PCCI sends Palace PBCE resolutions in 3 key areas B A E. S J @andreasanjuan
T STORMY FAITH: QUIBOLOY FACES SENATE PROBE AMID KRISTINE DELUGE Pastor Apollo Quiboloy arrives at the Senate for the ongoing inquiry into sexual abuse
allegations within his religious group, Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Despite the heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Kristine, the Senate Committee on Women, Children, and Family Relations continued its hearing. Story in A5, News. PHOTO FROM SENATE PRIB
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HE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the top business group in the country, has forwarded to the Marcos administration a more targeted set of resolutions which zooms in on three areas: food security, human resources development and investment and job generation. As it celebrated half a century of holding the Philippine Business Conference and Expo, PCCI unveiled an 11-page document containing resolutions on Achieving Food Security, Human Resources
Development, More Investments and Job Creation. Benedicta Du-Baladad, the Chair of PCCI’s Resolutions Committee, saidthese resolutions “were crafted after a long series of consultations with all the PCCI local chambers, through the five area vice presidents, the PCCI sectoral committees and other business organizations and business councils.” “We received a very long list of suggested resolutions, but we have trimmed it down to the top three, which PCCI considers as the most important,” Du-Baladad explained. “In alignment with the goals of food security, human resources development, and investments gen-
eration, we, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry [PCCI] and its local business chambers nationwide advocate the following resolutions and associated action points to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines,” the PCCI said in its 11-page resolution document.
Food security
THE business group called for a “multi-faceted” approach to enhance food security that prioritizes increasing agricultural production, enhancing market access, and ensuring a stable and affordable food supply for all Filipinos. It recommended five action
points under the food security pillar. One is to establish a Technology Task Force. Under this action point, PCCI underscored the need to form a “collaborative group” of representatives from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Agriculture (DA), agriculture experts, and technology companies to identify and deploy modern farming technologies such as climate control, precision farming, and (Internet of Things) IoT applications. In coming up with the said task force, the business group said there is a need to launch pilot projects in S “PCCI,” A
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Thursday, October 24, 2024 Vol. 20 No. 14
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FROM SMALL BANCAS TO HUGE BARGES: RIDING OUT THE STORM As Tropical Storm Kristine intensifies east of Quezon, local fishermen secure their small bancas (inset), bracing for the impending storm. Larger barges are docked along the banks of the Pasig River as PAGASA issues storm signals for several regions. In the wake of recent powerful typhoons that caused severe flooding and strong currents, communities are acutely aware of the risks. The previous storms swept away barges, boats, and debris into bridges over the rivers, leaving dozens feared dead. As Kristine is expected to strengthen into a severe tropical storm before landfall, vigilance is key as residents prepare to face another bout of nature’s fury. NONOY LACZA, NONIE REYES
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ESPITE inflation cooling down, heated geopolitical tensions are impacting commodity prices and interest rates of the global economy, according to Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto. Recto said the escalating geopolitical tensions are posing economic threats, such as sudden spikes in commodity prices and higher interest rates. “These risks impair capital flows, fiscal stability and the very survival of economies on the brink,” the Finance chief said at the Group of 24 (G-24) press briefing on October 22 in Washington, DC. The costs of confl icts and humanitarian crises suffered around the world are immense,
and the recovery, reconstruction and long-term development of those affected cannot be delayed, Recto added. With that, fi nance leaders urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) to become “more agile and resolute” in supporting monetary and fi nance issues of developing countries. “We continue to call for a more C A
DESTINATIONS IN THE VISAYAS Agri groups to govt: Revert MOST POPULAR WITH TOURISTS to original tariffs pre-EO 62 B M. S F. A
@akosistellaBM Special to the BM
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ESTINATIONS in the Visayas region are among the most popular and frequently visited by both international travelers and domestic tourists. Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco on Tuesday celebrated the region’s significant contribution to the industry in her keynote remarks before the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) Visayas Island Cluster Conference. “Central Visayas, Western Visayas, and Eastern Visayas together accounted for 44 percent of the country’s total tourist arrivals, welcoming over 2.45 million visitors in 2023,” she said. Also, over 9.67 million domestic tourists visited the region accounting for more than 20 percent of overnight travelers that same year, she said.
“This underscores the critical role the Visayas region plays in our national tourism development,” she added, as she likewise highlighted the awards recently accorded to several of its destinations. Readers of a popular luxury and lifestyle travel magazine, for instance, recently named Boracay, Cebu and the Visayan Islands, among Asia’s Top 10 Islands this year. (See, “PHL
sites on Condé Nast Traveler readers’ top island picks,” in the BM, Oct. 11, 2024.)
She cited the role of the local government units (LGU) in the Visayas in submitting among the most innovative tourism infrastructure proposals to the Department of Tourism’s recent Tourism Champions Challenge (TCC), which was launched at the LMP’s national general assembly last year. S “V,” A
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GRICULTURAL groups urged the government to revert to the previous tariff levied on key agricultural commodities when it conducts its periodic review and boost local production. The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) is set to review the comprehensive and/or specific MFN (Most Favored Nation) tariff rates listed under Executive Order (EO) 62 by November. The EO 62, which maintained lower tariffs for key agricultural commodities like corn and pork and slashed rice tariffs until 2028, provides that the tariff scheme be subjected to a periodic review every four months from its effectivity. For hog raisers belonging to the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NatFed), the reduction of tariffs did not lower the prices for consumers.
“We urge the government to raise back the tariffs to original levels to encourage more local production to manage our nation’s food security goals,” Alfred Ng, Vice Chairman NatFed told the BUSINESSMIRROR on Wednesday. Ng said swine farmers had long been discouraged to raise more pigs due to competition from imported pork and the constant threat brought by the African swine fever (ASF) to the sector. He noted that prior to the ASF outbreak which devastated farms since its detection in 2019, the tariff on pork stood at 35 percent for in-quota shipments and 40 percent for outquota shipments. Under EO 62, the tariff rates for pork will remain at 15 percent in-quota and 25 percent out-quota. “If ibalik ang taripa to its original levels, mas may laban po ang magbababoy at maari magparami sila muli ng alaga nila [If tariff is returned to original levels, hog producers S “A,” A
PESO EXCHANGE RATES US 57.7980 ■ JAPAN 0.3826 ■ UK 75.0623 ■ HK 7.4364 ■ SINGAPORE 43.9295 ■ AUSTRALIA 38.6264 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 15.3914 ■ EU 62.4218 ■ KOREA 0.0420 ■ CHINA 8.1132 Source: BSP (October 23, 2024)