Monopolies in the Philippines (1965–1986) granted PD 1468, which declared the money as private and prevented any government audit. Cojuangco bought San Miguel Corporation (SMC) with the funds from the Coco levy. SMC is one of the oldest and largest beer, food, packaging and livestock conglomerate in the Philippines. President Marcos gave favors to SMC once Cojuangco became its head. Taxes were raised for liquor and cigarettes in January 1986, but excise taxes on beer went down. Beer is one of the main products of SMC, which helped the corporation save as much as $40 million that year. When Marcos was President, he often wrote
Philippines–Spain relations cuts on development funding brought on by austerity measures being implemented by the Government of Spain. Former Spanish Minister José Bono Martínez assures that despite the economic crisis in Spain, it will continue to help and turn a "fraternal eye" on its former colony, the Philippines, during the launch of the 6th "Tribuna España-Filipinas" held on Makati City. Spain and the Philippines have signed agreements aimed for boosting the two countries relations in sports, culture, and education, one of this agreement is the promotion, teaching and learning of the Spanish language in the Philippines. The Philippine–Spanish Friendship Day was established