The Department of Justice issued an opinion stating that the Philippines’ 1987 Constitution does not forbid 100 percent ownership of renewable energy. The opinion issued on September 29 found that the constitutional prohibition on the exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources “only covers things that are susceptible to appropriation, thus excluding the sun, wind, and ...

A significant portion of President Marcos’s visit to New York City was devoted to promoting the Philippines to potential foreign investors. A summary of the trip from the office of the Press Secretary summarizes his meetings with the foreign business community: Keynote address at the New York Stock Exchange A Philippine Economic Briefing  Four CEO roundtable ...

Continued attention is being devoted to an alleged uptick in kidnapping in the Philippines, including from legislators in the Senate and the House. On September 6, Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCCI) President Lugene Ang met with House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan about kidnapping incidents in the Filipino-Chinese community. The PCCCI announced that they ...

From August 4 to 6, the People’s Republic of China conducted military drills and live fire exercises around Taiwan. In response to the visit of US Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, these exercises included the firing of some 11 ballistic missiles. A portion of these missiles traveled over the island of Taiwan before landing on ...

President Marcos delivered his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in a manner that was highly policy-focused and even technical. The speech stood in stark contrast to the SONA’s from the last six years under the Duterte administration, and even in comparison to the relatively policy-light campaign of Marcos as a presidential candidate. The President ...

COVID-19 cases continue to go up nationwide. The DOH is reporting over 2,000 cases per day, with the two-week growth rate of over 100 percent. Metro Manila on its own is reporting about 800 cases per day. Many cases are not being detected through testing as anti-gen testing is now widespread and the two-week positivity ...

The business community and international investors continue to eagerly await the announcement of incoming President Marcos’s cabinet. The announcement of a technocratic team of economic managers is likely the single most important step that could be taken to reassure both local and international investors. Headlines continue to circulate about investor anxiety stemming from uncertainty about the ...

Amid concerns about potential blackouts during the 2nd Quarter, and particularly during the May 9 elections, the Department of Energy released a revised power outlook. The outlook accounts for the forced outage at Calaca Unit 2, which is on an extended outage until July 2022. The outlook shows potential yellow alerts in the second half of ...

Two weeks after the implementation of Alert Level 1 in much of the country, cases are still low and falling in the Philippines. Meanwhile, several other locations in Asia and Europe are experiencing surges in cases and deaths, none more so than Hong Kong. What is happening in Hong Kong continues to highlight that Omicron can ...