Philippines Morning News For July 25

MPIC mulls P20-B Cavitex-Port Area expressway
The tollway arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is planning to propose a P20-billion expressway project to connect the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (Cavitex) to the Port Area.
— The Philippine Star

DOT: Revenues hit P220 B in first year
Tourism revenue rose to P220.30 billion during the first year of the Duterte administration, the Department of Tourism (DOT) announced yesterday.
— The Philippine Star

Tax reform package 1 to be implemented before year end
PACKAGE 1 of the Tax Reform and Acceleration and Inclusion of Department of Finance (DOF) is to be implemented by the third or fourth quarter of 2017.
— Sun Star

PHL sugar output hits 2.485 MMT
The country’s raw sugar output in the current crop year has already reached 2.485 million metric tons (MMT), 11.03 percent higher than the 2.238 MMT recorded in crop year (CY) 2015-2016.
— Business Mirror

Accommodation, food service sales hit P332B in 2015 — PSA
THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said establishments engaged in accommodation and food service activities generated gross revenue of P332 billion in 2015.
— BusinessWorld Online

Philippines may lift foreign ownership caps on telcos
The Philippines government is considering lifting foreign ownership restrictions on local telecoms companies and other utilities to help stimulate the industry.
— Telecomasia.net

New tropical threat in West Pacific may impact Philippines, Taiwan
An area of showers and thunderstorms to the east of the Philippines will drift northward through Wednesday and is expected to become the next tropical system in the west Pacific.
— AccuWeather.com

The Philippines is a ‘strong user’ of this nonsurgical facelift treatment
Shortly after Lawrence T. Siow joined Merz Asia Pacific in November 2013, the German specialty healthcare company was on the verge of marking a professional milestone of its own.
— Philippine Daily Inquirer

Duterte vows end to uprising, ‘jail or hell’ in drug war
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte vowed Monday to continue his bloody war on illegal drugs despite international and domestic criticism and warned that offenders will end up in “jail or hell.” In his second state of the nation speech, Duterte also insisted he would not hold peace talks with communist rebels because of continuing attacks.
— Asahi Shimbun

Activists chant Duterte off rally stage
Activists on Monday evening rebuffed President Rodrigo Duterte, who stepped outside the Batasang Pambansa to speak before the so-called People’s State of the Nation Address.
— The Philippine Star

Taiwan power firm wants to invest in microgrids for remote Philippine areas, considering Batanes
CONTROLNET International, Inc., which manages 80% of Taiwan’s power grid, has expressed interest to invest in the Philippines to create “hybrid microgrids” in order to provide stable and reliable electricity for remote areas, according to a company executive.
— BusinessWorld Online

Oil companies hike pump prices anew
Oil companies will increase pump prices of diesel and kerosene on Tuesday.
— The Manila Times

PSALM gets regulator’s nod to collect P37 billion from NPC
THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has allowed the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp. to collect from consumers a total of P37 billion, representing the stranded debts and stranded contract costs (SCCs) of the National Power Corp. (NPC).
— Business Mirror

Duterte warns mining companies: pay higher taxes or shut down
President Rodrigo Duterte gave a stern warning to mining companies that they will have to take responsibility to rehabilitate mining areas they destroyed or he will put an end to mining.
— Davao Today

Sugarcane production approaching gov’t goal as crop season closes
SUGARCANE production towards the close of the crop season has hit 2.48 million metric tons, nearing the government’s 2.5 million target.
— BusinessWorld Online

DOJ orders ‘Bilibid 19’ transfer
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Monday directed the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) to return to the New Bilibid Prison’s (NBP) maximum security compound some of the so-called “Bilibid 19” inmates who had linked detained Sen. Leila de Lima to the drug trade.
— Philippine Daily Inquirer

Asean lanterns to lighten mood in Visayas, Mindanao
Craftsmen in this Pampanga capital last week began shipping their giant lanterns to 10 cities and towns in the Visayas and Mindanao that would be lit on Aug. 8 when President Duterte would switch on the lanterns at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) to formally kick off activities for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit scheduled in November.
— Philippine Daily Inquirer

Recto wants to end red tape in balikbayan boxes shipment
Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto on Monday called for the immediate “activation and convening” of the congressional oversight committee to streamline the guidelines for overseas Filipino workers’ (OFWs) shipment of balikbayan boxes to their relatives and loved ones.
— Inquirer.net

Budget deficit more than doubles in June
The Philippine government’s budget deficit more than doubled in June from a year earlier and from May, pushing the year-to-date tally far beyond the limit set for the month as revenue collections barely grew while expenditures soared.
— The Manila Times

IMF to check PHL economic health as it raises SE Asia growth outlook
A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is visiting the Philippines this week for an annual review of the health of the Philippine economy, a senior IMF official said.
— BusinessWorld Online

‘Build, build, build’ gets a third of proposed 2018 national budget
President Rodrigo Duterte submitted the P3.77-trillion proposed 2018 national budget to Congress after delivering his second State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 24.
— Rappler

Duterte orders increase of OFW aid to P1-B
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday announced that he directed concerned government agencies to raise the assistance to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from P400 million to P1 billion.
— Sun Star

Peso weakens ahead of SONA, Fed policy meet
THE PESO opened the week lower versus the greenback on Monday as market players stayed on the sidelines ahead of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) and the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting this week.
— BusinessWorld Online

MGen tapping BPI, PNB for P100-B loan to fund Quezon power project
Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) has tapped Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI) and Philippine National Bank (PNB) to finance the 2×600-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Atimonan, Quezon.
— The Philippine Star

Duterte says gov’t to accept P25-B Mighty settlement
President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday he has directed the finance department to accept the P25-billion offer of cigarette-maker Mighty Corp. to settle its tax liabilities.
— ABS-CBN

Senate to support Duterte’s legislative agenda but death penalty not a priority
The Senate is committed to support President Duterte’s legislative agenda and other unanticipated priority measures to be submitted by his administration but the controversial bill on the re-imposition of death penalty failed to make it to the list.
— Manila Bulletin

Duterte: PH, China eyeing joint S. China Sea exploration
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said the Philippines and China are now working on entering a joint exploration agreement regarding natural gas deposits in the disputed South China Sea.
— ABS-CBN

Pro-people budget, Charter change top list of 17th Congress
The Senate will prioritize the measure proposing amendments to the 1987 Constitution and the Duterte government’s proposed P3.767-trillion national budget for 2018 when the Upper House resumes the second regular session of the 17th Congress.
— Manila Bulletin

PH car industry grows fastest in ASEAN
The Philippines posted the highest growth among ASEAN countries in production and sales of both four and two-wheeled vehicles in the first five months of the year, as it outperformed the region’s biggest motor vehicle producing countries and markets.
— Manila Bulletin

No nationwide martial law, Duterte asserts
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday asserted that he would not declare martial law in the whole country, as he lashed out at critics for comparing him to the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
— Philippine News Agency

Some 300 houses lost in twin blazes in Cebu, Mandaue
FIRE struck Sitio Baho, Barangay Calamba, Cebu City yesterday, affecting 274 families and 1,221 individuals.
— Sun Star

Capiz receives P1.1-M share for PCSO lotteries
More than P1.1-million was turned over by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to the provincial, city and municipal governments in Capiz.
— Philippine Information Agency

Top Lawmaker Pushes for Same-Sex Unions, Divorce in Philippines
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s top ally in Congress proposed new bills to legalize divorce and same-sex unions on Monday, a move almost certain to meet fierce resistance from bishops in the mainly Catholic country.
— NBC News

ASEAN Deploys Terror Aid to Philippines Amid Marawi Crisis
Last week, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) joined growing list of actors offering various forms of assistance to the Philippine government as it confronts Islamic State-linked militants in the southern city of Marawi. The move marked just the latest foray by the regional grouping to play a role in ongoing humanitarian crises in the region.
— The Diplomat

Filipino firms now providing firearms to Philippine military
Filipino firearms manufacturers are now gaining ground in providing equipment for Philippine defense and security sector and are getting contracts from the ongoing Revised Armed Forces of the the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Program.
— Update Philippines

Feature photo Brian Evans
Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Philippines morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Philippines news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Philippines Morning News For July 25 added by Stella-maris Ewudolu on July 25, 2017
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Stella-maris Ewudolu

Journalist at AEC News Today

Stella-maris graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Education from Ebonyi State University, Nigeria in 2005.

Between November 2010 and February 2012 she was a staff writer at Daylight Online, Nigeria writing on health, fashion, and relationships. From 2010 – 2017 she worked as a freelance screen writer for ‘Nollywood’, Nigeria.

She joined AEC News Today in December 2016.