Category: Business

Business

PEZA Investments Surge 334% in August as Philippines Nears ₱300-Billion 2026 Target

MANILA, Philippines — Investment approvals by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) surged by 334.13 percent in August, giving the country’s investment pipeline a major boost as the agency moves closer to its ₱300-billion target for 2026. PEZA approved 22 new and expansion projects worth ₱64.565 billion during its August 20 board meeting. The figure was more than four times the ₱14.872 billion approved during the same month in 2025. The strong August performance helped push PEZA’s tota

August 26, 2026

Business

PH Air Force Set to Receive Final 7 Black Hawks—But That’s Not the Biggest Upgrade Yet

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Air Force (PAF) is set to formally receive and commission seven additional S-70i Black Hawk helicopters, marking the completion of its 32-unit second-generation Black Hawk acquisition program under the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Program. The seven helicopters are the final batch of 32 S-70i units acquired from Poland, a procurement program designed to significantly strengthen the country’s air mobility, disaster-response and operatio

August 26, 2026

Business

S$150,000 Casino Deposit Sparks Counterfeit Note Probe in Singapore—Police Find 121 Suspected Fake Bills

SINGAPORE — What began as an attempt to deposit S$150,000 into a casino account at Marina Bay Sands reportedly took a dramatic turn after a cashier spotted one suspicious detail on a single S$100 note. Singapore police said two Chinese nationals—a 33-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman—are set to be charged over their suspected involvement in a conspiracy to counterfeit Singapore currency notes. According to police, the case began at about 3.50am on August 24, when the man allegedly handed S$

August 26, 2026

Business

Canada Hits Back With US$20 Billion in Tariffs—Is the US-Canada Trade War About to Get Worse?

OTTAWA — Canada is hitting back hard after trade talks with the United States collapsed, announcing retaliatory tariffs on roughly US$20 billion worth of American goods in a dramatic escalation of a trade dispute between two of the world's closest economic partners. The Canadian countermeasures, scheduled to take effect on September 8, will apply duties ranging from 15% to 50% on more than 700 U.S.-made products, according to reports by Channel News Asia, Reuters and other international news or

August 26, 2026

Business

U.S. Plans Mass Visa Revocation for Up to 200,000 Asylum Seekers — Here’s Who Could Be Affected

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the U.S. business and tourism visas of as many as 200,000 foreign nationals who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum in the United States, a move that could become the largest mass visa revocation in American history. The planned action targets B-1 business and B-2 tourist visas issued between 2016 and 2026 to people who entered the United States as temporary visitors and subsequently filed asylum claims. The State Departm

August 26, 2026

Business

Singapore Shoppers Can Get Up to S$3 Back Every Saturday From Aug. 29 — But There’s a Catch

SINGAPORE — A popular weekend savings perk is coming back, and Singapore shoppers may want to check their PayLah! app before paying for their next hawker meal, market purchase or heartland shopping trip. DBS is bringing back its PayLah! S$3 Cashback campaign from Saturday, Aug. 29, giving eligible customers the chance to receive up to S$3 cashback every Saturday at participating hawker stalls, wet markets, coffee shops and heartland shops. But there is one important detail: the cashback is ava

August 25, 2026

Business

At Least 1 in 4 Former NFL Players Who Died From 2016 to 2021 Had CTE, Study Finds

New research is putting football’s long-term brain health crisis back under the spotlight — and scientists say the real figure could be considerably higher. A new study has found that at least one in four former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease associated with repeated head impacts. Researchers examined a group of 878 former NFL players who died during the six-year period. Of those, 235 had donated their brains

August 25, 2026

Business

BANK ERROR, BANK’S LOSS? Supreme Court Says BDO Cannot Recover ₱76,000 After Its Own Mistake

MANILA, Philippines — A bank cannot simply demand that a depositor return money withdrawn from an account when the bank’s own gross negligence caused the funds to become available in the first place, the Supreme Court has ruled. The decision, involving BDO Unibank and depositor Cristina Barcellano, puts a sharp focus on the unusually high standard of care required from Philippine banks—and on who should bear the consequences when a financial institution fails to follow its own safeguards. The

August 25, 2026

Business

The Inventing of Mica Tan : How a self-made “angel investor” sold the Philippine elite a glittering private-equity dream — until the checks bounced, the accounts froze, and the family mansion went up for foreclosure

For years the checks arrived on time. They came on good paper, often carrying the signature of Maria Francesca “Mica” Tan herself or one of a small circle of trusted associates. The amounts were steady: 1 to 1.5 percent a month, packaged as interest on what investors were repeatedly told were private loans. The accompanying story was elegant and exclusive. This was not a public offering. It was angel money. Bridge financing for “sure projects” — diagnostic machines bound for government hospital

August 25, 2026

Business

NBI FLAGS MORE THAN 20 STEEL PLANTS OVER ALLEGED RADIOACTIVE, SUBSTANDARD PRODUCTS— INVESTIGATION WIDENS NATIONWIDE

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has identified more than 20 steel plants allegedly linked to the production, sale or distribution of substandard and radioactive-bearing steel products, raising fresh concerns over the safety of construction materials being used across the country. NBI Director Melvin Matibag disclosed the development on Tuesday, August 25, saying the agency's investigation, conducted with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) a

August 25, 2026