The Department of Agriculture is crafting a disaster preparedness, response and rehabilitation program to cushion the destructive impacts of natural disasters, particularly typhoons and floods, on the country’s agriculture and fishery sector.
The property landscape in the Philippines this year can be described as rugged, filled with highs and lows, which makes the industry twice as interesting both from observers’ and players’ standpoints. Here are the 12 most notable “features” of this landscape.
Calamities in the Philippines, including the damage wrought by Typhoon “Ondoy” in 2009, contributed to the ballooning of global insurance losses due to floods, according to Swiss Re.
Buying a lot to build a new house? Check out the government’s geohazard maps first to see if the property is located in a place prone to floods or landslides.
As more flood-prone areas are pinpointed with the increasing intensities of weather disturbances, property experts have observed that buyers are becoming wiser and more meticulous in choosing the areas to invest in, as lessons (some painful) from past inundations are beginning to stick. Property analysts see barren days ahead (business-wise, that is) for developers who insist on building in flood-prone areas.
A militant activist group on Tuesday slammed oil companies for their retroactive oil price increases after a price freeze last week due to the floods brought by the southwest monsoon.
The Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) said that more employees of the sector were unable to report for work last week compared to previous flooding incidents.
This time, real estate analysts agree with the views of a nature conservationist. Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan, chief executive officer of the environmental group Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Philippines, was quoted by the Inquirer last August 13 as saying, “Filipinos, not the monsoon rains, are to blame for the deluge that paralyzed the metropolitan area of 14-million residents last week.” The Inquirer article also cited Tan as saying that “the latest disaster to hit the Philippines was a result of an unfettered and mindless march to urbanization that had replaced soils and trees, which could absorb the rains and reduce flooding, with concrete jungles.”
After the rains have stopped, the skies have cleared, and floods have subsided, a bigger and more daunting predicament may give homeowners another reason to worry.
After an aggressive information campaign to announce its new recruitment drive, Philippine Airlines human resources officials were swamped last weekend by applicants who wanted to join the ranks of the flag carrier’s cabin crew team.
Once again floods brought about by Typhoon “Gener” wrought havoc in Metro Manila and a fairly large number of cars were affected. Here’s a simple to-do list to make your car road-worthy again. Please note that regardless of your car’s condition, do not try starting/cranking your engine if you are in doubt. You might cause a short circuit, which at the very least can fry your car’s electronics, or worse, start a fire. Safety is always paramount.
Last week, the market ended lower by 22.56 points or 0.43 percent at 5,263.35 from the week before. Total volume was 7.07 billion shares valued at P20.58 billion. Despite having only four trading days, as trading was suspended on Tuesday due to the monsoon rains, total volume of transaction for the week was comparatively more by 400 million shares. Obviously, the market turned to smaller cap stocks during the week. As a result, total value turnover was P7.34 billion less than the previous week’s.
