PBBM sees agri rebounding from El Niño B S P. M @sam_medenilla
W RIZAL RESIDENTS DEMAND MINING BAN AFTER FLOODING In the wake
of severe flooding caused by Tropical Storm Enteng, Rizal flood survivors, fishers, and environmental groups converged at the DENR central office to demand the immediate cancellation of all mining and quarrying permits in Rizal province. The Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment reported that over 10,000 hectares of forest cover in the province have been lost to quarrying and land conversion in the past decade, exacerbating the flooding issues. NONOY LACZA
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ITH support from the government, including fuel subsidies, agriculture production can rebound in the aftermath of the El Niño, a confident President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday. “Our farmers were doing quite well leading to high [crop] production until we were hit [by the effects] of El Niño. But we will be able to recover so that their products will be better and all be processed,” the chief executive
said in Filipino during the distribution of aid under various government interventions to farmers and fisherfolks in Ilocos Norte last Wednesday. The P157.9 million worth of aid was given to 1,000 farmers and fisherfolk in the province to help boost their productivity. The beneficiaries received seeds, tractors, fertilizers, fishery paraphernalia, fuel subsidies, and solar-powered irrigation systems worth more than P156 million. Aside from support to agriculture workers, Marcos also led in the distribution of 69 ambulances in Paoay City and
emergency employment benefits for Batac City and Laoag as part of the 107th commemoration of the birthday of his father, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. From May to June, Marcos has also led in the distribution of P906 million worth of financial aid to 90,000 beneficiaries. He said he also wants to assist agricultural workers in processing their products to raise their profits. “The higher the value-added [in their products], the bigger will be their income, which will improve their livelihood,” he said. The National Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the dry spell and droughts caused by El Niño, which left an estimated P9.8 billion worth of damage to agriculture, ended in June. The effects of El Niño as well other weather disturbances have prompted the Department of Agriculture to lower its projected palay or unmilled rice production this year from 20.44 million metric tons (MMT) to just 20.1 MMT. The expected palay production this year, however, is still higher compared to the 20.06 MMT in 2023.
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Thursday, September 12, 2024 Vol. 19 No. 331
P. | | 7 DAYS A WEEK
B C U. O @caiordinario
T
HE Philippine economy’s growth is expected to be on track to grow to its potential this year, but GDP may fall below target in 2025 and 2026, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). In its Monetary Policy Report (MPR), the BSP said the government’s target of 6 to 7 percent this year remains achievable, but may fall below expectations in the next two years. The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), in its last meeting in June 2024, had set a growth target for the economy of 6.5–7.5 percent in 2025 and 6.5–8 percent in 2026. “Growth prospects are relatively stable for the rest of the year, driven by robust construction spending and the timely implementation and expanded coverage of various government programs,” the BSP, however, said. C A
BATTERY BUST
On September 10, 2024, the Department of Trade and Industry’s Task Force Kalasag, in collaboration with the National Bureau of Investigation, executed a major raid on a warehouse along Sgt. Rivera in Quezon City. This operation, prompted by a prior buy-bust, led to the seizure of illegal automotive acid batteries worth P94 million. These untested and potentially hazardous batteries mark the largest seizure in Task Force Kalasag’s history, highlighting a significant crackdown on counterfeit and substandard products in the Philippine market. In the photo, Ryan Ray M. Baluyot, Chief of the DTI-Product Standards Monitoring Division, conducts an inventory at the warehouse. Story in News, A5. NONOY LACZA
TO REVERSE POOR PISA RANKS, DOLE unfazed by 4.2% PHL MUST HIKE EDUC’N SPEND unemployment rate in July
M
ORE quality educational investments are needed in Southeast Asian countries, like the Philippines, to improve children’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, according to experts from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). But the Philippines spent among the least amounts for education in the Asean, based on US dollar Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms. Based on these terms, the country’s cumulative expenditure per $11,030 per student over the duration of their studies and the mean score in mathematics in the PISA was 355. Cambodia spent the least at $669 per student over the duration of their studies and its mean
score in mathematics in the PISA was 336; while Singapore, which spent $166,112 per student for the duration of their studies, achieved the highest mean score of 575 in mathematics. “Obviously, PISA results are attributed to many factors other than education expenditure, but it seems that the correlation is particularly strong until cumulative education spending per student reaches $75,000. However, the education budget should be spent wisely to maximize learning outcomes,” ADB experts said. ADB said four lessons may be gleaned from the PISA results of Asean countries and the first is that the PISA can be used to S “PISA,” A
B J X G @jxrgarcia
T
HE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Wednesday indicated it is not alarmed by the 4.2-percent unemployment rate in July 2024. According to Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, understanding the country’s labor force situation should not be solely dependent on the number of unemployed individuals. “The [statistics] on unemployment should not be something that would bring us to panic or alarm. It is a concern...but we address that by enhancing the youth employability projects of the department,” Laguesma told reporters in
a press briefing. The secretary cited four key indicators that should be used to see the “bigger picture” of the job market. These are: employment, unemployment, underemployment, and labor force participation. Moreover, Laguesma said a year-on-year comparison would provide a more “reliable” interpretation of the labor force than comparing it on a monthly basis. “If we do it month-on-month, it doesn’t capture the characteristics of our labor market. One is seasonality, and second is we’re adversely affected by calamities,” the labor secretary explained. Based on the recent labor force survey by the Philippine Statistics S “DOLE,” A
PESO EXCHANGE RATES US 56.4870 ■ JAPAN 0.3967 ■ UK 73.8906 ■ HK 7.2447 ■ SINGAPORE 43.2950 ■ AUSTRALIA 37.5752 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 15.0556 ■ EU 62.2543 ■ KOREA 0.0421 ■ CHINA 7.9335 Source: BSP (September 11, 2024)