PHL’s IIP improves as of Q4 T
BREAKING FAST, BREAKING BARRIERS In Baguio City, Filipino Muslims marked Eid al-Fitr with community prayers, festive gatherings, and shared meals, celebrating the end of Ramadan with joy and gratitude. At Iligan City Jail, 98 Muslim Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) observed the occasion with Salat al-Eid and a special meal of fried chicken and beef rendang, provided through generous donations. The facility ensures Muslim PDL can freely practice their faith, offering spaces for daily and Friday prayers. Donations, including Zakat from the Philippine Muslim Judges Association, also supported fasting PDL throughout Ramadan. MAURICIO VICTA/ ILIGAN CITY JAIL MALE DORMITORY
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HE decline in external financial liabilities improved the Philippines’ international investment position (IIP) as of the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Preliminary data showed the country’s IIP reflected a net external liability of $65.5 billion as of the end of December 2024. This is a 10.2-percent decline from the $72.9 billion posted in endSeptember 2024. The BSP traced the current net liability position to the 3.4-percent contraction in the country’s external financial liabilities, which outpaced the 1.4-percent decline in external financial assets. The IIP measures the financial assets of residents of an economy that are
claims on nonresidents or are gold bullion held as reserve assets, as well as the liabilities of residents to nonresidents. As such, total outstanding external financial liabilities declined by 3.4 percent to $318.2 billion as of endDecember 2024, from $329.3 billion in end-September 2024. Year-on-year, this grew by 8.5 percent from $293.1 billion. The BSP said the decline in external financial liabilities was due to the 8.2-percent drop in foreign portfolio investment (FPI) and the 2-percent decrease in foreign direct investment (FDI). “The notable decline in net FPI was due to a 14.1-percent decrease in nonresidents’ outstanding investments in equity securities of local corporations, which fell to $37.6 billion,” the BSP said.
“This mirrored the drop in the Philippine Stock Exchange Index [PSEi], which experienced significant declines amid growing concerns over the policies of US President-elect Donald Trump, particularly the proposed import tariff hike that could lead to higher interest rates,” it added. Outstanding investments in debt securities by nonresidents also declined by 3.9 percent to $58.7 billion. This decrease was driven by foreign investors’ net selling of their holdings in debt securities issued by the national government to residents in the secondary market, and the government’s and other sectors’ net repayments of debt securities held by nonresidents. See “IIP,” A2
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Tuesday, April 1, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 171
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MARCH INFLATION SEEN AT 1.7-2.5% RANGE: BSP T
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P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 22 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) anticipates inflation in March to fall below the lower end of the government’s target range, on the back of lower food prices and a stronger peso. See “March,” A2
PAG-IBIG FUND KEEPS HOUSING LOAN RATES LOW, VS. TREND
P
AG-IBIG Fund will maintain its low interest rates on housing loans until June 2025, marking the second consecutive year of offering affordable home financing and defying the upward trend in market lending rates, top officials announced recently. Pag-IBIG Fund continues to offer significantly lower rates as the agency has held its three-year repricing period steady at 6.25 percent per annum and maintains an even lower rate of 5.75 percent per
annum for its one-year repricing period. This, despite the rise in home lending rates based on market reports, with indicative rates ranging from 6.82 percent to 7.94 percent, and effective rates between 7.18 percent and 8.78 percent as of the week ending January 29, 2025. Pag-IBIG’s Affordable Housing Program, meanwhile, also continues to provide a special 3-percent interest rate per annum for minimum-wage earners, remaining See “Pag-IBIG,” A2
PIPE DREAMS A mother feeds her children inside a culvert pipe in Manila, using it as temporary shelter from the scorching sun. A recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey revealed that
27.2 percent or 7.5 million households experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months, reflecting a concerning rise in food insecurity. In response, the Department of Social Welfare and Development has affirmed its commitment to fight hunger through the Walang Gutom Program, formerly the Food Stamp Program. NONIE REYES
Tech dominion sparks call for competition law review By Andrea E. San Juan
T HAPPY WALK 2025 SM Executives Engr. Bien C. Mateo, SM Cares Program Director for
Disability Affairs; Mr. Joaquin L. San Agustin, EVP of SM Supermalls Marketing; Mr. Hans T. Sy Jr., SM EDD President; Ms. Hanna Carinna Sy, AVP for Special Events; together with Mr. Elmer Lapena, DSAPI Chairman; Ms. Ina Alcuaz-Garcia, and Ms. Agnes Lapena from the Down Syndrome Association of the Philippines, Inc. (DSAPI), proudly led the Happy Walk 2025 parade. Organized by DSAPI and SM Cares, this year’s event brought together over 8,000 attendees, making it the biggest celebration of Natatanging Nilalangs to date. Simultaneous events were held at SMX Manila – SM Mall of Asia, SM City Cebu, SM City Bacolod, and SM CDO Downtown. SM SUPERMALLS
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HE Philippine government is being prodded to insert data privacy considerations in the country’s competition law, given the “highly concentrated” digital platform ecosystem in the country which is dominated by major tech firms Facebook and Google, according to the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC). This was one of the recommendations of the PCC’s market study set to be released by the third quarter of this year. While the market study is yet
to be published, the recommendations for the market study were indicated in the Executive Summary of the study which was provided to the BusinessMirror by the PCC. “Findings from this Study show that the digital platform ecosystem is notably highly concentrated, with a limited number of firms, such as Facebook and Google, emerging as dominant entities in the social media and search markets, respectively,” according to the Executive Summary of PCC’s market study. This concentration, the competition watchdog noted, enables these companies to collect and process “vast amounts” of user
data, raising significant data privacy concerns. Central to the discussion of the anti-competitive effects associated with these concerns, PCC said, are the concepts of “data portability and interoperability.” Data portability, as defined by the PCC, means allowing users to transfer their data between platforms while interoperability means the seamless exchange of data across systems. The country’s competition watchdog underscored that while these functionalities are generally considered to be “pro-competitive,” they can be exploited by dominant platforms to further
entrench their market power, “ultimately to the detriment of platform users.” The Executive Summary also noted that the presence of digital platforms operating across multiple jurisdictions heightens concerns regarding cross-border data transfers. “Variations in data privacy standards and competition policy frameworks across different countries may increase the vulnerability of user data to exclusionary and exploitative practices by Big Tech firms,” the summary noted. Given this, PCC said the Study recommends the following: See “Tech,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 57.3820 n JAPAN 0.3835 n UK 74.2236 n HK 7.3768 n CHINA 7.9006 n SINGAPORE 42.7618 n AUSTRALIA 36.0359 n EU 62.0758 n KOREA 0.0391 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.3027 Source: BSP (March 31, 2025)