NTUC Blog

by Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star), 7 Jan 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is likely to be the last country in Asia-Pacific to fully recover from the pandemic-induced recession, with recovery seen only in the fourth quarter of 2022 while other economies are set to regain all of their lost output by the end…

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by Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star), 6 Jan 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Prices of basic goods and services went up for the third straight month in December to reach a near two-year high at 3.5 percent, driven by higher cost of food and transportation, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said yesterday.

by Vito Barcelo and Maricel Cruz, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 18 Dec 2020 More than half million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were displaced by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) pandemic abroad, while 3.8 million workers lost their jobs, the Department of Labor and Employment said Thursday.

by Gabriel Pabico Lalu, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 15 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines — At least 48 percent of Filipino families feel that they are poor, results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey on self-rated poverty (SRP) showed on Monday.

by Daxim L. Lucas, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 10 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines—Long tern investments in the Philippines declined by over a tenth last September after four consecutive months of double-digit year-on-year growth as the lockdown in the preceeding month curtailed investor activity, according to the central bank.

by Ben O. de Vera, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 8 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines—The COVID-19 pandemic will make 2.7 million more Filipinos poor this year on top of a record slide in the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) or economic output in what could be the worst outturn post-war, the World Bank said Tuesday.

by Ben O. de Vera, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 7 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines—Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that shed millions of jobs and shuttered thousands of businesses, the state-run pension fund Social Security System (SSS) on Monday (Dec. 7) said the scheduled increase in contribution rate to 13 percent from 12 percent at present will push…

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by Mary Grace Padin (The Philippine Star), 20 Nov 2020 MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Finance (DOF) has joined the call for climate justice, saying that the Philippines continues to bear the brunt of the impact of climate change despite being among the world’s lowest carbon emitters.

(The Philippine Star), 20 Nov 2020 MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Population is moving to stop the rising prevalence of teenage pregnancy in the country, with 75,000 young women likely to become first-time mothers next year.

by Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star), 17 Nov 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Remittances from overseas Filipino workers bounced backed strongly in September, recording the fastest growth in 29 months as OFWs scrambled to send more money to their loved ones in the country during the ‘ber’ months in preparation for the Christmas holidays, according to…

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by Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star), 10 Nov 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Economic output in the second quarter was found to have declined at a faster rate of 16.9 percent from preliminary estimates of 16.5 percent, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday.

(The Philippine Star), 8 Nov 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Businesses worldwide believe the current pace of global economic recovery may not be sustained in the short term due to repeated pandemic waves, results of a survey conducted by Oxford Economics showed.

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By Bilyonaryo, 30 Oct 2020 The Philippines’ ultra-wealthy had a feast in October as their collective fortunes bounced back to pre-coronavirus level.

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by Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Nestor Corrales, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 23 Oct 2020 More than half million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were displaced by the pandemic abroad while an estimated 1.1 million more were unable to resume or start working overseas since January, official figures showed.

by Tony Lopez, Manila Standard, 23 Oct 2020 “You cannot possibly get a better economic team than these two whiz kids of management and economics.” During the world’s worst crisis of the last 100 years, President Duterte has been blessed to have in his economic team the tandem of Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez and…

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by Darryl John Esguerra, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 15 Oct 2020 MANILA, Philippines — More than 254,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been sent home amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 chair Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Wednesday night.

by Darryl John Esguerra, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 15 Oct 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Some 3.5 million workers have been displaced by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Thursday.

by Gabriel Pabico Lalu, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 15 Oct 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Despite 71 percent of Filipino families saying they got financial assistance from the government, a recent survey revealed that at least two-thirds claimed they received aid only once.

by Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star), 14 Oct 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the Philippines is expected to suffer the biggest blow from the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 pandemic in the region with a deeper economic recession this year despite the projected less severe global contraction.

by Cathrine Gonzales, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 8 Oct 2020 MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has achieved a “100 percent” enrollment in public schools amid the adverse impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the education sector.

By Ben Kritz, Manila Times, 4 Oct 2020 Promoting nuclear power anywhere in the world at this point makes about as much sense as promoting zeppelins as a practical transportation option, and nowhere more so than in the Philippines. Reality and common sense, however, have never been much of an impediment to this country’s “nuclear…

by Louella Desiderio (The Philippine Star), 3 Oct 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Businesses in the service sector and wholesale and retail trade can now operate at full capacity, while restaurants and fast food outlets may seat beyond 50 percent capacity in general community quarantine (GCQ) areas, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said yesterday.

by Lawrence Agcaoili, Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star), 25 Sep 2020 MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines may post the biggest economic contraction in Asia-Pacific at almost 10 percent this year after imposing one of the world’s longest and strictest lockdowns to slow the spread of COVID-19, according to S&P Global Ratings.

by Daxim L. Lucas, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 24 Sep 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Credit card users will soon be required to pay no more than 2 percent a month — or 24 percent annually — on this type of debt after the central bank’s Monetary Board recently approved an interest rate cap.