450 Pinoys in Israel war zone; govt orders full ops By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla
& Malou Talosig-Bartolome @maloutalosig
P SM PRIME WITH FIRE FIGHTERS (from left): Bureau of Fire Protection-National Capital Region Head Chief Superintendent Nahum Tarroza, Volunteer Fire Brigade of Pasay City Inc. President Ben Chua Ching Jr., Pasay City Congressman Tony Calixto, SM Supermalls’ President Steven Tan, and Volunteer Fire Brigade of Pasay City Inc.’s Dionisio See Siu Chun are seen at the Memorandum of Agreement Signing between SM Prime Holdings and the Volunteer Fire Brigade of Pasay City, and the Turnover of the Fire Tanker. The event took place at the SM Mall of Asia on October 6, 2023. SM SUPERMALLS
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
RESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Sunday announced all concerned government agencies have been mobilized to ensure the safety of Filipinos in Israel after it suffered surprise attacks from militant Hamas forces during the weekend. “The President has instructed the Department of Migrant Workers [DMW] and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration [OWWA] to locate and account for all overseas Filipino workers
[OFWs] and their families in Israel,” the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said in a statement.
450 Pinoys
THERE are around 450 Filipinos in south Israel and Gaza Strip where intense fighting is happening between the renewed war between Israeli forces and the Hamas group. Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Paul Raymund Cortez said based on the accounts of the Honorary Consul in southern Israel, the OFWs are safe. There are 150 Filipinos in Gaza Strip, most of them spouses of Palestinians. The DFA could not confirm reports on social media that Filipinos
and Thais were taken hostage at the border. Cortez said all the 1,500 Filipino agricultural students in southern Israel are all accounted for, dismissing rumors that one of the Filipino agricultural students was kidnapped by Hamas. Israeli Ambassador to Manila Ilan Fluss said Israel is in a state of war and they could not ascertain all people who have been taken as hostages, including foreigners. When asked if Israel can guarantee the safety of 150 Filipinos in Gaza, Ambassador Fluss could not give such a guarantee because it is a military operation. “This is a war against terrorism.
The Palestinian citizens and those who are not Hamas operatives, they are not our enemies. We recommend to Palestinian citizens and the others to get away from Hamas. Israel has always tried its best not to get people involved by operations. I think more than that, we cannot say more than that because it is a military operation,” Fluss said during a Zoom meeting. There are 50,000 OFWs in Israel and most of them are in Tel Aviv, Haifa and other northern parts of Israel. Cortez said the DFA has not upgraded the contingent alert status in Israel. Continued on A4
BusinessMirror
w
Monday, October 9, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 357
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 20 pages |
SEPT GIR HITS7-MONTH n
LOW ON DEBT PAYMENTS
T
By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas
HE Philippines’s gross international reserves (GIR) fell below $99 billion in endSeptember on a monthly basis as the state paid off some of its foreign currency debt, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). In its latest report, the BSP said the country’s GIR at the end of September stood at $98.7 billion, almost a billion dollars lower than the $99.6 billion recorded reserves in end-August. The country’s latest GIR level is the lowest in seven months or since the $98.216 billion recorded amount in February. “The month-on-month decrease in the GIR level reflected mainly the National Government’s [NG] payments of its foreign currency debt obligations and the downward adjustments in the value of
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ [BSP] gold holdings due to the decrease in the price of gold in the international market,” it said. Likewise, the country’s net international reserves, which measures the difference between its reserve assets and reserve liabilities, decreased by $800 million to $98.7 billion in September from $99.5 billion in August. Liabilities include short-term foreign debt and credit and loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). See “Sept,” A2
A PALESTINIAN man sits in the rubble of a building struck by an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City on Sunday, October 8, 2023 following Saturday’s unprecedented, multifront attack by the militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip. The Hamas fired thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land, and sea, killing hundreds and taking captives. Palestinian health officials, meanwhile, reported scores of deaths from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. AP PHOTO/FATIMA SHBAIR
Aussies cite robust trade, education ties with PHL By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
& Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
W
THEY’RE BACK Gilas Pilipinas arrives at the Naia Terminal 1 on Sunday, Oct. 8, flying home via PR 337 of Philippine Airlines with the gold medal in men’s basketball at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. The national squad beat Jordan, 70-60, to end the Philippines’s 61-year drought for gold. PHOTO FROM MIAA FB ACCOUNT
ITH growing optimism surrounding the countr y’s economic landscape, a senior trade and investment commissioner said Australia is deepening its trade, economic, and educational links with the Philippines. According to Christopher Lim, a senior trade and investment commissioner at the Australian Embassy in Manila, Austrade recognizes the tremendous potential for economic growth in the Philippines. “There’s never been a more exciting time to work on issues relating to the Philippines because we are very bullish about the prospects for Philippine economic growth, and correspondingly, we are also very focused and also very hopeful about increasing links between Austra-
lia and the Philippines in terms of trade, economic, and education ties,” he said in a media roundtable interview last Friday. Austrade is the Australian government’s trade, investment, and education promotion agency. From Austrade’s perspective, Lim said there has been a remarkable increase in the number of Australian companies venturing into the Philippines. “We have seen a huge uptick in the number of Australian companies coming into the Philippines, and these Australian companies range from agrifood, education institutions, mining firms, tech companies, and cybersecurity companies,” he said. In 2022, Lim said the bilateral trade relationship between the two countries had flourished. Notably, he said, the Philippines has become Australia’s 15th largest export partner, signaling room for further growth.
EL NIDO RESORTS LISTED ANEW AMONG ‘BEST’ IN THE WORLD By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror
E
L NIDO Resorts (Lagen, Miniloc, and Pangalusian) once more made it among The 50 Best Resorts in the World as voted by readers of popular international publication Conde Nast Traveler (CNT). This is the eighth consecutive year that the resorts group, operated by Ayala Hotels and Resorts Corp., made the list. This year, it was ranked 39th in the world. The list was topped by L’Horizon Resort & Spa in Palm Springs. El Nido Resorts was likewise ranked second among the Top 20 Resorts in Asia in the Readers’ Choice Awards, with a score of 98.65. It was followed by Shangri-La Boracay in third place (97.91), and Shangri-La Mactan was in 12th place (94.39). The
category was topped by The Ritz-Carlton, Langkawi. Three Philippine island destinations also landed among this year’s Top Islands in Asia: Boracay placed third with a score of 90.74, Palawan ranked sixth (89.71), and Siargao ranked 10th (87.37). The regional category was topped by Bali (91.08) and Koh Samui (91.07).
Contributor to tourism growth
OVER 600,000 readers voted in CNT’s various categories including The Best Hotels in the World, The Best Spas in the World, The Best Cities in the World, among others. In a news statement, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said, “This achievement reflects the hard work, dedication, and sustainable tourism See “El Nido,” A2
See “Aussies,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.6320 n JAPAN 0.3814 n UK 69.0684 n HK 7.2326 n CHINA 7.7440 n SINGAPORE 41.4401 n AUSTRALIA 36.0633 n EU 59.7524 n KOREA 0.0421 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.0998 Source: BSP (October 6, 2023)