Philippines Morning News For September 29

AIIB funds $500M flood control
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved funding part of the $500-million Metro Manila Flood Management Project, the first to be approved for the Philippines by the new multilateral financial institution focused on infrastructure in Asia.
— Malaya

Philippines is 8th most vulnerable to malware in Asia Pacific
Microsoft Asia Pacific has released regional findings from their global Security Intelligence Report (SIR), Volume 22, which found that emerging markets such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam are among the top five most exposed countries in Asia Pacific to malicious programs.
— Manila Bulletin

Milk formats and three-in-one removed from Philippines sugar tax draft
In the Philippines, a proposed excise tax on sweetened beverages will not cover milk and infant formula, as had been originally mooted.
— Food Navigator Asia

Philippines Aims To Drill For Oil With Chinese Firm Near Disputed Waters
The Philippines plans to pursue oil and gas exploration near contested waters in the South China Sea in a stalled project which has Chinese state firm CNOOC as a partner, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said on Thursday.
— OilPrice.com

Duterte’s Philippines, Still Corrupt And Less Competitive
Corruption is still a big problem in doing business in the Philippines.
— Forbes

Maynilad allots P239M for pipelines in Cavite
MAYNILAD Water Services, Inc. has allotted P239 million for a pipe-laying project in two cities in Cavite that will connect around 23,000 new customers in the province to the west zone water concessionaire’s distribution network.
— BusinessWorld Online

UNICEF cites need for ‘quality data’ on vulnerable kids in PH
UNICEF cited the Philippines’ conditional cash transfer program during a summit with ASEAN senior officials in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday.
— ABS-CBN

Narrowing the gap for inclusive growth
Entrepreneur magazine Philippines released a report on September 6 showing the industries where the 50 richest Filipinos make their income. Their numbers per sector are: real estate (27), food and beverage (21), utilities (20), financial services (19), leisure and hospitality (17), retail (16) and infrastructure (10). It is interesting to compare these figures to the actual engines of economic growth and sectoral employment composition.
— Business Mirror

Peso climbs ahead of US GDP growth data
THE PESO inched higher on Thursday as the market saw profit-taking ahead of the release of United States’ gross domestic product (GDP) data.
— BusinessWorld Online

Order to unburden consumers of P270M
A consumers group said consumers may be spared of a P270-million burden in their electricity bills following the rejection of an increase in the feed-in tariff allowance (FIT-ALL) for calendar year 2017.
— Malaya

SEC stock corporations in Q2 up by 11%
THE Securities and Exchange Commission-Davao Extension Office (SEC-DEO) has noted an 11.33 percent increase in the number of registered stock corporations to their office from the first quarter to the second quarter of the year.
— Sun Star

PAL offers to pay gov’t ₱4B to settle debt issue
The Philippine Airlines (PAL) is offering to pay the government P4 billion to finally settle a years-old issue on unpaid navigational charges.
— CNN Philippines

Senate bill eyes excise tax on cosmetic surgery
A group of cosmetic surgeons is rejecting proposals to impose excise tax on cosmetic enhancement procedures. The full story from Alvin Elchico.
— ABS-CBN (video)

Taiwan approves visa-free status for Filipinos
Filipinos may soon travel to Taiwan without paying visa fees after the Taiwanese government approved visa-free privileges for Philippine nationals.
— Inquirer.net

Market slides; EDC advances
Stocks fell Thursday, as investors in Asia began to assess the regional implications of US President Donald Trump’s tax-cut plan.
— Manilastandard.net

Growth goal in sight as spending peaks
Economic managers are optimistic the 6.5-7.5 percent growth target for 2017 will be achieved on expectations the government will be able to ramp up spending on goods and services this year.
— Philippine Daily Inquirer

Tap P307-B credit facility for PH: UK trade envoy
Visiting British Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to the Philippines, Richard Graham, is urging businesses to tap the 4.5-billion-pound credit facility made available by the United Kingdom government to fund businesses in the Philippines.
— Philippine News Agency

Peppermint Innovation rolling out payment gateway services in Philippines Share
Peppermint Innovation Ltd (ASX:PIL) has signed a key agreement with Philippines based United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) to roll out internet payment gateway (IPG) services in the Philippines.
— Proactive Investors Australia

Cayetano: PH open to independent probe into drug war
The Philippines is open to independent investigations into the government’s war on drugs provided the processes are not politicized, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano told United States (US) Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
— Northbound Philippines

19 x-ray machines to be added at NAIA terminals to curb smuggling
THE BUREAU of Customs (BoC) has recently installed three additional x-ray machines and 16 more will be set up at the three terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to address the increasing number of smuggling and drug trafficking in airports.
— BusinessWorld Online

New BSP rules to spot lending risks – Fitch
New measures imposed by the central bank in monitoring property lending and project finance in the country could be instrumental in spotting vulnerabilities in the continuously growing lending sector, according to Fitch Ratings.
— The Philippine Star

SEC OKs incorporation of Phinma cement unit
PHINMA Corp. said on Thursday that it had secured the nod of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the incorporation of PhilCement Corp., a new firm to hold its expanded cement business.
— The Manila Online

Hand, foot, and mouth disease cases up by almost 300% – DOH
The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday reported an almost 300 percent increase in the number of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in the first eight months of the year.
— Manila Bulletin

Feature photo Adam Cohn
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 September 29 added by Stella-maris Ewudolu on September 29, 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.