Fitch Ratings has included its rated Philippine financial institutions (FIs) as among the 12 percent of its 141 rated firms globally that have improving outlooks for 2022. In a report emailed Wednesday, the debt rater said 80 percent, or 113 issuers, have neutral outlooks while 8 percent, or 11 institutions, have a deteriorating outlook. “The vast majority of financial institution (FI) sector and subsector outlooks are Neutral for 2022, reflecting the expectation for a continued, albeit slowing, global economic recovery and improvement in operating environments for banks, non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) and (re)insurers,” it said. The report said loan asset

To mitigate food waste, the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) pushed to turn some of it into “something valuable.” Rosa Bassig, senior science research specialist of the Fisheries Postharvest Research and Development Division of NFRDI, said one of the most common food wastes is shrimp head that can be converted into shrimp powder and can be a potentially good source of income. Based on her study released Wednesday, one kilogram of fresh shrimp heads can produce about 200 grams of shrimp power. “Not bad for business, considering that what would have been just a waste was converted into

The Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the grant of US$60,000 (around PHP3 million) in full permanent and total disability benefits to a Filipino seafarer who was found to have been no longer fit for work by his company’s doctors following a medical condition in 2018. In its 12-page decision dated December 29 and recently made available, the CA’s Ninth Division affirmed the arbitrator’s judgment dated November 4, 2020, in favor of seafarer Artemio G. Oberes Jr., and said parties may request a third opinion from a physician in such cases. Among other things, the CA said Oberes’ employer Magsaysay

Officials of the 70 villages here received PHP 3,000 each as financial assistance from the national government on Tuesday for their role in carrying out the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination program. Mayor Noel Rosal on Wednesday said the assistance came from the social fund of President Rodrigo Duterte. “The PHP2.3 million total fund of the financial assistance was approved and downloaded to the City Treasurer’s Office in a letter from the Office of the Deputy Secretary for Finance and Administration,” Rosal said in an interview. Recipients of the cash aid were barangay chairmen, councilors, treasurers, secretaries and Sanggunian Kabataan

The logistics industry is expected to save some PHP1.92 billion with the streamlining of applications and fees for truckers. The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) launched on Wednesday the Unified Logistics Pass (ULP), a single-window application and payment for trucking companies for all pass-through fees of ports, local government units (LGUs), and economic zones. Citing the study of the World Bank, ARTA Deputy Director General Ernesto Perez said the current system costs the industry PHP2.23 billion for registering with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and getting pass-through stickers from different LGUs and ecozones where truckers ply. But with

The local automotive industry has registered a 20-percent increase in sales for the full year of 2021, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) reported Wednesday. Local car assemblers ended last year with 268,488 unit sales from 223,793 units sold in 2020. Both passenger car and commercial vehicle segments recorded double-digit growth. Passenger car sales rose 22.4 percent to 85,260 units in 2021 compared to 69,638 units sold the previous year. On the other hand, commercial vehicle sales grew 18.9 percent to 183,228 units from 154,155 units a year ago. “Looking back