Philippines

Philippines

Postby winston » Mon May 19, 2008 11:10 am

Philippines Posts Budget Surplus as Tax Season Boosts Revenue
By Clarissa Batino

May 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Philippines had its first budget surplus in five months in April, helped by record tax collections.

The surplus was 25.8 billion pesos ($604 million) last month, compared with a surplus of 12 billion pesos a year earlier, Finance Secretary Gary Teves said today in Manila. That reduced the four-month deficit to 25.8 billion pesos, Teves said.

Tax collection typically peaks in April as taxpayers meet a deadline to fulfill the previous year's dues. The main tax agency and the customs department, which together collect about 90 percent of government income, surpassed their revenue targets in April, Teves said on May 12.
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Re: Philippines

Postby winston » Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:11 pm

Big trouble for Philippine economy as prices surge

(MANILA) The Philippine economy faces a 'perfect economic storm' of inflation at nine-year highs as food and oil prices soar, rising interest rates and slowing growth, analysts said here yesterday.

They said inflation was unlikely to ebb soon after hitting an annual rate of 9.6 per cent in May, leading the central bank to hike borrowing costs last Thursday for the first time since 2005.

'Throw in rising unemployment and you have the recipe for a perfect economic storm,' former budget secretary Ben Diokno told AFP.

Official data showed food prices rose 14 per cent in May as rice, the national staple, rocketed 31.7 per cent and corn 27.1 per cent. Petrol, kerosene and diesel prices have also surged.

'If inflation pressures persist into next year and it feeds into further price increases, or leads to an economic slowdown and job losses, then we may start to see unrest,' warned political risk consultant Roberto Herrera-Lim.

'It is when you combine the two - job losses and inflation - then things become troublesome,' Mr Herrera-Lim, the South- east Asian analyst for New York-based firm Eurasia Group, said in an interview published on the ABS-CBN television website.

The government has already announced measures to ease the pain on the country's poor, such as a one-off 500-peso subsidy to help pay electricity bills, which will cost around US$45 million.

It has also announced a US$68 million quarterly fuel subsidy for the public transport sector and loans to help convert buses and taxis to alternative fuels.

Meanwhile, farmers are to be given fertiliser subsidies and poor students scholarships, with the government going to the international debt market to raise US$750 million to help pay for it all.

But at the same time economic growth is slowing, falling to an annual rate of 5.2 per cent for the first quarter compared with 7.2 per cent for all of 2007.

Last year's economic performance was the best in 31 years and inflation in 2007 was just 2.8 per cent.

The government has now abandoned hopes of balancing the Philippine budget this year for what would have been the first time in a decade.

'Giving away cash grants for food and electricity consumption, subsidies for farmers and the transport sector and borrowing from abroad to pay for them show desperation,' said Mr Diokno. 'It doesn't help the situation in the long run.'

Rommel Macapagal, chairman of Westlink Global Equities, said the government's handouts were short-term solutions. 'The problem is that it can do very little about rising fuel and food costs on its own because it is a worldwide problem.' - AFP
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Re: Philippines

Postby kennynah » Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:07 am

((edited to add following))

2.9million unemployed philipinos in apr08...that's some 75% of singapore's population....

one can imagine the social unrest that can erupt anytime...

17 Jun 2008 02:24 GMT
Philippine jobless rate rises to 8.0 percent in April



MANILA (Thomson Financial) - The Philippines' unemployment rate edged up to 8.0 percent in April from 7.4 percent a year earlier, government data showed on Tuesday.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) said there were some 2.9 million Filipinos with no jobs in April, compared with around 2.7 million in the same period a year earlier.

The jobless rate three months earlier also stood at 7.4 percent, according to an earlier report from the statistics agency.

The labor force participation rate stood at 63.2 percent as of April, representing 36.5 million of Filipinos 15 years old and over. The Philippines' population is expected to hit 88.6 million this year.

The Southeast Asian nation's economy grew at a slower pace of 5.2 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier as a slowdown in the United States weakened exports and soaring food and energy prices hurt consumer spending.

Economic growth in the previous quarter was 6.4 percent, bringing growth for the whole of 2007 to 7.2 percent.

The government has cut its growth target and ditched its goal of achieving a balanced budget this year due to the impact of a U.S.-led global slowdown and soaring inflation. The government expects gross domestic product to grow between 5.7 percent to 6.5 percent in 2008 compared to its previous target of 6.3 percent to 7.0 percent.

As growth slows and more Filipinos feel the pinch of rising prices, President Gloria Arroyo recently announced a 93.6-billion-peso ($2.1 billion) assistance for poor families in the Philippines in the form of cash handouts and subsidies.
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Re: Philippines

Postby winston » Mon Nov 10, 2008 9:37 am

HK investors demand Philippines respects property rights

A group of Hong Kong property investors will this week ramp up their campaign against what they call a land-grab by the Philippine government on the holiday island of Boracay, a report said Sunday.

The group will hold a press conference in Hong Kong Monday to draw attention to their ongoing battle to overturn a 2006 proclamation by the Philippine government that the entire island belongs to the state, the Sunday Morning Post reported.

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The law has meant people who own some of the property in Boracay have been ordered to reapply to purchase their land. Many have owned their properties for many years, the report said.

"It's very unfair," said Stephen Arseno, a lawyer and landowner who has been fighting the government's move in the courts, according to the Post.

"This is an international issue because there are so many foreigners invested in Boracay. The Philippines does not want a reputation for being a place where property rights are not respected."

The move comes as residents are increasingly concerned about the growing level of lawlessness on the island, which draws half a million tourists each year to its spectacular beaches, more than one sixth of tourist visitors to the Philippines.

Last week, armed men forced their way into one of the island's resorts, holding the Australian owner and his family captive amid a property dispute, the owner told AFP.
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Re: Philippines

Postby millionairemind » Tue May 12, 2009 3:50 pm

This is scary!!

May 12, 2009
Philippine jobless rises to 34%
MANILA - UNEMPLOYMENT in the Philippines has risen to a record 34.2 percent of the adult population, or an estimated 14 million, in the first three months of 2009, the country's leading pollster estimated on Tuesday.

According to Social Weather Stations' (SWS) first quarter survey, about three million more Filipinos either left or lost their jobs as the financial crisis squeezed the economy.

In the last three months of 2008, adult unemployment was at 27.9 per cent or 11 million.

The latest survey, conducted from February 20 to 23, had 1,200 respondents.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde dismissed the results as 'more perception than reality", but he admitted that surveys helped 'encourage the government to pursue job generation and creation, both here and abroad'.

'The SWS survey is not as accurate as the labour force survey done by the labour department, which uses internationally accepted standards,' he said.

The government's statistics office has said the country's jobless rate climbed to 7.7 per cent in January 2009 from 6.8 per cent in October last year.

Of the 34.3 million people employed in January, more than half, or 51.2 per cent, worked in services. Farming was the second biggest employer with 34.6 per cent, with the rest working in industry.

The country has one of the highest unemployment rates in Southeast Asia and about a third of its 90 million population is considered poor. -- REUTERS
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Re: Philippines

Postby greenhoney » Tue May 12, 2009 3:53 pm

but they have the pound for pound best fighter in the world! anyone here watch how the 'Pac man' destroyed Ricky Hatton?
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Re: Philippines

Postby winston » Fri Jul 17, 2009 10:47 pm

Storm brings Philippine capital to standstill

MANILA : Tropical storm Molave caused widespread flooding that effectively shut down the Philippines capital on Friday, despite the centre of the disturbance being hundreds of kilometres away, officials said.

President Gloria Arroyo declared a government holiday in Manila and a large chunk of the main island of Luzon as flooded roads impeded traffic and caused vehicles to stall, but said "those in emergency, medical and security services" should stay put at work.

Schools, private offices and the country's stock exchange also shut.

Packing maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometres (53 miles) an hour, Molave was poised to hit the sparsely populated Calayan islands north of Luzon and nearly 500 kilometres north of Manila by early evening, weather services said.

They said the northern Philippines could expect up to 200 millimetres (78.7 inches) of rain within a 24-hour period, leading to potential flash floods and landslides.

About 300 people fled their flooded homes in eastern Manila early Friday, the civil defence office said in an initial report.

Road closures were reported in the Cordillera mountain range as landslides hit several highways of the northern highlands. Airlines suspended some domestic flights.

The waters of Manila's La Mesa Dam rose past its 80.15-metre (263-foot) spillway and the authorities were considering evacuating the surrounding neighbourhoods, the government agency added.

The Philippine Stock Exchange said it suspended operations mid-morning "due to lack of clearing facilities" as the central bank had curtailed its activities because of the weather.

The government urged private businesses also to close for the day.

Manila pedestrians were seen wading to work knee-deep in dirty brown water.

"Floods in metropolitan Manila can rise swiftly but can also subside quickly so it is hard to say how long these floods will last," said Relan Asuncion, head of a team monitoring the storm's effects. - AFP/ms
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Re: Philippines

Postby winston » Sun Oct 17, 2010 4:27 pm

Super typhoon roars towards Philippines

Megi, which has developed into a super typhoon, was expected to be the strongest typhoon of the year, forecasters there said, according to the state Xinhua news agency.

The Philippine state weather bureau said Megi, likely to make landfall in the country by Monday, could uproot trees, blow away houses made of light material, trigger landslides and cause storm surges in coastal areas.

It packed maximum winds of 195 kilometres per hour near the centre and gusts of up to 230 kilometres per hour. Public storm alert warnings have already been hoisted over several northern Philippine provinces.

The Philippines is battered by an estimated 20 typhoons a year, some of them deadly.

China's National Meteorological Center said Megi was expected to enter the South China Sea on Monday and could cause wild winds and huge waves in the next three days, Xinhua said.

Source: AFP Global Edition
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Re: Philippines

Postby winston » Thu Nov 04, 2010 8:14 am

MANILA ON TERROR ALERT

The Philippines is boosting security after Western governments warned terrorist attacks could occur at any time in the capital and other parts of the country.

The United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand warned their citizens that public areas often visited by foreigners in Manila, such as malls and airports, are potential targets.

"Reliable reports indicate that terrorist attacks may be imminent in Manila, including places frequented by foreigners," the Australian government said.

The US State Department said the threat is highest in the southern Philippines - where Muslim extremists and communist rebels have for decades caused unrest - but it also warned of dangers in Manila.

"US citizens traveling, living, and working throughout the Philippines are urged to exercise heightened caution in public gathering places," the US advisory said.

"Terrorist attacks could be indiscriminate and could occur not only in the southern islands but also in other areas, to include Manila."

Philippine presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the warnings are part of heightened concerns around the world following the discovery last week of parcel bombs from Yemen that were being sent to the United States.

"The travel advisories ... are part of a global alert about possible terrorist activities, not just in the Philippines but also in other parts of the world," he said.

Lacierda said the military and the national police forces have been placed on the top-level "red alert."

Among other security measures, this meant soldiers had to remain in their barracks so they are ready to respond quickly to any potential attack.

Lacierda also called on the public to be vigilant and said operators of shopping malls and other gathering places should boost their own security measures.

Meanwhile, the Transport and Communications Department ordered inspections of all packages being carried into ports, bus terminals and railway stations.

It also called on the post office and private courier services to check all packages.

The Australian and British governments emphasized the threat level in the Philippines has not changed from previous advisories issued this year.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... 01104&fc=7
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Re: Philippines

Postby winston » Sat Jan 08, 2011 9:48 pm

Whenever I see a Filipino band performing, I will always request this song:-

Anak by Freddie Aquilar

( The movie is also quite touching )

http://relationship.cafe.themarker.com/ ... file_2.mp3
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