More funding for revenue agencies eyed A BOUT P150 million of the P255.5-billion funding supposedly allotted for flood control projects next year were proposed to be redirected to the Department of Finance’s (DOF) attached agencies. Next year’s proposed budget of the DOF has been increased to P37.91 billion from the initial P37.78 billion. The new proposed budget is 30.67 percent higher than the DOF’s budget of P29.011 billion this year. This comes after the Budget Amendments Review Sub-committee (BARSc) endorsed allotting more funding for the Bureaus of Internal
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DOF Assistant Secretary Euvimil Nina R. Asuncion DOF PHOTO
Revenue (BIR) and Customs (BOC), as well as for the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Enforcement Group. According to DOF Assistant Secretary Euvimil Nina R. Asuncion,
P50 million is proposed to go to the BIR’s Taxpayers’ Rights Program, including additional contact center personnel, data analytics and artificial intelligence tools. The BOC, meanwhile, will be given P50 million as part of its capital outlays. The Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Council’s Enforcement Group, which the DOF is part of, is also proposed to receive P35 million. Among the DOF’s attached agencies, the BIR will receive the largest share of the DOF’s proposed budget for next year, amounting to P19.154 billion, followed by the BOC with P6.908 billion.
The DOF said digitalization and modernization initiatives remain a high priority across all its attached agencies, with a total budget of P6.9 billion to transform processes, integrate systems and deliver faster and more efficient services. Meanwhile, 45 percent of the DOF’s proposed budget under the new general and automatic appropriations will go to personnel services, while 38 percent will be for maintenance and other operating expenses. About 17 percent will go to capital outlays and less than 1 percent will be allotted for financial expenses. Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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Thursday, September 25, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 347
P25.00 nationwide | 4 sections 30 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
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HE national government saw a much wider budget gap in August at P84.8 billion, with the deficit in the first eight months of the year also expanding to P869.2 billion. Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed the budget deficit stretched by 56.38 percent to P84.8 billion in August from P54.2 billion in the same month last year. The bigger shortfall in August was caused by the government’s lower revenue collection, down 8.75 percent to P352.5 billion from P386.3 billion due to the decline in non-tax revenues. Non-tax revenues plunged by 67.81 percent to P21.3 billion from P66.1 billion. “It is important to note that nontax revenues last year were boosted by one-off big remittances, making the year-on-year comparison higher than usual,” the Treasury said.
Deeper structural imbalance
JOHN PAOLO R. RIVERA, senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, See “Aug,” A2
A RIVER RUNS...STALLED An unfinished flood control project in Sto. Tomas, Pampanga, stands idle on Wednesday, September 24, 2025. The tarpaulin identifies it as part of the Flood Management Program—Construction of Flood Mitigation Structures and Drainage Systems—Construction of Flood Control Structures, Upstream Portion of Dalaquitan Bridge (Phase 2, Contract ID No. 24C00703). The P94.59-million project began on April 14, 2025, with a target completion of October 10, 2025, but work was suspended in July at just 5.5-percent progress. The stalled work adds to concerns over “ghost” flood control projects in Pampanga and neighboring provinces, where incomplete infrastructure leaves communities vulnerable to heavy rains and rising waters. NONOY LACZA
‘PHL MUST EMBRACE WEAKER PESO TO EXPORT SERVICES’ By Andrea E. San Juan
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@andreasanjuan
HE Philippines needs to be more accepting of a weaker peso to be able to export its services, according to an HSBC economist. “We think that the Philippine economy is strong when the peso moves from 55 to 50. We have to change that mindset. We are a competitive industry. We need to export our services abroad and for that to happen, we need to be more accepting of a weaker peso,” Aris Dacanay, HSBC Ase-
an economist said during the International IT-BPM Summit 2025 held Wednesday in Parañaque City. Comparing the Philippines with India, Dacanay explained that the Philippine IT-BPM industry, in the context of gross domestic product (GDP), only grew by 2 percent whereas for India, it grew by as much as 20 percent. “India was able to take market share away from the Philippines in the IT-BPM space,” the HSBC Economist said. See “PHL,” A2
Coco-based products seen to fetch $3B By Ada Pelonia
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@adapelonia
HE country’s earnings from coconut-based products could reach as high as $3 billion in 2026 on the back of an expected rebound in output, according to the United Coconut Association of the Philippines (Ucap). The industry group also noted that the 19-percent duties slapped by Washington on Philippine products would not dent coconut oil revenues, which account for the majority of coconut-based shipments, as the recent exemption of the tropical oil from President Trump’s sweeping tariffs places it in status quo. “For next year, we forecast a
higher production because coconut trees have recovered and there were no destructive typhoons [this year],” Ucap Chairman Marco Reyes told reporters on the sidelines of the World Coconut Congress in Pasay on Wednesday. Given this, he noted that the group expects earnings from coconut-based products next year to range from $2 billion to $3 billion. “[With] high price, high production [it could reach] $3 billion,” Reyes said. This year, the Ucap chairman projects revenues from coconut-based products to remain flat at $2.6 billion due to lower production. Meanwhile, Reyes urged the government to negotiate with its US counterpart for zero-rated tariffs
on all coconut products. “The fact that the US consumers have demand for coconuts, and they don’t have any coconut trees in the US. So, the balance of trade is that they need our coconuts,” he said. “We’re requesting the government to negotiate with the US government on [returning] the tariff for coconut products to zero.” Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the country’s earnings from coconutbased products surged to $1.67 billion in the first semester as supply constraints sent prices soaring. The value of coconut oil exports leaped by 51.1 percent to $1.39 billion in the first semester from $922 million a year ago, based on PSA data.
This led the tropical oil to top the product group among other coconut-based products in terms of export revenues, accounting for about 83 percent. Coconut oil prices have been on an upswing, driven by a supply crunch in major producing countries due to weather-related shocks and the spike in quotations for other vegetable oils, according to industry sources. Historical figures from the World Bank showed that the average price of coconut oil skyrocketed to a record $2,771 per metric ton (MT) in July. Last year, coconut oil earnings grew to $2.22 billion, which jumped by 85.4 percent from $1.18 billion in 2023, based on PSA data.
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 57.1000 n JAPAN 0.3870 n UK 77.2220 n HK 7.3428 n CHINA 8.0288 n SINGAPORE 44.5120 n AUSTRALIA 37.6689 n EU 67.4694 n KOREA 0.0410 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.2238 Source: BSP (September 24, 2025)