De Lima drug case now up...

senator’s camp has decided to submit the case for resolution.

Tacardon said the petition for bail for the remaining drug case filed against De Lima before the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 256 remains pending.

In February 2021, the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 205 dismissed one of the three drug complaints lodged against De Lima.

De Lima has been accused of benefiting financially from the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa when she was justice secretary. She has denied the allegation.

She marked her sixth year in detention at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center at Camp Crame in Quezon City in February. g

American investors were also pleased to know that the bulk of the administration’s infrastructure budget is aimed at improving physical connectivity throughout the Philippines through the construction of accessible road networks, railways, buildings and flood control infrastructure, among many others.

Improving the country’s digital infrastructure was also a priority as this will help ensure that the Philippines continues to be a viable investment destination, with P24.13 billion or $434.3 million allocated to accelerate the country’s digital transformation, Secretary Pangandaman disclosed.

Secretary Diokno also bared that the “economic liberalization measures that the Philippine government has enacted in recent years have opened up key high-growth sectors to international participation,” outlining the reforms such as the amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act (RTLA), Foreign Investments Act (FIA) and the Public Service Act (PSA) that relaxed foreign restrictions on investments in the Philippines.

“Companies engaged in solar, wind, hydro and tidal energy are also welcome to invest in the Philippines’ renewable energy sector now that it has been opened up to full foreign ownership,” Secretary Diokno told the businessmen present.

As I explained to the attendees, our economic managers, in partnership with the legislature, the private sector and other stakeholders, are making changes to improve infrastructure and establish game-changing measures that will facilitate not only more economic activities for the Philippine business sector but also more foreign investments.

The country’s push for infrastructure could really accelerate the transformation of the Philippine economy in the next decade. Recalling a World Bank analysis almost a decade earlier showing that productivity loss due to lack of infrastructure was around $54 million every day or about $80 billion a year, lifting the infrastructure spending to 5 percent is therefore a “game changer,” the WB executive said.

He also noted that the investment regime of the Philippines has for a long time been “one of the most restrictive in the region,” but what the government has been doing over the last few years to open up these infrastructure services to foreign direct investment and all types of investment is “very significant.”

We are the fastest growing economy right now in our part of the world, a fact affirmed by many, including the IMF that expects the Philippines to record the fastest economic growth in Asia. Having ended 2022 with the fastest growth in the last 40 years, things are really looking good, especially with the recently concluded 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue that has made American investors feel more reassured due to the strengthened relations between the Philippines and the U.S.

As I told the briefing attendees, investing in the Philippines is both a smart and strategic economic decision. By supporting the growth and development of our country, they are contributing to the stability and prosperity of the region. (Philstar.com)