Philippines Morning News For April 5

Manila to spend P1.4 billion for education this year
IN a constant effort to provide the youth with an ideal education environment conducive for learning, Manila Mayor Joseph E. Estrada said the city government is allotting P1.4 billion this year on infrastructure projects for public schools in Manila, bringing its total expenditure to P5.773 billion since 2013.
— Business Mirror

World’s first national-emergency operations center opens in Clark
THE world’s first national-emergency operations center (Neoc) was launched on Wednesday at the Clark Freeport by the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation Inc. (PDRF).
— Business Mirror

Makati allots P8.4b to health, education, social services
Health, education and social welfare services remain the top priorities of the Makati City government with a combined budget allocation of P8.4 billion for the year, up by 4.4 percent than last year.
— Manila Standard

P800M pension for war veterans released; more teacher positions opened
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) yesterday announced it has released P804.86 million to the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) to cover the payment of pension arrears to World War II veterans for 2018.
— Malaya

Strong Q4 sales boost Philippine Seven profit
THE Philippine licensee of the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores relied on the strength of a strong fourth-quarter performance to turn in a double-digit growth in earnings last year.
— BusinessWorld Online

US-China trade war to affect PH exports
The Philippine electronics industry would suffer from a “major impact” following a brewing trade war between the United States and China, two of the country’s biggest export and import markets, a top official said.
— Philippine Daily Inquirer

DOF sees inflation settling at 4.1% in March
Inflation likely accelerated to 4.1 percent last month based on 2012 prices, driven by higher tobacco, non-alcoholic beverages and energy costs, the Department of Finance (DOF) said yesterday.
— Philippine Star

PH may lose trade perk from EU
The Philippines may soon lose its eligibility for a trade perk from the European Union (EU) which is aimed at poorer nations, in view of a report that says the country may reach upper middle income status in 2019.
— Philippine Daily Inquirer

Megaworld raises $200 M from sale of US dollar notes
Megaworld Corporation, the country’s top urban developer, has raised $200 million overseas from the issuance of US dollar-denominated securities.
— Manila Bulletin

Banks return post-Holy Week excess cash to BSP, tap term deposit facility
Financial institutions started returning to the central bank’s liquidity control scheme to deposit their excess cash after a noticeable decline in interest ahead of last week’s Lenten holidays, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed.
— Philippine Daily Inquirer

Duterte orders forging of ceasefire deal ahead of talks
President Rodrigo Duterte directed officials to work on a ceasefire deal with communist rebels to pave the way for the resumption of peace talks.
— CNN Philippines

Jollibee stocks suffer after DOLE order to regularize over 6,000 workers
Shares in Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) fell sharply, after the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) ordered the fast-food giant to regularize 6,482 workers.
— Rappler

PH among Asia’s booming tourist spots
The Philippines has been tagged as one of Asia’s hottest tourism spots in a recent Forbes.com article that cites infrastructure and connectivity improvements amid continuing image problems.
— The Manila Times

Clark airport passengers seen at 2M
Air passenger volume at Clark International Airport is expected to reach 2 million this year from 1.5 million passenger last year, according to Alexander Cauguiran, president and chief executive officer of Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC).
— Malaya

PH assumes chairmanship of ASEAN’s nuclear program
The Philippines has been designated as this year’s chair of a cooperation program delving with the nuclear power ambitions of the Southeast Asian region.
— Manila Bulletin

SSS to seize properties of delinquent employers
The Social Security System (SSS) has warned that starting this month, it will issue warrants to seize properties of delinquent employers. Vivienne Gulla reports.
— ABS-CBN (video)

PhilSeven to spend P3.5B for expansion
PHILSEVEN Corp. is setting aside P3.5 billion this year to finance its store expansion strategy.
— The Manila Times

Century Tuna maker’s net income drops 4% to P2.55 billion in 2017
Po family-led Century Pacific Food Incorporated, the firm behind Century Tuna, saw its bottom line drop in 2017 due to higher prices for raw materials.
— Rappler

Uber drivers’ transition to Grab pushes through amid PCC review
The review being conducted by the country’s antitrust watchdog will not stop the full transition of Uber Philippines’ drivers to Grab’s platform by Sunday, April 8.
— Rappler

Holding firm gets P425M in additional capital
SBS Philippines Corp., (SBS) said has infused an additional P425 million into realty unit SBS Holdings and Enterprises Corp., (SBS Holdings), to bring its exposure to the property firm to P2 billion.
— Malaya

Tax-evasion incidence keeps piling up–Dulay
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reported 147 cases filed under the Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program that only strengthened its commitment to ensure the correct tax goes to government coffers and that Filipinos actually pay their fair share of taxes.
— Business Mirror

DBM authorizes 75,000 new school teaching jobs
THE DEPARTMENT of Budget and Management (DBM) has approved the creation of about 75,000 public school teaching positions for the next school year, as well as the release of P804.86 million worth of pension arrears to World War II veterans.
— BusinessWorld Online

Transport group warns of underground ‘habal-habal’ ops
A newly-formed transport safety movement is pushing for the regulation of underground “habal-habal” operators that utilize Facebook to offer rides to prospective clients.
— Philippine News Agency

PDIC raises P4 million from public bidding
THE Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) generated P4 million from the sale of 18 corporate and closed banks’ properties at its public bidding held last March 15 in San Fernando City, Pampanga.
— Sun Star

Emperador income slid 18% last year to P6.3 billion on higher cost, forex losses
EMPERADOR Inc., the liquor firm of businessman Andrew Tan, said its income slid by 18 percent last year to P6.3 billion, from the previous year’s P7.7 billion, as revenues were almost flat.
— Business Mirror

Duterte creates task force for rebel returnees
President Rodrigo Duterte has created a task force that will handle all government efforts at reintegrating former communist rebels into society.
— ABS-CBN

Duterte approves 6-month closure of Boracay, starting April 26
President Rodrigo Duterte approved on Wednesday the closure of Boracay for six months, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.
— Inquirer.net

Philippines to balance bilateral trade with Malaysia
The Philippines aims to rebalance bilateral trade with Malaysia this year, said the Philippines Trade and Investments Promotion Group Assistant Secretary, Abdulgani M. Macatoman.
— Malay Mail Online

PH shares fall below 8,000 amid US-China trade war fears
Philippine shares caved in to jitters over the simmering trade tensions between the United States and China, with the Philippine Stock Exchange index slipping back below the 8,000 level. As Bruce Rodriguez reports, Jollibee was the day’s biggest index loser.
— ABS-CBN (video)

Feature photo Andrew and Annemarie

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 April 5 added by Stella-maris Ewudolu on April 5, 2018
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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.