The Philippine public land transportation industry was beset with problems during the Covid-19 pandemic. With restricted mobility and physical distancing measures enforced as early key strategies to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, it was inevitable that the livelihood opportunities of transport workers would be negatively affected as the number of trips and passengers dwindled. ...
Category: Business
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In 2022, crisis in incomes and jobs pummeled labor sector
Despite the economy’s recovery from the recession induced by the pandemic, workers faced a worsening crisis in incomes and jobs in 2022. Thus, while businesses were slowly recuperating, formal and informal workers continued bleeding from wage and income erosion, job losses, and a fall in employment quality. Inflation climbed steadily for the whole year, from...
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Nuclear power: Energy agency wants objective study by independent party
(Last of two parts) President Marcos Jr. is all for the idea of reviving the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), but the Department of Energy (DoE) is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the safety, if at all possible, of the controversial facility that has been lying dormant for nearly 40 years. Weeks after Mr....
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Nuclear power: Rehab of Bataan plant pushed in big way
(First of two parts) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appears intent on getting the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) going before he steps down in June 2028, in what critics say could be yet another project to airbrush his father’s legacy. The nuclear power plant in the province of Bataan west of Manila was built...
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Debunking objections to a wealth tax
A wealth tax is based on the market value of owned assets minus debts and other liabilities, i.e., one’s net worth—anything that has monetary value. These include cash, landholdings, bank deposits, shares of stocks, vehicles, real property, pension plans, crypto funds, housing, trusts, jewelry, yachts, planes, works of art, antique collections, copyrights, etc. Opponents from...
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Continue to oppose Maharlika Investment Fund, says ex-central bank official
As the battle shifts to the Senate after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the bill creating the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), a former official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has called on the public to amplify its objections to the measure. Diwa Guinigundo, BSP deputy governor until 2019, said that while the...
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‘Maharlika Wealth Fund’: wrong in principle, thus beyond repair
Let us reflect on process and progress. The more common source of failure to progress is “circling”—moving round and round in circles, only to arrive at the original location. Many things have been said about the proposed “Maharlika Wealth Fund” (MWF). Now the framers are scrambling to make the legislation enabling it, House Bill No....
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Online trading will help you make extra money for the holidays
Having a secondary income stream is such a big boost in this happy time of the year. It can be done through online trading, which is also something that folks who look to close the year strong with an investment can seriously consider. Online trading is a little more complicated than traditional investing, but it’s still...
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‘Maharlika Wealth Fund’ is uniting Filipinos in resisting it
The cost of administering the Maharlika Investments Fund (MIF), the Philippines’ sovereign wealth fund to be established should the bill seeking its creation be passed into law, is alarming many Filipinos. Its ability to generate the “consistent and stable investment returns” that its proponents tout is also raising loud questions. One wonders how the Fund...
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Endless want, endless Christmas
The Christmas holiday season in the Philippines starts in earnest after All Souls’ Day. Gift lists are updated, the holiday-party, vacation and reunion schedules finalized. Weeks prior, the mall and tiangge merchants are already on holiday marketing mode, playing carols to set the mood and reeling in customers with irresistible discount sales. But now is...