Malaya Business Insight

The Philippines has secured a $60-million, or about P3.68-billion, grant from the United States to accelerate power-sector reforms, strengthen grid reliability and help unlock private investment in energy infrastructure. Signed Thursday on the sidelines of the Luzon Economic Corridor Investment Forum, the four-year-and-nine-month Threshold Program of the US Millennium Challenge Corp. will finance reforms aimed at speeding up approvals for power projects and modernizing electric cooperatives.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday urged investors and business leaders to look to the Philippines, particularly the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC), to build their next enterprise. “Bring your capital, technology, your expertise. Develop Filipino talent and local suppliers. Form lasting partnerships with our businesses and communities.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Thursday said he sees no issue “as of the moment” on the supposed foreign trip of Senate minority leader Alan Peter Cayetano, his wife Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano, and sister Sen. Pia Cayetano, who were captured on camera by netizens departing from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on Wednesday. Lacson said Sen.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Thursday said it has mobilized all its available resources in the ongoing search for some 87 passengers who remain missing following a fire that broke out at a passenger-cargo vessel off Coron, Palawan, on Wednesday. “Time is of the essence. So we are putting all our available assets and resources in the area to locate these individuals,” PCG spokesperson Commodore Noemie Cayabyab told a radio interview on Thursday morning.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Thursday ordered the immediate provision of financial assistance, psychosocial interventions, and relief goods to the survivors and affected families of the MV June Aster fire in Coron, Palawan, on Wednesday night.

Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez is medically unfit to be transported to the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan, PNP spokesman Col. Allen Rae Co said on Thursday. Sandigabayan earlier ordered Romualdez, who is under hospital arrest at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City, to appear before the court on Thursday morning for the hearing of his motion for continued hospital confinement.

Five people were reported to have died in the fire that broke out at a roll-on/roll-off passenger and cargo vessel off Coron, Palawan, on Wednesday. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said 42 others have been rescued as of past 11 p.m. Wednesday. The fire broke out at the MV June Aster some 1.2 nautical miles northeast of Barangay Marcilla in Coron, prompting search and rescue operations by the PCG and other agencies.

By DR. BLESS BERTOS In my years of joining community health activities with SM Foundation, there’s a phrase I hear almost every time: “Wala naman akong nararamdaman.” Understandably, when we wake up without pain and notice nothing unusual, it is easy to assume that everything inside our body is fine. But feeling well and being well are not always the same thing. Hypertension and diabetes can develop quietly, sometimes for years.

From the global stage to the local arena, intercontinental communications group COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises brought the winning streak home as it bagged 12 wins at the 22nd Philippine Quill Awards, marking another milestone as the Agency celebrates its Decada de COMCO yearlong 10th anniversary celebration this year, highlighting a decade of Meaningful Storytelling.

For years, massage chairs have been associated with rest and relaxation, but research shows they offer more than that. A joint study by OGAWA and Universiti Malaya found that OGAWA’s massage chairs directly contribute to an individual’s health, as they improve sleep quality and blood circulation by up to 88% and 81%, respectively. As technology continues to evolve, OGAWA massage chairs have become holistic wellness tools that support everyday health and improve quality of life.