Over 63M Filipinos now fully vaxxed as PH marks a year of COVID-19 inoculation

More than 63 million Filipinos are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, a year after the government officially rolled out its inoculation drive, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday. As cases dip following an Omicron-driven surge in January, the DOH said it has been recording a downtrend in new infections as more Filipinos secure their coronavirus shots, coupled with public health protocols.

PH debt breaches ₱12 trillion for first time at start of 2022

The Philippines began 2022 with a new record high in total outstanding loans, which breached the ₱12 trillion mark for the first time as the government borrowed more amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) figures released Friday show the country’s total debt stock rose to ₱12.03 trillion as of end-January, a 16.5% year-on-year growth. The latest figure zoomed past the previous ₱11.97 trillion all-time high recorded in end-October 2021. The Treasury said overall borrowings grew by ₱301.12 billion from end-December as the government sought more funding from local and foreign lenders during the health crisis.

PH budget deficit widens to ₱1.67T in 2021

Aggressive spending on infrastructure and COVID-related measures pushed the country's budget deficit to swell to ₱1.67 trillion in 2021, data from Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed Tuesday. In a statement, the agency said the amount rose by 21.78%, or ₱298.7 billion wider than the fiscal deficit booked in 2020. The 2021 deficit amounted to 8.61% of gross domestic product (GDP). The BTr attributed the result to the 10.60% growth in government expenditures despite recording a 5.24% increase in revenue collections.

Shift to Alert Level 1 to add ₱9.4B to economy per week, including ₱3B in wages — NEDA

The easing of Metro Manila and 38 other areas to Alert Level 1 is expected to add ₱9.4 billion to the entire economy each week, latest National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) estimates show. NEDA chief Karl Chua said during the virtual Palace briefing on Tuesday that of that amount, ₱3 billion would be additional wages. The socioeconomic planning secretary said the areas downgraded to Alert Level 1 account for 62% of the Philippine economy, adding that the shift will benefit 20.3 million workers or 48% of the country’s labor force.

Manufacturing index highest in over 3 years

The manufacturing sector posted its strongest performance in over three years, amid relaxation of pandemic-related restrictions and signs of improvements in material availability. The IHS Markit Philippines’ manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 52.8 in February from 50 in January registering above the no-change threshold that separates expansion from contraction. IHS Markit said the latest result signaled a resumption of growth in the Philippines manufacturing sector and indicated the strongest improvement in the health of the sector since December 2018.

Conflict opens opportunities for PH

The Philippines hopes to catch some of the investments resulting from the economic fallout caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Ceferino Rodolfo, Board of Investments (BOI) managing head, said in a statement the conflict may push investors from Central and Eastern Europe to look for another market to do business as part of their relocation and diversification. Rodolfo cited the opportunity for the Philippines to catch investments in global chain manufacturing looking for a safer region. Rodolfo said some of the projects the Philippines can attract are in electronics and light manufacturing by European companies.

PH carriers see strong demand despite conflict as peak season nears

Despite eased travel restrictions, airlines in Asia- Pacific including the Philippines still face another challenge given the impact of the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA). But local airline operators are optimistic of strong demand during the summer season as Metro Manila and majority of destinations shift to Alert Level 1, allowing all public transportation including aviation to increase capacity to 100 percent. AirAsia Philippines reported recording 145,978 seats sold for travels from March 1 to 31, 2022 alone, up by 131 percent from the same month in 2021.

ARTA pushes zero backlog

Government agencies and local government units (LGUs) have until March 7 to submit their zero backlog report in relation to the 3-, 7- 20-day rule to process transactions. This developed as director-general Jeremiah Belgica of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) reported at least 8,507 applications and requests that were submitted as early as 2019 with complete requirements and payment but were not processed within the prescribed processing time, were declared automatically approved and renewed. Deputy director-general Ernesto Perez said the zero backlog report requirement was originally due in 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic.

Oil spike could drive up Q2 inflation

The sustained in oil prices is likely to drive inflation beyond the Philippine central bank’s target in the second quarter, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said. Despite the heightened global  uncertainty, Mr. Diokno said the  BSP  has the policy space to support economic output, which is expected to go back to pre-pandemic levels in the second half. “Prices are fairly stable. Our forecast is that we will be within the target range in the first quarter. And then maybe in the second quarter, it will be a little bit because of this oil prices, but it will go down again in the third and the fourth quarter,” he told ABS-CBN News Channel on Tuesday. 

Pandemic shaved off P3.8-T from PHL economy, NEDA says

The extent extent of the economy’s losses after nearly two years of the public health crisis was estimated at P3.8 trillion, based on government economic planners’ projections for the size of economy had the pandemic not intervened. “As the economy bounces back, we now have to recover all the losses we experienced in the last two years,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said in a televised briefing late Monday.

NEDA pushes in-person classes on top of alert level 1 to hasten economic recovery

COVID-19 Alert level 1 restrictions implemented since Tuesday, March 1, will benefit more than three-fifths of the economy and restore millions of jobs stopped by the pandemic, but the country’s chief economist said much more economic output would be regained once face-to-face classes are in full swing. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua told a Palace press briefing Tuesday that the lowest and least stringent alert level currently in place in Metro Manila and 38 other areas covered 62 percent of the economy, where 48 percent of the country’s workforce or 20.3 million would benefit from eased restrictions.

Customs exceeds target collection for 2nd month

Fresh from surpassing its collection target in 2021, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) sustained its revenue efforts as it raised more than 17 percent of its 2022 goal just two months into the year. The BOC collected P59.04 billion in February, beating its target for the second straight month this year. It planned on generating just P50.3 billion, but managed to exceed the figure by nearly P9 billion on improved efforts from most ports. Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said 14 of the 17 collection districts either hit or went beyond their target numbers last month. They include the Manila International Container Port and the Ports of San Fernando, Manila, Batangas, Iloilo, Cebu, Tacloban, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, Davao, Subic, Clark, Aparri and Limay.

PHL not following through on ‘circular economy’ measures

The Philippines has ample legislation to facilitate a transition to a low-waste, circular economy, but has not managed to shepherd any of the measures to the implementation stage, the Asian Development Bank Institute said in a report. The report, Prospects for Transitioning from a Linear to Circular Economy in Developing Asia, noted over 400 bills and resolutions filed in Congress over the last decade related to the circular economy. The proposals span waste management and plastics regulation.

CALLS FOR OIL DEREGULATION REVIEW: Gov’t takes action vs conflict’s impact

Malacañang yesterday unleashed a number of measures meant to cushion the impact on the economy of the growing tension between Russia and Ukraine, starting with a call on Congress to revisit the Oil Deregulation Law, particularly the provisions giving the government the power to intervene during price hikes amid the rising cost of fuel. Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said the government is ready to fully enforce the Price Control Act if prices of oil as well as other commodities like food and other agricultural items go up amid the Russian-Ukrainian row.

Investments in retail in the pipeline

The Philippines expects a slew of investments in retail following the liberalization of the sector. Bien Ganapin, director at the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in a forum hosted by the British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines on Tuesday said the Board of Investments (BOI) has received leads from companies interested to come in and were just waiting for for the law to be finalized. These include companies from Japan interested in convenience store expansion and specialty restaurants; Indonesia in retail pharmaceuticals, China, food service and motor vehicle retail operations.

Budget use at 73%

The cash utilization of government agencies is at 73 percent as of January, data released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed. According to the status of notice of cash allocation (NCA) utilization posted on the DBM website, the utilization rate in January 2022 was faster than the 72 percent posted in the same period in 2021. The NCA utilization rate as of January corresponds to P194.5 billion out of the P265.3 billion in NCAs released for the period. The unutilized NCAs for the month totaled to P70.8 billion. In the same period in 2021, the NCAs utilized was P160.9 billion. NCA refers to the disbursement authority issued by the DBM to cover the cash requirements of the operations, programs, and projects of government agencies.

‘Relax limits but shield MSME’

As the amended Public Service Act (PSA), which will allow foreigners to own 100 percent of companies in the telecommunications, transportation, and other public utilities, is only a signature of President Rodrigo Duterte away to become a full-pledge law, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said he totally supports it but the government should not forget protecting the welfare of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). Concepcion noted MSME make up more than 90 percent of the total number of businesses in the country. Major business organizations in the country have been backing the tweaked 85 years old PSA, as this is projected to attract more investments from overseas, benefitting more consumers and will provide jobs for more Filipinos.

Vax cards needed in resto, biz stores inside malls – DILG

The Department of Interior and Local Government yesterday said COVID-19 vaccination cards are required to enter restaurants and other establishments inside shopping malls in Metro Manila and the other 38 areas under Alert Level 1. But mall goers, according to Interior Undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya, will not be asked to show their vaccination cards when they enter shopping malls. “Technically, you don’t need to present the vaccination card when you enter a mall. You are only required to present it when inside the mall, (when) you are going to a restaurant, spa, movie house or a similar establishment classified as 3C (closed, crowded, close-contact venues),” said Malaya.

Gov’t approves inclusion of nuclear in energy mix

Following the approval of President Duterte of the inclusion of nuclear energy in the country’s energy mix for power generation alongwith the development of a nuclear power program, the Department of Energy (DOE) said a regulatory framework on the policy still required legislation and its future also hinges on the agenda of the next administration. Executive Order (EO) 164 signed February 28 and made public yesterday, could be a major milestone for an economy which suffers seasonal power outages and high electricity prices but will concern opponents of the move.

DOF chief bats for continued modernization in BIR

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has highlighted the need to continue modernization in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), citing gains from earlier measures that helped address needs during the pandemic. In his speech during the BIR tax campaign kickoff 2022 on Thursday, which was streamed through the bureau’s Facebook page, Dominguez said BIR’s digitalization program has allowed improvement in tax collection. Along with the comprehensive tax reform program, he said these combined efforts “have widened (the) tax base and simplified the process of revenue collections.”

RCEF helps PH maintain food security amid pandemic: DA

The Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) contributed largely to the Philippines' food security amid the Covid-19 pandemic, an official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Thursday. Deputy Executive Director of DA's Philippine Rice Research Institute Dr. Flordeliza Bordey said through the DA’s RCEF, a program created by the Rice Tariffication Law, the total palay (unhusked rice) production recorded a consistent high since it was implemented in September 2019. "Our total palay output only increased through the years since the implementation of RCEF. I must say that this has largely contributed to the country's food security at this time of pandemic," Bordey said.

PH welcomes over 47K foreign tourists, balikbayans in February

The Philippines attracted 47,715 foreign tourists and balikbayans in February 2022 alone, reflecting the international traveler's eagerness to visit Filipino destinations even after almost two years of closure. The Department of Tourism (DOT) on Thursday said 45 percent of the figures are balikbayans while 55 percent are foreign tourists, the majority of whom are from the United States, followed by Canada, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia, Vietnam, and Germany. From 5.7 million tourism jobs generated in 2019, Romulo-Puyat said at least 1.1 million workers have been affected since the pandemic struck. As restrictions slowly ease, she said many hotels are now rehiring their workers while a number of travelers are now starting to trickle into local destinations.

Philippines seen to suffer biggest GDP cut in Asia

The Philippines will incur the biggest reduction in gross domestic product (GDP) in Asia at 0.4 percentage point as global oil prices continue to soar following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, JP Morgan Chase & Co. said. In a research note titled “EM Asia: Thinking Through the Macro Impact from Geopolitical Tensions,” JP Morgan chief economist for ASEAN Sin Beng Ong said the recent escalation in geopolitical tensions is expected to deliver a shock to commodity prices, centered so far on energy and wheat prices. In its baseline scenario, Ong said JP Morgan expects the global benchmark, Brent oil prices, to lift to an average of $110 per barrel in the second quarter from a prior estimate of around $90 per barrel.

Seafaring jobs seen at risk if PHL drops ball on training standards

The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) must properly implement international training standards in compliance with European Union (EU) requirements in order to preserve about 30,000 seafarers’ jobs, a Senator said. The EU is insisting that training regimes meet the norms of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW). “If we cannot comply or if we receive a negative assessment, MARINA should answer to the thousands of our seafarers who are at risk of losing their jobs. We hope it does not come to that,” Senator Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva said in a statement.

Consumers to see lower water bills as VAT removed

Customers of Maynilad Water Services, Inc. and Manila Water Co., Inc. will see lower bills starting this month due to the removal of the 12% value-added tax (VAT), the regulator said on Thursday. The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Regulatory Office (MWSS-RO) said customers’ bills will instead include a 2% national franchise tax and the actual rate of the local franchise tax. “These changes will result in a reduction in Maynilad and Manila Water customers’ monthly water bills,” MWSS Chief Regulator Patrick N. Ty said at a virtual briefing.

2022 ‘critical’ for PHL growth to outpace debt

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said this year will be a “critical” time for the country as it needed to outgrow its debt by stimulating robust economic growth. Speaking at the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) 2022 National Tax Campaign Kick-Off, Dominguez on Thursday stressed the need to bring back high GDP growth in order to reduce the Philippines’s debt-to-GDP ratio—now at a 16-year high of 60.5 percent as of end-2021 due to the unexpected costs of the pandemic. Apart from debt-to-GDP ratio, the national government’s budget deficit as a share of the economy also spiked to a new record high of 8.61 percent of GDP in 2021.