General

Manila: The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said it remains committed to deepening financial inclusion to ensure that more Filipinos will be onboarded to the formal financial system. The BSP made the statement late Wednesday after the release of a World Bank report showing a slight decline in financial account ownership. According to Philippines News Agency, in its Global Findex 2025 report, the World Bank said that 50.2 percent of Filipinos 15 years old and above owned an account in banks and other microfinance institutions. This was slightly lower than the 51.4 percent reported in 2021. The BSP commented that

Manila: The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) on Thursday backed the launch of the Philippine Maritime Workforce Portal (PMWP), a centralized digital platform for data on the Philippine maritime workforce. In a statement, MARINA Deputy Administrator for Planning Nenita Atienza highlighted the portal’s role in crafting policies for the maritime sector. According to Philippines News Agency, the PMWP aims to be more than just a database, serving as a strategic tool to enhance the lives of Filipino seafarers and bolster the country’s maritime capabilities. MARINA is one of the designated data source agencies for the portal, joining forces with the Commission

Caraga: The inflation rate for the bottom 30 percent of income households in the Caraga Region decreased to -1.3 percent in June, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) 13 (Caraga) reported Thursday. This marks a significant improvement from the previous month’s rate of 0.6 percent, indicating better price conditions for low-income households in the area. According to Philippines News Agency, the deflation was primarily driven by a decline in the year-over-year growth rate of prices in the food and non-alcoholic beverage group. This category saw a drop to -3.5 percent last month from -2.4 percent in May. A major factor contributing

Legazpi: A total of PHP108 million worth of infrastructure projects is set to rise soon, aimed at easing classroom congestion and a better learning environment for students at Homapon High School. The projects include a two-story building with eight classrooms and a multi-purpose infrastructure and conference for educational and sports facility. It is expected to be completed this year. According to Philippines News Agency, during the groundbreaking ceremony, Mayor Hisham Ismail expressed gratitude to the Ako Bicol Party-list for the initiative, saying the infrastructure would serve as a hub of knowledge, creativity, and hope for students. ‘By adding more classrooms,

Hanoi: Vi?t Nam has made significant strides in protecting children from vaccine-preventable diseases, according to the latest national immunization coverage estimates released by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF on July 15. In 2024, the country achieved 99 percent coverage for the first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) vaccine, up from 80 percent in 2023. This marks not only a recovery to pre-pandemic levels but also a new high surpassing the rates recorded in 2019. According to Philippines News Agency, this improvement led to a reduction in the number of zero-dose children – children who had