Budget and Taxes

* My article in  BusinessWorld  last Oct. 17. ---------------- On Oct. 7, I was interviewed on the BusinessWorld Live program of One News, Cignal TV which is hosted by very articulate broadcasters Danie Laurel and Jes delos Santos. The topic was about the impact of the OPEC+ decision to cut their combined oil production by 2 million barrels per day (mbpd), from 43.8 mbpd until this October to 41.8 mbpd by November. Projected global oil demand is 100 mbpd. Towards the end, they asked me for my assessment of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s first 100 days, I said that on a scale of one to 10, 10 being the highest, I would give him a seven overall. I would add now that if we focus on economic policies, I would give him an 8.5. For three reasons. One, the quick formation of the administration’s economic team — Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe Medalla, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangand...

* My column in  BusinessWorld  last October 10. ---------------- Four important events that occurred last week: the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) dismissed the rate hike petition of the power companies of San Miguel Corp. (SMC); the continuing threat of blackouts was highlighted; the jump in the inflation rate; and, the government’s cash operations and debt payment information were released. ERC’S DISMISSAL OF SMC POWER COMPANIES PETITION Last Monday, the ERC published its decision denying the petition of SMC for a rate hike for its two power plants. See these reports in BusinessWorld: “Meralco vows to prevent termination of SMC deals” Oct. 5), “SMC studies legal options after rate hike denial” (Oct. 6), and, “SMC plans to sell power to WESM after rate-hike denial” (Oct. 7). For me the main issue that the ERC has to grapple with is not the projected higher electricity rate hike if the SMC petition was not granted. The main issue is rule of law and sanctity of contract. If...

* My article in  BusinessWorld  last Monday, October 3. ----------------- The Asia Liberty Forum 2022 was successfully held last week Sept. 29-30 at Shangri-La The Fort, sponsored by the Atlas Network and Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF). Among my old friends from the US who came were Simon Lee, formerly with the Lion Rock Institute-HK, Philip Thompson of the Tholos Foundation, Joe Lehman of the Mackinac Center, Kris Mauren of the Acton Institute, Fred McMahon of the Fraser Institute in Canada, and Basanta Adhikari of Bikalpa in Nepal. The day before, Sept. 28, there was an Economic Freedom Audit of the Philippines, presenting the results from the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) Index which is done annually by the Fraser Institute. EFW 2022 showed the Philippines’ global rank was No. 66 out of 186 countries and territories covered. It is higher than Thailand, India, Laos, Vietnam, and China. But the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown is not included in the report. The tw...

* My column in  BusinessWorld  last September 26. -------------- Last Thursday, Sept. 22, another Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) was held in New York, USA. This was a sequel to the successful PEB held in Jakarta and Singapore on Sept. 6 and 7 where some $14.4 billion worth of investment pledges to the Philippines were made. President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., his entire economic team and infrastructure team, plus representatives of local conglomerates were there and gave the audience — business leaders in various industries, from manufacturing to finance and banking, real estate, etc. in the US — details on why they should come to the Philippines and invest here. Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno gave a presentation on behalf of the economic team, and Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual gave a presentation on behalf of the infrastructure team. Jaime Zobel de Ayala of Ayala Corp. and Sabin Aboitiz of Aboitiz Equity spoke at both panels. Since the audience was composed of US-based ...

* My article in  BusinessWorld  last September 19. ---------------- Last week, on Sept. 12, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) made a big announcement of red and yellow alerts in the Luzon grid. It was a bad situation for three reasons. One, it came just five days after a successful business roadshow by the Marcos Jr. administration in Jakarta and Singapore where some $14.4 billion of pledged investments to the Philippines were announced. When those big foreign investments come, they will need a huge power supply and yet the Philippines still experiences yellow-red alerts of thin power reserves and potential blackouts until now.... In many countries in Europe, the inconvenient fact is that as more wind and solar are added to the grid, overall power generation declines, and GDP growth is low and anemic. This is because many non-intermittent and reliable fossil fuel and nuclear plants exit the market as they are not a priority in the grid and are being demonized r...

* My column in  BusinessWorld  last Sept. 12. ----------------- Four important economic and business developments occurred last week that I want to comment on. 1. Philippine Economic Briefing, Singapore Last Wednesday, Sept. 7, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and his economic and infrastructure teams held the Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) in Singapore, which was attended by many investors. In Panel 1, the speakers were Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Socio-Economic Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Central Bank Governor Felipe Medalla, and SM Investment Corp. (SMIC) Vice-Chair Teresita Sy-Coson. The four officials spoke clearly about the macroeconomic and fiscal stability of the country. And it was a brilliant idea to have another speaker from Philippine business. Singapore businessmen know the Sy and SM conglomerate, and Ms. Coson spoke positively about the economic team and economic outlook of the Philippines. When the panel ended, the...