Category: General

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has appointed new senior officials in the Department of Finance (DOF) who would support Secretary Ralph Recto in ensuring long-term fiscal sustainability and accelerating inclusive economic growth.

In a statement on Monday, the DOF said Rolando Tungpalan will serve as Undersecretary of the Corporate Affairs and Strategic Infrastructure Group.

He will be in charge of fast-tracking the roll-out of the administration’s Build Better More program and ensure swift government action on investments by addressing critical bottlenecks and creating a conducive environment that welcomes investors with a red carpet.

Tungpalan, a seasoned economist, previously served as Undersecretary for Investment Programming of the National Economic and Development Authority.

He chaired the Technical Boards of the Investment Coordination Committee and the Infrastructure Committee of the NEDA Board, and also played a key role as the primary government representative for multilateral and bilateral pr
ogramming of official development assistance.

Tungpalan is a graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman where he completed his degree in Economics.

He earned master’s units in Economic Research at the Center for Research and Communications.

Aside from Tungpalan, the President also appointed Joven Balbosa, who has served in senior roles in key multilateral agencies, to assume the position of Undersecretary for the International Finance Group (IFG).

Balbosa will lead efforts in securing foreign development financing and formulate policies related to prudent external resource mobilization.

He is the primary DOF lead in collaborating with other government agencies on international agreements covering areas such as trade, investment and tax treaties.

Before his appointment, Balbosa served as advisor to the Southeast Asian Department of the Asian Development Bank and economist at the World Bank.

He has more than 30 years of experience in macroeconomics, public sector management, country strategy f
ormulation, programming and evaluation.

Balbosa holds a master’s degree in Development Economics from Williams College and a diploma in Advanced Specialization in Development Economics from the University of Colorado in the United States.

He received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Meanwhile, Gerald Alan Quebral is the new Assistant Secretary for the Revenue Operations Group.

He is tasked to ensure that the government meets its revenue collection targets annually by overseeing the Bureau of Internal Revenue operations.

Quebral served as Executive Director of the Congressional Oversight Committee on Comprehensive Tax Reform Program in the Senate and House of Representatives.

He spent nearly two decades as a revenue officer in various divisions of the BIR, including the industry audit, tax fraud, policy cases, large taxpayers district office in Makati, national investigation and the large taxpayers regular audit division.

Quebral finished his degree in A
ccounting at the Philippine School of Business Administration and obtained his Juris Doctor degree at the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law.

He completed an executive education program on Comparative Tax Policy and Administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

The DOF said Sharon Almanza was appointed as National Treasurer after serving as officer-in-charge of the Bureau of the Treasury.

Almanza earlier served as Deputy Treasurer of the BTr and was seconded to the World Bank Group from 2021 to 2023 as the Alternate Executive Director and Senior Advisor for the Constituency of Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Philippines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Almanza finished her degree in Economics at the University of the Philippines Diliman and earned master’s units in Business Management from the same university.

She obtained her master’s degree in Asian Public Policy at the Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, Japan.

The Preside
nt also appointed Donalyn Minimo as Director IV of the IFG and Cherry Mae Gonzales as Director IV of the Information Management Service.

Minimo completed her master’s degree in Policy Economics from the Williams College Center for Development Economics, while Gonzales earned her master’s degree in Social and Public Communication from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

‘I thank the President for appointing a new group of distinguished professionals in the DOF with whom I have worked in the past. They are valuable additions to the existing team in the DOF, which is comprised of equally talented individuals and who have been important pillars for the agency,’ Recto said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

A Cebu-based Islamic scholar on Monday urged Cebuano Muslims to offer special prayers and fast for peace in Gaza as they celebrate the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Ustadz Muhammad Najeeb Razul, also an Imam, said 57 congregations would offer congregational prayers every Friday in different Masjids in Cebu province until the celebration of the Eid’l Fitr on April 9 or 10.

Ramadan will end around April 9, with the celebratory days of Eid’l Fitr estimated to start around April 10.

Islamic calendar follows a lunar cycle that could differ from place to place based on moon sightings or lack thereof, despite calculation in expected dates for the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

‘It’s a prayer for peace and at the same time, it’s a prayer calling for the believers to unite because of the societal problem all over the world,’ Razul told the Philippine News Agency.

Razul urged the Cebuanos, Muslims and non-Muslims, ‘to remember in our prayers the women and children affected by the ongoing fighting in Gaza.’

He also enc
ouraged the public to pray for sobriety as tension continued to grip the West Philippine Sea and ‘so that justice and peace will reign.”

The mosques in Mambaling, Islamic Center near the University of the Philippines-Cebu, Sanciangko, Tagonol would also offer communal prayers, apart from the three masjids in Bogo City.

The Islamic teacher said he would also deliver special sermons in his house of prayer in Minglanilla, which could be accessed through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media platforms.

Source: Philippines News Agency

– The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell to 6,800-level on Monday taking cues from US markets, while the peso strengthened to 55.37 to the greenback.

‘Along with the Asian markets, the local bourse dropped by 69.97 points (1.01 percent) to 6,872.24 following the negative cues from Wall Street last Friday, while investors awaited the release of US inflation data this week,’ Philstocks Financial, Inc. assistant research manager Claire Alviar said.

All the sectoral counters closed in the red territory, with the biggest losses from Property, down by 2.70 percent.

This is followed by Industrial, down by 1.15 percent; along with Mining and Oil, 1.06 percent; Services, 0.84 percent; Holding Firms, 0.21 percent; and Financials, 0.12 percent.

‘Moreover, foreign investors weighed on the market performance, registering a net outflow of PHP277.68 million. The net market value turnover was weak at PHP3.46 billion, which was way lower than the year-to-date’s average of PHP4.71 billion,’ Alviar added.

Losers
outnumbered gainers at 125 to 62, with 53 counters maintained their shares.

Meanwhile, the Philippine peso closed stronger by PHP0.20 against the US dollar to 55.37 from a 55.57 finish at the end of last week.

It opened the day at 55.59, better from the previous trading day’s kick-off of 55.82 to a dollar.

The currency pair traded between 55.37 and 55.65, bringing the average level for the day to 55.51 against the greenback.

Foreign exchange volume declined to USD1.09 billion from USD1.21 billion during the previous trading.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Buenos Aires: Infobae, a renowned newspaper in Argentina, reported that Sapa resort town in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai is one of the 16 most beautiful small towns in the world.

In its March 10 new trends column, Infobae cited the voting results of British travel magazine Time Out, describing the beauty of Sapa with verdant green mountains, deep valleys, and cascading rice terraces.

Visitors can reach Sapa by a train or coach, the magazine said, adding that from the local town square, tourists can see Mount Fansipan – the Roof of Indochina, and find markets selling delicious and unusual ingredients.

The surrounding area is scattered with tiny villages home to ancient Vietnamese tribes and hiking trails that wind up into the clouds, the magazine said.

Along with Sapa, which ranked 14th in the list, there are other towns in Asia including Wae Rebo of Indonesia, Ogimachi of Japan, and Ghandruk of Nepal./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Another foreign company has taken advantage of the easing of foreign restrictions on renewable energy (RE) projects in the country, getting two Wind Energy Service Contracts (WESCs) from the Department of Energy (DOE).

In a statement over the weekend, DOE said it awarded WESCs to Mainstream Renewable Power for its two onshore wind projects in Luzon and Visayas with a total capacity of producing 440 megawatts of clean energy.

Each contract has an operating period of 25 years.

Mainstream’s two WESCs are the 100-MW Santa Ana Cagayan Wind Project in Cagayan Valley and the 340-MW Panaon Wind Project in Leyte.

The signing of the contracts was witnessed by DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla and Norwegian Ambassador to the Philippines Christian Halaas Lyster.

“The signing of these onshore wind contracts further accelerates the implementation of the thrust of the Marcos Jr. administration to develop the country’s indigenous and renewable sources of energy following the lifting of foreign ownership restrictions on re
newable energy development,” Lotilla said.

The Santa Ana and Panaon wind projects will be Mainstream’s first wholly-owned WESCs since the government allowed 100 percent foreign equity on renewable projects.

“With the Philippine economy now thriving, marked by good growth and optimistic forecasts, we are pleased with the positive response of foreign and local investors to pour in capital in our country’s renewable energy sources,’ Lotilla said.

‘Mainstream will be bringing in financial muscle and technological heft to work with our world-class workers throughout the construction and operational phases of all these projects, which means more employment for our people and livelihood opportunities in these areas,” he added.

Mainstream General Manager for Asia Pacific Eduardo Karlin affirmed the company’s commitment to help the Philippines in achieving its clean energy goal of increasing the share of RE in the energy mix to 35 percent by 2030 and to 50 percent by 2040.

“The awards of these contracts represent
an important milestone for Mainstream as we continue to grow our development footprint across the Philippines,’ Karlin added.

Mainstream, a pure-play RE firm with wind and solar assets in Latin America, Africa, and Asia Pacific, has been operating in the Philippines since 2017.

It has an existing partnership with one of the leading local energy companies Aboitiz Power Corp. for the 58-MW onshore wind project in Camarines Sur, which will start its construction this year and commence commercial operations by 2026.

DOE data showed that it has issued 21 WESCs to foreign-owned companies, 17 of which are onshore projects and four are offshore wind energy projects.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Senator Imee Marcos on Monday emphasized the importance of upholding independent foreign policy through restraint and more dialogues amid tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

In a radio interview, the presidential sister said no one should bring up or discuss war and conflict.

“Huwag tayo masyadong maanghang magsalita kung puros daldal lang. Eh mainam, tiisin natin kahit nakakapikon at makipag-usap nang maayos sa lahat ng lebel. Sa Coast Guard level, military, cabinet, Senate, hanggang sa Pangulo (We must not throw tirades. We should practice restraint and dialogue in all levels even if it is frustrating. In the Coast Guard level, military cabinet, Senate, up to the President),” she said.

Marcos, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, also pointed out that the Philippines should focus on strengthening its defense and military capabilities instead of taking sides with either the United States or China.

“Pagtibayin na natin ang ating self-reliance defense posture. Talagang palakasin natin
‘yung sarili nating sandatahang lakas (Let us boost our self-reliance defense posture and really strengthen our own armed forces),” she said.

The Committee on National Defense and Security chaired by Senator Jinggoy Estrada is currently in discussions with counterparts in the House of Representatives to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of Senate Bill 2455 and House Bill 9713 or the Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act (SRDP).

The SRDP bill aims to ensure adequate defense assets and hardware for the country through domestic production and manufacturing, development of a national defense industry and lessening dependence on foreign and overseas suppliers.

Source: Philippines News Agency