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Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III on Monday said his family branch sold its 25.7-percent stake in Lopez, Inc. to businessman Ramon S. Ang, reshaping the ownership of one of the Philippines’ best-known family business groups while potentially drawing a line under a long-running family dispute.

Ordinary consumers and business owners can look forward to substantial savings at the pump this week as local oil companies prepare to roll back pump prices for both gasoline and diesel by as much as P5.00 per liter. The upcoming reduction marks another consecutive week of price cuts, delivering direct financial relief to households managing tight budgets and enterprises battling heavy operating costs.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) faces an intricate policy dilemma as the economy slows down sharply. Second-quarter GDP growth cooled to 2.3 percent year-on-year—down from 2.8 percent in the first quarter and well below the 5.4 percent mark recorded a year prior—placing the central bank in the difficult position of managing persistent price pressures while avoiding a deeper domestic downturn.

The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) remained above the psychologically important USD100-billion mark in July, providing the country a sizable external cushion even as the stockpile edged lower during the month. 

The economy recorded a 2.3 percent expansion in the second quarter this year, according to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The performance fell short of market expectations, slowing from the 2.8 percent growth recorded in the first quarter of the year. Excluding the severe disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this represents the softest quarterly growth since the fourth quarter of 2009.