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Economic indicators belie the claims of a downturn in business confidence as the twin impact of President Duterte’s brash remarks on US President Barack Obama prior to last week’s Asean summit in Laos and his issuance of Proclamation 55 imposing a state of national emergency in the aftermath of the Davao City bombing that killed 14 people.

Bribery and corruption remain pervasive in the Philippines and were cited by local companies as the “top economic crime” that they encountered in the past 24 months, a survey of the global auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) showed.

By Riza Lozada The country’s economic managers are considering a revamp of the Private-Public Partnership (PPP) program to jumpstart an infrastructure buildup that the Duterte administration believes to be the key to sustaining economic growth.

By Luis Leoncio  The Mergers and Acquisition Office (MAO) of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) is inclined to recommend the rejection of the P70-billion mega telecommunications deal among conglomerates San Miguel Corp. (SMC), Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Globe Telecom, as it would practically close the door to a new entrant in the telecommunications industry. 

In affirming its investment grade of ‘BBB-” on local telecom giant Globe Telecom Inc., international credit-rating firm Fitch Ratings Inc. said Globe will still have the edge over rival Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), with its higher average revenue per user (Arpu) postpaid subscribers. 

The Department of Energy (DOE), aggressively pursuing the updated Philippine Energy Plan that aims to increase the country’s power supply and source a substantial portion of it from nuclear energy, has taken the first concrete step toward possible nuclearization by holding talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 

Authorities continue to investigate the bombing attack in Davao City last Friday that killed 14 people, including children, and wounded 71 others and prompted President Duterte to place the country under a state of lawlessness that gave the military a bigger role in restoring order. 

By Riza Lozada  The government is reviving plans to use nuclear energy to address the country’s rising demand for electricity and has started taking steps to recommission the defunct Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), which has been mothballed for the past 30 years. 

The recent statement of Socio-economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia that the rising death toll in President Duterte’s war on illegal drugs was a “necessary evil for the greater good” was a reflection of the positive sentiments of the business sector on the campaign, in contrast to the indignation of human-rights groups. 

The convergence of favorable factors under the Duterte administration will allow the reform of the tax system, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said, as he described the current tax schedule as “crying out for reform.”