OCTOBER INFLATION REACHES 7.8%; U.S.-BOUND TRAVELERS FACE NEW BOARDING REQUIREMENT

OCTOBER PRICES ROSE 7.8% FROM A YEAR EARLIER

Philippine inflation rose to 7.8% in October from 7.2% in September, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on November 5. Transport costs were the main reason the annual rate increased. PSA's October release.

Transport prices were 20.1% higher than a year earlier, while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose 9.3%. Those expenses can leave a household with less to spend at the market even before it buys food.

Food prices rose 6.4% from a year earlier, slower than September's 6.8%. Rice went the other way: its annual increase reached 20.7%, up from 20.3%.

The 7.8% figure compares the overall price basket with October last year. A family's own increase depends on what it buys; the national figure does not mean every item rose by that amount in a month.

U.S.-BOUND AIR TRAVELERS MUST CONFIRM NO RECENT DRC PRESENCE

People boarding flights from another country into or through the United States must now confirm that they have not been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the previous 21 days. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) introduced the requirement to reduce the risk of Ebola entering the country. CDC's travel instructions.

The rule took effect for departures at or after 12:59 p.m. Manila time on November 4. It covers U.S. citizens and children, as well as other travelers and aircraft crew.

An airport connection in the Democratic Republic of the Congo counts even if the traveler stayed on the plane. Airlines must refuse boarding without the required statement unless the person has a U.S. government exemption.

Passengers should check how their airline collects the form. An authorized adult can sign for a child, but the airline needs a record for each person. The signed order runs until December 18 unless it is changed or withdrawn sooner.

OVERNIGHT SUBWAY MACHINERY MOVEMENT AFFECTS PASIG ROADS

Drivers using several Pasig roads at night face possible delays under a Department of Transportation advisory for moving subway machinery, running through 5 a.m. on November 7. Radyo Pilipinas reports the advisory's end time. The department scheduled a tunnel boring machine's transfer from the stockyard on Doña Julia Vargas Avenue to Shaw Boulevard Station, according to the Philippine Information Agency.

The advisory's route schedule lists Doña Julia Vargas Avenue from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.; E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue/C-5 from midnight to 3 a.m.; Pasig Boulevard from 1 to 3 a.m.; Capt. Henry Javier Street from 2 to 4 a.m.; and Meralco Avenue from 3 to 5 a.m. NET25's report of the route schedule.

The department advised motorists to use alternate routes. People heading to work overnight or returning home before dawn should check traffic along these roads before leaving; the notice warns of slowdowns and does not announce blanket road closures.

RICE STOCKS RECOVERED FROM SEPTEMBER BUT REMAINED BELOW LAST YEAR

The Philippines had an estimated 2.16 million metric tons of rice in stock on October 1, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority's November 5 release. That was 13.2% more than on September 1, but 8.3% less than a year earlier. PSA's rice and corn inventory report.

The increase was uneven. Commercial stocks grew 31.7% from September, while household stocks barely changed, rising 0.3%. Rice held in National Food Authority (NFA) depositories fell 3.2% over the same period.

Commercial holdings made up nearly half the total, while NFA stocks accounted for 12.9%. The national inventory therefore includes rice held by businesses and families; it cannot be read as the amount sitting in government warehouses.

The figures describe October 1. Harvests, deliveries and purchases since then will have changed what is available, so this report alone cannot establish today's supply at a neighborhood store.