Louella Desiderio

3 weeks ago | philstar.com | Louella Desiderio

MANILA, Philippines — The Tariff Commission (TC) is set to hold a public hearing later this month to determine if a definitive safeguard duty should be imposed on cement imports. In a notice, the TC said the public hearing would start on June 16 and continue until June 20, via video conferencing. The hearing is being conducted as part of TC’s formal probe on the merits of imposing a definitive safeguard duty on imports of ordinary portland cement and blended cement from various countries.

3 weeks ago | philstar.com | Louella Desiderio

MANILA, Philippines — Investment pledges in economic zones approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) soared by 80 percent in the first five months of the year, despite uncertainties stemming from the reciprocal tariffs imposed by the United States. In a statement yesterday, the PEZA said it approved 102 projects worth P66.34 billion from January to May, higher than the P36.83 billion registered in the same period last year for 95 projects.

3 weeks ago | philstar.com | Louella Desiderio

MANILA, Philippines — E-commerce platform Lazada is spending as much as P3 billion this year to grow its operations in Mindanao. Lazada Philippines CEO Carlos Barrera told reporters that the e-commerce player intends to spend “more than P2 billion to P3 billion” for Mindanao this year. He said Lazada sees an opportunity to grow in Mindanao, which currently has a low e-commerce penetration rate in the single-digit level.

3 weeks ago | philstar.com | Louella Desiderio

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine economy is likely to grow by 5.6 percent this year, slightly lower than last year’s 5.7 percent expansion due to an anticipated slowdown in major economies, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). “Real GDP (gross domestic product) is projected to grow by 5.6 percent in 2025 and six percent in 2026,” the OECD said in the OECD Economic Outlook June 2025 report released yesterday.

3 weeks ago | philstar.com | Louella Desiderio |Rhodina Villanueva

MANILA, Philippines — Business groups yesterday expressed support for the postponement of EDSA’s rehabilitation to give stakeholders enough time to prepare for its impact. Adjustments must be made by businesses to help ease workers’ burden of commuting, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Enunina Mangio told The STAR yesterday. Fixing Metro Manila’s busiest highway is “long overdue and needed,” the Management Association of the Philippines noted.