Inflation here in the Philippines continued to drop and eventually landed at 4.1% for the month of November 2023 and there were several factors behind it, according to a Philippine News Agency (PNA) news report.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news report. Some parts in boldface…
The country’s headline inflation further eased to 4.1 percent in November this year, the lowest recorded since the 4 percent in March 2022, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
In a briefing on Tuesday, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said the headline inflation last month was significantly lower than the 8 percent recorded in November last year and the 4.9 percent seen in October this year.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food items, also decelerated to 4.7 percent from 5.3 percent in October.
PSA data shows the downtrend was primarily brought about by the lower year-on-year growth rate of the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 5.7 percent in November 2023 from 7 percent in October 2023.
Food inflation slowed to 5.8 percent, the lowest recorded since the 5.2 percent in May 2022.
This is due to the deflation in vegetables (-2 percent from 11.9 percent) and lower inflation of fish, meat, sugar, bread and other cereals, and fruits.
Also contributing to the downtrend in the overall inflation in November was the deflation in transportation (-0.8 percent from 1 percent) and slower inflation in restaurant and accommodation services (5.6 percent from 6.3 percent).
The restaurants and accommodation services index with a slower inflation rate of 5.6 percent in November from 6.3 percent in the previous month also contributed to the downtrend of the overall inflation.
Year-to-date, headline inflation was at 6.2 percent while core inflation settled at 6.8 percent.
Inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) also slowed to 4.3 percent from 4.9 percent in October. For areas outside NCR, headline inflation decelerated to 4.1 percent in November from 4.9 percent the previous month. Inflation for the bottom 30 percent households also eased to 4.9 percent from 5.3 percent.
In a separate statement, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) attributed the drop in inflation to the timely implementation of strategies to stabilize food supply amid the anticipated domestic and external headwinds in the coming months.
“With the right interventions in place, including the proper and timely deployment of trade policy, we are confident that we can effectively manage inflation and prevent unnecessary upticks in prices of goods and commodities to safeguard the purchasing power of Filipino families, especially those from the most vulnerable sectors,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think inflation will ease further and go below 4% by January 2024? Does the easing of inflation make you more confident about your economic prospects for 2024?
Recently the World Bank announced that the economy of the Philippines will continue to grow strongly this year and next year, according to a Philippine News Agency (PNA) news report.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news report. Some parts in boldface…
The World Bank on Tuesday said the Philippine economy is expected to continue to post strong growth but fully implementing key reforms to boost investments is crucial to sustain growth.
“We anticipate that the Philippine economy will continue to exhibit strong performance in the next few years,” World Bank country director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand Ndiame Diop said in briefing for the presentation of the Philippines Economic Update (PEU) December 2023 edition.
“This growth will be propelled by a healthy labor market and declining inflation, which will stimulate robust household consumption,” he said.
For this year, the World Bank expects the Philippine economy to grow by 5.6 percent and edge up to 5.8 percent in 2024.
The services sector is anticipated to be the main growth driver supported by the ongoing recovery of the tourism sector and the consistent performance of the information technology and business process outsourcing industry.
“We expect that the full implementation of several investment reforms will enhance the country’s competitiveness to attract foreign investment, strengthening the country’s global growth prospects,” said Diop.
The Philippine economy grew by 5.9 percent in the third quarter of the year, bringing the year-to-date economic expansion to 5.5 percent.
“Despite the challenging global environment that resulted in a slowdown for many countries in the region, the Philippines stands out as among the top performers,” Diop added.
He said this can be attributed to the country’s resilient domestic demand which helped mitigate the impact of external headwinds.
Inflation, meanwhile, is forecast to settle at 5.9 percent this year and ease to 3.6 percent in 2024.
Policy recommendations – Diop pointed out that moving forward, full implementation of key forms is needed to mitigate the impact of high inflation amid volatility in global commodity prices and high cost of borrowings to stimulate private investment, promote job creation and reduce poverty.
These include the amendments to the Public Services Act, Retail Trade Liberalization Act, the Foreign Investment Act and amendments to the implementing rules and regulations of the Renewable Energy Act allowing foreign ownership of renewable energy projects.
World Bank senior economist Ralph Van Doorn said that in the short term, domestic policy priorities include containing elevated inflation and providing assistance to vulnerable sectors.
Van Doorn said enhancing forecasting and planning to help stabilize food prices, reducing market volatility and ensuring a consistent and reliable food supply remains fundamental to reducing inflation in the short term.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think the World Bank is correct with its findings about the economy of the Philippines?
The credit ratings of the Philippines for both long-term and short term were affirmed by the US-based S&P Global Ratings which also saw stronger economic growth for the country in the next few years, according to a Philippine News Agency (PNA) news article.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news article. Some parts in boldface…
United States-based S&P Global Ratings on Wednesday affirmed the Philippines’ ‘BBB+’ long-term and ‘A-2’ short-term sovereign credit ratings, citing the country’s sustained economic recovery due to the government’s ongoing efforts to address infrastructure gaps and improvements in the business climate.
“The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the Philippine economy will maintain healthy growth rates and the fiscal performance will materially improve over the next 24 months,” S&P Global said in a report.
According to S&P, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to grow by 5.4 percent this year, reflecting the impact of high base and the slower growth of the world economy.
The report also showed that Philippine economic growth is projected to accelerate to 5.9 percent in 2024, 6.2 percent in 2025 and 6.4 percent in (2026).
The credit rater expects that the Philippines’ economic growth will remain well above the average among its peers “due to the government’s ongoing efforts to address infrastructure gaps and improvements in the business climate through regulatory and tax reforms, which will further support expansion in economic productivity.”
It also recognized the government’s efforts to prioritize infrastructure development and fiscal measures and cited crucial reforms such as the public-private partnership (PPP) framework and the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act.
“The Philippine government has generally enacted effective and prudent fiscal policies over the past decade. Improvements to the quality of expenditure, manageable fiscal deficits, and low general government indebtedness testify to this. This track record of sustainable public finances helped the government accumulate fiscal resources to respond to the pandemic,” the report said.
It also underscored the importance of tax reforms in ensuring that public finances remain sustainable, while infrastructure and social needs are addressed.
S&P said the general government (GG) deficit is estimated to decline and to settle at 3.8 percent of GDP in 2023, from 4.4 percent in 2022.
“We believe the fiscal shortfall will continue to narrow over the coming years while the economy regains its footing and the government scales back stimulus measures. We expect the medium-term fiscal framework (MTFF) revealed by the Marcos administration last year to guide the consolidation process,” it said.
The report also highlighted the country’s solid household and corporate balance sheets and sizable remittance inflows, and expects foreign direct investments to remain stable this year.
However, S&P said it may lower the country’s ratings if economic recovery falters, if general government debt exceeds 4 percent of GDP, if net debt stock exceeds 60 percent of GDP or if interest payments exceed 15 percent of revenue on a sustained basis.
“We may raise the ratings if the economy recovers much faster than we expect, and the government achieves more rapid fiscal consolidation,” it said.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What do you think about this recent development? Are you satisfied with what was accomplished this year with regards to foreign tourist arrivals and the related revenues? Do you think the Philippine economy will continue to grow stronger each year until 2026? Do you believe in the findings of S&P Global Ratings?
Recently, the Business Mirror published a news article revealing that more than P170 million worth of coins have been deposited in the many coin deposit machines (CODMs) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) nationwide as of October 30, 2023. Based on recent findings, more people and business representatives have been lining up at their local CODM to deposit their excess coins and turn it into added value into their GCash accounts or PayMaya accounts, or use the value for shopping vouchers (accepted by The SM Store). Previously the figure was revealed at P115 million and this major project by the BSP launched this past June.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Business Mirror news article. Some parts in boldface…
THE coin deposit machines (CoDMs) have collected an average of a million pesos per day since June, according to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which rolled out the program four months ago to ease the coin shortage and cut government losses in minting coins.
As of October 30, the CoDM collections have reached P171.09 million since June 20. This means an average of P1.29 million worth of coins every day for a period of 133 days.
As of October 20, only 10 days prior, collections already reached P146.78 million. This means, in just 10 days, some P25.31 million or an addition of P2.53 million worth of coins were collected per day.
The data obtained by BusinessMirror also showed that a total of 59.8 million coins were deposited in CoDMs as of October 30.
This means an average of 449,607 coins were deposited into the 25 CoDMs located in various malls and groceries in Metro Manila. This translates to about 17,984 coins per machine everyday.
These coins include the P20, P10, P5, P1, 25 centavo, 10 centavo, 5 centavo, and 1 centavo. These are converted into e-wallets and shopping vouchers.
Based on the data, more than half of the coins deposited in CoDMs are P1 and 25 centavo coins. A total of 22.96 million P1 coins were deposited between June 20 and October 30 while 13.79 million 25 centavo coins were received by the machines during the period.
This was followed by the P5 coin with 12.89 million pieces; P10 coin, 3.02 million pieces; 5 centavo coin, 2.73 million pieces; P20 coin, 2.49 million pieces; and P10 centavo coin, 1.88 million pieces. The lowest was the 1 centavo coin with only 47,496 pieces.
In the data as of October 20, the largest sum ever deposited in a single transaction was P105,818. This was deposited on September 30 in an SM-owned location.
The highest volume of coins deposited during the period reached 33,794 pieces which was received in a CoDM in another SM-owned property last September 3.
The data as of October 20, also showed almost all or 97.63 percent of the amount of the coins collected by CoDMs were converted into GCash credits. The total amount converted into GCash reached P142.33 million as of October 20.
In terms of coin volume, GCash also converted the most into credits with 51.13 million coins or 97.63 percent of the total. This covered a total of 50,225 transactions or 97.04 percent of all CoDM transactions.
In June, BSP rolled out the CoDMs to alleviate the coin shortage in the country and cut the government’s losses in minting coins.
Former BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla said the Philippines currently has a problem with coins, given that its coins per capita have more than doubled in less than a decade.
There are 39 billion pieces of coins in circulation in the country. At 110 million Filipinos, this translates to around 355 coins per capita which is a 195 percent growth from the 120 coins per capita eight years ago.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What do you think about this recent development? Were you able to deposit your excess coins into a BSP cash deposit machine in your city? Was there a time when you had to wait long in the line at a BSP cash deposit machine because one of the customers ahead of you brought several jars full of coins with them for deposit? Do you think having one BSP CODM per shopping mall is sufficient to meet local customers’ need for coin depositing? When waiting for your turn at the BSP CODM takes too long, do you take your coins with you to the bank to deposit into your personal account?
For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagements, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673
Recently in the United States, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., met with members of the American business community and enticed them to invest in the Philippines stating that a wealth of opportunity awaits them and the country is set to take off as a major Asian investment destination, according to a news article published by the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news article. Some parts in boldface…
The Philippines is all set to become the “leading” investment destination in Asia, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said Thursday (Manila time).
“With a solid reform agenda and unabating growth amid headwinds, the Philippines is ready to take off as a leading investment hub in Asia,” Marcos said during the Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) in San Francisco, California, as he enticed the business community in the United States (US) to invest in the Philippines.
“A wealth of opportunity awaits you in the Philippines, and we are ready to explore new horizons with your investments in the coming years,” he added.
Marcos assured the US businesses of a favorable business environment in the Philippines, adding that his administration is committed to promoting high-value investments.
He said an influx of highly-desirable investments in strategic sectors of the Philippine economy is expected, considering the amendments to the Public Service Act, Foreign Investments Act, Retail Trade Liberalization Act and the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Renewable Energy Act.
He noted that the government has also introduced reforms to the Philippines’ fiscal incentives structure through the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act to attract both domestic and global firms to invest in strategically important sectors.
“Investments in rural areas and highly-advanced and technology-enabled projects and activities are given top priority and, consequently, greater and longer incentives,” Marcos said.
“Investments in the digital space are also highly prioritized. Incentives are given to projects covering research and development and those adopting advanced digital production technologies such as, for example, artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing, data analytics, cloud computing, and nanotechnology,” he added.
Marcos said the public-private partnerships (PPP) framework has also been modified to simplify the approval processes, ensure the viability and bankability of PPP projects, cut red tape, and pave the way for quality infrastructure development.
“These reforms support the Philippines’ massive infrastructure drive. We are prioritizing the implementation of 197 infrastructure flagship projects worth around USD155 billion, with a sharp focus on upgrading physical and digital connectivity, water, agriculture, health, transport, and energy,” he said.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What do you think about this recent development? Do you think a huge amount of investments from American businesses into the Philippines will be realized in due time? What do you think the government should do to keep attracting more foreign investors as the Philippines is now in the post-pandemic age?
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the GMA Network news report. Some parts in boldface…
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Monday that the implementing rules and regulations of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) have been finalized, weeks after he said its implementation was suspended.
“The Investment Rules and Regulations of Maharlika Investment Fund have been finalized,” Marcos said on Instagram.
“Upon our approval, we’ll swiftly establish the corporate structure, getting the MIF up and running,” he added.
The IRR, which would spell the beginning of MIF’s operationalization, was released in August. Marcos announced the suspension of its implementation “pending further study” on October 18.
Before leaving for Saudi Arabia last month, Marcos clarified that the MIF was not put on hold, saying the government was still working to have it operational within the year.
“We are, the organization of the Maharlika Fund proceeds apace, and what I have done though, is that we have found more improvements we can make, specifically to the organizational structure of the Maharlika Fund,” the President had said.
Marcos had said the suspension of the IRR should not be misinterpreted as a judgement of rightness or wrongness of the MIF.
he President also maintained that economic managers and “personalities who will actually be involved in the fund” had been consulted regarding the MIF.
Marcos signed into law Republic Act No. 11954 or the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Act of 2023 in July, with the aim to tap state assets for investment ventures to generate additional public funds.
The law creates the Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC), a government-owned company that will manage the MIF — a pool of funds sourced from state-run financial institutions that will be invested in high-impact projects, real estate, as well as in financial instruments.
Under the law, the initial capitalization of the MIF would be sourced from Landbank at P50 billion, DBP at P25 billion, and the national government at P50 billion.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think that there is no stopping the implementation of the Maharlika Investment Fund in the near-future?
As far as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is concerned, implementing taxes on social media influencers and collecting from them are still hard to do, according to a Philippine Star news report.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Philippine Star news report. Some parts in boldface…
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) continues to have difficulty in making social media influencers comply with the country’s tax laws even amid a widening adoption of various social media platforms as a form of income.
BIR Assistant Commissioner Jethro Sabariaga said the country’s largest revenue collecting agency remains in dialogue with social media influencers for them to pay their tax obligations to the government.
The BIR decided to seek a dialogue with the influencers in March this year. Sabariaga admitted that it is difficult for the BIR to get revenues from the digital space.
“Yes, (it is difficult). We will not mince with words. It might take some time, but that’s what we’ve been doing,” Sabariaga said.
“We are trying to win their side in the engagement process. The more that you can ask them to do voluntary compliance, the better rather than to fight with them,” he said.
BIR defines social media influencers as people whose digital posts are being monetized, classifying them as self-employed individuals or persons engaged in trade or business as sole proprietors.
The BIR earlier said it was looking into some 250 top earning social media influencers to see if they have been paying their obligations.
Based on BIR’s circular, influencers are required to pay income tax and percentage tax or value-added tax, if applicable, as mandated by the Tax Code.
According to the BIR, influencers derive their income from YouTube, sponsored social and blog posts, display advertising and affiliate marketing, among others.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you agree with the BIR’s plan to tax social media influencers? Is your favorite vlogger or YouTuber based in the Philippines who might have made some revenue online based on his or her output?
Ever since it was first announced, the stakeholders behind the Xbox-Activision-Blizzard-King deal worth almost $70 billion went through lots of hurdles that include opposition by Sony’s PlayStation division, a trial with America’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a rejection by the United Kingdom’s regulator Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The obstacles are over as the Xbox-Activision-Blizzard-King deal recently closed and already the Activision side of the business has officially started integrating into Microsoft. This deal is many times larger than the Xbox-Bethesda acquisition of a few years ago. Watch the related video by Team Xbox below…
Xbox chief Phil Spencer issued a statement related to the newly closed deal. To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from his statement published through Xbox.com. Some parts in boldface…
We love gaming. We play games, create games, and know first-hand how much gaming means to all of us as individuals and collectively, as a community. And today, we officially welcome Activision Blizzard and their teams to Xbox. They are the publishers of some of the most played and most beloved franchises in gaming history across console, PC and mobile. From Pitfall to Call of Duty, World of Warcraft to Overwatch, Candy Crush Saga to Farm Heroes Saga, their studios have pushed the boundaries of gaming for players around the world.
I’ve long admired the work of Activision, Blizzard, and King, and the impact they’ve had on gaming, entertainment, and pop culture. Whether it was late nights spent playing the Diablo IV campaign with friends from start to finish, gathering the entire family in the rec room for our weekly Guitar Hero night, or going on an epic streak in Candy Crush, some of my most memorable gaming moments came from experiences their studios have created. It is incredible to welcome such legendary teams to Xbox.
As one team, we’ll learn, innovate, and continue to deliver on our promise to bring the joy and community of gaming to more people. We’ll do this in a culture that strives to empower everyone to do their best work, where all people are welcome, and is centered on our ongoing commitment of Gaming for Everyone. We are intentional about inclusion in everything we do at Xbox – from our team to the products we make and the stories we tell, to the way our players interact and engage as a wider gaming community.
Together, we’ll create new worlds and stories, bring your favorite games to more places so more players can join in, and we’ll engage with and delight players in new, innovative ways in the places they love to play including mobile, cloud streaming and more.
Players have always been at the center of everything we do. And as we grow, we’ll continue to keep players at the heart of it all. We’ll continue to listen to your feedback, build a community where you can be yourself, where developers can do their best work, and continue to make really fun games. As promised, we will also continue to make more games available in more places – and that begins now by enabling cloud streaming providers and players to stream Activision Blizzard games in the European Economic Area, a commitment made to the European Commission. Today we start the work to bring beloved Activision, Blizzard, and King franchises to Game Pass and other platforms. We’ll share more about when you can expect to play in the coming months. We know you’re excited – and we are too.
For the millions of fans who love Activision, Blizzard, and King games, we want you to know that today is a good day to play. You are the heart and soul of these franchises, and we are honored to have you as part of our community. Whether you play on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, PC or mobile, you are welcome here – and will remain welcome, even if Xbox isn’t where you play your favorite franchise. Because when everyone plays, we all win.
For their part, Activision Blizzard issued its own statement related to the biggest deal in video gaming with Microsoft. They are looking forward to the future of gaming with Team Xbox. Posted below is an excerpt from their statement with some parts in boldface…
It’s a big day for us at Activision Blizzard. For more than four decades, our players have inspired us to push the boundaries of imagination with iconic universes including Call of Duty, Candy Crush Saga, Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, Overwatch, and Warcraft.
Today we begin a new chapter as we officially become a part of the Microsoft family, uniting with the amazing Xbox team and co-creating the future of gaming together.
In our earliest days we were a modest collective of designers who raided rivers, commanded choppers, and avoided pitfalls. Now as part of Xbox, we will continue our mission to deliver the world’s most epic interactive entertainment experiences to more people, more platforms, and across more worlds than ever before.
All of our history and success leading to this moment is because of you, our incredible gaming community.
Unsurprisingly, the approved Xbox-Activision-Blizzard-King deal made tremendous waves through social media and through YouTube. Watch and learn from the videos below starting with an interview with Activision Blizzard’s Bobby Kotick (note: pay close attention to his words)…
The Xbox-Activision-Blizzard-King deal is not just another multi-billion Dollar business breakthrough…it is a tremendous boost for the credibility of Xbox as a video gaming, PC gaming, cloud gaming and mobile gaming entity.
While it is made clear that Microsoft-controlled ABK will still release games on multiple platforms, the new owners can make the new and upcoming games Xbox-exclusive (meaning released only on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Windows PC plus cloud and mobile devices which collectively are more numerous than Nintendo and PlayStation consoles). For insights about potential Xbox-exclusive Activision Blizzard games, watch Colteastwood’s video below…
More on exclusivity that include games, DLC releases and other matters, it is clear that the pre-existing contracts between PlayStation and Activision will never be renewed (read: PlayStation is no longer the home of Call of Duty). PlayStation, whose leader Jim Ryan has been so arrogant and dishonest when opposing the Xbox-Activision-Blizzard-King deal, will have a lot to worry about on the gaming subscription side of business once Activision Blizzard games get added into the Xbox Game Pass (XGP) service some time in 2024. As much as Team Xbox and Microsoft are benefiting from this mega deal, gamers across different platforms will eventually benefit as well in various ways. Expect new customer-oriented choices to be made through the games under Xbox’s banner.
As of this writing, Xbox fans are rejoicing over the closed Xbox-Activision-Blizzard-King deal while PlayStation fanboys cannot help but agonize with anger and jealousy. All you have to do to see the PS fanboys’ anguish is search for them on social media over their collective negative reactions. The “Xbox has no games” zealots are looking and feeling bad nowadays. Indeed, things are working in Team Xbox’s favor and I personally cannot wait to see the benefits of the ABK deal get realized in my gaming experience. Also there is nothing like seeing ABK’s established franchises like Call of Duty, StarCraft, Warcraft and many others listed with Xbox’s own franchises such as Halo, Forza Motorsport, The Elder Scrolls, Starfield, Fallout and others.
Personally, I look forward to playing Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot (a game property that started on PlayStation) other Activision titles on my Xbox Series X console through my Xbox Game Pass subscription in the near future.
As the Philippines continues to move forward in this post-pandemic age, the national unemployment rate fell down to 4.4% this past August, according to a Manila Standard news report.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Manila Standard news report. Some parts in boldface…
The unemployment rate in the Philippines fell to a three-month low of 4.4 percent in August 2023 from 4.8 percent in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Friday.
National statistician and civil registrar-general Dennis Mapa said in an online briefing the August unemployment rate was also lower than 5.3 percent recorded a year ago.
This translated to about 468,000 fewer unemployed individuals in August, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
“In terms of magnitude, there were 2.21 million unemployed Filipinos aged 15 years and over in August 2023,” Mapa said.
“It was also lower than the 2.27 million unemployed in July 2023 and 2.68 million a year ago,” he said.
The underemployment rate also fell from 14.7 percent in August 2022 and 15.9 percent in July 2023 to 11.7 percent in August this year. This was equivalent to 1.4 million fewer underemployed persons, particularly among those employed in the services and industry sectors.
Underemployed persons are those who have expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work.
The number of employed persons aged 15 years and over in August 2023 increased to 48.07 million from 47.87 million a year earlier. This translated into 95.6 percent employment rate, higher than the reported employment rate in August 2022 and July 2023 at 94.7 percent and 95.2 percent, respectively.
Total employment increased 203,000 in the agriculture and industry sectors.
Mapa said the labor force participation rate (LFPR) in August reached 64.7 percent, lower than 66.1 percent a year ago, but higher than 60.1 percent in July 2023.
NEDA underscored the Marcos administration’s commitment to generating high-quality and high-paying job opportunities for workers.
NEDA said that apart from the decline in underemployment, several other indicators pointed to an accompanying increase in the quality of employment, including the increase in wage and salary, and full-time employment, and the decline in vulnerable and part-time employment.
“However, much remains to be done as the number of middle- and high-skilled occupations decreased (-354,000), while low-skilled occupations increased (+551,000) compared to the previous year,” NEDA said.
NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government would continue its efforts to create better job opportunities for workers in the country.
“To raise the quality of employment further, the Marcos administration is committed to exerting all efforts to shape an attractive business climate for investors who have the resources needed to bring in high-quality and high-paying jobs,” he said.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Were there many people in your local community who were fortunate to get a new job over the past twelve months?
Do you have an excessive amount of coins with you right now? In recent times, the Bangko Sentral ng Philippines (BSP) launched their project to give people opportunities to deposit their coins through coin deposit machines (CoDMs) that were installed in a few locations. According to a report by GMA Network, almost P90 million worth of coins have been deposited.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the GMA News report. Some parts in boldface…
Nearly P90 million worth of coins have been deposited through the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) coin deposit machines (CoDMs).
Since its launch on June 20, over P87.4 million worth of coins were deposited through CoDMs from more than 20,000 transactions as of September 22, 2023.
The CoDMs were launched in a bid to encourage the public to make use of their idle coins.
Latest central bank data revealed that the coins deposited into the machines were mostly credited to customers’ e-wallets, while a portion was exchanged for shopping vouchers.
In June, the BSP deployed two CoDMs at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, one at Festival Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, and another at Robinsons Place Ermita in Manila.
Moreover, the BSP installed additional coin deposit machines at Robinsons Place Galleria in Ortigas, SM City North EDSA, SM City Fairview in Quezon City, SM City San Lazaro in Manila, SM City Bicutan in Parañaque, and SM City Bacoor in Cavite, bringing the total CoDMs count to 10.
The BSP’s CoDMs accept all denominations of the BSP Coin Series and the New Generation Currency Coin Series launched in 2018, ranging from a centavo to as high as P20.
Through the CoDMs, customers can deposit legal tender coins and have the equivalent amount credited to their GCash accounts. The BSP said it is also working to onboard Maya to provide more e-wallet options to the public.
In using the machines, the central bank urged customers that coins to be deposited must not be taped or bundled, must not come with other objects like buttons, magnets, nails, tokens, screws, or washers, and must be gently placed in the coin slot in handfuls.
Being based in Muntinlupa City, I myself managed to deposit coins into the BSP machine located inside Festival Mall in Filinvest City in Alabang. I really liked the convenience of having the amount of my deposited coins transferred electronically into my GCash account and without any technical or convenience fees charged. I can only hope that the BSP will come up with options for coin depositors to transfer the collected value directly into bank accounts without charging any fees.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Were you able to deposit your coins at a BSP machine near your local community? Do you think this project by the BSP will help prevent coin shortages from happening? If you have an excessive amount of coins in your household right now, would you be willing to deposit them all into a BSP machine?
For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagements, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673
Author Carlo Carrasco 