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BIR removes VAT on electricity system loss charges

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has removed value-added tax (VAT) from allowable electricity system loss charges, giving consumers another potential reduction in their power bills as the government moves to ease electricity costs through administrative measures.

News Dispatch

Agriculture

DA, DPWH seal P71.5M Tarlac farm-to-market road deal

The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are moving P71.52 million worth of farm-to-market road projects in Concepcion, Tarlac to the bidding stage, strengthening transport links between farming communities and markets.

URC expands potato trials to lift farmer incomes

Potato farmers in Benguet are testing seven new varieties alongside the familiar Granola in a bid to raise productivity, widen planting options and strengthen the commercial viability of one of the Cordillera’s key vegetable crops.

DA indefinitely suspends raw ube exports to secure planting materials

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has indefinitely suspended exports of fresh purple yam, or ube, to shore up scarce planting material as the Philippines seeks to expand domestic production and turn the crop into a bigger export earner.

Benguet potato farmers test new varieties, boost incomes in long-running sustainable program

Potato farmers across Benguet’s vegetable-growing highlands have begun harvesting crops planted just months ago, with this year’s harvest bringing new promise alongside familiar yields.

Corporate

EastWest powers Philippine Travel Mart 2026 as official credit card partner 

EastWest wrapped up a successful run as the official credit card partner for the 2026 Philippine Travel Mart (PTM), delivering exclusive deals and flexible payment solutions to attendees throughout the three-day event. Held from September 4 to 6 at SMX Convention Center Manila, the country’s longest-running travel trade exhibition drew over 20,000 visitors and nearly 300 exhibitors featuring destinations, accommodations, tours, and travel experiences from across the Philippines.

Smart launches P99 Home WiFi SIM for affordable, flexible connectivity

Smart Communications has introduced the Smart Home WiFi SIM 99, a dedicated card designed to work with open-line home WiFi routers, as well as compatible Smart and PLDT Home WiFi devices with expired or inactive SIMs. Priced at just P99, the package includes 2GB of non-expiring data, creating an accessible option for households seeking reliable internet access.

GBF marks 34th year with classroom donations

The Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF) launched 10 new classrooms in Calasiao, Pangasinan and Bacolod City for its 34th anniversary, benefiting four public schools. Two classrooms each go to Nalsian-Bacayao, Bued, and San Miguel Elementary Schools; four to Emiliano Lizares Elementary.

BPI’s Barangay PeraWise Caravan expands financial education in Caloocan

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is expanding community financial education via its six-leg Barangay PeraWise Caravan to boost money skills and household well-being.

Banking & Insurance

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Corporate Bulletins

EastWest powers Philippine Travel Mart 2026 as official credit card partner 

EastWest wrapped up a successful run as the official credit card partner for the 2026 Philippine Travel Mart (PTM), delivering exclusive deals and flexible payment solutions to attendees throughout the three-day event. Held from September 4 to 6 at SMX Convention Center Manila, the country’s longest-running travel trade exhibition drew over 20,000 visitors and nearly 300 exhibitors featuring destinations, accommodations, tours, and travel experiences from across the Philippines.

Smart launches P99 Home WiFi SIM for affordable, flexible connectivity

Smart Communications has introduced the Smart Home WiFi SIM 99, a dedicated card designed to work with open-line home WiFi routers, as well as compatible Smart and PLDT Home WiFi devices with expired or inactive SIMs. Priced at just P99, the package includes 2GB of non-expiring data, creating an accessible option for households seeking reliable internet access.

Century Pacific Food wins FinanceAsia Gold Award

Century Pacific Food, Inc. (PSE:CNPF) has earned FinanceAsia’s 2026 Gold Award for Best Managed Consumer Staples Company in the Philippines.

Black & Veatch marks 15 FLNG years, unveils performance-driving architecture at Gastech 2026

Black & Veatch is celebrating over 15 years of floating LNG (FLNG) leadership at Gastech 2026, launching its Advanced Liquefaction Architecture (ALA) and BVInfraIQ.LNG digital toolset to deliver up to 15 percent higher LNG production.

Social Responsibility & Sustainability

GBF marks 34th year with classroom donations

The Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF) launched 10 new classrooms in Calasiao, Pangasinan and Bacolod City for its 34th anniversary, benefiting four public schools. Two classrooms each go to Nalsian-Bacayao, Bued, and San Miguel Elementary Schools; four to Emiliano Lizares Elementary.

BPI’s Barangay PeraWise Caravan expands financial education in Caloocan

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is expanding community financial education via its six-leg Barangay PeraWise Caravan to boost money skills and household well-being.

Globe extends monsoon relief to Central Luzon families

Globe is providing relief assistance to 700 families in Pampanga, Bulacan, and Bataan still recovering from the Southwest Monsoon, in partnership with Ayala Foundation Inc. Covered areas include Pampanga’s Masantol, Macabebe, Apalit, Candaba, Bulacan’s Calumpit, and Bataan’s Hermosa and Dinalupihan, building on earlier Alagang Globe support as recovery proceeds. The company confirms full restoration of mobile and broadband services previously disrupted across parts of Metro Manila and Rizal province.

RMHC Philippines’ vaccination program wins top CSR health award

Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Philippines’ BACK-to-BAKuna program has been named the 2026 Outstanding CSR Project for Health, recognizing an approach that helped improve childhood vaccination completion by addressing behavioral and logistical barriers faced by caregivers.

Markets

Hawkish Fed, $100 oil keep peso, PSEi under pressure

The Philippine peso and stocks could remain volatile this week as a hawkish US Federal Reserve, crude oil prices above USD100 a barrel and heightened Middle East tensions keep investors cautious.

PSEi tests 6,100 as peso volatility clouds momentum

The PSEi is knocking on 6,100—but whether it can break higher may depend on how the peso holds up as geopolitical tensions, dollar demand and shifting rate expectations add to market uncertainty.

Global gold demand hits record US$193-B in 1Q 2026; EastWest delivers expert insight under new partnership

Global gold demand stayed resilient amid market volatility, reflecting strong long-term investor confidence in the metal as a reliable way to preserve wealth. In the first quarter of 2026, total global demand hit 1,231 tons - valued at a record US$193 billion. This strength held even though gold prices dropped 15.4 percent in the second quarter, driven by expectations of higher interest rates.

7-Eleven targets 5,000 stores, shrugs off discounters

Philippine Seven Corp., operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores, is pressing ahead with aggressive expansion despite the rapid growth of hard-discounters, confident that its convenience-store format remains sufficiently differentiated to withstand the new competition.

Travel

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Energy

BIR removes VAT on electricity system loss charges

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has removed value-added tax (VAT) from allowable electricity system loss charges, giving consumers another potential reduction in their power bills as the government moves to ease electricity costs through administrative measures.

Bishops oppose SOCOTECO II-Ignite power deal, seek board suspension

Catholic bishops have joined mounting opposition to the proposed joint venture between South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative (SOCOTECO II) and Ignite Power and Energy Holdings, urging the Ombudsman to suspend cooperative board members facing complaints over the controversial deal.

Alsons Power expands Visayas footprint with Cebu deal

Alsons Power Group is pushing deeper into the Visayas, winning Japanese-affiliated manufacturer Makoto Metal Technology Inc. (MMTI) as a retail electricity customer for its two plants in Cebu.

Philippine Racing Club enters renewable energy sector

Philippine Racing Club Inc. is moving into renewable energy as the listed company diversifies beyond its former horse-racing business and expands its focus on real estate and other investments.

Transport & Communications

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Property

Market! Market! gets 12-year lease extension, P1-B upgrade

Market! Market! will remain a major commercial and transport hub in Bonifacio Global City for more than another decade after the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and Ayala Land Inc. secured a 12-year lease extension backed by a P1-billion modernization program.

Philippine hotel pipeline to exceed 40,000 rooms

The Philippine hotel industry is poised to expand its investment pipeline beyond 40,000 rooms over the next five years, underscoring developers’ longer-term confidence in tourism despite mounting geopolitical and travel-cost risks.

Century Properties expands in Cavite with P5.6-B project 

Century Properties Group (CPG) is putting P5.6 billion into a premium housing project in General Trias, Cavite, as it expands beyond Metro Manila to capture rising residential demand around Southern Luzon’s growing industrial and employment centers.

Avida builds climate resilience into housing projects

Avida Land is building climate resilience into its residential projects, using flood assessments, stormwater controls, and water- and energy-efficient features to reduce property risks as extreme weather becomes more frequent and severe.

Environment

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Technology

iSON Group commits USD375M to Philippine expansion

India-based iSON Group is committing up to USD375 million to expand its Philippine operations, led by a USD300-million telecommunications infrastructure program that will bring its tower network to 3,000 sites over the next decade.

PLDT deploys AI to boost services amid connectivity surge

PLDT Inc. is rolling out AI and automation via UiPath Platform to improve service delivery amid rising demand for 5G, broadband and satellite connectivity nationwide.

Eutelsat orders 229 more OneWeb satellites from Airbus

At the International Space Summit in Paris, in the presence of French Minister of Higher Education, Research and Space Philippe Baptiste, Eutelsat announced it has ordered 229 more OneWeb satellites from Airbus, marking a major expansion of its low Earth orbit (LEO) connectivity network.

Smart, Ericsson demo roaming tech for faster, local-like global connectivity

PLDT’s wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. and partner Ericsson have successfully conducted a live demonstration of Ericsson On-Demand’s Roaming Breakout service, marking a key advance in upgrading data roaming for Filipino travelers worldwide.

Health & Science

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Opinion

Alex Eala should not pay for tennis politics

What is the price of patriotism?

The math behind Duterte’s impeachment vote

The math, more than politics, may hold the key to Vice President Sara Duterte’s political future. And the numbers could be settled within the next two weeks, when the Senate, sitting as an impeachment tribunal, decides which denominator should be used in determining the votes needed for conviction or acquittal.

Sid Consunji plots a scholarship fund with staying power

A scholarship can cover tuition. It cannot necessarily cover lunch, the commute to school, or the other daily expenses that can make staying in college a financial juggling act.

No story is worth a reporter’s life

It was drilled into generations of journalists that no story is worth your life. Tell the story. Do not become the story.

Sports & Entertainment

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Exclusive

iPeople targets 200,000 students with global expansion push

iPeople, the listed Yuchengco-Ayala education joint venture, is pursuing an expansion strategy built around international partnerships, new campuses and facilities, sustainability-focused programs, and deeper artificial intelligence integration as it aims to nearly triple its student population to 200,000.

Vivant Water sees 2026 as launchpad for bigger growth 

Vivant Water is treating 2026 as a pivotal year as it moves from building its presence across the water industry to scaling operations, investments, and its project pipeline.

Visayas roots, Singapore routes: Top Line redraws its map

Singapore is no longer just a distant dot on Top Line Business Development Corp.’s growth chart. It has become a very literal marker of how far the company has travelled in 12 years, from a Visayas-based real estate developer to an emerging energy player now thinking in global supply routes.

Sunlight Air chooses precision over size aloft

In an aviation industry often driven by scale and speed, Sunlight Air is taking a more measured route. The boutique carrier is building its business around efficiency, discipline, and destination depth, convinced that smarter operations can deliver both commercial returns and environmental gains.