Pag-IBIG’s P55.6-B dividends, highest ever By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
T
BLOOM VOYAGE Burnham Lake, one of Baguio City’s iconic landmarks, transforms into a floating floral spectacle for the 4th Panagbenga Fluvial Parade on Thursday, February 27, 2025. As part of the month-long Panagbenga Festival—Baguio’s annual celebration of blooming flowers and cultural heritage—boats adorned with vibrant blossoms glide across the lake, captivating spectators. MAU VICTA
ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS
2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro Patria Award PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion
@reine_alberto
HE Home Development Mutual Fund, commonly known as Pag-IBIG Fund, is looking to grow its total assets to P1.18 trillion in 2025, after breaching the P1-trillion mark in 2024. At the same time, the agency trumpeted its record P55.65 billion in total dividends, the highest payout in the agency’s 44-year history. In a statement on Thursday, PagIBIG Fund reported its total assets closed at P1.069 trillion in 2024, higher by over P75 billion than in 2023. “We continue to manage the Filipino workers funds excellently and prudently so that we continue
to strengthen Pag-IBIG Fund in carrying out its mandates,” PagIBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene C. Acosta said. The return rate of the Modified Pag-IBIG II (MP2) savings program also reached a new record-high 7.10 percent in 2024, higher than last year’s 7.05 percent. Likewise, dividend rates for the Regular Savings increased to 6.6 percent in 2024 from 6.55 percent in 2023. This comes after the Pag-IBIG Fund recorded P55.65 billion in total dividends, the highest payout in the agency’s 44-year history. “[W]hen Pag-IBIG Fund performs well, our members benefit the most,” Acosta said. As such, the Pag-IBIG Fund’s net
income in 2024 rose to P67.52 billion, up by 36 percent from P49.79 billion in 2023. The Pag-IBIG Fund also released P129.73 billion in home loans to 90,640 members, enabling them to acquire new or better homes. Meanwhile, the agency collected a total of P132.81 billion in membership savings. About P73.74 billion of these were voluntarily saved under Upgraded and MP2 Savings. The Pag-IBIG Fund also disbursed P70.33 billion in cash loans to assist more than 3.2 million members. “We take great pride in our record-high achievements in 2024, which reflect our commitment to helping members achieve their See “Pag-IBIG’s,” A2
BusinessMirror
www.businessmirror.com.ph
A broader look at today’s business Friday, February 28, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 139
EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS
BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR
(2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 22 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
’24 BUDGET GAP SHRINKS; SPENDING, REVENUE RISE n
DOTr creates flagship project mgt office to hasten work
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
T
HE national government’s slightly narrowed budget deficit of P1.506 trillion as of the end of last year was born out of a jump in spending and revenue collections, latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed. The Treasury’s data revealed that the national government’s budget deficit tempered by 0.38 percent to P1.506 trillion in 2024 from P1.512 trillion in 2023. The deficit exceeded the P1.484trillion deficit program due to higher outturn in government spending, which included those charged to unprogrammed appropriations as well as defrayment of accounts payables. As a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), the deficit picked up to 5.70 percent in 2024 from 6.22 percent in 2023.
Revenue collection
THE government collected a total of P4.419 trillion in revenues in 2024, surpassing the P4.270-trillion target by 3.49 percent. The collection is also higher by 15.56 percent than the P3.824 trillion generated in 2023. Revenue effort improved to 16.72 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) compared to 15.73 percent in 2023. Taxes mainly accounted for the country’s overall revenues, about 86 percent or P3.801 trillion. While this increased by 10.83 percent from last year’s P3.429 trillion, collections fell short of the P3.820-trillion goal. The two main tax collecting agencies—the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC)—raised P2.851 trillion and P916.7 billion, respectively. See “’24 Budget,” A2
By Lorenz S. Marasigan
T
GRASSROOTS CLEAN-UP Retired Col. Maria Victoria Juan of the Philippine Army joins community workers in deploying vetiver pontoons along the Pasay River’s Tripa de Galina waterway. Using her Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award prize money, Juan supports the BeOne Lifesaver Program, which utilizes vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides)—a natural phytoremediation plant known for absorbing pollutants like heavy metals and agrochemicals—to help reduce water pollution and curb disease outbreaks like dengue. BERNARD TESTA
GOV’T TOLD: FREE UP DATA FOR A.I. TO BE USEFUL By Manuel T. Cayon
D
AVAO CITY—Government needs to free up, at least its processed data, to help artificial intelligence flourish; and in a reciprocal manner, to help the bureaucracy expedite and maximize the beneficial use of its voluminous but largely unused data. This consensus among scientists and government AI experts formed part of a string of suggestions and recommendations to propel the wider access and use of AI tools and internet applications. “Data is the lifeblood of AI, You can have the tools and the products but without access to data, they are
nothing,” said Dr. Arnulfo P. Azcarraga, a professor at Dela Salle University and member of the AI Board of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD). It would be understable then and now that government is withhold in important data “due to issues of security and the sensitive nature of the information,” he said. But, he added, there are creative ways to make many important data available to the public, such as to “anonymize,” or remove identifying information from either the source person or entity.
“We know that many do not like personal information to be leaked and we want data to be secured. But with investment, we can take the necessary steps to make sure that certain information cannot be associated with a particular person. Like in the case of health, just by reading information about the blood type, or if he has a disease we would not know who the person is,” he said. He said this would allow for research to proceed using the data on blood and other markers but without revealing the persons’ identification. Dr. Franz A. de Leon, director of DOST Advance Science and tech-
nology Institute, said there are volumes of data and information in each agency of government but sad to say, these remain in the storage and unused. “As we have discovered, there are different processes that these data could be used, such as correlating them, like for example, the data on weather may be correlated with the outbreak of disease, education with malnutrition, because they are siloed in the feeder and nobody is doing anything to study them,” he said. “That is the inter-department side. Among the agencies themselves, there are processes that go See “Govt,” A2
HE Department of Transportation (DOTr) said on Thursday it has created a Flagship Project Management Office (FPMO) to fast-track the implementation of priority infrastructure projects. Transportation Secretar y Vince Dizon issued Department Order 2025- 002, establishing the DOTr-FPMO as the central body responsible for directing policies and optimizing resources to accelerate the completion of big-ticket transport initiatives aimed at improving physical connectivity and reducing commuter travel time. Dizon will personally lead the FPMO and oversee key projects such as the Metro Manila Subway Project, North-South Commuter Railway Project, Edsa Busway Project, Edsa Greenways Project, Cebu Bus Rapid Transit, and the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project. He will also have the authority to designate additional projects as priority infrastructure flagship projects (IFPs) as necessary. “This PMO will be personally led by me. I will directly monitor these projects under very strict timelines. We will impose deadlines to ensure timely completion,” Dizon said. The FPMO is tasked with coordinating efforts across various DOTr sectors, attached agencies, and other government offices to streamline planning, budgeting, and implementation of priority IFPs. It will also be responsible for monitoring progress, imposing completion targets, and consolidating agency resources to ensure efficient project execution.
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 57.8800 n JAPAN 0.3883 n UK 73.3629 n HK 7.4455 n CHINA 7.9746 n SINGAPORE 43.2586 n AUSTRALIA 36.4991 n EU 60.6930 n KOREA 0.0404 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.4338 Source: BSP (February 27, 2025)