Philip Morris International, Inc. (PMPI) joined forces with Philippine a cigarette company forming one big corporation that will control about 90 percent of the country’s lucrative cigarette market. The US-based tobacco giant formed a new company with local rival Fortune Tobacco Corp. (FTC), which is owned by Chinese-Filipino tycoon Lucio Tan.

Now, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and even foreign investors outside the country can check a real estate property they are interested in, without necessarily being in the Philippines. That is because the Philippine Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Association (CREBA) have deployed in the Internet the Philippines’ first fully-automated Web GIS parcellary mapping service. [...]

UST Global inaugurated recently its new offshore development center in McKinley Hills, Taguig City. The new center is part of the company’s aggressive expansion plans in Asia, and is targeting to haul in $32 million revenues in its first year and catering to 2,000 clients in North America and Europe.

Bibingkinitan! has embarked on an aggressive campaign to expand its number of outlets this year. The fast-rising Filipino food chain is aiming to open up about 100 new outlets all over the country, to bring its total number of stores to at least 250 by the end of 2010.
Richard V. Sanz, president and chief executive [...]

The Philippine flag-carrier, the Philippine Airlines (PAL) will be resuming its service to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on March 28, 2010, after four years its absence in the said city. The PAL decided to bring back its flight to Riyadh in response to the clamor of more than two million Filipino Overseas Worker (OFW) communities in [...]

More jobs await Filipinos overseas this year. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said that Filipinos, particularly nurses, caregivers and factory workers, can look forward to more jobs in Japan and South Korea.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia still tops the list of land-based destinations of overseas Filipino workers, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). The agency also said that the Saudi Arabia even improved by 8.2 percent in terms of the number of OFWs deployed as of October 2009.

Online games always a ready audience in the Filipino market. There is a big market for Filipino online gamers, although most the games were created outside the country. A group of Filipinos with entrepreneurial mindset is eyeing to cash in on this online gaming craze capturing Filipinos from all walks of like.

Our local animators have already proven themselves in the international arena, and their works have sought by many big international animation film companies. Now, they are hoping that Filipino animators would gain an even bigger spot on the world animation map.
The Animation Council of the Philippines Inc. (ACPI) is advocating “creative process outsourcing” CPO and [...]

The applications of the more than 10,000 World War II Filipino and Filipino-American veterans have been approved by the US Embassy’s Veterans Affairs Office. This gives them part of the P5.8-billion budget allocated for this purpose.

MoneyGram International and Smart Communications, Inc. tied up to provide families of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) the convenience of wireless “wallet” service. OFWs may now send their remittances to their families in the Philippines faster through the facility which is likened to a “cross border wallet service.”

The RD Corporation, a Filipino owned company, is planning to expand its investment in the tuna cannery business and is earmarking about $15 million for its prospect. This was disclosed by RD Group chairman Rodrigo Rivera, who said that they will be starting the new cannery by the first quarter of 2010 and will be [...]

Starting early next year, flag-carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will be adding Brisbane to its key destinations to boost profits and market performance in Australia. The PAL is eyeing a twice-weekly service direct to Brisbane, Queensland, and twice a week via Melbourne. It will be using a 320-seater Airbus 330-300 aircraft.

For the last 15 months, the peso was pegged at its strongest level after the closing at 46 to $1 on Friday. This was mainly attributed to steady growth of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) remittances and stable consumer prices.

Two overseas Filipino workers (OFW) families were recognized for their efforts in helping residents in their community gain employment or livelihood through promotion of entrepreneurship. The first OFW was from Lipa, Batangas, and the second one was from Baleno, Masbate. They were named this year’s Model OFW families.
The Model OFW Family of the Year Awards [...]

To allow local residents more opportunities to spend more time talking with their families and friends abroad, Globe Telecom has reduced its international voice and text rates to major destinations by as much as 87%.

Here’s another first from the Smart Communications, the country’s leading wireless services provider. The company launched recently the beta phase of its mobile email, the first daily flat-rate, unlimited push email solution in the country.

There is a big demand for the macapuno or the “mutant nut” in the Philippines as well as in other countries. This offers a big opportunity for Filipino entrepreneurs as they can venture into the business of producing planting or the nut itself.
The Philippine Coconut Authority Albay Research Center scientists were able to develop the [...]

I-Remit Inc. continues to expand its presence all over the world. This time, the Filipino-owned non-bank remittance company has acquired a license to do business in Europe. The company said it received a copy of a letter which came from Banca D’ Italia Eurosistema advising of the registration of iRemit Europe in the general list [...]

It’s final! Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero will not be throwing his hat into the presidential ring, saying that “now is not the time to run for the presidency,” as he announced on Tuesday that he will not be participating in the May 2010 elections except to vote. He made the announcement to his supporters and [...]