BusinessMirror July 31, 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 Saturday 18,July 2014 10 No.Vol. 4010 No. 295 ■ Friday, 31,Vol. 2015

www.businessmirror.com.ph

■

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

PNOY TO VETO ANY INSERTION IN BUDGET BILL THAT WOULD REVIVE PORK BARREL

Palace vows: No ‘pork’ in 2016 M B B F

ALACAÑANG on Thursday assured it will veto, as it did in the 2015 budget, any attempt by lawmakers to reinsert provisions that would revive the pork barrel in the proposed P3-trillion 2016 national budget bill that President Aquino submitted to Congress early this week.

INSIDE

JAMIE BELL Let the good prevail

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EAR Lord, daily, we are exposed with all kinds of trials, in safer terms, the ups and downs of life. Our feelings and emotions are so much involved. Many of us have the let-go attitude. Some would contemplate, reflect and put prayers as recourse.

Let the good prevail is the best practice. How to do it is best applied through prayers. Have faith, Trust in You, oh Lord will make things clear. Try doing it, we do not lose anything. Amen.

LOUIE M. LACSON, TEMPLETON DRIVE, CARMICHAEL, CALIFORNIA, USA Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life

STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM WITHOUT AN ICE-CREAM MAKER »D3

BusinessMirror

Friday, July 31, 2015

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JAMIE BELL

FROM BALLET PRODIGY TO POWERFUL SUPERHERO O

PENING nationwide this August 5 from 20th Century Fox, Fantastic Four is the contemporary reimagining of Marvel’s original and longestrunning superhero team. It centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friendturned-enemy.

Set in contemporary New York, this retelling focuses on the Four before they become a team—when they were four young idealistic adventurers who make a headstrong leap into the unknown.

Fantastic Four focuses on the human drama of relatable characters that at first don’t perceive their new physical abilities as advantages, but as daunting, if not impossible, challenges.

The fourth member of the nascent team is Ben Grimm, who lives with his mother and older brothers in a small home at his family’s home business, Grimm Salvage Yard, on the wrong side of the tracks in Oyster Bay. Ben forges an unlikely friendship with the neighborhood egghead and inventor, Reed Richards, when he discovers Reed stealing parts for his latest creation from the junkyard of Ben’s family.

Years later, after Reed enlists Ben to join his illfated teleportation mission at the Baxter Institute, Ben is transformed into a superstrong, 6-foot, 8-inch, thousand-pound being whose body is covered in rock, making him impervious to physical damage. Jamie Bell, whose career was launched in the title performance in the British drama Billy Elliott Elliott, was chosen to play the strong-willed character.

While still a teenager, Jamie Bell shot to worldwide fame starring in the title role of Stephen Daldry’s Billy Elliot. He received the BAFTA Award for Best Actor and

the British Independent Film Award for Best Newcomer for his performance in the film. Bell then went onto portray Smike in Douglas McGrath’s screen adaptation of Charles Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby Nickleby, for which he and his colleagues shared the National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble.

Recently, Bell starred in the second season of AMC’s Turn. Bell stars in the lead role of Abe Woodhull, who bands together with a group of childhood friends to form The Culper Ring, an unlikely group of spies who turn the tide in America’s fight for independence.

Last year Bell appeared in Joon-ho Bong’s Snowpiercer opposite Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton.

In 2014 he also starred in John Baird’s Filth opposite James McAvoy, Eddie Marsan and Imogen Poots.

That same year, Bell appeared in Lars Von Trier’s controversial Nymphomaniac: Volume II alongside Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgard, Shia LaBeouf and Willem Dafoe. In 2012 Bell starred in Asger Leth’s Man on a Ledge, opposite Sam Worthington and Ed Harris. In 2011 Bell played the titular role in Steven Spielberg’s motion capture 3D The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, as Hergé’s legendary young adventurer. That same year, Bell starred in Kevin Macdonald’s The Eagle, Cary Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre and Carl Tibbetts’s The Retreat.

In the following Q&A, Jamie Bell—young yet already with a veteran’s film résumé—talks about his experience in filming the thrilling superhero action movie of the year, Fantastic Four.

Tell us about how you got the role?

Josh (Trank, the director) and I talked on the phone for two hours and after discussing the entire movie, I was totally sold. That’s just how Josh is as a filmmaker.

He’s very specific. He has really good taste, and he’s genuinely trying to do something different with this film, and that’s admirable. It’s a huge responsibility. And

once I got off the phone with Josh, I felt as if I’d seen Fantastic Four—and I liked the movie. What’s great about it is it doesn’t sound like a superhero movie, yet it still is. It has all the beats of a superhero film, but it feels like an experience of four individuals going through something crazy together and coming together and finding each other. That’s really the heart of the film and I connected with that.

your mind-set a little. I mean, you’re intimidating.

Do you think there are any particular themes, maybe about modern families, that the film is tapping into?

Yes and no. I don’t think people need to be bloodrelated to be family. Families aren’t 24 children these days. The new construct of family is whatever you want it to be. I kind of think this is a movie about orphans, and I think in some way we’re all a bit orphaned these days. We make more of our own choices.

You end up finding whoever you find. So I think it may reflect a contemporary culture that’s not so straightforward anymore. Family can actually be whatever you want it to be.

How would you describe your character, Ben Grimm, a.k.a. The Thing, in this new Fantastic Four?

He is someone who is at that point in his life where he doesn’t know what he’s going to do next. Ben doesn’t have a lot of prospects. He’s as average as they come.

The only thing that makes him stand out is that he’s very protective of himself and of his friends. Ben also has problems with his siblings and he gets bullied a lot, so he’s constantly trying to prove himself. When he’s intimidated, he likes to intimidate. But I think at heart he’s a sweet guy.

We have seen very light, poppy comic-book movies and very dark, tortured ones. Where on the scale would you say Fantastic Four sits?

That’s a good question. I can’t say “the middle,” because this movie doesn’t exist in the middle, and most things do. The truth is it’s a law onto itself.

With all the physical transformation, what was it you did to characterize The Thing?

The way I thought about it is that he’s actually the same 18-, 19-year-old guy who’s just trapped. He has the mind-set he had prior to the transformation, so he’s still a human in there. The thoughts or feelings of the performance don’t necessarily become “I’m now this huge thing.” You just have to think of him as a young man who’s trapped.

So you’re rejecting the scale!

I think so. [Laughs] Get rid of that scale! What I think is, if a friend of yours sees the movie and you ask, “How was Fantastic Four Four?” I think the answer will be: “You just have to see it.” Because it’s not doing what a lot of comic-book movies are doing. It’s not X-Men— though I admire what they’ve done with that franchise.

It’s not Captain America and all that stuff.

Those films have a certain formula and you can’t get away from it, and they work. But Fantastic Four isn’t playing to those rules, so I’m really excited to be part of something that isn’t doing that. I do know that when people come out of the movie, because of Josh’s dedication to it, they’ll go, “I haven’t seen anything like that.” It’s a real experience. ■

LIFE

How was it filming while wearing the performance-capture suit?

The physicality of the role all comes from the movement, like when I was a dancer as a kid. The stilts were not easy, but they were very useful. Having that extra height on set and for the character does change

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FORD EXPLORER SPORT V6 ECOBOOST 4WD

Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr., at a Palace briefing on Thursday, reaffirmed Mr. Aquino’s determination to thumb down budget insertions disguising pork-barrel allocations that would be approved as amendments

by Congress in the 2016 budget.

Coloma recalled the presidential

veto of such provisions in Congressapproved 2015 budget, adding that Mr. Aquino is likely to take it down again. Coloma said: “Ang Pangulo po ay nag-issue ng veto message sa 16th Congress hinggil sa General Appropriations Act of 2015 at ito ang kanyang ipinahayag tungkol sa local C  A

8.5 BILLION PEOPLE SEEN ROAMING EARTH BY 2030

M

MOTORING

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’BUSINESS PRACTICE’ Sports BusinessMirror

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| FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

CONQUERING THE WAVES Sage Erickson competes in the second round of the US Open of Surfing on Wednesday in Huntington Beach, California. AP

Despite praising the team’s “outstanding performance,” cell-phone network MTN said its partnership with South Africa-based MTN-Qhubeka had “reached its conclusion” and it wouldn’t be renewing.

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‘NORMAL BUSINESS PRACTICE’

B G I The Associated Press

APE TOWN, South Africa—The title sponsor of the African cycling team that made an impressive debut at the Tour de France said on Wednesday it was ending its agreement, citing the “normal business practice” of reviewing commercial agreements.

Despite praising the team’s “outstanding performance,” cell-phone network MTN said its partnership with South Africa-based MTN-Qhubeka had “reached its conclusion” and it wouldn’t be renewing.

The team “put on a fantastic display of power and athleticism at the Tour de France, and we are very proud of their achievements,” MTN group corporate affairs executive Chris Maroleng said in a statement. “Our partnership with the team has come full circle and we wish the team the absolute best in the future as we pass on the baton to the next sponsor.”

The announcement was a surprise after MTN-Qhubeka achieved a series of firsts at this month’s Tour, becoming the first African team in the Tour’s modern era and allowing two Eritreans riders to become the first from their country to ride at cycling’s top race.

The team also had meaningful results: One of the Eritreans, Daniel Teklehaimanot, became the first African to wear the polka dot jersey as leader of the mountains classification, and Stephen Cummings won a stage for the team, another piece of history for an African outfit.

MTN-Qhubeka finished fifth overall in the team classification after earning an invite to the Tour from organizers. Belgian Serge

Pauwels was 10th overall in the mountains classification for MTNQhubeka and Merhawi Kudus, the other Eritrean on the team and the youngest rider at the Tour at 21, was 10th in the final standings for young riders.

MTN said it had invested $9.5 million in the team since it was founded in 2007, helping lift it from an outfit riding only in small African races to a professional continental team with bases in South Africa and Italy—and now with a history at the Tour de France.

Using its profile at the Tour, MTN-Qhubeka set itself a target of financing 5,000 bicycles for children in South Africa, where road racing is gaining in popularity, but can’t yet compete with the country’s main sports of soccer, rugby and cricket.

The nine-man team had five Africans on it, maintaining its promise of keeping the majority of its lineup from the continent.

Three of the riders were from South Africa and two from Eritrea, the northeastern African nation with barely any cycling history.

The International Cycling Union (UCI), meanwhile, has suspended Italian team Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec from international races for 30 days after two riders tested positive for doping.

The UCI says the ban starts on August 1.

The second-tier team becomes the first to be suspended since the UCI’s team rule took effect in January. Teams can be barred from major races for up to 45 days for “two potential antidoping violations within the same team within a 12-month period.”

Two Italian riders with Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec tested positive for banned substances in June. Fabio Taborre tested positive for FG-4592, which stimulates production of enduranceboosting hormone EPO. Davide Appollonio tested positive for EPO. As a second-tier team, Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec needs

invitations to World Tour races. It was not invited to the Spanish Vuelta, which starts on August 22.

Tejay van Garderen will return to racing at the Vuelta a Espana after an illness forced the American cyclist out of the Tour de France with a podium finish in sight.

BMC Racing Team General Manager Jim Ochowicz said on Wednesday that van Garderen and Samuel Sanchez will headline his team at the season’s finale grand tour beginning on August 22.

It will be the first time van Garderen has started the Spanish race since 2010.

One of three American riders in this year’s Tour, van Garderen was third overall when he was forced to abandon in the final week.

His decision to race in Spain also means van Garderen will miss the USA Pro Challenge, a race he has won the past two years. That race in Colorado begins on August 17.

BRITAIN’S Stephen Cummings, »wearing an orange helmet to mark Nelson Mandela’s birthday, flashes the No. 5 for the 5,000 bicycles the MTN-Qhubeka team want to raise to mobilize South African children as he crosses the finish line to win the 14th stage of the Tour de France. AP

FIBA SUSPENDS RUSSIA

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OSCOW—The Russian Basketball Federation (RBF) was suspended on Wednesday by the International Basketball Federation (Fiba), meaning it could miss the European Championship that doubles as an Olympic qualifier.

The suspension comes after two years of infighting at the federation, which culminated last month when a Russian court ordered new elections for all senior federation posts.

An earlier court ruling overturned the federation’s 2013 presidential election result, in which Yulia Anikeeva defeated former Women’s National Basketball Association player Svetlana Abrosimova, who alleged there were many breaches of election rules.

The federation posted a letter on its web site from Fiba, addressed to Anikeeva, saying Russia’s suspension resulted from a lack of “unity and stability” at the federation.

Basketball’s governing body said in a statement that the federation has been “unable to resolve longstanding institutional and legal issues.”

“As a consequence, the RBF forfeits its rights as a member of Fiba, and its teams and officials may not participate in official competitions or activities,” Fiba said.

Russia’s men’s team won a bronze medal in 2012 under David Blatt, who has since left to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers. Longtime top player Andrei Kirilenko retired from the NBA this past season.

The European Championship is in September. Russia is scheduled to open play against Israel on September 5.

Fiba said the Russian federation could report on its situation at an upcoming board meeting in Tokyo on August 8 and 9.

“It is Fiba’s hope that the situation be resolved by this date so that the suspension may be lifted to allow for the healthy development of basketball in Russia and the participation of Russian national teams in Fiba events,” Fiba said. AP

SPORTS

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OVE over: The world’s population is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050, a new United Nations (UN) report says. And there should be 11.2 billion people on Earth by the end of this century.

Meanwhile, India’s population is set to pass China’s in size around 2022, according to the report released on Wednesday.

The population estimates play a huge role, as the international community tries to figure out how to slow the danger of global warming, while pursuing the ambitious goals of eliminating both poverty and hunger.

The current world population is 7.3 billion. China and India each have more than 1 billion people.

“While the global projections should not be cause for alarm, we must recognize that the concentration of population growth in the poorest countries presents a distinct set of challenges, making it more difficult to eradicate poverty and inequality, to combat hunger

PESO EXCHANGE RATES ■ US 45.4780

and malnutrition, and to expand educational enrollment and health systems,” John Wilmoth, director of the population division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said in an e-mail.

Nine countries are expected to make up half of the world’s population growth between now and 2050: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, the United States, Indonesia and Ghana.

The report says that by 2050 or so, Nigeria will pass the US to have the world’s third-largest population, behind India and China. Africa has the world’s highest rate of population growth.

Global aging is also noted. The report says the number of people age 60 and above should more than double by 2050. The report says Europe will lead the way, with more than 34 percent of people there expected to be over 60 years old by 2050.

The UN report updates previous population estimates with new data from national censuses in 2010, as well as recent health and demographic surveys. AP

TIGER Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc. celebrates the top-off of its first hotel in Entertainment City in Parañaque City, with (from left) Kenji Sugiyama, president of Tiger Resort & Casino; Kazuo Okada, Universal Entertainment chairman; and All Seasons Hotel and Resort Corp.

President Antonio Cojuangco attending the rites. NONIE REYES

Okada’s Manila casino may see $4-billion investments J APANESE tycoon Kazuo Okada increased the budget for the first phase of a Philippine casino by a third to $2 billion, in return for obtaining a government extension on the delayed project in the capital city.

The total investment on the entire complex may reach about $4 billion, said Kenji Sugiyama, president at Okada’s Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc. The initial phase is scheduled to open in December

next year, and will have two hotel towers with 1,000 rooms, 500 gaming tables, a nightclub and an outdoor beach, he said.

“Part of our vision is to be the onestop destination,” Sugiyama said in an interview in Manila. “Once they come here, they don’t need to go out —everything is here.” The company will hire 8,000 employees for the first phase, he said.

The Okada project is among four integrated casino resorts the

government wants built in the 120-hectare (297-acre) Entertainment City Complex on Manila Bay to compete with Asian neighbors Singapore and Macau for gaming revenues. Each holder of the four licenses was required to spend at least $1 billion to build luxury hotels, shops, entertainment areas and gambling floors.

Tiger Resort had sought to postpone the opening of its casino to S “M ,” A

■ JAPAN 0.3670 ■ UK 70.9684 ■ HK 5.8670 ■ CHINA 7.3244 ■ SINGAPORE 33.2271 ■ AUSTRALIA 33.2296 ■ EU 49.9712 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 12.1275 Source: BSP (30 July 2015)

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Friday, July 31, 2015

News

BusinessMirror news@businessmirror.com.ph

Palace vows: No ‘pork’ in 2016. . .

Continued from A1

government unit [LGU] shares. I will quote from the veto message: ‘The succeeding provisions on LGU shares are properly placed under conditional implementation to avoid conflict with existing laws and jurisprudential rules, and ensure their orderly execution.”

Coloma pointed out that the vetoed provision was seen to be a revival of the so-called Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for lawmakers that had been outlawed by the Supreme Court (SC), adding that President Aquino’s veto was done in compliance with the High Tribunal’s ruling. “Kaya malinaw po na sinusunod ng pamahalaan ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema

IT products. . .

dahil tungkulin po ng Ehekutibo na ipatupad ang mga batas ng bansa.”

The secretary cited a case filed by Manila Councilor Greco Belgica in which the SC ruled against “any post-enactment intervention of legislators in the implementation of the budget.”

“Iyon po ’yung kaso na kung saan ay nagpasya ang Korte Suprema hinggil doon sa PDAF, ’yung Priority Development Assistance Fund,” Coloma explained. “Idineclare [declare] po nila [SC Justices] na unconstitutional ito kaya tinanggal na po lahat ’yon doon sa 2014 budget at doon sa sumunod na 2015 budget ay nagissue nga po ng ganitong veto message dahil kasama doon sa ipinasang

budget ng Kongreso.”

Informed about reports that former Sen. Panfilo Lacson was preparing to file a new petition for prohibition at the SC against some provisions in the 2015 budget, Coloma said the Palace would await its outcome and comply with the SC ruling. Lacson said he has evidence that the abolished PDAF is being revived in the new budget.

“Aantabayanan namin ang ihahaing petisyon ni Senador Lacson para mabatid ang mga kongkretong batayan ng kanyang kritisismo,” Coloma told reporters. “Kapag ipinag-utos ng korte, tungkulin ng pamahalaan na magbigay ng kaukulang katugunan.”

Continued from A8

Reyes, who is part of the Philippine delegation to the WTO-ITA II talks, said a staging period is next on the WTO’s agenda.

The period will be used to determine the specific schedule of the reduction of tariffs, which should be done over a three-year period starting July 2016.

“By July 2019, the tariffs should be down to zero for all the products covered, but we will still determine the base year. The base year is important because that’s where we determine the

starting rate of the products which will be reduced,” Reyes said. Abon added that the tariff reduction should be done on a gradual rate over the three-year period. WTO economies that are party to the ITA-II are required to submit the draft schedule of concession and commitments by October 30.

The 201 products identified by the WTO were determined using the Harmonized System 2007 tariff nomenclature, up to the six-digit classification.

The Philippines is using a more

specific nomenclature for commodity classification--the Asean Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN) that uses eight digits.

Under the AHTN, the 201 products lines covered totaled 713 products.

According to Abon, the IT sector takes up 7 percent of global trade and, as a lone sector, contributes more than the automotive, iron and steel and garment exports combined. Global trade in these IT products has been pegged at $1.3 trillion.

The Nation BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Friday, July 31, 2015 A3

Quake drill gets relatively good participation

F

By Rene Acosta

or 45 minutes on Thursday, the national government, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the residents of Metro Manila tested their readiness to respond and react to earthquake, eliciting varied observations, although mostly negative.

Top disaster officials, including National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Chairman Voltaire T. Gazmin, said some of the rescuers and those who were supposed to be rescued were not serious. Some, including offices, did not even

bother to participate.

The earthquake drill tested the preparations of Metro Manila to respond to the so-called The Big One, or the earthquake the West Valley Fault will generate once it moves. Seismologists said the fault line will trigger a magnitude-7.2

quake once it shakes.

Still, officials said the participation they saw is better than nothing.

“Our system’s response is good, and this is a part of our continuing effort to improve and strengthen our protocols or checklist,” said Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, vice chairman of the NDRRMC. “But no less than Secretary Volts [Gazmin] said there are still gaps, a lot of gaps, and we are hoping to fill these up in the next days or weeks. For example, like in the preparation of food, equipment, pneumatic equipment because we are experienced in preparing for typhoon,” Roxas said.

L i ke i n respond i ng to t yphoons, he said there are equipment that should also be prepared for earthquakes.

For Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hernando Iriberri, the movement, especially those who should be

responding, should be synchronized.

“We will get all those gaps,” he said.

The Air Force deployed a total of 10 helicopters during the drill.

Two UH-1Hs from the Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command, two UH-1Hs from the Southern Luzon Command and two Sokol helicopters from Villamor Air Base conducted Aerial Rapid Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis over different areas in Metro Manila and inserted AFP Incident Commanders and their staff into the four designated sectors, or quadrants, in Metro Manila.

The Philippine National Police also participated in the drill.

Filipinos poured out of buildings and shopping malls in the massive drill across Manila to brace for a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that experts fear could kill tens of thousands and displace millions.

The drill was designed to boost preparedness in the Philippines, which is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries and lies in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where earthquakes and volcanic activities are common. A 7.7-magnitude quake killed nearly 2,000 people on the main northern island of Luzon, which includes Manila, in 1990.

Renato Solidum, who heads the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, warned that the West Valley Fault, which cuts across the capital of more than 12 million people and outlying provinces, could shift anytime based on its seismic history. The death and devastation could be severe if the public and the government would not be prepared, he said.

“We don’t have a culture of preparedness,” said MMDA Francis N. Tolentino, adding that work needed to be done to reduce a potential death

toll estimated at 35,000.

When alarms sounded, tens of thousands rushed out of buildings and shopping malls in Manila, some smiling and taking pictures and videos with their cell phones.

Such drills are crucial because they familiarize people with simple things, like the location of fire exits, and prompt them to prepare flashlights and whistles that could save lives in real disasters, said Mark Bidder of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The western Pacific archipelago is also lashed by about 20 storms and typhoons each year. Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan), one of the most ferocious storms on record to hit land, devastated large areas of the central Philippines in November 2013, leaving more than 7,300 dead and missing. With AP

ERC stops wholesale aggregator scheme Carpio report on destroyed shoals

By Lenie Lectura

T

HE EN ERG Y R eg u l ato ry Commission (ERC) has moved to discontinue the wholesale aggregator scheme, a measure meant to facilitate the involvement of distribution utilities (DUs) in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

In a resolution signed on July 6 and released this week, the ERC said that after thorough and due deliberation, it resolved to “approve and adopt the discontinuance of the wholesale aggregator scheme and the rules for the registration of wholesale aggregators.”

ERC Executive Director Francis Saturnino Juan explained that the ERC used to allow an entity, which is not a generation company, to become an aggregator and supply DUs, particularly electric cooperatives (ECs) that cannot comply with the requirements of membership in the WESM. “Now that most of these DUs were

able to register already, the rationale for having an aggregator has already ceased,” he said.

Prior to the operation of the WESM in 2006, several DUs were unable to meet the technical and financial requirements in the WESM rules for them to register as members, and their nonmembership in the WESM effectively limited their supply options.

As such, the ERC promulgated in May 2006 the rules for the registration of the wholesale aggregators to facilitate their participation in the WESM. Likewise, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued a circular that required DUs to be WESM members, either as direct or indirect, otherwise they would be disconnected from the grid.

Another DOE circular was issued in 2014 that addressed the financial constraints of small ECs, thereby removing the necessity of providing support to them in terms of WESM membership.

As years passed, the ERC ob-

served that the technical and financial limitations that hindered the DUs’ participation in the WESM, which necessitated the creation of the wholesale aggregator, no longer exist.

“No application and renewal for issuance of certificates of registrations as wholesale aggregator shall be accepted and evaluated, and all existing certificates of registration issued by the commission shall remain effective only until the end of their respective terms,” the ERC resolution added.

The ERC, however, shall continue to evaluate the market conditions. “If industry developments and circumstances so warrant, it may introduce a supply-aggregation scheme and/or authorize certain entities under such scheme to provide additional supply options to DUs and to ensure reliability of service, encourage efficiencies and reduction in its cost of electricity,” Resolution 12 stated.

Student asks CA to order arrest of Santo Niño Parochial officials

By Joel R. San Juan

T

HE Court of Appeals (CA) was asked to cite for indirect contempt and order the immediate arrest of Santo Niño Parochial School (SNPS) officials, including registrar Yolanda Casero, for refusing to heed the CA order for the release of the Certificate of Good Moral Character of school salutatorian Krisel Mallari.

In a 10-page very urgent motion, Mallari, through Public Attorney’s Office chief lawyer Persida RuedaAcosta, said respondents SNPS and Casero continue to refuse her request for the issuance of the certificate despite a court order.

Mallari said the issuance of a bench warrant of arrest against Casero is warranted until the school complies with the appellate court’s ruling.

Acosta filed the motion after Krisel and his father Ernesto Mallari, armed with the CA ruling, personally went to the school to seek release of the student’s certificate, but were turned down on the ground that the school has yet to receive an official copy of the CA resolution.

They recounted that upon their arrival, the guard on duty did not allow them inside the school. They, however, found out that a copy of the resolution served by the process server of the CA had already been received by the school.

Instead, one Arturo Baui told them that upon the advice of their counsel, one Atty.

Resurreccion, the school may not issue the Certificate of Good Moral Character until the lawyer has received the CA order; and that instead of the school, the petitioner and her counsels should coordinate with the school’s counsel.

“Thus, after another 10 minutes, petitioner and her father left the school extremely frustrated of the apparent stubbornness of the school and Mrs. Casero to issue a Certificate of Good Moral Character, to the point of even ignoring this Court’s directive—an indication of their disrespect toward lawful processes and authorities [just like their obstinate refusal to comply with the directive of the Department of Education],” the motion added.

The petitioner noted that there are only two working days left for Krisel to process her enrollment at the University of Santo Tomas (UST). She is qualified to avail herself of the 50-percent scholarship.

“It seems that the two working days left for petitioner to process her enrollment in UST and avail of the 50-percent scholarship to which she is entitled to as a salutatorian, would not be enough, as the school is bent on denying her right as recognized by this Honorable Court,” it pointed out.

In an eight-page resolution penned

by Associate Justice Socorro B. Inting, the CA’s Second Division granted the plea of Mallari for the issuance of a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction to compel her school to release the certificate.

“Krisel, like any other child, commits transgressions and, therefore, must be disciplined. However, the manner by which she is disciplined should not go to the extent of spoiling or destroying her dreams and aspirations,” the CA pointed out. “Certainly, the unreasonable nonissuance of the Certificate of Good Moral Character, which apparently appears to be an act of vengeance, adversely affects the bright future awaiting Krisel.”

reinforces PHL case versus China

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efense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin on Thursday said the country was correct in bringing China to arbitration following the revelation of Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio that Beijing has destroyed 10 more reefs and not just the seven reefs that it is reclaiming.

“It only reinforced our position that we are correct in our allegations against them before the Arbitral Tribunal,” said the defense chief at the sidelines of the Metro Manila earthquake drill in Camp Aguinaldo.

“They validated our claims.”

On Thursday Carpio said Beijing has damaged 10 other reefs, as it was using them as the sources of filling materials for the seven reefs that it is currently reclaiming in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Gazmin said China has destroyed

the “environment” in the area that it was disputing against the Philippines and breached the “status quo” that claimant-countries were supposed to be observing.

Aside from the Philippines and China, Brunei Darussalam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Vietnam have contending claims in the West Philippine Sea. Officials, however, said Beijing’s claims were expansive.

Earlier, President Aquino ordered for a status quo against any military activity—or even any improvement—on its facilities in the West Philippine Sea in order not to trigger a construction race in the disputed territory.

However, China has taken this lull by its fellow claimants by improving its facilities in the seven reefs that it occupies, along with the reclamation.

“They violated even the Declaration of Conduct [DOC] by parties in

the area,” Gazmin said.

Meanwhile, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hernando Iriberri said there seems to be no unusual activity

by China other than the presence of its vessels in the Scarborough Shoal.

Iriberri issued the statement in response to the discovery and hauling by Zambales officials of Chinese markers in the form of booms in the shoal, which, one report said, are aids in carrying out reclamation.

The discovery of the booms prompted fears that Beijing prepares to undertake reclamation in Scarborough.

But Iriberri said based on their monitoring, China has no activity in the shoal, where it exercises a de facto control after forcing a Navy vessel to leave it during a standoff in 2012.

The Chinese markers were seen at least 4 kilometers away from the shoal. Rene Acosta

Econ

Business

A4 Friday, July 31, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

metro-wide shake drill

Public and private offices and schools participated in the Metro Manila-wide earthquake drill, led by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The massive drill was part of the preparations for a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that experts fear could kill tens of thousands and displace millions. Story on A3.

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Metro Manila per-capita GDP increased to P203,132 in 2014

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By Cai U. Ordinario

etro Manila residents earned nearly three times more than the average Filipino in 2014, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The PSA said the National Capital Region (NCR) posted the highest per-capita Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) at P203,132, nearly three times the national average.

This was despite the slowdown in the per-capita GRDP of the NCR in 2014 that grew by only 5.9 percent, slower than the

9.2-percent growth posted in 2013.

This was largely due to the slowdown of the industry sector in the NCR in 2014.

Industry growth slowed to 3.2 percent in 2014 from 19.6 percent in 2013.

“The slowdown was attributed to the deceleration in manufacturing and the decline in construction,” the PSA said.

Manufacturing slowed to 5.2 percent in 2014 from 27.2 percent in 2013. Construction suffered a reversal to negative 3.8 percent from 10.5 percent.

The average real per-capita GDP of the Philippines was P71,726 in 2014, 4.3 percent higher than 2013’s P68,741.

Aside from the NCR, Calabarzon and Cordillera Administrative Region posted per-capita GRDP of P86,683 and P73,908, respectively, which were also higher than the national average.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), on the other hand, had the lowest per capita GRDP at P14,607.

PSA data showed that excluding the NCR, Luzon still recorded the

highest per-capita gross domestic product (GDP).

Its average per-capita GDP was P59,784 in 2014, which is 3.9 percent higher than its 2013 per-capita of P57,406.

Mindanao posted the biggest increase in per-capita GDP. Its per capita GDP increased by 5.6 percent to P43,579 in 2014 from P41,273 in 2013.

The NCR, on the other hand, continued to account for the largest share of the national economy. It accounted for 36.3 percent of the country’s GDP. It was followed by Calabarzon at 17.2 percent and Central Luzon at 9.3 percent. The ARMM accounted for the smallest share of the national economy at 1.3 percent.

Projects for women, children get P240-M aid from Canada

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he Canadian government is extending P240 million worth of development assistance for health-related projects for Filipino women and children.

“Canada remains committed to taking a leadership role in addressing the challenges faced by women, children and newborns, and further achieving the Millennium Development Goals,” Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines Neil Reeder said.

The lion’s share of the amount, or P163 million, will be allocated to ADRA Canada’s efforts in the Philippines, particularly in Camarines Sur.

ADRA Canada, along with the HincksDellcrest Institute and Youth Challenge International, aims to improve the state of health and nutrition of children and mothers in Camarines Sur.

The organization aims to increase the consumption of nutritious food and supplements by mothers, pregnant women and children under the age of 5.

This will be done through raising awareness of nutrition issues and providing supplies and training on how to grow healthy and diverse foods in household gardens.

ADRA Canada will also train midwives, nurses, traditional birth attendants

and community health volunteers on safe birthing practices.

The remainder of the assistance, approximately P78 million, will be allocated to Interpares that aims to introduce innovations that can reduce maternal mortality in urban areas.

The assistance will be focused on impoverished urban communities in Malabon, Manila and San Jose del Monte, as well as in typhoon-ravaged communities in Eastern Samar.

“It will help improve the delivery of basic health services, such as family planning, skilled birth attendants, emergency obstetric care and newborn care,” the Canadian government said.

The initiative will also establish an integrated network of four trusted, nonprofit maternal and child health clinics to deliver essential health services and outreach to benefit mothers, pregnant women/girls, newborns and children.

Funding for these two projects is part of the government of Canada’s June 2015 announcement of C$ 421 million worth of assistance to humanitarian organizations’ initiatives that focus on strengthening maternal, newborn and child health in 40 eligible countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Cai U. Ordinario

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A6 Friday, July 31, 2015

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Patronage politics is our disaster

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continuing criticism of the Philippines and our government is that we suffer from a lack of strong institutions. It is clear why that condemnation is valid when we examine the operations and achievements of some government departments.

One of the most important and vital government institutions is the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), or perhaps it should be called the “Department of Total Chaos.”

The DOTC is the department that ordinary Filipinos must engage almost on a daily basis.

The DOTC-attached agencies number about 20, ranging from the Land Transportation Office, the Philippine Ports Authority, to the Toll Regulatory Board, the Manila International Airport Authority, and everything in between.

“The Department of Transportation and Communications is the primary policy, planning, programming, coordinating, implementing and administrative entity of the Executive branch of the government on the promotion, development and regulation of a dependable and coordinated network of transportation and communications systems.” If people or goods move in the Philippines, the DOTC, by its own mandate, is responsible.

How well is it fulfilling the public’s expectations? The nation’s road network outside of the major population areas and surroundings is incomplete and is more suited to a time when carabaos pulled carts. The airport system has been obsolete for more than a decade. Our sea transportation may be one of the most dangerous and costly on the planet. The Philippine National Railways is actually the “Philippine National Train” when it works at all.

The DOTC has a 2015 budget of approximately P60 billion, and it employs thousands of people. That budget is about the same as the revenues of major property-development company Megaworld Corp. or shopping mall retailer SM Prime Holdings. Those two private corporations are managed by people who have years of experience in managing progressively larger entities within their particular industries.

For the past two DOTC secretaries, responsible for an organization that is at least as large as Megaworld and SM Prime Holdings, each of them holds a primary profession as “politician.”

However, most—not all—of the previous DOTC secretaries were, indeed, “politicians” who came to the DOTC with extensive records of “public service.” We are not criticizing the performance of any of the men and women who held the DOTC top post because that is not our point, nor is it useful.

Consider: The board of directors, looking for a new president or CEO of a major corporation, would probably not consider the application of someone whose work experience was as a threeterm representative who might also have held an important and critical position as advisor to the President.

In countries where the institutions are strong and the bureaucracy functions at a high level of responsibility and effectiveness, a Cabinet secretary can be effective as a caretaker to insure that the vision of the administration is carried out. But in the Philippines, the position must be more than a figurehead, as critical and well-informed decisions must be made.

The qualifications and subsequent performance of past DOTC secretaries are themselves indictment of our political patronage system, something the nation cannot afford to perpetuate.

Let’s have a debate James Jimenez

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spox

N 2016 the country elects a new Head of State, a new Chief Executive, a new Commander in Chief. Also known as the President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Most people use those three titles interchangeably with the more formal designation of “President,” and there’s probably nothing wrong with that. The truth, however, is that each of those three titles actually describes a very specific aspect of what it means to be President.

Head of State, for instance, refers to the role of the President as the principal representative of the Filipino people, the living symbol of the nation. He stands for the highest values and ideals of the Philippines. Or as Charles de Gaulle of France once said, the head of state should personify “a certain idea about France.”

Chief Executive, on the other hand, reminds us that the President is the manager of the entire Executive branch of the government. As Chief Executive, the President is responsible for enforcing the laws of the country and is empowered to appoint various officials who act as his alter egos throughout the entire infrastructure of the Executive branch. In the same vein, the President—as Chief Executive—is ul-

timately responsible for how well the government serves the people.

And, finally, Commander in Chief very specifically pertains to the President’s role as the one holding supreme operational command and control of a nation’s military forces. He is the No. 1 soldier, and as such, burdened both with securing the lives of the people and with protecting the integrity of the state.

The President has other roles, of course, although those are not as commonly known as these three. He is also the country’s Chief Diplomat—which means that he decides foreign policy, or how the Philippines deals with the other countries of the world. He is, likewise, Chief Legislator, in that he has the authority to suggest new laws to Congress, urge them to speed up the passage of certain bills, and ultimately, exercise the veto.

To a certain extent, the President also performs as the Chief Economic Manager of the country. While it has been argued that presidents have very

little control over the economy, the fact remains that he is the person seen by nearly everyone as being the most responsible for the economic well-being —the prosperity—of the country. And of course, the President is the chief of his political party. This simply means that, even as he helms the country, he also has to look out for the interests of his political party. This includes making sure that his party-mates get elected or appointed to office, even to the extent of campaigning for his party’s presidential candidate.

Getting back to the President’s principal roles of Head of State, Chief Executive and Commander in Chief, these three correspond very closely to the top 3 reasons presidential elections should be preceded by presidential debates.

Reason No. 1 is that a debate showcases each debater’s mastery of the issues currently affecting the country, and mastery of the issues is a key requirement for any Head of State. How can a person, no matter how educated or pedigreed, hope to represent an entire nation if he is not attuned to what the national experience is?

More important, how can the nation entrust leadership in a person who cannot show that he empathizes with their plight, or, at the very least, possesses a comprehensive grasp of it? Debates that are formatted to focus on issues—such as a town-hall meeting debate—can very effectively surface just how fluent a candidate is with the things that matter most to his constituents.

Reason No. 2 is that a debate reveals how a person approaches challenges.

Reasoning ability, creative thinking, even where a candidate’s biases run to—these are all pushed to the fore in a debate. This gives the electorate the opportunity to scrutinize the candidate and, perhaps, come to some conclusion on how he will perform as a Chief Executive.

And reason No. 3 is that a debate— especially a panel debate—subjects each candidate to substantial pressure by forcing him to present arguments and counterarguments in an adversarial setting, under strict time constraints, and with the overarching need to win public approval. How a candidate behaves or acts under pressure is crucial information for the electorate in deciding who he thinks will be best suited for the high-pressure job of Commander in Chief.

Having said all that, it is also worth noting that the Philippines has not seen a good presidential debate in a long time, if it ever has. Part of the problem is that candidates are not legally bound to participate in debates and, more often than not, they would rather be out campaigning anyway.

I must concede that probably is the smarter choice for a politician to make, but it leaves me wondering just how much insight a voter can gain from watching a campaign speech. Probably not a lot.

And when you’re talking about a job that calls for the occupant to manage at least seven distinct roles, it’s hard to consider that an acceptable state of affairs.

James Arthur B. Jimenez is director of the Commission on Elections’s education and information department.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Inclusive growth concerns Legislating bad taste for the next administration Tito Genova Valiente

Fernando T. Aldaba

EAGLE WATCH

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N his last State of the Nation Address, President Aquino triumphantly recapitulated the achievements of his administration. Without question, even among his staunch critics, average economic growth has seen a historic high of 6.3 percent in the last five years, as compared to the moderate growth of 4.8 percent during President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s term.

However, it is a consensus even among economists that the current economic advance has largely benefited a small portion of the population, with poverty incidence remaining high and, thus, exacerbating social inequities. In short, aside from sustaining the higher level of growth, the target of making such expansion more inclusive will now be an important agenda of the next administration. The following are the major concerns for inclusive growth and development:

Underemployment The Aquino government has improved, albeit gradually, employment creation, with the recent unemployment rate plunging to 6.4 percent, from last year’s 7 percent.

But what is alarming is a double-digit unemployment rate, which continually confronts the labor force. The recent estimate of 17.8 percent is hardly unchanged from last year’s 18.2 percent. These underemployment woes suggest that Filipinos’ have jobs that earn relatively small incomes, highly insecure and are generally of low quality. The highest contributor to employment is the services sector, which includes a large portion of informal work. Thus, it is imperative for the next administration to accelerate the growth of manufacturing, as higher-quality jobs are generated from this sector. This also implies that it should seriously pursue an industrial-policy mechanism, where the President regularly dialogues with key representatives of the business sector so that major constraints can be immediately addressed by appropriate agencies.

Chronic poverty

The major target of halving poverty incidence will not be reached this year. If the next administration seriously wants to make a dent on poverty, it should target the poorest of the poor, Filipinos suffering from chronic poverty. Chronic poverty is a phenomenon whereby an individual or group is in a state of impoverishment over an extended period of time. It sometimes can also be referred to as intergenerational poverty. They are so poor that they cannot actually contribute to economic growth. And children from these families typically have health and malnutrition issues and are not in school. Recent Philippine Institute Development Studies estimates (Reyes, et al. 2011) show that around 11.1 percent of the population is chronically poor. The next administration must be able to locate where the chronic poor are. According to Reyes, et al. 2011, these people are mostly in Mindanao—in Zamboanga Peninsula, Caraga and Northern Mindanao—and that 85.8 percent of them are in rural areas.

The current National Household Targeting System must be further refined to be able to identify the chronic poor. In addition, the focus on Mindanao’s development must be sustained, apart from resuscitating the agricultural sector.

Hunger

The most urgent problem related to chronic and transient poverty that needs to be addressed is hunger, especially among young children, which has long-term effects on their lives in terms of productivity and incomes.

But how can this be addressed by the next government? Again, targeting will be key, such that leakages will be minimized. While feeding in public schools mitigates hunger, not all starving children are in such schools.

There is a great possibility that most of them are out of school. The Conditional Cash-Transfer Program is

If the next administration seriously wants to make a dent on poverty, it should target the poorest of the poor, Filipinos suffering from chronic poverty.

Chronic poverty is a phenomenon whereby an individual or group is in a state of impoverishment over an extended period of time. It sometimes can also be referred to as inter-generational poverty.

They are so poor that they cannot actually contribute to economic growth. And children from these families typically have health and malnutrition issues and are not in school. helping alleviate hunger among its beneficiaries, but this is still not sufficient. As there are constraints in government resources, a multistakeholder approach to eradicate hunger must be utilized. There are already various technologies and methodologies which the government and non-governmental organizations can tap to address hunger and malnutrition. The next government must establish an effective coordination machinery that will be able to harness public and private resources.

Vulnerability

Vulnerability refers to the probability to become poor in the future because an individual or a family is confronted by risks and shocks and, simultaneously, the individual or family lacks physical, social and human capital to withstand such shocks. A Filipino family faces many of these—like health shocks, death in the family, disasters, sudden loss of jobs, running away from conflicts, etc. If they are not able to cope, they may fall below the poverty line or, if they are already poor, they may languish in a chronic poverty trap.

Vulnerability is very much related to transient poverty, as it is a primary reason for the movement of families in and out of poverty. Thus, the next administration must further enhance social protection. This would entail not only expanded membership in Philippine Health Insurance Corp. but an increase in the actual utilization of this health insurance.

This also means that a more effective disaster risk reduction and management programs must be established at the local government levels. Microinsurance can be expanded nationwide as a coping mechanism for families. In terms of jobs vulnerability, active labor-market programs at the local levels must also be implemented more widely. Design of other social-safety nets may also be warranted in areas where many people are exposed to a variety of risks and shocks.

Aldaba is the dean of the School of Social Sciences and professor of Economics, Ateneo de Manila University. The Ateneo Eagle Watch Mid-Year Briefing will be held on August 6 at the Ateneo Rockwell campus. As seats are limited, reserve your seats via eaglewatch. soss@ateneo.edu or call 426-5661, local 5221 or 5222, and look for Riz Jao.

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annotations

ow sensitive are our legislators?

Let me rephrase that in two ways: How sensitive are our legislators to the socioeconomic realities of the country?

How sensitive are they to criticisms of their lifestyle?

The last State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Aquino answered that question by way of a red carpet laid out for the legislators, and their spouses and families. The bleeding red carpet was meant for the wives, particularly, to show off their ternos or whatever their favorite designers had concocted for them to be dressed up in that day.

A huge network was prepared for that day. If there was a red carpet, then there should be glamorous beings treading on them. Why not have a competition? And so online a space was created where you could vote for the glamorous presence on that bloody (I am, of course, referring to the color) carpet. The result: Kris Aquino got the most point.

We understand the notion of dressing up and being decent for an event where a President delivers the address that sums up the situation where we find our nation. Given where we are right now, we should all dress in mourning. But that is not so.

The wives and husbands, as well, prepare for this day, as the Legislative House props up a cage where they could strut like peacocks.

Let us paint a scenario where the congressman-husband comes home and reminds the wife of the Sona date. Imagine the wife saying, with a strong critical tone in her dulcet voice: What will the President say?

Is he worth listening to? But that scenario is fantasy. Here is the reality. The husband comes and tells the wife to be ready for the Sona.

The wife jumps from the sofa and screams: What will I wear?

Fast-forward to the red carpet.

The cameras are ready. The women and some men are ready for their close-ups. The women twirl. Some men also want to twirl, but they catch their breath and stomp with bravado toward the red carpet. The photographers go crazy. The fashion police are ready with their paper and pen, and acid tongue. They are ready to critique not the politics but the fashion. Their tongues are drip-

ping with poison not for a president who was noted for his nonpresence, but for the gown with the wrong color, the textile with the wrong ideology, the sheen that is not sinful enough.

The politico-husbands are transformed during the red-carpet hours into gallant men who are ready to step aside, so the world, well not really the world but our pathetic tiny world of sycophants, could gaze at the taste of women and men fashionable against the backdrop of poverty and corruption.

Let me ask the question again: How sensitive are our legislators?

Do these politicians and their wives ever pause to think if the red carpet makes sense? I can give it to them that they are inured already

Friday, July 31, 2015 A7

to corruption—taking money here and pilfering a fund there—but what about good taste and guilt.

When their cars pass through streets of hunger and destitution, what goes through the fashionably coiffed head?

Taste can never be legislated.

Taste happens. It is cultivated.

Schools and higher institutions of learning should teach taste. Churches and religious groups should instill taste, good taste, in their pastors, priests and potentates. The media should learn good taste, and that begins by not covering the gowns and barong of legislators and their kin.

I would propose that the House of Congress and House of Senate attempt to legislate sense and sensibility. Here is one practical move: Banish the red carpet to hell. Legislate that act, to make sure no one improvises on another structure where they could display their lack of sensitivity.

Ban this online voting. We have enough bad reputation with this kind of selection and election.

At the end of the day, the day should end with this red carpet pulled while men and women are on it.

That act of violence would be amusing enough to remind everyone that there is a limit to flaunting wealth

and beauty of any form.

Believe me, if those water hoses were trained not on the street protesters but on the wives and husbands preening as if the world was built on sartorial elegance, this world of ours would be a better place to live in. The purgation of these malpractices can bring us back to a nation, or what we imagined to be one, that properly thinks of its action because the universe and its forces can be listening and could transform us all into dumb mannequins.

I am not angry. I am laughing as I write this. Sanity in this land is threatened not by mad men and women, but by persons who measure good law in terms of carpet and fashion.

In the end, you have also a presidential address that assures everyone that there are now relatively fewer poor people among us. The same President forgets about his own warriors massacred somewhere because he was on some red or blue carpet?

I know I do not make sense. After the red carpet where the President’s sister won by landslide, nothing makes sense, really. Not Boy Abunda.

Not even Albert Einstein.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com

INC ministers come out in the open to say they were not abducted, hit lies spread by expelled INC ministers

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glesia Ni Cristo (INC) ministers, who were earlier reported by the media to be missing, have come out in the open to belie claims of expelled INC ministers and other critics that they were abducted and tortured.

INC ministers Jojo Nemis, Arnel Tumanan, Nolan Olarte and Lowell Menorca II came out in televised interviews on Net 25 on Wednesday, saying that they are safe and well, and have never ever been kidnapped nor hurt. Another INC minister, Bro. Joel San Pedro, also belied reports that he had been expelled from the church. He said that he was, in fact, actively involved in the INC’s Unity Games International.

Menorca, who was earlier tagged by allies of Angel Manalo as having been tortured and kidnapped, came out on national television on Wednesday, to say that he and his family are well, and hit at lies being peddled by expelled INC ministers using his name.

The ministers also called on the INC brethren not to believe all of the allegations of the other expelled INC ministers who have gone out on a media frenzy with claims of abduction and alleged hostage-taking of several INC ministers, and even of corruption inside the 101-year-old church.

The ministers also expressed

their love and loyalty to the INC executive minister, Bro. Eduardo V. Manalo, and thanked him for taking care of them and of the entire church. They also stressed that they remain active INC ministers in the interview conducted by INC Spokesman Edwil Zabala.

“K apat id na Eduardo Manalo, ang aming pinakamamahal na Tagapamahalang Pangkalahatan, kami po ng aking buong sambahayan ay lubos pong nagpapasalamat sa napakalabay na pag-ibig at pagmamahal po ninyo hindi lamang para sa aming kapakanan, kundi para sa kapakanan ng buong Iglesia. Nalalaman po namin ang kasalukuyang kinakaharap ng Iglesia na suliranin, at kami po kasama ang aming buong sambahayan at lahat ng aming mga mahal sa buhay, kami po ay matibay na nakapanig sa Tagapamahalang Pangkalahatan, sa Pamamahala sa Iglesia sapagkat alam po namin na dito ang kaligtasan po namin,” Menorca said.

“Nagpapasalamat po kami dahil sa kabila ng mga pagkukulang, mga kapintasan po ay patuloy pa rin po kaming kinakalinga, patuloy pa rin po

MENORCA

OLARTE

kaming nililingap kasama ang aming buong sambahayan. Napakabait po ng Tagapamahalang Pangkalahatan kaya po hindi po matatapos ang aming taos-pusong pagpapasalamat sa lahat po ng pag-ibig, pagmamalasakit, hindi lamang po para sa aming kapakanan, kundi para sa kapakanan ng Iglesia, para sa kapakanan ng aming kaligtasan,” Menorca said tearfully.

Menorca appeared with his lawyer to talk to INC Zabala.

Menorca said it was he who had sought aid from the INC executive minister. Olarte said he could not understand why his name had been dragged by certain expelled INC ministers who claimed he was abducted.

“Ang totoo, gusto kong magalit sa kanila, dahil idinadawit nila ang pangalan ko. Hindi ko alam kung paano nila idinawit at bakit idinadawit ang

pangalan ko. Pero mas pinili ko po na… naalala ko yung itinuro ng Tagapamahalang Pangkalahatan na ang Diyos at ang Pamamahala ay hindi kalaban ng pagbabalik-loob, ang pagsisi ay hindi kahayagan ng karuwagan o pagiging takot kundi ng katapangan at ang kababaang loob ay hindi rin kahayagan ng pagiging mahina kundi ng kalakasan,” Olarte said.

“Kaya kung ako po ay bibigyan ng pagkakataon na kausapin sila, gusto ko silang payuhan na huwag silang pumayag na kainin sila o lamunin ng maling paraan o maling dahilan ng pagdaramdam sa Pamamahala. Kung bubuksan lang nila ang kanilang puso sa Pamamahala, mararamdaman nila yung malaking pagmamahal at malasakit ng Pamamahala sa buong Iglesia Ni Cristo,” he added. Eagle News Service

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4 firms seen vying for ₧4-B ITS deal

By Lorenz S. Marasigan & Cai U. Ordinario

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egawide Construction Corp., Ayala Land Inc., Datem Inc. and Filinvest Land Inc. are expected to submit their bids for the P4-billion Integrated Transport System (ITS) South Terminal deal today, July 31.

“This project will enable commuters to have seamless transfers from one mode of transport to another.

Creating a central terminal for all types of public transportation will not only give access to our daily commuters, but also help those who are unfamiliar with public-utility vehicle [PUV] routes and services,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said on Thursday.

The winning bidder will take care of the design, construction and operations and maintenance of the terminal for a concession period of 35 years.

The multibillion-peso project

covers the construction of a terminal within a 4.7-hectare lot inside the Food Terminal Inc. Compound in Taguig City. It will connect passengers coming from the South, specifically the Batangas and Laguna area, to other PUVs that are serving inner Metro Manila.

It also covers the construction of arrival and departure bays, public information systems, ticketing, and baggage facilities and parkride facilities.

The transport agency aims to award the project in the third quarter in order to begin construction by the second quarter of 2016, while the

terminal is set to open in December 2017. The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center, meanwhile, disclosed on Thursday that the government is now looking for bidders for the Road Transport Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure Project (Phase II).

The Department of Transportation and Communications and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will be inviting interested firms to prequalify and bid for the project.

The P298-million PPP project will upgrade the existing IT infrastructure of the LTFRB. It intends to computerize the agency’s manual processes, as well as the development, supply and operationalization of its network infrastructure (hardware) and database and applications (software).

“The computerization efforts will help clean up existing data of the LTFRB, enhance data collection and processing. It is also envisioned to effect integration within the LTFRB and among related agencies,” the PPP Center said. “ This will lessen the processing time for its transactions, promote and improve access to public information and provide channels for feedback.”

PHL TO BENEFIT FROM NEW WTO DEAL ON I.T. PRODUCTS

By Catherine N. Pillas

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he World Trade Organization’s (WTO) expansion of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA-II) will significantly increase the Philippines’s participation in the global value chain of IT products, and will further boost the country’s trade and exports of these high-value goods, according to the Tariff Commission (TC).

Further, the TC sees little or no opposition to the reduction of import duties under the WTO ITA-II, as the existing average tariff rate for most of the 201 products covered by the agreements is already low.

“We’re net exporter; we’re very competitive in the global market when it comes to technology products. We’re a big chunk of the global value chain, so we’re positive in growing our participation in it and our exports will increase,” said TC Chairman Edgardo B. Abon in an interview on Thursday after a public hearing on the ITA. “For most of the products covered, the average is 1 percent to 3 percent [tariff rate]. There are those with 15 percent, but these are few,” Abon added.

According to Board of Investments (BOI) Governor Lucita P. Reyes, the Philippines’s current participation in the global value chain

is already substantial at 56-percent “engagement rate” due to the ITA I. This will improve with the ITA II. “The semiconductor and electronics industry in the past, and until now, is in assembly and most of the parts used in assembling a particular product are being imported. That is where the Philippines will benefit from participating in the ITA—we basically produce the intermediate products that can be used in making a finished product,” Reyes said.

The original ITA I agreement, which the Philippines joined in 1997, helped the country become the 13th-largest exporter of IT products among WTO membereconomies, and the 17th-largest importer-economy, based on WTO’s 2012 data.

The Philippines recorded a net export of around $3.5 billion for IT products, according to WTO data in 2012. In 2013 total trade of the Philippines in the covered product lines amounted to almost $26 billion.

According to a study commissioned by the BOI, of the 201 lines identified by the WTO, 167 are not locally produced, while 18 are produced locally but not in sufficient quantity. This means only a few products will be competing with locally manufactured items.

See “IT products,” A2

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Manila casino. . .

Continued from A1

December 2016, after it missed an earlier March 2015 deadline, as Okada encountered delays finding a local partner, which was needed to meet a cap on foreign land ownership.

Local partner

Ok ada’s group has partnered with local businessman Antonio Cojuangco for the Manila casino, after selling its stake in a company that controls the project’s land site to a firm owned by Cojuangco, Sugiyama said.

The national casino regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. said earlier this month gaming revenue could increase 20 percent this year to $3 billion, even as China’s anticorruption crackdown hurt gambling in other parts of Asia.

A 16-percent gain in first-half gaming revenue to $1.4 billion supports the outlook that the Philippines’s mix of foreign players is not dependent on China, the regulator’s chairman, Cristino Naguiat, said in a July 14 interview.

Bloomberry Resorts Corp.’s $1.2-billion Solaire Manila opened in March 2013, making it the Entertainment City’s first casino project, while Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd.’s City of Dreams Manila formally opened in February. Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. is planning to open Bayshore City Resorts World in phases starting 2019. Bloomberg News