The Marcos administration’s imposition of a price cap on rice and new prices for palay as well as its subsidy for rice retailers could be “costly” to the government, according to resigned finance undersecretary Cielo Magno. The government can ill afford the costs arising from the three policy packages because these are not part of...
Category: Economy
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Tarlac rice farmers, retailers suffering losses due to price cap
Rice farmers and retailers are incurring heavy losses from the price cap imposed starting on Sept. 5 on regular-milled and well-milled rice even as it brings temporary relief to consumers. Executive Order No. 39 (EO 39) set the price of regular-milled and well-milled rice at P41 and P45 a kilo, respectively, amid soaring prices of...
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Transport groups ‘will continue to make noise’ vs modernization plan
Two transport strikes have been called this year in protest against the government’s so-called public utility vehicle modernization program (PUVMP), which is aimed at replacing aging jeepneys with environment-friendly but much more expensive minibuses. Following two days of a planned weeklong strike in March, leaders of transport groups Manibela and Piston were called to a...
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In Hong Kong, gov’t falls short of protecting Filipino workers from debt burden
This report on OFWs debt burden is being republished with PCIJ’s permission. —Ed. (Last of two parts) Many Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong are hounded by their lenders from the Philippines, who even hire debt collectors to threaten and harass their employers. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) found that Hong Kong...
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Overseas Filipino workers are harassed, even jailed, for loans they’re forced to make to get jobs abroad
This report is being republished with PCIJ’s permission. —Ed. (First of two parts) In 2022, “Jessica” tried to apply for a local job and went to a police station to request a clearance certifying she has no criminal record. But she was arrested and thrown in jail right then and there. She had no idea...
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The state of our nation
My students found it very difficult to identify two of the current administration’s notable accomplishments in public finance. I can appreciate their difficulties. The budgetary deficit in 2022 was a staggering P1.61 trillion, or 7.33% of GDP. Government spent P5.16 trillion last year but raised only P3.54 trillion in revenues. I cannot help but wonder why...
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‘Let’s not be blind to history’ in enforcing new rice production program
The strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was said to have achieved some measure of success in “Masagana 99,” when farmers harvested more palay per hectare in the late 1970s. Backed by new technology, high-yielding varieties, cheap fertilizers and the construction of megadams in Luzon, the rice production program yielded modest surpluses for farmers for one or...
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Opposition to the Maharlika Investment Fund continues
Last May 31, with lightning speed, the Senate passed the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill in a plenary session that ran until 2 a.m. Until the end, critical lawmakers’ questions were unanswered and their concerns unaddressed. Because the House of Representatives subsequently accepted the Senate version in its entirety, the bill was no longer...
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Southeast Asia’s economic perils
The easing of pandemic restrictions and the opening up of economies saw Southeast Asia’s growth for 2022 being calculated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at a higher 5.5% from an earlier estimate of 5.1% “on stronger-than-expected domestic consumption, exports and services, particularly tourism.” Downplaying the Philippines’ seemingly impressive 2022 growth of 7.6%, economist JC...
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Jeepney driver says: Let us run our own show
By all means, phase out the traditional jeepneys, but let the operators and drivers modernize on their own—basically, run their own show—without the need of a cooperative that may only serve big business. This, in essence, is jeepney driver Rey Escanilla’s stance on the government’s fresh push to modernize the Philippines’ iconic “king of the...