BusinessMirror May 3, 2016

SOUTH CHINA SEAWATCH:

SCARBOROUGH SHOAL AS A RED LINE

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EING so close to the main Philippine island of Luzon, the Scarborough Shoal is a particularly sensitive piece of real estate.

The uninhabited coral reef was exploited both Filipino and Chinese fishermen, and was used as a bombing range by the United States Air Force until Washington closed bases in the Philippines in 1991.

In 2012 Chinese vessels seized the shoal, following a tense standoff with Filipino ships.

The South China Morning Post reported, citing an anonymous military source, that Beijing will start reclamation work on the shoal later this year and may add an airstrip to extend the air force’s reach.

Transforming the shoal into another military outpost so close to Manila and the busy Luzon Strait, which connects the South China Sea with the Pacific Ocean, would be the biggest challenge yet for the Philippines and its ally, the US. China did not confirm nor deny the report.

IN this April 16, 2012, file photo, protesters display placards during their rally outside the Chinese Consulate at the financial district of Makati City, to accuse poaching

by Chinese fishermen at the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. AP

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Tuesday, May 3, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 206

Technical kinks placed e-trike project in limbo $504M F B C U. O

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RANKFURT, Germany—The Asian Development Bank (ADB) confirmed on Monday that the $504-million electric tricycle (e-trike) project, which it is financing, has encountered technical issues.

ADB Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department Director Preety M. Bhandari made t his pronouncement in a news

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briefing here on Monday.

The $504-million project involves the supply and delivery of 100,000 units of e-trike. This is part of the

The cost of the e-trike project that involves the purchase of 100,000 electric tricycles ADB-funded Market Transformation through Introduction of Energ y-Ef f ic ient Elect r ic Vehicles Project.

“There are many issues. It was not only the batteries, it was also C  A

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Are PHL airports ready for Brussels-type attack?

Terrorism in Southern Philippines fans belief threats to security intensifying

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Gomes: Returning money to Bangladesh should be one of P-Noy’s final acts B B C

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WITH OR WITHOUT CURRY Sports BusinessMirror

IAMI—Miami Heat ousted the Charlotte Hornets from the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs with an emphatic 106-73 victory on Sunday.

Miami won two elimination games to take the series, 4-3, and will play Toronto in the Eastern Conference semifinals starting on Tuesday night.

“Just great competition,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said, lauding the Hornets. “Our hats go off to them. They made us better.... I think our basketball team needed to go through that, to be pushed and find a different level, which we showed in the last two games.”

Goran Dragic scored 25 points in his first Game Seven, Gerald Green added 16 and Luol Deng scored 15. Dwayne Wade finished with 12 and Hassan Whiteside had a 10-point, 12-rebound, five-block clincher for the Heat, who have won their last four Game Sevens.

Frank Kaminsky scored 12 for Charlotte, which got 11 from Courtney Lee and 10 from Nic Batum. The Hornets’ two biggest stars, Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson, never got going—combining for 13 points.

“I thought we had a great season,” said Walker, who shot three-for-16. “We were really resilient. We had a lot of injuries but we stuck together all year. When guys’ names got called to make plays and step up, they did. A lot of people didn’t even think we’d be here.”

A contentious series, with too much attention getting placed on courtside fan behavior and NBA officiating reports, pushed Miami to the limit.

Charlotte had a chance to close out the Heat on its home floor in Game Six, wasting the opportunity.

The Hornets never had a chance in Game Seven.

Miami led the whole way, taking a 12-point lead at the half and stretching it to 24 by the midpoint of the third quarter—the period that has been a problem for the Heat all season but became the catalyst to what became a rout on Sunday. And with that, it was obvious that Charlotte’s season was going to be bookended.

It started with a loss in Miami.

And it ended with a loss in Miami.

“I still thought at halftime, we were fine,” Hornets Coach Steve Clifford said. “And then in the third quarter, it got away from us.”

Wade has played in 29 postseason series; the Heat have won 22 of them. And under Spoelstra, the Heat are now 15-4 in postseason series, 8-4 when facing elimination games and 15-5 in games when they have a chance to oust an opponent.

“I’m not a prophet or anything,” Wade said, “but I knew we were winning this game.” AP

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| TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

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AVIATION Explosive Ordinance Disposal Management Unit member PO2 Lorna Tolentino and her K9, named Edd Sanc, inspect baggages inside the Naia Terminal 3 in Pasay City. She is just one of the members of the Aviation Security Group, which, composed of armed men in all-matte black uniform, is also part of the agencies that monitor them. Some of them could be seen boarding vehicles, sometimes with a K9 team in tow to sniff out bombs. NONIE REYES

KLAY THOMPSON scores 37 points in another brilliant performance for Golden State. AP

HEAT center Hassan Whiteside (21) converts against the Hornets in the first half of Game Seven on Sunday. AP

Raptors T snap out of drought

ORONTO—DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 15 rebounds and 10 points, as the Toronto Raptors beat the Indiana Pacers, 89-84, on Sunday night in Game Seven of the first-round playoff series to advance to face Miami in the conference semifinals.

Rookie Norman Powell added 13 points while Kyle Lowry had 11 points and nine assists and Patrick Patterson had 11 points to help Toronto win a seven-game series for the first time in franchise history.

The Raptors won their first postseason series since a five-game triumph over the New York Knicks in 2001, ending the National Basketball Association’s longest active drought between playoff series victories.

Paul George led Indiana with 26 points and 12 rebounds, George Hill scored 19 points and Monta Ellis had 15.

Up 78-64 after three quarters, the Raptors didn’t make their first basket of the final quarter until a three by Powell at 8:19.

Joseph followed with a pullup jumper to make it 81-67, leading to an Indiana timeout.

The Pacers responded by scoring 12 of the next 14 points, cutting it to 85-79 with 3:23 remaining. Indiana cut it to three at 85-82 on Ellis’s three-pointer with 2:37 left but Lowry answered with a driving lay-up.

George made a pair of free throws with 52 seconds left to pull Indiana within three again at 87-84. After DeRozan missed a three-pointer, Solomon Hill grabbed the rebound and Indiana called a timeout to draw up a play for George but he turned the ball over.

DeRozan made the steal then got fouled at the other end and made both with 6.5 seconds left, giving the Raptors an 89-84 lead.

George missed a three with 3.9 seconds left, Biyombo grabbed the rebound and Lowry heaved the ball to the other end of the court as time expired, sending Toronto into the second round.

DeRozan scored 13 points in the first quarter, overcoming 12 by George and the Raptors led 28-23 after one. DeRozan’s first-quarter total was more than he had in either Games Four or Six, when he scored eight points.

De Rozan made just one of five field goal attempts in the second but Powell came off the bench to score 10 points. DeRozan also scored 13 points in the third quarter. AP

The injured Most Valuable Player Stephen was sitting at his locker when it happened, chatting with Klay Thompson about how the Warriors dominated yet again without him, in a 118-106 win that put them up 1-0 in the Western Conference Semifinals. Sporting black street clothes and a carefree smile, he fired an empty sports-drink bottle toward the nearby trash can and...brick.

B S A

USA Today

AKLAND—Just before Klay Thompson headed to the Oracle Arena media room to discuss his latest playoff feat, a 37-point outing against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, in which he became the first player in National Basketball Association (NBA) history to hit seven or more three-pointers in three consecutive postseason games, the Golden State Warriors’ other Splash Brother saw something even more rare.

A Stephen Curry miss—from point-blank range.

The injured Most Valuable Player was sitting at his locker when it happened, chatting with Thompson about how the Warriors dominated yet again without him, in a 118-106 win that put them up 1-0 in the Western Conference Semifinals. Sporting black street clothes and a carefree smile, he fired an empty sports drink bottle toward the nearby trash can and...brick.

Maybe they don’t need this guy after all. At least not this round.

When Curry went down like a melting Gumby doll in Houston on April 24, you never would have guessed that their prospects for a title defense would be so promising one week later.

A second-round matchup with the Clippers was still in play back then, as the basketball world didn’t learn until two days later that Chris Paul (broken hand) and Blake Griffin (quadriceps tendon tear) were out for the postseason. Enter a Blazers team that is your classic happy-to-be-here group, having lost four of five starters last offseason and severely overachieved to even get to this point, and the Warriors’ fortunes had taken a turn for the better just when it seemed like it couldn’t get any worse.

From then until now—halftime of Game Four against the Houston Rockets all the way through Sunday—the Warriors have outscored the Rockets and the Blazers by a combined 82 points (307-225), while Curry cheers with all the spirit of a mascot from the bench.

The right MCL sprain he suffered in Game Four against Houston isn’t as bad as feared, either, as he even hinted to ESPN’s Lisa Salters during an in-game interview that he could be back for Game three against Portland. What’s more, the beauty

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of Curry’s absence is that, with the spotlight having shifted, it has forced us to appreciate Thompson’s special talent.

Amid all the Curry madness, it’s often forgotten that some wondered whether he was the best player on his team just two summers ago. During Team USA’s gold medal run at FIBA World Cup in Spain, the combination of Thompson’s shooting and relentless defense was enough to make it a conversation. That same summer, even the Warriors were guilty of not fully knowing what they had.

As has been well-chronicled, they gave serious thought to trading Thompson to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a deal that would have landed them Kevin Love. They ultimately declined, in large part because of concerns about what it would do to their defense. From owner Joe Lacob on down, they’ve been reminded why it was such a wise move to keep him ever since.

“Not many guys in the league who could chase Damian Lillard around for 37 minutes and score 37 points, too,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Klay is a tremendous two-way player, and that was really an amazing night for him just in terms of his all-around play.... That’s a big burden to have to play both ways like that. He was awesome.”

Thompson not only led a high-powered offensive effort but spent 37 minutes smothering one of the game’s best point guards in Damian Lillard (eight-of-26 shooting for 30 points and a minus-19 plus-minus rating). He called Lillard the Blazers’ “head of the snake” afterward—as good a clue as any that there will be more where this came from in the coming games. On the other end, he did the kind of Curry impression that few, if any other shooters could pull off.

A reporter noted afterward that Thompson had been practicing his deep threes of late, backing up near the logo at the team’s practice facility in the same kind of way that Curry has for so long. Thompson, whose seemingly-endless swagger is such a unique juxtaposition with his desire to avoid the limelight, grinned when asked about it.

“I’ve seen Steph do [that shot] a lot, so I’m just trying to be like him,” he said. “Those are shots that you don’t really want to take that much during the game, but if you make five or six in a row and you feel your guy is off you....”

Fire away. With or without Curry, the Warriors just can’t seem to miss.

SPORTS

B R M @rectomercene  R A @reneacostaBM

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Second of three parts

AR south from the three inter nationa l air ports in Manila, a war continues to

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 46.8870

rage: a war against terror.

Waged by combined pol ice and military forces, the war has recently unveiled the presence of a group fearfully linked to international terrorist groups.

The death last week of two

reported members of the terrorist group Ansar Khilafa Philippines (AKP) fanned belief the Islamic State (IS) has already made its presence in the country or, as what the government maintains, has C  A

GOMES: “Bangladesh expects this money to go fast and they want to see some results.

This delay is the only concern.”

@BcuaresmaBM

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ANGLADESH Ambassador to the Philippines John Gomes, while trying his best to remain diplomatic, could not hide his dismay over the delay in the return of the “money of hardworking people of Bangladesh.”

Amid the continued noise created by the cross-border $81-million bank heist from Bangladesh to the Philippine banking system, Gomes told the BUSINESSMIRROR that his country is optimistic that the money will be returned, although they could not understand the drag in the process of the local justice system.

His appeal is now directed to the Aquino administration.

“I think that this thing should be finished definitely before the next government comes into power. It will be an achievement of this government if they can wrap it up. I am not frustrated. I am not at all thinking this money will never go to Bangladesh….

The only thing is that Bangladesh expects this money to go fast and they want to see some results.

This delay is the only concern,” he said.

Gomes added that the government of Bangladesh is grateful for the help extended by Philippine officials, but said the money should be returned to them by the end of this administration’s term.

“Now, the date of hearing, the first [hearing] is on the third of May. And then we have to wait and see how much longer it takes for the next hearing. We have faith on the systems over here. The secretary of justice was very nice to me, very cordial. The complete thing should be completed before the next administration comes,” Gomes said.

Earlier, casino junket operator Kim Wong has returned some of the stolen money in tranches to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

On March 31 the casino junket S “G,” A

ADB, AIIB to cofinance road, water projects in Asia

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BusinessMirror

UNITED NATIONS

2015 ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIA AWARD LEADERSHIP AWARD 2008

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The Philippines has contested China’s vast claims in the South China Sea at a United Nations tribunal, which is expected to rule soon in what many believe will be an unfavorable outcome for Beijing.

China has refused to take part in the proceedings, and there are worries whether it might respond by cementing its island holdings, or even expanding them by fortifying Scarborough, too.

Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines College of Law’s Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, cited historical documents showing the US ceded the shoal to the Philippines as part of American administered territory at independence in 1946. This is evidence that the shoal is covered by the Mutual Defense Treaty, and thus, the US has an obligation to prevent it from being permanently controlled by China, he said.

R ANKFURT, Germany— The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Monday agreed to jointly finance projects in the road and water sectors.

ADB President Takehiko Nakao and AIIB President Liqun Jin signed a memorandum of understanding (MOA) here on Monday on the sidelines of the ADB’s 49th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors.

The first of the projects that will be cofinanced by the ADB and AIIB is Pakistan’s M4 highway project, which costs $300 million.

M4 is a 64-kilometer stretch of motorway connecting Shorkot to Khanewal in Punjab Province.

The ADB and AIIB agreed to strengthen cooperation, including cofinancing, at the strategic and technical levels on the basis of complementarity, value added, institutional strengths and comparative advantages, and mutual benefit, the MOU states.

“I am very pleased to have this framework of collaboration with a new and strong partner

in Asia,” Nakao said.

“The ADB has been working closely with AIIB throughout its establishment process. We will further strengthen our cooperation in promoting sustainable growth, reducing poverty and combatting climate change in the region,” he added.

For his part, Jin said he welcomes AIIB’s collaboration with the ADB. “AIIB looks forward to deepening our already strong relationship and expanding our collaboration as we seek to address the significant infrastructure-financing needs in the Asia region,” he said.

Through cofinancing, knowledge work and joint policy dialogue with member-countries, the two institutions will work together in the areas, including energy, transportation, telecommunications, rural and agriculture development, water, urban development and environmental protection.

The two institutions will undertake regular high-level consultations and joint data collection S “ADB,” A

n JAPAN 0.4415 n UK 68.3847 n HK 6.0446 n CHINA 7.2380 n SINGAPORE 34.8680 n AUSTRALIA 35.5966 n EU 53.7513 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.5025

Source: BSP (2 May 2016 )

BMReports BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, May 3, 2016

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Are PHL airports ready for Brussels-type attack?

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managed to influence some groups.

What National Police (PNP) operatives found at the site of the killing of two AKP members on Thursday failed to douse such rumors. At Sitio Bulat, Barangay Daliao, Maasim, Sarangani, the PNP found a Barret rifle, homemade bomb components and a black flag bearing the symbol of Isis.

Unlike the Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Liberation Front (BIFF), which have pledged their allegiance to the IS two years ago, the AKP has been listed as a sleeper cell and a direct offshoot of the IS in the country.

Again, the military claimed there was no direct links between the AKP and IS.

Daesh or IS?

THE raid in Sarangani showed the tentacles and the operations of the AKP has spread in Mindanao. The group’s existence was initially learned by the public through the massive operations by the military in Butig, Lanao del Sur, in February.

The military operations broke a group— called by the military as a “foreign-allied local terrorist group”—with more than a hundred men led by the Maute brothers.

The group was strategically settled in a well-entrenched camp located in what was supposed to be a stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

During the weeklong firefight that also forced the evacuation of more than 30,000 people, the military killed dozens of “bandits.” Those slain included their leader Omar Maute and two of his brothers, including Matti. The terrorist group is led and controlled by the six Maute siblings.

30,000

The number of people evacuated during a military operation in Butig, Lanao del Sur, in February against bandits allegedly led by the Maute brothers After the camp was overran, it yielded IS flags, the same symbol that the group’s members flew during the fighting and wore as bandanas.

In the aftermath of the operations, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla then said there was no direct link between the IS and the foreign-allied terrorist group.

There were no reports also that tend to indicate local terrorist groups, including the ASG and the BIFF, were getting support from the IS. “Based on information at hand, there’s no presence of Daesh [Arab acronym for the IS] in the Philippines,” Padilla said. “It has not been established. There’s no direct relation between the group here and the bigger terror group Daesh out there.”

Dismissal

ARMY chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año has downplayed the Maute group as nothing but a band of criminals.

“They were just a bunch of guns-for-hire, extortionists and bandits who wanted to be recognized as Isis,” Año said.

What Año and Padilla failed to say concerned the group’s affiliations—that it has ties with both the Southeast Asian terror group Jema’ah Islamiyah and IS. It was not also stated that the group in Butig, with more than a hundred men, was the main body of the AKP in the country.

Likewise, it was not said that months before the operations, IS flags were already being displayed in several gatherings by young Moro groups in Basilan, Sulu and Zamboanga peninsula.

Padilla has maintained the rumor that Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) is already in Mindanao is just that, a rumor.

“That rumor has no basis, especially the one that says that they have established a caliphate in Mindanao,” Padilla said, adding that Daesh, instead of Isil, is the appropriate name for these terrorists.

Daesh is preferred over Isil because it is essentially political and ideological. Governments have noted that calling the terrorists ‘Islamic State’ confers it legitimacy —acknowledges its claim to being the “caliphate” and, thus, the supreme authority all Muslims should bow to.

This not only raises their stature, it also insults the mass of Muslims worldwide who consider the Isil no more than a bunch of murderers and terrorists, according to persons familiar with the matter. Also, the claim of being the “Islamic State” is at the core of the IS’s propaganda, and its primary recruitment strategy. Arab governments have, in fact, been using Daesh for quite some time now.

Isil wannabe

ARMED Forces of the Philippines Spokes-

man Col. Restituto F. Padilla Jr. dismissed the reported presence of Daesh members in Mindanao as “Isil wannabes.”

“There are many groups sympathetic or inspired to the bigger Daesh, that’s the better word to use for this particular group.” Padilla added these groups within the Philippine territory “style themselves in the context of what they see is the fad in the world outside.”

He said when terrorist groups Jema’ah Islamiyah and al-Qaeda became bywords a few years ago, these lawless groups and bandits in Mindanao have styled themselves as belonging to these groups.

Padilla said academics who claim the existence of a caliphate in Mindanao and wrote about them like experts have not even set foot in Jolo and Basilan, bastions of these bandit groups.

“They [bandit groups] are just wannabes,” Padilla said. “Up to this moment the Armed Forces has not seen any clear and verifiable or direct links with Daesh.”

He explained that the Isil are fundamentalists or jihadist militant group who follow an Islamic fundamentalist law, the Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam.

Padilla noted the Isil is also different from the Abu Sayyaf. “The Abu Sayyaf is nothing but a bunch of bandits who are more interested in money by demanding ransom.” Aviation Security Group (Avsegroup) Chief Supt. Francisco Balagtas also dismissed reports IS and Isil is present in Mindanao.

“They behave differently than homegrown terrorist,” Balagtas, Avsegroup commander, said. He added that Isil forces need to acclimatize in the country before they could do their dirty work, which would be

Technical kinks placed e-trike project in limbo in terms of what kind of production capacity could be set up in the Philippines and local procurement,” Bhandari said.

“There is also an issue as to whether the Philippines should be doing more on the transportation or on the energy efficiency side,” she added. In February the Department of Energy (DOE) awarded the con-

tract to supply only 3,000 e-trikes to Japanese firm Uzushio Electric Co. Ltd. The $504 million-worth project is financed by the ADB and the national government. Manila will set aside $99 million as counterpart fund for the project.

But Bhandari said there are now discussions with the Philippine

government, and the project is expected to get “back on track soon.”

Also, the ADB’s country office in the Philippines confirmed that efforts to save the project have progressed.

The Manila-based multilateral development bank extended a loan of $300 million for the project. It will also be financed through a

$100-million loan and a $5-million grant from the ADB Clean Technology Fund.

In 2012 the ADB announced that it has approved the $300 million for the “groundbreaking” project that will replace 100,000 gasoline-burning tricycles in the Philippines with clean and energy-efficient electric tricycles.

difficult for them because of our culture.”

“It takes time to acclimatize,” he said.

“They have to undergo a case-buildup first, then surveillance.”

Abu Sayyaf

IT was through social media that Filipinos were introduced again to the brutality of the Abu Sayyaf. The group posted a video of their hostages, one of which they beheaded: John Ridsdel of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

That single act brought the Philippines to the center of world attention and brought the issue to Filipinos terror is as closer to home as it is in France and in Brussels, Belgium. These terror attacks brought fresh memories of the 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon.

The authorities in these countries engaged in a devoted search for the culprits, found them after a thorough manhunt and either killed or imprisoned the perpetrators.

In the Philippines President Aquino and other high officials commiserated with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who denounced the killing of his own citizen as a “heinous act.”

But overall, there was no sense of panic from the citizenry and, instead, the overall response was one of weariness on hearing that Mr. Aquino has ordered the security forces to apply the full force of the law and bring to justice the extremist Abu Sayyaf Group.

The people have heard the same refrain from the highest officials before.

When asked how prepared is the Armed Forces to deal with a terrorist attack, Padilla said he would throw back the same question to the reporter: “Have the Filipinos been able to experience the things that happened in the US, Paris and Belgium?”

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The ADB noted that about 3.5 million gas-fueled motorcycles and tricycles are currently operating in the Philippines, typically serving as short-distance taxis, with the average tricycle driver earning less than $10 a day. The Manila-based multilateral development bank said e-trike drivers will save upward of $5 a day in fuel costs and increase their

income, as it could carry more passengers. E-trike drivers saw their daily incomes more than double during a pilot program in Metro Manila.

The e-trikes, which run on an electric motor and rechargeable lithium-ion battery, will be introduced to Metro Manila and other urban centers across the Philippines under a lease-to-own arrangement.

T he A DB sa id repl acing 100,000 gasoline-powered trikes will enable the Philippine government to save more than $100 million a year in avoided fuel imports, while decreasing annual carbon-dioxide emissions by about 260,000 tons.

The DOE said the project will reduce the country’s reliance on foreign oil imports. Fabricating and assembling the tricycles domestically will create up to 10,000 jobs.

In line with the government’s plan to develop a national e-vehicle industry, the project will support the establishment of an e-vehicle parts industry, battery supply chain and charging stations, including five off-grid solar-charging stations.

ADB. . .

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to promote the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the COP21 climate agreement.

Manila-based ADB is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration.

Established in 1966, the ADB in December 2016 will mark 50 years of development partnership in the region. It is owned by 67 members— 48 from the region. In 2015 ADB assistance totaled $27.2 billion, including cofinancing of $10.7 billion.

AIIB, located in Beijing, is a multilateral development bank that focuses on the development of infrastructure and other productive sectors in Asia, including energy and power, transportation and telecommunications, rural infrastructure and agriculture development, water supply and sanitation, environmental protection, urban development and logistics.

Cai U. Ordinario

JOJO BINAY, PAGKAPANGULO NG PILIPINAS Mga minamahal kong kababayan:

I

lang araw na lamang at halalan na. Nais kong magpasalamat sa milyon-milyong Pilipino na patuloy na naniniwala sa akin.

Hindi kayo nagpalinlang sa kabi-kabilang paninira. Nanindigan kayo na ako ay hindi nabahiran sa aking kakayahang pamunuan ang ating bansa.

Makakaasa kayo, at ito ay aking panata, na ako ay magiging matapat, malinis at totoo sa aking paglilingkod sa ating mahal na bayan. Ako ay manunungkulan na may malasakit at buong paniniwalang maiiangat ko ang buhay ng bawat Pilipino.

Nararapat lamang na tayo ay mamuhay sa ating bansa na mapayapa, maunlad, meron

disiplina at may pagsunod sa batas ng Diyos at ng tao. Hindi matitinag ang aking kaibuturang pagmamahal sa bayan kahit na anumang unos ang aking dadaanan.

Una ang bayan sa aking pamumuno. Una kayo, bago ako.

Ako ay hindi natatakot at nangangamba, at lubos palagi ang aking paninindigan sa dakilang kakayahan ng bawat Pilipino. Hindi tayo bibitaw sa liwanag na bitbit ng pag-asa. Ipapatupad natin ang daan sa makabuluhang pagbabago.

Ipagpatuloy natin ang ating paniniwala sa kabutihan at kakayahan ng bawat isa.

Piliin natin ang magmahal sa Diyos, magtangkilik sa bayan at gumalang sa kapwa Pilipino. Itaguyod natin ang pangarap ng maginhawang buhay para sa lahat.

Ako ay mamumuno na isang magandang halimbawa sa kabataan. Isasakatuparan ko din na ang bawat kabataan ay merong tamang edukasyon, aking pangangalagaan ang inyong kalusugan, ang mga kababaihan ay pahahalagan at ginagalang, ang mga mahihirap ay maiangat at merong trabaho para sa bawat Pilipino. Aarugain ko ang matatanda. Papaunlarin at papalaguin ko ang ekonomiya. Palalakasin ko ang ating sandatahan. Maging maayos ang pagsagawa ng infrastruktura. Susugpuin at aalisin ang lahat ng uring kasamaan at pangungurakot. Tayo ay mamumuhay sa isang bayan na mapayapa, maunlad matibay at may pagmamahal. Magiging taas nuo tayong lahat.

Samahan niyo po ako. Tayo ay magdasal, magkapit bisig at magkaisa sa ating pagtataguyod ng matatag na Pilipinas. Kasama ko kayong bubuo ng isang dakilang yugto sa kasaysayan ng ating bansa. Ang bawat Pilipino ay kilalaning magaling, maginhawa at marangal.

Lubos ang aking paniniwala sa Diyos at sa kapwa ko Pilipino. Pagpalain tayo lagi ng puong maykapal.

Ako po si Jojo Binay, handang maglingkod sa pagkapangulo ng Pilipinas.

POLITICAL AD PAID FOR BY LUISA PIGAO UNIT 808 RAFFLES CORPORATE CENTER, EMERALD AVE. PASIG CITY.

BMReports BusinessMirror

A4 Tuesday, May 3, 2016

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Front-runner Duterte open to talks with China on sea row, but senators divided

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B B F

@butchfBM

ODRIGO R. DUTERTE, the tough-talking Davao City mayor who is leading Philippine presidential polls, said he will hold bilateral talks with China to resolve a territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), if the current multilateral discussions don’t bear fruit within two years.

Duterte told supporters on Sunday night at the Liwasang Bonifacio square in Manila that he will defend Philippine claims in the contested waters while remaining open to the possibility of joint exploration for energy assets with China. He may also ask China to help build key railway projects connecting Manila to provinces, and for assistance with a longstanding plan for a train system in Mindanao, his home region.

“If negotiations will be in still waters in one or two years, I will talk to the Chinese,” Duterte, 71, told a crowd of about a thousand people.

Bilateral talks would mark a departure from the policy of outgoing President Aquino, who has brought China before an international arbitration panel to try to resolve the dispute, leading to a deterioration in bilateral ties. China has been more aggressively asserting its claims to more than 80 percent of the waterway in recent years, reclaiming more than 3,000 acres of land to build out artificial islands that will better allow it to project force in waters that are a rich fishing ground for the Philippines.

Senators, meanwhile, have yet to forge a clear consensus on Malacañang’s rejection of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s call for bilateral negotiations to resolve the brewing territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea, even as the Palace awaits the decision of the United Nations affirming formal claims lodged by the Philippine government before the UN Arbitral Tribunal.

Sen. Sergio R. Osmeña III, an administration ally, endorsed the Palace option to stick to the UN arbitration track taken by the Aquino administration, which seeks a clearer definition of maritime entitlements in the West Philippine Sea, effectively rejecting bilateral negotiations to explore a settlement of the brewing sea row with China.

“Yes,” Osmeña told the BusinessMirror when asked if the Senate should support Malacañang refusal to sit down for talks with China in the midst of the ongoing arbitration proceedings.

But Senate Deputy Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III took an opposing position Sotto, in a separate interview,

indicated he was not inclined to back the Palace refusal to sit down for talks with China. Instead, Sotto suggested the Executive could still consider other available options to finally resolve the sea row.

“If there is a chance for negotiation, we should listen first,” Sotto said in a separate text message to the BusinessMirror yesterday.

However, other senators sought for comment on the issue were not ready to bare their positions for or against the latest Palace position on the raging sea row.

The matter of considering an additional tack—making an effort to engage China bilaterally, or, at least, stepping back from the exclusive strategy of relying solely on the UN tribunal’s ruling, which China is certain to defy anyway—was raised last week by a former justice secretary and solicitor general.

Duterte has said he will tout the Philippines’s alliance with Western powers, such as the US to get China to accept the Philippine position. He also said he would ride a jet ski to a disputed island occupied by China and personally stake the Philippines’s claims.

China has failed to recognize the legitimacy of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to deal with the dispute, and said it will only engage in bilateral talks with claimant states over the water, which hosts about $5 trillion in shipping a year.

China’s claims to most of the South China Sea overlaps with those of the Philippines and four other states.

Duterte was leading the field of five candidates for the May 9 elections with 33-percent support, with Sen. Grace Poe in second place with 22 percent, according to the latest opinion poll by Pulse Asia Research Inc. released by ABS-CBN on April 29.

If negotiations will be in still waters in one or two years, I will talk to the Chinese.”—D

Duterte, who ruled Davao for 22 years and is credited with improving security and the economy of the southern city, also told supporters during his May 1 speech that he won’t live in the presidential residence; has no plans to hold a big inaugural event; and will shun banquets with foreign envoys. He also pledged to appoint a nonpolitician to head the transportation department, pursue a fair peace deal with all Muslim rebels and work for genuine land reform that will improve the lot of farmers. His administration will pour P1 billion, or $21 million, per region to boost small and midsized businesses.

The mayor, accused of not declaring tens of millions of dollars in assets, questioned how Sen. Antonio F. Trillanes IV got access to information on his bank accounts when Philippine laws guarantee deposit secrecy.

Trillanes and Duterte’s lawyer are meeting on Monday at the Julia Vargas branch of the Bank of the Philippine Islands to discuss the mayor’s alleged undisclosed accounts.

Speaking before the Rotary Club of Manila at the Manila Polo Club on April 28, former Justice Secretary top Philippine lawyer Estelito Mendoza said the “portent of war” on Philippine territory appeared imminent with Manila’s single-track approach, and suggested that President Aquino “take pause from the election campaign to ‘cool down’ the simmering heat in the South China Sea.” Mendoza went further, saying: “And with the expiry of his term as President on June 30, 2016, I suggest

China denies US carrier Hong Kong visit

that the Philippines ask the Arbitral Tribunal to suspend the proceedings on the Arbitral claim of the Philippines and to defer rendering judgment at least until July 31, 2016, in order that whoever may be elected president in our May 9 elections may have time to consider the matter.”

Malacanang over the weekend thumbed down Xi’s initiative to hold bilateral talks to negotiate a settlement of the territorial dispute in the South China Sea pending a ruling by the United Nation Tribunal.

Speaking for the Palace, Presidential Communications Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III said the Aquino administration prefers to trust the process under international law for resolving territorial disputes through arbitration.

This even as the Palace official also assured that the outgoing Aquino administration will comply with any UN decision on the pending arbitration case lodged by the Philippines before the UN body.

According to Quezon, the Palace expects the UN Tribunal Permanent Court of Arbitration to promulgate in the next few weeks its decision on the case filed by the Philippines against China in 2013. He said the awaited ruling is expected to finally resolve the territorial dispute.

China, however, steadfastly rejects UN intervention to settle the raging sea row, refusing to recognize jurisdiction of the Arbitral Tribunal.

The Palace spokesman affirmed that the Philippine government maintains it’s official stand reject-

C  A

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canceled.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.

Port visits

CHINA’S claims to the South China Sea have fueled disputes with other Southeast Asian nations that assert rights to the area, including Vietnam and the Philippines. Tensions are running high, as the region braces for a ruling by an international arbitration panel on a Philippine challenge to China’s claims.

While US warships frequently visit Hong Kong, port calls have been canceled at times of diplomatic strain between the two Asia-Pacific powers. In 2007 China denied access to the city’s port by the aircraft car-

rier, the USS Kitty Hawk.

“We have a long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong, including with the current visit of the USS Blue Ridge, and we expect that will continue,” Paradiso said, referencing the US Navy command ship already moored in the city.

Beijing has reclaimed more than 3,000 acres to build up artificial islands, some of them featuring ports and runways that will allow it to better assert its claims to a waterway that hosts more than $5 trillion in annual shipping. The US, which is not a claimant, contends that the militarization of the islands may hinder navigation in the waters. Bloomberg News

alienating its neighbors and risked “conflict, instability and isolation,” unless it changed its approach and clarified its claims in accordance with international law.

China’s ‘consensus’ with 3 Asean members questioned

MEMBERS of the US Congress are urging the Obama administration to order more naval operations in the South China Sea. “I don’t know why we are not doing it weekly, or monthly,” said Republican Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations

CHINESE Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s statement that Beijing had reached a consensus with Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia and Lao PDR on the South China Sea has been met with some skepticism—and concern from other Asean members.

Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said that no new agreement with China on the issue has been reached. Laos and Vietnam, which is also squabbling with China, issued a joint statement pledging to accelerate the settlement of disputes in line with international law. They also called for a binding Code of Conduct to govern disputes, something Beijing has been reluctant to conclude.

Singapore’s senior diplomat Ong Keng

Committee, noting the US has about 60 percent of its naval vessels in the Pacific region.

Sen. Cory Gardner said sending US ships into the area every three months “is simply insufficient to send a strong message to China.”

Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said such operations will take place regularly.

Blinken agreed with Sen. Marco Rubio that China’s objective was control of the entire South China Sea. Blinken said China was

Yong said Beijing may be trying to split the regional bloc.

“Having [the Chinese] foreign minister announce that two of non-claimant states, namely, Cambodia and Laos, have decided that they are not going to do this and that, seems to me like interfering in the domestic affairs of Asean,” said the former Asean secretary-general. China asked Singapore to clarify Ong’s comments. AP

US lawmakers want more naval operations

of the South China Sea. The nuclearpowered Stennis has played a central role in US efforts to demonstrate its continued security presence in the disputed waters, with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visiting the warship on patrol there earlier this month.

The Stennis has become a “symbol of efforts to spark strategic tensions between China and the United States,” said Shi Yinhong, director of the Center on American Studies at Renmin University in Beijing and a foreign-policy adviser to the State Council. “The cancellation is a snapshot of the current intensity in China-US security relations. Without significant security need, routine port calls would not have been

With Bloomberg News

SCARBOROUGH SHOAL AS A RED LINE The shoal, therefore, represents “a red line” to the US and its allies, he said.

China says Huangyan Island—Chinese for Scarborough—appears on maps as Chinese territory starting in 1935. Last week the new US Air Force contingent from Luzon flew sorties near Scarborough, drawing a mild rebuke from China.

The Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying that Navy ships canceled a freedom of navigation operation scheduled for April, in order to “lower the temperature” in the South China Sea.

HINA has denied a United States carrier strike group’s request for a port visit to Hong Kong next week amid escalating tensions in the adjacent South China Sea. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the US on Thursday of its decision to deny the USS John C. Stennis and its escort ships access to the former British colony, Darragh Paradiso, a spokeswoman for the US Consulate General in Hong Kong, said by phone. The ministry provided no explanation for the move, she said.

The decision follows weeks of increasing diplomatic sparring between China and the US over Beijing’s claims to more than 80 percent

ing China’s “invalid claim” over the disputed territories situated well within the Philippine boundaries recognized by international law.

Still, Quezon conceded China’s “right to ventilate” their position, but affirmed that the Philipines has “a strong case” and will abide by the UN Arbitral Court’s ruling.

For his part, Mendoza in his presentation to the Rotary Club of Manila, proposed convening of the National Security Council “whose spectrum of membership includes the leadership of both the Executive and Legislative departments, representing the majority and minority parties, as well as past presidents of the Philippines and private citizens, as the President may designate, be convened at the earliest possible time to consider” what Mendoza described in his presentation as the “buildup of armed might in the South China Sea: portents of war on our land.”

Mendoza said the Philippines should, 70 years since World War II, learn the lessons about the cruelty of war, and seek every effort to avert armed conflict, especially since China has been responding to Manila with a militaristic approach.

He described the so-called arbitration that Mendoza hinted was egged on by western powers, as simply a “political provocation under the cloak of law aimed at negating China’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, instead of resolving the dispute.”

The UN tribunal has no jurisdiction over territorial disputes, Mendoza noted. In the past, Philippine lawyers have been careful to note that Manila is seeking a clear definition of its maritime entitlements in the South China Sea, and not seeking a declaration of territorial claim.

No matter how many and how frequently US ships come to the South China Sea, that would not change the fact that the islands and adjacent islands are China’s inherent territory.”—C D M S C. W Q

AseanTuesday BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Thailand’s BJC targets Asean domination

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ET-LISTED Berli Jucker Plc. (BJC), the trading company owned by billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, has set its sights on becoming a leading operator in Asean in terms of production, sales, logistics and retail distribution.

CEO Aswin Techajareonvikul said BJC will focus on building stronger market infrastructure and new business models to grow sustainably. Its distribution channels will be used to understand consumer insights.

4.45B baht

BJC’s international sales in 2015 “[The year] 2016 is the year of investment to build infrastructure, including distribution centers and retail, trading and online channels,” he said.

BJC aims to drive the market by setting Thailand as its main base, supported by a second base in Vietnam, Lao PDR or Cambodia.

It aims for a 50-50 sales split between domestic and international markets over the next five years.

Its international sales in 2015 were worth 4.45 billion baht, contributing 22 percent of overall sales.

BJC’s expansion in the Asean Economic Community (AEC) will cover upstream, midstream and downstream businesses. With a focus on consumer supplies and products, it aims to mobilize investments through alliances, joint ventures or consolidations.

The company will focus its expansion on Thailand, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Cambodia and Malaysia.

After the launch of the AEC at the end of 2015, there have been no big movements in the market because of leadership changes in Myanmar, Lao PDR and Cambodia.

“The AEC will have more linkage after the new leaders have clear policies for their countries. We expect a better impact from the AEC next year,” Aswin said.

BJC will continue to expand its retail business in Vietnam, where it changed the name of Metro Group to MM Mega Market Vietnam on January 6.

Expansion plans for both MM Mega Market stores in Vietnam and Big C in Thailand are under consideration. Aswin said BJC will allocate 4 billion to 5 billion baht to expand its business this year, mainly in the domestic market.

Consolidated revenue of BJC last year was 42.8 billion baht, up 2.9 percent, thanks mainly to the growth of glass and can businesses in the packaging supply chain.

BJC has opened MM Mega Market stores in Thailand, under the operation of TCC Logistics and Warehouse.

One is in Nong Khai province to boost trade between Thailand and Lao PDR and the second branch is in Sa Kaeo province for trade between Thailand and Cambodia.

BJC plans to open at least 15 new branches by 2019, especially in border towns and big cities including Bangkok. The company expects to increase its 2016 revenue at a double-digit rate after seeing a gradual improvement in consumer spending in the first quarter.

Separately, Zalora, the fashionfocused e-commerce site backed by Rocket Internet, is selling its businesses in Thailand and Vietnam to Thai retailer Central Group.

“Acquiring Zalora will support our move into online commerce. Online shopping has vast opportunities in this region,” a source said.

The group had been tipped to enter online commerce for some time, and sources say it struck a deal to buy the businesses from Zalora for about $10 million each. MCT

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Tuesday, May 3, 2016 A5

Beaches of dead fish test new Vietnam government’s response

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ILLIONS of dead fish stretched out over 200 kilometers of central Vietnamese beaches are posing the biggest test so far for the new government.

The Communist administration led by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has been criticized on social media for a lack of transparency and slow response, with thousands protesting on Sunday in major cities and provincial areas.

The government says it doesn’t know why the wild and farmed fish were found dead on the coast of four provinces from April 6 to 18. The phenomenon “caused economic and environmental damage, hurt the fishery industry and particularly resulted in puzzled sentiment among citizens,” it said in a statement on April 28.

In a country where public protests are rare, anger over the dead fish has created a challenge for officials on how to react: While an offshoot of Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics has been questioned over the incident and drew ire on social media, the government must also assure foreign companies it welcomes their business, given the focus on investment to drive the economy.

“It’s their first crisis and it’s really a delicate one,” said Fred Burke, managing partner at law firm Baker & McKenzie (Vietnam) Ltd. “Millions of livelihoods are at risk. The population is extremely unhappy.” Burke is a member of a government council and advises on foreign-investment projects in the country.

With information scarce, the incident has heightened concerns about damage to the environment, food safety and how businesses are regulated. State media raised questions about a waste pipe running into the sea from Formosa’s steel plant being built in Ha Tinh province.

Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp. “is deeply surprised and sorry about” the fish deaths, it said in a statement on April 26, adding there is no proven link to the incident. It said its total investment in the Vietnam plant was $10.5 billion, including $45 million for a wastewater treatment system.

That system has regulatory permits and meets national standards, it said.

The government has said there is no evidence for now to show Formosa was responsible. The fish may have been killed by toxins discharged by

It’s their first crisis and it’s really a delicate one.”—B  MK human activities or algal blooms, known as a red tide, it said.

‘Clean sea’

EVEN so, thousands protested in sites on Sunday, including the capital Hanoi. In Ho Chi Minh City, the crowd of 1,000 carried signs reading “please return a clean sea to us” and “stop discharging waste water into the sea.”

“We wanted to raise our voice to protect our environment,” said Tran Thi Thu Nguyet, who joined the rally.

Facebook posts also showed photos of protests in southern and central provinces.

Police detained two people they said collected and spread information on the Internet to spur protests over the fish deaths, Vietnam Television reported on Sunday, citing provincial authorities. One person allegedly entered the Formosa Industrial Zone last month to film and interview local people, it said.

Fishing and tourism have been hurt. Fishermen in central Quang Binh province have lost 115 billion dong ($5.2 million), according to the local government. About 30 percent of tourists canceled visits to the province which houses Son Doong, the world’s largest cave, during a four-day holiday starting on April 30, it said.

Public apology

IN an unusually candid response, the government admitted it was slow to react, and new Environment Minister Tran Hong Ha publicly apologized. “The initial handling process was passive,” the administration said in its April 28 statement. Environmental monitoring was “untimely, inaccurate and infrequent,” in part, as some systems weren’t linked.

FR. BERRIGAN, VIETNAM WAR PROTESTER, DIES This July 25, 1973, file photo shows Rev. Fr. Daniel Berrigan and some

friends participating in a fast and vigil to protest the bombing in Cambodia, on the steps of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. The Roman Catholic priest and Vietnam war protester Berrigan has died. He was 94. Michael Benigno, a spokesman for the Jesuits USA Northeast Province, says Berrigan died on Saturday at a Jesuit infirmary at Fordham University. AP

Anger spread on social media after a local Formosa official said Vietnamese should choose between their seafood industry or a steel plant. The company later apologized for the comment, according to local media.

Still, hundreds of people have used Facebook to urge the government to close the plant. “For people’s health and our motherland protection, let’s ask Formosa to compensate for the fishermen and kick it out of our country right away,” a user named Truong Thu Ha said. More than 100,000 people signed a petition calling for US President Barack Obama to raise the issue with Vietnam in his visit this month.

Confidence crisis

“VIETNAMESE who are rarely consulted about and aware of investment projects face a big crisis of confidence,” said Thi Nguyen, a Ho Chi Minh City-based independent environmental consultant. “Foreign investment is important but the Vietnamese government shouldn’t attract foreign investment at any cost, and this disaster proved that.”

Vu Tu Thanh, the chief Vietnam representative of the US-Asean Busi-

ness Council, said the government must walk a line between assuaging public anger and not unnerving foreign businesses. Companies based in Vietnam from nations including Japan and the United States are watching to see if the country moves to retroactively amend regulations, Thanh said.

Vietnam’s government has sought foreign investment to help it achieve this year’s growth target of 6.7 percent. The economy grew 5.46 percent in the first quarter, versus 7.01 percent in the last quarter of 2015, as income from crude oil and agriculture production dropped.

Oil rig

TAIWAN was the third-largest investor in Vietnam in the first quarter, after South Korea and Singapore. It invested $465.6 million in the period, according to Vietnam government figures.

Formosa has been the focus of public anger in Vietnam before.

In May 2014 it and other Taiwanese businesses were attacked by protesters after China placed an oil rig in disputed waters off Vietnam’s coast. Formosa said the riots,

where one Chinese worker died of heat stroke, caused $3 million in losses, and it received 30 billion dong in compensation.

“What the government is worried about is if they are too vocal in criticizing them, it will still stir up anti-Chinese sentiment and create trouble,” Burke from Baker & McKenzie said, referring to Formosa.

“But if they are not vocal enough, they are viewed as coddling these guys who are seen as being disrespectful of Vietnam and its environment.”

The latest incident adds to concerns about food safety. Local media have reported recently that toxins are sometimes found in pork and vegetables. While the government banned the use of the dead fish in central provinces for food or animal feed, many locals expressed concern it may be processed into fish sauce, a family staple.

“I’m stocking enough sauce for a year,” said housewife Nguyen Thi Lan, as she piled sauce bottles into her basket at a supermarket in Hanoi. “I need to avoid sauce made out of dead fish before it spreads.”

Bloomberg News

Widodo reiterates importance of sea security in border areas

B

OGOR, West Java—Indonesian President Joko Widodo reiterated the importance of sea security in the border areas when he announced the release of 10 Indonesian ship crew members held hostage by Abu Sayyaf militant group in the Philippines so far here on Sunday.

In view of that, a meeting relating to it would be held here on May 5 between Indonesian, Malaysian and Philippine foreign ministers and defense-forces commanders.

At the end of April before the release of the 10 hostages, Widodo has initiated a joint patrol by Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

“This week we will invite military commanders and foreign ministers from the Philippines and Malaysia to meet here. We will set up a joint patrol to assure the shipping lane in the area is safe,” Widodo said.

He said the process of releasing the 10 hostages who were abducted by an armed group in the Philippine waters some time ago was not a simple matter.

All parties must understand and know that the issue of hostage-taking was not a simple matter, as efforts to release the hostages involved many parties, including formal and informal ones, he said.

In view of that, Widodo expressed thanks and appreciation to all parties that have been involved in the efforts to release the hostages so far, including the Philippine government.

Indonesia Defense Forces Commander General Gatot Nurmantyo said efforts are still being taken to release four other Indonesian citizens that are still being held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines.

“I ask for your prayers so they can also be released safely,” he said at the Presidential Palace after flanking Widodo at a news conference to announce the release of 10 Indonesian ship crewmembers.

General Nurmantyo said efforts to release the four other hostages would also prioritize safety of the hostages.

A Philippine army officer who has been helping to deal with kidnap-

pings by the Abu Sayyaf said a rebel commander from the Moro National Liberation Front, which has signed a peace deal with the Philippine government, helped negotiate with the Abu Sayyaf for the release of the 10 Indonesians.

The hostages were escorted down from a jungle encampment in Sulu and left outside the home of Governor Abdusakur Tan II, the army officer said by phone on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

After the Indonesians were kidnapped at sea in March, suspected Abu Sayyaf militants separately attacked two other tugboats and snatched four Indonesians and four Malaysians who are believed to have also been brought by speedboats to the militants’ jungle bases in Sulu, a predominantly Muslim province about 950 kilometers (590 miles) south of Manila.

Alarmed by the successive attacks, Indonesia’s Jokowi said last week that his government would host talks with Malaysia and the Philippines to boost security in wa-

ters bordering the three countries.

He said the meeting of foreign ministers and military chiefs would discuss joint patrols to protect shipping. A Malaysian diplomat said one proposal is to harness satellite technology to keep an eye on the vast stretch of water and allow faster reaction by naval and maritime police forces.

When asked whether ransom was paid for the Indonesians’ release, the army officer said he was unaware of any payment, but noted that the Abu Sayyaf traditionally has released captives only after money has been paid.

Abu Sayyaf gunmen beheaded a Canadian hostage in Sulu last Monday after they failed to receive a huge ransom by a deadline they had set.

Philippine troops launched an offensive against the Abu Sayyaf after the beheading, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has vowed to help the Philippines bring the killers to justice.

More than a dozen foreign and local hostages remain in the hands

of the Abu Sayyaf, including another Canadian and a Norwegian who were kidnapped last September, and a Dutch bird watcher who was kidnapped more than three years ago.

An unusual surge in kidnappings, including the tugboat attacks, along with recent beheadings by the Abu Sayyaf and a few small extremist groups that have emerged in the southern Philippines may be an effort by the militants to show off their capability and brutality and associate themselves with the Islamic State group in the Middle East, terrorism analysts say.

The Abu Sayyaf emerged as an extremist offshoot of the decadeslong Muslim secessionist conflict in the southern Philippines and has carved its name in blood, carrying out mass kidnappings, beheadings and bombings.

The brutal group, which is estimated to have about 400 armed fighters split into a few factions, has been blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization. PNA, ANTARA, AP

A8

The World BusinessMirror

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

news@businessmirror.com.ph

briefs

FRENCH LEADER: ALL NEW SUBS WILL BE BUILT IN AUSTRALIA

CANBERRA, Australia—French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says a planned fleet of French-designed Australian submarines will all be built in Australia on time and within budget. Valls met his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull on Monday, a week after Australia announced that DCNS, a French state majorityowned company, had been chosen to design 12 diesel-electric submarines. Australia expects the fleet will cost at least A$56 billion ($43 billion), although the contracts have yet to be signed. AP

CAR BOMB IN TURKEY KILLS 2 POLICE OFFICERS

ANKARA, Turkey—A car bomb struck the entrance of a Turkish police station on Sunday in the southern city of Gaziantep, killing two police officers and wounding 22 other people in a day marred by violence and May Day protests.

Four civilians were among those wounded in the explosion, according to Gov. Ali Yerlikaya of Gaziantep province. The blast shattered the windows of nearby buildings. The police station is close to offices for the governor and mayor. Gaziantep is also home to the offices of international aid organizations focused on the conflict in neighboring Syria. AP

AIR FORCE COPTERS DOUSE MASSIVE FOREST FIRES IN NORTH INDIA

LUCKNOW, India—Massive forest fires are sweeping through the north Indian state of Uttarakhand and have killed at least seven people in recent weeks with no signs of abating. The Indian government joined state firefighters over the weekend in trying to douse the blaze. Air force helicopters were deployed on Sunday to drop water on the fires tearing through hundreds of acres of pine forests. State Forest Officer Bhanu Prasad Gupta said the scattered fires were spreading and were threatening two of the country’s major tigerconservation reserves. Federal Environment Minister Prakash Javdekar said on Monday that four men have been arrested over the weekend for starting forest fires. Two consecutive years of poor monsoons have led to dry conditions, making vast areas vulnerable to forest fires. AP

KENYA OFFICIALS: DEATH TOLL OF COLLAPSED BUILDING UP TO 20

NAIROBI, Kenya—Kenyan rescuers continued searching for survivors on Sunday of a residential building in a low income area that collapsed on Friday, as officials said the death toll has risen to 20 and 73 people remain missing. Japheth Koome, the police chief for Nairobi, the capital, confirmed the death toll.

Authorities had initially said the building had six stories but it emerged that the ground and first floor had sunk following heavy rains. The building, next to a river, had been declared unfit for human habitation by Kenya’s National Construction Authority but was not torn down. AP

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE EASTER

ATHENS, Greece—With “Holy Fire,” fireworks and solemn Masses, Orthodox Christians around the world celebrated Easter on Sunday, commemorating the day followers believe that Jesus was resurrected more than 2,000 years ago. Roman Catholics and Protestants marked Easter in March, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. Eastern Orthodox churches celebrated Easter this week, using the older Julian calendar. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev attended an Easter midnight Mass in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral. AP

PROTESTERS hold up a giant Syrian revolution flag during a protest in front of the United Nations Headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s military operations in areas held by insurgents around the country, mostly in the northern city of Aleppo, which has been the main point of violence. AP/BILAL HUSSEIN

US forced to turn to Russia for help on Syria

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ENEVA—Scrambling to resuscitate a nearly dead truce in Syria, the Obama administration has again been forced to turn to Russia for help, with little hope for the desired US outcome.

At stake are thousands of lives and the fate of a feeble peace process essential to the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group, and Secretary of State John F. Kerry has appealed once more to his Russian counterpart for assistance in containing and reducing the violence, particularly around city of Aleppo.

“We are talking directly to the Russians, even now,” Kerry said on his arrival in Geneva as he began talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. “The hope is we can make some progress, but the United Nations Security Council Resolution calls for a full country, countrywide, cessation and also for all of the country to be accessible to humanitarian assistance.

Obviously that hasn’t happened and isn’t happening.”

“These are critical hours. We look for Russia’s cooperation. We obviously look for the regime to listen to Russia and to respond to the international communities’

24 The number of hours a unilateral cease-fire was extended by the military around Damascus on Sunday

powerful statement to the UN Security Council.” Kerry spoke at length on Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to that end, and had been hoping to meet with Lavrov soon, according to US officials.

In Geneva Kerry met with Judeh and was to meet UN envoy Staffan de Mistura and Saudi Foreign

Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Monday before returning to Washington.

But Lavrov was not expected to be in Geneva, complicating Kerry’s efforts to make the case directly to the Russians for more pressure on their Syrian government allies to stop or, at least, limit attacks in Aleppo.

The State Department said Kerry, in his meetings, would “review ongoing efforts to reaffirm the cessation of hostilities nationwide in Syria, obtain the full humanitarian access to which the Syrian government committed and support a political transition.”

Specific, v iable options to achieve those broad goals are limited, and Friday’s announcement of a new, partial cease-fire that does not include Aleppo underscored the difficulty Kerry faced.

US and other officials described that initiative, brokered mainly

by Russia and the United States as cochairs of the International Syria Support Group, as a “reinforcement” of the February truce, now largely in tatters, that they hope to extend from Damascus and the capital’s suburbs and the coastal province of Latakia to other areas.

“This is an agreement within the task force, but certainly on the part of the US and Russia that there would be a reinforcement of the cessation of hostilities in these specific areas as a start, with the ex-

pectation that this...would be then extended elsewhere,” State Department Spokesman Mark Toner said.

Syria’s military extended a unilateral cease-fire around the capital for another 24 hours on Sunday, and relative calm set in across much of the country after days of heavy fighting concentrated in Aleppo.

For that city, the US is considering drawing up with the Russians a detailed map that would lay out “safe zones.” Civilians and members of moderate opposition groups covered by the truce could find shelter from persistent attacks by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s military, which claims to be targeting terrorists.

One US official said “hard lines” would delineate specific areas and neighborhoods. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. It was not immediately clear whether Russia would accept such a plan or if Moscow could persuade the Assad government to respect the prospective zones. Some US officials are skeptical of the chances for success, but also note that it is worth a try to at least reduce the violence that has wracked Aleppo for the past week, with hundreds killed and thousands wounded.

Kerry discussed the deteriorating situation in calls over the past days with de Mistura and the head

of a Syrian opposition negotiating committee. “We are working on specific initiatives to de-escalate the increased fighting and defuse tensions and hope to make tangible progress on such initiatives soon,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

For the administration, Friday’s announcement about the partial cease-fire is largely a means to measure the commitment of the warring parties to the concept of a truce that could lead to serious peace talks.

“It’s a test for the Russians and for the regime, as well as for the Syrian opposition,” Toner said.

The administration’s problem is that the Russians, the Assad government and the opposition backed by the US and its partners have all failed that test in the past.

In particular, the administration has been routinely disappointed that Russia has not lived up to pledges that US officials think it has made. From the start of the conflict, the administration has sought numerous times for Moscow to use its influence with Damascus to bring about an end to the violence and to advance a political transition. At each turn, those hopes have been dashed with Russia continuing, and even increasing, its support for Assad.

US officials concede there is little to suggest that will change. AP

Iraq protests disband after second bombing by IS

B

AGHDA D — A nt igover nment protesters disbanded at least temporar ily on Sunday from the heavily fortified Green Zone they had stormed a day earlier after the Islamic State (IS) group carried out its second major attack in Iraq in as many days—a pair of car bombs that killed more than 30 people.

The country’s political crisis intensified on Saturday when hundreds of supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr tore down walls and poured into the zone that is home to the seat of the Iraqi government and most foreign embassies.

Loudspeaker announcements on Sunday evening urged protesters to leave peacefully. When the call

came, hundreds calmly packed up and left, carrying flags and overnight bags away with them.

L ater in t he d ay, fa mi l ies walked through the compound ’s smoot h ly paved st reet s a nd snapped pictures beside its wellwatered ga rdens, a nd you ng men bathed in a fountain. Such scenes are entirely divorced from the rest of the city’s crumbling inf rastr ucture and neglected public spaces.

The Green Zone, surrounded by thick blast walls topped with razor wire, is off-limits to most Iraqis because of security procedures that require multiple checks and specific documentation to enter. It has long been the focus of al-Sadr’s criticism

that the government is detached from the people.

Supporters of al-Sadr have been holding demonstrations and sit-ins for months to demand an overhaul of the political system put in place by the US following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

L a st su m mer, demon st ra tions demanding better government services mobilized millions across Iraq and pressured Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to submit his first package of reform proposals. However, months of stalled progress followed, and in recent months al-Sadr’s wellorganized supporters took over the protest movement.

Despite the subdued end to the

latest protest, Iraqi officials fear the precedent set by the Green Zone breach will continue to undermine the country’s security.

Earlier on Sunday, car bombs in the southern city of Samawah killed 31 people and wounded at least 52. A police officer said two parked cars filled with explosives were detonated within minutes of each other around midday, the first near government offices and the second at an open-air bus station lessthan-a-kilometer away.

On Saturday an IS-claimed bombing in a market filled with Shiite civilians in Baghdad killed at least 21 people and wounded at least 42 others.

The attacks were just the latest

in a series of IS-claimed bombings in Iraq. Over the past month the United Nations said at least 741 Iraqis were killed in April due to ongoing violence. On March 25 an IS-claimed suicide bombing attack on a stadium filled with children killed 29 and wounded 60.

“The political crisis is having a very negative influence on our war against Daesh,” said Iraqi lawmaker Younadim Kanna, using an Arabic acronym for IS. “I can tell you Daesh is very happy that there are these demonstrations in Baghdad,” he said, explaining that the instability in the Iraqi capital was pulling security forces away from the front-line fight against IS and from the perimeter security of the Iraqi capital. AP

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Tuesday, May 3, 2016

A9

AFTER FIVE DECADES

1st cruise from US port leaves Miami for Cuba

M

IAMI—Passengers set sail on Sunday from Miami on an historic cruise to Cuba, the first in decades to depart from a US seaport for the communist island nation.

Carnival Corp.’s 704-passenger Adonia left port at 4:24 p.m., bound for Havana. Carnival’s Cuba cruises, operating under its Fathom brand, will also visit the ports of Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba on the sevenday outing.

Several Cuba-born passengers, among hundreds of others, were aboard, it said. The cruise comes after Cuba loosened its policy banning Cuban-born people from arriving to the country by sea, a rule that threatened to stop the cruises from happening.

Restarting the cruises was an important element of a bid by President Barack Obama’s administration to increase tourism to Cuba after the December 17, 2014, decision to restore diplomatic relations and move toward normalization.

The most recent such cruise, from another US port, was in 1978.

When it first announced the cruises, Carnival said it would bar Cuban-born passengers due to the government’s policy. But the Cuban-American community in Miami complained and filed a discrimination lawsuit in response. After that, the company said it would only sail to Cuba if the policy is changed, which Cuba did on April 22.

704 The number of passengers aboard the cruise ship

Carnival said the Adonia would cruise every other week from Miami to Cuba. Bookings will start at $1,800 per person and feature an array of cultural and educational activities, including Spanish lessons, Carnival’s web site says.

Seventy-three-year-old passenger Rick Schneider told The Sun-Sentinel that he had waited decades for the chance to make the journey. He bought a Cuban flag for the occasion, which he waved from the deck at protesters who opposed the cruises. He said he once passed up taking a ferry trip to Cuba in 1957, adding “the time is now.” The cruise is among the many changes in US-Cuban relations since a thaw between the former Cold War foes began in late 2014. The thaw also led to a historic, two-day trip to Cuba in March by Obama, who

PEOPLE take photos as Adonia leaves port in Miami on Sunday en route to Cuba. After a half-century of waiting, passengers finally set sail on Sunday from Miami on an historic cruise to Cuba. Carnival’s Cuba cruises, operating under its Fathom band, will visit the ports of Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba. PATRICK FARRELL/THE MIAMI HERALD VIA AP

met with Cuban counterpart Raul Castro and others.

The Cuban government says the shift in policy removes prohibitions enacted when Cuban exiles were launching attacks by sea after the first Cuban revolution.

On Sunday Arnold Donald, Carnival ’s president and CEO, said the company worked and prepared to make the cruises a

IN this October 1980 photo, leader Kim Jong Il (front), the father of current leader Kim Jong Un, attends the first phase of the Sixth Congress of Workers’ Party of (North) Korea. KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY/KOREA NEWS SERVICE VIA AP

N. Korea party congress to show unity around Kim T

OK YO—North Korea is preparing to hold a oncein-a-generation congress of its ruling party that is intended to rally the nation behind leader Kim Jong Un and could provide an important glimpse into Kim’s plans for the country’s economy and military.

The congress, set to begin on Friday, is the first in 36 years and follows a 70-day “ loyalty drive” in which everyone from coal miners to restaurant workers were called upon to put in extra hours to increase productivity, as a show of their devotion to Kim and the Workers’ Party of Korea, which he leads. The congress comes as North Korea is

facing international pressure over a nuclear test in January and a series of rocket and missile launches that have led many outside experts to believe Pyongyang is much closer to having a viable nuclear deterrent than previously thought.

The North, wary of its leader’s security and always loath to release any more information to the outside world than it deems absolutely necessary, has disclosed few details of the congress’s itinerary. Instead, it has presented the congress as a chance for the ruling party to boast its achievements and unity in the face of the “US imperialists.”

But North Korea’s foreign minister told The Associated Press (AP)

in an April 23 interview that the congress would focus on demonstrating unity behind the country’s leader and on finding ways to build the North’s moribund economy even as global sanctions squeeze it ever tighter.

“One of the most important things through this party congress is to show to the entire world the union of our people,” Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong told the AP while he was in New York for a United Nations conference on climate change. “I’m sure our country will be even more vibrant after the party congress to build up a more prosperous and powerful, economically sound nation.”

The event will be an opportunity

reality despite the challenges. “ Times of change often br ing out emotions, and clearly, the histor ies here are ver y emotiona l for a number of people,” Dona ld told repor ters.”

The Miami Herald reported that a boat carrying some activists protesting the trip to Cuba was nearby in Florida waters before the ship’s departure on for Kim to assume center stage before a world audience. Throngs of foreign journalists are being invited to cover it. That’s all the more important because the enigmatic young leader, still in his early 30s, has yet to travel abroad or meet any other heads of state.

In the last par t y congress, held in 1980, K im’s late father, K im Jong Il, was awarded a slew of top jobs in a confir mation he was in line to succeed his fat her, Nor t h Korea founder K im Il Sung.

Kim Il Sung died in 1994, so Kim Jong Il—who rarely spoke in public and never held a congress after actually assuming power— had 14 years to prepare for power.

Kim Jong Un, on the other hand, was virtually unknown outside of the Pyongyang inner circle until a few years before his own father’s death in 2011.

Still, there are no signs his position as the head of the world’s only socialist dynasty is in question.

T he congress w il l g ive K im, who seems to be more like his g randfather and less averse to addressing big crowds, a chance to f ur ther cement his authorit y by getting its stamp of ap prova l on officia ls who are in h is favor. He ha s conducted nu me rou s s h a k e - up s i n t he reg ime’s top ranks—the most prominent being the execution of his powerful uncle in 2013— to ma ke sure he is sur rounded by loya l lieutenants.

The congress is sure to praise Kim’s nuclear policy, though it has triggered sanctions that have caused economic pain.

Te n s i o n s o n t h a t f r o n t h av e d e e p e ne d re c e nt l y a f ter North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test and a longrange rocket launch, which led to the UN slapping its toughest sanctions on Pyongyang in 20 years, and South Korea and the United States upgrading their annual spring military drills into the biggest they’ve ever held. AP

Sunday. The report said the boat pulled away before the Adonia set sail with an expected Monday arrival in Havana.

Mary Olive Reinhart, a retired parks service ranger, told the paper that she and some friends from the Philadelphia area were drawn to the voyage by the adventure of it all. The Fathom brand said on its web site that the trip was authorized under

current people-to-people travel guidelines of the US government a nd wou ld i nc lude meet i ngs with artists, musicians, business owners and families—along with Cuban shore excursions to traditional sites.

“It’s exciting to go places where we’re forbidden. For me, I want to be at home in the world—the whole world,” she added. AP

Brussels Airport departure hall reopens after deadly attacks

B

RUSSEL S —Under e x t ra s e c u r it y, t h e B r u s s e l s Airport reopened its departure hall on Sunday for the first time since deadly Islamic extremist attacks in March. T he air por t had a lready resumed some f lights, but passengers had been using a temporar y check-in tent because of extensive damage to the departure ha l l from the t w in suicide bombings that killed 16 people.

Passengers on select flights started using the newly repaired departure hall on Sunday after a special ceremony presided over by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. Extra security checks have been added before entering the terminal.

“We all choose to resist. Today our capital’s airport is reopening.

Brussels is back in business,” Michel

told a gathered crowd near a plaque bearing the names of victims, surrounded by photos and flowers.

Some passengers lamented the tense atmosphere at a place that they used to associate with happy vacations. Check-in clerk Veronique Goodman described her emotion at the reopening, “ for the people who lost their family, injured colleagues...nobody wants this ever to happen again. But [we’re] happy to be back with our colleagues.”

In a statement, Brussels Airport Co. CEO Arnaud Feist called it “an important day in the recovery” of the airport and in efforts to revive the city’s image. Feist said he hoped the airport would be back at 100-percent capacity by mid-June. The March 22 attacks at the airport and Brussels’ subway killed 32 people overall. AP

Britain’s exit from European Union would boost calls for Scottish independence, party leader says

L

ONDON—Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon predicted rising support for a second independence referendum if Britain votes to leave the European Union (EU).

“The prospect of Brexit would definitely lead to growing demand for Scottish independence,” t he Scot t i sh Nat ion a l Pa r t y (SNP) leader said on Sunday on BBC television. “If we see that growing demand, no one would have the right to stand in the way of that.”

Voters go to the polls in local and regional elections across the UK next week. In Scotland Sturgeon’s pro-independence SNP is on course to retain control of the devolved

parliament in Edinburgh, w ith new powers over ta x ation.

Scotland rejected independence by 55 percent to 45 percent in 2014, but the SNP went on to make large gains in the British general election in 2015, taking 56 of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons at the expense of the opposition Labour Party.

Polls suggest that Scotland is more pro-EU than other parts of the UK Sturgeon said the country should have another referendum on whether to go it alone if there is “clear and sustained evidence that independence has become the preferred option of a majority of people.” Bloomberg News/TNS

A10 Tuesday, May 3, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Do you need the bank-secrecy laws?

T

HE questions of how much access and how the government may get information about private bank accounts are complex and controversial.

The current discussion centers on candidates for elected office.

There is certainly justification for knowing the financial position of candidates, as well as health conditions, and maybe even past educational information. These issues can be resolved by the public demanding this information, as voter pressure would probably force future office-seekers—at least for the highest offices—to make a full disclosure.

However, a much more important question arises as to whether bank-secrecy laws are important for the ordinary citizen.

It is possible that the average person takes the attitude that if a person has nothing to hide, why should government be prevented from bank account information? At first glance, that may make sense. But the concept of the government being able to have increased surveillance of a private citizen who is not suspected of any crime is much more critical.

Republic Act 1405—the law on secrecy of bank deposits—and Presidential Decree No. 1792 say that “All deposits of whatever nature with banks... are hereby considered as of an absolutely confidential nature and may not be examined...except when the examination is made in the course of a special or general examination of a bank and is specifically authorized by the Monetary Board after being satisfied that there is reasonable ground to believe that a bank fraud or serious irregularity has been or is being committed and that it is necessary to look into the deposit to establish such fraud or irregularity.”

This embodies the “due process of law” and the Philippine Constitutional provision of “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures...for any purpose shall be inviolable, and no search warrant shall issue except upon probable cause to be determined personally by the judge.”

The purpose of both of these laws is to prevent “fishing expeditions” by any part of the government. The contention is that these rules make the job of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) more difficult. We wonder why that is the case. If the AMLC or any other agency has reasonable suspicion that a person is violating the law, they can take the evidence to a judge and get a search warrant for the bank accounts. It is the same as for law-enforcement officials searching for evidence in any other crime.

What makes a person’s bank account any less protected from “unreasonable searches” as his or her house? The same Article III of the Philippine constitution that protects a person’s privacy from illegal searches also protects the freedom of speech, the press, and even the privacy of your e-mails.

American founding father Thomas Jefferson wrote, “When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” Maybe that is why the government wants into our bank accounts and yet the people do not have a Freedom of Information law.

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Everybody’s job to fight cybercrime Manny B. Villar

THE ENTREPRENEUR Conclusion

A

T the start of this three-part series I suggested that we look beyond the theft of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank’s account with the Federal Reserve (the Fed) of New York by cyber criminals.

Now, it seems the “beyond” I was suggesting is already upon us. Early last month, hackers leaked the records of more than 55 million voters from the web site of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The Bangladesh heist, which involved the transfer of money from the Fed in New York to a bank in the Philippines, then to a casino, has been described as one of the biggest cyber theft in history.

The hacking of the Comelec web site is being described as potentially the biggest data breach involving a government. These are distinctions that no Filipino would be proud of.

Concerns were raised that the release of the personal information of voters could be used for cheating in the May 9 elections. Outside of the political exercise, and to a wider and longer-time extent, the leak ex-

Watch your language John Mangun

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posed more than half of the country’s population to fraud and other risks, including identity theft, one of the common ways by which cyber criminals access victims’ bank or creditcard accounts.

The Comelec said the hacked web site had been taken down with the help of the justice departments of the Philippines and the United States.

The damage, however, has been done. The information that has been exposed to the public includes the full names, birth dates, addresses, registration details and voter identification numbers. Other voter details posted include the persons’ height and weight, passport details, and even biometric information, such as fingerprints.

The leaked information could be used for illegal financial transactions. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipi-

OUTSIDE THE BOX

Y

OU can tell much about the times and the conditions by listening to the language—the words that people are using.

What we say reflects what is going on around us and what we are thinking.

During the turbulent times of the late 1960s and the Vietnam war, the United States was seriously divided by that war. The phrase “America: Love it or Leave it” became somewhat of a rallying cry of those that supported the government against the antiwar protestors. That was turned by some on the other side to “America: Change it or Lose It.” Here in the Philippines, “Sobra na!

Tama na. Palitan na” was part of the voice of those opposed to the Marcos government. Here again it expressed a simplification of a complex set of emotions and ideas. After the

French Revolution in 1789, the most influential figure of that revolution and following “Reign of Terror”— Maximilien Robespierre—said in a speech, that the motto of France would be “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” or “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.”

These were not just words. These phrases captured the times and the thoughts of the people.

In the last few years, the phrase “Winter is Coming” has entered the lexicon of the English language. It is the motto of the House of Stark from the global television series Game of Thrones. The Stark clan lives in

No one can stop hacking or cybercrime, but we must continue to prepare ourselves.

Authorities must continue to track down these modern-day criminals and put up barriers to deter their activities. For our part, each person must be vigilant in safeguarding the confidentiality of personal information and careful in making online transactions.

nas (BSP), which is treating the incident as a serious concern, has ordered local banks to institute new measures in establishing the true identities of their clients.

Specifically, the BSP wants banks to request for additional proof or secondary information from their clients. In general, banks and credit card companies usually ask for an account holder’s address, birthday and maiden name of client’s mother to establish the client’s identity.

One bank said it was considering the use of biometrics to help in identifying customers. Banks also advise their clients to change their PINs (personal identification numbers) frequently. Credit-card companies have also been sending advisories to their clients on how to protect themselves from fraud.

Because of the numerous frightening implications of the data breach, it

the northerly inhabited part of the mythical world of Westeros and is the first to feel the social and economic effects of the “Winter” that comes at irregular times with even decades between winters.

But winter always eventually comes to pass.

Unless you are living in a mountain cave, you might see that the 2016 Philippine election is the most “destructive”—for want of a better word—since the snap election of 1986. When the Commission on Elections says something like “Don’t let politics destroy your friendships,” you know this time it is different.

But that is a global happening that coincides with the long term global political cycle.

Let me say it again: The political upheaval precedes the major economic upheaval. That is what the cycles show. This current political situation is going to last through 2017 when peak political chaos will hit, as we see even more countries going through what the Philippines is going through right now.

Then the economic chaos will hit

may not even be paranoid to say that everything has been compromised.

This is because of the increasing dependence by people and companies on the Internet for almost all of their financial transactions, from paying utility bills, shopping, booking flights, buying tickets to the cinema and so forth.

The digital age has made life so much easier than before the advent of computers, but we are now seeing the undesirable side.

I expect that even with the Bangladesh heist and the hacking of the Comelec web site, the Internet will continue to expand its role in people’s lives. And it’s not even limited to the millennials, or the generation of people born in 1982 to 2000. Even members of Generation X, or those born between the early 1960s to the early 1980s, are now part of the Internet market.

No one can stop hacking or cybercrime, but we must continue to prepare ourselves. Authorities must continue to track down these modern-day criminals and put up barriers to deter their activities.

For our part, each person must be vigilant in safeguarding the confidentiality of personal information and careful in making online transactions.

It is everybody’s job to fight cybercrime.

For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail. com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

in full force.

But back to the language that is now being used. Candidates get up and talk about the “paradise” they will bring to the Philippines if they win. But that is immediately followed by saying that the nation will drop to the lowest level of Hell if any of the other presidential hopefuls win. Is that what we can genuinely expect?

This is happening everywhere.

Look at the US presidential election.

Look at the “live or die” rhetoric as Great Britain decides whether or not to stay part of the European Union.

Brazil’s constitutionally provided impeachment process is being called a “coup d’état.” Thailand though is an exception and does not have negative election rhetoric. The military government has a solution: no elections.

What words are you now using to describe the Philippines? They are probably true and accurate.

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Nobody but Binay talks about national security Cecilio T. Arillo

DATABASE

I

T must be borne in mind that the paramount obligation of the government to draw up a cohesive national security strategy to ensure that the safety and security of the people and territory (air, land and sea) is of the highest priority in all circumstances.

Yet, none of the candidates seeking the highest office of the land is even talking about national security, a serious problem that has a correlation to the economic life of the nation, in particular, and its survival, in general, except Vice President Jejomar C. Binay and his running mate, Sen. Gregorio B. Honasan II, a highly decorated army colonel who played an important role in the 1986 Edsa uprising.

Consider the following: 1. The country today is riven by three types of continuing rebellions. First, the reformist rebel young officers in the armed services who are the most dangerous, having access to organic weaponry, other war materiels, and who continue quietly to operate inside the government; Second, the Moro separatists in Mindanao; and third, the communist insurgents, who are separately and violently stalking the countryside and some urban centers, oftentimes manifesting themselves in terrorism, ambuscades, political assassinations, banditry, kidnappings and revolutionary taxation.

2. Some government officials are loudly and shamelessly proclaiming in various local and international fora that they are fully committed to stifle insurgency and terrorism without realizing that the country is the only one today in Asia or probably throughout the Western World without a clearly-defined national security law of its own.

This is so because the Ramos administration on September 22, 1992, naively repealed the country’s only national security law, Republic Act (RA) 1700, otherwise known as the Anti-subversion Law. The repeal, in effect, decriminalized subversive organizations, created a security vacuum and saw the resurgence of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the expansion of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army, the birth of the extremist Abu Sayyaf, and the intrusion of the dreaded Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists.

What is left in our law books to suppress subversion and rebellion is the antiquated Revised Penal Code, which, in Article 147, penalizes subversive and rebellious acts for only six years in prison and imposes a fine not exceeding P1,000 ($21) for founders, directors and presidents of associations totally or partially organized for the purpose of committing any of the crimes punishable under the Code.

The new Anti-Terrorism Law, or the Human Security Act (RA 9372), remains untested because of its serious flaw on the side of enforcement and prosecution of terrorist suspects.

3. The Philippines has now one of the highest number of armed rebels (the United States and the European Union classify them as terrorists): 15,000 Moro separatists in Mindanao (MILF, Abu Sayyaf and others) and 7,000 communist guerrillas operating elsewhere in the country.

They total 22,000 terrorists, making them one of the highest concentration of armed combatants in any part of the world, with their own flags, constitutions, territories, and armed forces, all in violation of the Constitution.

Their combined strength is the equivalent of 44 light infantry battalions or more than 50 percent of the Army’s total strength of 81,000 officers and men.

None of the candidates seeking the highest office of the land is even talking about national security, a serious problem that has a correlation to the economic life of the nation, in particular, and its survival, in general, except Vice President Jejomar Binay and his running mate, Sen. Gregorio B. Honasan.

4. The police and military organizations are top heavy with identical multilayered command structures that are complex, confusing and expensive to maintain.

5. The government since 2001 had already spent more than P800 billion for these organizations with no end in sight to the deteriorating national security and public-safety situations.

6. An enormous foreign and domestic debt estimated at more than P5.9 trillion is a critical issue in national security and public safety because such a huge liability hinders economic growth, creates serious unemployment problems, worsens poverty and has the potential of triggering political and social upheavals.

It may be true that poverty does not turn poor people into instant terrorists, but a weak country, beset with lack of direction and unbridled corruption, is vulnerable to terrorism.

7. The country is heavily dependent on Middle East oil. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), of which the Philippines is a founding member, commands strategic waterways, like the Straits of Malacca, Sunda, Lombok and Macassar, through which oil and trade to and from Japan and East Asian countries must move.

Philippine laws on combatting cybercrimes are inadequate. The ECommerce Act has no equivalent for the protection of national security.

The Data Privacy Act prohibits the government from eavesdropping on private electronic communications without a court order, yet private individuals can intrude into government web sites and invoke the right of information.

The National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), with the encouragement of Vice President Binay, is not idly and passively waiting for the situation to turn worse.

After the demise of Executive Order 269 that created the Commission on Information and Communication Technology on June 23, 2011, persisted in its cybersecurity thrusts, by conducting the Forum on Cybersecurity Awareness and Collaboration (October 26, 2011); the Cybersecurity Forum (February 27, 2012); the Seminar Toward ICT Development and Cybersecurity Enhancement (June 6, 2012); and the Cybersecurity Enhancement Workshop (June 11, 2012). These are investments toward the establishment of the envisioned Cybersecurity Institute.

When the defunct CICT shut down, the NDCP’s Cybersecurity Institute started to take off. With alumni who are well versed in cybersecurity, the NDCP has the potential to become, not just a national, but also a regional center of excellence in cybersecurity education, training and practice.

To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@ gmail.com.

Tuesday, May 3, 2016 A11

Reclamation at Scarborough Shoal?

Edgardo J. Angara

S

INCE 2012, a steady rotation of two Chinese Coast Guard vessels has effectively blockaded the traditional fishing grounds of Filipino fishermen at the Scarborough Shoal to the west of Pangasinan. The patrol has intensified, as five more vessels were spotted there a few weeks ago, according to the Department of National Defense.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP)—a Hong Kong-based broadsheet just bought by Alibaba—recently quoted an anonymous source close to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy that Beijing plans to start reclamation work this year at the atoll. The move is reportedly a reaction to the increasing closeness of the United States and Philippine military and would most likely be accelerated once the Permanent Court of Arbitration makes a ruling on the ongoing disputes this June.

Reclaiming Scarborough Shoal—

known as Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc to Filipinos and Huangyan Island to the Chinese—is allegedly considered by Beijing a decisive step in China’s endgame of gaining de facto control over the vital naval routes and immense natural resources of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Beijing says the shoal falls within its nine-dash claim, asserting that Yuan Dynasty mariners were the first who discovered it in the 13th century and had exercised jurisdiction ever since.

High Court as AJM Teddy Locsin Jr.

FREE FIRE

A

LTHOUGH I pleaded for it, the last debate did not include the most important question for the candidates. That question is, quote, “Ten [or is it 11] Supreme Court vacancies will occur in the next president’s term. Which law firm, or which personal lawyer in your campaign, or which business sector that you are partial to will help you fill those vacancies? Either from members of a law firm or two, or from the friends of your lawyer, or from the retainers of your business companions?” End of quote and of question.

As a politician, I can tell you that the House of Representatives cannot be bought but only leased—and at that only from time to time. It can never be owned in fee simple

but used only for a short time, like a motel.

The Senate being smaller may be leased but on an hourly basis—parang law firm in that respect. But

Bang the gong for Digong?

Ernesto M. Hilario

ABOUT TOWN

I

F the latest surveys up to this point are accurate, it’s all over but the shouting for Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte in the presidential derby.

Picture him in your mind at the Luneta Grandstand at noon of June 30 wearing a crisp Barong Tagalog, his right hand upraised, his left hand resting on a Bible, and repeating the oath of office, with his family—Sara and the two boys, plus who else?—by his side. Then, he prefaces his inaugural speech with a loud, “P____na, magtago na kayong mga kriminal at mga magnanakaw sa kaban ng bayan!” or words to that effect.

What’s wrong with this picture?

That may happen, or it may not. After all, anything can take place in the last five days to Election Day, particularly if the other front-running candidates make full use of their money and political machinery to muscle their way to Malacañang.

But if Duterte makes it past Sen. Grace Poe, Vice President Jejomar C. Binay and Manuel A. Roxas II, he would achieve a first in Philippine political history: he would be the first city mayor to be catapulted to the highest elective position as chief executive and commander in chief of the armed forces.

Duterte’s 33-percent rating in the latest voters’ preference surveys, or an 11-percent lead over Poe, may be due largely to broad support for his core message, which is to wield an iron fist against crime, illegal drugs and corruption.

That core message of significantly reducing crime and corruption within six months has been hammered home by Duterte in sortie after sortie, even after his rivals had a headstart in the campaign, as it took him a while to make the decision to run.

While it is true that the police are making headway in the war against illegal drugs, they have been unable to stop or deter murder, rape, robbery and petty crimes, such as cellphone snatching. The result is that many ordinary citizens feel unsafe and insecure out in the streets and even in their own homes.

At the same time, it appears that despite the Aquino administration’s mantra of daang matuwid or straight path, corruption goes unabated from the highest to the lowest levels of the bureaucracy.

Transparency International, the global civil-society organization leading the fight against corruption, ranked the Philippines 95th out of 186 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2015, 10 notches lower than its rank in the previous year. It said the Philippines scored 35/100 in the latest survey, which covered 186 countries in 2015 and 175 countries in 2014.

We cannot overemphasize the fact that an unstable peace and order

That assertion has no basis at all. Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio and Dr. Jay Batongbacal of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, have pointed out that Chinese maps from the period do not even indicate the shoal and that the Chinese only started affixing a name to the geographic feature in 1983.

In truth, Bajo de Masinloc, later named Scarborough Shoal, has been historically associated with the Philippines, and has appeared in 17th-century European maps of Southeast Asia. Its precise location was determined during the 1792 Malaspinas Expedition, sponsored by the Spanish government. And by the 19th century, Spain already exercised jurisdiction over it and occupied it, conducting the first formal survey of the shoal in 1800.

That ownership was passed on to the Americans through the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and affirmed by the Treaty of Washington of 1900.

Throughout the Commonwealth period, the US Coast Pilot Guides (US Coast and Geodetic Survey) reflected Scarborough Shoal in its navigation

I can tell you that the House of Representatives cannot be bought but only leased—and at that only from time to time.

It can never be owned in fee simple but used only for a short time, like a motel. The Senate being smaller may be leased but on an hourly basis— parang law firm in that respect. the Supreme Court can be packed, as Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to puck—saying it as Filipinos do—it for a long period of time.

For all jurisprudential intents and purposes, the High Court can become a law firm’s or a lawyer’s or a business sector’s AJM—automated jurisprudential machine. You only need to have most of the members

If Duterte makes it past Sen. Grace Poe, Vice President Jejomar C. Binay and Manuel A. Roxas II, he would achieve a first in Philippine political history: he would be the first city mayor to be catapulted to the highest elective position as chief executive and commander in chief of the armed forces. situation and pervasive corruption will set back efforts to sustain the momentum of economic growth needed to reduce poverty to manageable levels and extirpate one major cause of armed rebellion.

The promise to restore law and order, and curb corruption has overshadowed Duterte’s advocacy of federalism, the basic idea of which is to decentralize governance and allow the various regions to exercise real autonomy. The federalism agenda has long been pushed by PDP Laban Chairman Emeritus and former Sen. Nene Pimentel. It is what distinguishes Duterte’s platform from the rest of the pack, although this requires a constitutional amendment that could take time.

What also differentiates Duterte’s platform from the others is his pledge to talk peace with the New People’s Army (NPA), which has been waging an armed rebellion against the government for nearly five decades.

Founding Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Chairman Jose Ma. Sison has even been quoted in news reports as saying he would consider returning to the country if Duterte becomes president and perhaps call a temporary cease-fire to resume the stalled peace talks.

maps clearly within the Philippine sovereign domain and continued throughout since the Philippine regained independence in 1946. In 1963 the Philippine Navy even bombarded and dismantled a smuggler’s base discovered on the shoal. Dr. Batongbacal argued strongly that no other government action could express sovereignty so completely and convincingly than said state action.

But in addition to the Philippines’s historical title and actual possession, Scarborough Shoal clearly falls within our territory, it’s being merely 124 nautical miles or 260 kilometers away from our shorelines. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea— of which China is a signatory—gives the riparian country the exclusive economic jurisdiction over 200 nautical miles from its baselines.

In the face of such incontrovertible facts, Beijing should exercise utmost restraint. Any reclamation would be a sharp stab at the hearts and stomachs of many Filipino fishermen and such brazen move could unleash widespread grassroots outrage.

E-mail: angara.ed@gmail.com.

with long tenures in your pocket or formerly working in your firm.

Next question, quote: “To avoid this temptation to pack the Court, will you now commit to fill up all coming Supreme Court vacancies purely on the basis of the seniority of serving judges and prosecutors, with no regard to anything but the longevity, the integrity and the fidelity of their service to justice?

Any hint of previous acquaintance or association will be sufficient on its face to disqualify the nominee.”

End of question; close of quote.

These questions should have been asked, for the first virtue of government is justice. If justice can be manually manipulated, meaning programed by pucking the bench, then there is no reason whatsoever to endure having a government and paying taxes to maintain it.

The prospect of a political solution to the communist rebellion is certainly welcome. But what could complicate things is Sison having raised the idea of a coalition government where presumably, the CPP/NPA/National Democratic Front would ask to be given a share of power under a Duterte administration.

Given the reality that NPA strength and political influence appear to have waned significantly since 1986, Sison’s idea of a coalition government at this time seems rather far-fetched and unrealistic considering that the NPA has not reached the strategic stalemate stage where it has achieved parity in armed strength and can launch positional warfare against the Armed Forces of the Philippines instead of the hit-and-run guerrilla tactics it still uses since it began in 1969. It cannot demand concessions from the other side without giving something in return. A temporary cease-fire, while talks are under way, would be a sign of good faith on both sides.

But to go back to Duterte.

If Duterte wins by a wide margin over his nearest rival, that will not necessarily translate to a “peaceful” administration. The very fact that he is targeting criminals and the corrupt early on means that he will earn their enmity. The humanrights community, not only at home, but also abroad will be closely monitoring how the anticrime campaign proceeds, as it could very well open the floodgates to abuses and bring about, not law and order, but only the peace of the graveyard and genuine fear of repression of the freedoms guaranteed by our fundamental law.

E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Splitting train project to derail completion B L S. M

W

@lorenzmarasigan

HEN the highest planning body of the government decides to approve the proposal of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to split the P170-billion North-South Railway ProjectSouth Line into two, the construction of the long-haul line that will connect Metro Manila to as far as Sorsogon may potentially be jeopardized.

Unbundling the southern line from the overall deal will lessen the palatability of the deal, as the railway line that will run through Matnog, Sorsogon, is still considered a greenfield project, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center Executive Director Andre C. Palacios said.

“If we cut them up to two different projects, it might take the long-haul line years to finish. There might not be a driving force for the quick implementation of the longhaul component of the project,” he told the BusinessMirror in a phone interview Monday.

Based on documents obtained by the BusinessMirror, the DOTC has proposed before the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee to split the largest rail deal to date into two—a commuter line that will run from Tutuban, Manila, to Los Baños, Laguna, and a long-haul line that will end in Matnog, Sorsogon.

Currently, at its first phase of the

₧170B The cost of the North-South Railway Project

tender process, the original project covers Metro Manila to Legazpi City, Albay, plus a number of existing and proposed branch lines totaling approximately 653 kilometers.

It consists of commuter-railway operations between Tutuban and Calamba and long-haul railway operations between Tutuban and Legazpi, including extended longhaul rail operations on the branch line between Calamba and Batangas and extension between Legazpi and Matnog.

“The purpose of combining the high-revenue project, called the brownfield commuter line, with the

riskier, greenfield long-haul line is for cross subsidy and better implementation,” Palacios said. “If we split them into two, the long-haul line may lack the driving force it needs for quicker implementation.”

Several companies have already expressed their interest in the deal, like Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Ayala Corp., Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. and San Miguel Corp.

Officials of these companies have repeatedly urged the government to hasten the bidding process for the railway line, as this is one of the priority projects that should be done immediately to address the growing congestion in Metro Manila and its neighboring cities and provinces.

But with only less than two months left before the country changes its chief executive, it seems that awarding the deal right away would be far from reality, considering the timelines of past tenders for key infrastructure deals.

Aside from splitting the deal into two, the DOTC has also proposed to increase the cost of the North-South Railway Project by nearly P100 billion to change the design of the rail tracks, and to fund the resettlement package for affected communities.

The transport agency sought for the change in track design to standard gauge from narrow gauge, as the former can accommodate faster speeds above the 160-kilometer-per-hour mark. A standard gauge is wider compared to the narrow gauge and, thus, would require more right-of-way.

However, according to a BusinessMirror source, changing the gauge tracks at this point would be “a waste of time and government resources,” as the government

has already purchased materials such as slippers, and has even refurbished narrow-gauge trains donated to the Philippines.

The South Line is expected to be completed by 2019. It is part of a two-phase railway construction project supported by the Japanese government.

T he ot her ph a se i nvolves the construction of a 36.7-km narrow-gauge elevated commuter railway from Malolos, Bulacan, to Tutuban in Manila. It is seen to be completed by the third quarter of 2020. This project is implemented under an official development assistance package from the Japanese government.

The two-phase project is part of the P4.76-trillion Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and its Surrounding Areas, otherwise known as the Dream Plan, formulated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The Dream Plan lists the transport infrastructure requirements of the Philippines, facilities that are expected to alleviate potential losses and gain from prospective savings.

If the transport road map would not be implemented through 2030, the Philippines stands to lose roughly P6 billion daily in traffic costs. Currently, it loses P2 billion a day in transport costs.

A large chunk of the list will be implemented under the PPP scheme, which has been gaining traction since its launch in 2010.

The BusinessMirror earlier reported that infrastructure spending under the proposed Three-year Rolling Infrastructure Plan could reach as much as P1.07 trillion by 2019.

Gomes. . .

C  A

operator returned $4.6 million, and another P38.32 million the following week. In one of the Senate hearings, it was also revealed that Wong returned another P200 million to the AMLC. But the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

(RCBC) and Philrem Service Corp. (Philrem), the other two entities involved in the scam, have yet to promise return of the money, per their statements in the latest bouts of Senate hearing on the case.

RCBC President-on-leave Lorenzo Tan earlier told the Senate that they are to convince the bank’s Board of Directors to return the money passed on to them if found liable. The rough estimate of money that passed through RCBC is about $50 million.

Gomes said for the next Senate hearing, they want a follow-up on whether RCBC will return the money, and if Tan was able to convince the bank’s board to do so.

“Now this Philrem, [they have] $17 million, everyone knows it. Sen. [Sergio] R. Osmeña [III] has told it very clearly. AMLC has charged that she [Philrem President Salud Bautista] has 17 million dollars. And she is dilly-dallying over here and in the Senate…the way she is behaving. She should return the money. If Kim Wong has done it, she should return the money. Why is she not returning the money? What is her problem?” Gomes added.

The remittance firm denied in the Senate hearing that it is holding $17 million of the $81-million stolen money.

Gomes also said hearings and legal processes should “not be delayed” and should push through, so the money of the “hardworking people of Bangladesh” gets returned, as the stolen funds will be used for infrastructure development in their country.

“We already know where the money is, and we know that [the claimant] is only Bangladesh.

So it is not very difficult. If there was other claimant, it is okay, so that is why it should be completed very soon,” he said. “It should be finished

www.businessmirror.com.ph

3RD ZIKA VIRUS CASE DETECTED IN PHL T

HE Department of Health (DOH) on Monday confirmed that a 20-year-old South Korean tourist has contracted Zika virus infection in the Philippines, the third confirmed case in the country.

The DOH said the South Korean and his sibling were in one of the country’s most-frequented tourist spots on April 10 to 14. They left the country on April 14. The South Korean showed symptoms of the disease a few days later.

I n a telephone inter view w i t h re p o r te r s o n M o n d ay, Health Secretary Janette Garin said the man was hospitalized in South Korea. G ar i n wa s i n fo r m e d by S o u t h Korean health officials on April 28 that the patient had colds on April 20, rashes on April 22, and fever, sore throat and muscle pain on April 26. The virus was observed in his urine on April 27.

From South Korea, the patient traveled only to the Philippines, Garin said.

She said South Korean officials have informed her office that they had no known Aedes aegypti mosquito cases.

The South Korean was the second “exported case “ and the “ third confirmed case” in the country.

“We had one [teenager] in Cebu, and an American [woman],” Garin said.

In March the DOH confirmed that an unidentified American woman, who stayed in the Philippines for four weeks, was tested positive for Zika virus when she was on her last week in the country in January this year.

Garin said the patient had the virus symptoms of fever, rash, joint pain, conjunctivitis and muscle pain before returning to the United States. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), Garin said, informed

quickly, the earlier this investigation is done and the $81 million is returned to Bangladesh and this whole chapter will close. I think it is good for the reputation of this country also.”

After a series of Senate hearings on the case, the investigation in the upper chamber will resume after the May 9 elections, while the first hearing on the forfeiture case will be on May 3.

Gomez said he appreciates the Department of Justices (DOJ) help, although he has no choice but to wait and see on how things will turn out, especially since he does not know how the legal processes work in the country.

“I don’t know when this money will go back to Bangladesh. The DOJ and AMLC are working together to do this quickly so it won’t take so much time. But I don’t even know what does that mean. It is a very clear case, they are saying very soon. But, like I said, I don’t know what that means,” he said.

“We don’t know the systems over here. The problem is that I just have to accept whatever your rules and regulations are here. I just have to wait and see. That is the only way to make an assessment. So far, I have not got a single dollar back. Not yet. This is a fact. The money is with AMLC in their vaults,” he added.

The ambassador said he has reached out to talk to everyone involved and is still open to talk to anyone involved in the case.

Addressing loopholes

GOMES also talked about the vulnerabilities of the systems, both on Bangladesh’s and the Philippines’s side.

“I agree, we have weaknesses in our system —in our computer system, in our IT (information technology) system, so the hacker went inside. I agree. But not a single dollar has been taken by any other. It all has come here that is a fact. It is all accounted over here. The responsibility of Bangladesh is that our system has to improve,” Gomes said.

The governor of the central bank of Bangladesh earlier resigned following the ordeal.

Gomes also revealed that Bangladesh has hired two IT companies from New York to address their

her about the case of the patient who stayed in the Philippines from January 2 to 28.

Another documented case of Zika virus infection in the Philippines was traced in Cebu City in 2012. A 15-year-old boy was reported with its symptoms but has since fully recovered after three weeks of continuous bed rest and medication. After yielding negative from tests on dengue and Chikungunya, the patient’s serum was tested positive for Zika virus.

However, despite the reported cases of Zika virus infection in the country, Garin allayed the fears of the public, saying that “there is no outbreak” of the virus in the Philippines.

“There is no epidemic. The public should not panic,” Garin said.

Meanwhile, reporters have observed last week that DOH workers in Boracay were busy going around and urging tourists to be extra careful and use mosquito repellent to protect themselves from mosquito bites.

For the first time in history, a mosquito-borne Zika virus has been identified as the cause of devastating brain birth defects.

The US CDC recently confirmed that Zika virus is to blame for severe developmental and neurological problems in newborns. The virus is now believed to affect women throughout their pregnancies rather than during just the first trimester, the CDC reported recently.

B r a z i l i s c o n s i d e re d t h e “ground zero” for the Zika virus.

Since Zika was detected in Brazil, its two states, Pernambuco and Paraiba, have accounted for 40 percent of the 6,480 reported cases of babies born with shrunken heads, a rare condition known as microcephaly.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

system’s flaws.“Hacking has become an epidemic now. Hacking will happen but we have to fight it, we have to be stronger than those people.

We have our vulnerability, but Bangladesh now has been more strict,” Gomes said.

Gomez added that, while addressing the question of weak systems back in their country, the Philippines, too, must look into possible loopholes on how illegal money came to the local banking system.

The ambassador said, while there is no problem with having a bank-secrecy law, the protection should not cover the accounts in RCBC, as they were all faked.

“There are no persons here. All the accounts are fake and William Go says it is not mine. So that does not apply over there and that was what the senators were trying to tell them,” he said. What is also surprising to Gomes, according to him, is the amount of control the AMLC has over casinos.

“We came to know that the Philippines is one of the three countries in the world where the government does not have any control over the casinos. Now that is very strange,” Gomes said. “That was a little…I was surprised and I think this gang, they knew it. That this is the vulnerability of the Philippine system.”

Bilateral relations

GOMES said the relations of the Philippines and Bangladesh should not be affected by only “a handful of people.” “Bilaterally, we are in the best position now. This should not hurt the relationship. It is a shame that these couple of people are out to damage the emotional relationship of the Philippines and Bangladesh.”

He added: “This small group of people, I don’t think they should be allowed to just take the two countries for a right. They cheated the relationship between Philippines and Bangladesh, they are the traitors. Not only that they have gained personally but they can hurt the relationship between two countries and we will not allow that to happen.”

“Right from the beginnings of our country, the Philippines has already been with us. That is why our relationship is so strong.”