The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has formally submitted a copy of the proposed national budget for fiscal year 2025 to the Senate. Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, together with other senators, receives a copy of the National Expenditure Program (NEP)...
The Office of the President (OP) is seeking once again a P4.56-billion confidential and intelligence fund from its proposed 2025 budget. President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Noel Pabalate) Under the OP's proposed budget, the presidential office is retaining its confidential and intelligence...
The Philippine government is on track to surpass the P17 trillion debt threshold by the end of next year, data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed. Based on the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing submitted to Congress, the Marcos administration expects to conclude...
The Aboitiz Group’s lender Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) reported that its net income jumped 55 percent to P3.1 billion in the second quarter of 2024 from P2 billion in the same period last year. “We continue to post strong topline revenues. Now that we have completed the...
The Marcos administration increased its financial backing for the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) while scaling back support for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) in the first half of the year. Data from the Bureau of the Treasury revealed that the national government...
Government revenues from asset sales surged in the first half of the year but well behind the target set by the Department of Finance (DOF), data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed. Between January and June 2024, the national government garnered P411.52 million through the privatization of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel story refines the idea of hospitality. Martha is probably the older of the two sisters and plays host. She is the one who welcomes Jesus. Her anxiety and concern are understandable enough. But her self-preoccupation turns to resentment and accusation: Mary has left her...
FROM THE MARGINS Entrepreneurship is crucial to economic growth. Not only are micro-small-and-medium enterprises (MSMEs) the backbone of the economy. Small businesses also serve as incubators for innovation and creativity, especially from entrepreneurial millennials and Gen-Zs, with their...
The Senate Committee on Public Works is set to grill officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) over the apparent faulty flood control system that was evident during the height of Typhoon Carina’s onslaught in major...
PEACE-MAKER The massive flooding in Metro Manila and various areas in Central Luzon caused by super typhoon Carina prompted many of our countrymen to recall the catastrophic Ondoy that struck on September 2009, which submerged the metropolis, destroyed properties, rendered thousands of families...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE Luxury is often perceived as a walking contradiction - straddling the line between being breath-taking, the ultimate in craftsmanship, and timeless on one side; and then, in the same moment, ostentatious, fleeting, and unnecessary on the other side. It has...
IT'S THE SMALL THINGS I write this to my sister as she turns 31. Dearest Mic, As the sun sets on the eve of your 30th birthday, I cannot help but think about what a whirlwind of a year it has been, and how I could not have done it without you. As the universe always...
