Global food prices drop for 10th straight month in Jan.

Global food prices fell for the 10th consecutive month in January, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported on Friday.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 131.2 points in January, down 0.8 percent from the previous month. The decline in the main reading was led by decreases in the price indices of vegetable oils, dairy, and sugar, while those for cereals and meat remained largely stable last month.

The FAO food price index is a trade-weighted index that tracks international market prices of five major food commodity groups.

The vegetable oil price index fell 2.9 percent month-on-month in January, due to lower world prices of palm, soy, sunflower seed, and rapeseed oils.

Driven by lower international prices of butter and milk powders, the diary price index was down 1.4 percent from December to a 12-month low in January.

The sugar price index was 1.1 percent lower, marking the first decline after sharp rises in the previous two months.

“Strong harvest progress in Thailand and favorable weather conditions in Brazil outweighed

Sy Jr.’s data firm to speed up Starlink’s entry to PH within Q1

Data Lake, a data company led by tycoon Henry Sy Jr., is expediting the entry of Starlink to the Philippines within the first three months of 2023.

Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Assistant Secretary Philip Varilla earlier said that the launch of Starlink in the country would be moved to the middle of 2023.

In July last year, it was announced that Starlink Internet Services Philippines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, would launch its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite internet services in the Philippines by December 2022.

In a statement, Data Lake said delays in the production and deployment of LEO satellites pushed back Starlink’s initial December 2022 entry to the first quarter of 2023.

first Starlink integrator in the country.

Data Lake chairman Sy and Almeda recently met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to discuss the expedited entry of Starlink as a satellite internet provider.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy, and Starlink representative Nick Galano were present to support the talks, in response to the US government’s direction to hasten its expansion.

The move will also open exploration opportunities for other US telco players, according to Data Lake.

the impact on prices due to concerns over lower crop yields in India, higher gasoline prices in Brazil, which support demand for ethanol, as well as the Brazilian real’s appreciation against the US dollar,” the FAO said.

The meat price index dropped marginally by 0.1 percent in January, its seventh consecutive monthly decline, while the cereal price index was up 0.1 percent. (PNA)

“We are excited to finally introduce Starlink to the Philippine market by Q1 2023. The high speed, low latency broadband internet service through the use of satellites will be game changing in connecting our 7,640 islands to the rest of the world. This will also be in line with President Marcos’ push for greater digitization,” said Data Lake vice chairman and CEO Anthony Almeda.

Data Lake said it is the

Once established in the country, Starlink will be able to provide highspeed broadband internet to end-users, including remote areas, as it uses satellites positioned in lowEarth orbit (LEO) than the conventional and more costly underground fiber optic cables, the data company said.

Starlink plans to offer its service to Philippine customers at an initial $599 per satellite unit and connectivity service at $99 per month, with a download speed of 200 Mbps.

The Department of Trade and Industry earlier said the Philippines would be the first country in Southeast Asia to avail of the Starlink technology.

DOE to achieve renewable energy goals via reforms

The Department of Energy (DOE) is optimistic that the country will be able to achieve its long-term renewable energy (RE) goals through the policy reforms of the Marcos administration.

During the Laging Handa public briefing Friday, DOE Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has been keen on implementing policy reforms that would help the country to increase the share of renewable energy in the energy mix to 35 percent by 2030 and to 50 percent by 2040.

Among the initial reforms of the administration on renewable energy is allowing the full ownership for RE projects.

“Dahil po dito sa ating full, 100 percent foreign ownership for renewable energy, sa taya ng Department of Energy, makakaya nating ma-fulfill iyong target natin na by 2040 ay 50 percent na tayong renewable energy (Because of our (policy) for a full, 100 percent foreign ownership for renewable energy, the Department of Energy projects that we can fulfill our target of 50 percent renewable energy by 2040),” Guevara said.

She said the share of RE in the energy mix was at 22.8 percent in 2022.

Aside from allowing 100 percent foreign ownership in RE projects, the DOE is pushing for policies that will attract more investments in offshore wind projects.

It added that an executive order would lure offshore wind investments into the country.