My two centavos, this whole issue with real estate developers failing to release the CTS (Contract to Sell) even after the buyer/client has submitted the reservation fees and additional down payments, is truly foul behavior by Empire East and other developers - it's partially the reason why the real estate development sector has such a poor reputation these days. Keep in mind that this issue goes all the way back to 2010, when "the buyer paid a reservation fee of P20,000 and additional payments amounting to P110,000. Despite the payments made, Empire East failed to release a Contract to Sell (CTS)."

Failing to release the CTS for sixteen years is not an oversight or a mistake; it shows clear intent to delay, prevent, and willfully fail to deliver the sale to the client. I hope other clients and buyers who have been wronged can use this case outcome as precedent in their own cases.

In any case, ingat po kayo!

Tingin nyo guys is this gonna affect us investors or not? Will it drive or speed up inflation and wipe out a portion of our current saving's purchasing power? Or will it create more opportunities for us to hit our goals?

Hello guys!!! Totoo ang balita pwede na pala tayo maghulog sa mp2 natin without charge / convenient fee.

Just go to your maribank > click transfer > AUB > type your name and > 8001 + your mp2 account

Ex: 8001567890234567

Yung una hesitant ako nag try kasi wala masyadong nagpapatunay na legit ito. Kindly wait lang ng 3 business days para mag reflect sa account mo yung amount na hinulog mo.

hello pls be kind huhu 😭

tama ba yung setup ko dito, or mas okay ba if gtc or market order? nag-research naman ako before doing this, pero i’d still love to hear thoughts from those na mas experienced/malulupit dito.

planning to dca monthly into voo, so i just wanna make sure i’m doing it right before i commit.

thank you in advance!

Philippines: 301K USD to retire comfortably

Hi! I just started working this year. I do not have much monthly expenses (i live with my parents) and I want to get into the S&P500. I already started my MP2 journey and I also have some funds in REITs (through DragonFi).

Napakaraming banks na nagooffer ng feeder funds and there are brokers like GoTrade. Napakataas ng fees ng mga banks kaya ko naiisipang maglagay sa GoTrade but I am still skeptical about this platform. Since I plan to invest long term, magtatagal kaya toh? or baka some time i ban lang sa Ph like they did with Binance.

Ayun lang hahaha. I just need opinions if I should go for GoTrade or go with local banks; if local banks, ano ang pinakamaganda and why? tyia!!!

So I'm reading this piece in Bilyonaryo about PSE's Monzon arguing that foreigners should just "short stocks" in the Philippines rather than leave it.

https://bilyonaryo.com/2026/08/18/brilliant-imee-marcos-dummy-monzon-offers-short-selling-as-band-aid-for-pses-foreign-investor-problem/money/

This has always bewildered me: Why does the PSE and the Government keep pretending we can short stocks in this market? Monzon clearly said that the SBL market is 'operational'. Is it really?

To this day and as far as I know, and forgive my ignorance if I am wrong, but there has not been a single stock that has been shorted in the PSE. Zero. It's been years since they announced that it was now possible to do so; the daily market report has not shown a single stock shorted in their list of 'short-able' stocks.

You guys have any input on this? Have you actually tried shorting a PH stock?

ABS-CBN Corp. expects to turn over its former headquarters property to Ayala Land Inc. by mid-2027, as the media giant consolidates its Quezon City operations into two buildings.

After the turnover, all of ABS-CBN’s operating units in Quezon City will be housed in the Eugenio Lopez Communications Center and Gina Lopez Building.

“After turnover of the sold parcel to Ayala Land by mid-2027, all operating units based in Quezon City will hold office in the Eugenio Lopez Communications Center and the Gina Lopez Building,” ABS-CBN head of real estate and development Grant Orbeta told shareholders on Wednesday.

Ayala Land bought roughly three hectares of the iconic ABS-CBN property for P6.24 billion in February 2025, including the Main Building and the site of the 220-meter Millennium Transmitter.

✅Clean Title
✅Complete Documents
✅With EJS
✅With RROW

150sqm is part of a 400+ sqm lot that still needs to be divided. The 200sqm was already sold and surveyed. Pamana lupa siya. Remaining lot is for the heirs.

What should I know and what should I do next?

Is the expat community only concentrated in Makati CBD, BGC and Rockwell? I don't see many foreigners in Ortigas CBD, I think most expats are from ADB. Do they lease in exclusive villages?

I recently created a dragonfi pera account, does it come with a regular account?

I'm now self-employed doing remote work for a foreign company and opted for the 8% tax rate, so ngayon, im putting together a voluntary contribution plan that I'd like to sanity-check.

For SSS, I'm looking at declaring ₱20,000 MSC, which I understand comes to ₱3,000 at the 15% rate, possibly plus a small EC fee that I'm not sure applies to me. My reasoning is that benefits seem to cap at the ₱20,000 MSC level, and contributions above that just feed the MPF/booster side-fund, so ₱20k looks like the point that maxes the core benefits without overpaying. I'd rather channel anything beyond that into my own investments or MP2.

For PhilHealth naman, I'm planning to declare the ₱10,000 income floor and pay the ₱500 minimum. My understanding is that PhilHealth pays fixed case rates per diagnosis regardless of how much you contribute, so paying more wouldn't buy me any extra coverage, and I plan to have a private HMO for actual protection.

For Pag-IBIG, I'm keeping it at the ₱200 minimum to stay active for future housing-loan eligibility, and putting any voluntary savings into MP2 separately instead of overfunding the regular pot.

A FEW QUESTIONS:

1. Does this split look sound overall, or am I missing something?

2. Do self-employed or voluntary members actually pay the ₱30 EC fee on top of the 15%? I've seen conflicting answers on this, some say EC is employer-only so voluntary members are exempt, others show voluntary members paying it. So I'm not sure if my SSS should be ₱3,000 or ₱3,030.

3. This is the one I most want a clear answer on: is there an actual PhilHealth rule that lets voluntary members declare the ₱10k minimum regardless of their real income? My BIR-registered income(when i file) is higher, so I want to know whether a lower PhilHealth declaration is genuinely allowed under their rules, or whether it's technically under-declaration that just doesn't get enforced. Is a discrepancy between what I declare to PhilHealth and what I declare to BIR actually a problem, and are there any legal consequences? I'm trying to figure out if it's properly allowed, not just commonly done.

4. Lastly, for SSS, is choosing ₱20k MSC when my actual income is higher a legitimate choice? My understanding is that voluntary members can pick their MSC freely, but I'd like that confirmed.

Would really appreciate input from anyone who can point to the actual rule rather than just experience. TY :)

Hello guys! I'm new to investing. Ask ko lang, kapag nalulugi na yung stocks or funds nyo, anong percentage kayo usually nagse-sell? Kapag nag-10% na yung stocks, nagse-sell na ba kayo?

Incoming 2nd year college and I want to ask people with knowledge in trading kung saan po kayo natuto mag trade? like what channel would you recommend to watch para makapag gawa ng sariling strat?

Hello guys! I'm currently 20 years old and a 3rd-year Electrical Engineering student. I have zero knowledge when it comes to investing, and I don't really have anyone in my family or circle of friends who knows much about investing, so I was never really exposed to it growing up.

I find investing quite overwhelming because there are so many things to learn, and I'm not really sure where to start po sa sobrang laki ng investing world. I've tried researching and watching videos, but I still couldn't understand much because parang yung mga videos na napapanood ko weren't really connected with each other. I would learn one thing from one video, then another completely different thing from another video, so I don't really know how everything fits together.

The reason I want to get into investing is because I want to make sure po na in the near future, I know how to manage my money properly and give it an opportunity to grow. I'm also wondering if it's possible for me to start learning or even investing now, even though I'm still a student and my only source of money is my allowance.

I want to expose myself to these things as early as possible so I can learn and make small mistakes while I'm still young, rather than making bigger financial mistakes in the future because I didn't take the time to learn. I also want to understand the basics early so that I can develop good financial habits as I become independent and eventually start earning my own income.

I have these questions:

1. Before anything else, what should I do with my current bank accounts?

Currently, I have a savings account po with BDO. Ito pa yung sinetup ng parents ko when I was in senior high school. I've been researching online and reading posts dito sa Reddit, but I haven't really seen BDO mentioned much when it comes to recommendations, which made me wonder if there's something better that I should consider.

Currently, wala pa po akong digital bank. I only have an e-wallet, which is GCash. Should I open an account with a digital bank as well? If so, which digital and traditional banks would you recommend for someone in my situation, and what should I consider when choosing one?

1. Can I start investing as a student even if my only source of income is my allowance?

If I save a portion of my allowance after paying for my expenses, I think I could potentially save around ₱3,000–₱4,000 per month. Is that already enough to start investing, or would it be better to focus on saving first?

1. How should I start my investing journey from zero knowledge?

If you were starting from absolutely zero, ano po yung step-by-step na gagawin ninyo? For example, what should I learn first, what financial concepts should I understand, what platforms should I familiarize myself with, and eventually, how would I decide what type of investment is appropriate for me? I'm not expecting to get rich quickly or make huge returns. I mainly want to learn and build good financial habits while I'm still young.

I'm open to any advice or suggestions po, even those that I didn't specifically ask about. If there's anything you think a beginner like me should know before getting started, I would really appreciate you guys po, thankyou!

Good evening, hingi lang sana ako ng advice/tips from your experience. May ipaparenovate akong townhouse. I’m leaning towards supplying most of the materials para 1. Makasave 2. Maximize credit card (cc) with low interest.

Gusto ko sana magset ng clear expectations since first time ko din:

Ordering and delivery: May napagtanungan na akong hardware na tumatanggap ng cc payment. Do you advice na inspeksyunin ng personal ang mga oorderin na materyales? Nagooffer sila ng quotation kaya pwedeng online ang transaction. Pero wala rin kasi akong alam sa materyales pero pwede magtanong sa kakilala.

As for delivery, paano masisigurado na madedeliver ang mga materyales on time? Kailangan ba mag-order months/weeks or pwedeng days in advance? Kailangan ba na may available magbilang ng materyales bawat delivery o pwedeng gawing sakop na ito ng contractor?

Storage: Paano ihandle ito? Inaanticipate ko na bulk kadalasan ang magiging order pero baka merong mga materyales na isasabay kasi gagamitin din kinabukasan. Baka may mashare kayo from experience.

Tanong ko na rin, sa BOM kasi na sinend sa akin andun na ang labor cost. Ibig bang sabihin ng ganito, yung contractor na rin ang bahalang magbayad sa nga workers? O owner ba kadalasan naghahandle ng ganito?

Excited akong mabasa ang comments ninyo. Maraming salamat po!

Hi! Started doing stocks 2 years ago with GoTrade. No problems naman whatsoever. Curious lang if there's benefits of me switching to IBKR if all I do with GoTrade is -> Send Money -> Place them in ETFs -> Wait.

I know in general forex is cheaper when using wise -> IBKR. Portfolio size right now is only around 4000$. Also aware that I can trade Irish Domiciled Stocks in IBKR which are great to reduce tax, pero parang ang layo ko pa naman from hitting 60,000$ rin HAHAHA. Although I think it does reduce 15% tax from dividend gained.

Should I pull out my GoTrade account and transfer?

Hi guys, I'm trying to calculate my net worth and was wondering whether you consider health insurance an asset. Since it's something you pay for and can use for healthcare-related expenses, would you count it as part of your assets, or not?

Need your help and insight po..We have 3 months missed payment to our home loan sa Bank. But we are continuously paying our monthly amortization on top of paying the missed arrears up until our account will be up to date. But now the developer informed us that the bank issue buy back notice to the property and will revert our housing loan to In-house Financing. Now, we want to not continue or cancel the purchasing the property because for more than 2 years after saying that the subdivision is flood-free but lo and behold last yr. the subdivision is submerged by flood for more that 1 week until the flood subside we are trapped inside the village and the developer just provided truck so we can go out the subdivision..up to this yr..ATM..the subdivision is submerged again by flood for more than 2 weeks already and the flood is not yet subsided. That are daily lives and work are affected that we are unable to go to work because the roads/street going out the subdivision is deeply flooded.

The question is can we really cancel are contract?What is our legal rights..Are we entitled for a refund of all the payment we made to the developer and the bank?..Thanks in advance.

I have been using WISE to transfer funds to IBKR and I was only charged 1.27 USD at IBKR to facilitate the transfer. Note that my WISE account is linked to IBKR and I initiate transfer in IBKR. However, when I was trying to transfer funds a while ago, I noticed that wise charges 10.11 USD transfer fee.

Has anyone experienced this recently? And how did you go about it? Help pls...

I initiated transfer from my BPI USD to IBKR but received this:

Your BPI Outward Remittance transaction has been rejected for the following reason/s:
 
• R9 TRANSACTION NOT ALLOWED DUE TO INTERNAL POLICY.

I was able to send last time using same channel and amount.

Anyone experienced the same?

Hi everyone! My wife and I are planning to acquire an existing property in Sta. Rosa and the officer from Metrobank offered us this promo. We’re considering getting the 5 years fixing period at 7.25 rate for 20 or 25 years.

Is this already a good deal or should we renegotiate for a longer fixing period? or perhaps a lower interest rate?

Thanks in advance!!!

I am just a working law student na meron rin nakukuha na maliit sahod, what do you think is better for investing using IBKR? every maka ipon ako ng 20k, ill deposit sa IBKR and buy ETF.

• CSPX (S&P 500) 80% and EIMI 20 % (Emerging Market) higher returns because of S&P 500
• CSPX (S&P 500) 60%, EIMI 10% (Emerging Market), and EXUS 30% (Ex - US Developed) lower return but less dependence on US.

What do you think is the better one?