay off workers or close down their commercial firms. In the past two years, an annual average of 2,000 companies folded up due to economic difficulty. The closures resulted to displacement of over 30,000 workers each year. The number of companies resorting to closures could still go up this year as numerous calamities hit various areas in the country. Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz expressed confidence that the country would be able to immediately bounce back from the calamities. With the Christmas holiday already coming, Baldoz said, they see a surge in employment that could Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – A surge in remittances from Filipinos abroad may be seen in November and December following the destruction caused by Super Typhoon Yolanda, a central bank official said. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said that Filipinos abroad are expected to send more to their families in the Philippines, especially those in hard-hit areas, as they rebuild their homes and businesses. “We might see a strong inflow come November because there are also reports indicating that families who were displaced by the super typhoon have members who are working abroad,” Guinigundo said. “What we would expect is aside from the normal level of remittances that they send, probably they will increase that precisely to cover the extra cost of rehabilitation and rebuilding the homes and their business,” he continued. Yolanda, which ravaged the Visayas region earlier this month, has killed more than five thousand and destroyed billions of pesos worth of infrastructure and agriculture. “We would expect that in November, perhaps even in December, there could be some spikes in terms of remittances,” Guinigundo said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We could probably see stronger growth (in remittances) than in the other months of 2013,” he added. Cash remittances hit $16.480 billion in the first nine months of the year, 5.8 percent higher than the $15.571 billion recorded in the first same period last year. Historically, the country sees a jump in the volume of remittances for the month of Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – State-run National Power Corp. (Napocor) applying for an automatic tariff rate adjustment mechanism before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), to sustain its financial viability, its top official said. The application for automatic tariff and universal charges for missionary electrification (UCME) adjustment mechanism is part of the power firm’s plans and projects to improve the delivery of electricity in so-called missionary areas, said Napocor president Ma. Glady Cruz-Sta. Rita. Sta. Rita said another of their project involves a massive re-fleeting and retirement program to replace oil and high-fuel consuming and unreliable diesel generator sets in the different missionary areas. UCME refers to the cost of service not covered by the subsidized approved generation rate. It is approved by the ERC and is collected from all end-users subsidizing the cost of electricity service in the island grid. Napocor’s UCME is at a prevailing rate of P0.0709 per kilowatt-hour. It intended to raise its UCME to P0.2262 per kwh by 2013 and P0.3179 per kwh for 2014. These missionary areas are scattered all over the country. They are far-flung villages and remote barangays that are not connected to the main power grid. Sta. Rita said a Napocor study showed that the break-even for recovery of capital cost vis-a-vis fuel savings ranges from 12 to 20 months. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 As such, Napocor would be pursuing procurement of new diesel generator sets to replace the rented ones and supplement the needed capacity of the first Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – State-run Landbank of the Philippines has reported a 16 percent increase in its loan portfolio to P280 billion in the first nine months of 2013, from P241.9 billion a year earlier. Landbank president and CEO Gilda Pico said most of the loans were granted to priority sectors of the government. Specifically, loans to priority sectors expanded to P221.7 billion, representing 79.2 percent of the bank’s total loan portfolio. The bank’s priority sectors comprise, among others, small farmers and fisherfolks microenterprises and SMEs, agri-aqua related projects of LGUs and GOCCs, socialized to medium cost housing, and utilities. “The consistent growth in our loan portfolio, particularly our loans to our priority sectors, is solid testament of Landbank’s aggressive support to the government’s thrust towards inclusive growth and our relentless commitment to nurture progress in the rural areas,” Pico said. As of end-September, outstanding loans to small farmers and fisherfolks reached P29.6 billion, 15 percent higher than last year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 From January to September, loan releases to small farmers and fisherfolks amounted to P29.8 billion. The regions with the highest loan releases to small farmers and fisherfolk are Central Luzon with P6.8 billion, Central Visayas with P4.4 billion, followed by Cagayan Valley, Southern Mindanao, and Northern Mindanao with P3.9 billion, P2.7 billion and P2.6 billion, respectively. Loans to microenterprises and SMEs also grew by a hefty 21 percent from P28.7 billion to P34.6 billion while loans to socialized, low-cost and medium-cost housing Read More …
MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The Philippine stock market retreated for the sixth time toMonday as investors continued to unload their shares over fears that the local equities market’s fortune has been reversed. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index is threatening to break below the 6,000-level after shedding another 1.32 percent, or 80.58 points, on Monday to settle at 6,004.26. Similarly, the all-share index retreated by 0.97 percent, or 35.96 points, to 3, 681.67. Trading volume reached 552.94 million shares worth P7.16 billion ($163.4 million) with 92 stocks declining, 64 advancing, and 28 were unchanged. Of the six counters, only the financials and the mining and oil sectors bucked the trend. “The conviction that pushed the market to 31 fresh all-time records in the first five months of the year has completely evaporated and fears that the bull-market has probably reached a point of reversal begins to spread,” said analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. The analyst noted that the composite index is just a couple hundred points above the 2012 close and any further drops will wipe out all the year’s gains. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Calaycay said there is an increasing number of “unbelievers” and that any further slide will pull down the index to the 5,812. 73-mark. This, he said, will strengthen the bears’ claims. On the other hand, a recovery that restores the index to at least between the 6, 200-6,300 range should lend some credence to the bull’s proposition Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Officials from the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) are set to arrive in Tacloban City this week to address concerns of business owners as they reopen their establishments weeks after typhoon Yolanda destroyed the city. “(The traders’) primary concern is security and … soft loans and implication of the BIR,” Lim said on Monday at an inter-agency meeting. He added that security options are also being studied by the business owners, and officials from major malls are also assessing when to open supermarkets. Lim said the aim is to have the supermarkets open by the second week of December.
MANILA, Philippines – The central bank on Monday said about 60 percent of banks in typhoon-hit Leyte and Samar have resumed their operations nearly two weeks after the massive destruction caused by typhoon Yolanda. Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) show that 102 banks out of the 171 banking offices in Leyte and Samar are back in operations as of Nov. 21. Meanwhile, only 63 out of the 204 automated teller machines (ATMs) in the two provinces are back online. The central bank said in the six provinces hit by Yolanda- Leyte, Samar, Cebu, Aklan, Capiz and Palawan- 742 of the 855 banking offices have resumed operations while 931 of the 1,203 ATMs are now online. However, BSP Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla, Jr. said only five out of the 44 banks in Tacloban City resumed operations during the same period. He said banks in the city are finding it hard to resume operations after the typhoon, and damaged equipment and unavailable employees make it difficult to resume operations. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “They need to bring in new ATMs among others because those being used before the typhoon were heavily destroyed,” Espenilla said. He added that there were isolated cases where ATMs were stolen. Espenilla said he expects most of the banks in Tacloban to reopen by the end of the year.
We’ll never again see the seemingly unstoppable whirlwind Manny Pacquiao of 2007 to 2011. That was the Manny Pacquiao who zoomed up the scales to win five of his world titles in a record eight weight classes. But this Pacquiao — the 34-year-old version coming off a gargantuan one-punch, sixth-round, face-first, go-to-sleep knockout against his great rival Juan Manuel Marquez in their fourth encounter a year ago — is still pretty damn good. READ FULL STORY