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Local business and government executives urged China to do more in terms of im­proving economic ties with the Philippines after President Duterte’s state visit to the Asian giant.

By Riza Lozada Japan’s giant trading hous­es or sogo shoshas are again investing big in the Philippines in response to the invitation of President Duterte during his recent three-day official visit to Ja­pan.

The country’s biggest corporations and state-owned firms can now choose where to buy their electricity after the Supreme Court (SC) junked the petition of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) against the implementation of the retail competition and open access (RCOA), a provision of the Electricity Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).

By Luis Leoncio If the economic managers who are under the Nation­al Economic and Devel­opment Authority (Neda) board would have their way, the P125-a-day across-the-board wage increase being sought in Congress is out of the question this year, and perhaps in the years to come.

A think tank has questioned the meth­odology of the Philippine Statistics Au­thority (PSA), which reported last week that the country’s poverty rate declined to 21.6 percent in 2015 compared to 25.2 percent in 2012.

By Luis Leoncio The supposed rift between the European Union and President Duterte over the conduct of the war on drugs notwithstanding, 14 ambassadors representing the member-countries of the European Union (EU) have expressed their continued support for the Duterte administration’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda and bared plans to invest more in the Philippines, particularly in infrastructure, energy and civil security, …

The existence of a “business-friendly” socioeconomic agenda that underlines its readiness and capability to drastically reduce poverty and lift the economy to high middle-income status in six years’ time provides investors with the right atmosphere to bring in their capital to the country , Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.

After being bypassed by the powerful Commission on Appointments (COA), Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade’s reappointment faces heavy opposition, mainly as a result of his failure to address the traffic problem while waiting for Congress to decide on the proposed emergency powers for President Duterte.

Invoking the “best interest” of the Philippines, and declaring that Filipinos “are not ready to accept,” President Duterte, upon arriving in Davao City late Friday evening from his state visit to China, backpedaled on his declaration in the Chinese capital to sever military and economic ties with the United States.

By Luis Leoncio A Chinese state-owned metal producer is expected to set off the stream of new Chinese investments in the Philippines with a $700-million project that is part of the $13.5-billion commitments obtained during President Duterte’s recent four-day state visit to China.