Simultaneous morning flag-raising activities in all local government units (LGUs) will highlight the celebration of the 500th or quincentennial anniversary of the victory of Datu Lapulapu over Magellan in the battle of Mactan today, April 27. Heralded as the first Filipino hero, his image is on the...
While few would dispute Secretary Carlos Dominguez’s latest assertion that sound macroeconomic management has enabled the country to weather the severe impact of the pandemic in 2020, there is widespread skepticism about the government’s ability to nurse the economy back to health in 2021. Amid...
On April 14, 2021, 26-year-old Ana Patricia Non, a furniture designer, took out a bamboo cart and installed two signs on a tree in front of a shuttered food park along Maginhawa street in Quezon City. The first sign read: Maginhawa Community Pantry. The second sign pleaded: “ Magbigay ayon sa...
In a virtual economic briefing to mark the 75th anniversary of the post-war bilateral relations between the Philippines and the United States, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez delivered his message right off the bat: “This pandemic is a test of fiscal stamina and it was fortunate that when it...
Faced by continuing economic doldrums and a raging pandemic, President Duterte certified as urgent the immediate enactment of Senate Bill No. 2094 amending the Public Service Act, Senate Bill No. 1156 amending the Foreign Investments Act of 1991, and Senate Bill No. 1840 amending the Retail Trade...
As businesses are literally squeezed from all fronts, downsizing is one alternative to ensure survival. In any downsizing, the number one casualty is people. During this pandemic, thousands if not millions of workers were laid off and still many are getting retrenched as companies continue to...
After two weeks of the strictest lockdown phase, the National Capital Region Plus bubble has been placed under the less restrictive Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ). Also placed under MECQ were Abra province and Santiago City in Isabela. More than a year after the entire Luzon was...
The acceleration of digital transformation is one of the significant beneficial developments triggered by the pandemic. Day-to-day transactions, especially online buying and selling of food, medicines and other essential goods and services are now facilitated by digital technology. Most...
On April 6, 1961 or exactly 60 years ago this week, Congress passed Republic Act 3022 that was signed into law by President Carlos P. Garcia “proclaiming the ninth day of April as Bataan Day and declaring it as a legal holiday.” The continuing observance of quarantine restrictions mutes anew...
In a move that deserves public commendation, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) barred the state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) from passing on to consumers new universal charges (UC) for stranded debts (SD) and stranded contract costs (SCC). The focal...
The pervasive, long term harm brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic emerges with greater clarity more than a year after its onset. The inequality between men and women has widened, due to the disproportionate burden borne by women who have lost more jobs and have taken on the burden of childcare...
With the promulgation last week of the implementing rules and regulations of the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Act (Republic Act No. 11523), the government has delivered a solid jab into the financial muscle of banks as prime movers of business and industrial growth that has...
