by Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star), 8 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine economy will lose at least P150 billion per week as Metro Manila and other areas are placed under the strictest quarantine measure as the country grapples with the expected spread of the more transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant.

by Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star), 7 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The country’s balance of trade in goods recorded a wider deficit in June as the rebound in imports outpaced the uptick in exports during the month, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday.

by Edilberto C. de Jesus, 7 Aug 2021 Not in or by itself. But, given the tightly-centralized structure of the system, an Education Commission (EdCom) is arguably essential to crafting a strategyʍand required by international assessment test results that showed the Philippines with the lowest student competencies in Science, Math, and Reading. It was thus…

by Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star), 7 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Dutch financial giant ING Bank and ANZ Research expect the Philippines to make a slower bounceback from the pandemic-induced recession as stricter lockdown and quarantine measures were reimposed in the National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby provinces.

by Ben O. de Vera, 7 Aug 2021 The Philippines’ trade in goods with the rest of the world climbed 26.1 percent year-on-year to $89.25 billion in the first half of 2021, with six-month exports exceeding prepandemic shipments amid global economic recovery.

by Dindo Manhit, 6 Aug 2021 After five years of the Duterte presidency, the administration’s governance and performance certainly merit scrutiny.

by Segundo ECLAR romero, 6 Aug 2021 Did VP Leni just pull the rug from under 1Sambayan? Much of the Filipino nation that wants an end to the Duterte regime see in 1Sambayan the mechanism for uniting the opposition to wage this fight. But when VP Leni entered exploratory talks with Senators Ping Lacson and…

by Jarius Bondoc (The Philippine Star), 6 Aug 2021 Lockdowns aim to contain the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. But they unintentionally unleash a worse killer, tuberculosis.

by Jose C. Sison (The Philippine Star), 6 Aug 2021 This is the case of a lawyer Atty. Manuel Castro (Manny) and his wife Tina involving domestic violence that led to the filing of administrative complaint for disbarment and criminal case for violence against women against Manny. The main question that arises here is whether…

by Peter Wallace, 5 Aug 2021 Some 14 months ago, the world knew only one way of working: Everybody went to the office from 9 to 5. But in the last 14 months, the world has been shaken out of this rigidity, and people have been working from home. A new acronym was born: WFH.

by Don Pangan, 5 Aug 2021 A surge of labor disputes and workplace grievances among food delivery riders is erupting amid their increased significance and profile during the pandemic. The latest is the protest of some 300 Foodpanda riders in Davao over decreased pay. In response to this, Foodpanda suspended 43 riders for 10 years…

Read more here.

by Catherine Talavera (The Philippine Star), 5 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has partnered with several private sector firms to launch two projects aimed at accelerating the modernization of agriculture through digital platforms for farmers and fisherfolks.

by Louella Desiderio (The Philippine Star), 5 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Two-thirds of consumers saw their income negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the second quarter, with the impact more pronounced for Gen X and millennials, according to a survey by information and insights company TransUnion.

Read more here.

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, 4 Aug 2021 THE PRESIDENTIAL palace on Wednesday ordered agencies in the Philippine capital and nearby cities to reduce their on-site workers to 20% during the two-week enhanced lockdown meant to contain a more contagious Delta coronavirus variant.

By Ben O. de Vera, 4 Aug 2021 The number of jobless Filipinos increased to 3.76 million in June, equivalent to 7.7 percent of the labor force, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday.

By Ben O. de Vera, 4 Aug 2021 Debt watcher Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday said the pandemic-inflicted “deep” economic scarring in the Philippines—one of the worst in Asia-Pacific—would exacerbate social inequality due to job losses and households reverting to poverty.

by Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star), 4 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The reimposition of stricter lockdown and quarantine measures in the National Capital Region (NCR) starting Friday could further dampen the recovery prospects of the Philippines from the pandemic-induced recession, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

by Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star), 4 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is seeking P2 billion for the distribution of financial assistance for workers to be affected by the re-implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

by Alexis Romero (The Philippine Star), 4 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The government will set aside more than P13 billion as aid for affected residents as the National Capital Region (NCR) is placed under the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from Aug. 6 to 20, presidential spokesman Harry Roque announced yesterday.

by Ramon Royandoyan (Philstar.com), 3 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines (Update 1, 10:22 a.m.) — The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that jobless rate was steady in June, but looming harsh lockdowns in Metro Manila could throw a spanner in the works.

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by Doris Dumlao-Abadilla, 3 Aug 2021 Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) aims to stop by 2033 all lending to coal-fired power projects—which form 45 percent of its current power generation portfolio—and channel more funds to renewable energy projects moving forward.

On July 28, the Quezon City government announced that 82 of 161 policemen assigned to the Novaliches police station tested positive for COVID-19. This was harrowing news, as the infected cops account for more than 40 percent of the police station’s complement.

by Rainier Allan Ronda (The Philippine Star), 3 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Six Filipino students won four silver and two bronze medals at the 62nd International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) held virtually from July 14 to 24.

(Philstar.com), 3 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs reported the arrival of its ninth chartered repatriation flight with 374 Filipinos on board, including 78 pregnant women.

Read more here.

DOLE releases the number of displaced workers in NCR from Jan. To July, 2021. @BusinessMirror pic.twitter.com/6yFaaokuWM — Samuel Medenilla (@sam_medenilla) August 2, 2021