Business

The country’s economic growth is projected to return to 6.5% by end of 2022, only to slightly fall back to 6.3% in 2023 as a result of increased economic activity due to election spending, according to the latest World Economic Outlook of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  This IMF estimate for the Philippines is higher than the 5.3% average growth …

SM Foundation (SMFI) is inviting incoming college freshmen to apply for the SM College Scholarship program for School Year 2022-2023.  The SM Scholarship Program started from the vision of the late SM patriarch, Henry “Tatang” Sy, Sr. He believed that if you send one child from an economically challenged family to college, that child would have more opportunities to have …

The heightened implementation of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)’s digitalization transformation (DX) programs, complemented by its growing workforce of young and skilled professionals under the Duterte administration, enabled the agency to steadily improve its collection performance and broaden the taxpayer base in 2021.  BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay reported that 4.63 million business taxpayers were registered last year despite the …

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) recently signed new memorandums of agreement with two of its rehabilitation partners to continuously heighten the public’s awareness on the state-run gaming firm’s responsible gaming program.  PAGCOR formally renewed its ties with the Bridges of Hope and the Life Change Recovery Center on 7 April 2022 to thwart the ill-effects of uncontrolled gambling …

As part of the 2022 Earth Day Celebration, Manila Water, together with its partner agencies, kicked off a 2-day environmental event with a theme, “Saving the Earth: Securing Water for the Future”.  Manila Water was joined by its partner organizations Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), National Water and Resources Board (NWRB), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), …

MREIT, Inc., the REIT company of the country’s largest office landlord Megaworld, declared dividends of P0.243 per share to its shareholders based on its income for the first quarter of 2022.  The cash dividends will be payable on May 31, 2022 to stockholders on record as of May 10, 2022.  MREIT’s dividend policy contemplates quarterly distribution of dividends.  Reflecting the …

Emperador Inc. – the largest global brandy company owning the world’s iconic and best-selling brandy, Emperador Brandy – recorded a normalized net profit of P10.8 billion in 2021, reflecting a robust 35% increase from 2020’s net profit of P8 billion. Normalized net profit to owners went up by 34% year-on-year to P10.6 billion last year. Revenues rose by 6% to …

Rediscover travel, rediscover the Philippines! Megaworld Hotels and Resorts (MHR), the country’s largest 100% homegrown hospitality chain makes the comeback of leisure and business trips for both local and international travelers even more heartfelt and exciting in partnership with the Department of Tourism UK through its MEGA European Familiarization Tour 2022 held at Savoy Hotel Manila in Newport City Pasay.  …

Two years into the pandemic, more and more people, especially those starting out in their careers or building their respective families, have fully realized the importance of health care coverage. As part of the #HealthIsTheNewWealth campaign, Metrobank teams up with its insurance affiliate AXA Philippines to offer AXA Health Care Access (HCA), a comprehensive and affordable health care plan that …

As day-to-day realities changes at pandemic’s end, so do many risks The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) revealed that there was a 12.9% spike in fire incidents from January to February compared to the same period last year. In numbers, that’s 2,103 fire incidents on the first two months of the year compared to 1,863 last year. The increase in …