THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) expects to rule by yearend on the Philippines’ application to enter an expanded preferential trade scheme that will grant duty-free access to more Philippine-made goods, a representative of the 28-member bloc said on Tuesday.
TWO NORTH American firms have donated $300,000 worth of landing equipment to the Tacloban airport, allowing aircraft to fly into the city despite low visibility.
NOWADAYS, contrary to its commemorative spirit, the celebration of Araw ng Manggagawa or Labor Day is punctuated by protest rallies organized by different labor groups to air their grievances. With besetting socioeconomic realities such as inflation, erosion of security of tenure and unemployment, the promotion of labor rights should not be reduced to lip service. Such realities should, in fact, compel the issuance and implementation of responsive legislation protecting the welfare of workers.
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Association of Flour Millers Inc. (PAFMIL) assures the public there would be no increase in bread prices despite the provisional duty imposed on Turkish flour imports. According to PAFMIL, there should be no upward movement in the price of bread products such as pan de sal and Pinoy Tasty as flour product prices are stable. The assurance was given amid concerns that there would be price increases following the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) decision to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on imported Turkish flour. “The public should not be unduly worried that bread prices will increase after the DA move. The higher bread price scenario is pure speculation and bereft of any basis,” PAFMIL executive director Ric Pinca said. Trade Undersecretary Victorio Mario Dimagiba likewise said the imposition of additional anti-dumping duties on Turkish flour would not have any effect on the prices of pan de sal and Pinoy Tasty as bakers have given assurances that they would not raise their prices. Dimagiba said the price of the 450-gram Pinoy Tasty would remain at P37 per loaf, while that of pan de sal would stay at P22.50 for each 10-piece pack. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 While locally milled flour is used for these bread products, he said even the bread made from branded imported flour would not have any price increase. Philippine Federation of Bakers’ Associations, Inc. president Chito Chavez said his group is also not in favor of any increase Read More …
The potential of golf tourism in the Philippines continues to be untapped, and just because the country’s top CEOs like Ramon Ang and Manny Pangilinan or the President of the Republic don’t play golf should not be a reason why some serious attention should not be given to this sector. The Philippines is in this part of the world that is in the midst of growth. Southeast Asia, of which the Philippines is a part of, is one of the fastest growing economies in the world today. The region has a huge consumer base, larger than all of European nations combined, and are tech-savvy, young and upwardly mobile. China, Japan, Australia and Korea are countries that have a sizeable population of golfers who enjoy going on golf tours during their winter months. And many of them bring their families with them to shop, surf or simply laze in the sun during these breaks. In fact, in a recent report by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators, worldwide golf holiday sales by golf tour operators have grown by more than 20 percent over the past two years, and early figures this year already show strong growth. As to be expected, growth is coming from Asia and Australia, which were up 12.8 percent and 22.5 percent, respectively from last year compared to 2012. Even in Europe and North America, which are still hurting from the global financial crisis of 2007, growth of golf tours are already at double digit. More than Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) intends to implement programs that would increase awareness of the public and improve enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) to ensure the country would remain out of the Office of the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) Watch List. IPOPHL director general Ricardo Blancaflor said in a press conference yesterday that while the country’s removal from the USTR’s list of countries with IPR violations and problems is a milestone, challenges remain such as internet piracy, changing technology and prosecution of those involved in the sale of counterfeit items. “What steps do we have to take so we will not be back on the list? We have to be vigilant,” he said. The IPOPHL, Blancaflor said, would implement programs that would increase the awareness of the public on the importance of IPR so that they would stop patronizing counterfeit products. Based on a survey conducted by the agency, 54 percent of the respondents know about IPR. “What we want is to bring this (54 percent) to 100 percent. They should not just have awareness, but also have respect for IP,” IPOPHL deputy director general Allan Gepty added. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The IPOPHL is working with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to come up with a model ordinance which would cover activities to raise the public’s IPR consciousness. The IPOPHL is also continuing with the training of prosecutors on IPR. The government, he Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has called for higher share of tourism in international aid flows to maximize the growing contribution of the sector to socio-economic development. In a statement, UNWTO said this case for tourism’s higher prioritization in the development agenda was the focus of the discussions during the First High-Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation recently held in Mexico. Despite being a high-impact economic activity, a major job generator and key export sector – accounting for six percent of total trade, UNWTO said that tourism receives only 0.5 percent of the total Aid for Trade (AfT) disbursements and a mere 0.13 percent of the total Official Development Assistance (ODA). Based on UNWTO data, tourism accounts for 42 percent of the exports of services of emerging markets and developing economies and has been identified by half of the least developed countries as a priority instrument for poverty reduction. International tourism to emerging and developing economies has been growing strongly in recent years. In 2013, emerging and developing economies received 506 million international tourists or 47 percent of all international tourist arrivals in the world as compared to 38 percent in 2000. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 UNWTO forecast this share to surpass that of advanced economies in the coming years and to reach 57 percent by 2030. South Africa Tourism Minister Minister and chairperson of the UNWTO Working Group on ODA Marthinus van Schalkwyk, in his Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Canadian-owned Honeywell International Inc. and Houston-based Hughes Aerospace Corp. have donated instrument flight rules worth $300,000 for the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban that was destroyed by Super Typhoon Yolanda last November. Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) officials headed by director general William Hotchkiss lll and deputy director general John Andrews received the donation yesterday that would be deployed at the Tacloban airport making landings of aircraft possible even during night-time. Honeywell and Hughes Aerospace through its local representative DPS-SmartPath Naviagational Systems,Inc. donated the equipment. Andrews said the satellite based IFR would be installed in the airports in Dumaguete Butuan, Legaspi and Laguindingan. IFR are one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other are visual flight rules (VFR). During flight of aircraft under IFR, there are no visibility requirements, so flying through clouds (or other conditions where there is zero visibility outside the aircraft) is legal and safe. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The new navigation procedures would be used to improve aid, relief, recovery and rebuilding efforts for the Leyte region, Tacloban, and the surrounding areas following the catastrophic effects of the typhoon last Nov. 8. Honeywell and Hughes would absorb the entire cost of the development of these approaches at the airport to ensure that the flow of relief supplies is not impacted. Honeywell Aerospace vice president for airlines in the Asia Pacific Brian Davis said the effects of Typhoon Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The government’s first quarter budget deficit widened from a year ago as expenditures outpaced revenues. In a report, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the government incurred a fiscal gap of P84.1 billion in the first three months of the year, which was 27 percent more than the P66.5 billion in the same three months of last year. Expenditures climbed 12 percent year-on-year, faster than the nine percent increase in revenues, thus the deficit. The government incurred nearly half of the first-quarter deficit in March when the fiscal gap reached P40.2 billion, 14 percent more than the P35.1 billion a year ago. Spending and revenue grew at the same pace last month, but the government raised only P129.3 billion whereas expenditures were higher at P169.5 billion, thus the deficit in March. Interest payments reached P30.8 billion last March or 18.2 percent of total expenditures. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Collections by the Bureau of Internal Revenue rose eight percent to P264.7 billion. The Bureau of Customs sustained its double-digit revenue growth, rising 26 percent to P86.5 billion. “Growing revenue collections, most notably that of the Bureau of Customs, is just one of several wins we have garnered recently. Cash collections from January to October 2013, which was before the aggressive reforms at the Bureau, grew only 4.9 percent over the same period a year before. However, from November 2013 to March 2014, the time when the reform program at Customs had begun to Read More …
WINNING MukhAsim Smile: Cris, a small negosyante in the Malcapuya island. We are on our second leg of our sailing trip, bringing our kids to see how beautiful our provinces are. Our first leg, which I wrote about in my earlier column, was a visit to Moalboal, Oslob, Sumilon island and Bohol. It was a fantastic adventure. In the second leg, we took friends who have never been to Coron and Busuanga and they were amazed at how beautiful our country really is. Everyone hears about El Nido of Palawan and Boracay. Indeed they are considered the best in the world, but Coron, Busuanga and the Calamines islands have great potential too. I have been 15 days at sea, just having to go home for some days to attend board meetings, as this is our only chance to sail when the sea is calm and our kids are on summer vacation and we are with friends to appreciate our own country and the different cultures of each area. The expansion of the big boys in tourism is happening now; Discovery just took over Club Paradise in Busuanga, the Regency Group of Boracay has started developments in Bohol and has taken over the best island in Coron called Malcapuya island. I just hope they don’t make this a high density hotel. Huma, owned by some foreign group, hopefully will be more accommodating to local tourist as we have been rejected from landing in the resort last year. The two Seasons group Read More …