STATE-RUN Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has committed P1.2 billion to help jumpstart the Mindanao bamboo industry development program, which is intended to protect watersheds and provide livelihood to farmers and remote communities. Funding from the DBP Forest Program

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUs) need to implement place-of-origin labelling in rice to boost domestic producers, according to an official with the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). PhilRice policy research and advocacy project lead Alice B. Mataia said in a statement that

YIELDS on government securities (GS) dipped last week amid sustained buying interest as the central bank said it will keep benchmark interest rates low to support economic recovery. Debt yields, which move opposite to prices, dropped 2.7 basis points (bps) on

INVESTORS loaded up on shares of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) last week after it completed its Manila container terminal expansion project. Data from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) showed a total of 7.04 million shares worth P8.98 million exchanged

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza JOB CREATION this year will depend largely on how efficient the government is in administering its infrastructure program, with underspending cited as a key risk, according to an infrastructure think tank. “The Duterte government should do what

THE bicameral session on a key tax reform bill continues to be subject to negotiations by the delegations sent by both chambers of Congress, with a key legislator suggesting that both chambers may be hard-pressed to meet a self-imposed January

THE PHILIPPINES is likely to see more clean energy investment as an offshoot of the US rejoining the Paris Agreement, the industry’s regulator said. In a text message, National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) Chair Monalisa C. Dimalanta said she remains hopeful

A RECENTLY SIGNED 15-country trade deal may not significantly benefit the Philippine economy and instead expose its lack of competitiveness in manufacturing, a senior equities research executive for Regis Partners said. “I think it will continue to highlight that we’re a

THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said Friday that it added 12 new sections to its revised rules of practice and procedure (RPP), to allow the electronic filing of pleadings and virtual hearings, in order to facilitate continued operations during the

The Department of Finance (DoF) originally designed its tax reform package 2 to be revenue-neutral, gradually lowering the corporate income tax (CIT) rate while modernizing incentives and making them “performance-based, targeted, time-bound, and transparent” for companies. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought

THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DoH) reported 1,949 coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing the total to 513,619. The death toll rose by 53 to 10,242, while recoveries increased 7,729 to 475,612, it said in a bulletin. There were 27,765 active cases, 83.3% of

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte should push lawmakers to extend the terms of Bangsamoro Region in Muslim Mindanao officials to prevent the armed conflict there from intensifying, political analysts said. The President, who is from Mindanao, should certify

Over 500 foreigners, mostly Chinese, arrested last year THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) arrested more than 500 foreigners alleged to have violated the country’s immigration laws in 2020, lower than the more than 2,000 arrested in 2019. In a statement, the