Agriculture Secretary Francisco Laurel Jr. has overhauled the process by which rice stocks are fortified to ensure uninterrupted supply, saying henceforth rice importers post a mandatory bond equal to 10 percent of any shipment.
A deceleration in the rate of increase in food prices and year-on-year decline in fuel prices slowed headline inflation further to 4.1 percent in November after slipping to 4.9 percent in October, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Tuesday.
The remittances of some two million overseas Filipinos have steadily declined since its peak more than 20 years ago, based on data obtained from the World Bank.
A legislative bill seeking to amend the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act and revise its value-added tax (VAT) provisions has been approved at the House committee level.
The Philippine baby boom has hit the snooze button. Parenthood, once almost automatic, is now treated like a major purchase—priced, budgeted, and often postponed. Diapers and infant formula increasingly feel less like essentials and more like luxury items with designer tags. Timing, finances, and ambition are all carefully calculated before committing to the ultimate life investment.
The Philippines’ tourism rebound is still stuck in economy class, slowed by the weak return of China and South Korea—once the twin engines of foreign arrivals. Latest Department of Tourism (DOT) data show 5.606 million international visitors as of December 20, with arrivals from January to November slipping 2.16 percent year on year to 5.35 million.
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has surpassed its 2025 investment target, approving P260.89 billion worth of projects and beating its P250-billion goal, while posting a 21.91 percent increase from the P214 billion recorded in 2024.p
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Wednesday that strong interest from San Miguel Corp. and major local and international firms in the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) operations and maintenance (O&M) contract is “very encouraging.”