Philippines News

LOCAL tourism stakeholders and industry leaders have rallied support behind the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) newest slogan “Love the Philippines” following the fiasco over the DOT’s controversial ad campaign.

The Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu Inc. (HRRACI), Mandaue City Chamber of Commerce of Industry (MCCI), and Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) in separate statements expressed their support and confidence in the leadership of Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco in her efforts to rebrand the country’s tourism.

Cebu Mandaue Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries Inc. (CMFCCCI) and Cebu Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CFCCCI) also extended their support to Frasco.

More than 63 tourism officers across municipalities and cities in Cebu are backing Frasco while a handful of legislators expressed mixed reactions to the controversy that arose after the DOT launched its newest slogan on June 27, 2023 through an audio-visual presentation containing stock video of beautiful sceneries that were not taken in the country.

Support

“We stand behind Secretary Frasco in her efforts to rectify and hold accountable those who are responsible for this misstep. We trust that she and her team will be able to chart the direction of the country’s tourism industry, which is a vital sector in our nation’s economy,” MCCI president Kelie Ko said.

“Tourism should be an experience of genuine love, one that will make visitors want to return again and again. Love is a remarkable force, and it is our strongest asset when it comes to dominating the tourism industry,” HRRACI said.

“Love the Philippines is such a strong and powerful statement. Our country had (gone) through the unthinkable and we made it out unscathed. To ‘Love the Philippines’ is, but apt and timely in these very interesting times,” according to CMFCCC.

They urged the public to unite in supporting the DOT’s newest campaign as it promotes the country as a premier tourist destination.

They also urged the public to support Frasco as they believe that under her leadership, the country’s tourism will continue to grow.

Senate

Meanwhile, Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, Pia Cayetano, Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, Robin Padilla, Christopher “Bong” Go, Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Loren Legarda and Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian have all rallied behind Frasco.

The legislators lauded Frasco’s efforts in reviving Philippine tourism after the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We need to support the DOT and our tourism stakeholders even more this time, as we need to infuse into our country the needed billions of dollars brought in by tourists from all over the world. And we should refrain from damaging further our image as a rising global tourist destination,” Zubiri said in a statement.

However, Senator Nancy Binay called the tourism slogan “unsalvageable” and urged the DOT to revert to the old campaign tagline “It’s more fun in the Philippines.”

“The campaign has lost its redeeming value and has become unsalvageable—I hope the DOT is level-headed enough to accept this. We expect them to be agile and move forward from failure because we don’t want the slogan to become a national embarrassment,” Binay said in a statement.

SARI-SARI store owner Norecris Pulvera often receives worn-out bills from her elderly neighbors in Barangay Ibabao-Estancia, Mandaue City.

Feeling compassion for them, she just accepts their bills in exchange for the goods they want to buy.

Pulvera, 36, said she just keeps the old, non-crisp bills and does not use them as change for other customers.

However, she said she is straightforward to her younger customers.

“Kon mga bata, akong ingnun nga ‘dili ko modawat og gisi,’” she said on Friday, July 7, 2023.

(If my customers are young, I tell them, “I don’t accept torn bills.”)

Piso Caravan

Pulvera was among the people who exchanged their torn, dirty banknotes and mutilated coins for brand-new banknotes and coins during the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) Piso Caravan held at the Mandaue City Public Market in Barangay Mantuyong on Friday. The activity will end on Saturday, July 8.

The BSP is also holding its Piso Caravan in other places in Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Eastern Visayan in the two-day period.

Pulvera exchanged 233 pieces of banknotes ranging from P20 to P100, and coins amounting to a total of P6,675.25. She intends to use the exchanged money to purchase goods for her store.

The Piso Caravan aims to encourage the public to preserve the integrity of the local currency and promote digital finance, according to Dr. Gregorio Baccay III, head of the Economic Affairs Staff of the BSP-Central Visayas.

Baccay further explained that the program also seeks to establish partnerships with currency exchange centers.

“We will remove soiled money from circulation and replace it with new, clean currency. This program promotes the establishment of partnerships with currency exchange centers, such as pawnshops, money services businesses and big malls, who will collaborate with us,” Baccay said mostly in Cebuano.

He said once partnerships are established, the public can visit these centers to exchange their mutilated or old money.

The goal is to adopt a “stakeholders approach,” which involves participation from retail establishments, particularly those that deal with a significant amount of coins such as malls, according to Baccay.

Individuals who wish to exchange their damaged money must meet three requirements set by the BSP. First, the money should retain at least 60 percent of its original surface area. Second, it should include a portion with a facsimile signature. Lastly, the security thread should not have been intentionally removed.

The mutilated money collected by the BSP will be shredded.

Financial lessons

According to the BSP, its Piso Caravan also offers financial learning sessions on topics such as the BSP Clean Note Policy and Coin Recirculation Program, the 1,000-Piso Polymer Banknote, digital payments, and cyber hygiene practices.

The BSP said it is important that clean banknotes and coins are the ones in circulation because dirty banknotes are more difficult to authenticate, which can make it easier for counterfeiters to pass off fake bills.

The BSP also wants to ensure that the security features of its banknotes are always visible, so that people can be confident that they are genuine.

It also wants to prevent the spread of disease as dirty banknotes can harbor bacteria and other germs, which can be transferred to people who handle them.

CEBU Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia has urged the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD 7) to adopt the Dasig Sugbo card system for the cash distribution for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries.

Garcia proposed the initiative during a meeting with DSWD 7 Director Shalaine Marie Lucero and Assistant Regional Director Johnny Cantero at the Capitol on Thursday, July 6, 2023.

The 4Ps program provides conditional cash assistance to low-income families for child health, nutrition and education. Garcia observed, though, that these financial incentives were not used as expected, with some beneficiaries using it to buy alcoholic beverages or engage in gambling activities, reported Sugbo News, the Capitol’s online news portal.

The governor suggested to the DSWD 7 to consider replicating the Cebu Provincial Government’s Dasig Sugbo card system in which beneficiaries are issued QR-coded cards that can be used to redeem pre-approved items such as home materials and food supplies from the Capitol’s partner stores rather than distributing cash. (NWSSU intern Kyle Andrei Acuña)

  by Alessandra L'Abate, Anna Luisa Leonardi (Florence), Angela Ricciardi (Naples), Comiso - Italy editorial staff

 

Last Sunday, July 2, 2023, the annual Peace Ceremony was held at the Comiso Peace Pagoda (Sicily, Italy) by monks and nuns from all over the world of Nipponzan Myohoji, an order of Japanese Buddhists.

The

Ko Puanga tr kua ara ake ki te uru - e knapa mai ana ki te tihi o te maunga ttohea - e ka tanuku nei! E ka tanuku nei! Ahaha!
E kapo nei ki te whet, ki te marama, ki te ata i te rironga a tku raukura a te taniwha hikuroa nei a Ihakara Puketapu.

E huri ana te tirohanga ki ng tai whakarunga, ki Te Whanganui--Tara. Ki takahanga ki Wainu

New Delhi [India], July 7 (ANI): The fixtures for Round 2 of the AFC Women's Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024 have been announced by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The draw was conducted in May. India, ranked 60 in the world, will open their Group C campaign against London 2012 silver-medallists Japan (ranked 11) on October 26 at the JAR Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Three days later, the Blue Tigresses

To be able to determine the most appropriate technology to be used in the 2025 polls, the Commission on Elections said eight companies are set to demonstrate their internet voting systems to the poll body next week.

The Philippines is set to bring in another 150,000 metric tons of refined sugar by mid-September to address the supply shortfall and ensure stable prices of the sweetener.

The House of Representatives is targeting to deliberate “extensively” and pass the proposed P5.768-trillion national budget for next year before the end of 2023, Speaker Martin Romualdez said.

YouTube’s parent company Google on July 7 confirmed that other channels affiliated with religious leader Apollo Quiboloy have been terminated.

The demand for chicken and eggs further dropped amid the spike in retail prices of rice as consumers are forced to prioritize procuring the staple instead of meat products, United Broiler Raisers Association chairman and Philippine Egg Board chairman Gregorio San Diego said.

The Office of the Vice President under Sara Duterte has received P233.7 million more than the original allocation of P713.4 billion under the General Appropriations Act of 2022.

Even with the recantation of testimonies of all the accused gunmen in the so-called Pamplona massacre, the Philippine National Police maintained it has strong evidence against the suspects in the attack last March that killed then Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo and nine other people.

Oil companies will implement mixed adjustments in pump prices next week, with a slight increase seen for diesel and kerosene while another round of rollback is expected for gasoline.

Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco is keeping her post despite the new tourism campaign mess, as she continues to enjoy the trust and confidence of President Marcos.

As active and retired military and uniformed personnel may be made to contribute part of their income to help stave off a possible “fiscal collapse,” lawmakers should do their share by shunning corrupt practices like getting kickbacks from government projects, according to Baguio City Mayor and retired police general Benjamin Magalong.

Yogyakarta [Indonesia], July 7 (ANI): India announced an 18-member Indian team which will compete in the Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2023, to be held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from July 7 to 16. The mixed team events will take place between July 7 and July 11, and the individual competitions will be held from July 12 to July 16, as per Olympics.com. For the mixed team event, 14 teams are divided into four groups.

AN ECONOMIST expects the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to hike borrowing costs by at least one more time this year.

“Despite the current outlook for inflation, it might be premature to conclude that the hiking cycle is over. One or two more rate hikes are still possible for the rest of the year depending on how the foreign exchange market will react in case the Fed (the US Federal Reserve System) hikes again,” said BPI lead economist Emilio Neri Jr. in a statement Wednesday, July 5, 2023.

“So far, the differential between the US and Philippine policy rates is 100 bps (basis points). This can narrow further to 50 bps if the BSP doesn’t hike. The BSP may hike again if the foreign exchange market becomes volatile given the narrower interest rate differential,” he added.

The BSP decided to keep its key interest rate at 6.25 percent on June 22 as inflation has eased. The central bank hiked policy rates by 425 bps from May 2022 to March 2023 to tame inflation.

June inflation eased to 5.4 percent from 6.1 percent in May, settling near the lower end of the BSP’s forecast range of 5.3 to 6.1 percent for the month.

Year-to-date inflation stands at 7.2 percent, still far from the government’s average inflation rate target of two to four percent for the year.

Pause

On the other hand, the US Federal Reserve last month paused its tightening cycle after hiking rates for 10 straight meetings by a total of 500 bps to a range between five percent and 5.25 percent, trying to smother the worst inflation in decades.

On Wednesday, July 5, Fed officials said it will likely raise interest rates yet again this year to defeat inflation. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank has “a long way to go” to bring inflation back to the Fed’s two percent goal.

US inflation in May was at four percent.

Neri added it is even more premature to expect rate cuts this year given the conditions abroad.

“With the Fed still keeping its hawkish stance, it might be difficult to cut rates while minimizing the impact on the currency,” he said.

Cebu’s business community has been hoping for interest rates to go down as it will bring about robust economic activities, higher purchasing power and increased consumption, and increased confidence for business expansions.

“Businesses will likely expand their operations and borrow from banks or raise funds from the capital market given the improving interest rate environment,” said Cebu Bankers Club president Chester Go in a previous interview.

The BSP’s new governor, Eli Remolona, said in reports that the Monetary Board will likely consider cutting the interest rates within the year should inflation further drop to four percent, the upper end of the government’s target.

Waived fees

Meanwhile, the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) announced that it has waived the collection of online bank transfer fees for small transactions.

The fee waiver would apply to InstaPay transfers of up to P1,000 and will take effect for a limited time, from July 5 to Sept. 30. This will allow clients to conveniently transfer funds to other bank accounts, split bills with friends or settle payments for just about any transaction.

BPI is one of the first banks to drop InstaPay interbank transfer fees after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas made a proposal earlier this year to remove fees for small-value online transactions.

The initiative is also part of BPI’s customer obsession strategy and broader plan to address the financial inclusion gap in the country.

Germany risks facing a prolonged recession, economists have warned  

German industrial production unexpectedly fell in May, raising fears of a prolonged downturn in the EU's top economy, data from the federal statistics agency Destatis showed on Friday.

Output slipped by 0.2% compared to the previous mont

With the Philippines having slow and the second most costly Internet in Southeast Asia, as well as low Internet penetration, three major business groups have backed a multi-stakeholder petition for the Senate to fast-track approval of the Open Access bill, and for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to include it as a priority legislation in his next State of the Nation Address.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), and Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport) were among the 10 organizations to sign a joint statement declaring “full support for the immediate enactment of the proposed Open Access in Internet Services Act” or OAIS Act which, they say, will enable Internet network operators to deploy broadband infrastructure faster and at less cost, hastening the digital inclusion of more Filipinos.

The joint statement was signed on July 5, 2023 in Makati City by leaders from 10 groups coming from the industry and financial sectors and civil society.

Sen. Raffy Tulfo, author of Senate Bill 1845, said the Philippines has “the second most expensive (Internet) among Asean members despite being slow and less accessible, especially in the countryside.”

Tulfo said access to the Internets enables users to connect with friends and family, have access to information and conduct e-commerce.

Key reforms

The OAIS bill contains two key reforms that will address the legal obstacles and outdated laws that put up high barriers to entry and perpetuate a costly and inefficient way of installing broadband infrastructure.

One of these reforms seeks to lower the barriers and cost to market entry of Internet network operators by simplifying the registration and qualification process for providers.

The other aims to make broadband network deployment faster and more efficient by promoting infrastructure sharing, and streamlining the approval process for permits to install broadband infrastructure.

In Cebu, Charles Kenneth Co, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “If open access is about having a common or universal internet line shared by various companies, this can have advantages in lessening their capital outlay, especially in far-flung areas where there may not be enough user base to justify more than one company investing in the cabling. Hopefully this bill will enable wider Internet access for all Filipinos.”

Petition

The petitioners stated that the Open Access bill “will address the legal obstacles and binding constraints which have long stifled the growth of the Philippines’ Internet industry” in a world increasingly reliant on connectivity to function and advance.

“Poor and unreliable access and unaffordable Internet services persist,” according to the statement. It warns that not addressing the major challenges in Internet access, quality and affordability will lead to digital exclusion, with steep consequences in terms of attempts to improve education, finance, e-governance, e-commerce and health in the country.

Citing the National ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Household Survey in 2019, the statement said only 47 percent of Filipinos were found using the Internet and only 18 percent of households were subscribed to the Internet when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

At the height of mobility restrictions, an education department survey revealed that 52 percent of public schools and 83 percent of their enrollees were unable to go online for classes.

The groups also voiced alarm about the growing broadband infrastructure gap, with remote rural areas the most disadvantaged.

Mobile Internet poor

In the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), World Data Lab found that this year, the Philippines has the second highest number of “mobile Internet poor” who find mobile data unaffordable, while data from the Alliance for Affordable Internet had the Philippines recording the second lowest affordability score in the region in 2021.

Moreover, Philippine mobile broadband was about 40 percent slower than the median speed of its Asean peers, according to Ookla data for March 2023, although Philippine fixed or wired broadband was doing slightly better.

“Moving forward, the digital divide threatens to undermine our economic growth, and must be addressed for the government’s push for e-governance to truly succeed,” the statement of support initiated by Better Internet PH declared.

Digital divide

Better Internet PH lead advocate Mary Grace Mirandilla-Santos in her presentation called on the Senate’s science and technology committee to deliberate on and approve the Open Access bills and the National Economic and Development Authority to include Open Access as a priority legislation of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council.

Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Jr., who signed the joint statement on behalf of Ecop, PCCI and Philexport, observed in his message how the widening digital divide “deprives Filipinos of equal opportunities.”

He added: “Every Filipino must be given the opportunity to participate in the digital environment.”

Joining the business groups and Better Internet PH in signing the manifesto were the Internet Society Philippines Chapter, Fintech Alliance.PH, Philippine Cable Television Association Inc., National ICT Confederation of the Philippines, Foundation for Media Alternatives, and Democracy.Net.PH.

These groups stressed that open access to the Internet is a fundamental right of all Filipinos regardless of where they live.

The Senate S&T Committee started holding public hearings on digital connectivity and cybersecurity bills, including Open Access, last month. (PHILEXPORT, CTL, KOC)