With 36K tons of trash, Neda pitches waste reduction
T THE WORLD ›› A8
TURKEY PROBES CONTRACTORS AS QUAKE DEATHS PASS 33,000
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HE Philippines produces 36,000 tons of waste everyday, equivalent to an Olympic-sized swimming pool, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda). In a presentation on Monday, Neda Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon said this is why the government is pushing for the enactment of environmental laws and reforms to promote sustainable consumption. Edillon said waste reduction is one of the priority actions of the government in the medium term
along with developing and adopting green technologies. “We’ve already heard of waste to energy, but we think that the first thing that needs to be done is to minimize the waste,” Edillon said. “It’s the size of one Olympicsized swimming pool every day. So there really has to be a model for how we can reduce this waste,” she stressed. Edillon said other priority actions include performing life cycle analysis to determine the impact of products on the environment throughout their life.
“We must promote consumption and production patterns that maximize current and future welfare, allowing us to balance the pressing needs of today with the optimal preservation of our natural resources for future generations,” Neda Director General Arsenio M. Balisacan said. In the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028: From Plan to Action, Neda, in Chapter 15: Accelerate Climate Action and Strengthen Disaster Resilience, called for the implementation of actions to accelerate sustainable consumption and
production (SCP) in the country. This should be done through the Philippine Action Plan for Sustainable Consumption and Production (PAP4SCP) and the operationalization of the Roadmap to Institutionalize Natural Capital Accounting in the Philippines or the NCA Roadmap. To this end, the PAP4SCP contains various strategies and actions to influence the behaviors and practices of consumers and producers to reduce waste and environmental degradation. See “Tons of trash,” A2
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Tuesday, February 14, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 122
THE City of Taguig reopened TLC Village as Love at the Park for Taguiguenos and the city’s visitor, where they can enjoy free lit-up big love art installations including the Wall of Roses, a Heart tunnel and other attractions for the hearts month to celebrate and spread the love this Valentine season. NONIE REYES
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By Cai U. Ordinario
@caiordinario
HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is expected to be aggressive in increasing interest rates this week on the back of the 8.7-percent inflation rate recorded in January 2023, according to Moody’s Analytics. The think tank expects the BSP to raise interest rates by 50 basis points in its meeting on Thursday. This will increase the policy rate to 6 percent. With the expected increase, Moody’s Analytics said this will bring cumulative rate hikes since the tightening cycle began in June 2022 to 335 basis points. “Odds are high that the monetary policy tightening cycle will run for longer in the Philippines than elsewhere in Asia, given stubbornly elevated inflation,” Moody’s Analytics said. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier said the headline inflation rate was the highest in 15 years while core inflation, which reached 7.4 percent, was the highest in 24 years. L oca l economists recent ly warned that persistently high inflation and bloated wage increases could lead to job losses nationwide. They said job losses cannot be discounted at this point given that high inflation could translate to
higher production losses incurred by firms nationwide. Economists added that job losses would be possible if businesses/ industries require more funds to pay for higher prices/inflation on inputs, investments, and other spending. Earlier, the UK-based think tank Oxford Economics also said the performance of the Philippine economy will be below its historical average this year and next year, as GDP growth will not even reach 5 percent in 2023 and 2024. In its latest forecast, Oxford Economics said the country’s economic growth will only reach 4.1 percent this year and 4.5 percent in 2024 on the back of sticky inflation, which is expected to dampen demand. The think tank is also concerned that the forecast of other institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for the Philippines and other emerging markets, may be too optimistic.
‘PRESIDENT’S OVERSEAS TRIPS VITAL TO INVESTMENT DRIVE’ By Andrea E. San Juan
THE President needs to go out of the country to promote the Philippines as a viable destination, Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. said, a day after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. concluded his visit to Japan with an estimated $13 billion of combined contributions and investment pledges for a wide range of projects. “We are happy that the President is doing everything he can despite the criticisms with regard to his state visits,” Ortiz-Luis said, partly in Filipino, in a televised interview on Monday. The ECOP chief stressed the need for state visits to foster trade and create jobs for Filipinos. He added, mostly in Filipino, “And we are happy that he applies his energy to this, and appreciate it.” In his arrival speech late Sunday at Villamor Airbase in Pasay City, Marcos said the commitments are expected
to generate an approximate 24,000 jobs. For his part, Ortiz-Luis said, “It’s not impossible to get 24,000 additional jobs there.” ECOP is the umbrella organization of the business community in the Philippines, tackling national issues related to employment, industrial relations, labor issues, and related social policies. Or tiz-Luis said he w itnessed many Filipino employees working in the hotels and restaurants that they visited in Japan. He added that there could be more than 300,000 Filipinos currently employed in Japan. Meanwhile, the ECOP chief expressed confidence that among the investment pledges secured from Japan, he thinks the Philippines will benefit most from the infrastructure pledges. However, he mentioned that the country can also benefit from the areas of services, agriculture, IT projects, and flood control, among others.
Cha-cha ‘not a priority’ for PBBM, but solons unfazed By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla
& Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
A
CHANGE in the 1987 Constitution, as some members of Congress are pushing, has become less likely under the
current administration. This, after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced during the weekend that Charter change is not a priority of his administration. “It’s not a priority for me because there are so many other things that need to be done,” Marcos said in See “Cha-cha,” A2
See “Overseas trips,” A2
See “BSP,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 54.5430 n JAPAN 0.4151 n UK 65.8607 n HK 6.9486 n CHINA 8.0024 n SINGAPORE 41.0098 n AUSTRALIA 37.7165 n EU 58.2737 n KOREA 0.0430 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.5347 Source: BSP (February 13, 2023)