The government is nearing the end of its year-long search for a private partner to manage its nationwide value-added tax (VAT) refund system (VRS) for foreign tourists, as the Department of Finance (DOF) moves to formalize the accreditation process for global operators. Bureau of Internal Revenue...
The Philippines is aiming to spend nearly $300 million, or 30 percent, of its record-high $1 billion loan from the World Bank (WB) this year to augment the budget needed for programs aimed at helping the agriculture sector cushion the impact of the oil crisis. Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel...
The Philippines will repay until 2044 its biggest-ever loan from the World Bank, which will bankroll a sweeping agricultural transformation program aimed at boosting food production, modernizing farming systems, and strengthening climate resilience. Documents showed that Finance Secretary Frederick...
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is prepared to provide up to $1.75 billion in additional financing to help the Philippines, its host country, manage the economic fallout from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. In a statement on Friday, May 15, the Manila-based multilateral lender said ADB...
More than 1.9 million government employees, including military and uniformed personnel, will receive their mid-year bonuses starting Friday, May 15, after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) began releasing the ₱73.5 billion allocated for the benefit. In a statement released on Friday,...
The Philippines dropped to 10th on the list of the United States’ (US) largest export destinations for agricultural products in 2025 after shipments declined by two percent due to weaker imports of wheat and processed vegetables. Based on its Agricultural Export Yearbook published last May 13,...
The Philippines expanded its rice importation by 18 percent to 1.7 million metric tons (MT) during the first four months of 2026 as the government looks to bolster the supply of the commodity amid expectations of lower output in the coming months. The latest Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) data...
Commuters will soon have a more seamless experience transferring from one mode of transport to another as international and local companies, including GCash and Maya, have expressed interest in managing the country’s pioneering interoperable fare collection system. The Department of...
The Department of Agriculture (DA) is rolling out intervention measures to prepare the agriculture sector for the potential impact of a super El Niño phenomenon, which is estimated to cut production by up to 30 percent. In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said the DA is now...
During intense deliberations that preceded the 2005 enactment of the Expanded Value Added Tax (E-VAT) Law, which also covered oil and electricity, lawmakers defended the measure as a treasury-tightening mechanism; an unpopular but calculated imposition designed to raise massive revenues so it could...
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is planning to bid out the concession to operate and maintain Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) by October as it seeks to nearly double the railway’s passenger capacity. In a notice issued last week, the DOTr said it is preparing the tender for the...
The World Bank has canceled part of the loans for the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) while as project scope was pared down with only five months left before its financing closes. A May 8 restructuring paper seen by Manila Bulletin showed that the Washington-based multilateral lender, effective Jan....
