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Volume VII, No. 139
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Strong ties with Asean, China to boost exports www.businessweekmindanao.com
Wednesday | April 19, 2017
T
DAVAO City -- This year’s Philippines Development Forum (PDF) has been a productive exchange of ideas that generated a wide range of practical and out-of-the-box proposals on “how to push the poverty alleviation effort” of the Duterte administration. Aside from proposals, the government has, through this two-day event, also received numerous offers of strong support for the Duterte administration’s accelerated poverty reduction program from the country’s development partners. According to Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez, “the overarching goal of this administration’s reform program is the reduction of poverty by about 8 percent over the medium term.”
By KRIS M. CRISMUNDO, PNA
HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Tuesday that strengthening trade ties with Asian neighbors will back the recovery of the country’s exports performance in the coming months. DTI Export Marketing Bureau Director S enen Perlada said the Philippine government’s effort to boost trade relations with ASEAN and China contributed to the growth of exports revenue in the first two months of 2017. Exports of goods in January to February 2017 increased by 11 percent to USD4.78 billion from the same period in 2016.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show that shipments to China in January to February period improved by 24 percent to USD799 million. Exports to ASEAN countries likewise made increments in the same period – Singapore, up by 8.0 percent to USD568 million; Thailand, up by 37 percent to USD332 million; Malaysia,
up by 46 percent to USD163 million; and Vietnam, up by 16 percent to USD106 million. “Enhancing trade promotion effort to huge consumer markets is seen as a viable strateg y in sustaining the performance of Philippine exports in the coming months,” Perlada noted. In the past months, the Duterte administration has been visiting ASEAN member states and China to ensure strong economic relations with these nations. He a d d e d t h a t t h e conclusion of the ASEANled free trade agreement Regional Comprehensive exports/PAGE 11
P3 scam THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Region 10 warns the public against a group named “Hugpong Federal Movement of the Philippines” that collects P100 from individuals in several barangays and municipalities within Misamis Oriental. The group claims that the fee is intended for the procurement of an identification card (ID) which will be then presented to any DTI office in the region, according to the complainant. They assert that through the ID, the listed registrants can claim a P15,000.00 loan under the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pagasenso (P3) program. DTI Region 10 reiterates that the P3 program has not yet been rolled out in the region. The province of Bukidnon is the province identified as the priority area and Misamis Oriental is excluded in its initial implementation. Moreover, the Small Business Corporation (SB Corp), a DTI attached-agency and financing arm, is the one handling the P3 Program and doesn’t collect fees.
SUMMER JOB HUNT. A woman writes down her resume as she queues while other applicants converge in the background waiting to be interviewed during a job fair held Monday at SM City Cagayan de Oro. photo by mark francisco
Tourist visit in MisOr during Holy Week drops By CRIS DIAZ, Contributing Editor
TOURISTS and devotees visiting various pilgrimage sites in Misamis Oriental have considerably dropped during the observance of the Holy Week this year, the head of the provincial disaster office
said Monday. Francis Dy, Jr. said that lower arrival of tourists and devotees were observed in Sipaka Island and the Divine Mercy Statue, two of the most tourist/PAGE 11
SEA URCHINS. Fishermen of a coastal village of Medina, Misamis Oriental, dive over the weekend for sea urchins, locally known as suaki and tuyum, which the local government here making efforts to develop as a source of livelihood for the town’s fisherfolk. photo by gerry lee gorit
‘Cocolisap’ downs coconut trees in Basilan, Zambo By ANTONIO COLINA III, MindaNews
Coconut trees in Basilan. mindanews file photo by bobby timonera
DAVAO City -- The coconut scale insect (CSI), known to farmers as “cocolisap,” which affected farmers in the Calabarzon Region, has already reached Mindanao, forcing the eradication of
about 644,000 coconut trees in Zamboanga City and Basilan province to contain the infestation, an official of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) said.
Roque Quimpan, member of the board of the PCA, reported that Basilan reported the biggest damage with 500,000 trees affected while Zamboanga City with 144,000 trees. He said a massive cutting of trees in Basilan is
ongoing while it has yet to commence in Zamboanga, pending the approval of the PCA board and the budget needed to implement the eradication measure. Q uimp an s aid t he cocolisap outbreak reached cocolisap/PAGE 11
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