Businesses turn less bullish in Q3

 Economy
Aug 302013
 
Businesses turn less bullish in Q3

MANILA, Philippines – After sentiment hit an all-time high in the second quarter, businesses turned less bullish in the succeeding three-month period on the back of the seasonal drop in demand, peso volatility and concern over the impact of the US Federal Reserve’s looming exit from its massive bond buying program, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said yesterday. In its Business Expectations Survey (BES), the BSP said the overall confidence index for the third quarter eased to 42.8 percent from record high of 54.9 percent in the second quarter. Despite the  slight drop, the index for the fourth quarter climbed to a new high of 60 percent. The index is the difference between the percentage of firms that answered in the positive and those in the negative. “Basically, the general story is the business sentiment of our respondents continue to be broadly bullish,” BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said. “There was some slight decline in the confidence index but in general, it remains in the positive story so the bullishness that we saw in the first quarter and second quarter continued in the third quarter,” he added. “Respondents attributed their less buoyant outlook to expectations of lower seasonal demand during the quarter, stiffer competition, particularly from products from China, and volatility in the movements of the peso” Teresita B. Deveza, deputy director of BSP’s Department of Economic Statistics, said.  “Uncertainties in the global economy such as the impact of the anticipated exit from quantitative easing in the US Read More …

Market continues rally; index up 131 pts

 Economy
Aug 302013
 
Market continues rally; index up 131 pts

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Stok Exchange (PSE) index rallied for the second straight day yesterday, rising 2.20 percent or 130.96 points to 6,075.17. “Equity investors found more reason to stay optimistic after US economic numbers showed the worst may be over,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., an analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp. “European shares snapped three consecutive days of losses as the UK Parliament rejected a proposed military involvement in Syria,” Calaycay said. Geopolitical tension in Syria, particularly the potential US-led military strike, has been hounding stock markets in the past few days. Wall Street advanced anew as easing tensions was coupled with a surprising 2.5-percent second quarter gross domestic product growth in the US. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.1 percent or 16.44 points to 14,840.95, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.2 percent or 3.21 points to 1,638.17. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Locally, all counters were in the green, led by property firms that rose 2.81 percent or 63.39 points to 2,319.44. “The PSEi started off with a 40-point gain and except for a momentary slide took a decidedly positive heading, breaking into the 6,000-line going into the final hour of morning trades,” Calaycay said. Turnover value spiked to P14.43 billion from P9.69 billion on Thursday. There were two advancers for every decliner. SM Investments Corp. (+1.36 percent) remained as the top traded company, followed by Ayala Land Inc. (+3.31 percent) and PLDT (+2.79 percent).

US encourages peaceful resolution of West PHL Sea dispute

 News
Aug 302013
 
US encourages peaceful resolution of West PHL Sea dispute

The United States on Friday encouraged all the countries involved to resolve peacefully the dispute over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). “We encourage nations to peacefully resolve their disputes to internationally accepted mechanism and accordance with international law, including the Law of the Sea and without coercion,” Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel said during a press conference in Malacañang on Friday. He said he supports ASEAN efforts to negotiate the South China Sea Code of Conduct which he said will help peacefully manage disagreements and tensions arising from competing territorial and maritime claims. Hagel also said he “appreciates” the Philippines’ efforts to solve the dispute through peaceful means. The Philippines sought arbitration under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) last January to try to declare as “illegal” China’s nine-dash claim, which covers almost all of the South China Sea, including sections that have been declared as the West Philippine Sea. China has resisted Manila’s move to let a U.N. body intervene in the disputes, saying the Philippines’ case was legally infirm and carried unacceptable allegations. China prefers to negotiate one on one with other claimants, which would give it advantage because of its sheer size compared to smaller rivals that have less military force. Hagel, however, said China “clearly understands” that “the world is interconnected and all powers must develop relationships and get along with each other for their own economic development, for stability, security, peace.” “You cannot have growth, development, and possibilities for the Read More …

US rushing PH to approve military access agreement, says leftist lawmaker

 News
Aug 292013
 
US rushing PH to approve military access agreement, says leftist lawmaker

By Allan Nawal, Karlos ManlupigInquirer Mindanao 1:06 am | Friday, August 30th, 2013 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. AP FILE PHOTO DAVAO CITY, Philippines—A lawmaker warned the US has been rushing the Philippines into signing an agreement that would allow US military to have access to the country’s military facilities. Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate said US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel flew to the country and met with President Benigno Aquino III to “rush the country into signing the framework agreement on the increased rotational presence of US soldiers and give them wider access to facilities in the Philippines.” “US Secretary Defense Hagel and President Aquino are ramming the access agreement down our throats,” Zarate said. He said the meeting undermined the efforts of the Senate and Congress to review the constitutionality of the agreement and the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and glossed over “protests against the increased and permanent presence of US soldiers in the country.” Zarate said the Makabayan bloc has called for the scrapping of the 13-year old Visiting Forces Agreement through House Resolution No.8. He criticized Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario over the latter’s statements that US soldiers might use Philippine military bases should a war break out between North And South Korea. “The Philippine government is freely letting the US government use our country as a staging ground for war against North Korea and China to the detriment of the Filipino people who do not know the real intention of their overdue stay in the Read More …

Peso weakness won’t last long – BSP exec

 Economy
Aug 262013
 
Peso weakness won’t last long – BSP exec

MANILA, Philippines – The peso’s continued weakness against the dollar is not expected to last for long as this has been driven by market reactions to recent developments, a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) official said. “I’m not sure if that is going to be for the long haul because as I have always indicated… we have a balance of payments and current accounts surpluses that should drive the firmness of the peso moving forward,” BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo told reporters late last week. The local currency closed at 44.26 to a dollar last Friday, its lowest level since Jan. 31, 2011. Analysts attributed the depreciation to last week’s US Federal Reserve minutes which signified support for tapering stimulus due to an improving US economy. Moreover, the peso tracked other regional currencies, which weakened because of disappointing economic indicators reported by some emerging markets. “What we’re seeing is market reaction… so this is something that is driven more by market sentiment than by fundamental factors,” Guinigundo said. “It’s bound to correct in due time and when that happens… it means that that should go back to fundamentals and the fundamentals means that peso should be firm because of the balance of payments and current accounts position,” he continued. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The country’s balance of payments surplus amounted to $3.677 billion in the seven months to July. The BoP, which shows a country’s transactions with the rest of the world, tallies investments, Read More …

Foreign buyers seek gov’t funding to revive garment sector

 Economy
Aug 252013
 
Foreign buyers seek gov’t funding to revive garment sector

MANILA, Philippines – The Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (FOBAP) is seeking funding support from the government to revive the country’s garments industry. The Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. in a statement, cited FOBAP president Robert Young as saying that the projects costing around P5 million include industry mapping for garments and hard goods sectors, compliance program and “invite the CEO (chief executive officer)” project. Young said factories need to comply with implementing requirements and regulations on child labor, clean and safe environment and minimum wage. He said compliance to the requirements and regulations is important so that “the big buyer companies with big quantities and buying program will place orders.” “If not, the factories can just settle with the small quantity buyers which usually have lower buying prices,” he said. He also said there is a need to bring back the so-called “invite the CEO” project which has been effective in terms of regaining foreign buyers. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The “invite the CEO” project was implemented during the Martial Law years, when the country experienced crisis and foreign markets stopped purchasing goods. “What we did last time, we invited all the top CEOs and buyers of the major department stores abroad, all expenses paid for like four to five days. We told them that Manila was ready to serve you, we were still here and the industry was being revived,” Young said. With the implementation of the three projects, the group is optimistic Read More …

BSP sees robust growth for emerging economies

 Economy
Aug 242013
 
BSP sees robust growth for emerging economies

MANILA, Philippines – Investors should rethink pulling out funds from emerging markets as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said growth in these economies continue to be “robust.” “The pace of growth in emerging economies… remains robust,” the BSP’s Monetary Board noted in its meeting last July 25. “Although recent indicators suggesting weaker domestic demand in major emerging economies somewhat dampen the global growth outlook,”it added. Emerging markets, which became safe havens for investors amid a downturn in developed economies, are now experiencing capital flight because of the US Federal Reserve’s impending easing of its bond-buying program due to continued progress in the world’s largest economy. Looking at Asia, regional trends such as Indonesia’s worsening current account deficit and the contraction of Thailand’s economy have also affected other emerging market neighbors. The continued robust growth in emerging economies is amid a backdrop of a “modest” global economic growth as the US recovers, although problems in the euro zone linger. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The recovery in the US has continued on improved business and consumer sentiment, while economic activity in Japan  gains further traction,” the report read. “Meanwhile, the downturn in the euro area continues.” The Monetary Board expects the Philippine economy to continue its growth in the second quarter, following the stronger-than-expected 7.8 percent expansion in the first three months of the year. “The monthly survey of purchasing managers by the Philippine Institute for Supply Management suggests that the Philippine economy was still in Read More …

US defense chief here next week

 News
Aug 242013
 
US defense chief here next week

By Nikko DizonPhilippine Daily Inquirer 7:59 pm | Saturday, August 24th, 2013 U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks at a Pentagon news conference in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) MANILA, Philippines – US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will meet with President Benigno Aquino III next week to discuss the ongoing negotiations for increased presence of American soldiers in the Philippines, the US Department of Defense said in a statement released Friday (Saturday in Manila). Hagel will also be meeting with his counterpart, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, and Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario during his two day visit on August 29-30. The agreement that would pave the way for more US troops to be stationed in the Philippines and give them access to the military facilities is being presented to Filipinos by the Philippine government as a deterrent to China’s increasing presence in the West Philippine Sea, the part of the South China sea that the Philippines claims to be within its exclusive economic zone. The Philippines and China continue to be locked in a territorial dispute, particularly over Panatag Shoal off Zambales province and the Ayungin Shoal in the Kalayaan Island Group or Spratlys. According to the US statement, Hagel will talk to President Aquino, Gazmin, and Del Rosario “about ongoing negotiations for a framework agreement that would allow US forces to operate on Philippine military bases and in Philippine territory and waters to help build Philippine armed forces capacity in maritime security and maritime domain awareness.” The US had maintained Read More …

US defense secretary to visit Southeast Asia

 Entertainment
Aug 222013
 

MANILA  (Mabuhay) — US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will be visiting nations of the Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, during the last week of August. Hagel will begin his trip in Honolulu where he will meet with US PACOM Commander Admiral Samuel Locklear and visit with United States Marines at Kaneohe Bay. He will then […]

Ninoy Aquino as a freedom fighter in exile

 News
Aug 212013
 
Ninoy Aquino as a freedom fighter in exile

On August 21, 1983, then-Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., upon his arrival at the Manila International Airport, was shot dead by a lone assailant. He was then coming home from a three-year exile in the United States. One could only imagine what would’ve happened if Aquino — or Ninoy as Filipinos fondly call him — had decided to just stay in the US and fight the Marcos dictatorship from afar. But that was not his style. Dubbed by former Senate President Jovito Salonga as “the greatest president we never had,” Aquino did not let his exile stop him from empowering the country, and, as it turned out, also from becoming the family man his long absence prevented him to become. It all started with his health condition. In March 1980, Aquino, who was incarcerated and on hunger strike to protest his military trial under the martial law, developed chest pain that, upon a brief test at the Philippine Heart Center, turned out to be caused by blocked heart arteries. He had to undergo an emergency triple bypass, otherwise, his attending physician warned, he “may die in six days to six months.” Wary of his situation, Aquino refused offers to have his surgery in local hospitals or to have his doctors see him, as he feared what he might say under anesthesia. Through an offer made by the Deputy Minister of Defense, he wrote a letter to Marcos requesting a flight to America, though bound with two constraints: one, that he Read More …

 Older Entries  Newer Entries