Voting 20-0-0, the Senate approved on third and final reading a bill that would open up the Philippines' retail sector to foreign enterprises. Senate of the Philippines (Senate PRIB) Senators voted to pass on Wednesday, May 19, Senate Bill No. 1840, which proposes to amend the Retail Liberalization...
The vaccination of economic frontliners (A4) and indigent population (A5) have been approved by the national government and it could start immediately after this month, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. revealed on Tuesday, May 18. Galvez, vaccine czar and chief implementer of the National Task Force...
A fisherfolk group on Tuesday, May 18, said the “submissive and mendicant" foreign policies of the Duterte administration have encouraged China to be more aggressive on its intrusion of the country’s marine territories. Photo of Chinese vessels spotted at the Julian Felipe Reef on March 27,...
Last May 12, a day after the Philippine Statistical authority (PSA) reported that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 4.2 percent in the first quarter of the year, the Monetary Board (MB) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) “decided to maintain the interest rate on...
The Senate will work on passing soon the bills aimed at reviving the Philippine economy, such as the proposed amendments to the Public Service Act and to the Foreign Investment Act, among others. (Senate of the Philippines) Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said senators agreed on this...
Amid recent government decisions that aim to increase the importation of rice and pork, food security advocacy group Tugon Kabuhayan has called for much-improved industry data gathering in the agriculture sector. In a virtual briefing, Asis Perez, convenor of Tugon Kabuhayan, said the government...
Senate President Vicente Sotto III has expressed to Beijing's Ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian his willingness to convince the Philippine government to partner with China to jointly explore the West Philippine Sea (WPS). Senate President Vicente Sotto III tells reporters in an online briefing on...
The strong economic cooperation between the Philippines and China has generated "great rewards" for both nations to propel towards economic recovery during the pandemic, according to a Chinese diplomat. President Rodrigo Duterte discusses matters with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang...
The country’s recovery is not out of the woods just yet as risks posed by the coronavirus continue to threaten recent gains, the Department of Finance (DOF) said. In its latest economic bulletin on Friday, May 14, the DOF said that the pace of economic contraction in the first three-months of the...
The Duterte administration will revisit its medium-term macroeconomic targets and fiscal program next week following a worse-than-expected economic performance in the first-quarter. In a media advisory released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), it said the inter-agency Development...
The Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea is part of the country’s territory, a maritime law expert said on Wednesday, May 12, debunking Presidential spokesman Harry Roque’s claims that it is not part of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Professor Jay Batongbacal, director...
The Philippines has claims over Julian Felipe Reef but has never been in possession of the area where hundreds of Chinese vessels were spotted last March, according of a Palace official. Chinese vessels have been spotted at the Julian Felipe Reef located within the Philippines' exclusive economic...
