Philippines Morning News For May 18

NAIA ‘escort’ ring has netted P10 billion
According to Greco Belgica, commissioner of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), a background check on Customs operation officer Lumontod Macabando showed that he has been frequently traveling abroad, particularly to Dubai, to facilitate a jewelry business.
— Philippine Star

Marawi rebuilding to cost P80B
The government will spend up to P80 billion on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of war-torn Marawi City, with groundbreaking slated for mid next month.
— Philippine Daily Inquirer

Supreme Court chief in the Philippines ousted in landmark decision
The Supreme Court of the Philippines ruled on Friday to remove Maria Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice.
— The Asean Post

Government to install P75-million driving simulator for LRT 2
THE government may opt to incorporate its newly acquired driving simulator for the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT2)—priced at P75 million—for other train systems in the Philippines, as this could help enhance the manpower capacity and streamline training processes.
— Business Mirror

PSA needs P30.48 billion to fund six-year statistics program
The national government needs to spend some P30.48 billion to implement existing and new statistical programs in the next six years, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
— Business Mirror

BOI investments up 28% in Q1
THE Philippine Board of Investments (BOI) recorded P195.7 billion worth of investment approvals for January to April 2018, an increase of 28 percent compared to the same period last year when it posted P153.1 billion.
— Sun Star

Tariff on rice to raise up to P28B a year
Removing the import quota and slapping tariff on rice would generate up to P28 billion in yearly revenue that the government can use to support farmers, state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority said.
— Philippine Daily Inquirer

Gatchalian: PH far from using nuclear technology as national power resource
The Philippines is far from using nuclear technology as a national power resource. Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate energy committee, said Thursday.
— Manila Bulletin

PSBank’s profit increased 25% to P641.1-million in first three months
Philippine Savings Bank, the thrift bank unit of the Metrobank Group, said net income in the first quarter jumped 25 percent to P641.1 million from P511.1 million a year ago.
— Manila Standard

PH pushes Asean-wide database on disaster management
The Philippines is urging its fellow member-states in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to build a region-wide database on disaster risk management to facilitate the sharing of information on mitigating the effects of climate change and ensure timely cooperation among them in the face of calamities.
— Malaya

THE DANGERS OF ALLOWING U.S.-PHILIPPINE DEFENSE COOPERATION TO LANGUISH
On April 17, Philippine defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana and U.S. ambassador Sung Kim took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the first official construction project under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
— War on the Rocks

PHL leads Asia Pacific on gender equality in work
AN EQUAL CHANCE for Filipino women in the workplace and in society could translate into a 7% increase in the country’s economic growth or $40 billion a year by 2025, said a new study that ranked the Philippines as the region’s leader in gender equality in work.
— BusinessWorld Online

After deployment ban lifting, 5,000 OFWs set to fly to Kuwait
AN initial batch of 5,000 overseas Filipinos workers (OFWs) is expected to fly to Kuwait soon, a day after the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) officially lifted its total deployment ban to the Arab country on Thursday.
— Business Mirror

WB: Urban areas key to Philippine development
As early as the turn of the millennium, the World Bank Group pinpointed the country’s urban areas as the linchpin for the Philippines’ development.
— Manila Standard

Kuwait releases detained Filipino diplomats
Kuwait has released the three Filipino diplomats detained in the oil-rich nation, a day after the Philippine government lifted the total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers.
— Philippines Magazine

Bitcoin Cash Social raises crypto awareness in Asia’s rising tiger—Philippines
The Philippines, considered as a rising economic tiger, is said to have a relatively higher rate of acceptance of cryptocurrencies among other countries in Southeast Asia, and is considered second in terms of adoption rate.
— CoinGeek

Govt to award empty housing units
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has signed a joint resolution allowing the National Housing Authority (NHA) to award the unoccupied housing units of uniformed personnel to other qualified beneficiaries.
— The Manila Times

IPOPHL seeks mandatory mediation for all IP cases
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has proposed to revise the rules on mediation, making this process mandatory for all IP cases in order to encourage more parties to resolve IP cases without going to court and align all its procedures with all other courts in the country.
— Manila Bulletin

BMI hikes PH forecast but warns of slowdown
A Fitch Group unit has upgraded its 2018 growth forecast for the Philippines following stronger-than-expected first quarter results but also warned of a slowdown over the rest of the year.
— The Manila Times

UN exec: Human rights advocates in Asia, PHL under attack
A senior United Nations official has expressed concern on the “sweeping threats” made by President Rodrigo Duterte against human rights advocates critical of his policies, particularly his bloody anti-drug war.
— Philippines Magazine

Sotto as Senate president? Reorganization looms ahead of Duterte’s SONA
A draft resolution signed by majority of the senators circulated on Thursday, May 17, supporting a reorganization in the chamber that would install Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III as the new Senate president.
— Rappler

Villar retains ranking as richest member of Senate
SENATOR Cynthia Villar retained her ranking as the richest member of the Senate “millionaires club,” edging out Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao, based on their filing of sworn statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) for 2017.
— Business Mirror

PACC looking into links between NAIA smugglers, terrorists
The government is probing the possible terror links of government workers and officials involved with alleged smuggling syndicates at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.
— ABS-CBN (video)

AirAsia wants travel tax waived in Clark to lure more passengers
AirAsia has asked the government to waive travel taxes and grant other incentives for Filipinos who will opt to fly from Clark to help decongest the main airport in Manila, the airline said Thursday.
— ABS-CBN

1K pension hike possible only thru EO or charter change: SSS
Only through the direct intervension of President Rodrigo Duterte by way of an executive order (EO) or through an act of Congress amending the Social Security Law of 1997 can pensioners hope to receive the one thousand peso monthly pension hike promised them early last year.
— Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Sereno asks Duterte to resign
Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has called on President Rodrigo Duterte to resign.
— CNN Philippines

300 e-jeepneys to ply Metro Manila in June
At least 300 modern electricity-powered jeepneys will be rolled out in June, according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
— Philippine News Agency

Prices of school supplies in Pangasinan up by 30%
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Pangasinan has confirmed that prices of most school supplies in the province have increased by 30 percent based on suggested retail price (SRP) released this May.
— Northbound Philippines

106 Filipinos get HIV from paid sex in March 2018
At least 106 persons were reported infected with the human immunodeficiency virus last March due to paid sex, data from the Department of Health (DOH) HIV/AIDS Registry showed.
— Philippine Star

Solons to file impeachment cases vs 8 SC justices who voted to oust Sereno
Lawmakers from the opposition bloc Magnificent 7 on Thursday said they are eyeing to file an impeachment complaint against the eight justices who granted the quo warranto petition to remove Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno.
— Business Mirror

150 Fil-Am WWII vets receive US Congressional Gold Medal
Some 150 Filipino World War II veterans received the Congressional Gold Medal award during the World War II Filipino Veterans Congressional Gold Medal Presentation at the Coral Ballroom of the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii on 06 May 2018.
— Northbound Philippines

N. Sulawesi`s copra in high demand in Philippines
Buyers from the Philippines have shown increasing interest in copra imported from North Sulawesi Province following a spike in demand before Eid-Al Fitr in 2018.
— Antara News

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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 May 18 added by Stella-maris Ewudolu on May 18, 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.