Balita.org: Your Premier Source for Comprehensive Philippines News and Insights! We bring you the latest news, stories, and updates on a wide range of topics, including politics, culture, economy, and more. Stay tuned to know everything you wish about your favorite stars 24/7.
DAVAO CITY—National Food Authority Administrator Larry Lacson led a three-day visit to Davao by the NFA Council to review the agency’s operations, inspect facilities and conduct a dialogue with farmers’ groups to provide council members an on-ground perspective and better understanding of farmers’ plights and concerns.
MANILA, Philippines — It may have failed to make the trip but Gilas Pilipinas remains invested in the Filipinos’ campaign in the Paris Olympics.
For many, diamonds best symbolize luxury and elegance, ever-coveted for their brilliance and timeless beauty. As two of the most sought-after celebrities of the day, Andrea Brillantes and Rabiya Mateo compellingly embody these qualities, making them ideal ambassadors for LVNA — the rapidly thriving jewelry brand helmed by the talented designer Drake Dustin Ibay, who is famously committed to democratizing diamond ownership.
MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is launching five new digital services that will make company registration more efficient and promote data sharing for enhanced tax administration.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Ahead of a weekend when Asian content will be making a big impact at San Diego Comic-Con, two of Japan’s largest industrial and financial conglomerates have quietly begun to invest in Japanese animation, the hottest part of the country’s film and TV industry. Marubeni, which has roots in cereals, chemicals and paper but has diversified to become a trading giant and Japan’s 13th largest corporation, says it is targeting the booming manga (comics) and anime (animated movies and series) markets through a new venture with Shogakukan, a leading publisher. Mizuho Securities, another part of the Mizuho keiretsu (a form of business alliance common in Japan), revealed this month that it will launch an animation film fund.
As reported yesterday (MB link), President Marcos has banned POGOs and instructed PAGCOR to phase them out completely by the end of the year. That announcement was made after the close on Monday, so the first opportunity for POGO stocks (and POGO-adjacent stocks) to react was during the trading session yesterday. The biggest POGO-related declines were in DoubleDragon [DD 11.30 ?5.2%; 442% avgVol] and its REIT subsidiary, DDMP [DDMPR 1.10 ?5.2%; 1236% avgVol], but other developer/REIT pairings saw significant selling pressure in the early hours, like Filinvest Land [FLI 0.69 unch; 76% avgVol] and Filinvest REIT [FILRT 3.01 ?2.6%; 40% avgVol]. Ayala Land [ALI 31.60 ?0.9%; 113% avgVol] and Robinsons Land [RLC 14.98 ?2.1%; 24% avgVol] were down, as were SM Prime [SMPH 29.90 ?2.5%; 80% avgVol] and Megaworld [MEG 1.84 ?1.6%; 134% avgVol]. There may have been something of a “flight to safety” in the REIT sector, as AREIT [AREIT 36.90 ?1.2%; 89% avgVol] pumped and some of the non-POGO stocks like Citicore Renewable Energy REIT [CREIT 2.85 ?0.3%; 77% avgVol] saw an uptick in buying interest. MB BOTTOM-LINE: The carnage was considerable for Injap Sia and Tony Caktiong’s DD and DDMPR, but it’s not like a potential POGO ban hasn’t been kicking around in the halls of power for years now. There’s been plenty of notice. If I were a shareholder of DD (I’ve never owned this stock) or especially of DDMPR (I owned this stock for 6 months following the IPO) I’d be expecting my management team to put out some kind of communication to shareholders to help contextualize this news for existing investors. It’s also important for these companies to make the case to other non-shareholder investors, too, as the price action of the stock depends on bringing more people into the tent. Past behavior would suggest that DDMPR will likely remain silent here, which I think is another example of this management team neglecting its responsibilities to its shareholders and the perception of the company.
The British Chamber of Commerce Philippines (BCCP) lauded the key issues noted during the third State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., focusing on ease of doing business, food security, infrastructure, cybersecurity, among others.
San Miguel [SMC 99.50 ?3.1%; 115% avgVol] [link] disclosed that one of its directors, Ramon F. Villavicencio, resigned effective July 31st. SMC’s disclosure said that Mr. Villavicencio did not provide a reason for his resignation.MB BOTTOM-LINE: Mr. Villavicencio resigned as chairman of Basic Energy [BSC 0.14 ?1.4%; 371% avgVol] earlier this year due to health concerns, so perhaps today’s resignation follows along that same path. Mr. Villavicencio is a well-connected veteran of the petroleum and energy sectors. His son, Rafael Villavicencio, currently owns BS