BusinessMirror May 6, 2015

BusinessMirror

THREETIME ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDEE 2006, 2010, 2012

U.N. MEDIA AWARD 2008

A broader look at today’s business TfridayNovember 2014Vol.Vol.1010No.No.21040 Thursday, May 18, 7, 2015

www.businessmirror.com.ph INSIDE

In fulfilment of God’s plan

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EXPLOPING GOD’S WORD, FR. SA, PUTZU, SDB AND LOUIE M. LACSON Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • lifestylebusinessmirror@gmail.com

Life

‘Bills lowering income tax trashed’

DAVID K. SHIPLER’S ‘FREEDOM OF SPEECH’ REFLECTS OUR FRACTURED TIMES »D4

BusinessMirror

Thursday, May 7, 2015

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Planning your first trip to Sydney B G H Airfarewatchdog.com

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YDNEY is Australia’s largest city and also the jumping-off point for exploring the country. Here are some essential tips to plan and enjoy your visit.

■ Airfare tips. October to March is Sydney’s busiest tourism period, when the weather is most pleasant. Airfares are cheaper for travel during Australia’s winter months, and higher for the Australian summer, with the Southern Hemisphere’s spring and fall being shoulder season. Hotel plus air package deals can sometimes provide extra value, but always be sure to compare.

■ Getting around the city. Sydney is very walkable—it’s basically flat, with no hills to climb, and the streets are well marked. (Warning: pedestrians do not jaywalk, and police are not hesitant to fine you for doing so, and be sure to look both ways crossing streets—they drive on the left here.) Newsstands sell the recently introduced Opal Card, a stored-value transit card similar to London’s Oyster Card and the cheapest and most convenient way to access public transportation. The daily maximum you’ll pay for travel is capped at $15 for adults, $7.50 for children, or $60/$30 for a weeks’ worth of travel, which includes buses, trains and ferries. As for taxis, they are metered and in egalitarian Sydney, where everyone is a “mate,” people still ride in the front seat with the driver. Uber has come to town, and is gaining popularity.

■ Recommended hotels. As with airfares, hotel rates go down in the Australian winter. The highest rated lodgings with the most reviews, according to TripAdvisor.com, are two serviced apartments rather than hotels: Merton Serviced Apartments Campbell Street and its sister property Merton Serviced Apartments World Tower. Accommodations include full kitchens and washer/dryers. In the luxury category, the 155-room Sydney Park Hyatt gets top marks, but the prices are a splurge (in the $600 per night range). But, perhaps, the best value, say TripAdvisor groupies, is the Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbor, which recently advertised rates at $210 per night.

■ Top eats. There’s no “traditional” Australian or Sydney dish or cuisine other than, perhaps, “shrimp on the barbie,” made famous by actor Paul Hogan’s appearances in those tourism television ads. But Sydney now has a considerable food culture, even though it’s only been in existence for about 30 years. Australian beef is an especially tasty option, and you’ll find lamb dishes on many menus. For fine dining, two highly recommended options are Nomad, 16 Foster Street in Surry Hills, with its Mediterranean-inspired menu sourced with local Australian ingredients, and longrunning Rockpool, now in a new location at 11 Bridge Street in the Central Business District, where chef Neal Perry also provides tasty menus for Qantas.

■ Top attractions: Tours of the Sydney Opera House (www.sydneyoperahouse.com/tours), which, amazingly, took 17 years to build, are extremely popular and a great photo opportunity. The standard tour takes one hour, while the backstage option lasts two hours. For many who do it, climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge is a highlight of their trip. Do it at sunrise or twilight for the best views. Just be warned, you will take a breathalyzer test (under .05 to climb) and cameras, phones or other loose objects are not allowed, all for safety’s sake. Even jaded locals are amazed by the experience.

■ Annual festivals. Every January the Sydney Festival stages around 400 contemporary cultural performances: around 140 events performed by more than 1,000 artists in more than 30 venues. In October the annual Good Food Month (www.goodfood.com.au) brings street food festivals and other culinary events to Sydney.

■ Off the beaten track. Don’t be confused when Sydneysiders talk about “suburbs”—these are what you and I call “neighborhoods,” inner city enclaves similar to Sunnyside, Queens, in New York City, and there are hundreds of them; they include virtually anything outside the Central Business District. For an unusual insider’s tour of “emerging” hoods such as Redfern and Darlington and hidden scenic spots that few tourists see, in a beautifully restored 1964 Holden sedan, sign up with My Sydney Detour, a unique private tour run by native son Richard Graham. A half-day tour costs $299

for up to three people and includes lunch.

■ Exchange rate. The US dollar currently fetches A$1.29 (last year it was $1.14 so your money buys even more now).

■ Tipping. Tips are not customary nor are they expected, perhaps, because the minimum wage is $17 an hour.

■ Electricity. Voltage is 220 to 240, and you will need both an outlet adaptor and a voltage converter if you’re using appliances without built-in converters (you don’t want to fry your curling iron or WaterPik). Even many top hotels, airport lounges and other venues lack 110-volt outlets, although they usually provide adaptors on request or you can get them from housekeeping, but it’s best to bring your own.

■ Useful apps. Locals give high marks to the TimeOut Sydney and Australia Good Food Guide applications. The Sydney Official Guide app from Destination New South Wales is also highly rated.

Arrivo Sydney (Android) and NextThere (iTunes) are useful public transit apps.

USEFUL WEB SITES ■ Destination New South Wales (www. destinationnsw.com.au/ destinationnsw.com.au/) ■ Airfare listings to Sydney (tinyurl.com/o53gpx5) ■ TripAdvisor Things to Do in Sydney (tinyurl.com/ p4ulyf ) ■ TripAdvisor Sydney Hotel Reviews (tinyurl.com/ l7zl l7zlv)

THE BELLEVUE HOTELS AND RESORTS BAGS EXCELLENCE AWARDS AN industry leader in the local hospitality scene, The Bellevue Hotels and Resorts (BH&R) recently scored a triple victory as its properties—The Bellevue Manila, B Hotel and The Bellevue Resort—were given Awards of Excellence by Booking.com, the world leader in

booking hotels and other accommodations online.

The said award is presented to a select group of Booking.com partners in recognition of their dedication in meeting and exceeding guests’ expectations through demonstration of outstanding commitment in delivering consistently amazing stays.

Seen in the photo are (from left) The Bellevue Manila and B Hotel Sales Director Jane Perez, Booking. com Philippines Inc. Senior Account Manager Carlo Garcia and Account Manager Juls Crisostomo, BH&R Managing Director Patrick Chan, B Hotels Managing Director Ryan Chan, The Bellevue Manila Resident Manager Rolando Galano, Reservations Manager Annie Bisuna and Front Office Manager Glennis Narciso, with B Hotel Alabang General Manager Jomari Ouano during the awarding ceremony held at The Bellevue Manila.

LIFE

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NORA, BRILLANTE RETURN TO CANNES Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Nora, Brillante return to Cannes with ‘Taklub’

NORA AUNOR as a mother and Yolanda survivor in Brillante Mendoza’s Taklub.

as well, but nobody complained because everyone recognized that our difficulties were nothing compared to what the Yolanda survivors have been through.”

Taklub is produced by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, in cooperation with the Presidential Communications Operations Office-Philippine Information Agency. The film also stars Julio Diaz, Soliman Cruz, Ruby Ruiz, Lou Veloso and Aaron Rivera. “We are bringing not only our best director and our best artists in Cannes, but also these lessons on preparedness and resilience, which hopefully

would be heeded,” Legarda said. “Sometimes you have to ignite emotions so that people would remember a lesson in life. There are a lot of lessons to be learned in the tragedy that was caused by Yolanda and that is what Direk Brillante shows in Taklub.”

Its participation in Cannes makes it impossible for Brillante and Legarda to host a gala premiere for Taklub prior to its departure for France, but the senator promised that it will be seen throughout the country as part of the government’s disasterpreparedness advocacy. ■

SHOW

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BLACK EYE IN BOXING Sports

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MANNY PACQUIAO’S confession of fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. with an injured shoulder puts boxing in the hot seat anew. AP

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| THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

will not make a good sequel USA Today

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NCE was more than enough.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao ran the perfect scam, fleecing fans $100 for the privilege of watching what was panned almost universally as a glorified sparring session. Fight of the Century? More like Farce of the Century.

But like every good swindler, Mayweather seems to think if a con was good once, it’ll be even better the second time around. How else to explain the report on Tuesday that he’s “willing” to fight Pacquiao again next year, when Pacquiao’s torn-up shoulder has healed.

How big of him.

There’s no response yet from the Pacquiao camp, but it’s safe to say he’s not going to turn down another boatload of cash. That he already appeared to have lost a step before his shoulder turned to hamburger meat hardly matters.

The worst part is that for all the fury there was over Mayweather’s unanimous decision on Saturday night, boxing fans, big-event enthusiasts and rubberneckers will probably let themselves get suckered again if there’s a rematch.

Even after all the griping about the snoozefest— Mayweather is as clinical as a surgeon in the ring, but his defensive game plan is as bland as it is effective—the announcement that Pacquiao fought with a torn rotator cuff will convince some to give them a second chance. Shell out even more for the pay-per-view the second time around, too.

They are, after all, the two best pound-for-pound boxers of their generation, and any other fight pales in comparison. You can hear the rationalizing now: If not for Pacquiao’s bum shoulder, the much-anticipated matchup would have lived up to its hype.

“Manny should be commended for going through the fight because I certainly wouldn’t have done it if I was the boxer,” Pacquiao’s adviser, Michael Koncz, told USA Today Sports on Monday.

But no matter how you try and spin it, this fight occurred five years too late. By the time a rematch would happen, the only bout worth watching between these two would have to be in shuffleboard. Or canasta.

Pacquiao, 36, appeared to be past his prime, even before he climbed into the ring with Mayweather as his other interests—he’s a congressman in his native Philippines—took precious time away from his training. Of his five other career losses, two came in the last three years.

Mayweather is still in fearsome shape at 38, but he’s grown cautious. The entertaining, go-for-broke style of his younger days has been replaced with a strategy designed to ensure victory. He picks his punches carefully, and uses spectacular footwork to prevent opponents from landing repeated blows that would give them momentum.

He, too, has other interests. After floating the possibility of retirement for months, Mayweather set a date on Saturday night for his going-away party. There would be one more fight, in September, and then he’s done.

Really done. Not like those other two times he retired, only to unretire.

“I’ve just lost the love of the sport,” Mayweather said.

“My love and my passion for boxing is not the same, like it once was.”

When it comes to Money, though, everything is negotiable. What he says—and does—is subject to his interpretation, liable to be revised at any time. Or in the case of his domestic-abuse history, blatantly rewritten.

Sure enough, Mayweather’s $100-million check from the Pacquiao bout had barely cleared the bank when ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith claimed he’d gotten a text from the boxer saying he’d be interested in a rematch when Pacquiao’s shoulder is healed.

But sequels are never as good as the original.

Given what a bust the first Mayweather-Pacquiao bout was, even the makers of New Coke would consider this a bad idea.

Mayweather-Pacquiao would have been a great fight once upon a time. The idea that it still could be is nothing more than a fairy tale.

PACQUIAO INJURY ANOTHER HIT FOR THE SPORT

BLACK EYE IN BOXING L

FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR. (left) hits Manny Pacquiao during their welterweight title fight in Las Vegas. The two boxers are open for a rematch. AP

After ‘Fight of the Century,’ Mayweather, Pacquiao both sued B B V USA Today

J

UST three days after Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated what we now know was an injured Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision in the so-called Fight of the Century, both fighters are facing lawsuits.

Two men who watched the fight filed a class-action suit on Tuesday against Pacquiao and his promoter Top Rank, alleging Pacquiao and his handlers failed to disclose the fighter’s shoulder injury ahead of the fight on Saturday night in Las Vegas against Mayweather.

The plaintiffs, Stephane Vanel and Kami Rahbaran, are seeking $5 million on behalf of themselves and more than 100 other ticketholders.

According to CNBC, legal representatives for Vanel and Rahbaran said the summons were issued on Tuesday, and they will be served within the next couple of days.

Others listed as defendants in the lawsuit include Pacquiao’s advisor Michael Koncz, Top Rank President Todd du Boef and Top Rank Founder and Chairman Bob Arum.

Top Rank’s attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, told the Los Angeles Times he intends to file a motion to dismiss what he described as a “frivolous” case.

Calls to Petrocelli and Koncz were not immediately returned on Tuesday night.

The fight will end up being the richest in the history of boxing, with as much as $400 million or more in revenue.

Mayweather was also sued on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court by his ex-girlfriend and the mother of three of his children, Josie Harris, it was reported by CNN. Harris sued Mayweather for $20 million for defamation, claiming that Mayweather lied during an interview with Katie Couric in April. During that interview, he called her a drug abuser while discussing the 2010 domestic-violence incident which ended up with Mayweather going to jail for two months.

“Mayweather knowingly and maliciously lied about his beating of Harris, disclaiming any responsibility for the attack and Harris’s resulting serious injuries,” the suit reads. “Instead, Mayweather pointed his finger at Harris, labeling her as a drug abuser and an aggressor who the world-class boxer had to ‘restrain.’”

B T D The Associated Press

AS VEGAS—The people who paid $99.95 to watch at home had no clue.

Neither did those spending $40,000 or more for a ringside seat on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

And, surely, the bettor who wagered $500,000 at the MGM Grand sports book on Manny Pacquiao to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. wasn’t in the loop.

They all thought they were getting the Fight of the Century. Two fighters who, if not in their prime, were at least in peak condition for the fight of their lives.

What they got instead was a one-armed Pacquiao chasing Mayweather around the ring for 12 rounds. The Filipino who normally is a punching machine landed only 18 right jabs and didn’t even throw as many punches as the defensive-minded Mayweather.

His shoulder had been injured in training.

Injured so badly that Pacquiao will undergo surgery this week for a rotator-cuff tear.

Yet, the fight went on. No one outside the Pacquiao camp knew until two hours before the fight, when his handlers unsuccessfully sought permission from Nevada boxing officials for a shot of Toradol, an anti-inflammatory used to treat acute pain.

Fighters are tough guys. They often enter the ring not 100 percent because, in boxing, it’s an unwritten rule that the fight must go on.

But this was different. This was the richest fight ever, a boxing match so big that the fighters were getting paydays that rivaled the gross domestic product of some developing countries.

This was a fight so hugely anticipated that it demanded the best of both fighters.

“I wanted to be more aggressive but it was hard for me to fight [with one hand],” Pacquiao said.

It’s hard to blame Pacquiao, even if he lied a day before the fight when he checked the “no” box on a commission form asking him if he had a shoulder injury. He had the weight of an entire country on his shoulders, and he badly wanted to fight.

The people around him, though, are another matter. They knew their fighter was damaged goods, but sent him into the ring anyway.

The stakes were too high. The money was too big. The richest fight ever had to go on.

“Athletes always fight hurt,” promoter Bob Arum said the night of the fight. “We felt the work that was done on the shoulder during training would give him the opportunity to use the right hand. He deals with the injury and thinks he conquered it and it was reinjured again.

Happens in football and every sport.”

Turns out there was a reason trainer Freddie Roach closed sparring sessions a month before the fight. Nothing to see but a one-armed fighter getting ready to fight the best fighter of his generation.

The problem for Pacquiao’s camp wasn’t in keeping Mayweather in the dark about the injury. That’s fair game in boxing, where there’s little advantage in letting an opponent know about any weakness.

But no one told Nevada boxing officials, not even when specifically asked on the form filled out

by Pacquiao just before the weigh-in. They were blindsided when, just before the fight, Pacquiao’s handlers asked if it was OK for their fighter to get a shot to deaden the pain in his shoulder.

By then it was too late. Allowing the shot without knowing exactly what the injury was would have put Mayweather at a disadvantage, at the very least.

“They had plenty of time to disclose it,” said Bob Bennett, executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission.

The lack of disclosure will probably mean a fine, and possibly a suspension for Pacquiao. He can afford both, with a payday that figures to exceed $100 million and a lengthy recovery time from shoulder surgery.

Still, Nevada boxing regulators need to do something. They thought they had done everything possible to ensure a fair fight, but ended up being snookered instead.

It won’t get people back the money they paid, something a pair of fans are seeking in a federal court lawsuit filed on Tuesday against Pacquiao and his handlers.

But it might give them some confidence that the next time they are asked to dig deep into their wallets, they can do so with confidence that they are getting what they paid for.

SPORTS

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economics and finance [has] thumbed down the proposal... no more chance [to pass this] in the 16th Congress,” said the source, a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

The Cabinet cluster on economic development is led by C  A

SEIPI ASKS LINA TO SCRAP RULES HURTING INDUSTRY B C N. P

A Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch B N A

HE Aquino administration’s Cabinet cluster on economic development has already thumbed down the proposal lowering individual income-tax rates, which, based on the estimate of House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Romero S. Quimbo, will cost the government P100 billion in revenues— equivalent to the 2015 budget of the Department of Health.

With this, a ranking member of the House majority told the BM that the 13 bills in the lower chamber seeking to give tax relief to millions of individual earners have lost any chance of being passed in the current Congress.

“The Cabinet cluster on

KEEP calm and listen to Jamie Foxx, because he can explain what happened when he was singing the national anthem before the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight on Saturday.

Even though it took him a while to realize that something had happened other than a little liveperformance glitch he thought he’d recovered from.

“We crafted this great thing with the organ and everything,” Foxx explained on Entertainment Tonight. Then, right before he started to sing, the pack receiving the signal for his in-ear monitors fell off and he could no longer hear the music clearly.

“So I have to try to listen to the organ through the speakers of the stadium and try to catch what it is.”

In the stadium, he said, the performance went over standing-ovation great, with folks including Denzel Washington giving him props. However, what came through on the telecast was a whole other thing—and it was a thing he didn’t find out about until people told him the Internet was lighting up with stories about how he’d gone rogue and butchered “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

“When I listened, I said, ‘OK, we’re off,’” Foxx said.

But, he continued, “I didn’t think I’d just committed a sin against America.”

The part of the uproar that stung was “when they questioned if I could sing,” he said. Yes, he promised, he knows how the national anthem goes.

And he was bummed because he “wanted that to be the best moment and unfortunately it didn’t go, you know, 100 percent like we wanted it.”

Foxx kept it all in perspective when he was quizzed about the anthem on Access Hollywood as well. “I think a little bit of it was just...people want to have something to talk about...but everybody’s cool, and the national anthem will be on my album,” he said, keeping it deadpan.

“And,” he joked, “I’m gonna do whatever the hell I want to it.” LOS ANGELES TIMES

BusinessMirror

B J M  C

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Jamie Foxx on botched attempt at US national anthem

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HE legendary multiawarded actress Nora Aunor is once more headed to the Festival de Cannes, or the Cannes Film Festival, with Taklub, the environmental-themed drama directed by Brillante Mendoza.

The film festival will be held from May 13 to 24.

Brillante won the Best Director plum in the 2009 edition of the international film festival for his controversial Kinatay Kinatay, and he collaborated with Nora on 2012’s Thy Womb, which won top honors in local and international film competitions, including the Bisato D’Oro Award for Best Actress by Premio della Critica Independiente, and the La Navicella Award for Best Director, during the 69th Venice International Film Festival. Previously, Nora won acclaim in Cannes for 1980’s Bona and 1982’s Himala.

Part of the official selection under Cannes’s Un Certain Regard section, Taklub was shepherded from concept to screen by Brillante and Sen. Loren Legarda, a long-standing environmentalist. The film explores the stories of Supertyphoon Yolanda survivors and how they try to cope with the tragedy through faith, hope and letting go. At the center of these tales is Nora’s Bebeth, a mother who loses her three children to the tragedy.

“I’m greatly thankful to Senator Legarda because she championed to get this film made,” Nora said in Filipino at the news conference held recently for the film. The legendary actress also said that making the film was a heart-wrenching experience, particularly when it came to film—in the scene of tragedy itself—the moment when Bebeth visits the mass grave where her children are buried. “It was heartbreaking. You couldn’t help but feel the wretchedness and the despair of the survivors, especially what they must’ve have felt when they were desperately searching for their loved ones. It was a difficult shoot not only emotionally but physically

P.  |     | 7 DAYS A WEEK

SOLON REVEALS CABINET ALREADY THUMBED DOWN MEASURE GIVING TAX RELIEF TO INDIVIDUAL EARNERS

FIRST TRIP TO SYDNEY EAR Lord, after Your resurrection, with immense patience, You explained to the disciples that both Your death and resurrection were complimentary aspects of a single saving event, and that both of them had already been foretold in the scriptures. All that happened to You was in fulfilment of god’s plan to save mankind through Your death and resurrection—a plan that was scripted in the Bible for all generations to know and be enlightened by. This is a fundamental truth which we should never lose sight of. Amen.

■ ■

HE electronics industry, the country’s top merchandise importer and exporter, has submitted a list of recommendations to reinstalled Customs Commissioner Alberto D. Lina, with emphasis on the halting of regulations implemented by the previous leaders of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) that hurt the industry’s competitiveness.

The Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (Seipi) said it is hoping that the term of Lina, who briefly headed the BOC during

PESO EXCHANGE RATES ■ US 44.6260

the Arroyo administration, will signal an improvement in business operations for electronics firms.

“For 2015 alone, the players in the industry were saddled with numerous customs issues that impeded business operations, such as the BOC Stuffing, No Advanced Processing, Suspension of Port Operations during Holidays and others,” Seipi said in a statement.

Seipi President Dan C. Lachica said these customs regulations, coupled with the high cost and poor quality of power, inadequate infrastructure and logistics S “S,” A

FIFTHGENERATION PROCESSORS Intel Philippines officials, led by (from left) Wowie Wong, market development manager; Calum Chisholm, country manager; Jason Ty, channel manager; and Randy Kanepi, marketing manager, introduce the Intel next-generation mobile devices using fifth-generation Intel Core processors to the media. The new wave of Intel-powered devices boasts of intelligent and innovative features that enable empowering experiences for today’s generation of users. ROY DOMINGO

SMIC Q1 income up 8.1% S

M Investments Corp. (SMIC), the holding firm of the Sy family, reported higher income growth in the first three months, as most of its core businesses performed very well.

SMIC said consolidated net income for the period grew 8.1 percent to P6.7 billion, from P6.24 billion the previous year, and a net income margin of 10.4 percent.

Excluding extraordinary items, recurring net income increased 11 percent from last year.

The first-quarter figure, however, proved lower than the P7.42 billion generated in 2013, partly as a result of the trading gains of its banking units that made up more than 40

percent of its business.

“We are focused on expanding all our core businesses, given the favorable economic outlook. Our expansion plans are geared toward meeting the needs of underserved customers across the country and to positioning ourselves to compete effectively in each of our growing markets,” SM President Harley T. Sy said in a statement.

Revenues grew 7.7 percent to P65.1 billion, from last year’s P60.4 billion.

Banks accounted for 41 percent of total net income, while property delivered 40 percent, and retail contributed 19 percent.

Retail operations under SM Retail Inc. delivered a growth in total sales of

6.5 percent to P44.9 billion, while net income rose 6.5 percent to P1.3 billion.

SM’s food-retail business continued to expand in both urban and rural communities, adding 10 new stores in various parts of Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, the company said.

By the end of the quarter, SM Retail had a total of 279 stores, comprising 50 department stores, 40 supermarkets, 43 hypermarkets, 120 Savemore stores and 26 WalterMart stores.

BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s largest lender, reported net interestincome growth of 9.3 percent during the period to P13.3 billion, with net income of P6.1 billion in the first quarter up 12 percent. VG Cabuag

■ JAPAN 0.3724 ■ UK 67.7423 ■ HK 5.7575 ■ CHINA 7.1905 ■ SINGAPORE 33.5206 ■ AUSTRALIA 35.4456 ■ EU 49.9142 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 11.9009 Source: BSP (6 May 2015)

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News

BusinessMirror

Thursday, May 7, 2015

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Further easing of inflation seen A

By Bianca Cuaresma

lready low inflation thus far averaging 2.37 percent in the first four months should ease further in the coming months and fall even lower than the low end of the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Manila unit of the Dutch financial services giant ING Group said.

In commentaries on Tuesday following the release of inf lation data in April by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA),

ING Bank economist Tim Condon said inf lation should fall lower than 2 percent during the quarter and likely stay there til

around September.

“Based on the disinf lation drivers, we expect inflation to break through the bottom of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s 2 [-percent] to 4- percent target range in the current quarter,” Condon said.

The sub-2-percent inf lation environment was seen to persist between now til around September when price pressure on food items and on energy were seen at their weakest.

The last time inflation averaged lower than 2 percent was in August of 2009, or six years earlier when averaged 1.7 percent.

Monetary officials, meanwhile, said the developments that could push inflation right back up and tread higher than the low end of this year’s 2-percent to 4-percent target range are typhoon-related food-supply disruptions as the moonsoon season begins to intensify or as disruptions caused by the El Niño phenomenon starts to bite.

Likewise, inflation should benefit from so-called base impact from conditions last year when inflation began to trend up from May to August more or less.

Joey Cueyegkeng, economist at

ING Bank Manila, consequently forecasts inflation averaging 2.5 percent this year.

April’s inflation represented a slowdown from 2.4 percent the previous month. It was also significantly slower than the 4.1 percent reported the previous year.

This brought the four-month inflation rate to 2.3 percent or near the bottom end of the government target for the year.

BSP Deputy Governor for Monetary Stability Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo, had said inflation was likely to trend lower than 2 percent from a month-on-month perspective.

‘Bills lowering income tax trashed’. . .

Department of Finance (DOF). Also part of the cluster are the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Budget and Management, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Transportation and Communications, Department of Energy, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Tourism and Department of Agriculture.

According to information obtained by the BusinessMirror, the DOF is vigorously blocking the passage of the proposal due to its revenue implications. The Aquino administration has just enacted the law raising the cap for tax-exempt

bonuses to P82,000 from P30,000.

The DOF had said this would already result in revenue loss to the government of about P30 billion per year.

Quimbo said the government stands to lose another P100 billion annually should Congress give in to the measure on income-tax reforms.

The 13 bills seek to amend the National Internal Revenue Code. In Quimbo’s bill, individuals earning below P180,000 annually will be exempted from paying income tax.

In the current setup, those earning P10,000 or less per month pay 5-percent income tax.

Quimbo’s version also reduces the income-tax rate of those earning above P180,000 to 5 percent.

The highest rate at 32 percent will

be paid by those earning P1.4 million annually. Currently, those with yearly earnings of P500,000 and above pay 32-percent income tax.

The proposed measures also seek the revision of income taxes for compensation income earners, self-employed and professionals and corporationsthroughthesimplificationoftiers and rates, and indexation to inflation.

Quimbo’s projection on revenue losses is higher than the DOF’s. Finance Undersecretary Jeremias Paul Jr. said in a congressional hearing that the bill reducing the individual income-tax rates may cause the government to lose revenues totaling as much as 1.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, or P30 billion.

Paul, thus, urged members of the

lower chamber to adopt a holistic approach in studying the proposals to overhaul the tax system in order to pass laws that will balance the government’s fiscal needs and the taxpayers’ welfare.

But Quimbo denied that claim of the BusinessMirror source that the economic cluster has already rejected the measure. “That’s not true; we are one [with DOF] in pushing for hol wistic tax-reform package,” he said.

Quimbo earlier admitted that the target approval date of the measure lowering individual income-tax rate has been moved to December, or six months later than the lower chamber’s June 11 target approval.

Quimbo said the panel has decided to prioritize and approve

Continued from A1

first the passage of other revenuegenerating measures such as the bills raising the excise tax on oil, the fiscal incentives rationalization bill and the proposed Tax Incentives Management Act. The BusinessMirror source insisted that income-tax measure will no longer be passed during the Aquino administration. The source said even if the Congress wants the bill lowering individual tax to become a law, both chambers should pass it by June this year because the months of August and September dedicated are for the annual budget deliberations, while the remaining months are already the beginning of the campaign period for the 2016 national elections.

Seipi. . .

Continued from A1

inefficiency are hurting the competitiveness of the Philippine electronics industry.

Among the reforms that Seipi wants to see enforced include the streamlining of imports and exports processes for faster clearances, 24/7 operations of airports and ports even during holidays, an electronic system for imports/exports processing to eliminate red tape, transparency in procedures and charges and elimination of redundancies in process and non-value activities and fees.

The organization also wants the BOC to solve staffing issues so that overtime charges of BOC employees in Philippine Economic Zone facilities can be eliminated.

“Commissioner Lina has been a longtime friend of the industry and that he believes and understands the competitive business environment that the electronics companies must operate in for it to contribute to the country’s inclusive growth.

Given this, the industry is confident that the commissioner will consider the inputs of the industry first before enacting any order that has a detrimental impact on the exporters’ operations,” Lachica added.

The semiconductors industry is not alone in its wish to see changes under the leadership of Lina. Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. said a revamp is long due at the customs office.

Ortiz-Luis cited the accreditation for import commodity clearance, jointly enforced by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the BOC, as a specific hurdle for exporters that needs to be removed.

The Nation BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Thursday, May 7, 2015 A3

Military backtracks, confirms MILF tale on Usman killing

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By Rene Acosta

HE military backtracked on Wednesday from its earlier tale that terrorist bomber Abdul Basit Usman was killed by his security personnel by officially admitting that it was the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that got the Jema’ah Islamiyah-trained bomb expert.

“Afterourverification,wehavelearnedthat

Basit Usman entered an MILF area. Elements from the MILF then accosted him so that he can be brought to the MILF Central Committee.However,BasitUsmanresisted,triggering afirefightthatresultedinhisdeath,”according to a brief official statement from the office of Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, chief of the Armed Forces Public Affairs Office.

The statement was issued a day after military spokesman Brig. Joselito Kakilala

said the Armed Forces was conducting an investigation in order to determine how Usman was killed and which forces really killed him, despite the statement on Monday by the Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., that some of Usman’s personal security, who were after the $1-million reward offered out of his head, were the ones who killed him.

Catapang added, though, that they were still looking into Usman’s killing.

“Reports reaching this headquarters revealed that Usman and five of his unidentified cohorts were killed in a shootout allegedly with fellow members of his group in Sitio Takeneken, Barangay Muti, Guindulungan, Maguindanao, at about 10 a.m.,” Catapang said on Monday.

He added that Usman’s killing by some members of his own security team was fueled by the “tussle for the huge monetary reward that was put on his head.”

Economy

A4 Thursday, May 7, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Govt adapts new tack to poverty reduction

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By Cai U. Ordinario

he national government intends to take a different approach to poverty reduction by consulting with the poor themselves, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said this will be done through the Salubungan, a series of activities under the government’s Accelerated and Sustainable Anti-Poverty Program (Asapp).

The Salubungan will be conducted in nine more pilot provinces: Pangasinan, Quezon, Camarines Sur, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Leyte, Zamboanga del Sur, Davao del Sur and Sulu.

“We need to be more precise in our interventions and even in our interventions to promote economic

growth to ensure that it will be inclusive,” Balisacan said.

“This time, we will do it differently. We, the government, will ensure that the attainment of this goal is through the substantial engagement and strong partnership with the private sector and the poor themselves,” he added.

Salubungan is a public-private partnership model of the Asapp that aims to tap the skills and resources of the poor in enabling private enterprises to expand their

production capacities and markets.

It gathers together regional government agencies, local government units, the private sector and representatives from select poor cities and municipalities to discuss factors that inhibit local private enterprises from increasing their linkages with the poor.

The Asapp aims to reduce poverty incidence among the population to 18 percent to 20 percent in 2016 by creating income opportunities for and enhancing the employability of the poor.

It is being piloted in select cities and municipalities in 10 provinces, classified as Category 1 in the Updated Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011 to 2016. It is in these provinces, where the number of poor families is highest.

Solutions involving government policies and programs to link the poor with these enterprises are identified. These may include skill enhancement to increase the poor’s employability in businesses

with growth potentials.

It may also include trade facilitation and market linkages, such that the poor get to supply the raw materials, inputs and services needed by bigger businesses.

The pilot municipalities also have potential to supply raw materials, such as bamboo, poultry and livestock, seafood, spices and vegetables.

“We will try to address gaps with government intervention and support from the private sector to create massive employment, so that those currently considered below the poverty threshold can be included in the growth process,” Neda Deputy Director General Margarita R. Songco said.

“We don’t need grand projects.

What we need are doable targets for the private sector, and enabling environment and commitment from the government to encourage businesses to hire the vulnerable and source inputs from them,” she added.

In a briefing in Malacañang last year, Balisacan said the PDP was

Ledesma questions 90-day suspension imposed by PSALM Board

By Lenie Lectura

P

ower Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) President Emmanuel R. Ledesma has been suspended by the state firm’s Board of Directors chaired by Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima.

“Following the deliberations during the Principals Board Meeting of the Power Sector Assets & Liabilities Management Corp. on May 5, the Board resolved to place President and CEO Emmanuel R. Ledesma under preventive suspension for 90 days, effective immediately after the board meeting,” a news statement released by the Department of Finance read.

But Ledesma is not taking this lightly. Though he respects the decision of the PSALM board, Ledesma said he has “reservations as to the legal justification for the Board’s action.”

A former investment banker, Ledesma was appointed by President Aquino on September 6, 2010. “I will have to clarify matters with the appointing authority. I am a presidential appointee, and I ultimately serve at the pleasure of the President,” he said in a text message.

The Board said Lourdes S. Alzona, vice President for finance, shall act as the officer-in-charge of the Office of the President of PSALM. No reason was provided as to why Ledesma was placed under suspension. Ledesma did not reply if the suspension order had something to do with the complaint filed by some PSALM employees.

The BusinessMirror earlier reported that the Governance Commission for GOCCs (Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations) recommended Ledesma’s ouster from the Board.

The GCG’s recommendation was confirmed

by Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla, vice chairman of the PSALM Board. “It’s only recom-

LEDESMA: “I will have to clarify matters with the appointing authority. I am a presidential appointee, and I ultimately serve at the pleasure of the President.”

mendatory and the Governance Commission for GOCCs has every right to recommend,” Petilla said in an earlier interview.

The recommendation was based on a complaint similar to the one filed last year by PSALM employees, who alleged Ledesma of being involved in corruption.

But, Petilla said, a recommendation that was based on a complaint does not necessarily mean a conviction. “It’s unfair. It’s the Ombudsman that decides on corruption allegedly committed by a government official. Just imagine if all of us in the government receive a similar complaint and the recommendation for us is to leave then there be no one left.”

Besides, the energy chief said, it’s the President’s prerogative if Ledesma will be removed from office. “At the end of the day, it’s the President who will decide,” Petilla added.

In September last year, more than 100 of the state firm’s employees said Ledesma failed to take immediate action against a winning bidder, who submitted fake documents.

The employees said JPMorgan & Chase Bank wrote PSALM to inform the latter that it did not issue a standby letter of credit to Genetron International Marketing (GIM), a local firm that submitted the winning bid price of P602 million for

the decommissioned 850-megawatt (MW) Sucat thermal power plant held in April last year.

GIM was required to submit a P301-million performance bond after PSALM issued to the former a certificate of effectivity. GIM, on May 5, 2014, submitted a stand-by letter of credit supposedly issued by JPMorgan, but the bank denied it did.

“Mr. Ledesma failed to take immediate action against the winning bidder. Moreover, Mr. Ledesma withheld critical information to the PSALM Board in relation to the issuance of a fraudulent performance bond,” they alleged in the petition.

More than two months after the alleged fraud was committed, Ledesma sent a notice of termination of the asset-purchase agreement to GIM. The sale of the decommissioned power plant has been delayed since.

“We strongly believe, however, that Mr. Ledesma has been and is grossly remiss in his fiduciary duties and obligations as PSALM’s CEO by not delivering on his duties of due diligence and loyalty, and duty of confidentiality,” they said in their petition.

The Sucat privatization is only one of the many issues that the PSALM employees hurled against Ledesma who assumed his post in September 2010.

“We, the employees of PSALM, wish to petition the PSALM Board for the removal from office, and disqualification from re-appointment of Mr. Ledesma as president and COO of PSALM in view of his [1] transactions which are grossly disadvantageous to the government; [2] lack of sound business principles and judgment; [3] noncompliance with PSALM’s Manual of Approvals and established rules and regulation; and [4] alarming governance issues, such as inefficiency, poor leadership skills, abuse of discretion, distrust on employees and unethical behavior,” the petition stated.

revised to focus on specific sources of poverty. It classified areas in the Philippines that are poor and will implement targeted povertyreduction responses.

The first classification is Category 1, which includes provinces with the most number of poor households.

These provinces are Zamboanga del Sur, Cebu, Pangasinan, Negros Occidental, Camarines Sur, Leyte, Iloilo, Sulu, Quezon and Davao del Sur. The strategy to be employed in these provinces are focused on upgrading the skill sets of poor households and undertaking aggressive employment facilitation. These will be carried out specifically in sectors, such as information-technology-business process-outsourcing, tourism, manufacturing and logistics.

Category 2, Balisacan said, includes provinces, where the proportion of poor households is high compared to population and are more likely in areas with armed conflict. These provinces are Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Eastern Sa-

mar, Apayao, Zamboanga del Norte, Camiguin, Saranggani, North Cotabato, Masbate and Northern Samar.

The strategy for these provinces are to extend social assistance programs, while economic opportunities are being created. These programs include promoting economic and physical mobility of people, as well as peace-building efforts.

Category 3 has the most number of provinces since it includes provinces that are exposed to multiple hazards, such as environmental hazards. Some of the provinces in this list include Abra; Agusan del Sur, Albay, Antique, Aurora, Benguet, Bohol, Cagayan, Catanduanes, Cavite, Dinagat Islands, Eastern Samar, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and Iloilo.

These areas represent marginally nonpoor, who can slide into poverty due to shocks or disasters.

This is why the strategies to be employed include risk reduction and mitigation, providing social insurance and social protection and income diversification.

DOE to award e-trike supply contract by late June or July

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HE Department of Energy (DOE) on Wednesday opened the technical bid proposal of five bidders that joined the auction for the supply and delivery of 3,000 electric-powered tricycles (e-trikes).

Out of the 21 firms that bought bid documents from the DOE at P25,000 each set, only Uzushio Electric Co. Ltd. of Japan, Teco Electric & Machinery Co. Ltd. of Taiwan, Mulan Electric Vehicle Co. Ltd. of China, Camec JCB Corp. and Invenic Inc. submitted their technical and financial bid proposals.

The DOE on Wednesday opened the technical bid envelopes of the five firms. Mulan Electric and Invenic Inc. did not submit a bid security of $600,000, while Camec only submitted a “bid securing declaration.”

Under the rules, the bid security must be in the form of a managers’ check or bank guarantee.

“It will take two weeks for us to evaluate their technical proposals. We just opened them today [Wednesday] and checked what documents they submitted,” DOE Undersecretary Donato Marcos said.

After the post-qualification process, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is expected to issue a “no objection” notice. The financial bid proposals will be opened thereafter.

“We are looking at awarding the project either in late June or anytime in July,” the DOE official said.

The winning bidder has three months to deliver the first 1,200 e-trikes and another three months for the remaining 1,800 units. These will be delivered across the National Capital Region, and Regions 4A and 4B.

“We remain resolute to initially rollout 3,000 etrikes within the year and expand the project also within the year,” said Donato, who was referring to another round of bidding involving 17,000 e-trikes.

The e-trike project, he said, is a joint undertaking of the DOE and the ADB. The objective is to replace some 100,000 gasoline-fed tricycles by 2017.

According to Donato, ADB will provide financing of $300 million for the $504-million project. The government will fund $99 million, and Clean Technology Fund, $105 million.

“We are looking at another round of bidding for 17,000 e-trikes probably in August,” he said. The LandBank of the Philippines will be the conduit, meaning all off-takers, such as local government units [LGUs] and electric cooperatives, will deal with LandBank for the payment scheme,” Donato said.

It can be recalled that the DOE conducted a bidding in August last year but no award took place because, according to Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla, the LGUs failed to meet Landbank’s stringent requirement.

Petilla said then that a participating LGU must secure a certification from the Department of the Interior and Local Government stating that the LGU is financially capable to take on the project. Petilla added that LandBank-accredited cooperatives are also qualified as off-takers.

“Before, we only had four bidders. Today, from 21, the list was trimmed to five [and] this was probably because the requirements set dictates the quality of the bidder,” Donato added. Lenie Lectura

briefs pimentel renews call for abolition of controversial road board Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said on Wednesday he would push for the abolition of the controversial Road Board, accused of illegally diverting billions of pesos in special road user’s tax funds to highly questionable projects.

Pimentel, chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, said he will file a bill to abolish the board, which, he said, is just another layer of bureaucracy, which became an avenue for massive graft and corruption.

He said the road user’s tax is, likewise, another tax item that is not fully utilized for the purpose it was created but for suspicious projects, thus the need to also abolish a redundant tax item.

Instead, Pimentel said the funds should be rechannelled for much-needed infrastructure projects, and health and social services programs.

Pimentel said his proposed bill would repeal Republic Act 8794, which imposed a motor vehicle user’s charge on owners of all types of motor vehicles and created the Road Board. The Road Board is tasked to manage and utilize the special road user’s funds exclusively for road maintenance and improvement of road drainage, installation of traffic lights and road-safety devices and air-pollution control. PNA

miaa sets new schedule for ‘white taxicab’ access at naia The Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) will implement a new schedule for the so-called white taxi fleet that is allowed to operate at the premier airport in competition with the legally accredited “yellow taxi,” following an assessment of its operation.

On April 20 white-painted taxicabs were granted access to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminals 2 and 3, after the volume of arriving passengers was found to be more than what the yellow taxi could handle.

Miaa Chief Jose Angel Honrado on Wednesday announced that a new window of operation for the white taxi, operating out of Terminal 2, would be from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. There are four windows for Terminal 3: from 9am to 11am, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., 6pm to 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Honrado announced that the implementation of the scheme allowing the entry of white taxi was successful. The airport was able to provide more taxi services for arriving passengers.

“Arriving passengers have benefited from the entry of these white taxis. Passengers arriving during peak hours have been immediately catered to, given the increase of transport providers,” Honrado said. Recto Mercene

Economy BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Aquino courts investors during Chicago and Canada visits

By Butch Fernandez

P

resident Aquino, looking to lure more investors to the country, flew on a working visit to Chicago on Wednesday on the first of a leg of an “economic-diplomatic mission” highlighted by a three-day state visit to Canada.

The President confirmed before his departure that he would also be aiming for more robust trade between the Philippines, the US and Canada.

“Kukunin natin ang pagkakataong ito para lalong pagtibayin ang pags i s ik a p t ungo s a nagk ak ais ang adhikain, gayundin ang pagkalap pa ng interes mula sa mga negosyante ng United States at Canada para lalong mapalago ang pamumuhunan sa ating bansa,” Mr. Aquino said in a predaparture speech at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The President added that the US is the third major trading partner of the Philippines and he aims to make trade between the two countries more robust.

“Ang US nga po ang pangatlong major trading partner ng Pilipinas at layon nating paigtingin pa ang pangangalakal na ito,” Mr. Aquino said, adding: “Ngayong lumalago ang mga ekonomiya ng ating dalawang bansa, ihahayag natin ang kahandaang sulitin ang bawat pagkakataon kasama nila at higit pang ipapakita na talagtang mas o-open for business na ang Pilipinas,” he said.

The President and his delegation, which included finance, trade, foreign affairs and other Cabinet officials, left Manila at 7:45 a.m. and is expected to arrive in San Francisco for a “technical stop” at

MPIC just about to lose hope on bid to upgrade MRT 3

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he House of Representatives has approved on second reading a Palace-priority measure that seeks to liberalize the entry of foreign vessels between ports in the country.

Through viva voce voting, a majority of the lawmakers passed House Bill 5610, or “An Act Allowing Foreign Vessels to Transport and Co-load Foreign Cargoes for Domestic Transshipment and for other Purposes” on Tuesday night.

Nacionalista Party Rep. Mark Villar of Las Piñas City, chairman of the House Committee on Trade and Industry, one of the principal authors of the bill, said liberalizing the carriage of cargoes by foreign vessels within Philippine waters will ultimately benefit the Filipino people.

“Various studies showed that the high cost of domestic-shipping services is attributed to the lack of meaningful competition in the industry. In fact, recent data from the Maritime Transport Authority provide evidence of concentration of domestic operation in the hands of a few players, and this lack of

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

NFRASTRUCTURE conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) has lost all hopes in its multibillionpeso bid to upgrade the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3.

Golden Globe awardee

Sen. Cynthia A. Villar (photo inset) delivers her inspirational message as she was recently conferred the Golden Globe Award for Outstanding and Significant Achievement in Public Service during a ceremony at the Grand Ballroom of the Manila Hotel. Villar said making a difference in people’s lives inspires her to provide more livelihood programs for the underprivileged. PNA

9 p.m. Manila time. (San Francisco is 15 hours behind Manila and Chicago is 13 hours behind Manila).

After a one-hour stop, the President will depart San Francisco for Chicago, where the delegation is expected to arrive at 2:25 a.m. Manila time on May 7.

First on President Aquino’s working visit schedule in Chicago is a courtesy call

on its mayor, Rahm Emanuel.

After that, Mr. Aquino is attending a “business meeting” coorganized by the US Chamber of Commerce, the US Asean Business Council and the National Center for Asia-Pacific Economic Conference.

A Palace statement said a “roundtable” will serve as a venue to “discuss topics, such as the Philippines’s economic

developments, and the programs and policies which contributed to the country’s economic growth.”

From there, Mr. Aquino is scheduled to meet with the Filipino community in Metropolitan Chicago, where an estimated 90,000 of 139,090 Filipinos living in the state of Illinois are residing, before flying to Canada for a three-day state visit.

House okays amendment of cabotage law on second reading

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Thursday, May 7, 2015 A5

competition is exacerbated by a restrictive cabotage policy as foreign vessels are not allowed to engage in inter-island shipping,” he said.

Party-list Rep. Sharon Garin of Aambis-Owa, vice chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, also coauthor of the bill, said local traders and consumers will benefit from lower cost of domestic-shipping services with the approval of the bill.

The House of Representatives is expected to approve the bill this month, as the Senate version of the measure—filed by Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV—already approved in the final reading.

Centrist Democratic Party Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro, also the principal author of the bill, said the measure intends to promote competition in the shipping industry by allowing foreign vessels to transport passengers and cargoes between ports within the country’s waters.

Under the bill, coloading shall refer to arrangements between two or more international or domestic sea carriers, whereby a sea carrier bound for a specified destination agrees to load, transport and

briefs DBM releases P1.2 billion for typhoon Ruby rehab in Visayas The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P1.2 billion to provide jobs for displaced workers and rehabilitate damaged houses caused Typhoon Ruby last year.

Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said the fund will be released to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to provide benefits such as cash for work for some 146,961 typhoon-affected families in the Visayas. The program is a short-term government intervention that provides temporary employment for distressed or displaced individuals.

The fund will also provide emergency shelter assistance for 12,034 families whose houses were totally damaged. The program offers materials or financial assistance to augment the resources of affected families in rebuilding their houses damaged by natural or man-made disasters. Abad said the latest fund release is part of the P14-billion allocation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund for 2015.

Likewise, the fund will benefit 68,988 families in Rubystricken areas whose houses were partially damaged, and will also receive aid through the ESA program. “When we facilitate the quick release of funds, agencies can also move faster in restoring normalcy in disaster-affected areas,” Abad said. Estrella Torres

unload the container van cargo of another carrier bound for the same destination.

Currently, the 57-year-old Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines said the right to engage in the Philippine coastwise trade is limited only to vessels carrying a certificate of Philippine registry.

The measure seeks to assist importers and exporters in enhancing their competitiveness in the light of intensifying international trade and to lower the cost of shipping containerized export cargoes from Philippine ports to international ports and containerized import cargoes from international ports.

The bill added that vessels arriving from foreign ports shall be allowed to carry a foreign container van cargo to its domestic port of final destination, after being cleared at its port of entry.

Also, the measure said that arriving from a foreign port, a vessel shall be allowed to carry foreign container van or cargo by another foreign vessel calling at the same port of entry to domestic port of final destination of such foreign cargo.

The bill added that the commissioner of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), upon such reasonable

conditions, may clear any foreign vessel for any domestic port and authorize the conveyance therein of a foreign container van containing foreign cargo brought from aboard upon such foreign vessel; allow a foreign vessel to take a foreign container van containing import or export articles or cargo at any Philippine port and convey the same upon such foreign vessel to foreign port; authorize the transshipment of such foreign cargo intended for export through another Philippine port of its conveyance by another foreign vessel to cargo’s foreign port of final destination.

The BOC, commissioner may also impose penalties to foreign ship operators violating this act and take measures to address illegal activities, including smuggling, the bill said.

“The BOC, upon due notice, hearing and determination of the existence of any breach or violation of the provisions of this act or any rules and regulations issued pursuant to thereto, shall have the power and authority to impose penalty on any foreign ship operator in an amount to be determined in implementing rules and regulations,” the measure added.

The company’s chief honcho, tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan, said the chances of modernizing the most congested overhead train line in Metro Manila—at least on his group’s end—have already been lost.

“I think the chances of an MRT 3 [acquistion] are nil to zero,” he said in a brief interview. “We couldn’t do anything.”

The conglomerate is proposing to shoulder the upgrade costs of the train system and release the government from the bondage of paying billions of pesos in equity rental payments.

The Pangilinan group, which earlier entered into a partnership agreement with the corporate owner of the MRT, intends to spend $524 million to overhaul the line.

The venture would effectively expand the capacity of the railway system by adding more coaches to each train, allowing it to carry more cars at faster intervals. The multimillion-dollar expansion plan would double the capacity of the line to 700,000 passengers a day from the current 350,000 passengers daily.

It was submitted in 2011, but the transportation agency’s chief back then rejected the proposal.

The flagship of Hong Kong-based conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd. has a 48-percent option in MRT Corp., the owner of the railway line’s assets. MRTC is owned by MRT Holdings Inc. of businessman Robert John L. Sobrepeña, whose group is proposing a separate way of fixing the problems of the ailing train system.

His group is proposing to do a “quick fix” solution to make the train system safe for public transport.

Together with foreign firms Sumitomo Corp. of Japan and Globalvia Infrastructuras of Spain, Metro Global Holdings Inc. is proposing to “fix” the ailing system through a $150-million investment that involves the procurement of a total of 96 new train cars, and the rehabilitation of the existing 73 coaches, increasing its capacity by fourfold to 1.2 million daily passengers.

Under the proposal, a single point of responsibility will be implemented, meaning the rehabilitation and the maintenance of the line will be handled by a single company.

On the other hand, German firms Schunk Bahn-und Industrietechnik GmbH and HEAG Mobilo GmbH are seeking to place the whole train system under a massive transformation program to augment its capacity and to provide a safe and comfortable travel to commuters from the northern and southern corridors of Metro Manila.

The P4.64-billion proposal, submitted in February with Filipino partner Comm Builders and Technology Phils. Corp. (CB&T), calls for the complete overhaul of the 73 light-rail vehicles of the MRT, the replacement of the rails, the upgrading of the line’s ancillary system, the upgrade of the track circuit and signaling systems, the modernization of the conveyance system and a three-year maintenance contract.

The government, meanwhile, is slowly modernizing the line by auctioning off contracts that specifically address the problems of each component. The state is coughing up P9.7 billion to overhaul the MRT. The complete makeover is expected to be done within the term of President Aquino. It also wants to buy out the corporate owner for P54 billion.

The train system has been operating at overcapacity since 2004.

Currently, the line serves nearly 550,000 passengers per day, it even reached, at one point last year, the 650,000-daily passenger mark. It has a rated capacity of 350,000 daily passengers.

Lightning strike downs Clark airport’s DVOR The Clark International Airport (CIA) will be operating at limited capacity until Friday, as its guidance system for low visibility landing bogged down on Monday.

According to its operator, the airport’s Doppler Very High Frequency Omni-Range (DVOR), a navigational guidance system that helps pilots locate and land on the runway during bad weather and low visibility, broke down due to reported lightning strike on May 4.

Hence, the issuance of the notice to airmen by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines during the said day.

Four commercial flights were affected and were diverted or rescheduled on Tuesday evening due to a problem in the air traffic facility at the CIA. Lorenz S. Marasigan

pnp activates 300 cctvs in crime-prone areas in mm The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday announced that it will activate 300 closed-circuit television (CCTV) system cameras in crime-prone areas of Metro Manila.

Senior Supt. Bartolome Tobias, PNP spokesman, said these CCTV cameras will be installed in Monumento, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Baclaran-Pasay, Taguig, Ermita, Edsa-West Avenue, Quirino Highway, Commonwealth Avenue, East Avenue, Sampaloc and Tondo, Manila. PNA

PASS THE NUT

Photo shows young coconuts from Calayan Island being off loaded from a lampitaw, a motorized boat that carries cargo and passengers at the port in Taggat, Claveria, Cagayan, on Wednesday. Young coconuts are in demand this summer as main ingredient in making buko pie, halo-halo and iced candy, among others, aside from the nut’s refreshing and equally nutritious sap. PNA

A6 Thursday, May 7, 2015

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Crossing the thin line

S

OCIAL media was abuzz last week about three things, including the “Fight of the Century” and the Veloso case.

But there was one other subject that went viral: The racial slurs made on Facebook against Filipinos by a thirtyish Thai working in the Philippines. His name is Prasertsri Kosin, known to netizens as “Koko Narak.”

Unfamiliar to many at the beginning, this Thai had been bashing Filipinos using his Facebook account for weeks. Quick-thinking netizens were able to digitally screen-capture his statements and circulate them online. To cut to the chase, Filipinos began engaging Narak in fierce debates, asking why a foreigner who earns his living in the business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines is allowed to make racial slurs against its host country.

Narak, 32, has been earning his living in the country for the last three years at Cognizant Philippines, a BPO company based in Taguig City.

Screenshots that went viral revealed how damaging his words were. He described a Philippine fast-food chain as “stupid tasting.” But the brunt of his racial slurs came by way of his description of Filipinos, which he said were better off working as “maids and toilet lickers.”

While the exercise of freedom of expression in the Philippines is alive and well, more so online, there were many who took serious offense at the racial slurs. Even in the most democratic of countries, a racial slur is considered unwarranted and intolerable and, in some cases, even punishable by law. To think that Narak, a foreign national, had been earning his living in the Philippines only made matters more unacceptable.

Narak had since issued an apology for his statements, but, as expected, it was received with cold shoulders. No person by whatever nationality takes racial insults sitting down. The fiasco eventually reached the ears of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), which quickly decided to deport the infamous Thai.

In a report by DWIZ882, BI Commissioner Siegfred B. Mison issued a statement online on the bureau’s action: “Power of Facebook: This deportation process was initiated by some well-meaning friends who sent me private messages together with the link of the blogs posted by this foreign national.

“While the Philippines respects freedom of expression, we in the bureau cannot tolerate or allow abusive and foul language, especially coming from foreigners as against our own people. The subject national, upon receiving the charge sheet from our Legal Division, surrendered himself to the bureau and opted for voluntary deportation. He was supposedly terminated by his employer and has been receiving threats. He is now quarantined in our warden facility as we procure the necessary orders and clearances to implement the deportation.”

There is a thin line between the exercise of freedom of expression and the exercise of malice. While deportation may not be the better answer, it can provide safety for someone who has not taken into consideration the possible consequences for his statements.

The Philippines’s discretionary spending John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

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HERE are a million numbers and a thousand ways to measure the success or failure of an economy. But for the average person, who cares?

The Philippines is about 100 million people, each with his or her own opinion on whether the nation’s economy is doing well or poorly, based on his or her own experience.

That seems to be just common sense.

However, even personal opinion does not accurately reflect the overall economy, or, actually, an individual’s personal financial situation.

People spend their money foolishly, and then complain about not having enough money. Others are lazy and are not willing to work hard or smart enough to get financially ahead. Still, there are those who do not know how to spend their money in a way that brings enjoyment and satisfaction.

I have always taught that you need to be able to treat yourself with every paycheck, assuming your income is only salary-based. If you cannot afford to buy that P200 Wagyu beef shawarma that you want, you are poor. You are either not making enough money like a dirt-poor

farmer or you are spending like a drunken sailor. Either way, you are “poor,” no matter how much money you make.

Assuming you are younger and without a family to support, if you are not treating yourself, waiting for your income to get bigger, then you will not properly “treat” your family when you are making lots of money.

This spending for a treat may seem like some of the other advice that passes for financial wisdom that is actually financial baby food. But it is important personally and economically.

“Disposable income” is the amount of money that households have available for spending and saving after the government gets its cut of your labors.

Discretionary income is your disposable income after all expenses are paid to meet your current needs, like housing, food, clothes, school, car and medical expenses, and other essentials. Granted some of these are

hard assets, like the car and the house, but you have to have a place to live and most of us need transportation.

Our discretionary income, what is left over after we survive, can be spent, saved or invested. But it’s the spending part that has the most immediate impact on the economy and maybe on our own lives.

Buying a new car or house, as well as that new pair of fancy shoes or designer shoes, is part of discretionary income. Vacations and luxury items are also part but what it really takes in is nonessential expenses, defined by whatever a person thinks that means including that expensive shawarma.

Steve Wynn is one of the sharpest operators in the global gambling business and was the prime force in revitalizing Las Vegas in the 1990s. His company now owns several resorts in Las Vegas and has expanded to Macau. He was supposed to do business in the Philippines, but had a major dispute with his Japanese partner.

Wynn says any talk of US economic recovery is false, because he see American discretionary income as collapsing. Of course, he bases this on, perhaps, the most “discretionary” of all discretionary spending: gambling, alcohol and other “fun” things.

Las Vegas revenues, including all the spending at gambling resorts, have been falling about 10 percent per month, year-on-year, for the last 12 months.

Save the world, give up on nature Mark Buchanan

BLOOMBERG VIEW

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HE typical approach to environmentalism involves finding ways for humans to live in harmony with nature. But what if that’s wrong? What if our destiny is to leave nature behind?

It’s a radical idea, but it’s worth a moment of reflection.

A group of respected economists and environmentalists from the Breakthrough Institute in Oakland, California, recently published a document they call the Ecomodernist Manifesto. One of their ideas is a doozy: Humanity’s best hope to thrive in the future—and solve environmental problems such as climate change— is to evolve to the point where we are no longer constrained by nature.

Their approach to the environment goes far beyond cost-benefit calculations. In contrast to many economists, they don’t see nature merely as a resource on which one can place a value. Rather, they see it as priceless, a deep source of joy and beauty, part of what makes life worth

living. Their concern is that it can no longer support the growth of human activity. “Human flourishing,” they write, “has taken a serious toll on natural, nonhuman environments and wildlife.”

Their solution: Isolate ourselves from nature, or “decouple” our economic activity from it. Rely even more on technology, yet find some way to keep it from grinding nature to bits.

How? First, encourage the further concentration of human populations within the cities where more than 50 percent of us already live. If, say, more than 80 percent dwelled in such centers of economic productivity and per-capita energy

efficiency, humanity’s consumption of resources could be rationalized, leaving countryside spaces less populated and, at least potentially, available for nature.

True, cities require vast flows of energy and food that must be produced somewhere, which brings the Ecomodernists to their second point.

We’ll need to intensify activities such as farming, energy extraction and forestry, so they occupy less land and interfere less with the natural world.

This idea runs directly counter to the views of many environmentalists, who champion a return to more decentralized ways of living.

Finally, to make decoupling happen, we must find new and more potent sources of clean energy, including safer technology for nuclear fission and, if possible, nuclear fusion. That’s because energy is a key resource for decoupling. We can, for example, replace human labor and land requirements with energy-intensive farming, or use energy to desalinate seawater, reducing human demands on natural freshwater sources.

I’ll admit that I find this view of “leaving nature behind” somewhat alarming. Living with nature has more direct emotional appeal to

It is hard to measure total discretionary spending. You can look at spending for alcohol, new cars, airline travel and the like, but trying to determine how much of this is actually people feeling so confident with rising incomes that they feel comfortable splurging is difficult to accurately count. Nonetheless, it is an important gauge of the growth of the economy and consumer attitude.

Discretionary spending crosses all economic boundaries, and is not just a bottle of expensive wine at a five-star hotel. Members of all economic groups, except the desperately poor, even have a little more excess discretionary income when an economy is going up. It is not just the new car. It is the box of doughnuts on a trip to the mall. It is paying an extra P100 or P200 for better-quality school shoes.

Hard to measure and with an undetermined immediate economic impact, the longer-term result of increased discretionary income and discretionary spending is where the true importance lies. All those new malls in the last years are the result of people having a few more bucks to spend over time.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com.

Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

me. Even so, there’s an undeniable coherence to the Ecomodermist arguments. Preserving nature, while also ensuring that people thrive, would seem to require some kind of separation. Short of moving humans into outer space, it’s hard to see how that can happen without human activities becoming more concentrated, intensive and contained.

On the other hand, I wonder if the Ecomodernists overstate the possibilities for leaving nature behind.

Even if we do flock into cities, find unlimited, clean sources of energy, and learn to use energy more efficiently than ever, our total energy consumption may well keep growing as we find new ways to use it. Basic physics demands that more energy use always means more waste dissipated to the environment in one form or another—heat, pollution, environmental damage.

So leaving nature behind, in the sense of freeing it from our impacts, might not be so easy. Can we really sequester all the damaging aspects of our activities, collecting them up like trash and neutralizing them in a set of small repositories, out of sight, and even outside of nature? That would be great. It also seems a little fantastic.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Certiorari jurisdiction of the Court of Tax Appeals

God’s love reflected Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Alálaong Bagá

Atty. Pierre Martin D. Reyes

Tax law for business

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n seeking recourse to a court of law, an aggrieved party must avail of the appropriate remedy in the proper forum. In this article, I will discuss the recent Supreme Court (SC) decisions recognizing the jurisdiction of the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) over special civil actions for certiorari under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court (ROC) and issues relating thereto.

The SC first recognized the power of the CTA to issue writs of certiorari in the case of City of Manila v. Hon. Grecia-Cuerdo, GR 175723, February 4, 2014. In the said case, the regional trial court (RTC) issued a writ of preliminary injunction, an interlocutory order, in favor of the taxpayer.

With its motion for reconsideration denied, the city of Manila filed a special civil action for certiorari with the Court of Appeals (CA). The CA dismissed the petition for certiorari and ruled that since appellate jurisdiction over the taxpayer’s local tax refund is vested in the CTA, it is the CTA that has jurisdiction. In resolving the issue, the SC ruled that the power of the CTA includes the determination of whether there has been grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of the RTC in issuing an interlocutory order in cases falling within the exclusive appellate jurisdiction of the CTA. The SC opined that, for any appellate court to effectively exercise its appellate jurisdiction, it must have the authority to issue, among others, a writ of certiorari.

Previously, the CA would have the jurisdiction to issue the writ of certiorari against the interlocutory order of the RTC, while the CTA would have jurisdiction over the appeal from the decision of the RTC. Section 1, Rule 41 of the ROC provides that no appeal may be taken from an interlocutory order of an RTC, and the SC has said that the remedy against such an interlocutory order is a special civil action for certiorari under Rule 65 to be filed with the CA. With the case of city of Manila, it is now clear that the proper remedy against an interlocutory order of the RTC in a local tax case is a special civil action for certiorari under Rule 65 to be filed with the CTA. In Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. (Philamlife) v.

The Secretary of Finance and Commissioner of Internal Revenue (CIR), GR 210987, November 24, 2014, the SC, likewise, reiterated that the CTA has the power of certiorari in cases within its appellate jurisdiction. In the said case, the taxpayer requested a ruling from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to confirm that its sale is not subject to donor’s tax. The CIR issued an adverse ruling. Aggrieved, the taxpayer requested the SOF to review the ruling. The SOF, however, affirmed the ruling. The taxpayer elevated the case to the CA via a petition for review under Rule 43 of the ROC. The CA dismissed the petition and ruled that, pursuant to Section 7(a)(1) of Republic Act (RA) 1125, as amended by RA 9282, it is the CTA that has jurisdiction. The SC ruled that the review by the SOF of a BIR ruling is appealable to the CTA, not

the CA, a doctrine reiterated in the recent decision of Banco de Oro et al. v. Republic, GR 198756, January 13, 2015. What is important to note, however, in this case, is the ruling of the SC to the effect that it is now within the power of the CTA, through its power of certiorari, to rule on the validity of a particular administrative rule or regulation so long as it is within its appellate jurisdiction.

The SC ruled that the CTA can now rule not only on the propriety of an assessment or tax treatment of a certain transaction, but also on the validity of the revenue regulation or revenue memorandum circular on which the assessment is based.

The cases of Philamlife and Banco de Oro have determined the CTA as the proper forum. In using the word “appeal,” it is clear that the appropriate remedy to elevate the SOF’s review is through a petition for review to be filed with the CTA. What remains unclear is whether the very same petition for review is also the appropriate remedy if the validity of an administrative rule or regulation is raised when it has been held that certiorari is the appropriate remedy to question the validity of administrative issuances which are alleged to have been issued with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction. It must be remembered that a petition for review and a special civil action for certiorari are two distinct, mutually exclusive, and antithetical remedies. A petition for review is a mode of appeal to correct errors of judgment committed by the court, tribunal, or officer, while a writ of certiorari is an extraordinary remedy to correct errors of jurisdiction only or grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.

Errors of judgment cannot be proper subjects of a special civil action for certiorari and a special civil action of certiorari will not issue where the remedy of appeal is still available to an aggrieved party. This uncertainty should soon be addressed so as not to leave taxpayers in a quandary on what remedies to be taken.

The author is a junior associate of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a member-firm of World Tax Services (WTS) Alliance.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed, as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at pierremartin.reyes@bdblaw.com. ph or call 403-2001 local 311.

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ll have seen the loving kindness of God; let all sing joyfully to the Lord (Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4). To remain in Jesus’ love is to follow His commandment that we love one another as He loves us (John 15:9-17).

The Lord has made known His saving power Psalm 98 begins with an invitation to sing praise to the Lord in celebration of the marvelous things He has done for Israel. Like a mighty warrior, His right hand and outstretched arm have brought victory. He has been challenged; His covenant relationship with Israel was violated.

The Lord, therefore, manifested His saving power in a demonstration of righteousness, a vindication carried out rectifying an injustice.

It was out of His faithfulness to the house of Israel and in remembrance of His steadfast love (hesed) that He has made known His saving work, as He has promised: “I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform marvels, such as have not been performed in all the earth or in any nation, and all the people among whom you live shall see the work of the Lord” (Exodus 34:10).

Not just Israel but all the earth is

called to join in singing a new song to the Lord, because He has revealed His saving power in the sight of the nations. In coming to the aid of Israel and achieving victory, something of cosmic significance is shown: the Lord is the conqueror of the forces of chaos. God’s sweeping triumph is for all: “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God.” That is why the scope of the praise given to God is universal: “Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands.”

In the Father’s love

The word love occurs nine times in the gospel reading. Not eros, love that seeks to possess, or philia, love that simply has to be there, but agape, love that is freely and unconditionally given and received, the love that alone describes the love of God and for God. It is the love God has for Jesus, and the divine love that Jesus has for His friends, and the love that His followers must have for one another.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Jesus received His Father’s love and He loved His disciples with the same love. Not as in a passing moment, but as a lasting state of being.

Jesus abides in the love of the Father because He keeps His Father’s commandment to pass on that love.

Love goes hand in hand with obedience to the command of love which is to love; love is accomplished by sharing it and giving it: love as you have been loved.

Divine, real love is eternal loving, endless giving and sharing and receiving, as in the mystery of the communion of the Most Holy Trinity, the Three Persons in the everlasting exchange of love. Its measure is in perfect, unconditional giving and receiving. Any imitation or extension of that love is not occupied with selfpreservation or self-conservation.

Truly no one has greater love than to lay down one’s life for the beloved.

Jesus laid down His own life out of love for His heavenly Father and for humankind His Father loves so much that He gave His Son for them.

Remain in My love

Jesus wants His friends to remain in the chain of love, in following His way of love. His disciples will abide in His love if they keep His commandment, the same as His Father’s commandment: love as you have been loved.

The purpose of this chain of love is joy—the joy of the loving Father through the joy of the beloved Son in the Holy Spirit of love and joy.

Healthy diets for healthy lives José Graziano da Silva

Inter press service

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OME—In the last half century, people’s lifestyles have changed dramatically. Life expectancy has risen almost everywhere, but this has been accompanied by an increase of so-called noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)—such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases and diabetes— causing more and more deaths in all corners of the world.

My distinguished colleague Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), has called the worldwide rise of NCDs a “slow-motion catastrophe.” If NCDs were once considered the scourge of the developed world, this is no longer true; they now disproportionally affect lowincome and middle-income countries, where nearly three-quarters of NCD deaths—28 million per year—occur.

Much of the rise of NCDs can be attributed to unhealthy diets. The WHO estimates that 2.7 million deaths every year are attributable to diets low in fruits and vegetables. Globally unhealthy diets are estimated to cause about 19 percent of gastrointestinal cancer; 31 percent of ischaemic heart disease and 11 percent of strokes, thus, making diet-related NCDs one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide.

In other words, diet determines health—just as bad diets can lead to disease, healthy diets can contribute to good health.

But what exactly is a healthy diet?

This is a difficult question. Generally, a healthy diet must provide the right nutrients in the right balance and with sufficient diversity, limiting the

intake of free sugars to less than 10 percent of total energy requirements and keeping salt intake to less than 5 grams per day.

However, there is no one-size-fitsall healthy diet. A healthy diet must be affordable, based on locally available foodstuffs, and meet cultural preferences. For over 20 years, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), together with the WHO, has worked with governments on national FoodBased Dietary Guidelines: short, science-based, tips on healthy eating, in accordance with local values, customs and tradition.

Healthy meals do not always taste or look the same. Take, for example, the Mediterranean and Japanese diets: very healthy and completely different.

The Mediterranean diet revolves around the consumption of legumes, cereals, fruits and vegetables, olive oil, fish, and moderate consumption of dairy products (mostly cheese and yogurt). It emphasises unprocessed, plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, in addition to the consumption of beans, nuts, cereals and other seeds; olive oil is the main source of (unsaturated) fat.

Japanese cuisine, on the other

hand, is often associated with sushi (raw fish with rice), and sashimi (fresh raw seafood). The Japanese diet emphasizes at least seven ingredients: fish as a major source of protein; vegetables, including daikon radish and sea vegetables; rice; soya (tofu, miso and soya sauce); noodles; fruit; and tea (preferably green).

The Japanese and Mediterranean diets are examples of healthy diets.

They use a great variety of ingredients; they are rich in plant foods, including vegetables and fruit, legumes and fibres; they are modest in red meat; and they utilize many natural herbs and spices, instead of salt to flavor food.

Both diets are linked to peoples and cultures as much as to their natural environment: it, therefore, comes as no surprise that both the Mediterranean diet and the Japanese diet have made it onto the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

The health benefits of the Japanese and Mediterranean diets are promising. Japanese enjoy one of the longest average life spans in the world—87 years for women and 80 for men. In Mediterranean countries, such as Italy and Spain, women have a life expectancy of 85 years. The figure for Italian men is 80 years, the same as their Japanese counterparts. All of them are above the average of high-income countries: 82 years for women and 76 years for men.

Medical research also indicate that that the Japanese diet leads to the lowest prevalence in the world of obesity—only 2.9 percent for Japanese women—and other chronic diseases, like osteoporosis, heart ailments and some cancers. On the other hand, the Mediterranean diet, if followed for a

Congress working to strengthen US Freedom of Information Act

By Caroline Little The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

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RESIDENT Barack Obama has routinely promised greater transparency within the federal government. Now, Congress is making strides toward achieving this critical goal.

The House of Representatives and Senate are currently considering nearly identical bills to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which provides the general public, including journalists, with access to federal government records. This legislation has received broad support across media

organizations, including the Sunshine in Government Initiative, a coalition of which the Newspaper Association of America is a member. And here’s why: Openness would be the “default” position. The legislation would require agencies to release documents under a “presumption of openness,” reaffirming the principle that information should never be kept confidential to protect government interests at the expense of the public. Agencies would need to prove specific harm that could result from disclosures before withholding documents.

While this policy has been in place since 2009, the legislation would ensure future

administrations honor this objective for openness. The process would be much more efficient. Citizens and journalists would receive requested information in a more timely fashion and would be updated on the status of their request or reason for denial. Federal agencies would be allowed to withhold information on policy deliberations for only 25 years— currently, there is no limit.

More records would be available. The legislation would require agencies to post frequently requested information online. This will give citizens and journalists more timely access to key information and a deeper understanding of what

the government is doing—or not doing.

Why is this important?

The Foia remains a powerful, though, currently inefficient, tool to obtain public information. Last year several key stories were brought to light as a result of reporters’ FOIA record requests.

The Associated Press was able to show that people accused of Nazi war crimes had continued receiving Social Security payments after leaving our country. In another instance, a reporter reviewing military ballistics tests found that the Marine Corps had issued armored vests that failed to protect against bullets— and 5,277 vests were quickly recalled,

perhaps saving lives. Likewise, records obtained through the Foia revealed that some firefighter safety equipment failed to work properly when exposed to heat or moisture, rendering it ineffective in crisis situations. Without these records and journalists’ diligent research, none of this would have been brought to public attention. Our armed forces and firefighters may have been directly harmed as a result. The FOIA, enacted in 1966, remains critical for creating and preserving an open and accountable government. However, it must be updated to keep up with changing technology and a persistent mind-set within federal

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Jesus wants to pour His joy into His friends, in their sharing in His boundless love, sharing His complete joy. But this communicated joy is in a way only initiatory, because it is only when we love one another as Jesus loves us that we enter into the fullness of His joy.

This is eternal life, the boundless receiving and giving of love in joy. And it begins already now in time when we joyously and generously walk the way of Jesus as links in the chain of love. Freed from the compulsion to grab and to hold, we move to form a communion of sharing on the way to the greatest fulfillment of everyone.

A communion with and in Jesus where there are no more servants who are ignorant of the ways of God, but friends and brothers and sisters moving joyously in the Father’s love through Jesus.

Alálaong bagá, Jesus abides in His Father’s love because, as the Crucified One, He loved us unconditionally and, as the Risen One, He loves us with His triumphant, marvelous and everlasting love whose fulfillment is in our participation in the eternal communion of love in the Trinity. Meanwhile, on earth, we are pilgrims following Jesus in the chain of love.

Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, 5 to 6 a.m. on DWIZ 882, or by audio-streaming on www.dwiz882.com.

number of years, is known to reduce the risk of developing heart disease, cancer, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

In sum, adhering to a healthy diet helps you to not only to live longer, but also to have a better quality of life. Conversely, a bad diet causes malnutrition and can expose you to a range of NCDs. A modern paradox is that many countries—including developing countries—suffer from undernourishment on the one hand, and obesity and diet-related diseases on the other.

And while the FAO’s chief concern is to eradicate hunger in this world, we cannot separate food security from nutrition. FAO—together with our UN agencies—considers food and nutrition security a basic human right.

In all cases, the cost of malnutrition goes beyond the health of the individual: It affects society as a whole in terms of public health costs and loss of productivity, and, therefore, is an issue that must be addressed through public and coordinated action.

Last year’s Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), organized jointly by the FAO and the WHO, sent a clear message in that direction.

The two outcome documents of the ICN2, the Rome Declaration on Nutrition and the Framework for Action, commit world leaders to establishing national policies aimed at eradicating malnutrition and making nutritious diets available to all.

A key message from the ICN2 is governments have a central role to play in creating a healthy food environment to enable people to adopt healthy dietary practices. Yes, it is consumers who choose what to eat, but it is the government’s role to provide the enabling environment that encourages and makes healthy choices possible.

agencies that information belongs to the government not the general public.

Congress came very close to passing Foia reform legislation last year. Now, members are working in a bipartisan fashion to move these bills forward in the new Congress. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved its bill, and the House version was recently reported out of committee.

We applaud the bills’ sponsors and the congressional leadership for turning their attention to this good-government legislation. We hope that this momentum bodes well for bipartisan, bicameral action early in the new Congress.