As yellow and red alerts return to the Philippine grid, the recurring drop in power supply exposes deep weaknesses in the country’s energy system. Delayed infrastructure, aging plants, thin reserves, and rising demand continue to strain the national electricity grid, leaving millions vulnerable...
Reforms in public procurement, infrastructure oversight, and accountability must be fully carried out to ensure that the billion-peso flood-control corruption scandal does not happen again and those responsible are made to answer, according to four governance and business groups. In a joint...
The Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) issued an urgent appeal to the Senate on Tuesday, June 2, demanding the immediate resumption of regular legislative proceedings and the swift organization of its standing committees to avert a prolonged economic and institutional...
On May 30, 2026, at around 3:00 PM, my wife and I were seated in the intimate cinema and event space located in the basement of the Fully Booked flagship store in BGC. We were there for the book signing event of our son, Carl Lorenz, celebrating the launch of his book, SIKODIWA. Watching him...
Watching live footage of a senator running for his dear life to evade the service of an arrest warrant, or observing a cabinet secretary who could probably secure a Guinness World Record for the “most number of press conferences with the least number of accomplishments,” one has to wonder: does...
Recent rotational brownouts in Luzon have highlighted the urgent need to modernize the country’s aging power grid, with state-run policy think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) warning that transmission bottlenecks and delayed infrastructure projects are increasingly...
The Philippines’ debt as a share of economic output is expected to remain elevated above 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year as the government ramps up borrowings to support its response to the national energy emergency amid the prolonged war in the Middle East. Based on the...
The Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) expressed opposition to the Senate majority bloc’s attempt to railroad an amendment to the chamber’s rules that would allow senators to vote remotely. FINEX, whose members include some of the country’s top financial executives,...
The Philippines is expected to remain a major supplier of caregivers, nurses, and domestic workers to aging economies in the Asia-Pacific region, although state-run policy think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) warned that Filipina migrant workers continue to face precarious...
In many sari-sari stores, a familiar sign reads: “Your credit is good, but we need cash.” While it may sound humorous, this statement reflects a practical truth in the business world—whether for a small enterprise or a large conglomerate: cash flow determines a business’s survival. Profit...
Electricity subsidies remain necessary to help vulnerable households and remote communities access power, but the Philippine government needs to improve targeting mechanisms to reduce leakages and ensure long-term sustainability, according to experts at a recent webinar organized by state-run...
Philippine economic growth would continue to underperform this year and next as the country faces not only headwinds from a prolonged war in the Middle East but also domestic challenges related to politics and corruption, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF). The IIF’s latest...
