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BusinessMirror Editorial
The jeepney modernization mess
IT is officially known as the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), launched by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) in 2017. The stated objective was to phase out old jeepneys, buses and other public-utility vehicles (PUVs). But with some 180,000 jeepneys plying our roads and highways, it is this vehicle that is in the crosshairs of this initiative.
Dawning of cheaper, faster Internet in PHL
AS more and more telecommunications operators in the world are priming for the rollout of 5G wireless technology, President Duterte has been resolute in his desire to fulfill a campaign promise of better telco services in the country. On July 1, 2019, the President swore into office former Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan II as secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology. A week later, he witnessed Honasan supervise the awarding of the certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) to third telco player Mislatel Consortium, a group led by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy.
Integrity of PHL’s quarantine protocol
The Department of Agriculture’s reaction to the discovery of banned pork products in a shipment of German meat was swift: It disallowed all other traders from Germany to export their meat products to the country. The measure, which took effect as soon as the agriculture chief announced it, is temporary. However, it will surely hurt because Germany is the second top source of meat imports for the Philippines.
Destroy the family; destroy the nation
The Philippine culture is sometimes mocked for being old-fashioned. Foreigner expats working in global companies here often do not understand why an employee must take time off to join the provincial hometown fiesta or attend the wake of a relative.
BSP’s effort to serve a hidden population
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno’s announcement on Wednesday about impending changes to our peso bills was a welcome news to a particular group of people that stands to benefit from this development: The blind and visually impaired. That’s because the Philippine banknotes to be released in the first quarter of 2020 will have additional security features and will be helpful to the elderly and visually impaired.
Legendary nutribun to stage a comeback
We welcome the announcement of Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso
to bring back the nutribun and milk through a feeding program in all Manila elementary schools. Under this project, the city government will provide nutritious food for pupils from Grades 1 to 6, to ensure that no child in Manila’s public-elementary schools will ever be hungry in class.
Enabling Pinoys to eat healthy
NEARLY half a century ago, the national government implemented a law that sought to address malnutrition that seriously affected millions of Filipinos. Dubbed Nutrition Act of the Philippines, it was signed in 1974 and paved the way for the creation of the National Nutrition Council (NNC), which coordinated all the food and nutrition efforts of agencies. The law also designated the month of July as Nutrition Month to increase the awareness of Filipinos about the importance of nutrition.
Taxi troubles
REPORTS of overcharging, outright robbery and other abuses being perpetrated by crooked taxi drivers destroy our country’s image and leave a bad impression on tourists.
Negatives don’t cloud positives
Politics constantly dominates news headlines and the
newscasts, be it local politics or geopolitics. Read the public comments that
follow the reporting and there will probably be dozens on the “politics” and
few, if any, on economic topics.
But then again, what can we expect when a recent Social Weather
Stations survey discovered that Facebook is the daily news source for 20
percent of the Philippine adult population.
Trade war is hell
AS leaders of the G-20 nations meet in Osaka, Japan, there is speculation about a potential meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald J. Trump. The topics would include a discussion about trade.
Global implications of US-Iran conflict
The US has increasingly imposed tough sanctions against Iran after President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018. What’s alarming is that Tehran and Washington’s diplomatic confrontation is escalating, which increases the risk of a military conflict.
A Christmas gift we can all enjoy
Although the Philippines holds the world record for having the longest Christmas season, we don’t do Christmas countdown in June. However, recent developments such as the El Niño and outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) in other countries could have an impact on the way we celebrate Christmas 2019, particularly the much-anticipated Noche Buena meal.
Time to quit?
Cigarette packs contain warnings about the health hazards of smoking. And with so few public places where people are allowed to smoke, one has to wonder—why do people still smoke? With President Duterte’s imminent enactment into law of a bill imposing a higher tax on tobacco, the government is certainly hoping to dissuade more Filipinos from taking up the vice and to give smokers a reason to quit.
Goldilocks economy
‘The Story of the Three Bears” is one of the most popular fairy tales in the English language. It has evolved over the past century to tell the story of a young girl who wanders into the house of a family of bears. She finds three bowls of porridge, and one is too hot, one too cold and one “just right.”
How do we measure the economy’s health?
When the experts speak about the economy, they usually talk in terms of performance. Initially, it is all about economic growth as measured by the rate of growth of the gross domestic product. The GDP numbers show how much larger—or smaller—the total value of the production of goods and services is from one time period to another.
Ensuring equitable health-care access
A single-income family of five that earns P50,000 a month is not poor by Philippine standards. But it takes only one member of that family to contract a major ailment to be pushed into poverty. That’s because PhilHealth, the government agency tasked to implement universal health insurance coverage for Filipinos, only gives limited coverage. For example, the treatment for a kidney disease including dialysis could cost around P1,000,000 (as of 2018). The PhilHealth limit would be at P10,000, while a Health Maintenance Organization’s limit could be at P200,000.
Ensuring PHL food security
The Philippines will once again reclaim its title as one of the top importers of rice this year, thanks to the removal of the quantitative restriction on rice. Traders can now freely import rice following the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 11203,
which removed the QR, starting March 5. Because of this, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) projected that the country’s purchases this year will make it the second-largest buyer of the staple, just behind China (See, “Rice imports this year seen reaching 3 MMT,” in the BusinessMirror, June 13, 2019).
Punish scammers, confiscate their loot
It’s unfortunate that thousands of Filipinos are still being victimized by financial scams despite the myriad of legitimate investment opportunities. Our personal finance columnists have written about these financial instruments, fully cognizant of people’s need for better returns on their money, since the measly interest of their bank deposits can easily be wiped out by inflation.
Taking advantage of PHL millennials
Someone once asked Irish playwright Bernard Shaw what, in his opinion, is the most beautiful thing in this world. “Youth,” he replied, “is the most beautiful thing in this world—and what a pity that it has to be wasted on children!” We have since paraphrased that to “youth is wasted on the young.”
Mandatory ROTC?
The extreme sides of the argument—for and against implementing a mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program—fall like this: On one side, this would brainwash our youth into mindless killing machines to serve the nefarious purposes of the government. On the other hand, it would create an army of warriors ready to take on any invaders, perhaps both human and from space.