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Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines ended 2019 with a record high net profit of P14 billion as strong trading gains complemented a double-digit expansion in interest earnings. The full-year net profit marked a 104-percent growth from the previous year's net profit of P6.87 billion. This translated to an above-industry return on equity of 16.3 percent and return on assets of 2 percent. "Unionbank ended 2019 on a high note. Our performance was supported by solid fundamentals given a healthy loan portfolio and steady margin recovery. Trading gains also boosted the bank's bottom line. Moreover, CitySavings delivered their targets for the year given successes in the salary loans a...

Keep on reading: Unionbank profit up 104% to reach record P 14B

Campos family-led food conglomerate Del Monte Pacific Ltd. (DMPL) is raising $130 million from the sale of a 13-percent stake in its Philippine business to Singapore-based fund manager SEA Diner Holdings Pte Ltd. In a disclosure to the Singapore Exchange Ltd. on Friday, DMPL said going this route---share sale via a private placement---would enhance the value of Del Monte Philippines Inc. (DMPI) while generating funds to partially reduce debt stock. DMPL had shelved in 2018 DMPI's initial public offering (IPO) due to adverse market conditions. The new investor, SEA Diner, is focused on investing in leading companies in the consumer sector in China and the Southeast Asian region. Thi...

Keep on reading: Del Monte to sell 13% stake in PH unit for $130M

In the midst of the ongoing Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, a report from The New York Times has renewed calls from Democrats for John Bolton to testify.

New revelations about the Ukraine scandal from former national security adviser John Bolton dealt a significant blow to President Donald Trump's defense strategy, contradicting key elements of the case his attorneys presented to senators in his impeachment trial.

The stepped up campaign of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) against smuggling last year yielded P20.58 billion in seized illegal drugs, fake goods and illicit tobacco products, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Monday. Citing a recent report to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, the country's second-largest tax-collection agency said it filed in 2019 criminal cases against 345 importers and 75 customs brokers who had been allegedly engaged in smuggling. Among the smuggled goods confiscated by the BOC last year, almost half of the total value or P9.44 billion were counterfeit items. Also apprehended by the BOC in 2019 were P3.59 billion in illegal drugs as well as P2.67 bil...

Keep on reading: Customs nets P20.58B in smuggled goods

The Philippine unit of Juul Labs on Monday said it would no longer sell its vaping products to those aged below 21 as mandated under the new sin tax law. "Together with BFY Corp., its exclusive distributor in the Philippines, Juul Labs is proactively taking steps to immediately comply with the newly passed legislation, even ahead of deadline, to uphold its commitment of acting responsibly and in collaboration with public health officials and regulators," the company said in a statement. Under Republic Act No. 11467 signed by President Duterte last week, e-cigarettes such as heated tobacco and vapes cannot be sold to buyers younger than 21 years old. It added, "In accordance with...

Keep on reading: Not cool? Juul stops selling to ages 21 years and below

The bureaus of Customs (BOC) and of Internal Revenue (BIR) have already injected chemical markers on nearly 2.5 billion liters of tax-compliant fuel, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said. As of Jan. 24, the country's two biggest tax-collection agencies both in charge of implementing the fuel marking program covered a total 2.49 billion liters---1.79 billion liters by the BOC and 700 million liters by the BIR, Dominguez said last Saturday. Dominguez said oil products of the following 10 companies had paid correct excise taxes and import duties: Chevron, Filoil Energy, Insular Oil, Petron, Phoenix Petroleum, PTT, Seaoil, Shell, Unioil and Subic-based Warbucks Industries Inc...

Keep on reading: Treasury bill rates fall across the board

The bureaus of Customs (BOC) and of Internal Revenue (BIR) have already injected chemical markers on nearly 2.5 billion liters of tax-compliant fuel, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said. As of Jan. 24, the country's two biggest tax-collection agencies both in charge of implementing the fuel marking program covered a total 2.49 billion liters---1.79 billion liters by the BOC and 700 million liters by the BIR, Dominguez said last Saturday. Dominguez said oil products of the following 10 companies had paid correct excise taxes and import duties: Chevron, Filoil Energy, Insular Oil, Petron, Phoenix Petroleum, PTT, Seaoil, Shell, Unioil and Subic-based Warbucks Industries Inc...

Keep on reading: 2.5B liters of fuel found tax-compliant

Several private schools in Metro Manila suspended classes on Monday amid a viral epidemic in China as Health Secretary Francisco Duque III announced that 11 foreigners in the country, including two in the metropolis, were under observation for the deadly disease caused by a new coronavirus. Most of the schools that shut down have Chinese-Filipinos for students, and they called off classes to monitor students returning from China and Hong Kong after the Lunar New Year holidays, with some of them required to undergo self-quarantine for two weeks before they would be allowed back. Both Duque and Education Secretary Leonor Briones said on Monday that there was no urgent need to shu...

Keep on reading: Virus alert: 10 Metro schools cancel classes

Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario called the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States "imperfect" but stressed its importance and benefits to the Philippines. "Without the VFA, making the MDT (Mutual Defense Treaty) work would be more challenging, especially since we now have specific external threats as well as more devastating natural calamities," he said in a statement on Sunday. The country's chief diplomat during the Aquino administration also warned that "terminating the VFA would serve to actualize our pivot toward China against the strong and vehement objections of our people." "While the VFA is admittedly an imperfect agreement, it would interrup...

Keep on reading: Del Rosario admits VFA ‘imperfect’ but benefits PH

WUHAN, CHINA---The toll from China's viral epidemic spiked on Monday to 80 dead with hundreds of new infections despite unprecedented quarantines and travel lockdowns, as foreign governments scrambled to help their trapped citizens. The virulence of a contagion causing fear nationwide has prompted authorities to impose transport curbs around China to cut off transmission routes, and extend a national holiday to delay people traveling back to work. With many thousands of foreigners trapped in the ground-zero city of Wuhan, which is under virtual lockdown, the United States and France were among several countries formulating plans to evacuate their citizens by plane. WHO chief head...

Keep on reading: China virus toll spikes despite massive lockdown

President Donald Trump's spiritual adviser Paula White defended herself on Sunday against criticism over a prayer she made earlier this month in which she asked for "all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now," saying her words were taken "out of context for political gain."

A ninth inmate has died at Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman, the county coroner said on Sunday.

As trade rumors continue to swirl about his prized local, Columbian coach Johnedel Cardel has set the record straight. CJ Perez, runaway leader for this season's rookie of the year race, isn't going anywhere. Columbian, Cardel said, is trying to add to the gains from last year and "building a competitive team." "So CJ will stay with us," said the former La Salle standout. Perez's name has helped churn the rumor mill, with the buzz on social media centering on his transfer to a powerhouse. "Everybody wants CJ Perez to be part of their team," Cardel said. "But to tell you honestly now, there will be no trade coming from our end." Asked if Perez will remain with Columbian whe...

Keep on reading: Top gun staying

Those five championships, the two Finals MVP trophies, that lone season MVP award, those 18 all-star appearances, the 33,643 points scored, the accolades, the endorsements and all the perks of superstardom---they were meant to be fleeting anyway. Death made them permanent. In the totality of human existence, Kobe Bryant was an unbridled, tenacious ball of passion burning brightly, however brief. Death made his legend unending. Bryant, the former Los Angeles Lakers star and acknowledged as one of the best to ever play the game, died in a helicopter crash on Sunday morning in Calabasas, California, a tragedy that left the NBA and the sporting world navigating through an emo...

Keep on reading: Immortal

The end of 2019 brought about a big change in my life. I had a mass, a rare nerve tumor, removed from my abdomen. The surgery left me with severe nerve damage to my right leg. For now, I'm unable to walk at a normal pace and need a cane, or sometimes even a wheelchair, to cover longer distances, like in the mall. I had my surgery abroad, where people and places are very accommodating of people with disability. Unfortunately, coming home was more difficult. Manila isn't friendly to persons with disabilities, and people's attitudes need to change---they can simply be more considerate. Despite my usual larger-than-life personality and my height, usually towering over people,...

Keep on reading: Being disabled suddenly made me invisible

Ranged against a squad that was also unbeaten, Arellano finally flashed the kind of game that reminded everyone who the defending champion in the 95th NCAA women's volleyball tournament is. And with that came a similar reminder from Necole Ebuen: She is the NCAA's reigning MVP. Arellano whipped San Beda, 25-20, 25-21, 25-22, at Filoil Flying V Centre with Ebuen finishing strong for the Lady Chiefs. She finished with 12 points to back Regine Arocha, who had 18 points, including three service aces and two blocks, and 15 digs. More importantly, she helped ice a game for a team that its coach had previously criticized for letting its guard down too often. "I need to bring back...

Keep on reading: Arellano flexes champion’s muscles, whips San Beda

Advancements in medicine and technology have paved the way for ambulatory or outpatient surgeries. Procedures like the removal of tonsils, appendix and gallbladder, cataract implants, some aesthetic procedures, breast biopsies, and more are regularly performed as same-day operations. With 45 years of medical experience in the United States, breast specialist Dr. Norman San Agustin routinely performs lump removals and mastectomies in the morning, and sends his patients home after some time in the recovery room at the Asian Breast Center (ABC). "They are out on the same day, and they're happy," said the oncologist. ABC is a profit-for-charity clinic that offers everything abou...

Keep on reading: Breast surgery as an outpatient procedure? Yes, says this team of experts

A colleague and good friend recently underwent surgery for colon cancer at Manila Doctors Hospital. To reduce the size of the mass before surgery, he had to undergo preoperative chemo- and radiotherapy. We're glad everything went well and he's due to be discharged soon. When I visited him, he recalled the columns I've written on colon cancer prevention, and how early diagnostic procedures can literally nip the cancer in the bud by detecting the polyps in the colon and removing them during colonoscopy. Colonoscopy is a procedure in which the gastroenterologist or gut specialist inserts a long, hose-like instrument into the entire length of the colon. It has a camera at its tip wh...

Keep on reading: Early colorectal cancer can be cured