Current Events Tidbits Et Al

[LarryTheMan]

On 9/23/2021 at 11:09 AM, Gtayo11 said:

Anyone else have young friends who have the hardest time registering for comelec?

Conspiracy hat on: "they" know what would happen if that generation gets to vote. Sadly, more people have believe even crazier theories than this

Ang hirap. Ang hassle. The system they have is sooo inefficient. 

Kelangan mong pumila ng super aga (yung iba 1am) para lang di maabutan ng cut-off. I shouldn't be like this. 

[Swatch]

IMHO, its the oligarchs who will help decide the outcome of the coming elections. They will fund the candidates who will be most beneficial to their businesses and standing. 

In turn, candidates will seek support from them. It's a vicious cycle since the beginning...

[manishbombee]

Actor Jake Cuenca nabbed after his SUV allegedly bumped police vehicle | GMA News Online (gmanetwork.com)

Actor Jake Cuenca was arrested on Saturday night after his SUV allegedly bumped a police vehicle in Mandaluyong City.

 

According to Eastern Police District (EPD) director Police Brigadier General Matthew Bacay, Cuenca's car passed by and bumped the police vehicle at around 9 p.m.

Police said the SUV did not stop and so they chased it until they reached the area near Shaw Boulevard, Pasig City, Bacay said on Dobol B TV on Sunday.

When confronted, the driver was identified as Cuenca, he said.

Bacay said Cuenca is undergoing medical examination at the time of the radio interview.

Inquest proceedings will be held on Sunday, he said, as the Mandaluyong Police will file a complaint of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property against the actor.

Bacay added that nothing illegal however was found inside the actor's car.

The SUV is now in the custody of the police, he said. The Scene of the Crime Operation team will process it, according to a report of Rod Vega on Dobol B TV.

The police official also said a stray bullet fired during the chase hit a Grab driver.

"In the course of the chase nila, 'yung mga personnel natin had to disable 'yung sasakyan, pinaputukan 'yung gulong. May tinamaan na Grab driver," Bacay said.

(In the course of the chase, our personnel had to disable the vehicle. They fired at the tires. A stray bullet hit a Grab driver.)

The injured driver was brought to a hospital for treatment and is now in stable condition.

"Very unfortunate 'yung incident. Siguro 'yung mga personnel natin mataas pa 'yung adrenaline because ongoing 'yung operation natin, nakahuli ng marijuana doon sa Mandaluyong. And then this is a very unfortunate incident. Walang may gusto nito," Bacay said.

(The incident was very unfortunate. Maybe our personnel still had high adrenaline that time because an operation was ongoing; we seized marijuana in Mandaluyong [prior to the incident]. And then this is a very unfortunate incident. No one wanted this to happen.)

"I have instructed the chief of police of Mandaluyong, [Police] Colonel Mel Unos to take care of all the needs of the victim," he added.

Bacay gave the assurance that the investigation into the incident involving Cuenca will be fair, according to Vega's report.

The police personnel involved in the incident are also undergoing investigation to determine who fired shots and whether the standard operating procedure was followed.

Cuenca's father went to the Mandaluyong Police station early Sunday and said the actor was treated like a criminal as he was forced to drop to the ground and was handcuffed.

[camiar]

On 9/30/2021 at 9:32 PM, Swatch said:

IMHO, its the oligarchs who will help decide the outcome of the coming elections. They will fund the candidates who will be most beneficial to their businesses and standing. 

In turn, candidates will seek support from them. It's a vicious cycle since the beginning...

Do you think BBM's campaign will be supported by  oligarchs? Or on the contrary, would you agree that they will instead support BBM's opponents?

If BBM wins despite the oligarchs' massive support for the other candidates, don't you think that will end the vicious cycle?

Duterte was not oligarchs' lackey. You can now see what happened to the oligarch-controlled corporations. ABS-CBN (Lopez) losing their franchise, Manila Water and Maynilad (Ayala, Lopez, Pangilinan, etc...) being threatened to lose their franchise if they don't improve their service, and so on...

I believe BBM, being a non-oligarchy-supported candidate, will have the political will to continue with Duterte administration's economic policies and programs - for the benefit of the Filipinos, not for the vested interests of the oligarchs.

I will vote for him.

Edited October 12, 2021 by camiar

[manishbombee]

PH reopens borders to foreign tourists after nearly 2 years

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora

 February 10, 2022, 5:10 pm

 

MANILA – The Philippines is welcoming some 398 foreign tourists on the first day of its reopening to fully vaccinated international leisure travelers, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Thursday, marking the end to the country's nearly two-year closure due to pandemic restrictions.

A large chunk of this number will come from the United States and Thailand, with 109 and 93 passengers, respectively. 

Other countries with more than 10 arriving tourists also include Malaysia, Canada, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Australia.

"Masaya kami, lahat ng stakeholders, na nagbukas na tayo today (We are happy, all stakeholders, that we have opened today). The bulk coming from the US, pangalawa (second is) Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia. So talagang naghintay sila ng February 10 para lang makarating na rito (They waited for February 10 to come here)," Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a Laging Handa briefing.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) said counters had been set up at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to cater to the arriving travelers. Additional personnel were also deployed to assist.

In the afternoon, Romulo-Puyat personally welcomed the passengers at NAIA Terminal 3.

One of them was British national Keith Saunders, who arrived from Thailand.

Elated to be able to finally visit the country, Saunders said he's planning to make his first stop at the thriving coastal town of Subic, one of the nearest beach destinations from Metro Manila.

"I've been in Thailand for three months waiting for the Philippines to open up and we are here now. It's been a long journey of 18 months away from my girlfriend," he said in an interview. "Everybody had been trapped for two years, you know."

No further information has been shared yet regarding the destinations of the first batch of tourists in the Philippines, but Romulo-Puyat said it might include some of the staples such as Boracay, Palawan, Batangas, Bohol and Baguio City.

Meanwhile, she reiterated that minimum health and safety standards would remain in place even with the removal of quarantine protocols for the vaccinated foreigners.

"[N]gayon marami na sa ating mga tourist destinations ay 100 percent vaccinated na and ongoing na iyong tourism program, so hindi lang iyong health and safety protocols, we make sure na iyong ating mga tourism workers na mga nasa tourist destinations ay bakunado at magkaka-booster shot (Many of our tourist destinations have 100 percent vaccination coverage and our tourism program is ongoing, so it's not only the health and safety protocols, we make sure that our tourism workers are inoculated and boosted)," she said.

Proof of vaccination

Travelers from visa-free countries are now allowed to enter the Philippines but they must present proof of vaccination, negative RT-PCR test results taken within 48 hours prior to departure, and outbound tickets to their country of origin or next country of destination.

As of this posting, the Philippines recognizes the national Covid-19 vaccination certificates issued by 39 visa-free countries, including Brazil, Israel, South Korea, and Timor Leste.

"Visa-free entry of foreign nationals to the Philippines starts today, February 10, 2022. All arriving foreign nationals are reminded to carry/present 'proof of vaccination,'" Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said Thursday.

[manishbombee]

Philippines Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez on Covid and the economy (cnbc.com)

PUBLISHED FRI, FEB 18 20222:44 AM EST

 

Philippine Secretary of Finance Carlos Dominguez said the country has made significant progress in containing the pandemic and will return to normal this year.

“We are very confident that 2022 will be the year that we will return to normalcy. Despite the surge in infections due to omicron in early January, we have succeeded in limiting severe infections and deaths,” Dominguez told CNBC “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday.

He noted daily Covid cases are rapidly subsiding from the peak of 39,000 in mid-January to about 2,000 in recent days. Dominguez also said the country has made good progress in its vaccination rate.

 

“We have administered 132 million shots as of Feb. 14. A total of 61.5 million Filipinos are now fully vaccinated. Over 9.2 million Filipinos have already received their booster shots,” Dominguez said.

Even with the pandemic, the Philippines posted 5.6% growth for 2021. The outlook for 2022 remains robust and the government expects the economy to grow between 7% and 9% this year, said Dominguez.

There are a number of “bright spots” this year that could support the government’s recovery, he added. That includes the collection of tax revenue, which the government expects to return to pre-pandemic levels, the finance secretary noted.

With Covid cases continuing to fall, the country recently announced plans to reopen to vaccinated travelers from more than 150 countries and territories, after closing its borders in March 2020.  

 

The Philippines’ Department of Tourism indicated the decision to reopen was related to economic hardship and, possibly, to match the policies of other Southeast Asian countries.

Green bonds

In addition, the government is in talks with various banks on the appropriate structure for a maiden green bond offering.

“This year the Philippines aims to issue its first ever sustainability bond for a benchmark size of at least $500 million,” said Dominguez.

The timing of the issue will depend on prevailing market conditions and investor sentiments, he said.

“We are in deep conversation with our bankers. And as soon as the market conditions are ready, we will make the appropriate announcement,” the secretary said.

[manishbombee]

PH logs record-high FDI inflows at $10.5-B in 2021 | Philippine News Agency (pna.gov.ph)

MANILA – The Philippines recorded its highest foreign direct investment (FDI) net inflows in 2021 amounting to USD10.52 billion, increasing by 54.2 percent from USD6.82 billion the previous year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported Thursday.

 

FDIs continued to gain momentum last year despite two major lockdowns both in the first and second semesters of the year due to a surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases.

 

“The growth in FDI reflected positive foreign investor sentiment on the country amid expectations of a rebound of domestic economic activity and declining Covid-19 reported cases, as well as the strengthening of the global economy,” the BSP said in a statement.

 

The 2021 FDIs surpassed the USD10.3 billion net FDIs in 2017.

 

The central bank said FDI net inflows last year grew on the back of the 80.4-percent increase in net investments in debt instruments amounting to USD7.5 billion from USD2.4 billion in 2020.

 

Reinvestment of earnings rose 34.7 percent to USD1.3 billion last year from  2020’s value of USD944 million.

 

Net investments in equity capital other than reinvestment of earnings slightly grew by 0.7 percent to USD1.72 billion in 2021 from USD1.71 billion the previous year.

 

Top sources of equity capital placements last year were Singapore, Japan, the United States, and the Netherlands, with bulk of investments infused in sectors of manufacturing; electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning; financial and insurance; and real estate.

 

For December 2021 alone, FDI net inflows rose 59 percent to USD1.1 billion from USD671 million in the same month in 2020. (PNA)

 

[manishbombee]

PH exports expand for 11 straight months | Philippine News Agency (pna.gov.ph)

MANILA – Philippine exports sustained its growth for 11 consecutive months in January 2022 as export revenues expanded by 8.9 percent to USD6.04 billion from USD5.5 billion in the same period in 2021.

 

In a statement Friday, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez said this is an encouraging development as it signals recovery of the global market.

 

Electronic products remained the country’s top dollar earner with total receipts of USD3.5 billion, sharing 58 percent to the total exports in January.

 

For agricultural products, coconut oil exports registered the highest growth last January at 110.1 percent to USD178.8 million.

 

Top export markets for Philippine merchandise during the month include the United States, China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

 

Amid the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, Lopez hopes that the impact of the conflict “will be short-lived” so it does not massively disrupt the country’s post-pandemic recovery. (PNA)

[manishbombee]

DOT: Philippines open to all countries starting April 1, 2022 | GMA News Online (gmanetwork.com)

The Philippines will reopen its borders to travelers from all countries, including from visa countries, starting April 1, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said on Thursday.

 

In a radio interview, Puyat said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has approved the further scaling up of the tourism industry to all foreigners.

“Starting April 1, pumayag na ang IATF na all countries na ang papayagan dito. Noong February 10, nagbukas tayo for visa-free countries. Starting April 1, for all countries,” she said.

[The IATF has agreed to reopen to all countries starting April 1. On February 10, we opened our doors to visitors from visa-free countries. Starting April 1 it will be for all countries.]

The Philippines has started accepting business and leisure travelers from 157 visa-free countries on February 10, for the first time in two years since the pandemic began.

Only fully vaccinated foreign tourists from visa-free countries are allowed entry. They should also present a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test result taken 48 hours prior to their trip.

For visa countries, Puyat noted that the requirements set by the IATF remain, with an additional option of presenting a negative laboratory-based antigen result taken 24 hours before departure.

“Ang importante dito sa (what's important is) lab-based antigen [as] it captures those that continue to test positive [but] recovered already," she said.

Normally, for RT-PCR, you test positive for the next three months when you get COVID-19. Now, with the negative lab-based antigen, that captures those who have recovered, she added in a mix of Tagalog and English.

Puyat further pointed out that the country has recorded 96,000 tourists since the country eased up its borders to foreign tourists amid the pandemic.

“From February 10 to March 15, we’ve received already 96,096 tourists. So close to 100,000 na tayo na tourists. We’re pleasantly surprised, at least tuloy-tuloy na [it's continuous]. And this is only from visa-free countries,” she added.  —LBG, GMA News

[manishbombee]

Economist eyes further rise in PH GIR as economy recovers | Philippine News Agency (pna.gov.ph)

 

MANILA – Continued reopening and recovery of economies are expected to further lift the country’s dollar reserves, which rose to USD108.54 billion in March 2022. 

 

In a report released on Friday, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said the latest gross international reserves (GIR) of the country is among the highest after the record-high USD110.1 billion registered in December 2020. 

 

Ricafort said continued improvement of structural inflows to the country, such as the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) remittances, revenues of the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, foreign tourism revenues, and foreign direct investments (FDIs) are seen as beneficial to the GIR. 

 

“Moreover, the continued increase in fund-raising and other investment banking activities by the country’s biggest companies/conglomerates, in view of the recent rising trend in global/local bond yields from record lows, funding preparations as the economy reopens further towards greater normalcy, could entail some increase in foreign investment inflows that could add to the country’s balance of payments (BOP) and GIR,” he said. 

 

The end-March 2022 GIR of the country is equivalent to 9.6 months worth of imports, and is way higher than the international threshold of three to four months cover. 

 

Ricafort said the high level of GIR is a plus for the local currency against speculative attacks. 

 

“Thus, near record high GIR and prospects of reaching new record highs in the coming months could further strengthen the country’s external position, which is a key pillar for the country’s continued favorable credit ratings for the second straight year, mostly at 1-3 notches above the minimum investment grade, a sign of resilience despite the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic that caused downgrades in other countries around the world,” he added. (PNA)

[manishbombee]

[manishbombee]

Philippines foreign debt-to-GDP ratio still lowest in ASEAN | Philstar.com

 

 

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines still has the lowest ratio of foreign debt against domestic output despite posting the third largest expansion in the external debt ratio among five Southeast Asian nations.

In a report, Department of Finance chief economist Gil Beltran said the Philippines has the lowest external debt as a ratio of gross domestic product (GDP) at 27 percent among ASEAN economies in 2021.

“In Southeast Asia, the external debt-to-GDP ratio of the Philippines remains the lowest among five ASEAN countries,” he said.

In comparison, Malaysia and Thailand’s foreign debt ratios hit 69.3 percent and 39 percent of their respective GDPs last year. The external debt-to-GDP ratio of Vietnam reached 38.6 percent while that of Indonesia stood at 35 percent.

However, the Philippines registered the third largest growth in offshore debt as a measure of GDP at 4.8 percentage points during the pandemic. Thailand’s turned up the highest, by 7.4 percentage points, while Malaysia’s jumped by 6.7 percent.

During the period, Vietnam’s external debt-to-GDP only went up by 1.5 percentage points, while Indonesia’s even dipped by 1.1 percent.

As external debt picked up to 27 percent of GDP in 2021, from just 22.2 percent in 2019, Beltran said the government should practice discipline in adding debts moving forward.

“At 4.8 percentage points, the Philippines is higher than Indonesia and Vietnam, but lower than Thailand and Malaysia; this implies continued prudence in debt management,” he said.

Beltran added he sees no need to press the emergency button, attributing the debt buildup to the government’s pandemic response. He also pointed out that the external debt-to-GDP ratio in 2021 is less than half of the level in 2005, when the government started computing its foreign obligations using a new methodology.

In 2005 the external debt was posted at 57.3 percent of GDP, of which public debt was 34.1 percent and private debt was 23.2 percent. In 2021, government and corporate debt amounted to 16.2 percent and 10.8 percent of GDP, respectively.

The offshore debt of the Philippines increased by eight percent to $106.43 billion last year, from $98.49 billion in 2020, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Broken down, government debt widened by 10 percent to $63.93 billion, from $58.12 billion, as private debt grew by five percent to $42.5 billion, from $40.37 billion.

[macbolan00]

yung bagong P 1000 na polymer, hindi daw puedeng itupi. Anong klaseng kabobohan na naman ito???

[manishbombee]

Cebu Pacific restores 88% of capacity on soaring domestic demand

By Alfred Chua7 July 2022

 

Cebu Pacific will operate at 88% pre-pandemic capacity this month, amid a network-wide boost that sees its domestic capacity already surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

The low-cost operator from the Philippines says in a 6 July statement that it now is operating about 340 flights a day to 34 domestic and 18 international points in its network.

Domestic capacity is 9% higher than pre-Covid-19 levels as at July, three months after the carrier restored full domestic capacity.

Cebu Pacific chief commercial officer Xander Lao says: “We are pleased to see more people confidently flying again, not just within the Philippines but even abroad. This positive development has not only allowed us to carry more passengers, but also boosted our cargo service.”

The airline has in recent months resumed - and ramped up - flights in its international network, including to Brunei, Singapore and Dubai. On 3 July, it resumed flying to Sydney, with thrice weekly flights from Manila.

Cebu Pacific is the latest in a string of Asia-Pacific carriers to ramp up capacity as travel demand swells and border restrictions ease. Singapore Airlines Group on 5 July said it will hit about 82% of pre-pandemic capacity by year-end, as it increases flights to India and Japan. 

[Dealdealers]