LISTED property developer Shang Properties, Inc. is bullish on its growth prospects for this year amid its planned project launches, an official said.“We are extremely optimistic about the future plans and projects in our pipeline and the opportunity to grow our footprint domestically,” Shang Properties

RAWPIXEL-FREEPIKPHILIPPINE BUSINESSES can benefit from cheaper and less resource-intensive small language models (SLMs) of artificial intelligence (AI), according to an IBM Philippines top official.“We should have SLMs, which use a smaller compute capacity, which become consumable and more affordable as far as users are concerned

BW FILE PHOTOTHE PHILIPPINE Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed lower for a sixth consecutive day on Wednesday amid increased selling pressure from foreign investors.The benchmark index slipped by 0.04% or 2.77 points to end at 6,366.03, while the broader all shares index dropped by 0.06%

THE PESO depreciated anew against the dollar on Wednesday on expectations that the US Federal Reserve will keep benchmark rates elevated.The local unit closed at P58.755 per dollar, weakening by 13.5 centavos from its P58.62 finish on Tuesday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed.The

BW FILE PHOTOBy Adrian H. Halili, ReporterTHE Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Wednesday that it plans to import 363,697 metric tons (MT) of rice to facilitate its plan to aid poor consumers by selling grain to them at the subsidized price of P29 per

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTOJAPANESE trading company Sojitz Corp. is considering investing in cellular towers in the Philippines, while also expanding its footprint in the fertilizer market, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).In a statement on Wednesday, the DTI said Trade Secretary Alfredo E.

GEELYPH.COMTHE Finance department is inviting Japanese companies already operating in the Philippines to expand their operations this year.“Among the Japanese companies were Sojitz Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and Sumitomo Corp.,” the Department of Finance said in a statement.“The Philippines aims to leverage

PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD PHOTOTHE RISK of conflict with China is emerging as an obstacle to Philippine attempts to improve its competitive standing in world markets and attractiveness to investors, the head of a competitiveness institute said.Jamil Paolo S. Francisco, executive director of the Asian Institute

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTOTOURISM in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) will continue to recover this year, though at a slower-than-expected pace, Fitch Ratings said.“We forecast visitation in APAC to hit 92% of 2019 levels, with nominal international tourism receipts exceeding that of 2019 by 6%. Most Fitch-rated APAC

PIXABAYTHE Department of Energy (DoE) said coal-fired generating plants can support the Philippines’ baseload power needs until about 2030.Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla described as sufficient the baseload capacity of over 6,300 megawatts (MW) due to the relative newness of many coal-fired power plants.“We are

TOWFIQU BARBHUIYA-UNSPLASHHEALTH maintenance organization (HMO) Maxicare Healthcare Corp. said on Wednesday that the data breach of its systems on June 13 did not involve sensitive medical information.In a statement, Maxicare said that the incident, which it described as “alleged unauthorized access” to the personal information

Republic Act No. 11976, otherwise known as the Ease of Paying Taxes (EoPT) Act, is a landmark legislative measure aimed at simplifying tax compliance procedures and reducing the administrative burdens on taxpayers.Particularly for the value-added tax (VAT) refund process, the EoPT Act and its implementing