Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (Photo:cdn3.i-scmp.com)
Hanoi (VNA) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on August 15 announced an increase of the nation’s budget for next year to assist with the fight against crime.
The Philippine government said next year’s budget will be 3.35 trillion pesos (72.3 billion USD), an increase of 11.6 percent from this year.
Accordingly, the budget for the police force will soar 24.6 percent to 110.4 billion pesos. The amount will be spent on recruiting more officers, raising salaries and equipping them with more guns.
The judiciary’s budget will rise by 21.5 percent, while the military budget is expected to increase 15 percent to 130.6 billion pesos.
The government has not given detailed information on the salary rise for army and police forces; however the President has repeatedly committed to double salaries for the two forces.
Besides this, the President plans to spend 860.7 billion pesos, a hike of 13.8 percent from this year’s budget, to improve infrastructure, including fixing or building roads, railways, seaports and airports.
According to Bloomberg news agency, the Southeast Asian country’s budget increase for next year would lead to a deficit of 478.1 billion pesos or 3 percent of the nation’s gr🐠oss domestic product (GDP), higher than an expected 2.7 percent🎐 in 2016.-VNA
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Philippine President has affirmed that the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague on the case between his country and China will be a "ground" for future talks.
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The Republic of Korea (RoK), China and Japan agreed on May 3 to reinforce the regional financial safety net, along with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), by launching a new financing facility programme meant to extend greater support in case of a financial crisis.
A technical issue combined with an extreme heatwave was blamed for a series of explosions at a military base that killed 20 soldiers and injured several others in Cambodia on April 27, the country’s Ministry of Defence said in a May 2 statement as reported by the Xinhua news agency.
The Customs Department of Thailand is scheduled to commence the collection of value-added tax (VAT) on imported goods sent via postal services, regardless of the goods value, starting in May.
A lecturer from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine has warned Thais to be more vigilant against COVID-19, saying infection rates appeare to be worsening with higher hospital admissions, deaths and severe cases.
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ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn reaffirmed ASEAN leaders' commitment to empowering the youth to unleash their full potential when he had a dialogue with ASEAN youth in Hanoi on April 22 on the sidelines of the ASEAN Future Forum (AF 2024).
The Thai Government is being urged to increase the proportion of renewable power generation to more than the target of 50% set in the power development plan (PDP).
The Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) of Indonesia on April 21 lifted its tsunami advisory issued previously following the eruption of Mount Ruang in Sitaro district of North Sulawesi province.
Thailand expects to export about 1 million tonnes of durian, valued at an estimated 130 billion THB (3.53 billion USD) this year, with most of the shipments to China, according to Minister of Agriculture Thammanat Prompao.
The 72nd meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC) and related meetings are being held by the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of Vietnam in the central city of Da Nang on April 22-26.
Enhancing regional food security and tackling the pressing challenges of climate change will be key agendas defining Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025, Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat (lower house) Johari Abdul told the press on April 19.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (Photo:cdn3.i-scmp.com)
