Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri is pushing for additional funding for the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to fast-track airport upgrades in the country’s top tourist destinations, framing the projects as make-or-break gateways for tourism that will not recover or scale...
Government agencies posted a 93.8-percent utilization rate of their cash allocations as of end-August, lower than last year’s 95 percent, with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Department of Energy (DOE) still falling behind. Latest data from the...
Amid concerns over proposed renewable energy (RE) project in a protected landscape in Samar, the Department of Energy (DOE) clarified that energy infrastructure may proceed as long as it secures the necessary regulatory approvals. In a statement on Tuesday, Sept. 30, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin...
The World Bank has extended a $1.7-million, or over ₱98-million, grant to the Philippines to help prepare for a potential project loan that would support early childhood education in the country. In a Sept. 20 letter to Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto, the World Bank said this financing was...
The influential Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) is asking the government to reallocate a portion of the ₱255.5 billion originally intended for flood control projects to fund the upgrade of stations along the EDSA Busway. “Since the government is not inclined to appropriate funds...
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has identified substandard and non-existent farm-to-market roads (FMRs) across two provinces in Mindanao, based on the initial findings of its ongoing audit to investigate alleged corruption. Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said on Monday, Sept. 29,...
The combined damage of three successive tropical storms and the southwest monsoon (habagat) on the agriculture sector is now close to ₱2 billion, according to the latest report of the Department of Agriculture (DA). The DA said on Monday, Sept. 29, that 10 regions have reported damage and losses...
The Marcos administration is considering extending the ongoing suspension on rice imports until the end of the year, as the policy continues to fall short of improving the prices of palay (unmilled rice) amid a strong harvest, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA). Agriculture Secretary...
Reducing the value-added tax (VAT) to 10 percent from the current 12 percent would erode the government’s fiscal consolidation, with total revenues expected to decline by an average of ₱330 billion annually, or one percent of the country’s economic output. “From our estimates, the reduction...
State-run think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) is urging lawmakers to expand and amend major education-related bills to address persistent gaps in access, funding, and governance across the sector. In a statement, PIDS Senior Research Fellow Connie B. Dacuycuy outlined...
The Department of Energy (DOE) reported 18 electric cooperatives (ECs) affected by the onslaught of Typhoon “Opong” and the southwest monsoon. In a statement on Monday, Sept. 29, the DOE reported that 18 electric cooperatives (ECs) are facing partial power interruptions, while Masbate Electric...
State-run Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) has clarified that the handling of the bank accounts of the Department of Public Works and Highways ' (DPWH) contractors did not involve irregularities, countering insinuations that it was complicit in alleged flood control corruption. This...
