Money News Roundup: Free Tuition, All-New Honda CR-V, And More Of The LTFRB Vs. TNCs

So last week came in with a few punches. The LTFRB vs Transport Network Companies fiasco heats up. Duterte grants free tuition to state universities. And guess what? House Tyrell is overthrown by the Lannisters.

If you’re only familiar with that last bit, then you’re badly in need of a run-through of the past week’s most important news. Fortunately, we have a handy spoiler-free recap here.

James Deakin rushes to aid TNCs

The transport network company (TNC) sector found its white knight in the form of seasoned motoring journalist James Deakin. During the senate inquiry on ride-sharing apps, the Service Road host deflected the claims of the LTFRB that they are the enemy, saying that the common enemy here isn’t the new system but rather the lack of options commuters currently have in beating the traffic.

“We tried a lot of things: coding, excise tax. All these things became resistant to the general public simply because they do not have an alternative. That’s it,” Deakins said. “The Filipino is worth driving for,” he remarked as he dropped the mic during the hearing.

All-new Honda CR-V to come in diesel

Is the diesel-powered CR-V finally coming to Manila? Top Gear Philippines went to the 2017 Bangkok International Show to see the much-awaited 1.6-liter turbodiesel engine-powered CR-V up close.

Money News Roundup: Free Tuition, All-New Honda CR-V

Equipped with an engine capable of unleashing 160hp and 350Nm of torque being mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission, the diesel CR-V is certainly worth the wait. It’s only a question of “when.”

Source: TopGear.com.ph

PH ranked 68th in terms of social progress

After getting the aggregated scores, the 2017 Social Progress Index revealed that the country fared at 68th place with a score of 67.10 points. According to the website, the country performed best in sectors such as access to basic education (92.61 points), nutrition and basic medical care (88.65 points), water and sanitation (71.59 points), shelter (68.54 points), and access to information and communications (67.19 points).

However, the Philippines got poor scores in areas such as access to advance education, tolerance and inclusion, personal safety, health and wellness, and personal rights.

Source: Social Progress Index PH

Duterte signs free tuition on state colleges and universities

As one of the priority bills of the current administration, President Duterte finally signed into law that will give subsidy to state universities and colleges in the Philippines in full. According to the new law, SUCs, local tertiary schools, and TESDA-accredited learning centers will be subsidized by the state.

While the passing of the new law was met with positive response from the public, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said that such measure would require “something like P100 billion” to become fully materialized.

Source: The Philippine Daily Inquirer

Inflation rises to 2.8 percent

Consumer prices went up to 2.8 percent last July as it showed higher figures than June’s numbers as well as the same period last year. According to a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, year-on-year inflation went up from June 2017’s 2.7 percent to 2.8 percent last month.

The report also said that the uptick of prices was due to the higher prices in the transport sector. Higher petroleum prices also contributed to the said increase.

Source: The Philippine Daily Inquirer