The new features of the Philippines peso bills are as follows:

1. Feature Philippine icons like the famous tarsier in Bohol, Taal in Batangas, Banaue Rice Terraces in Ifugao, the Mayon Volcano, to name a few.

2. They have a patch that with a 45 degree angle, colors would change from blue to green and black to blue;

3. Feature the seals of the Republic of the Philippines and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas;

4. They have micro prints and micro threads that makes it difficult for counterfeiters to copy;

5. They have a feature for the vision impaired;

6. They are made up of 80% cotton and 20% abaca;

7. They have anti-bacterial quality that makes higher denominated bills to last for more than 3 years;

However, despite the cited features, the new Philippines peso bills were vilified after they were launched in December last year because of two design errors. The errors cited were the allegedly inaccurately designed Philippine map and the wrong choice of color used for the beak of the blue-naped parrot, a feature in the new P500 peso note.

The release finally paid off.

The set of new Philippine peso notes, called the “New Generation Currency (NGC)” series, was one of the two finalists for best new currencies in the world in a global contest organized by the International Association of Currency Affairs (Iaca). The bills were evaluated based on design, including its innovation and security features.

The Philippines NGC also received a special award for best security features other than landing as one of two finalists. The new series of peso bills was cited for its optically variable device patch, a feature which can be seen in the new P500 and P1,000 bills.

The Aquino Administration posted a budget surplus of P26.26 billion in April 2011, which is recorded to be the biggest in 25 years and more than 10 times the P2.6 billion surplus in 2010. This is according to Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima.

The Philippine government also posted a budget surplus in August 2011 with a recorded surplus of P9.22 billion. This is a result of a growing revenue and curtailed spending by the Aquino Administration, according to the report.

Philippines budget surplus/deficits recorded for 2011 are as follows:

January 2011 – P13.4 billion surplus

February 2011 – P21.5 billion deficit

March 2011 -P18.1 billion deficit

April 2011 – P26.258 billion surplus

May 2011 – P9.6 billion deficit

June 2011 -P182 million deficit

July 2011 – P26.482 billion deficit

August 2011 – P9.22 billion surplus

With four months to go before the year ends, will the Philippines economic managers be able to meet its targeted goal of a P300 billion budget deficit cap? Stay tuned!

The May 4, 2011 memorandum supersedes the memorandum of April 15, 2011 and thus revises the schedule of briefings and seminars in the following order:

DATE                                      VENUE

May 26-27                            General Santos City

June 16-17                            Naga City

June 23-24                            San Fernando, La Union

July 28-29                             Davao City

August 25-26                       Tacloban City

September 22-23                Ozamis City

October 27-28                      Angeles City, Pampanga

November 24-25                 Roxas City

December 8-9                       Zamboanga City

These briefings and seminars are intended for those pawnshop operators, foreign exchange dealers or money changers as well as remittance agents.

Those who operate the aforementioned businesses are encouraged to attend the briefings and seminars to update themselves of new laws and regulations that may affect their businesses.

Training fees will be collected of which P500 will be collected for each participant who will attend the two-day briefing/seminar and P300 for participants who will attend the AMLA seminar only.

In a statement, British Ambassador to the Philippines Stephen Lillie said that “the global recession was a wake-up call for companies to diversify their export base and seek out new opportunities in the emerging world. We are encouraging UK business to look to the Philippines and find new business in this exciting new market.”

Currently, around 200 British companies operate in the Philippines with sizes ranging from multinationals to small and medium enterprises. U.K. investment last year also amounted to $298.17 million.

Despite the global recession halting the world economy, the Philippines showed continued growth posting a 1.5% economic growth in the second quarter of 2009.

The remittance scam is done using someone else’s credit card by entities falsely claiming to be remittance providers and by individuals outside of the Philippines. These entities or individuals posing as remittance providers sends money to the Philippines by illegally using someone else’s credit card.

The BSP indicated that some of these entities and people doing fraudulent money transfers recruit agents in an initial recipient country such as the Philippines, who are then instructed to send the money to another country where the final beneficiary is located.

The illegal use of someone else’s credit card, which is a form of identity theft, has risen over the years as more people adopt the more modern and convenient way of transferring money.

Circular Letter 2009-06 issued last Tuesday by the Central Bank seeks to caution the rising incidence of the illegal scheme that allows beneficiaries to collect funds belonging to victimized credit card holders.

The Central Bank was prompted to issue the measure given the technological advances adopted to ease the process of money transfer, which likewise gives rise to an alarming rate of cyber crime cases. The BSP now requires remittance centers to strictly comply with the required remittance procedures.

According to its spokesman, Intel will close two assembly test facilities in Penang, Malaysia and Cavite, Philippines. It will also halt production of its water fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Oregon and stop some operations at a facility in Sta. Clara, California. The disclosure is said to affect between 5,000 to 6,000 jobs, but added that some employees will be offered positions elsewhere in the company.

Intel has lowered prices on some of its processors, including price cuts of up to 40 percent on some of its higher-powered, faster quad-core chips.

Intel’s local unit,  Intel Technology Philippines, Inc., in a statement said, “The impact of the economic downturn on our business was more severe than we anticipated. Our manufacturing operations in Cavite will cease this year. Approximately 1,800 employees will be affected and will be offered a severance package and a range of transition services.” The shutdown will be made in the second half of the year, according to Intel Philippines corporate affairs manager Arlita P. Narag.

Intel has been in the Philippines for 35 years and is the first American semiconductor firm in the country. It has invested over $1.5 billion in the Philippines. It’s Cavite plant is located on a 20-hectare site in Cavite’s Gateway Business Park.

The exit of Intel in the Philippines is a major blow to the country’s semiconductor sector. Arthur J. Young, Jr., Chairman of the Semiconductors and Electronic Industries in the Philippines, Inc., indicated high power rates could be a factor. “We need to find out what went wrong and look at it as an opportunity to make us more competitive. We did this to ourselves because we ignored the things we could have done to make things better for Intel in the Philippines a few years back,” he said, referring to the country’s failure to convince Intel to build a $300 million facility here last year. The company eventually decided to move the investment to Vietnam.

The Department of Labor and Employment issued a statement that it would be offering livelihood assistance to displaced employees from the Cavite plant.

The 2008 surplus is significantly below the posted surplus for the same period in 2007, which was, according to DOF, due to the need to spend for the economy in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The DOF said however that the 60 percent decrease in surplus from the same period in 2007 is in accord with the pump-priming objectives of the government.

The consolidated public sector surplus is the combined budget surpluses of the National Government and state-owned firms including government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), local government units and government financial institutions.

The DOF added that the surplus for the 9 month period was partly due to the improved financial position of the country’s 14 major government-owned corporations, social security institutions and local government and partly to the delays in capital outlays arising from limited absorptive capacity of implementing agencies.

DOF cited 14 GOCCs which registered an aggregate deficit of P12.5 billion, which is lower than the projected deficit of P36.3 billion. Also cited was social security institutions which registered a total surplus of P39.5 billion of which GSIS registered a surplus of P23 billion. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also recovered to a tune of P4 billion in surplus due to lower costs of monetary management, DOF added.

This report is closely watched by local and foreign debt watchers as it is indicative of the country’s credit risk.

The government expects this year’s consolidated public sector position to hit a deficit of P74.3 billion.

“The steady stream of remittances from overseas Filipinos continues to provide the economy with much needed foreign exchange liquidity in the midst of a challenging external environment,” BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. said in as statement released Thursday. The statement added that factors contributing to sustained remittance flows were the continued demand for Filipino workers abroad, specifically professional and skilled workers, as well as greater accessibility of overseas Filipinos and their beneficiaries to a wide array of financial services by banks that facilitated funds transfer.

Data released by the Central Bank does not include funds sent through informal channels.

While there are concerns that deployment could decelerate in the coming months due to the continuing global economic slowdown, the POEA indicated that the decline could be mitigated by strong labor demand in Canada, Bulgaria, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The major sources of remittances from January to November 2008 were the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.