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, March 14, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 150
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 24 pages |
n uesday
By Cai U. Ordinario
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@caiordinario
HE lack of insurance coverage of unemployed Filipinos, who were working mainly in the informal sector, may have caused them to suffer more during the pandemic and increased poverty nationwide, according to a local economist.
In a chapter in the “Labor Market Implications of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Philippines” book recently launched by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Ateneo de Manila University Associate Professor Geoffrey Ducanes said the pandemic reversed the gains of the past 15 years to cut unemployment in the country. During the lockdowns, Ducanes said, millions suffered because they had nowhere to turn to help them survive an average of 3 to 4.5 weeks of unemployment. Given this and to prepare for future crises, the government can consider giving these Filipinos insurance coverage during shorter periods of unemployment. “Outside of crisis situations such as the pandemic, the unemployment insurance would cover a period of between three and 4.5 weeks, equivalent, respectively, to the median and mean amount of time the textbook unemployed spend looking for work,” Ducanes said. “Many of those who lost employment have jobs in the informal sector and were thus unlikely to be members of the social security system.” Ducanes recommended that the government examine successful social insurance coverage in other countries in a bid to expand unemployment insurance for informal sector workers. This could also be accompanied by efforts to simplify and incentivize government registration for unregistered micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as “subsidizing contributions for informal sector workers with earnings below a certain threshold.” See “Insurance,” A2
HISTORIC FAILURE Vehicles are parked outside a Silicon Valley Bank branch in Wellesley, Massachusetts, on Saturday, March 11, 2023. Governments in the UK and the US took extraordinary steps to stop a potential banking crisis after the historic failure of Silicon Valley Bank, even as another major bank was shut down. The UK Treasury and the Bank of England announced early Monday that they had facilitated the sale of Silicon Valley Bank UK to HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, ensuring the security of £6.7 billion ($8.1 billion) of deposits. British officials worked throughout the weekend to find a buyer for the UK subsidiary of the California-based bank. Its collapse was the second-largest bank failure in history. US regulators also worked all weekend to try to find a buyer. Those efforts appeared to have failed Sunday, but US officials assured all depositors that they could access all their money quickly. AP/PETER MORGAN
House leader to Senate: Give Cha-cha a chance By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
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I T ING inter- c ha mber c ou r t e s y, Hou s e C om mittee on Constitutional Amendments Chairman Rufus Rodriguez on Monday said the Senate should not ignore the o ve r w he l m i n g s e nt i me nt of members of the House of Representatives for rewriting the Constitution’s economic provisions. Rodriguez made a statement in reaction to remarks by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri that it would be useless for senators to tackle Charter change since there would be no vote for it in his chamber. “The Senate cannot and should not ignore our initiative, which is an expression of the people’s consensus we gathered in our recent nationwide public hearings and consultations,” he said. He said 301 of the 314 House members manifested such consensus by voting for Resolution of Both Houses No. 6, which urges Congress to convene a constitutional convention to rewrite the Charter’s “restrictive” economic provisions. “Inter-chamber courtesy calls that the Senate tackle any measure passed by the House, especially if it is approved by an overwhelming vote and requires urgent attention, and vice versa,” Rodriguez said.
He added that Zubiri, who claims he is for Charter reform, should not be afraid of the result of the Senate vote on the matter. “Let the people know who are against and who are for reform that could result in more foreign companies investing or expanding their businesses in the country,” he added. Rodriguez also urged senators to take cognizance of the assessment of Fitch Solutions, a unit of credit rating and financial market research firm Fitch Ratings, that constitutional economic reform could improve the investment and economic climate in the country. According to Fitch Solutions, the present economic provisions of the Constitution have always been a “challenge” for foreign investors. “We need more foreign capital to create more jobs and income for our people, to reduce the number of unemployed among those with employable skills,” he said. He noted reports that the unemployment rate in the country rose to 4.8 percent in January this year from 4.3 percent in December last year. The figure translated to about 2.3 million jobless workers, many of whom were in the construction sector.
BIR ramps up drive vs fake transactions, fake receipts
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HE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is doubling its efforts on cracking down on fake transactions and fake receipts to curb tax leakages and increase the government’s revenue collections. In a statement, the BIR said it launched its new enforcement program dubbed Run After Fake Transaction (RAFT) program, akin to its existing program the Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program.
BIR said the program was launched by Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. recently during the national functional conference of the bureau’s legal group in Clark, Pampanga. “When we go against tax evaders, kasama niyo po ako sa pagtugis natin ng mga [I am with you in running after the] tax evader. Just let us know the difficulties that you are encountering and we will give See “BIR,” A2
HISTORY ALL AT ONCE Michelle Yeoh has won the Academy Award for best actress and made history all at once. The Malaysian-born actor became the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for best actress on Sunday night for her multifaceted performance in the multiversal Everything Everywhere All at Once. “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibility. This is proof that dreams dream big and dreams do come true,” she said. “And ladies, don't let anyone ever tell you you’re past your prime.” See story in Life, page B5. AP/CHRIS PIZZELLO
See “House,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 55.2030 n JAPAN 0.4120 n UK 66.7570 n HK 7.0351 n CHINA 7.9779 n SINGAPORE 40.9245 n AUSTRALIA 36.4174 n EU 58.8740 n KOREA 0.0418 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.7051 Source: BSP (March 13, 2023)