The government will allow operation at full capacity of business activities in 17 sectors, from mining and construction to film production and pet shops, in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) as part of its efforts to rebuild the Philippine economy, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced on Friday.

In his Memorandum Circular No. 20-52, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said there was an increasing need “to provide stability for businesses, restimulate the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and address the growing number of joblessness, poverty, and hunger incidence in the country.”

The new guidelines in the memo will take effect upon the circular’s publication and filing with the University of the Philippines Law Center.

“The DTI is authorized by the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) to adjust operating capacity of businesses,” Lopez said, when asked whether the circular still needed approval.

100% workforce

Aside from mining and quarrying, those that will be allowed to operate with 100 percent of their workforce include financial services other than banks, such as money exchange, insurance, reinsurance and lending companies; legal and accounting; management consultancy; architecture and engineering; technical testing and analysis; scientific and research development; advertising and market research; computer programming, information services and related activities; and publishing and printing services.

In addition to government or construction projects also allowed were film, music and TV production; job recruitment for overseas; “other” services, such as photography, fashion, industrial, graphic and interior design; wholesale and retail trade of vehicles; repair of motor vehicles, including car wash; nonleisure activities in malls and commercial centers; and nonleisure wholesale and retail.

The last category covers hardware stores; clothing and accessories; bookstores and school and office supplies; infant care supplies; pet shops, pet food and pet care supplies; information technology, communications and electronic equipment; flower, jewelry, novelty, antique, perfume shops; toy stores except their playgrounds and amusement areas; music stores; art galleries (selling only); and firearms and ammunition trading.

Lopez said that based on regular monitoring activities conducted by the DTI, the businesses in the new list covered in his memo had not been allowed to fully operate under GCQ but were found “compliant with the minimum public health and safety protocols.”

The DTI also considered the Department of Health’s assessment that it now took longer for the number of COVID-19 cases to double in places under GCQ and that the rate that critical care facilities were being used had decreased.

The DTI will also allow barbershops and salons to operate up to 75-percent capacity but “subject to strict physical distancing.”

Dine-in services at restaurants and fast-food establishments are now allowed at more than 50 percent of capacity also with strict physical distancing.

Dine-in, delivery services

Dine-in as well as delivery services “shall be allowed to operate up to 24 hours a day, as far as practicable, to augment the additional operational requirements and serve the needs of the public, while enhancing income opportunities for workers,” Lopez said.

At the onset of the pandemic, the government, through the IATF, adopted guidelines that classified various industries based on the extent to which business establishments would be allowed to operate under varying grades of community quarantine—enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), modified ECQ, GCQ and modified GCQ.

The Omnibus Guidelines for the Implementation of Community Quarantine listed which industries—or subindustries in agriculture, manufacturing and services—would be allowed to operate at full capacity, partial capacity or not at all.

The industries or economic activities were prioritized and categorized based on whether their output was essential. Thus, establishments engaged in health services were allowed to operate fully even under ECQ. Others not considered essential, such as barbershops and salons, are allowed only partial operation even under GCQ.

The main consideration has been the risk of infection, not the number of people a business employs.

Read original article: https://inqm.news/huvi

For Foreign retailers coming in.

Congress and the executive branch have agreed in principle to lower the minimum paid-up capital for foreign retailers to $300,000 and the minimum per store investment of $300,000 saying this would be attractive enough for foreign investors while protecting small Filipino retailers.

Marikina Representative Stella Quimbo, Board of Investments legal counsel Atty. Elyjean Portoza, and Philippine Competition Commissioner Johannes Bernabe agreed to amend the Retail Trade Liberalization Act of 2000 during a webinar organized by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.

Under the 20-year old law, the minimum paid-up capital requirement for foreign retailers was pegged at $2.5 million and the minimum investment per store at $830,000.

There have been various pending bills proposing to lower these threshold capital requirements to $200,000 and $150,000.

BOI Counsel Portoza cited the need to adopt the middle ground figures because local retailers are still faced with capability issues to face foreign competition.

Portoza said that having a uniformed $300,000 minimum paid-up requirement and minimum $300,000 investment per store would provide more consistency in its proposed amendments.

Local retailers are also challenged in balancing the production of high-quality goods and competitive pricing.

But setting high capital requirements might discourage the entry of new players in the market.

Nevertheless, she said that the amendments to the investment threshold will encourage the production of high-quality products at a competitive price

Liberalizing domestic retail is also expected to result in the increased flow of capital into the country as an opportunity that would provide them access to needed capital.

It will also promote sound business practices/technological transfers.

On the proposal to include retail e-commerce, the BOI said they have already adopted a policy requiring all those engaged in retail to secure board approval for them to be able to engage in retail online.

For the regulation of the e-commerce platform operator, which is not engaged in retail trade, should not be covered.

The BOI is of the opinion that the retail e-commerce platform operator could be covered by another legislation.

On the proposed review of the minimum paid requirement every 5 years, the BOI said this is just basically institutionalizing automatic review.

But BOI said it might be seen as a very short period and investors might look at it as an unstable policy because investment plans could take longer.

It could discourage investors from fear that policies may change while they are still in the research or implementation stage.

“By the time they are ready to invest there is a possibility, by reason of the provision of this review, rules will change,” she said.

Read original article: https://mb.com.ph/2020/09/12/300000-minimum-investment-approved/

MANILA, Philippines – Single-use plastics will now be banned in all government offices in the country, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

In a statement issued Monday, the DENR said the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) has approved Resolution No. 1363, series of 2020, banning “unnecessary” single-use plastics.

It covers national government agencies, local government units, and all other government controlled-offices.

The resolution directs the DENR to “prepare and implement” the ban on single-use plastic products, including cups less than 0.2 millimeter in thickness, drinking straws, coffee stirrers, spoons, forks, and knives.

The ban also covers “labo” or thin and translucent plastic bags, and thin-filmed sando bags lower than 15 microns.

“The NSWMC resolution is a major step to curb the use of single-use plastic items that pollute our waterways, kill marine life and contribute to our country’s increasing solid waste,” Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, who chairs the NSWMC, said.

The DENR will come up with specific guidelines for the implementation of the plastics ban, which forms part of the government’s “solid waste avoidance and minimization strategy,” according to Cimatu.

DENR Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and LGUs Concerns Benny Antiporda, meanwhile, defended the NSWMC for initially including only eight single-use plastic items in the ban.

“It was the decision of the NSWMC to come up with a balanced judgment on the use of single-use plastics by taking into consideration that we can only ban those that have available alternatives,” said Antiporda, who is also the alternate NSWMC chair.

He cited Section 29 of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which provides that “‘non-environmentally acceptable products shall not be prohibited unless the [NSWMC] first finds that there are alternatives which are available to consumers at no more than 10 percent greater cost than the disposable product.”

The NSWMC is an inter-agency body under the Office of the President mandated to oversee the implementation of solid waste management plans and prescribe policies to achieve the law’s objectives.

It is composed of the DENR, the Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Science and Technology, and Department of Trade and Industry.

Its members also include the League of Cities of the Philippines, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Philippine Information Agency, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and representatives from the recycling and manufacturing/packaging sectors.

Read original article: https://www.untvweb.com/news/barangay-tanods-turn-over-philippine-cobra-found-in-vacant-lot-to-denr/

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 19) — The nationwide shopping sale in the Philippines will push through in March despite safety concerns due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said on Wednesday.

He said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III is working with the Tourism and Interior Departments to ensure the safety of the public in these populated areas, adding precautionary measures such as proper handwashing and cough etiquette should be practiced.

“These are practices that are really encouraged. Definitely we should be back to normalcy when we have to go out we have to do our regular business and encourage just to maintain the growth, momentum we have. We should not worry on the COVID-19. Precautionary measures lang ang kailangan (There’s no need to worry as long as we use precautionary measures),” he told CNN Philippines.

The Philippines is set to hold its first month-long nationwide shopping mall sale to attract local and foreign tourists to promote domestic tourism. This is seen to bring in revenue for businesses to help the tourism slump caused by the imposed travel ban and aviation fears.

“We basically just tried to attract more activities, more events at the malls and essentially to address the declining tourism revenues so instead of foreign tourism as you know is affected by the COVID 19, we’re promoting more domestic tourism,” Lopez said.

The Department of Tourism is mounting different activities to promote local tourism. It is working with the office of President Rodrigo Duterte to bring him to the country’s major islands.

In February alone, the country is expecting to lose P14.8 billion in tourism or a total of P42.9 billion in revenue if the travel ban on China, Hong Kong, and Macau lasts for three months.

Read original article: https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/2/19/Nationwide-mall-sale-coronavirus.html

INTERNATIONAL RETAILERS continued to flock to the Philippines last year, eager to sate Filipinos’ appetite for new brands and restaurants, according to a report by the local unit of real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.

In its January report entitled “How Global Brands are Shaping the Metro Manila Retailer Landscape,” Cushman & Wakefield Phils., Inc. said 34 new foreign brands entered the country between January and November 2019. This brought to 102 the total number of international brands that have set up shop in the Philippines since 2017.
“One of the segments that are directly benefiting from the sustained growth of the Philippine economy is the retail sector. Evidently, amidst a slowdown in retail activities in other parts of the world, foreign retailers continue to venture and thrive in the local retail scene,” it said.
Most of the new brand entries are mid-tier food and beverage (F&B) retailers, Cushman & Wakefield noted.
Among these are American brands such as Shake Shack, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, and Panda Express, as well as Japan’s Menya Kokoro, FRNK, and Shari Shari Kakigori House. Taiwan’s The Alley, Hong Kong’s Hui Lau Shan, and Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Crab also recently set up shop in the country.
“With competition, reinforced by the advent of strong concepts… the food services market remains attractive to international brands attributable to the country’s ideal demographic make-up,” Cushman & Wakefield said.
Data from Cushman & Wakefield Research showed food and beverage brands accounted for 68% of new brands that entered the Philippines from January to November 2019, followed by clothing and apparel brands at 15%.
The Philippines has also attracted a growing number of Asian retailers, particularly from Japan (17 brands) and Singapore (12 brands).
“Asian brands are strengthening their grip in the food services industry as they focus on bringing F&B concepts in the market,” Cushman & Wakefield said.

MORE MALLS

International retailers are eager to take advantage of the Philippines’ continued economic growth, young population, growing middle class, improving ease of doing business and booming tourism, Cushman & Wakefield said.
Also, shopping mall space is projected to hit 9.8 million square meters (sq.m.) in 2022 through expansions in the so-called Bay Area that covers Manila, Pasay, and Parañaque. As of the fourth quarter of 2019, the supply of mid- to high-end malls in Metro
Manila stood at 8.9 million sq.m.
“The expansion of shopping mall developments in the Bay Area is also in response to the vibrant real estate activities brought about by the rapid growth of real estate demand coming from the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) and the IT-BPM sectors,” Cushman & Wakefield said.
Monthly rent in key malls in Metro Manila is also relatively cheaper than its regional peers at $48 (about P2,440) per sq.m., Cushman & Wakefield said. To compare, monthly mall space rent in Indonesia is $70 per sq.m.; $127 per sq.m. in Thailand; and $165 per sq.m. in Vietnam.
Moving forward, Cushman & Wakefield said it is important for retailers to continue innovating to remain relevant, offering various activities in shopping malls.
“The strong economic fundamentals of the Philippine economy are seen to sustain the growth trajectory of the major demand drivers of the retail sector. The local retail scene will also continue to defy the global retail headwinds… as the Filipinos see retail establishments to be more than a place to shop. Shopping centers in the country had become essential structures also for socialization, leisure, and entertainment,” it said.
“However, the challenge would be on how the retailers will be able to keep up with the increasing competition with new concepts incessantly being introduced in the market and how they can satisfy the increasing complexity of consumer preferences,” it added.

Read original article: https://www.bworldonline.com/intl-retailers-continue-to-flock-to-phl/

MANILA, Philippines — Ready or not, Quezon City shoppers have bid adieu to plastic bags.

Since the start of the year, customers have been unable to avail of plastic bags at Type 1 retailers like supermarkets, department stores and pharmacies that used to provide bags for a P2 fee under a 2012 city ordinance.

An amendment to that ordinance passed in October last year, however, instituted a total ban on plastic bags, now in full swing despite complaints that the local government did not provide enough time for residents and business owners to adequately prepare for it.

“We weren’t that prepared because we were only told of the ban about a week before its effectivity,” said Lai Santos, a supervisor of cashiers and baggers at a large supermarket. “It was a big adjustment and we expected there would be lots of complaints.”

It was the same story at another supermarket in the city, where cashiering supervisor Janica Valencia said they, too, were informed only a week before the end of 2019.

They had to move quickly to put up signage “as required by the ordinance” that advised shoppers of the ban and encouraged them to bring their own eco-bags. She also had to ensure they had a sufficient supply of paper bags, which were allowed for now but would also be banned in 2021.“Some of our customers still preferred using plastic bags especially for wet products, or they couldn’t afford to buy eco-bags,” Valencia said. “So some were angry at first about the ban. There were some who were shouting, ”˜Why aren’t there plastic bags?’”

She added that they had tried to conduct a pilot test of the ban before the effectivity date, but because they were informed only in December “the peak season for grocery stores” the idea was ultimately abandoned.

Pep talk

Santos, on the other hand, said they gave cashiers and baggers a pep talk on how to handle the inevitable complaints from customers.

There were some shoppers, she added, who had accused them of implementing the ban to promote the sale of their in-house eco-bags.

“When we say it’s a city ordinance, and its purpose is to save the environment, then they understand,”she said. “But some of them really are just surprised by the ban.”

Quezon City Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department officer Vincent Vanarao told the Inquirer that in the meantime, they were on “purely observation” mode and had yet to deputize enforcers to issue tickets to violators.

However, he said that based on inspections, establishments had so far been compliant.“Actually, it was the retailers who clamored for a ban on plastic bags,” he added. “So their reception to the ordinance has been OK.” Councilor Dorothy Delarmente, the ordinance’s author, previously said the city government had proposed an increase in the fee for plastic bags before retailers suggested the total ban.

The P2 fee had gone into a “Green Fund” that the city was currently collecting from retailers. Vanarao said they expected it to total about P300 million, which would go into a trust fund for environment-related projects.

Read original article: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1209767/complaints-swamp-some-shops-as-qc-says-goodbye-to-plastic-bags