Day: May 4, 2023

Zamboanga Peninsula has logged a 97.4 percent employment rate for the past four months this year, the region’s Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-9) said Thursday. Albert Gutib, DOLE-9 director, said the prevailing employment rate is higher by 2.4 percent compared to the same period last year at 95 percent, based on the labor force survey as of last month. In terms of individual employment, over 1.6 million have been employed from January to April this year, higher than the 1.4 million recorded in the same period in 2022. ‘The reopening of the economy of private businesses due to the easing of (pandemic restrictions is the major contributory factor to the increase of employment rate,’ Gutib said. Another contributory factor, he said, was the assistance extended by the government in terms of emergency employment and livelihood assistance on the part of DOLE. Likewise, he said the implementation of infrastructure projects by the local government units also contributed to the employment rate increase. He noted that the unemployment rate decreased to 2.6 or 44,159 this year from 5.0 percent or 77,610 in 2022. For the past four months, however, he said that the underemployment rate has increased to 19.8 from 18.7 percent for the same period last year. Underemployment refers to a situation in which individuals are forced to work in low-paying or low-skill jobs. Meanwhile, Gutib said the possibility of a new wage order for the Zamboanga Peninsula may be remote at this time of the year, considering the existing wage order has not yet reached its one-year validity. Gutib said that under the guidelines a wage order cannot be changed or altered within one year. ‘The existing wage order was approved on June 25, 2022, and was implemented in two tranches. The last or second of which was implemented last December 2022,’ he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Headline inflation likely slowed to 7 percent in April as some food prices started moderating, according to an economist. “Some food prices already started to ease recently on better weather conditions that led to some increase in supply that helps in lowering food prices, after some storm damage in the latter part of 2022 up to early 2023, especially the shear line that hit some parts of the Visayas and Mindanao,” RCBC chief economist Michael Ricafort told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday. He attributed the lower prices of food to the limited importation of sugar and onions, the one-year extension of the reduced import tariffs on pork, rice, corn, coal, among others, as well other non-monetary measures to help improve local supply. Ricafort’s forecast for the month was lower than the 7.6 percent inflation recorded in March. It is, however, still higher than the government’s 2 to 4 percent target band. While inflation is expected to have cooled down, Ricafort said offsetting risk factors that could still lead to some pick up in prices include higher rice prices, higher electricity and water rates, and higher pork prices due to the African swine fever (ASF). He said El Niño, which will likely hit the country in the latter part of the year until early next year, could also reduce agricultural production and supplies that could lead to some pick up in prices and overall inflation. Ricafort, however, noted that inflation could have already reached the peak in the first quarter of the year and could start to ease significantly in the second half of 2023 due to higher base effects. “The anniversary of the local wage hikes, transport hikes, and second-round inflation effects starting June-July 2023 would quantitatively lead to further year-on-year deceleration of year-on-year inflation in the second half of 2023 due to much higher inflation base effects by then that could potentially lead to much slower inflation rate to as slow as 3 percent to 4 percent year-on-year levels by the latter part of 2023,” he added. The Philippine Statistics Authority will release the official April 2023 inflation data on Friday.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Key industry leaders on Thursday said forecasts indicating that April’s inflation figure will dip down to as low as 5.2 percent, according to some private sector economists, is consistent with what they are presently witnessing on the ground. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), however, was more conservative, assuming a 6.3 to 7.1 percent inflation figure, which is still markedly lower than the 7.6 inflation in March. In an interview, Steven Cua, president of the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association (PAGASA), said that while it is difficult to accurately predict inflation numbers, he expressed faith that ‘economists are making realistic forecasts.’ ‘We (food retailers) can definitely feel the slowdown (in inflation) because our suppliers are no longer issuing us notices of price increases,’ he explained. Cua said that the tapering of inflation cannot have come at a better time because steep price increases in certain commodities have forced consumers to buy less. He added that in order to stave off the raising prices, some manufacturers have resorted to decreasing the quantity of products in the same packaging. Cua, meanwhile, assured that while consumers may have to contend with higher prices, ‘supply is no longer a problem.’ Cua was reacting to a shortage in the supply of onion between December 2022 and January this year, which sent prices up to unprecedented levels. For his part, a prominent oil executive who requested anonymity said local pump prices continue to decline despite efforts of the Organization of Oil Producing Countries (OPEC) to cut back on production. ‘We are selling diesel at about PHP 48 to 49 per liter. That is the wholesale price, which means they must buy at least one truck,’ the oil executive revealed. He further explained that it is because of this decline in wholesale prices that some gas stations are able to sell their diesel products for between PHP 52 to 53 per liter today. ‘Oil price hikes are the catalysts for all other price increases, so a rollback in petroleum prices will definitely slow inflation down,’ the oil executive said. It can be recalled that inflation in March was at 7.6 percent, down from February’s figure of 8.6 percent.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee on Thursday officially began its series of oversight queries on the budget performance of national government agencies. Estella Quimbo, senior vice chairperson of the panel, presided over the budget oversight hearing of the Department of Health (DOH) to kick off the queries that would ensure the budget under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) are properly ‘utilized and disbursed timely, effectively, and efficiently.’ ‘We shall begin with a series of oversight meetings on the budget performance of departments, agencies, and corporations of the national government funded under the FY 2022 GAA and for the 1st Quarter of FY 2023 GAA,’ Quimbo said. She said Appropriations Committee chairperson, Rep. Elizaldy Co, is committed to actively pursuing the monitoring and compliance by agencies with the requirements and/or conditions in the utilizations of public funds as provided under Section 29, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution. ‘Under the oversight power of the Committee on Appropriations, we are responsible for ensuring that the appropriations under the GAA are utilized and disbursed timely, effectively, and efficiently in accordance with the intent of Congress,’ she said. ‘Additionally, to recommend whether or not these activities or projects be pursued, curtailed, or eliminated in the budget proposal for the next budget year to be authorized by Congress.’ Quimbo, the 2nd District representative of Marikina, said the panel shall not intervene, participate, or undertake any role or function in any of the various post-enactment stages of the budget execution, such as, but not limited to, project identification or modification, fund releases, and other activities beyond its congressional oversight functions, as defined under applicable laws or jurisprudence. Based on the Fiscal Year 2022 compliance audit of the Commission on Audit, the DOH is confronted by the following issues related to fund use: – Deficiencies noted in the procurement process and timelines; – Lapse of unutilized allotments and low utilization; – Deficiencies in the distribution and use of Covid-19-related items; – Deficiencies in the payment of Covid-19 benefits and allowances; and – Deficiencies and delays in the implementation of the health facilities enhancement program (HFEP). Quimbo appealed to the members of the panel to direct their queries and questions on matters relevant to the compliance audit. She also asked the panel to deliberate on Financial Accountability Reports and Physical Reports of Operations for FY 2022 and as of March 2023 of the DOH; budget uses vis-a-vis targets/performance as of the budget year 2022 and 2023; and status of implementation of the HFEP as of FY 2022 and the 1st Quarter of FY 2023.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The road section blocked by rain-induced landslides in Taft, Eastern Samar is now passable to all types of vehicles after hours of clearing operations, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said Thursday. DPWH Eastern Samar district engineering office chief Alvin Ignacio said the landslide was in Binaloan village in Taft town within the highway that links the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar. The landslide occurred past 7 p.m. on Wednesday when debris blocked two lanes of the Paranas-Taft-Borongan Road. No one was hurt by the soil erosion. ‘The said road is now passable to all types of vehicles; however, the traveling public is advised to drive with caution when passing this area, especially during heavy rains due to possible occurrence of landslides and rockfall,’ Ignacio said in a statement. Some parts of Eastern Visayas have experienced rainfall this week due to weather disturbances earlier forecast by Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). The road section in Binaloan village is frequently hit by landslides and rockfall during rainy days due to its steep slope and unstable soil. The DPWH is eyeing to protect 1.7 kilometers of road stretch in Eastern Samar from frequent rockfalls through a netting project. The rockfall netting project will be the permanent solution to the closure of the Paranas-Taft-Borongan Road every rainy season. The 1.7-kilometer road section is within the road network that links the provincial capitals of Catbalogan City in Samar and Borongan City in Eastern Samar. Rock netting on unstable rock faces and slopes is a way to contain and control rock slides, protect against the effects of erosion, and improve stability. Net installation is concentrated in the landslide-prone areas in San Rafael, Binaloan, and San Pablo villages, all in the town of Taft in Eastern Samar.

Source: Philippines News Agency