As the Malampaya gas field slowly taps out and diplomacy trades hot words for cautious handshakes, the real suspense lies not just in geopolitical compromise, but in whether Recto Bank can finally proceed to well drilling or remain a perpetually well-discussed daydream. The lingering conflict in...
Maya Innovations Holdings Pte. Ltd., the fintech arm of telecommunications giant PLDT Inc., is maintaining its ambition to pursue a $1 billion initial public offering as early as this year, even as escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East threaten to disrupt global capital markets....
The Philippines is facing an inflationary shock that could spill over to slower economic growth, potential job losses, and more capital market outflows amid a prolonged Middle East conflict, according to the World Bank. The global oil price and supply shock wrought by the war in Iran would “raise...
The Chinese Embassy in Manila has urged the Philippines to stop what it described as “provocations” in the West Philippine Sea, while warning that Beijing will take “strong measures” to protect its territorial claims. In a Facebook post on Sunday, April 5, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Ji...
The mission is both challenging and daunting, but the Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA) is convinced the 14-player SMART/MVP Sports Foundation national team can pull off a big surprise in the 2026 World Taekwondo Junior Championships slated on April 9–18 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Two years...
The Philippine Army (PA) on Black Saturday, April 4, went public with documentation of an alleged female New People’s Army (NPA) rebel placed under its custody following a deadly encounter in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro last week to counter allegations that she was maltreated. The Army’s 203rd...
If the war in the Middle East prolongs and global oil prices continue to skyrocket, the Philippine peso could breach the ₱61:$1 level in the second quarter of 2026 and even hit as low as ₱62 to ₱64 against the United States (US) dollar. “Our base case forecasts for the US dollar-Philippine...
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has requested the expansion of the 50-percent work-from-home (WFH) limit in ecozones to as much as 100 percent, giving registered business enterprises (RBEs) more leeway to adjust their operations amid rising fuel prices without forfeiting their...
Multilateral lenders including the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank Group (WBG) are moving to provide immediate financing and coordinated support to countries reeling from the economic fallout of the Middle East war. In a statement on...
Country’s rice stockpiles expanded in March compared with a year earlier, driven by the recovery in government-held reserves and steady gains in household holdings, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Agency (PSA). Total rice inventory stood at 1.88 million metric tons as...
Singapore-based United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB) expects the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to keep key interest rates unchanged this year, despite rising risks to growth and inflation from the ongoing war in the Middle East. “Amid persistent uncertainty over the Middle East conflict, we expect...
Local banking sector showed signs of resilience in February as lending growth by major lenders accelerated, snapping the cooling trend that had sent credit expansion to a near two-year low the previous month. According to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), bank lending...
