IT IS GOOD that we have more of the good news lately than bad news.
Two consecutive events for Iloilo attracted nationwide attention and they should make us proud as Ilonggos.
First, on Oct. 17 Iloilo City was proclaimed by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. or PCCI as “Most Business-Friendly Highly Urbanized City in the Philippines”, with President Rodrigo R. Duterte handing an award plaque to Mayor Jerry P. Treñas at the Manila Hotel during PCCI’s 45th anniversary celebration.
Second, Iloilo International Airport was ranked 18th in the Best of Asia Airport List of 2019, together with one other airport in the Philippines – the Mactan International Airport in Cebu which was ranked 16th.
Leading business groups in the Philippines have been doing well for the past nine months of the year. For example, Emperador’s nine-month net hits P5.3 billion; the San Miguel group of companies reports P41.9 billion in net income; SM Group’s Jan.-Sept. net profit jumped 26 percent year-on-year to P33.1 million in higher earnings derived from its property and banking businesses. Globe Telecom’s nine-month profit jumps 20 percent to P17.9 billion as service revenue and increased 13 percent to P110.6 billion. China Banking Corp. reported a nine-month consolidated net income of P6.7 billion.
For the remaining part of the year, a benign inflation outlook and more upbeat consumer confidence are expected to stimulate private consumption, especially with the nearing holiday season that has begun, economists predict.
The Philippine economy grew 6.2 percent during the third quarter, faster than the consensus expectation of six-percent growth.
For the last eight years, our industry growth has averaged 6.8 percent. This is the good news.
The bad news is in agriculture where we grew only 1.5 percent this year.
We have a new Agriculture secretary in the person of William Dar who is now aggressively addressing our farming problems, especially on how to assist our poor farmers. The big question is, can farming become competitive and also survive?
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GEM OF THOUGHT
“Housing Loan – a type of loan granted by the bank to house your family, relatives and in-laws.” (For comments or re-actions, please e-mail to jnoveracompany@yahoo.com/PN)
