By Samuel P. Medenilla, Businessmirror – Aug 28, 2018 When it comes to doing business, companies still prefer to keep their operations labor-intensive. At least for now. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it has yet to observe any game-changing shift in the local industries toward the so-called fourth industrial revolution with the…

by Natasha Bach, Aug 28, 2018 Plastic straws are the target du jour of corporations, retailers, and even states and cities. Everyone from Marriott and Hyatt to Starbucks and McDonald’s are implementing their own plastic straw bans.

By: Doris Dumlao-Abadilla – Reporter / @philbizwatcher Philippine Daily Inquirer, Aug 28, 2018 Despite some short-term concerns on inflation, the Philippines is still Southeast Asia’s outperformer and the recent stock market pullback has only opened fresh investment opportunities, Manulife’s top Asia fund manager said.

Inquirer Mindanao, Aug 27, 2018 DAPITAN CITY – Twenty-three individuals, believed to be victims of illegal recruitment, were rescued in Bakkungan island of Tawi-Tawi on August 20 while on board motor vessel Fatima Raiza.

by Trishia Billones, ABS-CBN News, Aug 27, 2018 MANILA – Filipino construction workers in New Zealand receive relatively low salaries and face uncertain working hours, inadequate living conditions and expensive of the immigration process, a research found.

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By Cecilio Arillo, Businessmirror, Aug 27, 2018 Part Three Corruption abounds in the Aquino government WHILE the insurgency situation worsened in 1988, “corruption abounds” in the Aquino government. Joaquin “Chino” Roces, publisher and one of the owners of The Manila Times, in the course of receiving an honor award from Mrs. Aquino, said:

by Elizabeth Marcelo (The Philippine Star), Aug 26, 2018 MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has directed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to remit to the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) a total of P392.107 million in unused fund intended for an assistance program for teachers and other school personnel displaced by…

by Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan, BusinessWorld, Aug 24, 2018 GDP growth to miss goal, but not ‘bad’ MERCHANDISE exports and manufacturing will weigh on growth, though investments will provide the lift, according to top economists of the Ateneo de Manila University.

SRI WENING HANDAYANI | AUG 24, 2018 Anyone who studies welfare systems, particularly on providing social protection or social security for every citizen, usually goes back to the argument between the approaches defended by 19th century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and UK progressive economist Lord William Beveridge.

By: Karl R. Ocampo – @inquirerdotnet Philippine Daily Inquirer, Aug 24, 2018 Rice prices rose to all-time highs four months after the rice stocks of the National Food Authority (NFA) ran out. Last year, consumers could buy regular-milled rice at an average of P37.89 a kilogram and well-milled rice at P41.93 a kilo.

by Maricel Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta, Rio N. Araja, Aug 24, 2018 A pro-administration lawmaker on Thursday supported the call to purge the list of beneficiaries for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the government’s platform for doles to poor families.

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By: Karl R. Ocampo – @inquirerdotnet Philippine Daily Inquirer, Aug 24, 2018 Rice prices rose to all-time highs four months after the rice stocks of the National Food Authority (NFA) ran out. Last year, consumers could buy regular-milled rice at an average of P37.89 a kilogram and well-milled rice at P41.93 a kilo.

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by Bilyonaryo, Aug 23, 2018 Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the surge in foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the last 17 months prove that investors are now flocking to the Philippines because of its exciting growth prospects, rather than the fiscal incentives.

by Bilyonaryo, Aug 23, 2018 Lolos and lolas will get the aguinaldo this time. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the government has set aside P23 billion under the 2019 budget, especially for a social pension program for senior citizens.

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by Louise Maureen Simeon With Rhodina Villanueva (The Philippine Star) – Aug 22, 2018 MANILA, Philippines — Despite the continuous arrival of rice imports, prices of the Filipino’s main staple remain in an upward streak for eight months now, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.

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by Erwin Mascariñas, ABS-CBN News, Aug 23, 2018 Firefighters battle a raging fire that killed a female factory worker after she was trapped inside the Bryant Milling and Marketing candle factory in Barangay Carangan, Ozamiz City on Wednesday.

By: Julius N. Leonen, INQUIRER.net, Aug 22, 2018 Finance officials are not expecting any loss of jobs under the second package of the government’s new tax reform plan. Cash grants, however, would be put into place as part of a contingency plan if “minimal” or “temporary” job losses will be reported.

by Ian Nicolas Cigaral, philstar.com, – Aug 22, 2018 SINGAPORE — The Philippines is taking steps toward the digitalization of the country’s manufacturing sector and enterprises, joining its neighbors in the region in entering the fourth industrial revolution.

By Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan, BusinessWorld, Aug 22, 2018 THE CURRENT FORM of the second tax reform package, as approved by a House of Representatives committee earlier this month, risks slowing momentum of progress in state revenues and infrastructure spending, senior executives of Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service warned.

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by Gerardo P. Sicat (The Philippine Star) – Aug 22, 2018 The draft federal constitution of the ConCom (Constitutional Committee) submitted to the Congress for adoption has huge budgetary implications on government operations which may likely cause a fiscal crisis.

By Cecilio Arillo, Businessmirror, Aug 22, 2018 Part 2 Divided and ill-trained military THE once active Grand Alliance for Democracy, a Philippine opposition party, had revealed that “the Philippine military, which was then grossly divided, was failing in its task to contain the rising tide of communist insurgency.” Gen. Richard Stillwell echoed this observation, thus:…

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by Kyodo News, Aug 21, 2018 Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad confirmed Tuesday the cancellation of two major Chinese government-backed infrastructure projects in his country worth over $20 billion, including a railway and two gas pipelines.