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Manila, Philippines – The peso has breached for the first time the P60-to-the-dollar level to end Thursday’s session at its weakest on record as an escalating war in the Middle East jolted energy markets and forced investors to shun Asian currencies. Thursday’s exchange rate was P60.10 per dollar, a 58-centavo single-day loss for the peso, according to data from the spot currency market. “The conflict ​is likely to stay elevated for weeks… with Brent prices remaining high in the near term,” said Jeff Ng, ⁠head of Asia macro strategy at SMBC. This makes currencies such as the won, rupee and peso “more vulnerable,” while the yuan, Singapore dollar and ringgit may prove more resilient, Ng said. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) was believed to have intervened to cushion the currency’s fall during intraday trade when the peso sank to as low as P60.40 against the greenback. “President Marcos and…

Metro Manila, Philippines – Despite being certified as urgent and hurdling the House of Representatives, the bill allowing the importation of biofuels to help lower pump prices failed to pass the Senate on the last session day before a six-week break. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who chairs the ad hoc committee on the Middle East crisis response, said lawmakers need more time to review the proposed amendment to the Biofuels Act. The existing law requires all liquid fuels sold in the country to contain locally sourced biofuel components. The proposed amendment would allow the president to authorize the importation of biofuel components—such as bioethanol and biodiesel—if prices of blended fuel rise to at least 5% higher than pure fuel. “Kailangan pang pag-aralan nang mabuti dahil almost 400,000 farmers as well as mga processing plant workers ng ethanol ang maapektuhan kung papayagan mag-import nang mag-import,” Gatchalian said after the session on Wednesday,…

Metro Manila, Philippines – The Department of Transportation on Thursday announced the implementation of a 50% discount for all passengers riding the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3) and Light Rail Transit-2 (LRT-2), effective Monday, March 23. Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said the discount is part of the government’s initiatives to ease the financial burden on daily commuters. “Ginagawa ng pamahalaan ang lahat para maibsan ang paghihirap ng mga Pilipino sa gitna ng gulo sa Middle East,” said Lopez. [Translation: The government is doing everything to ease the hardships of Filipinos amid the Middle East conflict.] This follows President Bongbong Marcos’ directive on Tuesday, wherein he cited the need to lower railway fares. “Pagagaanin natin ang araw-araw na biyahe. Sa MRT at LRT ay magdidiskwento po tayo sa pamasahe. Gagawin natin ang lahat para manatiling maayos at tuloy-tuloy ang biyahe ng bawat Pilipino,” said Marcos. [Translation: We will ease daily commutes.…

President Bongbong Marcos appeals to the public against hoarding as food supply and prices are stable, even as retailers and consumers said rising fuel costs have otherwise resulted in a different market scenario.

Metro, Manila, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has cleared Senator Rodante Marcoleta of any election offense despite his failure to disclose ₱75 million in campaign contributions in his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) for the 2025 senatorial race. In a resolution released Wednesday, March 18, the Comelec en banc adopted the recommendation of its Political Finance and Affairs Department to terminate the investigation into Marcoleta, citing a lack of evidence to establish that he committed any election offense. ”Nevertheless, this investigation has established the fact that [the] respondent did not comply [with] Section 109 of the Omnibus Election Code,” the department recommendation read.  It explained that while Section 109 requires the disclosure of contributors’ names, addresses, dates, and amounts in the SOCE, violations of this provision are not classified as election offenses, having been decriminalized under Republic Act 7166. However, the poll body said the same jurisprudence…