MANILA, July 6, 2011—Prospects for the Philippine economy remain favorable in 2011 as investments, private consumption and the services sector are expected to strengthen. The challenge now is sustaining the momentum of reform for achieving inclusive or broad-based growth that benefits the poor.

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Usually emotionally agitated by the sight of families in squatter areas having numerous children, these well-intentioned “social engineers” propose to limit the number per children per fertile woman to two. That’s the typical knee-jerk reaction that has not been subjected to a more thorough analysis.

Villegas also correctly identifies the causes of poverty as (including) misguided economic policies and widespread corruption in the public and private sector.  I highly recommend his article entitled, “The Folly of Stopping at Two.”

The World Bank has suggested two strategies to make the poor feel the benefits of a rising economy. The first is to increase income-generating opportunities for the poor. This may be done by an aggressive effort to attract more businesses, which will open more jobs for the poor.

The foreign lender said enticing more investors would require improving the investment climate and spending more on infrastructure.

The other strategy is to improve human capital. Training Filipinos to meet the labor requirements of investors would help reduce unemployment and, therefore, poverty.  Read the rest of the story here.

“Our administration is eager to rebuild this nation with you. We are eager to show the world what the Filipino can do,” President Aquino told movers of the local car industry. The President was guest speaker at the 3rd Philippine International Motor Show organized by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) at the World Trade Center in Pasay City (Metro Manila).  Read the rest of the story here…

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., the Philippines biggest media conglomerate, posted an all time high profit of P2.27 billion ($50.6 million) in the first six months of the year.

In a disclosure issued today, the company reported that the earnings in the first half is 179 percent more than the net income posted during the same period last year.

“At this level, it looks like the P3 billion ($66.8 million) net income (for the whole year of 2010) is within reach,” ABS-CBN chief financial officer Rolando Valdueza said.  Read the rest of the story here.

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The government borrowed on net basis P4.5 trillion ($100.2 billion) worth of funds from foreign and domestic creditors in May, 2.7 percent higher than the previous month, the Bureau of Treasury said today.

Of the total debt stock, 43 percent is owed to foreign creditors and 57 percent to domestic creditors.

National Treasurer Roberto Tan said the erosion of the value of the peso against the US dollar pushed foreign debt to increase 4. 3 percent on a month-on-month basis to P1.97 trillion ($43.9 billion). Read the rest of the story here.

Currently, NFA has been subsidizing rice by selling the commodity at a lower price. When the country’s new government assumed office late June, it discovered the over importation of rice during the previous administration.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III disclosed in his first State of the Nation address that tons of rice has been rotting in warehouses.  Read the rest of the story here.

MANILA, Philippines—The United States is set to enter into a compact with the Philippines granting the Aquino government some $434 million (P20 billion) in aid, the US Embassy said yesterday.

This is the first foreign assistance program granted by the United States during President Aquino’s term.

“This marks a vote of confidence in the Aquino administration and its commitment to confront corruption,” US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. said in a statement.  Read the rest of the story…

The Philippine Star also covers the story here.

It appears to be a lose lose situation, as these things usually are.  It boils down to either increasing the burden on train riders by a small amount, or to increasing the burden on everyone by a much smaller amount.  Though each individual suffers less under the second option, the long term effects on the economy of Manila, as in any such case, could be worse than the first option.  Law makers will have to balance the immediate needs and financial capacity of train commuters versus the overall capacity for increased taxes in the community.  Manila Times reports:

A MILITANT youth group launched a signature drive and petition asking the Aquino government not to implement the looming fare hike on the three mass based railway system in the country. The signature drive and petition, which is located at the Cubao Metro Rail Transit (MRT) station, in some Light Rail Transit (LRT) and MRT stations, including North Avenue in Quezon City started at 8 a.m.  Read the whole story…

While the increase in costs will be an extra burden on commuters, an increase in taxes would be an increase on the community in general.

New fares for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) line on EDSA will be announced in a month, Transportation Undersecretary Dante M. Velasco yesterday said.

“The operation of the train line, which carries close to half a million passengers every day, is heavily subsidized … For sure there will be [a] fare hike,” Mr. Velasco said.

“The operational costs are getting bigger and bigger and subsidies are growing. Subsidies have to be reduced.”
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