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Latest in BusinessWith one eye on her baby in a pushchair, Minae Kamata operates an arcade machine in a Tokyo suburb, manipulating a claw to grab not a stuffed toy but a pack of toilet paper. As inflation weighs on Japanese households, huge arcades on the outskirts of major cities are installing claw machines…
Strong investment in AI infrastructure is keeping global growth at around 3%, yielding major benefits for many Asian economies that supply the hardware, such as Thailand, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday. The artificial intelligence investment boom…
The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is mandated by law to contribute to approximately 14 government agencies and programs, including PhilHealth, the Commission on Higher Education, the Philippine Sports Commission, the Dangerous Drugs Board, and the Department of Energy. And on top of…
The Department of Health (DOH) and the National Nutrition Council (NNC) are pushing for higher excise taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages and for food manufacturers to reformulate their products to reduce sugar content, while making clear they are not targeting sugar farmers or seeking to eliminate…
The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has coordinated with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and online payment platforms to automatically flag and report suspicious single transactions above a threshold amount sent to the same individual during election periods. This is new mechanism designed…
Cotabato City’s five years of steady economic growth and improving reputation with both the national and international community are more than strong enough to withstand one day of election-related violence, and the city will recover quickly, Mayor Mohammad Ali “Bruce” Matabalao said Monday.…
Ninety-eight percent of Filipino workers and their employers are in micro, small, and medium enterprises rather than large corporations, yet labor inspection and compliance resources of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) have historically been concentrated on big companies, a mismatch…
The Marcos administration’s economic team is systematically undercounting agriculture’s contribution to the Philippine economy by ignoring food processing and manufacturing, former Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel “Manny” Piñol said Wednesday. Piñol claimed that this error that makes the Philippine…
The Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) did not bring down rice prices as promised, former Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel “Manny” Piñol said Wednesday. In fact, Piñol said it drove them higher, while simultaneously killing the livelihoods of Filipino rice farmers by surrendering the country’s rice…
The proposed 2027 national budget cuts funding for school buildings by 64%, slashes the school-based feeding program by 55%, reduces textbooks and instructional materials by 66%, and completely zeroes out the human resources for health program—all while allocating ₱58 billion in discretionary…
The ongoing political war between the Marcos and Duterte camps has consumed all governance energy that should have gone to economic reform, policy-making, and investment promotion—and the economy is now paying the price, Caloocan City 2nd District Rep. Edgar “Egay” Erice warned Tuesday. Erice made…
The Department of Migrant Workers’ (DMW) budget has more than doubled from ₱4.3 billion when it was established in 2023 to ₱10 billion in 2026, after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. added ₱3 billion to the agency’s Aksyon Fund this year on top of ₱2 billion already allocated under the 2026 General…
Transport workers will continue to benefit from the fuel subsidy under the Uplift framework, ongoing service contracting, and ₱176 million for the Public Transport Modernization Program under the Marcos administration’s proposed 2027 national budget, Budget Secretary Kim Robert De Leon said…
The Marcos administration’s proposed 2027 national budget grows the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) allocation by 12.66% from the current year, with major provisions covering rice programs, irrigation, farm-to-market roads, and crop insurance for 2.3 million small farmers and fisherfolk, Budget…
The Marcos administration’s proposed 2027 national budget allocates ₱51.6 billion for the social pension of indigent senior citizens and ₱3.4 billion for the Expanded Centenarians Act, which now provides financial assistance to seniors reaching the milestone ages of 80, 85, 90, 95, and 100, not…
The day’s most important stories in the Philippines and the world, in one five-minute read. Delivered at 6 AM, Monday to Saturday.