Pope Francis, first Lat-Am pontiff, dies at 88 By Nicole Winfield
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Rome after the announcement. Francis, who suffered from chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on February 14, 2025, for a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. He spent 38 days there, the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy. From his first greeting as pope— a remarkably normal “Buonasera” (“Good evening”)—to his embrace of refugees and the downtrodden, Francis signaled a very different tone for the papacy, stressing humility over hubris for a Catholic Church beset by scandal and accusations of indifference. After that rainy night on
The Associated Press
ATICAN CITY—Pope Francis, history’s first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, has died Monday. He was 88. “At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church,” Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, the Vatican camerlengo, said in an announcement. Bells tolled in church towers across
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March 13, 2013, the Argentineborn Jorge Mario Bergoglio brought a breath of fresh air into a 2,000-year-old institution that had seen its influence wane during the troubled tenure of Pope Benedict XVI, whose surprise resignation led to Francis’ election. But Francis soon invited troubles of his own, and conservatives grew increasingly upset with his progressive bent, outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics and crackdown on traditionalists. His greatest test came in 2018 when he botched a notorious case of clergy sexual abuse in Chile, and the scandal that festered under his predecessors erupted anew on his watch. And then Francis, the crowd-
loving, globe-trotting pope of the peripheries, navigated the unprecedented reality of leading a universal religion through the coronavirus pandemic from a locked-down Vatican City. He implored the world to use Covid-19 as an opportunity to rethink the economic and political framework that he said had turned rich against poor. “We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented,” Francis told an empty St. Peter’s Square in March 2020. But he also stressed the pandemic showed the need for “all of us to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other.” See “Pope,” A11
POPE Francis pauses during an interview with The Associated Press at The Vatican, Tuesday, January 24, 2023. Pope Francis, history’s first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died Monday. He was 88. AP/DOMENICO STINELLIS
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BOP POSITION SWINGS TO DEFICIT IN MARCH www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Tuesday, April 22, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 190
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 22 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
HE Philippines’s balance of payments (BOP) position reverted to a deficit in March, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Latest data from the BSP showed that the BOP swung back to a $1.966-billion deficit in March 2025, from a $1.173-billion BOP surplus during the same month a year ago. The BSP said the deficit resulted from the national government’s withdrawal of foreign currency deposits from the central bank to pay for its foreign debts, as well as its net foreign exchange operations. The BOP is a summary of the Philippines’s economic transactions with the rest of the world for a specific period. A BOP surplus position means there are more exports or inflows than imports
or outflows, while a deficit means there are less. According to John Paolo R. Rivera, senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, the shift in BOP deficit in March could be due to earlier inflows, such as borrowings, remittances, or investmentrelated receipts, having moderated in March. “This underscores the sensitivity of the Philippines’ external position to global market movements and domestic financing needs,” Rivera said. “Moving forward, careful management of external debt and See “BOP,” A2
GROUP WARNS: SUBSTANDARD STEEL SOLD ON FB MARKETPLACE By Andrea E. San Juan
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@andreasanjuan
HE local steel industry group warned the public against substandard steel bars proliferating on Facebook Marketplace. In a Viber message sent to the BusinessMirror, Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI) President Ronald C. Magsajo said while the industry has not monitored advertisements promoting the sale of Induction Furnace (IF)-produced steel bars on Youtube, he divulged that substandard steel bars are already being sold online. “Unfortunately we have not monitored YouTube Ads. We have however, monitored online selling of substandard bars on Facebook Marketplace,” Magsajo told this paper, which showed him a Youtube ad soliciting buyers for an IF machine. The PISI chief clarified, however, that he “cannot say for sure” if these substandard steel bars being sold at the online
marketplace can be identified as steel bars produced with the use of induction furnaces (IF). Experts said last week that IF was the process used in producing steel bars that built the government building that collapsed during a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Thailand. (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2025/04/13/ not-with-substandard-steelaround/) Facilities that use IF do not remove harmful elements in the liquid steel, resulting in the inconsistent quality of products they churn out.
PISI to consumers: Be vigilant
MAGSAJO said the local steel industry has no capability to stop these sellers/resellers of substandard steel bars online but noted: “They have been reported through to [Department of Trade and Industry] DTI for action.” With this, he advised consumers to keep an eye out amid the See “Group,” A2
WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY After the long Holy Week break, high-rise window cleaners resume work on a skyscraper in Makati City on Monday. As business activities normalize, the labor market shows signs of strength ahead of Labor Day, with nearly 38,000 job vacancies posted nationwide—led by manufacturing and BPO sectors. The Department of Labor and Employment also ramped up job fairs and digital upskilling efforts to connect more Filipinos, including 4Ps graduates, to meaningful employment opportunities. NONIE REYES
UBS sees PHL implementing 3 rate cuts in H2
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HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is expected to reduce key policy rates three more times in the second half of the year, as low inflation will serve as a boon to the Philippine market, according to UBS. In its outlook, UBS Investment Bank Senior Asean and Asia Economist Grace Lim and Analyst RJ Aguirre said the BSP could reduce the key policy rate in August, October and December this year, in line with the US Federal Reserve’s stance. The BSP has lowered the key policy rate by 25 basis points to 5.50 percent, while the interest rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities were also reduced to 5 percent and 6 percent, respectively.
(See: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2025/04/11/bsp-lowers-key-rate-by-25-bps-morecuts-seen/). “We maintain our view that the Philippines’s direct and indirect exposure to trade and global GDP growth remains negligible,” UBS said. The Philippine market is seen to be a “safe haven” amid the ongoing trade war and global recessionary risks, according to the analysts. US President Donald Trump announced a 10-percent tariff on the majority of America’s trading partners, including reciprocal tariffs on 29 countries, last April 2. The Philippines was not spared, as it was slapped a 17-percent reciprocal tariff. Despite this, the tariffs
are the second lowest in Asean, after Singapore’s 10 percent. Analysts of UBS forecast significant growth downside around the world as global expansion could decline by 50 to 100 basis points. In the Asia-Pacific region, growth could slow by 30 to 120 basis points. But in the Philippines, the impact will be among the lowest in the region, at just 30 basis points, “as the risks appear to be comparatively smaller given the domesticoriented nature of the economy.” Moody’s Senior Director Choon Hong Chua said the imposition of tariffs has sparked global conversations about the potential impact on supply chain disruption and the consequent increase in consumer product costs.
“Exporters in the Asia-Pacific region will bear the brunt of the recent developments as they now face increased costs and uncertainty in bringing their products to the US market,” Chua said. He said exporters could see a decline in demand from the US, loss of competitive edge and shrinking market share if they increase consumer costs to cushion the impact of tariffs. “Pressure on revenue will be immense, especially for those who are unable to pivot swiftly to new markets,” Chua added. This could also result in diminished access to the US market for companies that also serve Asia and Europe, creating a domino effect See “UBS,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.6420 n JAPAN 0.3994 n UK 75.3339 n HK 7.2974 n CHINA 7.7602 n SINGAPORE 43.2085 n AUSTRALIA 36.1206 n EU 64.7191 n KOREA 0.0399 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.0977 Source: BSP (April 21, 2025)