23 biz groups push ‘Konektadong Pinoy’ Bill

At least 23 groups, including the Joint Foreign Chambers, industry associations and civil society organizations are urging President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to prioritize and certify as urgent the passage of the proposed Open Access in Data Transmission Act, stressing the need to advance the nation’s broadband infrastructure so all Filipinos can benefit from digitalization.

Marcos OKs new laws to enhance procurement, fight online scams

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed into law two measures aimed at improving government procurement and enhancing financial security for Filipinos, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) announced on Saturday. The New Government Procurement Act (NGPA) and the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) were officially enacted on Saturday.

DTI logs P2.73T investments

DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual said the Board of Investments (BOI) chalked up P2.4 trillion investments while the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reported P330 billion since July 2022. Pascual said the past two years, the BOI  approved 658 projects mostly in renewable energy while PEZA registered 432, mostly in manufacturing for a total of 1,090 projects.

Chiz: No Cha-cha in Senate’s third regular session

Charter change would not be a priority of the Senate in its third regular session because it is a “divisive” issue, according to Senate President Francis Escudero. “In this final regular session of the 19th Congress, we will set aside items which merely dissipate our energy and divide the public,” Escudero said.

Congress to prioritize EPIRA changes as Senate junks ‘Cha-cha’

Senate President Escudero said they would tackle a proposal to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) amid blackouts. The Senate will also push changes to the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE), particularly lower taxes on domestic and foreign companies.

Poverty incidence drops to 15.5%

The percentage of Filipinos classified as “poor” declined in 2023 compared to two years ago, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The 2023 Full Year Official Poverty Statistics released yesterday showed  the poverty incidence among the population dropped to 15.5 percent from 18.1 percent in 2021.

Philippines fails to hit select core development targets

Subsistence incidence, or the proportion of Filipinos whose income is not enough to meet their basic food needs, fell to 4.3% last year from 5.9% in 2022, but was still above the 2.5-3.5% target.

Not mentioned: PhilHealth fund impounding, Cha-cha, Maharlika

President Marcos was silent yesterday on calls to return P89.9 billion to PhilHealth from the National Treasury, even as he ordered agencies and GOCCs to be judicious in spending public funds. He also did not mention anything about the Maharlika Investment Fund, which is being packaged as the government’s main investment vehicle and is believed by critics to be among the recipients of the PhilHealth remittance, and the Charter change issue.

Free trade deals with EU, UAE seen to lift FDI inflows

Philexport President Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Jr. said the Philippines had one of the lowest number of new projects that received FDIs within the Asia-Pacific region last year. “Still, there are reasons to remain hopeful; one is that the EU-Philippines FTA, expected to be finalized by 2027, will boost two-way trade and investment by 6 billion euros, or around P367.7 billion,” he said.

PH eyes FTAs with LatAm, African countries

In a press briefing,  Undersecretary Allan Gepty of the DTI said the agency is conducting studies on a list of African countries that are possible candidates for a free trade agreement (FTA). Gepty said DTI is also updating its study on the feasibility of an FTA with Chile as a jump off for the country’s engagements with Latin America.

BSP lauds passage of anti-financial scamming law

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. said Saturday, July 20, that the passage of Republic Act No. 12010 or the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) will give the central bank more teeth in protecting financial consumers.

MB greenlights $3.9-B foreign borrowings in Q2

The Monetary Board (MB) has approved $3.9 billion of public sector foreign borrowings in the second quarter, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said. Approved public sector foreign borrowings were 43% higher than $2.73 billion recorded approvals in the April-to-June period a year ago, the BSP said.

Central bank, Treasury launch fully automated intraday settlement facility

The BSP and Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) have launched a fully automated intraday settlement facility (ISF) to address timing issues and make transactions for banks more efficient. The central bank said it officially rolled out the automated ISF on June 27.

PHL rice imports hit 2.37 million MT as of July 11

The Philippines’ rice imports totaled 2.37 million metric tons (MT) as of July 11, according to data from the Bureau of Plant Industry. Shipments for the first two weeks of July alone amounted to 35,594 MT, data from the agency showed. These were already imported under the lower tariff regime, Agriculture Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson Arnel V. de Mesa said.

External debt payments fall by 20%

The Philippines’ external debt service burden fell by 19.8% as of end-April as principal payments declined, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed. Preliminary data from the central bank showed that the country’s debt service burden on its external borrowings dropped to $4.64 billion in the January-April period from $5.785 billion a year ago.

Govt agencies’ utilization of budget at 99% as of June

The cash utilization rate of government agencies is at 99 percent as of end-June, data released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed. According to the status of notice of cash allocation (NCA) utilization posted on the DBM website, the utilization rate in the first half of this year was faster than the 98 percent posted in the same period in 2023.

French energy firm to put up renewable projects in Mindanao

On Friday, representatives of the provinces of Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and Zamboanga City signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with Hydrogen de France (HDF) S.A. to establish renewable power plant projects.

Firms urged to boost IT contingency plans after global tech outage

THE GLOBAL tech outage caused by a botched software update by a cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. has highlighted the need for companies to enhance and strengthen their information technology (IT) contingency plans, analysts said.

5 energy firms eye Laguna hydropower complex — PSALM

State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said the 796.64-megawatt (MW) Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydroelectric power plant (HEPP) complex in Laguna has attracted five potential bidders.

BSP to expand cyber resilience efforts, further explore AI

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will be launching its Financial Services Cyber Resilience Plan for 2024 to 2029 next month to promote coordinated response mechanisms and active information sharing regarding cybersecurity standards across the financial industry.

Airlines say IT systems restored, operations start to normal

Airlines affected by the global cyber outages last Friday have fully restored their information technology systems and aim to resume normal operations as soon as possible. The global outage linked to Microsoft's Windows last July 19 affected critical services including flights, banking, and company operations. The  tally of flight delays and cancellations was not available at press time.

Procurement law to push energy efficiency

The NGPA explicitly included a provision on life cycle cost modality of government procurement that will shift competitive pricing for purchases and contracts for energy efficiency upgrades, Alexander Ablaza, PE2 president, said.