BusinessWeek National

02/09/2024

02/09/2024

BusinessWeek National Feature (September 2, 2024)

02/09/2024

BusinessWeek National Feature (September 2, 2024)

02/09/2024

BusinessWeek National Feature (September 2, 2024)

01/09/2024

31/08/2024

BusinessWeek National Feature (August 31, 2024)

30/08/2024

BusinessWeek National Feature (August 30, 2024)

30/08/2024

BusinessWeek National Feature (August 30, 2024)

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30/08/2024

BusinessWeek National Feature (August 30, 2024)

30/08/2024

BusinessWeek National Feature(August 30, 2024)

29/08/2024

28/08/2024

BusinessWeek National Feature (August 28, 2024)

28/08/2024

VP Sara Refuses to Defend 2025 Budget Proposal


MANILA – Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday refused to defend her office’s proposed budget for 2025 before the House of Representatives’ appropriations committee.

“I would like to forgo the opportunity to defend the budget in a question-and-answer format. I will leave it up to the House to decide on the budget submitted,” Duterte said during the House hearing on the 2025 budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) amounting to PHP2.037 billion.

Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo, senior vice chair of the committee, stressed that the interpellation is an important component of the budgetary process of Congress, noting that there were 17 lawmakers on the list of interpellators.

“The General Appropriations Act is arguably the most important piece of legislation every year,” Quimbo said.

Duterte refused to answer questions about confidential funds allocated to the OVP in previous years, asserting that she yields the opportunity to defend the budget of her office.

Nonetheless, she addressed the issues that were “germane to the use of public funds” in her opening speech.

On the issue of security personnel detailed to the OVP, Duterte clarified that the number of security personnel is not determined by her office, noting that there were legal issuances made by the Department of National Defense (DND), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Police Commission (Napolcom) for the creation of the AFP-Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group and the PNP Vice Presidential Protection Division.

“We are mere recipients of the security personnel detailed to the office. To date, there are no more PNP personnel with the OVP,” she said.

The Vice President’s security is now being provided by 337 officers from the AFP following the recall of 75 from the PNP.

She likewise assured full cooperation with the ongoing review by the Commission on Audit (COA) on the use of confidential funds.

“We have received audit actions regarding the confidential funds of the OVP. We have submitted our responses, and we assure our full cooperation with the ongoing audit,” Duterte said.

Duterte questioned why issues were raised about the OVP’s ability to “efficiently utilize” its funds in December 2022, considering that government agencies were usually criticized for having low utilization budget rates.

Duterte was pertaining to reports that the OVP spent its PHP125 million worth confidential funds in 11 days in 2022.

“I am, however, bewildered as to the issues being propagated on the fact that we were able to efficiently utilize funds given to the OVP in December 2022, considering that we, in the government, usually disburse millions, if not billions of pesos, in a single day. And what makes it even more perplexing is that government agencies are often criticized for low budget utilization rates. For this proposal, as an example, we were even required to explain the low utilization or disbursement rates and present a catch-up plan for such,” she said.

Regarding the children’s book “Isang Kaibigan” (A Friend) that she authored, Duterte said the inclusion of her name and image on the About the Author page is a common practice and was not a political move.

“The projected recipients of the book are elementary students and Grade 7 learners. This belies any insinuation of political motives as they will not even be eligible to vote come 2028,” she said.

The House appropriations panel approved Zambales 1st District Rep. Jefferson Khonghun’s motion to defer the deliberations on the OVP budget.

The next hearing is scheduled on Sept. 10.

The committee deliberated on the OVP’s proposed budget for approximately five hours, which was a significant departure from the swift approval within a matter of minutes in previous years due to parliamentary courtesy. (PNA)

28/08/2024

PH and Cambodian Foreign Ministers Aim for Boost in Trade and Tourism

MANILA – The Philippine and Cambodian governments on Tuesday agreed to further enhance bilateral cooperation, especially on ways to improve the states’ two-way trade and tourism.

The affirmation was made during the visit of Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Chenda Sophea to Manila to co-chair the 4th Philippines-Cambodia Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC).

“During the JCBC, the two foreign ministers took note of the deepening of bilateral relations between the Philippines and Cambodia and encouraged the continuing exchanges and interactions of high-level officials, as well as aiming for higher bilateral trade and tourism flows,” the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

The two ministers agreed to strengthen ties on defense and security, combating transnational crime, culture, and sports, while deepening engagements on health, environment, and energy.

In addition, Manalo and Sophea exchanged views on pressing regional and international issues, such as the situation in the South China Sea, Myanmar and Gaza.

Both ministers reaffirmed their commitment to advancing promotion of peace and stability in the region.

“I am optimistic that the strengthening of our bilateral relations will benefit our peoples and the rest of the region. I reaffirm the Philippines’ commitment to remain a steadfast partner of Cambodia and to work closely to promote peace and prosperity in the region,” Manalo said.

According to the DFA, the two states are expected to sign an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation this year.

The Southeast Asian neighbors are expediting the conclusion of agreements on agriculture, labor, technical and vocational education, and the prevention of looting and illicit trafficking of cultural artifacts.

This is the first visit of Sophea to the Philippines and his first official bilateral visit to another ASEAN member state.

Prior to the discussions between the ministers, DFA Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs Ma. Theresa Lazaro co-chaired the Senior Officials’ Meeting of the JCBC with Secretary of State Ung Rachana of the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The JCBC was established in August 2000 as the formal mechanism between the Philippines and Cambodia to discuss bilateral areas of cooperation and was last held in December 2021. (PNA)

26/08/2024

BusinessWeek National Feature (August 26, 2024)

26/08/2024

BusinessWeek National Feature (August 26, 2024)
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