News & Stories

COTABATO CITY — Police in Lanao del Sur seized P1.6 million worth of Indonesian cigarettes from two couriers at a checkpoint in the village of Bual, Picong before dawn on Tuesday. Th

e suspects were now in Picong Municipal Police custody undergoing interrogation. Au

thorities also impounded their Mitsubishi L300 van, which was loaded with 2,150 reams of cigarettes. Po

lice said the vehicle was flagged for a routine inspection but was immediately held when the contraband was discovered. Th

e suspects told investigators they were tasked with delivering the cigarettes to contacts in Malabang and other nearby towns. Br

igadier General Jaysen C. De

Guzman, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said the pair promised to identify the bigger smuggling network to help authorities prosecute those involved. Th

e confiscated cigarettes will be turned over to the Bureau of Customs for proper disposition. — John Felix M. Unso

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A COALITION of civil society groups on Tuesday called for the disclosure of all budget documents on the proposed P6.793-trillion national spending plan for 2026 before senators and congressmen meet for a joint panel that will finalize the budget bill.

Lawmakers should publish all the files they used in discussing the proposed budget, including budgetary tweaks and insertions, before they start the bicameral conference committee, watchdog Bantay Budget Network said.

“Secrecy in the budget process breeds corruption, patronage and abuse of power,” it said in a statement. “A d

emocratic budget requires public scrutiny and open access to information.” Lawmaker

s face pressure to boost budget transparency after a flood control corruption scandal. The Hous

e has moved to scrap its longstanding “small committee,” which previously amended the budget during second and third readings. Meanwhile, s

enators have promised to open bicameral budget deliberations to the public. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio var bw

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THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) is widely expected to ease for a fifth straight meeting on Thursday as economic growth slows and inflation remains below target, analysts said.

A BusinessWorld poll conducted last week showed that 17 out of 18 analysts surveyed expect the Monetary Board to cut the target reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points (bps) on Dec.

11.

This is the board’s last policy review meeting of the year. If

realized, the benchmark rate will fall to 4.5% from the current 4.75%. At

4.5%, this would be the lowest policy rate in over three years or since the 4.25% in September 2022. In

the BusinessWorld poll, only one analyst, Pantheon Macroeconomics Chief Emerging Asia Economist Miguel Chanco, sees the BSP delivering a 50-bp cut. Th

e central bank has so far reduced borrowing costs by a cumulative 175 bps since it began its easing cycle in August last year. It

delivered a 25-bp cut at each of its meetings in April, June, August and October. Mo

ody’s Analytics Assistant Director and Economist Sarah Tan said the dismal third-quarter growth and easing inflation print may prompt a 25-bp rate cut on Thursday. “Wea

THE PHILIPPINE BANKING sector had slightly more bad debts in October than in the previous month, bringing its gross nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio to 3.33%, preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

The industry’s gross NPL ratio inched up in October to 3.33% from 3.31% in September but improved from the over two-year high NPL ratio of 3.6% logged in October 2024. Oc

tober also saw the highest bad loan ratio in two months or since the 3.5% in August. Lo

ans are considered nonperforming once they remain unpaid for at least 90 days after the due date. Th

ese are deemed risk assets since borrowers are unlikely to pay. Ba

sed on data from the central bank, soured loans slipped by 0.35% to P537.028 billion in October from P538.924 billion in September. Ho

wever, it rose by 2.43% from P524.311 billion a year ago. “T

he slight pickup in the NPL ratio could be partly due to the slower growth in bank loans in recent months that could have slowed the growth in the denominator, adverse effects of the series of storms (and) earthquakes in recent months that slowed down economic activities amid reduced number of working days,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief

Economist Michael L. Ricafo

rt said in a Viber message. Earlie

THE BOARD of Investments (BoI) has approved P816.81 billion worth of investment pledges as of November, dropping by 48.3% from the P1.58 trillion in pledges approved in the same period a year ago.

At the same time, the value of green lane-certified projects breached the P6-trillion mark, it added.

In a statement, the BoI said it greenlit 261 projects, which are expected to create 32,864 jobs, in the first 11 months.

These investment pledges are mainly in the sectors of energy and electricity (P479.78 billion), airports and seaports (P195.69 billion), manufacturing (P58.99 billion), mass housing (P37.55 billion), and information and communication (P21.27 billion).

“These figures reflect the strong inflow of high-value investments that strengthen our economy. Bu

t we will not slow down,” said Trade Secretary and BoI Chair Ma. Cris

tina A. Roqu

e in a statement on Monday. “The

P816.81 billion in approved investments to date sends a clear signal to local and foreign investors: the Philippines is an ideal, competitive, and future-ready business destination,” she added. The top

country sources of investments were Singapore (P74.78 billion), Thailand (P7.75 billion), and the US (P5.38 billion). However,

METRO PACIFIC TOLLWAYS Corp.

(MPTC) said it is weighing opportunities to expand its toll road assets in Vietnam.

“Vietnam is a different story. In

Vietnam, we were getting dividends. If

somebody makes us an offer for an asset that is attractive for us, we will acquire it,” MPTC President and Chief Executive Officer Gilbert F. Sant

a Maria told reporters on the sidelines of an event last week. He s

aid the company is not investing in Vietnam at present as it continues to receive dividend streams from its existing toll operations there. “We

will continue to look at what Vietnam plans are,” he added. MPTC, th

e tollways unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC),

has operations in Indonesia and Vietnam. Its Viet

THIS YEAR, Manila’s Finest, a crime action-drama and entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), is setting out to depict the grit and vibrancy of Manila in the 1960s. Th

e film is centered on police officer Capt. Ho

mer Magtibay (played by Piolo Pascual), who must investigate a series of brutal killings in Manila’s growing slums, with the help of his trusted partner Lt. Bill

y Ojeda (played by Enrique Gil). In s

olving the crimes, they end up testing their loyalty and courage as well as confronting the sacrifices that must be made in a city with a rapidly changing identity. Led

by director Raymond Red, the entire production is “proud and excited” to present the film as their entry to this year’s MMFF, said Jane J. Basas, pre

sident of MQuest Ventures, which produced Manila’s Finest alongside Cignal TV and Spring Films. Previous MMF

F entries which MQuest Ventures produced are The Kingdom in 2024 and GomBurZa in 2023. For the dire

ctor, Mr. Red, the fil

m is unique in that, beneath the action scenes and the period elements in the production design, it is still a human drama. “I can’t cal

PHILIPPINE FIRMS must accelerate the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and invest in infrastructure, talent, and governance to unlock potential gains of up to 12% in national economic output, according to industry experts.

“AI could drive anywhere from an 8% to 12% increase in the GDP (gross domestic product) of the country by 2030,” Kearney Senior Partner and Philippines Country Head Marco de la Rosa said during a panel discussion at the BusinessWorld Forecast 2026 on Nov. 25.

He s

aid realizing that potential would require increased investments and more “democratized” access to AI technologies. Enterpri

ses, regulators and the government should also engage in what he described as a “healthy dialogue” on how to further improve AI adoption and governance. “It would be

great to see more venture capital or private equity monies coming into the country, investing in the AI capabilities locally,” Mr. De la Rosa said.

Ambe C. Tierro,

country

managing director at Accenture Philippines, said companies’ AI strategies must be grounded on technology, talent, and trust. Organizations must

have accurate data and secure cloud systems to produce relevant outputs from their AI infrastructure, she said. “If you have a ver

NEXT+ WELLNESS CENTER is set to open this weekend in Tomas Morato, Quezon City (QC), offering solutions to manage body pain, encourage movement, and deal with stress.

Founded by Angela Solquillo, founder of creative advertising agency Zigzag Creatives, the center offers reformer Pilates classes and recovery treatments.

Blending the two of these into one is Photobiomodulation (PBM) reformer Pilates, which is basically doing Pilates on the bed-like frame reformer machine under a red light, which stimulates the cells to help them heal.

The center will be the first in the Philippines to offer PBM reformer Pilates, which will have “medical-grade red light that heals not only the skin, but also muscles and tissues,” Ms. Solq

uillo told BusinessWorld in an exclusive interview in Makati. “The

goal of Pilates is to bring the body back to its center. It’s g

ood for those with injuries, for scoliosis. Joseph P

ilates invented it for soldiers, to help rehab their bodies,” she explained. “I really

question why it hasn’t been done yet. Red light plus

rehab or clinical Pilates is a no-brainer. You get a good

The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) actively supports technology, promotes digital transformation and views technology as a critical driver of economic growth and national competitiveness, which is evident in its programs and themes.

So it was not surprising that a new technology, like video selfies to generate health assessments, was welcomed by MAP members when it was demonstrated at the July MAP general membership meeting.

Facial scans and video selfies are used for health assessments by leveraging computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze subtle physiological changes and visual cues from a person’s face. Th

is technology, often referred to as remote photoplethysmography (rPPG), works by detecting miniscule color fluctuations in the skin that are caused by changes in blood volume as the heart pumps. A

smartphone or laptop camera captures a video, and the AI algorithms process the data to provide health metrics. Th

ere have been remote monitoring devices, like smartwatch or apps from Apple and Samsung for the last couple of years, that rely on proactive reporting and uploading of data or direct contact with the skin, but this video selfie technology can measure a variety of health markers just by scanning the face. Th

ese health markers are heart rate and heart rate variability to analyze the subtle change in skin color and blood volume to determine the user’s pulse and the time between heartbeats; blood pressure to analyze blood flow patterns; respiratory rate to detect the minute movements of the face and chest that correspond to breathing; stress and emotional state to analyze changes in facial expressions and muscle tension and assess stress levels and emotional well-being; and skin and physical condition scans to identify malnutrition, dehydration, certain genetic disorders and skin conditions such as acne, redness and signs of aging. Soon

, these video selfies will add features, like coughing, to the phone’s microphone to detect lung conditions. This n

oninvasive approach has potential applications in remote patient monitoring, corporate wellness programs and even for insurance underwriting in some countries like the US, China, India, the UK, Japan and Australia. Inform

ation gathered from facial scans is often used to generate a personalized policy quote or to streamline the underwriting process, making it faster and less intrusive for customers, and potentially replacing or reducing the need for traditional medical exams and long questionnaires. This t

YIELDS on the Treasury bills (T-bills) to be offered this week could end lower ahead of expected rate cuts from both the US Federal Reserve and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) will auction off P22 billion in T-bills on Tuesday or P7 billion in 91-day securities and P7.5 billion each in 182- and 364-day papers.

The T-bills could fetch lower yields in line with the week-on-week decline seen at the secondary market as slower-than-expected November inflation bolstered expectations of a fifth straight easing move by the BSP this week, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

Chief Economist Michael L.

Ricafort said in a Viber message.

“Banking books’ year-end profit taking is still heavily weighing on the market and we expect same sentiment heading to the Monetary Board meet, where a 25-basis-point (bp) cut is already priced in,” a trader said in an e-mail on Friday. At the

secondary market on Friday, yields on the 91-, 182-, and 364-day T-bills went down by 0.88 bp, 0.09 bp, and 1.91 bps to end at 4.8732%, 4.999%, and 5.052%, respectively, based on PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates data as of Dec. 5 published on the Philippine Dealing System’s website. Philippi

ne headline inflation eased to 1.5% last month from 1.7% in October and 2.5% in November 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Friday. This was

within the BSP’s 1.101.9% forecast for the month, but was a shade below the 1.6% median estimate in a BusinessWorld poll of 15 analysts. The Novemb

er clip brought the 11-month average to 1.6%, below the central bank’s 1.7% full-year forecast and 2-4% annual goal. Analysts sai

PHILIPPINE SHARES may see continued volatility this week before the policy meetings of the US Federal Reserve and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which investors will monitor for potential forward-looking statements.

On Friday, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed by 1.04% or 61.64 points to end at 5,949.22, while the broader all shares index rose 0.55% or 19.03 points to close at 3,477.68.

Week on week, however, the PSEi decreased by 73.02 points from its 6,022.24 close on Nov.

28.

Analysts said Friday’s rebound was driven by the slower-than-expected November Philippine inflation print, which bolstered BSP rate cut hopes. Ho

wever, Philstocks Financial, Inc. Re

search Manager Japhet Louis O. Ta

ntiangco noted that the PSEi failed to return above the 6,000 mark. “S

eemingly, the market is not yet prepared to take the said level as worries over the local economy hinder investors’ confidence from building up further,” he said in a Viber message. For this

week, the focus will be on the Fed’s policy meeting on Dec. 9-10 and the BSP’s own review on Dec. 11, he said. “Hopes of ea