Top News

Longest bridge in Mindanao, now more than 50% complete

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced that the Panguil Bay Bridge project in Northern Mindanao is now over 50% complete. The Panguil  Bay Bridge is among the 119 infrastructure flagship projects under the Build, Build, Build program of President Rodrigo Duterte. In a statement, DPWH said the P7.37-billion project has achieved 51.4% completion to date despite the …

Read More »

BSP Assistant Governor Amenah Pangandaman named incoming DBM Secretary

Assistant Governor (AG) Amenah F. Pangandaman, who also serves as Chief of Staff to the Governor, Executive Offices Coordinator, and Concurrent Head of the Strategic Communication and Advocacy, has accepted the invitation of President-elect Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to serve as the incoming Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). “It is my honor to serve the Filipino people during this critical …

Read More »

PAGCOR, PCSO ink circular operationalizing fund allocations for Universal Health Care

Filipinos can now have more equitable access to quality and affordable healthcare services after the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) formally signed on May 30, 2022, a joint circular operationalizing their respective fund allocations for Universal Health Care (UHC). Said circular – which details the operational guidelines for both agencies to remit …

Read More »

President-elect Bongbong Marcos plans to revive the nuclear power plant

President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. discussed last May 23 with South Korea Ambassador Kim Inchul the possible revival of the 620-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant which was one of the pet projects of his father, Ferdinand Sr.  The mothballed nuclear plant cost some US$2.3billion to build and was abandoned nearly 40 years ago. The Bataan plant never got operational amidst …

Read More »

Holcim to build disaster-resilient homes

Holcim Philippines, a leading building solutions provider, has partnered with Build Change Philippines, an organization focused on building disaster-resilient homes in developing nations, to strengthen local structures against natural calamities. Holcim Philippines Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer Zoe Sibala and Build Change Philippines Country Director Arnel Capili sealed the partnership last May 11 to work on disaster-resilient housing  …

Read More »

BIR to continue audit of big property developers

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will continue to investigate big property developers after the agency received reports that they failed to remit the correct taxes to government. The BIR made the announcement following a directive from Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez to continue its tax review of real estate developers. Dominguez gave the BIR the authority to conduct the tax …

Read More »

Balisacan to “reinvigorate” PPPs under BBM

Incoming Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Chief Arsenio Balisacan said he plans to “reinvigorate” public-private partnership (PPP) projects under President-elect Bongbong Marcos’ administration. Balicasan said the President-elect believes the private sector plays a very strong role in economic development. Balisacan explained: “We should reinvigorate, reexamine and bring back PPPs. We’ll reach out to the private …

Read More »

BOT Law amended, IRR OK’d

To ensure that public-private partnerships (PPP) will not be disadvantageous to Filipinos, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) under Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua approved the amended implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law. Chua said the approval of IRR will ensure that project proponents applying for the BOT scheme are qualified to implement properly designed PPP …

Read More »

NCCA to decide on PLDT petition to declassify Cojuangco bldg as Important Cultural Property

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is expected to decide on the petition filed by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Inc. to remove the Ramon Cojuangco Building from the status as an Important Cultural Property (ICP). In its petition, PLDT said that it plans to “redevelop and transform [the building] into a modern, ecologically sustainable, and …

Read More »

Over 5k socialized homes for low wage earners financed by Pag-Ibig Fund

For the first four months of 2022, the Pag-ibig Fund has financed 5,411 socialized homes for minimum-wage and low-income members. From January to April 2022, socialized home loans make up 18 percent of the 29,310 units financed by the agency amounting to P2.35 billion out of the record-high P31.97 billion home loans released by the agency. The Pag-ibig Fund’s Affordable …

Read More »