Villar still PHL’s richest person–Forbes By VG Cabuag
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ANUEL B. VILLAR JR., a former politician and now a property tycoon, is once again the country’s richest person, according to Forbes magazine. Villar, along 14 other prominent local businessmen, made it to the world’s billionaires list, which now has more people that made the cut. Villar landed at 117th on the list, with a net worth of about $17.2 billion. Since 2020 at just $5.6 billion, Villar’s fortunes, composed mostly on property development and retail, has more than tripled. He was followed by port and casino
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tycoon Enrique K. Razon Jr. at 227th with $10.9 billion. Ramon S. Ang, San Miguel Corp. chairman and president was the country’s third richest, with his ranking at 979th with $3.7 billion. Lucio Tan, which had his fortunes made on banking, airline and tobacco, was ranked 1,219th with $3 billion. The Sy siblings, who own the country’s largest lender and chain of shopping malls, among others, also dominate the list, led by Henry Sy Jr. who is ranked at 1,573rd with $2.3 billion. Hans was at 1,626th with $2.2 billion, Herbert at 1,688th with $2.1 billion, Harley and Teresita Sy-
Coson both at 1,850th with $1.9 billion each and Elizabeth at 2019th with $1.7 billion. Businessman Andrew Tan, who was into property development, retail and gambling, was at 2,110th with $1.4 billion. Lucio Co, who owns Puregold grocery stores, was at 2,356th with $1.4 billion, while wife Susan Co was at 2,479th at $1.3 billion. Tony Tan Caktiong, the chairman of fast food giant Jollibee Foods Corp.. was also ranked 2,479th with $1.3 billion, while Eusebio Tanco, chairman of both gaming firm DigiPlus Interactive Corp. and school operator STI Education Systems Holdings Inc.,
barged into the rankings. Tanco was the last Filipino on the list at 2,623rd with $1.2 billion. This year’s richest is Elon Musk, a staunch supporter of President Trump, worth an estimated $342 billion. “Musk has added $147 billion to his fortune over the past year, thanks to a blockbuster year for his rocket company SpaceX and his AI firm xAI, which he merged with his social media giant X last week,” Forbes said. “Even Tesla, despite recent protests and a stock market selloff, is trading higher than a year ago. That’s allowed Musk to reclaim the title of world’s See “Villar,” A2
BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business
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FISCAL BALANCE BACK IN DEFICIT IN FEB: BTR www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Thursday, April 3, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 173
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 20 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
Investments OKd by Peza in Q1 surge 294% to P59B
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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@reine_alberto
HE Marcos Jr. administration’s fiscal position swung back to a deficit in February, as the budget shortfall widened on higher expenditures, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
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Latest data from the Treasury showed the budget deficit stretched by 34.35 percent to P103.1 billion from January to February 2025, from P76.7 billion during the same period in 2024. “The national government’s total revenue collections and expenditures maintained double-digit year-on-year growth during the first two months of 2025, which puts it See “Fiscal,” A2
PHL business ranks at 3rd with women in mgt positions
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By VG Cabuag
HILIPPINE businesses ranked steady at third among countries in the percentage of women in senior management positions for 2025, but it sustained a slight decline, a survey from the Grant Thornton’s International Business Reports said. It dropped to 43 percent from the previous year’s 43.1 percent, the report Women in Business, showed. The study said that while being steady at its level is commendable, the data shows that achieving true gender parity in the workplace remains a long way off. “It’s disheartening to think we might miss out on another generation of female leaders. Although we’re optimistic about the progress made so far, there’s still much work to be done. We must intensify our efforts to achieve parity well before See “PHL,” A2
QUAKE CHECK: ARE WE READY WHEN THE GROUND SHAKES? Rescue teams prepare as the Philippines faces seismic threats. Personnel from the Quezon City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office—Urban Search and Rescue take inventory of critical rescue tools—including shoring equipment, chainsaws, and life locators—on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. The drill comes just days after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Myanmar and Thailand on March 28, underscoring the urgent need for preparedness. Meanwhile, Phivolcs warns that the 100-km-long West Valley Fault could trigger a magnitude-7.2 quake, potentially collapsing 168,000 buildings and causing over 33,000 deaths across Metro Manila and nearby provinces. The agency also cautions that movement along the Manila Trench in the West Philippine Sea could unleash a magnitude-8.1 earthquake and tsunamis. With towering skyscrapers and densely populated areas at risk, disaster response teams are ramping up readiness for the inevitable “Big One.” PHOTOS BY NONOY LACZA
By Andrea E. San Juan
NVESTMENTS approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) in the first quarter of 2025 surged to P58.95 billion, a 294.26-percent increase compared to the P14.95 billion investments greenlighted in the threemonth period in 2024. The investment promotion agency said this is already 24 percent of its investment pledges target for the year, which is P250 billion. Peza capped the first quarter of the year with the approval of 66 new and expansion projects worth P58.947 billion. The projects approved in the first three months of 2025 are expected to generate 15,815 direct jobs and $497.46 million in export revenues. Of the 66 approved new and expansion projects, 24 are in the Manufacturing sector; 24 are under the IT and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) industry; 7 are domestic projects; 7 are into ecozone development; 2 are into Utilities and 2 are Facilities. In terms of Investment locations, 32 projects are expected to rise in Region IV; 12 will be in the National Capital Region (NCR); 8 in Region III (Central Luzon); 8 in Region VII (Central Visayas) ; 2 in Region XI (Davao); 2 in Region I (Ilocos Region); 1 in Region X (Northern Mindanao) and 1 in Region VI (Western Visayas). Peza Director General Tereso O. Panga said Peza is “bullish” that it will sustain its growth momentum this year even amid the recent developments in global trade, particularly the tariff pronouncements by the US administration. “We are on track as we anticipate more investors to register with Peza in the succeeding months. With the Philippines touted to be the next preferred investment destination in Asean in light of the Trump 2.0 trade policy, we are hopeful that we will sustain our growth momentum this year,” Panga told the BusinessMirror in a Viber message on Wednesday. In a statement, he underscored that the investment promotion agency is anticipating an “influx” of more investors as it fielded several inquiries from firms based in US, Japan, China, Taiwan and Spain. “We already received several inquiries and hosted inbound delegations from US, Japan, China, Taiwan, and Spain who are interested in investing in the ecozones,” Panga said. “We are anticipating the influx of more investors looking into the Philippines for their offshore operations in Asia,” the PEZA chief added. Panga noted the agency is banking on its investment promotion initiatives coupled with the CREATE More incentives, which he called “the most generous fiscal incentives among Asean to date.” In March 2025 alone, the Peza Board greenlighted 27 new and expansion projects worth See “Investments,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 57.2800 n JAPAN 0.3828 n UK 67.5971 n HK 74.0401 n CHINA 7.8783 n SINGAPORE 42.6412 n AUSTRALIA 35.9547 n EU 61.8395 n KOREA 0.0390 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.2694 Source: BSP (April 2, 2025)