Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte raised concern over the limited direct access of local governments to climate financing, stressing that cities remain underfunded despite being at the frontline of climate change impacts. Speaking at the Philanthropy Asia Summit 2026 in Singapore, h eld from May 18...
The Philippine government has asked the World Bank to restructure and partially cancel over $2.34 million in unused proceeds from a Duterte-era loan supporting the country’s flagship Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), even as the Washington-based multilateral lender cited the project’s...
The Asialink Group of Companies (Asialink) has reshuffled the leadership of its two flagship financing firms to position itself for faster growth, wider market reach, and stronger operational coordination amid rising competition in the financial services sector. The group stated that the transition...
More than a decade after the World Bank approved financing for the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project, the flagship urban transport initiative remains far from achieving its original objectives, with only a short section of the corridor substantially completed before the loan expires in...
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 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...
International Finance Corp. (IFC) is preparing what could become its first securitization deal in the Philippines backed by small and medium enterprise (SME) loans, as the World Bank Group’s (WBG) private-sector lending arm ramps up efforts to expand access to financing for underserved businesses...
International Finance Corp. (IFC) has approved its planned investments in two private equity (PE) funds that are eyeing investments in the Philippines and the broader Southeast Asian region. In disclosures last May 7 and April 24, respectively, the World Bank Group’s (WBG) private-sector lending...
International Finance Corp. (IFC) is preparing a fresh investment in the Philippines’ growing digital infrastructure sector, backing a local company planning to expand data center capacity outside Metro Manila. Manila Bulletin reported earlier that the World Bank Group’s (WBG) private-sector...
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...
International Finance Corp. (IFC) is preparing a fresh investment in the Philippines’ growing digital infrastructure sector, backing a local company planning to expand data center capacity outside Metro Manila. The World Bank Group’s (WBG) private-sector lending arm disclosed last May 8 that it...