Stuff to cook using ready-made frozen dishes

KARE-KARE ON CRISPY NOODLES 1 (450 g) pack Purefoods Ready to Eat Kare-Kare 1/2 cup water 2 tsp patis (fish sauce) 1 (100 g) pack vermicelli noodles (sotanghon), fried until puffed 1 bundle pechay Tagalog (Chinese cabbage), chopped and blanched Procedure: 1. In a saucepan, combine the frozen kare-kare, water, and patis. Bring to a […]

Do men really take longer to poo?

THERE’S a common assumption men take longer than women to poo. People say so on Twitter, in memes, and elsewhere online. But is that right? What could explain it? And if some people are really taking longer, is that a problem? As we sift through the evidence, it’s important to remember pooing may involve time […]

Slower recovery seen for PHL this year

By Luz Wendy T. Noble, Reporter THE Philippines will likely see a slower pace of recovery this year, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a United Nations (UN) think tank trimmed their growth forecasts amid uncertainty over the vaccine rollout and continued restriction measures. The IMF cut its gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for […]

Manila’s appeal as property investment site declines

Manila dropped two spots to 19th in a ranking of city investment prospects in the Asia Pacific for 2021, the joint report from the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers showed. — PHILIPPINE STAR/MIGUEL ANTONIO N. DE GUZMAN MANILA dropped two spots to 19th in a ranking of city investment prospects in the Asia-Pacific for 2021, […]

Typhoons likely hurt farm output growth

By Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, Reporter THE agriculture sector’s growth likely slowed in the fourth quarter, after a string of strong typhoons devastated rice-producing areas. Glenn B. Gregorio, director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), said the agriculture sector will post 0.58% growth in the fourth quarter, […]

BIR collected P7.2 billion from POGOs in 2020

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected P7.18 billion in taxes from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) last year, even as some offshore companies reportedly left due to the tighter tax rules. In a statement, BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay said taxes from POGOs were 12% higher than the collection in 2019, although he did […]

SM Prime sets interest rates for retail bond offering

PROPERTY developer SM Prime Holdings, Inc. has set the interest rate of its retail bonds due on 2023 at 2.4565%, while those due on 2026 at 3.8547%, it said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. The peso-denominated 2.5-year series M and the five-year series N retail bonds will be offered to investors from Jan. 25 […]

Greenergy signs deal with tech firm ITBS for e-platforms integration

ANTONIO L. Tiu-led Greenergy Holdings, Inc. on Tuesday said it signed a memorandum of agreement with technology company ITBS (Information Technology Business Solutions Corp.) to integrate their electronic platforms. Greenergy’s payment platform ePitaka will be integrated with ITBS’ Know Your Citizen platform installed in various local government units, the listed company told the local bourse […]

Gov’t to exert more pressure on telcos — Roque

THE national government will exert more pressure on telecommunications firms to improve their services, Malacañang said on Tuesday. Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said President Rodrigo R. Duterte had agreed with the recommendation of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) that telco companies should continue to “shape up” to improve the internet […]

Maynilad realigns 6.7-kilometers of pipes for gov’t infra projects

WEST ZONE water provider Maynilad Water Services, Inc. has completed the replacement and realignment of 6.7 kilometers of water pipelines in 2020 to assist ongoing government infrastructure projects. In a statement on Tuesday, the concessionaire said primary and secondary pipelines were reconfigured in portions of Caloocan, Quezon City, Valenzuela, Parañaque, and Las Piñas. The reconfiguration […]

Philippines bucks global decline in FDI

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS to the Philippines likely went up in 2020, according to a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. — PHILIPPINE STAR /MICHAEL VARCAS By Jenina P. Ibañez, Reporter FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS (FDI) to the Philippines rose by almost a third in 2020, a stark contrast with the collapse in […]

PHL business optimism falls to lowest since 2016

HALF of midsized Philippine businesses have either “a slightly or very optimistic economic outlook” for the next 12 months, the P&A Grant Thornton International Business Report showed. — REUTERS ECONOMIC OPTIMISM among Philippine midsized businesses continued to fall in the second half of 2020, as the pandemic continued to weigh heavily on the economy. The […]

MIAA board shuts door to Megawide’s NAIA rehabilitation proposal

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter THE MANILA International Airport Authority (MIAA) board has junked the appeal filed by Megawide Construction Corp. and its foreign partner GMR Infrastructure Ltd. seeking to overturn the revocation of its original proponent status (OPS) for the  Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) rehabilitation. “I was not present in that meeting, […]