2022 starts with tax, price hikes on cigarettes, alcohol

Ben O. de Vera 01/02/2022

MANILA, Philippines — The new year begins with another increase in “sin” taxes, meant not only to discourage smoking and drinking but also to raise more revenues to finance the universal health care (UHC) program being implemented…

SSS to start offering loan assistance packages to ‘Odette’ victims in January

Ben O. de Vera 12/26/2021

MANILA, Philippines — Private-sector members and pensioners of the Social Security System (SSS) in the six regions devastated by typhoon “Odette” last week can avail of loan assistance packages to be offered in January. In a circular…

PH debt hits new high of P11.92T

Ben O. de Vera 10/30/2021

Additional domestic and foreign borrowings plus a weaker peso further hiked the national government’s outstanding debt to a new high of P11.92 trillion in September. The latest Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data on Friday showed end-September…

DOF orders BIR to track, tax online sales

Ben O. de Vera 10/27/2021

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is putting up a dedicated unit that will track digital sales transactions and capture the correct taxes due from these goods and services. In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of…

PH borrows another $810M from WB

Ben O. de Vera 10/18/2021

Three forthcoming loans to be extended by the World Bank (WB) to the Philippines totaling $810 million will aid in pandemic recovery and building resilience against natural disasters as well as improving the education sector, the Washington-based…

Unemployed swell to 3.9M in August due to lockdowns

Ben O. de Vera, Jerome Aning 10/01/2021

MANILA, Philippines — The unemployment rate worsened to 8.1 percent in August as many business establishments in Metro Manila were forced to close by the lockdown meant to contain the spread of COVID-19 and as thousands of…

FDA chief: No proof of waning Sinovac efficacy

Ben O. de Vera, Patricia Denise M. Chiu 09/10/2021

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo said on Thursday, September 9, 2021, there was still no evidence that the efficacy of CoronaVac—the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by the Chinese company Sinovac—is waning in people who…

Unicef points out effects of missing in-person classes on Filipino kids

Ben O. de Vera, Meg Adonis 08/26/2021

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is among only five countries in the world that have not resumed in-person classes since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared last year, and the prolonged closure has infringed on the right to…

Gov’t scrambles to find funding for ECQ aid

Ben O. de Vera, Leila B. Salaverria 07/31/2021

With another round of the strictest lockdown to be imposed in Metro Manila, the government on Friday scrambled to find the money to compensate those who would temporarily lose their jobs or means of livelihood with the…

PH funds vs COVID-19 hit almost P1.5T in June

Ben O. de Vera 07/03/2021

The Philippines’ COVID-19 war chest inched up to $30.45 billion, or almost P1.5 trillion, as of last month, thanks to a P505-million vaccine donation from Australia, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Friday. The updated ADB…

PH jobless rate worst in emerging Asia

Ben O. de Vera 05/24/2021

Despite an easing in the March unemployment rate, the Philippines remained the worst job market in emerging Asia with the biggest share of the unemployed to the labor force, a report of the state planning agency National…

P25 billion in calamity funds unspent amid pandemic

Ben O. de Vera 05/03/2021

MANILA, Philippines — Amid the prolonged fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, a total of P25.14 billion in calamity funds from the 2020 and 2021 national budgets remains unutilized as of March, pending approval on several levels in…

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