Category: Business Mirror

DOMESTIC oil prices will likely increase by as much as PHP2.25 per liter next week due to an uptick in prices in the international market.

Citing price developments as of Thursday, Leo Bellas, Jetti Energy president, said in a message to journalists Friday that diesel prices are expected to jump between P1.75 and P2.25 per liter and gasoline between P1 and P1.50 per liter.

Bellas explained that ‘oil prices climbed due to a rebuild in the geopolitical premium as prospects for a diplomatic solution to the US-Iran conflict and normalization of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz have dimmed.’

‘With the expiration of the mid-June US-Iran MOU [memorandum of understanding] and both sides expressing intentions to take a harder line, markets are pricing in the possibility of a prolonged crisis,’ he said.

Bellas said additional factors for the higher oil prices include the ‘risks to Russian supply following Black Sea loading disruptions due to concerns over the reliability of replacement sour crude to offset the reduced Middle East availability.’

‘Sustaining the strength of diesel is the still-fragile physical balances, despite improving replacement supply from continued acceleration of outflows from China, as concerns remain over low inventories, reduced Middle Eastern availability through the Strait of Hormuz, and constrained exports from Russia,’ he said.

Bellas said the continued military actions in the Middle East are the primary factor for movements in oil prices ‘due to curtailment of crude feedstock exiting the Strait of Hormuz and disruption of flows from the alternate Red Sea route, although further upside is capped by higher regional supplies from rising India and China outflows.’

‘Continuing attacks on Russia’s refining sector are further keeping global product supplies tight,’ he added.

A man who killed five people by setting fire to a pachinko parlor in 2009 was hanged Friday in Japan’s first execution by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ‘s government as the country faces growing calls for more transparency and the abolition of capital punishment.

Sunao Takami set fire to the crowded pachinko parlor in Osaka by spreading gasoline and throwing a lit match, engulfing the building, killing five and injuring 10 others, Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said.

‘It caused extremely serious outcomes and dealt a major shock and fear to the society,’ he told a news conference, adding ‘the victims whose lives were taken away must have felt unimaginable pain and fear, and those who suffered injuries … were forced to live with long-term effects.’ ‘As justice minister, I have ordered an execution after careful and thorough considerations,’ he said. The Justice Ministry said the hanging took place earlier Friday.

Takami, 58, was convicted of murder, attempted murder and arson and sentenced to death in a 2011 Osaka District Court ruling. His appeals were rejected in 2016 by a Supreme Court decision upholding the death penalty.

Japan now has 100 people on death row, including 43 seeking retrials, Hiraguchi said.

Japan has faced growing criticism over its use of the death penalty, as a majority of the international community has abolished capital punishment. Japan and the U.S. are the only two countries in the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations that put people to death.

Calls to abolish capital punishment or increase transparency have grown after the 2024 acquittal of the world’s longest-serving death-row inmate, Iwao Hakamada.

Executions are carried out in secrecy in Japan, where prisoners are not informed of their fate until the morning of their hanging.

Since 2007, Japan has begun disclosing the names of those executed and some details of their crimes, but disclosures are still limited.

Hiraguchi said he has no intention to change the practice, saying disclosure of additional details would disturb the mental state of the death-row inmates.

He defended hanging as a valid method of execution, citing a number of past Supreme Court decisions saying hanging is not considered more cruel than other methods of execution such as lethal injections, electrocution and shooting.

WHAT if the success of your next conference has already been decided months before your delegates walk through the registration door?

For many association leaders, event planning is often measured by what happens during the conference itself: the quality of speakers, logistics, venue, or networking reception. Yet, one of the most important lessons I recently gained from the latest episode of ‘Association Matters,’ the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE) podcast, suggests that we may have been looking at events from the wrong end of the telescope.

In our conversation with Charlotte Cailleaux, head of marketing at events management software firm EventsAir Pty Ltd, she shared a simple but powerful premise: great events do not begin on opening day, they begin with community. That insight deserves the attention of every association executive.

Charlotte likened the anticipation of an event to the excitement leading up to Christmas. The celebration itself is only one part of the experience. What creates anticipation are the lights, the music, the decorations, and the countless moments that build excitement before the day arrives.

Successful conferences, she argued, should be designed the same way. Associations, therefore, should ask themselves an important question: ‘How do we want our members to feel before, during, and after the event?’ Once that emotional destination is clear, every communication and engagement activity should be designed to support it.

Too often, event promotion begins and ends with registration emails. But registration is merely a transaction; community is what creates commitment.

The associations that consistently deliver memorable conferences are those that nurture member engagement throughout the year. They create spaces where members exchange ideas, ask questions, share experiences, and build relationships long before they meet face-to-face.

Charlotte shared an interesting example from Australia. A professional marketing association experimented with several social media platforms before discovering that a Slack community was where its members naturally wanted to engage. The lesson was not that Slack is the universal answer. Rather, every association must understand where its members genuinely connect and be willing to experiment until they find the right platform.

Equally important is active community stewardship. Digital communities rarely flourish on their own. Associations must initiate conversations, respond to questions, encourage participation, and create opportunities for members to interact. Engagement grows when members see that someone is listening.

This approach also transforms the conference experience itself. Charlotte described one organization that launched an online community three months before its annual conference. Speakers joined discussions, attendees voted on networking activities, polls shaped elements of the program, and conversations began well before delegates arrived. By opening day, participants already recognized one another. Speakers were no longer strangers on stage. Networking became easier, and engagement started immediately rather than waiting until the second or third day.

Technology, of course, plays an increasingly important role. Artificial intelligence, event apps, personalized recommendations, matchmaking, and gamification can all enhance the attendee experience. Yet Charlotte offered an observation that resonates deeply in today’s AI-driven world: the more technology becomes part of everyday life, the more people value authentic human connection. This is perhaps the greatest opportunity for associations. Technology should never replace community; it should strengthen it.

As association leaders, we should stop thinking of conferences as isolated annual events. Instead, we should view them as milestones within an ongoing community journey, one that continuously creates value, relationships, learning, and belonging. The strongest conferences are not built around programs. They are built around people who already feel connected before they ever arrive.

In the end, successful events don’t simply gather communities-they reveal the strength of the communities that associations have been building all along.

Octavio Peralta is founder and volunteer CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE), the ‘association of associations.’ The PCAAE will hold its 14th Annual Associations Summit (AS14) on November 24, 2026, at the Asian Institute of Management. The views he expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the BusinessMirror.

BROAD coalition Sinag urged the government to halt additional imports amid weather disturbances that disrupted agricultural production.

This, as agricultural damage caused by the southwest monsoon and tropical cyclones Luis, Maymay, and Neneng climbed to P1.73 billion, based on the latest government report.

Sinag Executive Director Jayson Cainglet said temporary supply and logistical disruptions due to the typhoons should not warrant increased importation.

‘When our farmers suffer production losses, the appropriate policy response should first be to restore their capacity to produce-not replace their production with imports,’ Cainglet said.

Instead, he called for strengthened government procurement of agricultural goods as stipulated under the Sagip Saka Act.

‘Directly procuring from farmers will provide immediate assistance to affected marginal producers, backyard raisers and small fish famers while supplying government programs with locally produced food,’ Cainglet said.

‘This is more sustainable than short-term rescue buying photo-ops and more beneficial than relying on imported products,’ he added.

The government, he said, should adopt a ‘non-negotiable local production first’ policy whenever agricultural supply is disrupted.

‘Many agricultural crops can be replanted and harvested within a relatively short period,’ Cainglet said.

‘For affected farmers, the difference between recovery and another season of losses may simply be immediate and easy access to seeds, fertilizer, credit, production assistance and a guaranteed market.’

He noted that a short-term supply gap should not be addressed through a policy that creates a long-term production deficit.

Cainglet also said that while an import decision could address inflation, its consequences can extend beyond the immediate crisis.

‘More often than not, imports arrive just as local farmers begin harvesting again, the resulting increase in market supply will only depress farmgate prices.’

With this, he stressed that imports should only be the last resort.

‘We must structurally shift from an import-first response toward a production-first strategy,’ Cainglet said.

‘The current weather-related disruption should be treated as an opportunity to strengthen-not weaken-Philippine agriculture,’ he added.

THE Marcos administration’s hoped-for economic recovery in the third quarter could be hampered by repeated weather disruptions that threaten activity in key sectors, according to economists.

The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev) earlier said economic growth could improve in the third quarter on the expected rebound in public infrastructure spending, which could lift investment and overall economic activity.

However, University of Asia and the Pacific economist Marco C. Agonia said adverse weather remains a key risk to the recovery as it could delay projects and cause losses in major sectors such as construction, retail, and agriculture.

‘We see the recent string of bad weather as a headwind to the economy’s recovery narrative,’ Agonia told the BusinessMirror.

Agonia cited the fourth quarter of 2024, when consecutive super typhoons delayed infrastructure projects and damaged agriculture, contributing to the country’s failure to meet its initial full-year growth target.

Growth during the period was around 0.3 to 0.5 percentage points lower than anticipated, highlighting the economy’s continued vulnerability to extreme weather.

The warning comes after the Philippine economy slowed to 2.3 percent in the second quarter, bringing first-half growth to an average of 2.6 percent, significantly lower than the 5.4 percent recorded in the same period last year.

Ateneo de Manila University economist Ser K. Peña-Reyes agreed that the weather could weaken the recovery, although a few localized disruptions may have only a modest impact as reconstruction and catch-up activity could later offset some of the losses.

‘Repeated flooding across major agricultural and economic corridors could prevent the Q3 rebound from gaining traction,’ Peña-Reyes told the BusinessMirror.

Peña-Reyes said agriculture and food supply would likely feel the most immediate impact, as flooding could damage crops, livestock, and fisheries, and disrupt harvesting and transport.

He noted that agriculture expanded by 2.7 percent quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter, while Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley accounted for a combined 49.5 percent of palay production during the period.

Beyond agriculture, Peña-Reyes said flooded roads, ports, and airports could disrupt retail, logistics, and tourism, and prevent workers from reporting for work.

He added that floods and landslides may delay construction projects and force the government to redirect funds from planned infrastructure to emergency relief and rehabilitation.

Spending, investment under pressure

The effects of adverse weather could also extend to household spending and private investment, according to economists.

Agonia said reduced mobility could weaken consumption as fewer customers visit businesses.

‘Beyond the damage to human lives, this was rain on the economic parade,’ he added.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed household consumption grew by only 2.8 percent in the second quarter, the slowest since spending contracted by 4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2021.

Excluding the pandemic period, this was the weakest household spending growth since the third quarter of 2010, when it expanded by 2.6 percent.

Peña-Reyes said weather disruptions could have mixed effects on consumption. Relief spending and purchases to replace damaged goods may temporarily support demand, but affected households could become more cautious as damage to their homes, farms or businesses reduces their disposable income.

Philippine Institute for Development Studies Senior Research Fellow John Paolo R. Rivera said food prices pose a greater concern, as heavy rains and flooding could damage crops, delay harvests and raise transport costs.

‘If disruptions persist, they can slow the recent easing in inflation, particularly for vegetables, rice, and other perishables,’ Rivera told the BusinessMirror.

Peña-Reyes added that prolonged disruptions could also prompt firms to postpone investments amid uncertainty over infrastructure, supply chains and operating conditions.

‘This would be especially problematic given that weak investment has already been one of the constraints on Philippine growth,’ he said.

Growth target still within reach

Despite the cumulative impact of weather disruptions, Rivera said the government’s full-year growth target remains attainable.

The government expects the economy to grow by 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent this year. DepDev earlier said growth must average 4.4 percent in the second half to reach the lower end of that target.

‘The outcome will depend on how quickly activity normalizes and whether infrastructure spending, exports, and private investment strengthen enough to offset temporary disruptions,’ Rivera said.

He noted that the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) had already factored in heightened domestic and external uncertainties into its revised 2026 growth target.

For millions of Filipino families, a single bout of sickness does not merely threaten health-it dismantles livelihoods. The stark reality that nearly two-thirds of households cannot afford a P10,000 hospital bill exposes only the visible tip of a crisis iceberg. Beneath the surface lies a devastating cascade of financial ruin: the sari-sari store shuttered for a week, the rent payment sacrificed for medicine, the child pulled from school to care for a confined parent. Illness in the country functions as a punitive tax on the poor, one that extracts not just savings but futures. This is not a healthcare problem alone. It is an economic catastrophe masquerading as a medical one. When a daily wage worker earning P500 to P700 faces hospitalization, the arithmetic is brutal and swift. There is no buffer, no safety net, no room for error. Years of hard-earned progress evaporate in days. The family does not merely lose a breadwinner temporarily; they lose ground they may never recover.

The conventional response to this crisis has been to expand health insurance coverage and hospital access. These are necessary but insufficient. What the data demands is a fundamental pivot toward prevention-not as a wellness buzzword, but as a structural economic strategy. Every illness prevented is a wage preserved, a business kept open, a child’s education uninterrupted. Prevention pays dividends twice: to the household budget and to a healthcare system groaning under the weight of preventable diseases and critical personnel shortages.

Yet prevention requires more than individual willpower. It demands systemic support.

The ‘self-care’ messaging from health experts and socio-civic groups-emphasizing the food on the table, the habits at home, the early doctor visits-assumes a level of choice and control that many Filipinos simply do not have. When inflation consumes household income and essential expenses crowd out everything else, healthy choices become luxury goods. The mother who skips her own check-up to buy her child’s textbooks is not neglecting self-care; she is making an impossible choice in an impossible system.

The government must recognize that public health and economic stability are inseparable. This means subsidizing preventive care with the same urgency applied to emergency treatment. It means regulating food prices and wages so that nutritious meals are accessible, not aspirational. It means building a healthcare workforce sufficient to catch diseases before they become emergencies.

The cost of illness in the country is measured not just in pesos on hospital bills, but in dreams deferred and potential destroyed. A nation that allows two-thirds of its households to remain one sickness away from financial ruin is a nation that cannot claim sustainable development. Preventive healthcare represents not only a clinical intervention but a vital mechanism for economic equity-one that demands our immediate and dedicated attention. This needs to be a policy priority.

TO allow people to cast their vote in the first ever Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Parliamentary polls, President Ferdinand Marcos declared a special non-working holiday in the region on September 14.

The chief executive issued Proclamation No. 1395 last Tuesday in preparation for the BARMM elections next month.

The new issuance said the declaration aims ‘to give people of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao the opportunity to actively and fully participate in the election and exercise their right to vote.’

Under Republic Act No. 12317, the BARMM Parliamentary Elections will be held on the second Monday of September 2026.

It was originally set to be held in May 2022, but was deferred multiple times because of the pandemic and a decision from the Supreme Court.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said there are over 2.39 million registered voters in BARMM. It hopes at least 70 percent of the said voters will participate in the region’s upcoming polls.

The poll body said it set up 5,212 clustered precincts in 1,186 voting centers in BARMM.

Security in the elections is expected to be enhanced after the ambush that targeted BARMM Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua last week.

Authorities are still investigating who is behind said attack.

Despite her many achievements, celebrated thespian Ruby Ruiz believes that she is still a work in progress.

‘Being an actor is a continuous learning process. Even at my age, I have to continue to evolve in order for me not to stagnate as an artist. I’m glad that I am entrusted with interesting roles that allow me to explore, and to grow, and to learn. I’m grateful that there are roles that find their way into my life, and I’m even more thankful there are now roles that are specifically written for me.’

It was not an easy climb for this amazing actress. Her close friends tell her that her professional life is now more colorful than her personal life because of the many wonderful roles that she has done in the past few years.

But like actors everywhere, Ruiz has experienced periods of downtime, and she admitted that it can feel like a threat. Actors, who tend to measure their worth by how busy they are, almost always fall into the trap of feeling like they are losing momentum, especially when they are in between jobs or waiting endlessly for their next project.

‘I had lots of downtime in the past especially when I came back from Canada and tried my luck again in the Philippine entertainment industry. I guess the key lies on how one sees these long breaks, and if we can replace fear and anxiety with focus and positivity, and accept these as essential part of the process, then we can use it to fuel our next moves.’

Yes, Ruiz searched for greener pastures overseas, but decided to come back and try it out again in her homeland. In 2013, she got a good role in Jeffrey Jeturian’s festival movie Ekstra but even after being noticed by both movie audiences and critics alike (Ruiz won the festival’s best supporting actress plum for this movie), acting jobs were few and far between.

‘I almost quit. I even started to apply for regular work. I am a single mother, I have to raise my family. I have to be practical. But deep inside me, the passion was never extinguished. I’m glad I never gave it up,’ she shared.

So Ruiz took control of what were within her reach-sent audition videos, texted talent casters, requested production friends and acquaintances for work-and when she got positive feedback, she bravely took in any role, big or small.

Then in 2019, she landed her first lead role in a Cinemalaya movie, Theodore Boborol’s Iska, and that was when her career pivoted. Ruiz, who played an elderly woman taking on odd jobs to help raise her autistic grandson, won the festival best actress award that year and acting offers started to pour in.

Cinemalaya is undoubtedly Ruiz’s favorite movie festival. She also won for Christian Paolo Lat’s Ginhawa in 2022. And just early this week, Ruiz tied with Marietta ‘Pokwang’ Subong for the Best Actress plum. Ruiz won for first-time filmmaker Vahn Leinard Pascual’s Status: Rejected, where she played a woman past her prime who was swept into an online romance that challenged her sense of self worth, her family ties and her great American dream.

With her recent big win, Ruiz is now the actor to beat with the most number of Cinemalaya balanghai acting trophies. She now has four, edging out the late, great Eddie Garcia who had three.

Ruiz’s plate may seem full, but it still has some space for roles she has not done. She has worked with Nicole Kidman in Lulu Wang’s limited Amazon Prime series Expats. She led the main cast of the James Robinson movie First Light, a Philippine-Australian collaboration which premiered in Melbourne. She is part of the ensemble cast in the new Cholo Laurel movie Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon, which is now streaming on Netflix.

Ruby Ruiz is aware that an acting career-or any other in the field of arts-is a constantly moving forward experience. As she gets more roles on film, television or theater, she knows that she needs to develop and improve her brand, which is herself. She is also aware that it will be a journey full of surprises, including the unexpected. Progress means that there is no time limit or deadline to reach your goals, because by seeing herself as a work in progress, she has learned to relax into the process, meaning less stress, less worry and less self-judgment. And that’s what truly matters now, that she has found her spot in the crowded room of actors, truly happy and fulfilled.

THE Philippines’s balance of payments (BOP), which captures its transactions with the rest of the world, swung to a deficit in July after staying in surplus for two straight months, due to the renewed pressure from a ‘large’ merchandise trade gap, portfolio investment outflows, and external debt-related payments.

Analysts pointed this out after data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed the country’s BOP swung to a deficit of $1.47 billion in July 2026 after posting a surplus for two straight months, from May to June 2026, when it posted a $3.4-billion surplus.

Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP), said the July BoP deficit ‘mainly reflected the country’s persistent trade gap, portfolio investment outflows, and external debt-related payments, particularly after June benefited from substantial foreign borrowing inflows.’

John Paolo R. Rivera, Senior Research Fellow at Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), explained, however, that the reversal from June’s large surplus ‘should not by itself be interpreted as a deterioration in the external position,’ adding that monthly BOP figures can be ‘volatile.’

Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the BOP deficit of $1.47 billion in July 2026 was 780.24 percent wider than the $167 million gap posted in July 2025.

Jonathan L. Ravelas, senior adviser at Reyes Tacandong and Co., explained that while the year-on-year deterioration looks ‘significant,’ monthly BoP figures are ‘often influenced by the timing of large transactions and should not be viewed in isolation.’

Data from the central bank also showed the cumulative deficit is now at $5.35 billion in the January to July 2026 period, which is 7.12-percent narrower than the $5.76-billion deficit posted in the seven-month period in 2025.

Asuncion and Ravelas said the year-to-date BOP deficit is still well below the central bank’s full-year projection of $10.7-billion deficit for 2026.

‘More importantly, the country’s cumulative deficit of $5.3 billion remains well below the BSP’s full-year projection of $10.7 billion,’ Ravelas said.

Asuncion noted that the country’s external position remains ‘manageable,’ with the year-to-date BOP deficit ‘still tracking below the BSP’s full-year projection.’

Key factors to watch

Rivera said the BOP may remain under pressure and volatile in the near term given elevated oil prices, geopolitical uncertainty, and global financial conditions.

‘But remittances, IT-BPM receipts, tourism, and exports should continue to provide important bu?ers,’ added Rivera.

While the Philippines continues to benefit from ‘strong structural dollar inflows,’ Ravelas emphasized that ‘maintaining a healthy balance between foreign exchange earnings and import requirements will be crucial to keeping the external position stable amid ongoing global economic and geopolitical uncertainties.’

Asuncion explained that while the peso’s depreciation could provide some support to remittances, tourism, and exports, it may also increase the import bill and inflation pressures.

For the coming months, Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), said markets would anticipate developments related to any possible extension of the 60-day US-Iran interim deal or the lack thereof.

Ricafort underscored the importance of keeping an eye on developments tied to such a deal between the two nations, ‘especially on the Strait of Hormuz shipping traffic and the impact on global crude oil prices, the country’s oil import bill, trade deficit, prices/inflation, global investments/financial market performance, and the effects on overall BOP and [gross international reserves] GIR data.’

Further, Ricafort said it is important to monitor the ‘continued growth’ of OFW remittances, BPO revenues, foreign investments, foreign tourism receipts, foreign debt proceeds, among others, which he said could lead to ‘better BOP and GIR data than otherwise.’

In a statement on Thursday, the BSP said the year-to-date BOP position reflected the ‘continued trade-in-goods deficit and net outflows from foreign portfolio investments.’

‘These were partly offset by the sustained net inflows from personal remittances of overseas Filipinos (OFs), foreign borrowings by the NG, trade in services, and foreign direct investment,’ added the central bank.

Dollar reserves

Meanwhile, the BSP said GIR remained ‘sufficient’ to meet the country’s import needs, service its external debt obligations, and serve as a buffer against external economic shocks in July.

GIR settled at US$103.3 billion as of end-July 2026 compared with US$104.7 billion as of end-June 2026, the BSP added.

The end-July GIR level can cover up to 6.7 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

‘It can likewise service about 3.7 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity,’ BSP also noted.

THE Philippines and Iceland have signed their first-ever air services agreement, granting airlines of both countries up to seven flights per week and opening a new aviation market for Manila in the Nordic region.

The initial Air Services Agreement (ASA) was concluded following the Philippines-Iceland air negotiation talks held on August 18 to 19 in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Under the deal, carriers from both countries are entitled to seven passenger and cargo flights weekly-or one flight per day-giving them flexibility to establish and develop services based on demand and commercial viability, whether through direct or connecting flights.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary Edgar Badajos signed the agreement for the Philippines, while Sigríður Eysteinsdóttir, director and chief negotiator for air services agreements of Iceland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, signed for Reykjavik.

Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Giovanni Lopez, who led the Philippine delegation, said the accord lays the groundwork for the two countries’ aviation relationship.

‘This agreement will serve as the foundation for our future air transportation relationship and will provide our airlines with a framework to explore new opportunities for connectivity between our two countries and, ultimately, between our respective regions,’ Lopez said. ‘Today, we are not simply concluding our first air negotiations. We are opening a new chapter in Philippine-Iceland relations in the field of civil aviation.’

Eysteinsdóttir, who headed the Icelandic delegation, welcomed the outcome of the talks.

‘We are very pleased with what we have achieved together. Our discussions have helped us to better understand each other’s priorities and find a way forward,’ she said.

The agreement is expected to boost tourism, trade, investment, and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, and forms part of the government’s broader push to expand international air connectivity and open new aviation markets.

Lopez said the DOTr will continue coordinating with its Icelandic counterpart and other aviation stakeholders to ensure the agreement’s effective implementation and the eventual expansion of air services between the two countries.

‘May this agreement serve as the beginning of a long and productive partnership, one that will create opportunities for our airlines, benefit our traveling public, and bring our peoples closer together,’ Lopez said.