SC ends orals on PhilHealth fund transfer By Joel R. San Juan
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TRUMP ANNOUNCES SWEEPING NEW TARIFFS TO PROMOTE US MANUFACTURING, RISKING INFLATION AND TRADE WARS
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HE Supreme Court concluded on Thursday its five-day oral arguments on the petitions assailing the constitutionality of the transfer of the P89.9-billion unused funds of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to the national treasury. At the end of the oral arguments held in Baguio City, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo ordered the petitioners and the respondents in the three consolidated petitions to submit their respective memoranda within a non-extendible period of 30 days.
“Considering that the oral argument has been concluded we will require the parties to submit their respective memoranda, including the amici please, within 30 days from today, non-extendible,” the Chief Justice said. After this, the petitions are deemed submitted for resolution of the Court. Gesmundo also directed the government chief counsel, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, and the lead counsel for the petitioners lawyer Neri Colmenares, to include in their memoranda the issue on whether President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should be dropped as one of the respondents in the case. Guevarra has filed a motion be-
fore the Court seeking that the President be dropped as respondent on the ground of presidential immunity from suit. Colmenares said the Court has the power to modify the doctrine, “if warranted.” He noted that the 1973 Constitution expressly provided that the president is immune from suit but such provision has been dropped in the 1987 Constitution. “Therefore, Your Honor, it’s a jurisprudential rather than a constitutional issue now, within the powers of this Court to modify if warranted. Second, the President is impleaded here for his personal acts, presidential certification of emergency. It wasn’t done by [Executive Secretary Lucas] Bersa-
min, it was done by the President,” Colmenares said. “If we are going to vpid an act of a President, we might as well implead him,” he added.
Amici curiae: idle funds transfer not new
DURING the last two oral arguments, Associate Justice Ricardo Rosario asked former finance secretary and one of the amici curiae, Margarito Teves, if the transfer of unused funds of other agencies to the national treasury had been done in the past. Teves answered in the affirmative, noting the practice of reallocating idle government funds to See “SC,” A2
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DOF: US TARIFFS RAISE RISKS TO PHL GROWTH www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Friday, April 4, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 174
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‘PHL should sell more farm goods to the US’
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto, Andrea E. San Juan and Malou Talosig-Bartolome
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HE Department of Finance (DOF) warned that US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 17-percent reciprocal tariff on Philippine exports could cause supply chain disruptions, accelerate inflation and raise interest rates. Philippine exporters, however, expressed optimism that there is still a silver lining to Washington’s new policy, saying it could even bring in additional investors who want to avoid the steep tariff rates in other Asian countries. Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said in a statement after Trump announced the reciprocal tariffs that the Philippines will not be spared from the expected decline in international trade and potential slowdown in global growth. Despite this, Recto said the consumption-driven Philippine economy will be able to withstand the economic shocks caused by Washington’s tariff policy. “The domestic demand-driven Philippine economy makes us relatively resilient against trade wars,” he said. Washington contended that the 17-percent reciprocal tariff slapped on the Philippines is “discounted” compared to the 34 percent effective rates, including the cost of nontariff barriers, supposedly imposed by Manila on American goods.
By Ada Pelonia and Samuel P. Medenilla
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SHELLING OUT SOLUTIONS At Blumentritt Market in Manila, various sizes of eggs are displayed as the Department of Agriculture (DA) considers implementing new maximum suggested retail prices to address the recent surge in egg prices. Noting discrepancies between reported prices and consumer experiences, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez has called for improvements in the DA’s price-monitoring system to ensure that official data accurately reflects market conditions. The DA is exploring measures to stabilize the local egg market and protect consumers from inflated prices. NONIE REYES
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US GOVT: TUBBATAHA RANGER A ‘WOMAN OF COURAGE’
Pressure on forex
THESE reciprocal tariffs, former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo told BusinessMirror, will put further pressure on the pesodollar exchange rate. “Such higher imposition could likely result in higher prices of (certain) Philippine goods and in the process, elevated domestic inflation in the US,” said Guinigundo, who is also a country analyst for New York-based think tank GlobalSource Partners. “We’re still doing the analysis,” BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. told BusinessMirror when asked how Washington’s decision would affect consumer prices and the peso. Sought for comment, Philippine Ambassador to Washington D.C. Jose Manuel Romualdez also said the government has yet to determine how the additional tariffs will affect the country’s economy. “We are still studying the effects on our exports to the US together with (Investment and Economic Affairs Secretary Frederick) Go and Recto,” Romualdez told BusinessMirror.
HE Philippines should consider selling more agricultural products to the United States as it will be relatively cheaper, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Wednesday. Despite the 17-percent tariff slapped on Philippine exports, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. noted that the rate is lower compared to those imposed on neighboring Southeast Asian countries. Vietnam was slapped a reciprocal tariff rate of 46 percent; Thailand, 36 percent; and Indonesia, 32 percent. “If you look at it from a general perspective, it’s positive for us because we’re lower than others in terms of tariff. But we need to look at it per commodity,” the DA chief told reporters in a press briefing on Thursday. “Based on the tariff rate, we’re one of the lowest among our neighbors. So, it just means that we should push for more sales to the US of our products,” he added. However, the DA chief noted the 10-percent reciprocal tariff slapped on Ecuador, a banana exporter, “might be a concern.” “But in the whole scheme of things, I believe...we can be competitive versus Ecuador,” he added. Roehlano Briones, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development
By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
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U.S. Secretary Marco Rubio (right), with First Lady Melania Trump (left), honor Angelique Songco, of Philippines (middle), at the International Women of Courage Award at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., April 1, 2025. US STATE DEPARTMENT
NGELIQUE Songco, the park ranger who in 2013 had insisted that the United States pay for damage by its grounded ship on the Unesco world heritage site Tubbataha Reef in Palawan, has been cited as one of the International Women of Courage by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Songco was awarded for her decades of work in leading a team of marine park rangers who protect the 97,030-hectare Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park Protected Area. During the award ceremony on April 1, she was introduced
with her fond nickname “Mama Ranger,” drawing laughter for the crowd at the Department of State in Washington D.C. Angelique Songco from the Philippines, also known as Mama Ranger—(laughter)—leads a small team of rangers protecting the Tubbataha Reefs National Park from illegal fishing and poaching. “Her work on maritime law enforcement includes a passion for rehabilitation and conservation. Under her leadership the reef has seen dramatic decreases in trespassers in that protected area. Angelique Songco—Mama Ranger,” Kat Fotovat, senior bureau official for the Secretary’s Office of
Global Women’s Issues, said during the awarding ceremony. “She has managed the park since 2001, working with rangers to protect the reefs from illegal fishing, poaching and unsustainable tourism practices,” the US Embassy said in a statement. US State Secretary Marco Rubio and US First Lady Melania Trump then presented the award to Songco. Aside from Songco, seven other women heroes were feted during the IWOC Award Ceremony. · Henriette Da (Burkina Faso) · Amit Soussana (Israel) · Major Velena Iga (Papua New Guinea) See “US,” A2
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PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 57.2150 n JAPAN 0.3848 n UK 67.5971 n HK 74.3967 n CHINA 7.8721 n SINGAPORE 42.4318 n AUSTRALIA 35.8223 n EU 61.9581 n KOREA 0.0390 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.2557 Source: BSP (April 3, 2025)