21 May 2018 – Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) account for 99.6% or 911,768 of the 915,726 total enterprises in the Philippines in 2016. Of this number, almost 90% (820,795) are micro, followed by small at 9.46% (86,955), and medium at 0.44% (4,018). This figure could be more considering the three million to four million enterprises listed in the Philippine Business Registry submitted by the local government units.
14 February 2018 – Last 19 December 2017, the TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) bill was signed into law (Republic Act 10963), and has started to take effect 1 January 2018. Also last month, the Department of Finance already submitted the second package of TRAIN to Congress. The two measures are expected to generate P130 billion additional revenues that will fund the government’s infrastructure (“build, build, build”) and social development programs.
13 June 2016 – The 2016 Philippine Election proved to be successful in terms of voter turnout, with over 44.3 million Filipinos (84% of total registered voters) participating, resulting to a substantially higher turnout rate than those of previous election years.
22 February 2016 – Regular, high-level public-private dialogues are essential to ensuring harmonized priorities between the private sector and government, as well as providing a platform for ensuring that these reform measures are enacted quickly.
15 December 2015 – Down to the last week of session before Congress adjourns for the holiday break, the House of Representatives and the Senate are expected to enact the P3 trillion national budget for 2016 and the 2015 Salary Standardization Law for government personnel.