Revenue growth 18% higher for automated cities By Justine Xyrah Garcia
C
ITIES with fully automated business permitting systems recorded local business tax revenue growth that was 18.16 percentage points higher than those that had yet to complete the shift to digital processing, according to the state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). The finding was based on a study of 138 cities that examined the impact of fully automated Business Permits and Licensing Systems (BPLS), which allow businesses to submit applications, pay
RAIN CHECK Workers build a new water detention basin at the intersection of N.S. Amoranto and G. Araneta Avenues in Quezon City on Wednesday, July 29. Designed to hold up to 2,050 cubic meters of rainwater—roughly the volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool—the facility is part of the city government’s continuing flood mitigation program aimed at reducing urban flooding during heavy rains. NONOY LACZA
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
fees, receive electronic official receipts and, in some cases, obtain permits without repeatedly visiting city halls. PIDS said digitalizing the permitting process could strengthen tax administration by reducing processing time, improving taxpayer data management, and making revenue collection more efficient. The study added that automation could also make it easier for businesses to comply with local government requirements. The think tank also found that cities with fully automated BPLS had a higher number of active business establishments than those
with less-developed systems. Despite these gains, PIDS said many local governments continue to face obstacles in adopting fully automated permitting systems. “The lack of ICT infrastructure is a key problem since this impedes the use of digital technologies at the organizational level and the general public,” the study said. The study found that cities with stronger internet capability were significantly more likely to implement fully automated permitting systems. However, PIDS noted that internet access alone was not enough to drive the use of digital govern-
ment services. In 2021, 90.83 percent of formal-sector establishments used computers and communications equipment, while 80.96 percent had internet access. Only 38.39 percent, however, used the internet to make payments to government agencies. Beyond ICT infrastructure, the study identified funding constraints, a shortage of personnel with advanced technical expertise, resistance to organizational change, and the continued preference of some taxpayers for faceto-face transactions as among the barriers to automation. See “Revenue,” A11
BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business
EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS
BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR
(2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS
‘TRIPLE THREAT’ RISKS 7%+ INFLATION ANEW www.businessmirror.com.ph
n
Thursday, July 30, 2026 Vol. 21 No. 289
P25.00 nationwide | 3 sections 26 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
By Justine Xyrah Garcia
T
HE country may be headed back to above7-percent inflation in the third quarter as a “triple threat” threatens to reverse the recent easing in consumer prices, according to the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P).
In its latest The Market Call report, UA&P economists said consumer prices could accelerate anew if renewed tensions in the Middle East push crude oil prices above $80 per barrel. They also cited the implementation of the historic P85 daily minimum wage increase in Metro Manila and the expected arrival of a Super El Niño, which could drive up food prices. “New inflation risks have materialized on a triple front: return of Middle East tensions, the outsized NCR minimum wage hike, and the aggressive El Niño season which may lodge inflation above 7 percent,” the economists said. If realized, the forecast would push inflation back above 7 percent just months after it hit 7.2 percent in April. Before then, inflation last exceeded 7 percent in March 2023, when it reached 7.6 percent. Headline inflation already eased to 6.4 percent in June from 6.8 percent in May as slower increases in food and transport costs offset mounting domestic price pressures. However, UA&P said underlying price pressures continued to build, with core inflation accelerating to 4.4 percent from 4.2 percent, its highest level in 31 months. It noted that inflation in restaurants and accommodation services quickened to 7 percent, while prices of education and recreation, sports and culture rose by 3.9 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively. These contributed to the increase in core inflation, indicating that price pressures were spreading across more commodity groups. The report also noted that the inflation burden remained uneven across income groups. Inflation experienced by households belonging to the bottom 30 percent of the income distribution rose to 8 percent in June from 7.8 percent in May, reflecting the heavier impact of higher food and electricity costs on lower-income families. Against this backdrop, UA&P expects the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to maintain a “cautious policy stance,” with 50 basis points worth of rate increases in See “Inflation,” A2
ON THE RECORD Former LandBank Shaw Boulevard branch manager Violeta Constantino (top) and former LandBank Department of Education branch manager Nenita Camposano take their oath before testifying as prosecution witnesses during the 10th day of the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte at the Senate in Pasay City on Wednesday, July 29. The two former bank officials were presented by the prosecution and underwent crossexamination before the impeachment court. Stories on impeachment trial of VP Duterte in pages A3, A10 and A11. SPPA POOL PHOTOS BY ROY DOMINGO
‘Managing inflation not solely BSP task’
PHL DRAWS NEW SEABED LINE IN WEST PHILIPPINE SEA By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
T
HE Philippines formally asked a United Nations panel on Wednesday to recognize its claim to a vast stretch of resource-rich seabed in the West Philippine Sea, marking a major legal push to assert its maritime rights in a highly contested region. The submission to the 21-member UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) specifically targets the deeper seabed off western Palawan. The formal presentation was led by Philippine UN Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo and National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (Namria) Administrator Peter N. Tiangco. The Department of Foreign Affairs said the move demonstrates Manila’s commitment to a rulesbased maritime order and securing a peaceful South China Sea. The Philippines also explicitly engineered the claim to be
“without prejudice” to future boundary talks with neighbors. While Philippine-controlled features like the Kalayaan Island Group and Reed Bank sit mostly within the initial 200-mile zone, this new claim covers the deeper seabed located further out. The official area of submission covers the seabed and subsoil enclosed by the coordinates 108° 30’ E to 121° 00’ E longitude and 6° 05’ N to 14° 37’ N latitude. Based on these coordinates, the proposed extended continental shelf encompasses the deeper seabed surrounding Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island, as well as highly contested features such as China-held Mischief Reef, Taiwan-controlled Itu Aba, and various reefs occupied by Malaysia and Vietnam. The Department of Foreign Affairs has yet to respond to requests for comment confirming the exact overlap with these specific features. See “Seabed,” A9
I
PAG-IBIG FUNDS 500K HOMES FOR 4PH During his 2026 Sona,
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said more than 500,000 homes have been built or financed under the Expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program, with Pag-IBIG Fund releasing P517.45 billion in housing loans for nearly 380,000 units while expanding affordable financing options for Filipino families. Story on A2.
By Andrea E. San Juan
NFLATION management cannot rest on the shoulders of the central bank alone as it is a “shared national responsibility,” according to former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo. At the BSP and the Philippine Economic Society (PES) Knowledge Sharing Event (KSE) on Tuesday, the inaugural forum which brought together economists, policymakers and researchers, Guinigundo highlighted, among others, the importance of price stability alongside the respective roles that should be played by different sectors in fighting inflation. According to the former BSP deputy governor, price stability “ultimately requires” responsible fiscal policy, competitive markets, productive agriculture, reliable infrastructure, sound governance, responsible business leadership, and an informed citizenry. “Inflation management is there-
fore a shared national responsibility,” Guinigundo said. The former deputy governor emphasized that price stability is about protecting people. As central bankers, he said: “We devote enormous effort to controlling inflation.” Diving deeper into how inflation affects the different units of society, Guinigundo pointed out that inflation should not be tackled as “merely another macroeconomic variable.” “It is much more than that,” the former BSP deputy governor for the Monetary and Economics Sector pointed out. For one, he said inflation is “the mother stretching an already limited household budget.” “It is the worker discovering that today’s salary buys less than it did yesterday. It is the retiree whose pension loses purchasing power. It is the small entrepreneur struggling with rising costs,” Guinigundo said. Behind every inflation statistic, See “BSP,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 61.6750 n JAPAN 0.3765 n UK 81.9722 n HK 7.8662 n CHINA 9.1087 n SINGAPORE 47.7545 n AUSTRALIA 43.0060 n EU 70.2602 n KOREA 0.0424 n SAUDI ARABIA 16.4296 Source: BSP (July 29, 2026)