Philippines Morning News For November 29

Govt spent P571b for infra projects in first nine months
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Wednesday he welcomes the plan of Congress to conduct an inquiry on the alleged underspending by the Duterte administration, saying this will be an opportunity for the Finance Department to show that the “bad old days of underspending” was gone.
— Manilastandard.net

Philippine leader slammed over threat to create ‘Duterte death squad’
Philippine leftists reacted with dismay on Wednesday (Nov 28) to a threat by President Rodrigo Duterte to create a “death squad” to hunt what he said were Maoist assassins, a plan critics said could trigger a spree of killings similar to his bloody war on drugs.
— Channel NewsAsia

BOI registers 2 inclusive biz projects worth P3.8-B
The Board of Investments (BOI) has so far registered two projects using inclusive business models, with combined investments amounting to PHP3.78 billion.
— Philippine News Agency

Marawi rehab gets P35-B pledges
Multilateral funding agencies and foreign governments have pledged P35.1 billion in assistance for the rehabilitation of war-torn Marawi City, covering almost half of the estimated P72.58 billion needed for the overall recovery program.
— BusinessWorld Online

Federalism cost won’t exceed P30-B
A political analyst on Wednesday said the shift to a federal system of government would not exceed PHP30 billion, allaying fears that the shift might be too costly.
— Philippine News Agency

PH finance chief says inflation to taper off towards end of 2018
Philippine Finance chief Carlos Dominguez expects the country’s inflation to taper off towards the end of 2018. Dominguez’s positive outlook on the economy also extends to government spending and dealings with China.
— ABS-CBN News (video)

Philippines to meet budget deficit target in 2018, says DOF
With quicker government spending, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the Philippines will hit its fiscal deficit target of 3% of the gross domestic product (GDP) this year.
— Rappler

PHILIPPINES ACCEPTS FRESH 203,000T RICE SUPPLY OFFERS FROM VIETNAM, THAILAND
The Philippines’ state grains agency National Food Authority (NFA) on Wednesday accepted rice supply offers totalling 203,000 tonnes from Vietnam and Thailand in fresh government-to-government deals.
— Successful Farming

Measles cases in the Philippines increase by more than 350% – WHO
More than 10,000 measles cases have been reported this year.
— CNN Philippines

SM Prime Holdings, Inc. receives Philippines Property Development Industry Growth Excellence Leadership Award from Frost & Sullivan
SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SMPH) was honoured with the 2018 Frost & Sullivan Philippines Property Development Industry Growth Excellence Leadership Award at the annual Frost & Sullivan Asia-Pacific Best Practices Awards banquet held at Shangri-La Singapore earlier today.
— AEC News Today/ PR Newswire

KKR, Tencent close $175-m investment in PLDT’s Voyager
PLDT Inc. announced Wednesday the closing of the $175-million investment in Voyager Innovations by KKR, a global investment firm, and Tencent Holdings Ltd., a leading provider of internet services in China.
— Manilastandard.net

House ratifies bills on rice tariff, coco levy
The House of Representatives on Wednesday ratified the bicameral conference committee reports on the rice tariffication bill and the coco levy trust fund bill.
— Philippine News Agency

PH’s metals output declines but value higher in 9 months
The mining sector continues to suffer from a decline in output during the first nine months of the year but continued to net higher on the back of improved metal prices, which the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) would refer to as “saving grace” for the industry.
— Manila Bulletin

‘Deport 52,000 illegal foreign workers, with care’
President Duterte approves of the deportation of illegal Chinese workers, but said the crackdown should be carried out with caution because there are Filipinos getting lenient treatment abroad.
— The Philippine Star

Tycoons tapped to boost domestic energy resiliency
THE Department of Energy (DoE) is boosting its energy resiliency efforts in the Philippines by tapping business tycoons.
— The Manila Times

ZEP uplifts lives of 10,000 poor families nationwide
Since its beginnings in 2015, Zero Extreme Poverty Philippines 2030 (ZEP) has reached out to some 10,000 extremely poor families nationwide, including squatters, farmers, fisherfolk, and indigenous peoples who are all considered some of the most marginalized sectors in the Philippines.
— Business Mirror

New telco player plans to bring 5G technology via Chinese link
The Mislatel consortium, the country’s new major player in the telecommunications industry, is planning to rollout 5G technology in the country at the same pace as China.
— The Philippine Star

BTr raises P15B in Tbond offer
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised an additional P15 billion via its seven-year treasury bond offering through its tap facility window.
— Malaya

Bersamin named new chief justice
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin as the new chief justice.
— The Manila Times

Aboitiz set to build P12.6-billion bulk-water facility in Davao City
An Aboitiz subsidiary will begin constructing its water-treatment facility in a northern outskirts village here, described as the country’s largest bulk-water supply facility.
— Business Mirror

Cargill earmarks P12.5B for expansion in PH
American agribusiness giant Cargill is celebrating its 70th anniversary in the Philippines by pouring in P12.5 billion in investments into the country over the next two years.
— Philippine Daily Inquirer

Scientist promotes ‘HIV-awareness’ mobile game app
One of the scientists behind the creation of a mobile game application that helps raise awareness on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is promoting the use of the technology in the Philippines.
— Philippine News Agency

Philippine developers see boost in home buying tied to overseas workers in Hong Kong, elsewhere
Philippine developers are getting a boost from Filipinos working in Hong Kong who are taking advantage of the weak peso to buy property back home.
— South China Morning Post

Aeon Credit becomes 1st issuer of Asean+3 multi currency bond float
FIRST Metro Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group, on Wednesday said it is the sole arranger of the P1-billion fixed rate corporate notes issuance of Aeon Credit Service (Philippines) Inc., a landmark transaction in the Philippine capital markets.
— Business Mirror

BSP urges banks to strictly adopt anti-money laundering measures
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has reminded banks and non-bank financial institutions to strictly adhere to their respective money laundering and terrorist financing prevention programs.
— The Philippine Star

PH, after 2 decades, almost malaria-free
Back in the 90s, the Philippines used to be a hotbed of malaria cases. Two decades in, the country is close to becoming totally malaria-free, according to health officials and advocates.
— Manilastandard

Thailand wins deals to export 324,000 tons of rice to Philippines
Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) Director-General Adul Chotinisakorn said Thailand has won the auction to export 80,000 tons of 25% white rice to the Philippines’ National Food Authority, with shipment scheduled for December 2018.
— NNT

PHL among nations with most number of women-friendly workplaces–ILO
THE Philippines is currently one of the countries with the most women-friendly workplaces in the world, according to latest report of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
— Business Mirror

Filipino workers near top of Asia confidence rankings — LinkedIn
FILIPINO workers were the third-most confident in Asia about their future prospects, tied with workers in China and behind only their Indonesian and Indian counterparts, LinkedIn said, citing the results of a survey.
— BusinessWorld Online

Feature photo UNICEF East Asia & Pacific

This week’s Philippines morning news feature photo acknowledges International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, December 2.

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

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. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Philippines morning news for November 29 added by Stella-maris Ewudolu on November 29, 2018
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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.