Mayon evacuees suffer from acute respiratory infections

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3

Albay province.

I n a press briefing, Health Undersecretary Enrique Tayag said there is an increasing incidence of cough, colds and sore throat among the evacuees.

However, he said, there is no outbreak of respiratory infections in the evacuation centers.

O n Sunday, the Philippine Insti- tute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) recorded a total of 184 volcanic earthquakes. “Kung mapapansin niyo po itong reporting namin ay wala kaming sinasalaysay na sakit, syndromic surveillance po kasi ito [If you notice, in our reporting we are not citing incidence of disease, because this there are no active Covid cases in evacuation centers after the four cases recorded on July 14 are already negative of the virus.

Meanwhile, Tayag said the local government of Albay will begin administering bivalent Covid vaccines in evacuation centers.

O fficials in the Bicol Region “reported to us that they will also mount inoculation drives in evacuation camps and they will use bivalent vaccines,” Tayag said, partly in Filipino.

Covid cases

M oving forward, Perez said, “We are committed to working with the DTI, the BOI, and other stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of EO No. 18. We believe that this EO will help us attract more foreign direct investments and create jobs for our countrymen.”

U nder Section 10 of EO No.

18 (series of 2023), the anti-red tape watchdog is assigned as a member of the Technical Working Group (TWG) which shall act on complaints and take appropriate actions, consistent with its respective mandate, against third-party business consultants engaged by foreign and local investors who act in violation of Republic Act No. 9485, also known as the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, as amended.

A RTA, created under Republic Act No. 11032, or the Ease is a syndromic surveillance],” Tayag explained. If it is a suspected Covid, the DOH official said, the person will be tested.

A s of Monday, Tayag also said of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 (EODB Law), is tasked with streamlining and digitalizing all government processes to reduce red tape and promote ease of doing business in the country.

A ccording to the Board of Investments (BOI), EO 18 is a government-wide response to enhance the ease of doing business in the country by “expediting, streamlining and automating” government processes for strategic investments. Its outstanding feature is the provision for simultaneous processing of applications whereby National Government Agencies [NGAs] and Local Government Units [LGUs] that receive applications for permits and licenses are mandated to process the same with the presumption that the relevant documents from other agencies have already been issued and where the applicant firm shall execute an affidavit of undertaking that it has secured the relevant documents from specific NGAs or LGUs and that it shall submit the complete documentary requirements within 30 working days,” BOI said in a statement on Thursday.

MEANWHILE , the DOH reported that 1,938 new Covid cases were logged from July 10 to 16, higher by 23 percent compared to the previous week. The average cases per day stand at 277. There were 26 deaths recorded which occurred from July 3 to 16.

T he BOI is the single point of entry for all projects qualified as Strategic Investments, EO 18 noted. A ndrea E. San Juan

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C hina accounted for the highest export value amounting to US$1.07 billion, or a share of 16.6 percent to the country’s total exports during the month.

Other top export markets are the United States with US$1.01 billion or 15.7 percent of the total; Japan with US$930.56 million or 14.4 percent; Hong Kong with US$665 million or 10.3 percent, and Netherlands with US$346.65 million or 5.4 percent.

Meanwhile, China was also the country’s biggest supplier of imported goods valued at US$2.60 billion or 24 percent of the country’s total imports in May 2023.

R izal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) Chief Economist Michael Ricafort stressed last week that “Trade deficit/ Net imports already among the narrowest in more than a year, thereby partly supporting the stronger peso exchange rate recently [peso among the strongest in 2 months]; also after relatively lower global oil and other commodity prices amid risk of recession in the US.”

R icafort said, “still relatively higher prices/inflation and interest rates/borrowing costs, locally and globally, also partly weighed on demand for some imports that helped narrow the trade deficit/net imports.”

A s for the exports growth, he said exports recovered to sixmonth highs after the pickup in electronic/semiconductor exports, which are the country’s largest exports. The growth in exports may be attributed, he said, to the easing of prices, “especially lower prices of global oil and other major commodities that reduced the input costs of exporters.”

A lso, remittances coursed through money couriers cannot be disaggregated by actual country source and are lodged under the country where the main offices are located, which, in many cases, is in the US.

T herefore, the US would appear to be the main source of remittances because banks attribute the origin of funds to the most immediate source.

C hief economist Michael Ricafort of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) said that “remittances for the month of May [slightly faster against 1.8 percent a year ago—but the continued growth nevertheless is still a good signal for the economy] to $2.494 billion, [is] still among the lowest volume in a year or since May 2022.”

He added that the continued slowdown in OFW remittances data may also have to do with the still relatively higher prices in major host countries for OFWs that fundamentally reduced the remittances sent back to the Philippines.

The recent slowdown in OFW remittances,” he said, is “also partly because of the weaker peso exchange rate against the dollar compared to year-ago levels [about 10-percent peso depreciation compared to levels before the Russia-Ukraine war started in February 2022] that also partly reduced the need to send more OFW remittances because of higher conversion rate for the dollar against the peso,”

T he SC added the ERC failed to notify the affected parties about its probe, which violated the gencos’ right to due process.

“ The March 3, 2014 order acknowledged that it was based on an unfinished investigation, and yet it included a fallo (decision) voiding the Luzon WESM prices and imposing regulated prices instead,” the SC had said.

T he same SC decision upheld the ERC order allowing the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to implement a staggered collection of automatic rate adjustments arising

V illafuerte allayed fears that the MIF could deplete the resources of its two main fund sources—the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP)—and trim the outlays of these two government financial institutions (GFIs) that would otherwise go to sectors such as agriculture and industry.

T he Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC), which will handle the MIF, has an authorized capital stock of P500 billion; and its initial paid-up capital will be P125 billion—P50 billion from the LandBank, P25 billion from the DBP, and P50 billion from the NG.

T he NG will source its MIF funds from the dividend contributions of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the NG share of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) earnings, and proceeds from the privatization

Prioritizing food events

SPEAKING at the launch, OIC-Undersecretary for Tourism Development Verna Buensuceso said: “We at the Department of Tourism, through our National Tourism Development Plan 2023-2028, prioritize projects like this to highlight the country’s unique narrative and cultural offerings. And part of what makes a Filipino distinct is the food we prepare, eat and serve. With a rich blend of Spanish, American, Chinese, Indian and Malay influences, Filipino food has won the hearts of people from all over the world and has even received recognition from international food connoisseurs.”

S he said the agency was “committed to sustaining this momentum

Ricafort added.

For his part, Michael Enriquez, chief investment officer at Sun Life Investment Management and Trust Corp., said that “although the remittance figure grew, it is still below the recent high registered in December.” from generation costs for November 2013. or sale of government assets. throughout the year, making the Manila Food & Wine Festival not just an event, but a catalyst for continuous growth and progress in our food and wine industry.”

One aspect that may have contributed to this is the higher inflation from the source countries” which is “already affecting the amount available for remittance,” he added.

C hina Banking Corp., chief economist Domini Velasquez, meanwhile, said that cash remittances were up 3.1 percent from a year ago.

We think that continued growth in remittances was helped by slowing inflation in host countries, which gave overseas Filipinos more disposable income to send home,” she said.

“ Improvements in digital banking services and platforms also likely encouraged remittance inflows. Moving forward, we expect remittance growth to remain modest,” Velasquez added.

T he economist also said that resilient labor markets in advanced economies will continue to support inflows, but an economic slowdown remains a key risk.

However, continued recovery in sectors such as tourism will ensure a stable source of income from OFWs.

“For instance, higher demand for cruise tourism could lead to steady remittance inflows from some seabased OFWs,” Velasquez said.

M eralco informed the ERC that the total cost of generation to be passed on customers amounted to P22.64 billion, equivalent to a generation charge for December 2013 billing of P9.1070 per kwh, which is an increase of P3.44 per kwh from the P5.67 per kwh that was billed in the previous month.

T he SC voided the ERC order to impose regulated prices during the same period in 2013 pending result of its investigation over allegations of market power abuse.

A s pointed out by economic managers, Villafuerte said the P50-billion and P25-billion contributions of the LandBank and DBP, respectively, to the MIF are relatively small, considering that LandBank has P1.3 trillion in investible funds while DBP has P850 billion.

T hese GFIs’ contributions make up just 3 percent of the LandBank’s P1.3-trillion investible funds and 2.7 percent of the DBP’s investible funds, he said. The final congressional version of the enrolled MIF bill submitted to Malacañan Palace for the President’s approval and signature actually resulted from the agreement by members of the bicameral conference committee last May 31 for the House to adopt Senate Bill (SB) 2020, in lieu of reconciling it with HB 6608.

Among the special guest merchants and innovators from the F&B industry at the launch were: Luisita Rum, Sebastian’s Ice Cream, Esguerra Kurobota, Destileria Limtuaco, Karabella Dairy, Macaron Macaron, and Mooncakes by the Hungry Chef, etc. There will also be collaborations between many of the country’s popular chefs in separate dining events in Tagaytay, Antipolo, and hotel restaurants in Makati and Manila. For more information and updates on events, The Manila Food & Wine Festival is on Facebook. Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo