Philippines Morning News For March 21

Philippines morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Philippines news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities.

Duterte Opposes Gay Marriage in Philippines, Reversing Campaign Pledge

The Philippines will not legalize same-sex marriage anytime soon, President Rodrigo Duterte has said, reversing a campaign promise in which he pledged to support legislation to allow gay unions.
— New York Times

Duterte assures Trump of friendship, cooperation
President Rodrigo Duterte said on Sunday, March 19, that he is open to strong ties with the administration of US President Donald Trump.
— Rappler

PH backs Myanmar’s national reconciliation efforts
The Philippines backed Myanmar’s efforts at national reconciliation as both countries deal with restive regions in their borders.
— ABS-CBN

Philippines donates $300,000 for Myanmar minority
President Duterte handed over yesterday to Myanmar the Philippines’ $300,000 contribution to humanitarian efforts to Rakhine State where a team of United Nations special rapporteurs expressed concerns on extrajudicial killings, gang rapes and possible ethnic cleansing of Muslims in the region.
— Phil Star

BOP deficit widens to $436 M in Feb
The deficit in the country’s balance of payments (BOP) further widened in February as the country incurred shortfalls for the past five straight months amid the negative investor sentiment arising from uncertainties brought about by the normalization of interest rates in the US, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.
— Phil Star

Oil firms cut pump prices
Local oil firms are implementing yet another round of price cuts, this time with bigger reductions of 80 centavos per liter for gasoline and P1.10 for diesel effective today.
— Inquirer.Net

Forbes: 14 Filipinos on 2017 world billionaires list
Fourteen Filipinos returned to the recently released Forbes magazine’s annual billionaires list.
— Phil Star

Philippines is paying a high price for China’s friendship
Over the weekend, China’s Vice Premier Wang Yang came to the Philippines as the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit the country during the Duterte administration. He came with a package of grants, loans and deals reportedly worth up to $6 billion, covering Philippine agricultural exports to China, and 15 infrastructure development plans, including those for bridges, railway systems, irrigation and a hydroelectric dam.
— Business Mirror

Nickel markets can shrug off any Philippine mining ban: Russell
Just how worried should nickel markets be about the latest threats by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to stop all mining in the world’s biggest exporter of the metal ore? Probably not too much.
— Reuters

Wholesale power price falls to lowest since 2011
THE AVERAGE prices paid by wholesale electricity customers fell to P1.90 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in January 2017 to reach their lowest level since January 2011, the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) said on Monday.
— Business World

Philippines ranks 72nd in world happiness index
Filipinos have been happier citizens in the past year – 10 notches higher, to be exact.
— Phil Star

EU Takes Aim at Murderous ‘War on Drugs’ Philippines
European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malström last week delivered a blunt message to the Philippine government of President Rodrigo Duterte: Your human rights-trampling policies pose a threat to exports to the EU.
— Human Rights Watch

The worst place in the world to deal drugs: On patrol with Philippines president Duterte’s narco squads who are accused of killing 7,000 in eight months
In the Filipino capital of Manila, the life of a drug dealer is more dangerous than it would be in most other countries.
— Daily Mail

Nurses from Philippines ready for Vic
Eighty Filipino nurses have been signed up to work at Blackpool Victoria Hospital following a recruitment drive in the Philippines, a meeting has heard.
— Blackpool Gazette

SE Asia Stocks-Indonesia, Philippines fall on profit-taking
Indonesian and Philippine shares fell
on Monday as investors chose to book profit after recent gains, while Malaysia hit its highest in nearly 22 months on the back of gains in telecom stocks.
— Rappler

Meet The Philippine Property Titans With Ties To Trump
ROBBIE ANTONIO winds his way through full-scale models of the apartments that he and his father, Jose, are selling in a new residential tower in Manila. The units, which start at $160,000, are accented by cool grays and blues, and like many other Antonio projects, they’re a cobranded affair, featuring minimalistic, Armani-designed interiors. “They don’t even want much art on the walls,” Robbie says.
— Forbes

Philippine Coconut Authority chief bucks preventive suspension
Philippine Coconut Authority administrator Avelino Andal is now under the scrutiny of the Office of the Cabinet Secretary, which has ordered a preventive suspension over corruption allegations.
— Phil Star

How Philippine economy can catch up with Thailand
The Philippines needs to rebuild its infrastructure and provide more support for farmers to catch up with its Southeast Asian neighbor, Thailand, a trade envoy said Tuesday.
— ABS-CBN

BCPG BUYS STAKE IN PHILIPPINE WIND POWER PLANT
Thailand-based BCPG has signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire an interest in a 50-megawatt wind-power project in the Philippines as part of its expansion in Asia.
— The Nation

Filinvest Land net income hits P5.3B on higher rental revenues
FILINVEST LAND, Inc. earned a record P5.35 billion last year, as leasable properties contributed more revenues while residential developments progress.
— Business World

Honda Philippines upgrades the Civic 1.8 E with new tech
The entry-level Civic 1.8 E has been given a mild update for 2017 after Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI) recently revealed an upgraded version of the sedan. According to the company, the new features aim to provide better convenience and improve ownership experience through added safety.
— AutoIndustriya.com

Duterte changes diplomatic guard amid ASEAN chairmanship
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday promoted Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo to the country’s top diplomatic position, on an interim basis, after a congressional committee rejected Perfecto Yasay, the original nominee.
— Nikkei Asian Review

LIVE: Supreme Court tackles De Lima’s petitions – Day 2
The Supreme Court on Tuesday will conduct its second round of oral arguments on the petitions filed by detained Sen. Leila de Lima against Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 Presiding Judge Juanita Guerrero.
— Phil Star

Graphic health warnings, taxes make over 1M Pinoys quit smoking
More than 1 million Filipinos have kicked the smoking habit, according to the latest Philippines’ Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), the global standard protocol in monitoring adult tobacco use.
— Inquirer.Net

PH gov’t urged to file diplomatic protest vs China’s ‘bullying tactics’
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Tuesday urged the Philippine government to file a “strong diplomatic protest” against China’s incursions and building activities in Scarborough Shoal and Benham Rise.
— Inquirer.Net

Stocks decline on profit taking as Wall St. slips
LOCAL EQUITIES opened the week succumbing to profit taking, with the influence of last week’s US Federal Reserve meeting subsiding as investors await for other market influencers.
— Business World

Labor dept teams to check enforcement of contractualization rules
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Tuesday he was considering deploying inspection teams to monitor compliance with new guidelines on contractualization.
— ABS-CBN

Phoenix Petroleum willing to prepay import taxes
Phoenix Petroleum said Tuesday it was willing to prepay import duties on oil to help President Rodrigo Duterte curb smuggling.
— ABS-CBN

PH Ambassador confirms Duterte will sign 3 deals with Thailand
At least three government documents on bilateral cooperation will be signed during President Rodrigo Duterte’s three-day official visit to Thailand, the Philippine Ambassador to the Kingdom said.
— Manila Bulletin

China: PH ‘irreplaceable’ in economic partnership
The Philippines has an “irreplaceable” role in the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, especially since Manila holds the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) this year, the Department of Finance (DoF) said.
— Manila Times

Negros sugar producers seek Coke boycott, Piñol ouster
Nearly 6,000 stakeholders of the country’s sugar industry called for a boycott of all products of beverage giant Coca-Cola and for the ouster of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol during a rally in front of the company’s Bacolod plant on Monday.
— Manila Times

Singapore, Japan, Canada top list of Taiwanese’ favorite countries
A poll released Monday showed that the top three favorite countries of people in Taiwan are Singapore, Japan and Canada, while the Philippines and China are among the most unpopular.
— Japan Times

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Philippines morning news roundup is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Philippines Morning News For March 21 added by Stella-maris Ewudolu on March 21, 2017
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Stella-maris Ewudolu

Journalist at AEC News Today

Stella-maris graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Education from Ebonyi State University, Nigeria in 2005.

Between November 2010 and February 2012 she was a staff writer at Daylight Online, Nigeria writing on health, fashion, and relationships. From 2010 – 2017 she worked as a freelance screen writer for ‘Nollywood’, Nigeria.

She joined AEC News Today in December 2016.