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Thursday, January 23, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 103
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 24 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
MRT-7 REVISITED The Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7)
By Andrea E. San Juan
A
n
@andreasanjuan
GOVERNMENTLED long-term national strategy should be designed to develop the Philippine semiconductor system, according to the 38-member Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
has undergone so many changes from its original design that the government is hiring an engineering consultant to look at all of them. SMC relocated the terminal in North Avenue, the first station, to ensure that it is connected to the railways that cross the area, namely, Light Rail Transit Line 1 and Metro Rail Transit Line 3. The Quezon City leg of the MRT-7 is being eyed for opening toward the end of 2025, while the remaining railway segments are scheduled to operate by late 2027 or early 2028. The MRT-7 is expected to carry 300,000 passengers per day in its first year of operations, but the ridership is projected to climb to 800,000 in the 12th year. In photo, the ongoing work on MRT7 is seen at North Avenue connecting the Light Trail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) and Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3). NONOY LACZA
To best address the challenges in the semiconductor and electronics industry in the Philippines—the “single largest” Philippine export sector, accounting for almost 60 percent of total Philippine merchandise exports—OECD underscored the need to craft a “public, government-led strategy.” “A government-led and authored strategy disseminated publicly would demonstrate a political commitment to the semiconductor industry in the Philippines and abroad,” the OECD report noted. OECD explained that while the government has funded private sector-led strategies, like the Product and Technology Holistic Strategy See “Long-term,” A2
’24 SEES ROBUST GROWTH NFA seeks more funds for
FOR INSTAPAY, PESONET increasing its buffer stock By Cai U. Ordinario
F
@caiordinario
INANCIAL transactions made via Instapay and Pesonet continued to surge and ended 2024 with double-digit growth rates in terms of volume and value, according to the latest data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The data showed that in terms of value, Instapay transactions amounted to P810.11 billion as of December 2024, a 47.38 percent growth from P549.65 billion as of December 2023.
For Pesonet, transactions amounted to P989.29 billion as of December 2024, or 30.5 percent higher than the P758.07 billion as of December 2023. In terms of the volume of transactions, Instapay transactions reached 159.94 million in 2024, a 64.879 percent growth from the 97.003 million transactions recorded in 2023. The data showed Pesonet transactions reached 9.08 million in 2024, 16.73 percent more than the 7.779 million transactions in 2023. See “Growth,” A2
By Ada Pelonia
T
@adapelonia
HE National Food Authority (NFA) is seeking more funds to increase its buffer stock as mandated by the amended Rice Tariffication Law. Under the amended RTL, the grains agency should now maintain a buffer stock enough to cover 15 days of national rice consumption from the previous nine-day requirement. The NFA explained that with an average of 37,000 metric tons (MT) of national rice consumption daily, the additional six days of reserve would require the agency to procure
roughly 300,000 MT of palay from local farmers at around P23 per kilo. According to NFA Administrator Larry Lacson, the initial allocation of P9 billion for palay procurement this year should be doubled to achieve its new buffer stocking requirement. “We were initially allocated a budget of P9 billion for buffer stocking this year, based on the 9-day requirement. But the additional 6 days will necessitate an extra P9 billion for palay procurement, considering that our palay price procurement per kilo increased in 2024, Lacson said in a statement. The amended RTL also earmarks See “NFA,” A2
NOTICE OF FILING OF APPLICATION/S FOR ALIEN EMPLOYMENT PERMIT/S (AEP/S) Notice is hereby given that the following companies/Employers have filed with this Regional Office application/s for Alien Employment Permit/s: ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS No.
NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION
QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE
ASUS PHILIPPINES CORPORATION Unit 401-404 Hanston Bldg., F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, San Antonio, City Of Pasig
WANG, ZIH-RONG Country Product Manager 1.
Brief Job Description: Responsible for country’s product introduction and portfolio management.
Basic Qualification: Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration/ Marketing or another related course. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999
See “dole ncr” on A8-A9
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.4390 n JAPAN 0.3758 n UK 72.2131 n HK 7.5065 n CHINA 8.0472 n SINGAPORE 43.2337 n AUSTRALIA 36.6471 n EU 60.9519 n KOREA 0.0408 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.5775 Source: BSP (January 22, 2025)