Philippines Morning News For April 6

Facebook Users in Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam Hardest Hit (video)
In its latest mea culpa, social media giant Facebook has admitted that the number of its users whose data was improperly shared with British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica was in fact 74 per cent higher than previously thought, now exceeding 87 million people.
— AEC News Today

Philippine National Bank to raise $1 billion via medium-term note program
PHILIPPINE NATIONAL Bank (PNB) is looking to raise $1 billion in fresh funds through a euro-denominated medium-term note program, it announced on Thursday.
— BusinessWorld Online

Gov’t allocates P2-B calamity fund for displaced Boracay workers
The Duterte administration will allot approximately PHP2 billion worth of calamity fund for workers who will be displaced by the six-month closure of Boracay, Malacañang said Thursday.
— Philippine News Agency

Duterte slams Myanmar ‘genocide’ and offers to take Rohingya refugees
President Duterte accused Myanmar of “genocide” and said he was willing to accept Rohingya Muslim refugees into the Philippines.
— Philippines Life Style

PCC orders stop of Uber sale to Grab
The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) yesterday asked both Uber to Grab to maintain and continue separate operations pending the completion of the motu propio review the anti-trust body is currently undertaking.
— Manila Bulletin

Thanks to Duterte foreign policy shift, Russian, Chinese carmakers pivot to PH
Car enthusiasts knew what they intended to see, where to go and which product-unveiling they wanted to bring out their cameraphones for at the Manila International Auto Show (MIAS) at the World Trade Center (WTC) in Pasay City on Thursday.
— ABS-CBN

P20B losses seen with Boracay closure
President Duterte is set to declare a state of calamity in Boracay before the island is shut down starting April 26 and will make available at least P2 billion worth of calamity fund as assistance to the 35,000 workers to be displaced.
— Malaya

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is willing to accept refugees fleeing ‘genocide’ in Myanmar
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday “genocide” was taking place in Myanmar and he was willing to accept Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing from it, though Europe should help too.
— South China Morning Post

Philippines to provide incentives to returning scientists, inventors, and engineers
The Philippine Government is expected to enact the ‘Balik Scientist Act’ next month, which would provide more incentives to returning Filipino experts, scientists, inventors, and engineers.
— Open Gov

Philippines publishes clarifications on cyanides control
A consultation is under way in the Philippines on a draft document on the requirements for registration and licensing of cyanide and cyanide compounds under the Chemical Control Order (CCO).
— Chemical Watch

Filinvest to build $200-million casino-hotel complex in Clark
Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC) announced it has secured the right to build a casino in its Mimosa+ Leisure City development at the Clark Economic Zone (CEZ) in Angeles City, Pampanga.
— Rappler

Cebu Pacific cornered 40% of services to Australia last year
BUDGET carrier Cebu Pacific has become more bullish with the Australian market after outperforming its key competitors in the Manila-Sydney route in 2017, signaling that it is also set to do well with its forthcoming launch of services to Melbourne.
— Business Mirror

Medical mission helps more than 1,000 distressed Filipino workers
More than 30 organizations, 370 volunteers including nurses from various hospitals and clinics in Kuwait, 22 doctors including Kuwaiti physicians and other nationalities and more than a hundred donors heeded the call to serve more than 1,000 distressed overseas Filipino workers currently housed at the shelter.
— Arab Times

Alliance Global Group Inc. to spend P80 billion for expansion
Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI), the investment holding company of tycoon Andrew Tan, is spending P80 billion this year to further beef up its property and gaming resort businesses.
— Philippine Star

Ferry operator inks P1.7-B Landbank loan to build 5 vessels
FastCat ferry operator Archipelago Philippine Ferries Corporation (APFC) yesterday signed a P1.726-billion loan with the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) for the construction of five new FastCat ferries.
— Manila Bulletin

Investments in BOI, PEZA firms up 188%
Combined investment pledges approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine PEZA-approved investments in January-February 2018 amounted to P152.60 billion, which is 187.9% higher than the P53.01-billion approved investments during the same period last year.
— Manila Bulletin

Manufacturing output up; growth risks remain
Manufacturing output in February grew double digit and is expected to further expand amid strong economic growth on the back of continued government reforms, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.
— Malaya

Piñol: Duterte ordered NFA council abolition
President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the abolition of the National Food Authority (NFA) council, Agriculture Sec. Emmanuel Piñol said Friday morning.
— ABS-CBN (video)

DOLE vows to provide jobs for some Boracay workers
The temporary closure of Boracay spells an uncertain future for people who make a living on the island.
— ABS-CBN (video)

Bloomberry income rises to record P6.1 billion in 2017
Bloomberry Resorts Corp. saw its profit rise to a record level last year behind robust earnings from its resort casino in Parañaque and improving operations in Korea.
— Philippine Star

Classify P50-M smuggling as economic sabotage–Rody
President Rodrigo Duterte wants to classify smuggling of P50 million worth of goods as economic sabotage.
— Philippine Daily Inquirer

Grab, Uber oppose PCC’s proposed interim measures
GRAB Holdings, Inc. and Uber Systems, Inc. rejected the Philippine Competition Commission’s (PCC) proposed interim measures which are aimed at ensuring competition in the local ride-sharing market.
— BusinessWorld Online

Lawmaker pushes for passage of plastic-waste disposal bill
Sen. Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva on Wednesday sought the passage of a law, which aims to improve the country’s waste-disposal management of beverage containers.
— Business Mirror

Lost workdays from on-the-job injuries rise in 2015, PSA says
WORKDAYS lost from occupational injuries rose sharply in 2015 even though the rate of injury declined, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported, citing the results of a survey.
— BusinessWorld Online

‘54 children killed in drug war’
Fifty-four minors were killed from July 2016 to August 2017 during the first year of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, according to the watchdog Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center (CLRDC).
— The Manila Times

PSEi firms up, closes at 8,022.16
The local stock barometer shook off early losses and firmed up back to the 8,000 level yesterday on highly selective picking of large-cap stocks.
— Philippine Daily Inquirer

Consumer price rise highest in over 5 yrs
INFLATION accelerated further in March, rising to 4.3 percent from 3.8 percent a month earlier on the back of continued increases in food, beverage, tobacco and utility prices.
— The Manila Times

NFA eyes to buy 1.2-M bags of rice from local farmers
Exerting all efforts to beef up the government rice stocks from local produce, the National Food Authority (NFA) has so far procured a total of 19,361 bags, with 7,412 bags bought in March, at the start of the summer crop harvest.
— Philippine News Agency

Measles kills 25 – City Health Office
The City Health Office has recorded 25 death cases due to measles as of November 2017 to April 2018.
— Davao Today

Hyundai hikes Philippine investment program to P5-billion
Hyundai Asia Resources Inc., the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines, said it will increase its investments in the Philippines to P5 billion in a span of five years as a third industry player in the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy program.
— Manila Standard

Philippines: Eggplant output rose by 3.45% in 5-year period
Eggplant production in the Ilocos region, the Philippines’ top eggplant producing region, expanded at an average rate of 3.45 percent from 2012 to 2016.
— Fresh Plaza

Business boom: New Philippine halal chocolate maker rapidly expanding at home and overseas
A Philippine halal chocolate maker is seeing its domestic business boom, while also securing its first deal to enter the Malaysian market, just months after making the move into finished products.
— Food Navigator Asia

Govt collections, spending up in Q1
State spending and revenue collections posted double-digit growth during the first quarter of the year, a Cabinet official said, tracing the improvement to tax reforms and the government’s infrastructure program.
— The Manila Times

Pathologist challenges PHL officials’ view that US cameraman committed suicide in Cebu jail
An American cameraman and filmmaker who died in December in a jail in the Philippines suffered blunt-force trauma, and his body had markings inconsistent with the official account by Philippine authorities that he hanged himself, a private U.S. pathologist said.
— Philippine Magazine

Airlines cut back flights as Philippine holiday hotspot braces for closure
A decision by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to shut the holiday hotspot of Boracay, which he has called a “cesspool”, prompted airlines to cut flights on Thursday, as hotels prepared for cancellations and businesses appeared resigned to a move the government said was non-negotiable.
— Reuters

Misdeclared P30-M heavy equipment intercepted at Manila port
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Thursday intercepted a 40-foot container loaded with heavy equipment worth more or less PHP30 million at the Port of Manila.
— Philippine News Agency

Iloilo gov’t distributes P3-M aid to LGUs
THE Provincial Government of Iloilo distributed P3.1-million financial assistance to six municipalities to finish the construction of seven community infrastructure development projects.
— Sun Star

Report says Cambridge Analytical parent co may have helped Duterte win election
Strategic Communications Laboratories (SCL), the parent company of Cambridge Analytica – the firm in hot waters for reportedly aiding the United States (US) President Donald Trump’s campaign – apparently helped the Philippine President win his post in 2016, according to a report.
— Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Dengvaxia victims’ kin file complaint vs DOH, Sanofi, Zuellig execs
The families of 4 children, whose deaths had been linked to Dengvaxia, filed criminal complaints with the Department of Justice on Thursday, April 5, against former and current health officials, as well as executives of the dengue vaccine manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur and its distributor Zuellig Pharma Corporation.
— Rappler

Move to brand Reds ‘terrorists’ may be withheld if talks resume – Roque
The petition to formally declare communist rebels as terrorists may be held in abeyance should peace talks resume, the President’s spokesman said.
— CNN Philippines

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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 6 added by Stella-maris Ewudolu on April 6, 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.