ANILA, Philippines — Sen.

Cynthia Villar has filed measures seeking to establish a Small and Medium Enterprises Stock
Exchange (SMEX) and encourage Filipinos to patronize local products.

The SMEX bill also seeks to assist small and medium enterprises in obtaining financing requirements from
developing capital market in the country, Villar said.

She filed the “Buy Pinoy, Build Pinoy Act,” which aims to inculcate in every Filipino the wisdom of supporting Filipino-
made products and recognize Filipino producers. The bill seeks to declare November of every year as the “Buy
Pinoy, Build Pinoy Month.”

Aside from proposals to help Filipino entrepreneurs, Villar also filed measures to boost the country’s food security and
accelerate agricultural growth.

She said the country’s livestock industry is a major concern as the sector – comprising cattle, hogs, poultry and dairy
– “should feed our people.”

“It can reduce poverty in the countryside by giving raisers better income and jobs to farmers and their families,” Villar
said, referring to the livestock industry.

Meanwhile, Sen. Loren Legarda filed Senate Bill 4 seeking to increase the minimum wage of public school teachers
and non-teaching personnel.

Legarda’s measure highlights the need to provide adequate support and compensation to address the increasing cost
of living.

The measure seeks to increase the salary grade level of public school teachers from Grade 11 to Grade 15.

Teaching personnel or instructors in public universities and colleges will also be granted an increase from Salary
Grade 12 to Grade 16.

Salary for a regular entry-level position in government service should not be less than P16,000 a month.

As former chair of the Senate committee on finance, Legarda introduced and sponsored vital amendments for the
education sector such as funding for free tertiary education, free tuition for medical students in state universities and
colleges and free WiFi connectivity in all SUCs.

Legarda also filed the Magna Carta for Private School Teachers and the Magna Carta of Public School Teachers to
institutionalize support for education personnel.

As this developed, a proposal titled “Better Internet Act” has been filed in the Senate to mandate internet service
providers (ISPs) to provide fast and reliable connections.

Sen. Grace Poe said she filed the bill to improve the internet service and access across the country.

“The internet has become a necessity as indispensable as electricity and water. We rely on it for health, education,
business, governance and more,” Poe said.

The proposed “Better Internet Act” aims to provide fast, reliable, secure and affordable internet. It seeks to require
ISPs to widen their reach and establish a minimum and consistent internet connection speed.

“Service providers must pick up and maintain an acceptable internet speed to boost connectivity across sectors and
empower our people,” Poe said.

“Undoubtedly, the internet has become an essential tool to survive and thrive. We should therefore bolster public
access to it,” she said.

Under the bill, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) should require all public telecommunications
entities (PTEs) and ISPs to extend and expand the service coverage of fixed and mobile internet service in all
unserved and underserved areas within three years from the effectivity of the measure.
PTEs and ISPs are strongly encouraged to provide a higher internet speed and deliver a minimum standard for
connection speed to their subscribers.

There should be no required minimum internet speed for free internet service.

If enacted into law, telcos and ISPs would have three years to ensure that they provide no lower than the minimum
required download speeds to their end-users.

The NTC is mandated to enforce providers’ compliance on internet speed, quality and consistency as well as other
coverage obligations to subscribers.

“PTEs and ISPs must meet the minimum standards on connection, reception, just pricing and billing practices to
promote and protect the rights of consumers of internet services,” the bill stated.

Those who cannot comply with the required internet service standards will be fined not less than P200,000 and not
more than P2 million for each count of violation.

If a service provider’s yearly gross income is less than P10 million, the penalty is one percent to two percent of its
annual gross income.

“Ensuring access to fast and affordable internet connection is not only an option if we want our country and people to
be competitive. It should be a priority,” Poe said.

Earlier, Poe urged former president Rodrigo Duterte to direct all government agencies to remove obstacles to and
expedite the approval of telco infrastructure construction to improve internet access.

She also expressed support for the inclusion of the necessary provision in the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act that
resulted in faster installation of connection framework across the country.

Companies have raised nearly P62 billion in fresh funds as of the first six months of 2022 by offering their shares to
the investing public through the stock market.

In a statement, the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) said capital raising through the local bourse amounted to
P61.92 billion, down 49.4% year-on-year.

The amount was raised from the sale of primary and secondary shares in eight initial public offerings (IPOs), one
stock rights offering, and four private placements during the first half of the year, the PSE said.

Compared to the same period in 2021, capital raising totaled P122.46 billion, "boosted by the largest IPO in PSE
history that raised P55.89 billion," it said.

The stock market saw eight IPOs in the first semester of the year, the same number as in all of 2021.

Of the eight companies that conducted IPOs, five were listed on the Main Board, while three joined the Small,
Medium, and Emerging Board.

Among the listed firms that debuted between January and June were Haus Talk Inc., Figaro Coffee Group, Inc.,
Citicore Energy REIT Corp., Bank of Commerce, CTS Global Equity Group Inc., Raslag Corp., VistaREIT, Inc., and
Balai ni Fruitas Inc.

PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon said that “the record [for] fund raising in 2021 will be difficult to break
because of the sizable amount that was generated by the Monde Nissin Corp.’s IPO.”
Nonetheless, Monzon said, “We have a robust pipeline of public offerings in the second half and if all of these
materialize, capital raising may still reach the Php 200 billion mark."

“Given the lineup of maiden offers in the next half of the year, we may see a 26-year high in terms of the number of
IPOs in a year,” he said.

The PSE chief said the local bourse has put in place rules on initial listing through a preferred shares offering that
give companies the flexibility to tap the equities market by selling preferred shares instead of common shares. 

“The Lock-Up Rule has also been amended recently to give select entities an early exit mechanism when a company
they invested in goes public. This frees up capital of alternative investment funds to reinvest in other target firms and
increases the number of available shares to IPO investors,” Monzon said.

In terms of trading activity, the daily average value turnover as of June 30 was P7.52 billion, down 16.1% year-on-
year.

Foreign investors were net sellers during the January to June period at P40.73 billion, lower than the P77.86 billion
net foreign selling registered in the same period in 2021.

The PSE index (PSEi) closed at 6,155.43 points on the last trading day of the semester and posted a 13.6% decline
year-to-date.

The All Shares Index and five of the six sectoral indices also registered year-to-date losses of between 10.2% and
17%.

Only the Mining and Oil Index ended in the green, up by 17% year-to-date. —VBL, GMA News

US inflation surged to a fresh peak of 9.1 percent in June, further squeezing American families and heaping
pressure on President Joe Biden, whose approval ratings have taken a battering from the relentless rise in
prices.

Government data released Wednesday showed a sharp, faster-than-expected increase in the consumer price
index compared to May driven by significant increases in gasoline prices.

The 9.1 percent CPI spike over the past 12 months to June was the fastest increase since November 1981, the
Labor Department reported.

Energy contributed half of the monthly increase, as gasoline jumped 11.2 percent last month and a staggering
59.9 percent over the past year. Overall energy prices posted their biggest annual increase since April 1980.

While acknowledging the inflation rate was “unacceptably high,” Biden argued that it was also “out of date” as it
did not reflect a clear drop in energy prices since mid-June.

The recent price drop had provided “important breathing room for American families. And, other commodities
like wheat have fallen sharply since this report,” the president said in a statement.
Insisting that tackling inflation was the top priority, Biden admitted his administration needed “to make more
progress, more quickly, in getting price increases under control.”

The war in Ukraine has pushed global energy and food prices higher, and US gas prices at the pump last month
hit a record of more than $5 a gallon.

However, energy prices have eased in recent weeks, which could start to relieve some of the pressure on
consumers.

But the Federal Reserve is likely to continue its aggressive interest rate increases as it tries to tamp down the
price surge by cooling demand before inflation becomes entrenched.

The US central bank last month implemented the biggest rate hike in nearly 30 years, and economists say
another three-quarter-point increase is likely later this month.

Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics summed up the data in one word: “Ouch.”

“This report will make for very uncomfortable reading at the Fed,” he said. “It rules out the chance of the Fed
hiking by only 50bp this month.”

– Signs of cooling? –
Driven by record-high gasoline prices, the consumer price index jumped 1.3 percent in June.

But Shepherdson noted some signs of cooling prices in the data and predicted “this will be the last big
increase.”

When volatile food and energy prices are stripped out of the calculation, “core” CPI increased 5.9 percent over
the past year — still a rapid pace but slowing from the pace in May, according to the data.

Food and housing prices also rose in June, as did car prices, though the rate has stabilized or slowed from the
past month, the report said.

The White House came out ahead of the report to predict it would show “highly elevated” inflation.

But press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted that the “backwards looking inflation data” does not take into
account recent declines in gasoline prices.

According to AAA, the national average price at the pump was down to $4.63 a gallon, from $5.01 a month ago.

JP Morgan is projecting a seismic shift in Philippine property stocks with former industry leader Ayala Land Inc.
losing its premium valuation among peers.
Palusot? JP Morgan insists it would have recommended a sell on Philippine stocks whether or not
Bongbong Marcos won the elections

“ALI’s premium valuation was anchored on profit growth consistency and outperformance relative to peers; this
is no longer the case today,” said JP Morgan in a June 30 report which has been widely shared on social media.

After leading the industry in profit growth since 2009, JP Morgan expects ALI to place last among the Big Five
property companies in the country in terms of net income growth.

Wealthiest Pinoys lose $4.1B after stocks cratered in June

ALI is the only Big Five property player to post negative growth in profits (minus four percent) from 2019 to
2024 after posting an industry-leading 23 percent average growth rate from 2009 to 2019.

Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) led by bilyonaryo Frederick Go will have the highest profit growth rate through
2024 at seven percent, followed by SM Prime Holdings (SMPH) of the Sy family with five percent, Megaworld
Corp. of ultra bilyonaryo Andrew Tan with two percent.

Filinvest Land Inc. of the Gotianun family is expected to have a zero growth average from 2019 to 2024.

JP Morgan said it preferred SMPH and RLC with their high, recurring income streams (leases) over ALI due to its
high reliance on residential sales for growth.

It blamed ALI’s fall from grace to “murky growth outlook, elevated residential inventory and cancellations.”

JP Morgan reckoned it would take more than 21 months for ALI to sell its inventory of residential properties.

Profit margins are likely to erode further as ALI will unlikely be able to increase its average selling price and will
be forced to give easy payment terms in view of the weak demand and high interest rates.

Based on its estimates, JP Morgan said SMPH now has the highest premium valuation among the Big Five (24
times price/earnings ratio for 2023) with ALI falling to second with a P/E of 17 (from a an average P/E of 27.8
from 2009 to 2019. RLC is third with a P/E ratio of 8.6 times in 2023 followed by FLI (4.3 times P/E) and MEG (4.2
times P/E).

As if red-hot coal prices are not enough, Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SCC) of bilyonaryo Sid Consunji is
getting a boost from speculation that it will return to the Philippine Stock Exchange Index after a two-year
hiatus.

SCC zoomed 2.49 percent to P37.10 on July 5, its highest in four years. It was the day’s second-most active stock
with P349 million in total trade with P15 million in net foreing buying.

SCC is now 74 percent up from the start of 2022 largely due to a surge in coal prices brought about by the
disruption in supply due to the raging Ukraine-Russia conflict.

But investors have pumped up SCC’s price higher in the last few days due to speculation on SCC’s imminent
return to the PSEI.
COL Financial senior equity strategist Adrian Alexander Yu said SCC was likely to be included in the rebalancing
of the PSEI next month after its market cap swelled to P111.8 billion or No. 25 in the ranking, just below Metro
Pacific (P111.9 billion) and ahead of Puregold (P109.88 billion).SCC was ejected from the index in August 2020.

Yu said SCC would likely replace Security Bank (SECB) of bilyonaryo Frederick Dy which has dropped to No. 36 in
terms of market capitalization.

The only possible spoiler to SCC’s index comeback is the Abotiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP) which
has a bigger market cap than SCC but a lower liquidity (a listed stock must rank top 25 percent of median daily
value per month for nine months out of 12) than the Consunji energy firm.

“Nevertheless, should the PSE decide to add UBP, SCC won’t be included,” said Yu.

From P100 per share on May 12, Security Bank shares dropped to a low of P77.10 on May 26.

When Security Bank moved to the MSCI Philippine small cap index, its shares made a sharp rise for the next five
days to P98.50 on June 2.

Caylum Trading Institute president and CEO Edmund C. Lee blames it on market insanity, but he’s not one to
complain.

“The irrational selling of these funds esp in illiquid environments will always provide a window for traders,” said
Lee on Twitter.

$SECB fell 22% from 100 -> 78/sh due to MSCI rebalancing and now its back to 89. The irrational selling of these
funds esp in illiquid environments will always provide a window for traders.

ANILA, Philippines —  AirAsia Philippines’ plan to go public remains shelved, but the low-cost carrier is pursuing a
potential expansion to add long-haul routes in its international network, which will require bigger aircraft.

While the airline’s road to recovery is moving in the right direction, AirAsia Philippines chief executive officer Ricky
Isla said a revival of its initial public offering (IPO) is not yet in the works.

“No IPO plans yet,” Isla told The STAR.

AirAsia Philippines was previously eyeing to finally push through with the long-delayed IPO within the third quarter of
2020 up to the first quarter of 2021, in which it planned to offer 20 percent of the company’s shares to the public.

The COVID-19 outbreak, however, wreaked havoc on the entire aviation industry beginning early 2020, derailing
once again the airline’s IPO aspirations.
But while an IPO remains not a priority for the company for the meantime, AirAsia Philippines is working its way
toward recovery, which will be supported by the resumption and expansion of its international network.

“Fingers crossed, we really want to get long haul flights in the very near future,” Isla told reporters in a recent briefing
in Malaysia.

Among the regional routes being explored by the airline are the Middle East, US and Australia.

“So we really need big planes. Hopefully they’ll give us big planes for long haul flights. We don’t have 321s right now,
but that is one of the important asks of Philippines Airasia, because it is actually cost efficient, it’s bigger, the fuel
consumption is a lot better, and eco-friendly,” Isla said.

Isla said the target is to expand to new OFW-rich markets by next year.

“The travel momentum is already there. For international market, we’re achieving about 60 percent (pre-COVID
levels)  by the fourth quarter and come second quarter (next year) we hope to achieve 100 percent,” he said.

AirAsia Philippines has recently reactivated international destinations such as Seoul (Incheon), Kota Kinabalu,
Malaysia and Hong Kong as the airline accelerates its route expansion.

“The international market is very important to us. Remember that there’s a huge 12 million Filipinos overseas and if
you’re going to look at ASEAN alone, we have a lot of Filipino overseas that we export talents and skills going to
countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. That’s one of the reasons why we really have to play the international
market. We would like to fetch the overseas Filipino market,” Isla said.

“In terms of financials, it is also good to admit that the international travel is more cost efficient. Meaning in terms of
cost, we have better profitability for international market,” he said.

(UPDATED) COLOMBO: Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency on Wednesday as thousands of people mobbed

the prime minister's office after the president flew to the Maldives following months of widespread protests over a
crushing economic crisis.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised over the weekend to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a
"peaceful transition of power" after fleeing his official residence in the capital Colombo just before tens of thousands
of protesters overran it.

As president, Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest, and he is believed to have wanted to go abroad before
stepping down to avoid the possibility of being detained.

He, his wife Ayoma and two bodyguards were the four passengers on board an Antonov-32 military aircraft that took
off from Sri Lanka's main international airport, immigration sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Hours later, with no formal announcement he was stepping down, thousands of demonstrators mobbed the office of
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe — who would automatically become acting president in the event of a
resignation — demanding both officeholders should go.

Police fired tear gas to hold them back from overrunning the compound and officials declared a nationwide state of
emergency "to deal with the situation in the country," the premier's spokesman Dinouk Colombage told AFP.

Police imposed an indefinite curfew across the island nation's Western province, which includes Colombo, "to contain
the situation," a senior police officer said.

Wickremesinghe has himself announced his willingness to resign if consensus is reached on forming a unity
government.
His office confirmed on Wednesday that Rajapaksa had left the country, but said it had no schedule for any
resignation announcement.

The presidential succession process could take between three days — the minimum time needed for the legislature
to elect a member of parliament to serve out Rajapaksa's term, which ends in November 2024 — and a maximum of
30 days allowed under the statute.

Rajapaksa is accused of mismanaging Sri Lanka's economy to a point where the country has run out of foreign
exchange to finance even the most essential imports, leading to severe hardships for its 22 million people.

Earlier on Wednesday, smiling Sri Lankans again thronged the corridors of the president's official residence after his
departure, with young couples walking around hand in hand in a mood of quiet celebration.

"People are very happy because these people robbed our country," said retired civil servant Kingsley Samarakoon,
74. "They've stolen too much money, billions and billions."

But he held little hope for an immediate improvement in Sri Lanka's plight. "How are people going to run the country
without money?" he asked. "It's a problem."

The departure of Rajapaksa, 73, once known as "The Terminator," had been stymied for more than 24 hours in a
humiliating standoff with immigration personnel in Colombo.

He had wanted to fly to Dubai on a commercial flight, but the staff at the Bandaranaike International Airport withdrew
from VIP services and insisted that all passengers had to go through public counters.

The presidential party was reluctant to go through regular channels, fearing public reactions, a security official said,
and as a result, missed four flights on Monday that could have taken them to the United Arab Emirates.

Clearance for a military flight to land in nearby India was not immediately secured, a security official said, and at one
point on Tuesday the group headed to a naval base with a view to fleeing by sea.

On arrival in the Maldives, Rajapaksa's party was driven to an undisclosed location under police escort, an airport
official in the capital Male said.

INANCE Secretary Benjamin Diokno has rejected a party-list group's proposal to lower income taxes, pointing to
relatively new tax cuts ordered by the previous administration.

"We just amended both PIT (personal income tax) and CIT (corporate income tax). Let's give the new tax system a
chance to operate. Too early to tinker with it," he told reporters on Wednesday.

The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Act, which took effect beginning 2018, exempted individuals
earning P250,000 or less per year from paying personal income taxes. In return, new taxes were levied on items
including fuel, sugar-sweetened beverages and automobiles.

Last year's Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (Create) Act, meanwhile, reduced the CIT rate for
large firms from 30 percent to 25 percent. For micro, small and medium-sized businesses, the rate was cut to 20
percent.

Diokno made the statement in reaction to ACT Teachers' party-list Rep. Francisca Castro's having filed a bill titled the
"Tax Reform Act for the Masses and the Middle Class."

The measure will correct imbalances caused by regressive laws like Train and Create that have provided few
advantages to lower- and middle-class families, Castro claimed.
Reducing income taxes for the working class will not only improve their way of life but also strengthen their
purchasing power, which will increase overall domestic demand for consumer goods, she added.

"Rising prices and untamed inflation rates in the past few years all the more justify the need for a tax reform package
that would reduce the income tax rates of the overburdened Filipino working-class families," Castro continued.

The bill calls for a 20-percent maximum personal income tax rate for individual citizens, exemption of the first
P400,000 that they earn, the return of additional exemptions for dependents (senior citizens and persons with
disabilities may be claimed as dependents), raising the cap on tax-free bonuses to P150,000 and mandating the
Bureau of Internal Revenue to set up a progressive, 10-bracket PIT schedule.

The income disparity between the poorest and richest segments of the population has remained nearly constant for
decades, Castro also claimed, adding that PIT rates in the Philippines are now even higher than those in other
nations like Singapore for the lower and middle classes.

"Other countries also have additional personal allowances and/or tax exemptions for dependents, unlike here in the
Philippines," she said.

Hey Jerome,

Omeng here again. 

Kamusta na?

Today I'll share about how you can maximize your earnings by giving you the factors that can affect your
potential earnings when you invest in Philippine stock market.

You see, investing in the stock market primarily offers its investors two ways to earn money.
These two are called (1) Capital Appreciation and (2) Dividends.

Thus asking how much you’re gonna earn will depend on how good you are in maximizing these two means of
making your money work hard for you.

**IMPORTANT**
Do you know that the time horizon put into investment won’t directly translate to better performance? In other
words, even if one is invested in as long as ten years or more, if the stock price doesn’t follow and improve over
time, the long time one is invested is USELESS.

Read this short post how you can make sure you won't commit these HUGE mistakes.

Have fun investing,

Omeng

PS: Jerome, find the basic factors which will determine your success (or failure) in stock market. CLick here.

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