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by Gia Catimbang and Hananeel Bordey  The Department of Agriculture (DA) plans to shift focus on the agriculture sector to agribusiness to adapt to a business world that is fast advancing due to technology, Agriculture Undersecretary Evelyn Laviña said. 

President Duterte has signed the bill that would provide free tuition in state universities and colleges (SUCs) into law last Friday but the government would not offer free tertiary education until next year. 

Not only economic growth should be the focus of the integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members but also poverty and income inequality, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) President Gilberto Llanto said. 

It all started with a leisure trip for gold in Manila for South Korean real-estate magnate Lee Shin-Kun, and now, he owns Donggwang Clark Corp. (DCC) which is considered one of South Korea’s largest property developers. The company is about half into the biggest foreign property project in the country, if not Southeast Asia, called Clark Sunvalley Resorts and Country Club, …

The Philippines and the Czech Republic signed last week a new economic cooperation agreement that is expected to further enhance relations between the two countries. 

By Luis Leoncio  Giant electricity distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has “sweetheart” deals with seven power plant affiliates for the supply of some 90 percent of its power supply requirements in violation of anti-trust provisions of the Electric Power Industrty Reform Act (EPIRA). 

Trade group Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport) had sought a reset of tariff cases with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) through an amnesty program since these pending cases are now sources of graft. 

The Department of Finance (DOF) wanted the eight percent gross receipts tax (GRT) on self-employed and professionals as an option and not a mandated scheme for income tax payments as stated in the House of Representatives’ version of the tax reform program.

By Gia Catimbang  The status of the economy during the first year of President Duterte lacks a ‘silver lining’ in ‘every viewable angle’, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said at the recent Kapihan sa Manila Hotel forum last July 3. 

There is no worry in the peso value despite its nearly 11-year low close to a greenback last Thursday when it finished at 50.67 per $1 from 50.60 a day ago and already near its 50.73 record close on Sept.1, 2006, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said.