Category: General

KORONADAL CITY: Amid the rising heat index brought by the El Niño phenomenon, the Bureau of Fire Protection in the Soccsksargen Region (BFP-12) on Friday urged the public to take safety measures and help prevent fires.

Since January, the BFP Soccsksargen has recorded 92 fire cases in the provinces of South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Sarangani and the cities of Kidapawan, Tacurong, Koronadal, and General Santos.

‘As compared to last year, this year’s fire incidents are slightly lower, but this does make firefighters and the public to be complacent,’ Fire Sr. Insp. Evelyn Barbaso. BFP-12 Information unit chief, said during a Philippine Information Agency-South Cotabato social media broadcast.

Last year, Barbaso said the BFP-12 recorded 105 fires.

‘While March is fire prevention month, we are educating our people that fire deterrence is a day-to-day thing that we should be watchful about,’ Barbaso said in the vernacular.

The most common cause of fires in Region 12 was related to electrici
ty and human errors like failure to unplug house appliances before going to work.

‘About 56 of the 92 fire incidents occurred in homes and residential houses,’ she said, urging homeowners to secure fire extinguishers, so any fire inside the house can be put off before it goes out of control.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MAPANDAN: Some 500 farmers from this town who are affected by the impact of El Niño phenomenon have been given temporary work under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD).

“Malaking tulong ito para sa mga gastusin sa bahay lalo ngayon (This is huge help for the expenses at home especially during this time),” said Lilia Penuliar of Barangay Jimenez and one of the beneficiaries of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) program.

The beneficiaries, who will earn PHP4,350 for the 10-day work, will start their duties this week.

They will be given personal protective equipment, cowboy hats, long sleeve shirts and insurance coverage.

The program was funded through the Office of Senator Christopher Lawrence Go, which will also extend family food packs, vitamins and facemasks, among others, to the beneficiaries.

TUPAD is a community-based emergency employment program that provides short-term jobs to displaced, underemployed, and seasonal workers.

Source: Philippines New
s Agency

MANILA: Both Philippine shares and the peso closed the week with losses following the release of the producer price index (PPI) in the United States.

On Friday, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended its three-day rally as it dropped 2.09 percent to 6,822.32.

All Shares were lower by 1.39 points to 3,560.46.

Philstocks Financial, Inc. assistant research manager Claire Alviar attributed the shedding in the bourse to higher-than-expected US’ February PPI inflation.

“This weighed on sentiment as the Federal Reserve’s decision to ease monetary policy this year may not come any sooner,” she said.

Only Mining and Oil closed in the positive territory with 0.37 percent increase on the last day of trading this week.

The net market value turnover surged to PHP18.79 billion driven by the impact of the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) rebalancing, Alviar added.

Decliners outnumbered advancers at 113 to 92, with 38 left unchanged.

Meanwhile, the peso closed weak at 55.53 to a dollar from 55.40 on Th
ursday.

It already opened the day at 55.50 from 55.37 to the greenback.

The foreign exchange rate traded between 55.49 and 55.60, with a weighted average rate of 55.55 to a US dollar.

Trade volume jumped to USD1.2 billion from USD868.8 million the previous day.

Source: Philippines News Agency

LAOAG CITY: Ilocos Norte is strictly enforcing the requirements for local lodging facilities that has swimming pool or body of water to have a lifeguard on duty and for children below 10 years old to wear life vest when swimming.

In a briefing on Friday, Dr. Medeldorf Gaoat, provincial board member and chair of the committee on health, said the requirements are part of the province’s revised tourism code.

Also part of the new rules are for villages with rivers, creeks, dams and other recreational facilities to have trained watchers or first aid responders.

On Friday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire led stakeholders who conducted a briefing at the Teatro Ilocandia in Batac City, Ilocos Norte to promote drowning-free communities through intensified education and awareness drive.

Ilocos Norte’s Provincial Health Office recorded 27 deaths due to drowning in 2023.

Lt. Joseph Christian Sagun, head of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)-Ilocos Norte, said they have intensified the conduct of baywatch
patrol to promote public safety.

“Basic life support training are likewise conducted for our village peace keeping officers,’ he said in a briefing on Thursday.

Evangeline Dadat, chief operations officer of the Department of Tourism (DOT)-Ilocos, said they train lifeguards on water safety, rescue, and survival techniques.

‘Part of the DOT accreditation of establishments include the presence of lifeguards or first aider and for swimming pools to have appropriate signages or pool rules,’ she said.

The Ilocos Norte police, on the other hand, have deployed tourist cops in key destinations.

PCG-Ilocos Region information officer Ivhanne Rillon, in an interview on Friday, underscored the importance of learning basic swimming survival skills.

‘Let us try to learn to swim because it is a survival skill that we can use for ourselves, our loved ones and others who need help,’ he said.

He said several municipalities in Region 1 have passed ordinances prohibiting swimming from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

‘Let us comply with
this, not because it is a law but because it will be safer for us to follow. When it is dark, it is difficult to see our companions even if we are swimming with a buddy,’ he added.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the country’s overall balance of payments (BOP) is projected to post a higher surplus for this year but will likely revert to a deficit in 2025.

In a virtual briefing on Friday, BSP Department of Economic Research Director Sittie Hannisha Butocan said the overall BOP position for this year is expected to settle at USD700 million, higher than the earlier estimate of USD400 million.

“This development is driven mainly by the estimated narrower current account gap for the year and modest inflows of non-resident investments. The lower current account deficit amounting to USD6.1 billion largely reflects the downward revision of both goods imports and exports growth forecast relative to the previous forecast round,” Butocan said.

The projection for the growth of exports of goods was revised downward to 3 percent from the earlier 5 percent, while the forecast for imports growth was likewise slashed to 4 percent from 7 percent.

Butocan said the lower growth projec
tion for exports is already factored in the latest insights by major export industry associations.

“These include, in particular, the semiconductors and electronics industries, which project a flat growth in electronics exports for 2024. We note that electronics exports account for 60 percent of total Philippine exports,” she said.

Butocan said the lower current account deficit also considers the waning pent up demand and the impact of the monetary policy tightening on overall economic activity.

“The narrower current account gap is also on account of the positive prospects for business process outsourcing revenues, travel receipts, and overseas Filipino remittances as demand for high-contact services continue to rebound,” she added.

Foreign direct investments as well as foreign portfolio investments, meanwhile, are projected to register moderate net gains, supported by the government’s thrust to fully implement key amendatory laws that eased rules on foreign investor participation in key industries as wel
l as its plan to keep infrastructure spending at above 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

For 2025, the BSP expects the overall BOP position to reverse to a deficit of USD500 million, attributed to the foreseen widening of the trade-in-goods gap and further reduction in the projected financial account inflows.

The larger shortfall in goods trade is primarily due to the faster increase in goods imports due to the strong growth in public infrastructure investments.

“Given that merchandise trade is about a little over twice the level of services trade, the estimated sustained positive performance of both travel and BPO (business process outsourcing) sectors, managed to only partially offset the trade-in-goods deficit,” Butocan said.

“Meanwhile, capital inflows are expected to moderate further in 2025 on the back of more subdued inflows of non-resident investments, as next year will be a transition year for many major economies, particularly the US and the UK, with their conduct of elections in the la
tter part of this year,” she added.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The national government posted a budget surplus of PHP88 billion in January this year, up by more than 90 percent from a year ago’s PHP45.7 billion.

“The fiscal outturn was brought about by a faster 21.15% year-over-year increase in revenue collection outpacing the 10.39% expansion in government spending,” the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said in a report on Friday.

Total revenues during the month rose to PHP421.8 billion from PHP348.2 billion last year, driven by higher tax collections which comprised 91.31 percent or PHP385.2 billion of the total collection.

The remaining 8.69 percent or PHP36.6 billion was generated through non-tax sources.

The national government’s disbursements, meanwhile, amounted to PHP333.99 billion, higher by 10.39 percent than last year’s spending of PHP302.4 billion.

Primary expenditures, which accounted for 77.77 percent of the total, inched up to PHP259.6 billion from P255.4 billion posted a year ago.

Meanwhile, interest payments, which accounted for the remaining 2
2.23 percent, rose to PHP74.2 billion.

Source: Philippines News Agency