The United States government announced the increase in its law enforcement aid to the Philippines. From nearly P495 million in 2010, the country will be getting close to P630 million in 2011, according to the US Embassy in Manila. This support will come in the form of “technical assistance, training, facilities, and supply of equipment.”

Nido Petroleum Ltd. sold its first oil from the Tindalo oil field off Palawan. The Australian firm has sold to a buyer in South Korea some 230,000 barrels for crude oil cargo. Joanne Williams, Nido deputy managing director, said the sale was confirmed by the joint venture’s marketing agent, Trafigura Pte Ltd., with the lifting [...]

The real estate subsidiary of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SM) is planning to launch soon, the country’s first “underwater hotel.” The said project is part of the four new developments of San Miguel Properties Inc. (SMP) which will start next year, as the company’s foray into the tourism segment begins.

Investment banker Philip Sevilla has been appointed by President Aquino as Finance undersecretary for Privatization and the Corporate Affairs Group, as confirmed by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima recently. Sevilla will be taking over the portfolio which was previously handled by Crisanta Legaspi. He will be handling the difficult task of helping raise revenues for the [...]

The country’s biggest oil refiner and retailer, recently disclosed that for the first half of 2010, it has already spent more than P6 billion for its capital expenditure projects and debt repayments. Petron Corp., in its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), said it used the proceed from its preferred share issuance early this [...]

The country’s power sector, including renewable energy projects, is likely to get a big boos from the World Bank (WB). WB’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corp. (IFC), is looking at pouring in more than $300 million in investment to the said industry in the Philippines.
IFC resident representatives to the Philippines, Jesse Ang, said [...]

The IP E-Game Ventures, Inc., the online gaming unit of listed information technology firm IPVG Corp., is getting ready to go public after fulfilling the requirement of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to be listed by way of introduction last February of this year.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (SEC) has approved and issued the listing rules for real estate investment trusts (REIT), thus giving way for a new investment instruments.  According to the SEC, the rules should spur interest from the investing public. REIT will use pooled capital of investors to buy and manage income-generating property and mortgage loans.

Figaro Coffee Co., a 100-percent Filipino-owned company established in 1993 whose product lines include specialty roasted local coffee varieties and various coffee-related paraphernalia. Currently, the largest Filipino-owned coffee company, with 65 coffee shop outlets nationwide, 35 of which are franchise-owned, and 30 are company-owned.
For 2010, the company plans to increase its 65 outlets by 18 [...]

The Philippine’s top producer of biodiesel, resins and oleochemicals, Chemrez Technologies, Inc. (ChemrezTech), has announced that its board of directors has approved the cash dividends worth a total of about P158.6 million to be declared. The company said in its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that a regular cash dividend of six centavos [...]

Texas Instruments (TI), one of the world’s leader in the semiconductor industry, has been doing business in the Philippines for more than 30 years, and the company plans to stay longer in the country. In fact, TI has earmarked $1 billion in new investments for its planned expansion of its operation in the country for [...]

The senior citizens in the country will enjoy additional discounts starting on July 6, 2010. That is because the Department of Social Works and Development (DSWD) has signed the implementing rules on the law granting senior citizens exemption from the value-added tax (VAT).
The guideline signed by the DSWD is the implementing rules and regulations of [...]

Good news for residential clients of Manila Water Co., Inc. They can expect a lower water bill starting July 1, 2010 and this is mainly due to the appreciation of peso against the US dollar. The company said, it its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), they were able to reduce the foreign currency [...]

Gokongwei-led Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (Digitel) plans to increase its budget for capital expenditure (Capex) for 2010 from $250 million to $350 million this year. This is in line with the company’s effort to aggressively expand its network to match rivals Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Globe Telecoms Inc.
James Go, Digitel president and [...]

Starting on the 1st of June, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will be pushing through with the implementation of value-added tax (VAT) on toll fees, in spite of the opposition of various sectors. This could mean higher toll rates once the VAT is imposed.
BIR Commissioner Joel Tan-Torres, who is adamant on the imposition of [...]

Right after the elections, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will start this week their audit of 24 of the biggest conglomerates in the Philippines for their 2009 finances. According to BIR Commissioner Joel L. Tan-Torres said BIR “expects to collect a large amount of tax deficiency” from these group of companies. He said they [...]

National Power Corp. (Napocor) president Froilan Tampinco that they will be offering about P15 billion worth of peso-denominated bonds and want it to be in place within the month. The proceeds for the bond offerings would be used to fund the company’s budget requirement for the rest of the year and up to the first [...]

The country’s tax agency was able to exceed its collection goal of P86.2 billion for April and was able to collect P87.1 billion for the month. Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) commissioner Joel Tan-Torres that the collection for April even exceeded the P87 billion collections for the same period last year.
The collection performance was attributed [...]

Homegrown fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corp. continues to extend its presence in China as it recently acquired one of the local beef noodle there. In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Jollibee said it will be investing RMB30 million ($4.39 million) to secure 55 percent stake on the San Pin Wang restaurant chain.
Another RMB20 [...]

The Metro Pacific Group is confident that it has won the bidding for the concession to operate the country’s longest expressway, the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx). Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) believed it virtually clinched the hotly contested concession after it has submitted an “improved” bid package to the government. “We have submitted a final improved [...]