BTr upsizes T-bill award to P21 billion
The government upsized yesterday the award of short-dated securities to P21 billion as rates fell across the board on strong demand and ample liquidity in the system......»»
Doja Cat recreates personal paintings in ‘Paint The Town Red’ music video
GRAMMY award-winning global superstar Doja Cat has released her new single and music video “Paint The Town Red” via Kemosabe Records/RCA Records. The music video, directed by Nina McNeely and Doja Cat herself and shot in Los Angeles, is based on three paintings that the artist designed. Each one of the scenes in the video is a recreation of the paintings. Last month, Doja Cat painted the artworks on her Instagram Live as she chatted with fans and previewed her new song. This is the first official single from Doja Cat since she announced her first North American headline tour, The Scarlet Tour, beginning this fall with special guests Ice Spice and Doechii. Before this, she dropped her track and video “Attention” to critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone calling it “scorching.” Doja Cat was also featured on the cover of V Magazine last month for “The Global Music issue.” Earlier this year, she was featured alongside label mate SZA on the remix of her #1 Hot 100 song “Kill Bill”. She was also named one of Time100’s Most Influential People of 2023, gracing the cover of one of four global Time Magazine April issues and performing at the exclusive Time100 Gala. With over 20 billion worldwide streams to date, Doja’s creativity and showmanship as a performer have been praised time and again. Her Grammy-winning album Planet Her came out in June 2021 and dominated the charts, debuting at #1 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart and #2 on the Billboard Top 200 and Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and generating the highest first day Spotify streams for an album by a female rapper. The post Doja Cat recreates personal paintings in ‘Paint The Town Red’ music video appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Multiple grammars of land reform law
The newly-minted Republic Act No. 11953 is a class legislation, at least insofar as it is pro-landless poor, but that is not to say that the landowners will not be justly compensated in the same breath. The latter may turn out to be not even the “silent losers” in this highly experimental stroke of legislative genius. Some cynics might even suspect it to be Adam Smith’s concept of the “invisible hand.” Recall that in another imminent enactment, namely, the “Maharlika Investment Fund,” the Land Bank of the Philippines will contribute P50 billion as its equity as if this will not badly affect its capital build-up as a government financing institution. With the New Agrarian Emancipation Act of 2023, the P58 billion that agrarian reform beneficiaries owed to Land Bank was, in effect, written off. It is as though this huge sum of “foregone revenues” coupled with the seed money it will download to the MIF would still allow Land Bank to sail on an even keel. Pareto efficiency has become the name of the game — “an economic state where resources cannot be reallocated to make one better off without making at least one individual worse off.” How clever of the government to turn Land Bank into neither victim nor villain. Never strange bedfellows, the Department of Agrarian Reform and Land Bank will formulate the necessary Implementing Rules and Regulations. Meanwhile, there’s always a lone voice in the Lower Chamber who plays harbinger of unfolding scenarios. He calls the new land reform law the “best and biggest accomplishment’ of FM Jr. in his first year, it being “historic in scale, in world view, and in what it will bring to the people,” and an “important step toward rural and agrarian justice.” If that were not preaching to the choir, what is? As it now graphically appears, the P500-billion capitalization, “fund-raising project” if you will, for the Maharlika Investment Corporation is akin to an empty vault that has to be filled with tons of money. We are all led to believe that funds create wealth when it should be the other way around. As Jim Morrison says, “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” No less than the House Speaker plays poster boy for the administration’s policy agenda. Recall that Executive Order No. 4 signed on the President’s 65th birthday (i.e. 13 September 2022) is “implementing a moratorium on the payment of the principal obligation and interest of the amortization due and payable by agrarian reform beneficiaries.” Wonder how a supposedly one-year relief from the debt burden has been lifted forever when RA No. 11953 supersedes EO No. 4 as a mere placeholder. In the one-year freeze or if not enabling Land Bank to collect payment from the farmer-beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, the former loses billions in revenue. What adds insult to injury in the context of the new policy configuration is that all 30 annual amortizations will be written off. How well Land Bank can absorb the shock seems behind us. With the new emancipation law, the good President has written off P58 billion, benefiting around 654,000 ARBs and involving a total of 1.18 million hectares of awarded lands. When FM Jr. thought of “continuing economic relief to ARBs” to help them “recover and ensure food security in the county amidst global uncertainties,” the requisite impact report implementing the order has become moot and academic. That original Senate Bill No. 1112 authored by the President’s senator-sister is meant to emancipate ARBs from the debt burden through the free award of agricultural lands — individually titled rather than collectively; zero compensation for the Land Bank instead of P58 billion in receivables (i.e. amortization payments); a CLOA free of the 10-year restriction; and condonation and individual titling that will complete the emancipation of landless farmers. Once duly titled — fast-forwarding to the future — into whose hands will the agricultural lands fall? The post Multiple grammars of land reform law appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Manning agents plead for equal protection over disability claims
Rumors of the scrapping of the escrow provision in the Senate version of the proposed Magna Carta for Seafarers have alarmed manning agents. Captain Reynaldo Casareo, president of Cargo Safeway Inc., one of the biggest crewing agencies in the country, said Wednesday the Senate Committee on Migrant Workers headed by Senator Raffy Tulfo should clarify whether or not the Senate bill will have an escrow provision like the MCS version already passed by the House of Representatives. Casareo said they want protection against seafarers who collude with ambulance chasers to get payments for permanent disability suffered on duty when the injury is not really permanent. “Senator Tulfo, please also listen to the agencies and shipowners being abused by ambulance chasers and not those seafarer groups that clearly have different intensions,” Casareo said. Another manning executive who requested not to be named also appealed to the senator. “If Senator Tulfo has indeed believed that the escrow provision is anti-seafarer, then this is bad. It was supposed to help ship owners that are providing opportunities to our seafarers. We hope he will listen to us.” Kabayan Partylist Representative Ron Salo, chairman of the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs, inserted in the MCS bill the provision for the creation of an escrow account that would strengthen the fight against ambulance chasing. Co-author and OFW Party-list Rep. Marissa “Del Mar” Magsino earlier said the provision was intended to address the inimical practice of ambulance chasing perpetrated by unscrupulous lawyers and litigants to the prejudice of employers and manning agencies. “The proposal is to place in escrow the monetary award (for disability claims) in favor of a seafarer if the employer or manning agency concerned has appealed the decision for judicial review,” Magsino said. “To counter-balance it, the seafarer is given the option to file a corresponding bond as a security, if he wishes to move for the execution of the decision pending appeal. These twin mechanisms are precise to prevent the dissipation of the monetary award in the hands of the winning party in the absence of a final judgment,” she said. During the Maritime Familiarization Workshop for Media organized by the seafarers’ union AMOSUP over the weekend, Atty. Iris Baguilat, chairperson of the ALMA Maritime Group and president of Dohle Seafront Crewing (Manila), said seafarer deployment dwindles yearly because of several factors, including the rampant illegal practice of ambulance chasing. Quoting the employers’ group International Maritime Employers’ Council, Baguilat said “Ambulance chasing is the biggest threat to Filipino seafarer employability” since it made them expensive due to their lawyers’ erroneous claims. She said that the Department of Migrant Workers reported that, based on National Conciliation and Mediation Board data alone for 2018 to 2022, between 28 percent and 30 percent of the monetary awards by NCMB amounting to over P2.57 billion have been reversed by higher courts for being erroneous. “Most of this award has not been returned to the shipowners,” Baguilat said. The post Manning agents plead for equal protection over disability claims appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
BTr makes full T-bill award
The government finally made a full award of P15 billion in short-term securities after three months as demand soared and rates slipped in anticipation of a pause in the rate hike cycle of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas......»»
T-bill rates ease
Rates went down for short-term securities, allowing the government to partially award P12.8 billion in Treasury bills, but inflation woes remain, particularly on oil prices that could impact borrowing here and abroad......»»
Treasury makes partial T-bill award
The government made a partial award of P8.6 billion in short-term securities as investors demanded higher yields ahead of the rate setting of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) this week......»»
T-bill yields rise as peso weakens
Institutional investors swarmed yesterday’s auction of Treasury bills, with yields inching up across the board on full award of the P15-billion offer......»»
T-bill rates rise across the board
Treasury bill rates increased across the board yesterday as investors swarmed the auction, resulting in the full award of the P15-billion offer......»»
BTr upsizes T-bill award to P21 billion
The government upsized yesterday the award of short-dated securities to P21 billion as rates fell across the board on strong demand and ample liquidity in the system......»»
Treasury upsizes T-bill award to P21 billion
The government upsized the award of short-dated securities in yesterday’s auction to P21 billion to take advantage of lower rates and robust demand......»»
BTr upsizes T-bill award to P30.2 billion
The Bureau of the Treasury upsized the volume of Treasury bills awarded yesterday as strong demand continued to pull down rates across-the-board for the short-dated securities......»»
Full award at T-bill auction
The government awarded in full P25 billion worth of Treasury bills, even as rates rose slightly for debt papers with shorter tenors......»»
NEDA welcomes award of NAIA PPP
The award of the contract for the P170.6-billion project to rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport highlights the emphasis of the Marcos administration in providing world-class air transportation infrastructure to achieve the government’s economic transformation agenda, according to the National Economic and Development Authority......»»
T-bill rates climb ahead of BSP meet
The government upsized its sale of short-term securities yesterday to P17 billion, even after rates picked up ahead of the policy decision of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas this week......»»
Treasury raises P81 billion from T-bill sale in January
The government borrowed a total of P81 billion through the issuance of short-term securities this month, exceeding its target after it upsized offers at the onset of the new year......»»
T-bills upsized to P19 billion
The government upsized its short-term securities to P19 billion, marking the second straight week of increased award amid better demand......»»
First T-bill auction for 2024 upsized to P17 billion
The government upsized its first short-term securities auction for the year as investors’ asking rates were generally lower amid expectation of a slower inflation at the tailend of 2023......»»
Texas Governor Signs Extreme Immigration Bill
This week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed three measures into law that will harm migrants, asylum seekers, and communities in Texas.The laws build on Operation Lone Star, the state government's now almost $12 billion "border security" program that has not been shown to reduce migrat.....»»
House transmits approved budget bill to Senate
The House of Representatives yesterday transmitted to the Senate the proposed 2024 General Appropriations Bill that contains some P194.5 billion in realigned funds......»»
Bankman-Fried to testify at his US crypto trial
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, plans to make another high-stakes gamble and testify in his defense on Thursday at his criminal fraud trial. Bankman-Fried's decision to take the stand comes after three weeks of devastating testimony for the 31-year-old known as SBF, who has been accused of stealing billions of dollars from clients. His lawyer, Mark Cohen, told Judge Lewis Kaplan he expected Bankman-Fried's testimony to last for four or five hours. He is expected to begin around 2:00 p.m. (1800 GMT). Prosecutors were wrapping up their case on Thursday and handing it over to the defense, which said it plans to call four witnesses, including Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried, once one of the most respected figures in crypto, has been charged with seven counts of fraud, embezzlement, and criminal conspiracy. If convicted, he could face a de facto life sentence of more than 100 years in prison. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate had, in just a few years, turned his FTX platform into the world's second-biggest crypto exchange -- making him a tech-world billionaire wunderkind. But his empire began to crumble last November when a news report pointed to unhealthy ties between FTX and Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried's personally owned trading company. Amid growing revelations, major investors pulled their money out of FTX, sinking it swiftly into bankruptcy. Some $8.7 billion was still unaccounted for after the dust settled, according to the receiver appointed to manage the liquidation. Bankman-Fried has denied taking other people's money, blaming former colleagues for the situation. But key witnesses in recent weeks, all former FTX or Alameda employees, refuted his account. Supported by internal documents compiled by the prosecution, they said he was behind the breaches and did not lose sight of the financial situation of FTX and Alameda. Ex-girlfriend offers evidence Among those taking the stand was Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Fried's former business partner and girlfriend. She offered conclusive evidence against him and delivered details on his management, saying he was involved in all major decisions. Ellison, a Stanford University mathematics graduate, was appointed by Bankman-Fried in 2021 to head Alameda, whose activities were largely financed by money from customers of FTX without their knowledge. She has pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution, as have two other close associates of Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried's decision to testify in his defense is unusual in a country where criminal defendants generally decline to do so because they have to face cross-examination and run the risk of incriminating themselves. Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, comedian Bill Cosby, singer R. Kelly, and drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman were among high-profile defendants who declined to testify at their recent trials. A Cornell University study of hundreds of trials published in 2009 found that 77 percent of defendants who chose to testify were convicted while 72 percent of those who declined to take the stand were found guilty. The post Bankman-Fried to testify at his US crypto trial appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»