BusinessMirror November 2, 2015

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Life

To hear God’s word

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HELLIN ABX

SOLES WITH HOLES TOTA PULCHRA MISS CHARLIZE

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T’S the footwear that appeals to royals (Queen Rania, Infanta Cristina), prime ministers (the UK’s Gordon Brown, Italy’s Mario Monti), popes (Benedict XVI, John Paul II), supermodels (Cindy, Claudia, Helena), actors (Crowe, De Niro, Jackman) and icons (Angelina Jolie, Sarah Jessica Parker).

Geox (which combines the Greek word meaning “Earth” and the letter “X,” denoting technology) is the Italian brand founded in 1995, which revolutionized the footwear industry with “the shoe that breathes.”

Inspired by Nasa lunar space suits, its new-generation rubber sole is “perforated and incorporates a breathable and waterproof membrane, which lets your feet

Monday, November 2, 2015

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PATRICK COX FOR GEOX

AMPHIBIOX

breathe but prevents water from penetrating. This allows natural thermoregulation and creates an ideal microclimate within the shoe.”

Mario Moretti Polegato, the founder and chairman of the Geox Group, was in town recently to be a speaker at the 15th Forbes Global CEO Conference, which was attended by 400 global CEOs, tycoons, entrepreneurs, up-and-comers, capitalists and thought leaders.

With a fortune of about $2.3 billion, Forbes magazine ranked Polegato 13th among the richest men in Italy, and 764th in the world. I had the privilege to interview him at City of Dreams, with Juan Carlos Venti, head of institutional and external relations of Geox, serving as de facto interpreter.

“Every year the Forbes organization invites me to the international Forbes meeting because my story is really interesting. I represent the value of the idea, because Geox’s success came from my idea. It’s me,” Polegato said. “In the early 1990s, I invented the breathable shoe. A lot of my colleagues— entrepreneurs—want to know the secret of our success because Geox now is the leading shoe brand in Italy, in the world in the lifestyle classification.”

Corporate lore has it that Geox came into being because Polegato was frustrated with his rubber shoes while going on a run in the Nevada desert. He was greatly worried about his sweaty feet, so he punched holes in the soles to let the air through.

To date, Geox is sold in 120 countries, in 1,200 stores. The company has 50,000 direct employees and is a public company listed at the Milan Stock Exchange.

The Polegato family owns 71 percent of the shares. In 2014 about 20 million pairs of shoes were produced.

Polegato said Geox grew 9.6 percent last year. For the first semester this year, the company grew more than 6 percent, this despite the ongoing international crisis.

“Geox now represents the new generation in the footwear business. Ninety-five percent of the world’s population, including the Philippines, uses rubberbottomed soles. Only 5 percent of consumers prefer leather soles. Children, lady, man, military, athletes, everybody use rubber-bottomed soles. We solved the problem of rubber-bottomed soles with breathability.

Geox introduced the holes in the soles,” Polegato explained, while showing a shoe’s features. “It’s waterproof and breathable at the same time. With two elements, I created the breathable rubber-bottomed sole in the world. It is patented in 100 countries worldwide.

Every shoe that Geox produces includes this technology, with Italian style.”

Polegato, 63, is also an associate professor who

LIFE

C  D

MARIO MORETTI POLEGATO

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SYRIA DEPLOYMENT Perspective BusinessMirror

E4 Monday, November 2, 2015

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PRESIDENT Barack Obama, accompanied by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Vice President Joe Biden, speaks about Afghanistan on October 15 in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Obama announced that he will keep US troops in Afghanistan when he leaves office in 2017, casting aside his promise to end the war on his watch and instead ensuring he hands the conflict off to his successor. AP/PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS

Monetary Board Member Armando L. Suratos said the IMF is in need of funds to lend to other member-countries. He said the Philippines is a country that does not have outstanding loans from the IMF and that, in fact, Manila lends the multilateral agency money.

“The IMF is short of funds to lend to members who are in need. That’s why the IMF has tapped countries that are relevantly well-off, [which] include us the Philippines, fortunately,” he said.

He noted that the IMF chooses those countries with sound macroeconomic underpinnings.

“We’re fortunate that our economic condition has improved. We’re capable of lending to the IMF. We’re

SURATOS: “We’re fortunate that our economic condition has improved.

We’re capable of lending to the International Monetary Fund.”

B J P | The Associated Press

His deployment of up to 50 US special operations troops into northern Syria to assist in the fight against the Islamic State is the kind of incremental move that has defined Obama’s approach to the Middle East in his second term.

While the US military footprint in the region grows, each step is taken on a small scale so as to re-

assure the public that Obama isn’t plunging the country into another large, open-ended conflict.

The strategy may help ease Americans back into the realities of war, but regional experts as well as some of Obama’s political allies say his slow ramp-up may be insufficient in defeating the fast-moving militants.

“Deploying a handful of US special operations forces to Syria will not change this situation significantly,” Frederic Hof, Obama’s former Syria special adviser, said of Friday’s announcement. “It is a Band-Aid of sorts.”

Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Obama’s home state of Hawaii, said the latest escalation “is unlikely to succeed in achieving our objective of defeating IS and instead threatens to embroil the United States in Syria’s civil war.”

The military campaign against the Islamic State is nowhere near the size and scope of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama has repeatedly used the costly and unpopular Iraq war in particular as an example of what he’s tried to avoid in the region.

But the significance of Friday’s announcement was more about the location of the deployment, not the number of troops. It marks the first time the US has openly sent forces into Syria, expanding the geographic reach of Obama’s military efforts in the Middle East.

For years, the president has cast the chaos in Syria as exactly the type of situation he was elected to keep the US military out of.

Washington has no partners in the Syrian government and few good options among opposition leaders.

There is no ground force that the US can quickly train.

But the crisis has become unavoidable for Obama, particularly since the Islamic State grew out of the chaos and crossed the border into Iraq. What the president could once cast as a civil war that needed to be solved by Syrians has threatened to upend the whole region.

Obama’s first move was to deploy a few hundred US troops to Iraq to train and assist local forces in the fight against the Islamic State. It marked a return to Iraq for the US military after the 2011 withdrawal, which was a fulfillment of Obama’s campaign promise to end the war he inherited from President George W. Bush.

But over the past year, the number of US troops in Iraq has expanded to about 3,300. In an-

other escalation, the US also began launching airstrikes against the Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria.

Despite killing as many as 12,000 militants, the bombing campaign has not significantly weakened the Islamic State’s capacity to hold territory, and the group’s ranks have been replenished by foreign fighters and others.

Obama had hoped the strikes in Syria would be complemented by a ground force trained by Americans elsewhere in the region. But the train-and-equip program failed spectacularly and the president abandoned it earlier this fall.

The new US deployment into Syria essentially replaces that effort.

The decision allows Obama— who has been under pressure by the Pentagon and international partners to make progress against the Islamic State—to contend he’s seeking new ways to address the crisis. The White House also argued the president wasn’t backtracking on his commitment to keep US troops out of Syria because the presence was narrow in size and scope.

But to some, the White House appears to be more concerned about being able to keep that political promise than in taking action that could have a more substantial impact in resolving the situation on the ground.

“War has a harsh reality in that in order to have an effect you have to be present,” said Jerry Hendrix, a retired Navy flight officer and the director of the Defense Strategies and Assessments Program at the Center for a New American Security.

The White House put no timetable on how long the American forces would stay in Syria, though Obama has previously said he expects the campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to last beyond his presidency.

The escalation of the Pentagon’s campaign against the Islamic State follows Obama’s announcement two weeks ago that he was reversing course and keeping American troops in Afghanistan beyond next year.

That means the president who inherited two military conflicts will likely hand his successor three.

Nations agree on new Syria talks, but say little about Assad B B K The Associated Press

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IENNA—The United States, Russia, Iran and more than a dozen other nations agreed on Friday to launch a new peace effort involving Syria’s government and opposition groups, but carefully avoided any determination on when President Bashar Assad might leave power— perhaps the most intractable dispute of the conflict.

There was no guarantee that either Assad or the vast array of rebel groups fighting against him would join the push for peace.

The plan was hashed out after two days of discussions in Austria’s capital among some of the fiercest geopolitical foes on the planet,

including governments fighting directly or by proxy on opposing sides in a civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people, uprooted 11 million from their homes, led to the emergence of the Islamic State and sparked a refugee crisis throughout Europe since beginning in 2011.

Although details were vague, the approach has clear differences with previous such efforts. Chief among them: The US and allies including Saudi Arabia softened calls for Assad’s quick removal from power. Russia and Iran didn’t rule out his eventual departure.

“Four-and-a-half years of war, we all believe, has been far too long,” US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters.

“I did not say that Assad has

to go or that Assad has to stay,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the news conference with Kerry and the UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura.

The new diplomatic push coincided with a US announcement that a small number of American special operations forces will be sent to northern Syria to work with local ground forces in the fight against Islamic State militants. It would mark the fi rst time American troops would be deployed openly on the ground in the country.

Kerry said the US was intensifying a “two-pronged” effort. Diplomatically, it wants to see peace between the government and rebels as quickly as possible. Militarily, it is determined to defeat the

Islamic State.

For Washington, the new, UN-led process reflects a realization that stopping the bloodshed ought to be the top priority, even if that means relegating its longstanding demand for Assad to step aside so that a peaceful, secular and more inclusive Syria can be established. It may be seen as a concession by rebel militia groups determined to defeat Assad on the battlefield as well as by American critics of President Barack Obama who believe he hasn’t acted forcefully enough against Assad or his international backers.

Kerry said the foreign ministers present in Austria’s capital all vowed to maintain Syria’s institutions, to protect the rights of all its citizens, to assure humanitarian

access and to strive to defeat the Islamic State. He said the process should lead to a new constitution for Syria and internationally supervised elections, as well as an end to violence between Assad’s military and rebels so that the world community can focus on the counterterrorism challenge.

But no agreement was reached on Assad, whose future lies at the center of the conflict.

Obama demanded that Assad leave power only months into the fighting, but the US has done nothing in terms of direct military action and little in support of the rebels to advance that goal. Russia resisted the push by blocking attempts at the United Nations to pressure the Syrian leader and insisting that any new government

be established only by mutual consent of both the government and the opposition. That essentially gave Assad veto power over his would-be replacements.

Underscoring the continued violence, Syrian opposition reported that a government missile barrage killed more than 40 in a Damascus suburb as diplomats were meeting in Vienna.

In the Austrian capital, officials described tense talks, particularly as bitter regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia took turns lambasting the Syria policies of the other. Iran has actively fought on the ground alongside Assad’s forces and the Iranian proxy militia, Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia has been among the main providers of military assistance to the rebels.

PERSPECTIVE

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I BusinessMirror MEDIA PARTNER

F the Philippines will adopt simpler rules and regulations for businesses, the World Bank said the country can attract an additional P5 billion to P10 billion worth of new investments annually.

World Bank Philippines senior economist Karl Chua earlier told reporters that cumbersome rules and regulations cost businesses P100 billion in opportunity costs and P40 billion worth of foregone investments.

“Simplifying business regulations

HIGH TAXES, POLITICAL DYNASTIES AND OTHER UNFINISHED BUSINESS IN 16TH CONGRESS B J M N.  C

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First of three parts

can unleash the potential of the private sector—in particular, small and micro businesses—as they are important contributors and beneficiaries of inclusive growth,” Chua said.

“Business regulations tend to be cumbersome, they limit the growth of innovative entrepreneurship and investments; contribute to large-scale informality, which covers 75 percent of employment; and, hence, prevent the country from creating more and better jobs that can reduce poverty at a faster rate,” he S “I,” A

C  A

earning from it, and [the funds still form] part of our international reserves,” he told the BusinessMirror.

Suratos said quotas are capital contributions of member-countries, and are the source of the lending operations of the IMF. S “IMF,” A

‘Business-friendly rules to hike new investments by P10 billion’ B C U. O

SPECIAL REPORT

ESPITE strong support from the Palace, and local and foreign business groups, several important measures are now being considered dead at the House of Representatives. These are Resolution of Both Houses 1 (RBH 1), or the economic Charter change (Chacha); Rationalization of Fiscal Incentives (RFI) bill, a bill lowering income and corporate tax rates; Freedom of Information (FOI) bill; Anti-Dynasty bill; and Basic Law on the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and other lawmakers admitted that the lower chamber is expected to face a quorum problem when session resumes on November 3, as members of the lower chamber are now busy for the upcoming 2016 national and local elections.

As author of the economic Cha-cha, Belmonte said he will leave to the next administration the passage of his proposal amending the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution, or RBH 1.

Belmonte, who will seek reelection next year, said he is hoping that the next Congress would consider amending the economic provisions of the Constitution.

The House leadership did not push through with the

With Syria deployment, Obama crosses own red line

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ASHINGTON—Even as President Barack Obama sent US troops back to Iraq and ordered the military to stay in Afghanistan, he insisted Syria would remain off limits for American ground forces. Now the president has crossed his own red line.

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

PHL bats for quota hike to support IMF lending

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SOLES WITH HOLES EAR Lord, give us a greater hunger for Your word. May we seek out wise men who will teach us Your ways. We know that our heart is always with You, day and night, it feels unceasingly of its heavenly and divine friend, to whom it wants to prove its affection. Stories of saints had people go to them in droves to hear God’s word. May we be in the proper state of life and holiness to hear God’s word all the days of our lives. Amen.

Thursday 2014 Vol.2, 10 2015 No. 40 Vol. 11 No. 25 Monday,18, November

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HE Philippines does not object to the proposed doubling of the so-called quota share of countries under the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

INSIDE

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A broader look at today’s business

Vista Land to construct two-tower hotel, condo in Cebu City B VG C

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ISTA Residences Inc., the vertical developer of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., said it will put up a twotower hotel and condominium in the heart of Cebu City.

The company said the 32-story tower will be called Vista Suarez Cebu, which Vista Land said is one of its “ambitious” vertical projects in the Visayas.

The company added that the development offers 27 units per floor for the first tower, and only 14 units per floor in the second tower.

“This will allow more privacy, much less crowding in the public areas, and more breathing space—a huge premium in condominium living. Its unique L-shape was created to make sure every single unit shares in the incredible views of the city and the mountains that fringe the Visayan metropolis,” the company said. At the street level, the

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 46.8900

building will house retail and commercial shops and restaurants for the residents and guests. The next two levels will be allotted for offices and business centers.

Vista Suarez will both be a hotel and a residential development. The sixth to the 14th floors will run as a hotel, offering both studio and one-bedroom selections.

The 15th to the 28th floors, meanwhile, make up the tower’s condotel floors or serviced residences, allowing owners to have

their units leased out to short- or long-term staying guests for investments.

The top four floors will be for residential studios, which will have one- and two-bedroom flats. The company said monthly rental rate in the area will rise by P800 to P1,000 per square meter, allowing investors to lease out their units and get returns in investment in a short period of time.

Vista Residences started its operations 12 years ago, and is considered as one of the

top 5 developers in the country.

Vista Land, the property development company of the Villar family, said that both its income and revenues rose 10 percent during the first half of the year on strong take-up on its products.

The company said its net income reached P3.11 billion, from last year’s P2.83 billion; while revenues rose to P12.18 billion, from last year’s P11.02 billion.

Reservation sales reached P28.3 billion.

n JAPAN 0.3871 n UK 71.7980 n HK 6.0506 n CHINA 7.3765 n SINGAPORE 33.4046 n AUSTRALIA 33.2035 n EU 51.4758 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.5030

Source: BSP (30 October 2015)

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BMReports BusinessMirror

High taxes, political dynasties and other unfinished business in 16th Congress Continued from A1

expected voting on third and final reading of economic Cha-cha in June, apparently due to the lack of affirmative votes. The passage of economic Cha-cha requires the affirmative votes of at least two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives.

The voting has also been affected by the Palace, particularly President Aquino’s stance against Cha-cha. Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said he has yet to see a signal that the President had relented to the amendment of the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Moreover, according to Belmonte, the economic Cha-cha, which was backed by foreign and local business groups, is a larger contributor to economic growth as foreign direct investments (FDI) are seen to increase once ownership of estates and corporations—one of the issues raised by investors for not investing in the country—is relaxed.

“By amending the restrictive economic provisions of our Constitution, we empower Congress to enact laws that will attract the kind of investments that will reverse the de-industrialization and de-agriculturalization of our economy,” Belmonte said.

“Only then can we encourage locators and investors to expand our manufacturing sector, the area where the better-paying decent jobs can be created. This is the best strategy to ensure that no Filipino will be left behind,” he said.

The resolution, filed by Belmonte and Sen. Ralph G. Recto, is eyeing to amend economic provisions on the 60-40 rule that limits foreign ownership of certain activities in the Philippines.

The resolution will include the phrase “unless provided by law” in the foreign-ownership provision of the Constitution, particularly land ownership, public utilities, natural resources, media and advertising industries.

Under Article 12 of the Constitution, foreign investors are prohibited from owning more than 40 percent of real properties and businesses, and are totally restricted from exploiting natural resources and own any company in the media industry.

Meanwhile, Belmonte also said the proposal amending the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution should be passed by the House of Representatives.

“It’s really too late to make Cha-cha this year, but I’m still trying the idea of passing it just to show that people in the House [of Representatives] are for it. Passing it now will also give a great signal that [passing the economic Cha-cha] is possible,” he said.

“In other words, if we pass it here now, then for sure it will pass in the next administration, they also cannot say that we dillydally on it and say na walang support ’yan,” Speaker added.

Belmonte, however, admitted that it may no longer be feasible due to lack of time. Under the legislative calendar, Congress will adjourn from October 10 to November 2. The session will again resume from November 3 to December 18.

The third and last regular session of the 16th Congress is expected to be cut short because of the 2016 national and local elections in May next year.

Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon of Kabataan, however, said the leadership should be focused on the passage of other key legislative efforts than this economic Cha-cha.

“Instead of concentrating efforts on the passage of RBH 1, why not concentrate on important bills? RBH 1 should not get top billing as the amendments it seeks are not only vague and overbroad, but will also open loopholes that destroy the standards and limitations set by the 1987 Constitution,” Ridon said.

“If the last remaining legal barriers to foreign exploitation will be lifted, a great number of Filipinos will become literal strangers to our own country—penniless mendicants in a nation

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING EXTREME NORTHERN LUZON EASTERLIES AFFECTING EASTERN SECTION OF THE COUNTRY (NOVERMBER 1, 5:00 AM)

whose lands and resources are mostly owned by foreign companies,” the lawmaker warned.

Status quo on fiscal incentives

Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means and Liberal Party Rep. Romero S. Quimbo of Marikina said the Rationalization of Fiscal Incentives (RFI) bill is also now considered dead in the lower chamber.

According to Quimbo, the possibility of enacting the RFI bill is already slim due to the failure of the departments of Finance (DOF) and Trade and Industry (DTI) to reconcile their conflicting positions on the measure.

The RFI bill is one of the priority measures of the Palace. The president, during his last State of the Nation Address in July, said he wants it passed before he steps down from office next year.

The RFI has been repeatedly filed since 9th Congress, but all had not reached approval.

“There’s no more time for rationalization of fiscal incentives considering the DTI and the DOF cannot reconcile their differences.

This will involve close to 78 industries, so it’s very important that will be able to know their specific inputs,” Quimbo added.

During the last hearing of the House Committee on Ways and Means on the RFI bill, Trade Undersecretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. identified four contentious issues.

1. Implementation of a uniform incentive package for all economic zones, consisting of a four-year income-tax holiday (ITH), after which a choice of either a 5-percent reduced tax on gross income earned (GIE), or a 15-percent corporate-income tax (CIT) for 11 years (total of 15 years).

2. Renewability of either the 5-percent GIE, or the 15-percent CIT for 15 years, upon review after 15 years. This incentive is on top of the ITH and GIE/CIT combination, totaling to 30 years of incentives availment.

While the DTI is in favor of the time-bound perks, the authority to renew or terminate incentives should lie with the investment-

promotion agency boards.

3. Implementation of any change in the incentive package, either for export-oriented enterprises in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) or the Board of Investments (BOI), should be prospective.

4. Existing locators who enjoy the present package should be given an option to migrate to the new scheme.

Cristobal said keeping the incentive packages attractive is significant, now that other competing Asean member-nations are offering better packages.

Vietnam, for instance, offered Samsung a 30-year ITH for the electronics giant to locate there. Indonesia, according to Peza, just doubled its ITH period from 10 years to 20 years.

The DOF, however, remained firm in its opposition, specifically on the second issue.

Also, the RFI bill has been facing strong opposition from business groups due to its provisions, particularly the lifting of the taxand duty-free incentives of several industries.

Quimbo earlier said the government is losing billions of pesos by giving incentives.

“We lose P148 billion in 2013 on fiscal incentives, but [with the passage of the RFI bill] we want to make sure that we will only remove incentives to those industries that don’t deserve it. However, those who deserve it, meaning those that generate jobs like manufacturing, as well as export-oriented, we will not only protect them but we will, in fact, even increase their incentives so that we can make it competitive,” the lawmaker said.

Quimbo, meanwhile, said that the lower chamber will monitor the implementation of the proposed Tax Incentive Management and Transparency Act (Timta), which was ratified by the both chambers of Congress.

The proposed Timta seeks to promote transparency and accountability in the grant and administration of tax incentives to business entities, and private individuals and corporations. To be continued

news@businessmirror.com.ph

IMF lending. . .

Continued from A1

According to the IMF fact sheet, when a country joins the IMF, it is assigned an initial quota in the same range as the quotas of existing members of broadly comparable economic size and characteristics. The IMF uses a quota formula to help assess a member’s relative position.

Suratos said in December 2010, the IMF proposed the doubling of quotas, and the realignment of quota shares of members.

“This could shift more than 6 percent of quota shares, which are really voting shares, from overrepresented to underrepresented membercountries,” he said. “With bigger quotas, you will have voice and privileges, and you can also borrow bigger amounts of funds,” he said.

He explained that the realignment of quota share is important because it will increase the voting power and other privileges of emerging markets and developing countries, and reduce the voting power of the original members.

The proposal require at least 60-percent approval from member-countries, and 85 percent of the total voting power.

To date the proposal obtained more than 60-percent approval from IMF members, although the total voting power acceptance was 80.37 percent and short of the 85-percent requirement. He said the only stumbling block to its approval is the US. “The US holds 16.74 percent of the votes, which is the largest. France and Germany have below 10 percent, and the Philippines has single-digit,” he said. The US Congress has not acted formally on the proposal, although President Barack Obama has endorsed it.

“The US remains the stumbling block to the effectivity of this reform. It’s important because the quota is the source of the capital of the IMF,” he said. Once approved, emerging countries like the Philippines’s contribution will go up depending on the economic size.

Suratos sees China, the Philippines and those other emerging countries will have bigger quotas. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno said the Philippines has “come at the point when we have a private place among countries that don’t have outstanding loans from the IMF.” “It is part of nation-building, for us to memorialize our lessons and ensure that we will never fall prey again to a vicious cycle of commodity shortages, currency shortages and near closure of the bond market from ever hounding us again,” she said. This pertained to that period in economic history when foreign exchange was hard to come by, the country’s foreign-currency reserves were dangerously thin and Manila had billions of dollars worth of loan maturing over the near term.

TPB notes. . .

Continued from A12

Architecture Budji + Royal Pineda Design. “The booth design departs from the normal tourism stereotype, and allows guests to see and experience the lifestyle of Filipinos through a cross-promotion strategy, featuring furniture, food, music, fashion and various consumer products,” the TPB official explained. This is the first time the TPB has hired the services of a well-known architecture firm to design its booth.

“For the fun aspect,” he said, the new VPA campaign for 2016 will also be launched on Tuesday at a “special cocktail reception for travel bloggers and newsmakers at the iconic London skyscraper known as ‘The Gerkhin.’”

Foreign visitor arrivals in the Philippines’s increased by close to 10 percent to 3.6 million from January to August this year, boosted by double-digit spikes in the country’s traditional source markets, such as Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

While the actual head counts have failed to hit the DOT’s annual targets since 2012, Jimenez often underscores the increased earnings of the tourism industry, which have exceeded expectations and goals under the NTDP. Visitor receipts in the first eight months of 2015 grew by 5.4 percent to P152.2 billion year-on-year.

(See, “Top visitor markets ‘back on track,’ boosting arrivals by 10 percent in Jan-Aug 2015,” in the BusinessMirror, Oct. 12, 2015.)

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The Nation BusinessMirror

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Monday, November 2, 2015 A3

CA gives go signal to hear P5.4-M damage suit versus ex-Pres. Arroyo

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HE Court of Appeals (CA) has given the trial court the go signal to hear and resolve the P5.4-million damage suit filed by the protestant United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) against former President and now Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of Pampanga.

The suit was filed in connection with the alleged extrajudicial killings of five UCCP members and the abduction of another priest. The suit cited the killings and abduction occurred between 2003 and 2006.

In a 16-page decision penned

by Associate Justice Victor Isabel Paredes, the CA’s Seventh Division denied Arroyo’s petition seeking the reversal of the decision issued by the

Regional Trial Court in Quezon City in January 2012. The QC RTC denied her motion to dismiss the civil suit.

The UCCP insisted that Arroyo is liable for damages as she failed “either by commission or omission, either by manifest negligence or by culpable acts” to fulfill her duties as president and commander in chief of the country’s armed forces.

The UCCP is represented by Bishop

Reuel Norman Marigza and six UCCP families as plaintiffs. They claimed it was during Arroyo’s term that counterinsurgency plan Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL) was conceived.

Under OBL, the UCCP were among the society and church organizations identified as front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines and, thus, targets for neutralization by the military.

The UCCP said in the course of the OBL’s implementation, several pastors, leaders and members were killed, harassed, unlawfully detained or tortured by alleged military agents who were under Arroyo’s control and command responsibility.

The CA held there was no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court when it denied Arroyo’s motion to dismiss the case on the ground that the complaint failed to state a cause of action against her as it does not contain any sufficient allegation about her actual role on the OBL.

Arroyo also claimed that the UCCP lacks cause of action against her on the ground there is damnum absque injuria or loss without injury.

She also claimed the complaint is a suit against the state and that the UCCP leaders do not have any cause of action for any alleged act on her part in the performance of her official duties as president and commander in chief.

The CA said based on its perusal of the complaint, its shows that it sufficiently states a cause of action as it states that victims of extrajudicial killings, who are members of the UCCP and family members of its leaders, have a right against forcible abduction, illegal arrests, detention and torture. Likewise, the CA said it is the duty of the petitioner to respect such right. The CA added that the petitioner violated such right when she ordered the implementation of OBL, which led to the extrajudicial killings, disappearances and other illegal acts.

“Since it is apparent that evidence has yet to be presented before the RTC and any question of fact resolved through stipulations, the RTC’s denial of the motion to dismiss on the ground of lack of cause of action was proper,” the CA said.

The CA added that Arroyo’s defenses can be passed upon and threshed out in a full-blown trial on the merits and not in a motion to dismiss.

“Clearly, the RTC’s denial of petitioner’s motion to dismiss and motion for reconsideration, were neither whimsical nor capricious.

Petitioner, in praying for the issuance of the writ of certiorari, has failed to discharge the burden of proving grave abuse of discretion on the part of the RTC in accord with the definition and standards set by law and jurisprudence,” the CA ruled Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Magdangal de Leon and Elihu Ybanez. Joel R. San Juan

Etihad Airways says sorry for flight diverted to Clark

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TIHAD Airways issued on Saturday evening a statement apologizing to guests on Flight EY424 that had to divert to Clark International Airport (CIA) on October 30.

The airline said the flight from Abu Dhabi to Manila was flown to CIA “due to airspace congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).” The company described the diversion as “a circumstance beyond the airline’s control.”

Apparently, congestion also hit the CIA, this time its terminal, according to Etihad as passengers also had to wait for 10 hours before they disembarked from the aircraft.

“The airline also apologizes to the guests for the inconvenience they experienced as a result of the ensuing 10-hour delay in disembarking the aircraft–the result of terminal congestion at Clark International Airport, continuing airspace congestion at [the] Naia and delays in the arrival of ground transportation.” Alladin S. Diega

Economy

A4 Monday, November 2, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

Lawmakers want ‘special economic assistance’ for government workers

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By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

wo party-list lawmakers have recently filed a measure seeking to grant government workers a special economic assistance to help them cope with the increasing cost of basic necessities.

Party-list Reps. Gary C. Alejano and Francisco Ashley L. Acedill filed House Bill (HB) 6113, which seeks to grant all government workers a Cost of Living Allowance (Cola) of P5,000. The Cola is on top of the existing Personnel Economic Relief Allowance.

HB 6113 covers all civilian government employees, whether employed by the national or local governments, appointive or elective, and whether occupying regular, contractual or casual positions, whose positions are covered by the “Compensation and Posi-

tion Classification Act of 1989,” as amended, as well as military and uniformed personnel.

The measure provides that the amount necessary for the grant of Cola for government employees shall be charged against the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA), particularly the Miscellaneous Personal Benefit Fund (MPBF) or any savings realized by the government from the current GAA. In filing the bill, the lawmakers said that in spite of the previous adjustments in the salaries of government employees over the last few years, their current income still fails to cope with ever increasing costs of basic necessities as reflected in the yearly increase in the consumer price index.

“It is high time that these government workers be granted additional assistance to alleviate the effects of rising cost due to inflation in order to sustain decent living,” they said.

The solons added that the grant of Cola could be the “best alternative” in case the national government is not yet ready, at this time, to implement another round of adjustment in the prevailing salary rates, as provided in the proposed amended Compensation and Position Classification Act, or Salary Standardization Law 4.

The lawmakers said that this piece of legislation could be the “best compromise” to fast track the implementation of a long overdue salary increase for government workers.

news@businessmirror.com.ph

‘Tedious tax system discourages compliance’

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By Recto Mercene

he government should make tax payment easier for small entrepreneurs and self-employed Filipinos, who comprise the second-largest class of workers in the country, to encourage compliance among micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and self-employed professionals.

“I believe all income-earning Filipinos would want to pay taxes because it makes them feel they are part of nation-building, but the high tax rates and the tedious payment system are discouraging compliance,” Sen. Francis Escudero said.

“How can your regular taxi drivers or tiangge stall owners afford to pay accountants just to comply with Bureau of Internal Revenue [BIR] regulations?” Escudero asked.

MSMEs comprise 99 percent of all businesses in the Philippines.

This led Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo to highlight the plight of MSMEs in the region during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila this month.

Self-employed Filipinos—meaning, employers, own-account workers and members of cooperatives—account for 26.2 percent of all workers in the country, the second-biggest labor category after wage and salaried employees, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Escudero also said many self-employed workers do not register with the BIR because the process is so tedious. Registration alone requires mayor’s business permit, occupational permit, Occupational Tax Receipt or Professional Tax Receipt, contract of lease, proof of registration of business name, barangay certificate and at least four other documentary requirements that may apply, depending on the nature of business.

BIR registration would compel self-employed workers to file tax returns monthly, quarterly and annually.

“We want to encourage Filipinos to become entrepreneurs. But the truth is, it is hard to start and sustain your own company here, especially if you operate only on a small-scale, which is what 99 percent of business owners do,” Escudero said.

Top retailers get tips, ideas from int’l experts on how to go global

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op retailers from across the region were in Manila for the biennial 17th Asia Pacific Retailers Convention and Exhibition (APRCE) at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex-Manila to share ideas and tips on how to grow their business, withstand fresh challenges borne

by global developments and succeed in the international arena.

President Aquino himself shared his experiences while working with a retail industry establishment in the early days of his career, in a speech he delivered at the APRCE opening rites on Thursday. The three-day event opened on October

28 and ran until October 30.

The President narrated the adversities and constraints he encountered when he was a retail company executive, which he said gave him the motivation to be supportive of the rise of the retail industry as a major prime mover of the Philippine economy today.

AQUINO

FORMOSO

Philippine Retailers Association (PRA), president Lorenzo C. Formoso, COO of Duty Free Philippines, in his remarks said they did their “best to showcase to the world the famous Filipino hospitality and the best the country has to offer in this event, and we are happy that we received good reviews and comments and kudos from our colleagues in the international retail community for the well-organized 17th edition of the APRCE.” PRA Chairman and APRCE overall chairman Frederick D. Go, for his part, said their efforts to “bring the APRCE to Manila after two decades paid off and we know the fruits of this event will be felt by the country’s retailing industry and the economy in general for years.”

Global retail industry expert Alan O'Neill, managing director of the Ireland-based fashion brand Kara, shared that to thrive in the

GO

industry despite the many challenges that await them, sustain the momentum of their businesses, and be successful in the industry, “fellow retailers” should always keep an open mind and never lose sight of three realities.

O’Neil explained: “First, retailers around the world should embrace change, since the only thing constant in life is change. It’s very basic, and a lot of us know this, but not all of us do recognize it. Second, one should always clear the clutter, meaning to go back to the basics...

And the third is, plan and strategize for the short term, maybe in the next five years.”

He noted that going back to the basics and planning for the next three to five years will help industry players in assessing the growth potentials and direction of their company and how to serve the customers better.

“We should prioritize the cus-

tomers while embracing and coping with change,” he stressed, adding that retailers “should be ready for the three major changes: sociological, political and technological changes and advancements.”

Singapore-based Christopher Guillot, business development director of FITCH Design Pte. Ltd. (Singapore) for the Asia Pacific, noted booming retail prospects and opportunities in the emerging markets.

“Retail will change more in the next five years, than in the past 50 years. And by 2050, there will be more people in cities, most of them in Asia and Africa,” Guillot said, urging retailers to recognize and tap into this opportunity.

While there are endless possibilities for retailing moving forward, Hubert de Malherbe, owner and founder of France-based Malherbe Retail Design, stressed that“building the brand is a core determinant of success in retailing.”

“And by brands, customers should be the focus. It is people that make the brands stand out.

The service you give to the consumers will determine your brand,” de Malherbe pointed out.

The 17th APRCE, hosted by the PR A—the recognized organization of retailers and suppliers to the retail industry in the Philippines—is organized by the Federation of Asia PacificRetailers Associations, the regional organization of 18 recognized national retail associations in Asia Pacific.

PHL ‘least capable’ of coping with natural disasters–report

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he Philippines is one of the countries in Asia Pacific that is “least capable” of coping with natural disasters, according to a report released by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap).

In Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2015, the Unescap said over 50 percent of the country is exposed to disasters. However, the Unescap said the country’s coping capacity is only around 20 percent. This placed the country 25th out of 40 countries in the region.

“Globally, the expected annual average loss from natural disasters is $415 billion—of which 40 percent is likely to come from 50 countries in Asia and the Pacific.

In Myanmar the annual average loss represents 30 percent of its annual capital investment. In the Philippines it is expected to be

14 percent and in Cambodia 10 percent,” Unescap said.

Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) in 2013 is also included in the top 10 worst natural disasters in the Asia and the Pacific region with close to 10,000 fatalities. The worst hit city in the Philippines was Tacloban City in Leyte. The rains and storm surge brought by the typhoon led to death and destruction on a vast scale.

Former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chief Francis N. Tolentino said these findings should prompt local government leaders to “metropolitanize” their respective areas to address concerns in times of natural and man-induced disasters.

By “metropolitanizing,” Tolentino said there is a pressing need “to improve city and provincial

structures and infrastructure.” He made the same call when he was guest speaker at the Cebu Urban Summit held recently.

“Leaders should be forward looking. A vision, say for the next 10 to 20 years to improve road network, drainage, garbage disposal, and to build stronger buildings,” Tolentino said.

He said future leaders should start conceptualizing modern cities that can address growing population and demands of its populace.

Tolentino emphasized the need for national and local leaders to “think and visualize in one direction to have synchronicity.”

He said leaders should set their eyes on good governance which translates into “improving urban structure and land use; urban transport and highways; water supply, disposal management and solid waste management.” Cai U. Ordinario

Economy BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, November 2, 2015 A5

Palace expects timely passage of P3-trillion 2016 budget bill

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By Butch Fernandez

ALACAÑANG expects Congress to pass the final version of the P3-trillion 2016 national budget bill before the year ends to maintain the Aquino administration’s record of not reenacting annual budgets throughout its six-year term.

ROAD TRIPPED This October 31 photo shows traffic buildup on Edsa near Cubao, Quezon City, due to a government road-reblocking project. The Asian Development Bank has said road congestion costs Asian economies an estimated 2 percent to 5 percent of gross domestic product every year due to lost time and higher transport costs. Nonoy Lacza

Loose trade rules’ negative impact seen for businesses

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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party-list lawmaker over the weekend warned the government against the negative impact of trade liberalization on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with the implementation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) integration tack called the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Party-list Rep. Fernando Hicap of Anakpawis said SMEs are condemned to face tough competition with foreign companies that are equipped with huge capital and capable of selling products at lower prices.

“Local businesses are also distressed of high production costs brought about by rising prices of electricity, transportation, rentals, equipment and other consumables,” Hicap said. “The government is boasting about the entry of foreign brands in the local market, but neglecting the effects of liberalization on Filipino small businesses.”

The AEC seeks to establish “a single market and production base with free movement of goods, services, labor and capital by 2015.”

According to Hicap, the prices of raw materials in the food industry, such as rice, flour, sugar, oil and sweet potatoes, continue to surge. “Local businesses are hurt by these but to foreign companies, these are nonissues.”

“Prices of products needed by SMEs have swollen, adding [to that

are] the costs of toll fees due to privatization of expressways, loss [of] income due to traffic, long-period power outages in the regions, the effects of calamities and others. All these are endured by small businesses, as there is no support from the government following its ideology of state nonintervention.”

According to Hicap: “This economic atmosphere would lead to SMEs’ bankruptcy or take over by foreign companies.”

He added that the entry of foreign brands, such as in the apparel industry, would gravely affect Filipino manufacturers, as well as their workers.

“The government is pleased to see imported brands of clothing that we see in malls, but overlooking its impact on local production, local capitalists and workers. There was a campaign of a famous local brand to buy local, love local; and the prices of imported apparel are cheaper than locally manufactured,” Hicap said.

The lawmaker, meanwhile, called on Filipino consumers to buy locally manufactured products instead of patronizing the imported, as this would sustain local production and jobs for Filipino workers.

“We remind consumers to consider the national interest and refrain from patronizing the imported; though local may be pricey but it would greatly help the economy. We cannot rely on [President] Aquino as he is the primary advocate of im-

perialist globalization he is killing the local economy and production, and selling them to his foreign bosses,” Hicap said.

Earlier, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. assured the public that Congress would focus its efforts on institutionalizing policy reforms that would maximize gains from an emerging AEC. “Integrating into the AEC is not only about opening up, but also pushing for good governance by addressing, in particular, the key institutional weaknesses faced by the citizenry at large,” Belmonte said.

The Speaker added that the country “would certainly face heightened scrutiny in meeting its commitments and obligations toward the whole of the Asean community and its member-states.”

“There are certainly enormous tasks and benefits in the realization of the AEC vision of a single Asean market, a highly competitive economic region, an equitable economic development and full integration into the world economy.”

Belmonte noted that Asean has a market of 600 million people and a combined GDP of $3 trillion, a situation that could make the Asean community a “formidable force in the global economy.”

In 2007 Asean leaders adopted the Asean Economic Blueprint at the 13th Asean Summit in Singapore to serve as a coherent master plan guiding the establishment of the AEC.

MMDA collects 142 trucks of trash as Filipinos trooped to cemeteries

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HE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Sunday said its personnel had collected almost 142 truckloads of garbage from various cemeteries in Metro Manila, as thousands flock to visit their departed loved for the traditional observance of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days.

MMDA Metro Parkway Clearing Group Chief Francis Martinez said that from October 26 to October 31, they were able to collect from 26 cemeteries in Metro Manila about 419 tons of garbage, which is equivalent to 142 truckloads.

In 2013 Martinez was quoted as saying that the MMDA collected 139 truckloads of garbage. Last year he said about 834 tons of garbage were collected by the MMDA. Garbage left behind by visitors this year were mostly Styrofoam boxes, plastic bags and paper, among others, he said. “There were designated areas for trash. While some threw trash in designated areas, others just threw garbage anywhere.”

Martinez said the cemeteries the MMDA conducted a cleanup were those in Pasay, Manila (North), Makati City (South) and Baesa, Novaliches.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

India’s loss is PHL’s gain in the BPO sector–report

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50-percent loss of work force in India’s businessprocess outsourcing (BPO) industry—worth an estimated $25billion—to foreign competitors has led to jobs gain in countries like the Philippines, a study by First Advantage Inc. revealed.

“Over the last decade, the Philippines has emerged as an important market for most global companies due to the availability of a sizable work force that is young, educated and English speaking,” the company said in a statement. “These three key factors have given the Philippines a competitive advantage over

Vietnam, Thailand and even India, one of the most preferred countries for outsourcing business.”

Citing a 2013 data from the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India revealed that in 2013, First Advantage said the loss in India’s BPO sector was the Philippines’s gain.

“This shift in preference has led to a surge in job opportunities and demand for an English-speaking work force in the Philippines.”

However, First Advantage said “the availability of jobs has also given rise to a serious problem pertaining to discrepancies in education

certifications that most employers come across on a regular basis.”

“Brimming with excellent opportunities and a better lifestyle, the Philippines has also become a favored destination for immigrants, adding on to the complexity of ensuring the backgrounds of job candidates are thoroughly screened.”

Nonetheless, global companies residing in the Philippines have also introduced best practices for background screening to the country. “Background screening is now an integral part of the hiring process in most companies in the Philippines.”

The most common types of background screening in the Philippines include employment, education and address checks.

Citing its study, First Advantage said there is a steady rise in employment discrepancies in the Philippines—from 12.8 percent in 2010 to 15.4 percent, with the rise of degree mills adding to the complexity of the candidate-selection process.

According to the same study, discrepancies related to employment topped the list at 64.9 percent, followed by education at 18.0 percent, database at 15.9 percent and criminal at 0.66 percent. Dennis D. Estopace

Secretary Edwin Lacierda noted on Sunday that the Palace-endorsed money measure is set to be tackled in the Senate after the House of Representatives passed its version of the budget bill before the lawmakers went on recess from October 10 to November 2 for their traditional All Saints’ Day vacation.

As soon as senators approve it on third reading with their amendments, the two chambers will convene a conference committee to reconcile conflicting provisions and come up with a final version they will then submit to the President, who will either adopt or veto the changes before signing the budget bill into law, according to Lacierda.

“I understand sa House ay naipasa na ang budget before they adjourned. If I’m not mistaken, dumaan na po sa kanila ’yan. Ngayon ay nasa Senado na, so pag-aaralan na po ng Senado,” Lacierda said. “So doon sa mga technical committees, dumaan na po ang mga kalihim ng ating mga ahensya. Siguro sa Senate, itatalakay na po ang ating budget.”

Lacierda added: “Hopefully, this is the last year of submission of the budget under the Aquino administration. We have, so far, had five successful enactments of the budget—wala hong reenacted. So we hope that the budget will be passed on time before the year ends, so that we can immediately implement the budget for the next year.”

The Palace official indicated

that Malacañang is just awaiting the scheduled plenary deliberations of the budget in the Senate, when Congress resumes regular sessions starting November 3, crossing its fingers that the 2016 budget would be submitted to final floor vote before Congress adjourns anew on December 18.

At the same time, Lacierda confirmed that a big chunk of the proposed P3-trillion budget for next year will bankroll various basic social services.

“We have always emphasized the social services, so malaking bagay po sa atin ’yan. The budget is really meant to service the needs of our countrymen—the basic services, like education, health. So we have, for instance, invested again in our Conditional Cash Transfer [CCT] Program, in our health coverage,” Lacierda explained.

He also defended continued funding for the controversial CCT Program that some lawmakers want to abolish.

“We have the basic social services that our countrymen really need. If I can add, mayroon yatang call ang Makabayan bloc [to] abolish the CCT. Mukhang hindi po yata tama ’yon, dahil ang CCT ay talagang tumutulong sa ating poorest of the poor.” Lacierda referred to the program where the government gives money to poor families in exchange for keeping their kids in school and submitting them to health authorities for regular checkup.

American says PHL openness key to achieving development goals

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N official of the US government cited the Philippines’s transparency programs as crucial in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—a new set of global goals to end poverty and inequality over the next 15 years—saying that Manila’s good-governance approach tackles poverty and inequality.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said achieving the United Nations’ SDGs is central to the Open Government Partnership (OGP) agenda.

She noted that open and transparent government initiatives should ultimately set out to tackle poverty and inequality, citing the Philippines’s Bottom-up Budgeting is a good approach to open government initiative.

“In the Philippines one of OGP’s founding members, the government required grassroots participation in the planning and budgeting of povertyreduction programs in every one of the country’s 1,634 municipal and provincial governments,” said Power, leader of the US delegation to the OGP summit.

“And that has resulted not only in greater citizen involvement in the creation, implementation and evaluation of programs, meaning that the programs themselves are tailored for the communities rather than invented by some bureaucrat in an office that’s not in touch with what people really need,” she added.

Budget Undersecretary

Richard E. Moya led the Philippine delegation to the OGP in Mexico City, along with Philippines Task Force and several representatives of civil society organizations advocating transparency and accountability through open data.

The three-day event that concluded on October 29 came up with a declaration signed by OGP members, including the Philippines, committing to use their participation in OGP to implement the new global goals and to increase the transparency of the resources intended to fight poverty.

Moya said part of the summit agenda is the adoption ceremony of the Philippines’s Open Data Charter, which will take place during the closing plenary session.

The Philippines’s Open Data Charter sets out in detail the guidelines for the implementation of open-data standards in the country.

“The Open Data Charter was developed to help bolster transparency and accountability in government by nurturing an environment of public empowerment. With this charter, the public can hold their government accountable, and broaden their role in their country’s development,” Moya said.

The Philippines is now on its third year of implementation of OGP National Action Plan from 2015 to 2017. The action plan commits the national government, civil society and the private sector to promote transparency and good governance. Estrella Torres

Tourism&E

Busines

A6 Monday, November 2, 2015 • Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

DISCOVER THE UNDISC

A CRACK is the only way out of the cave, we had to slither through to make it to our boats.

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S    J B  R A J.

The desultory lurching of the van, and the zigzagging, ascending and descending on rough then paved roads took us through a comely mountainrange. In the midst of the towering mountains, we finally saw houses.

There we were, a few hours off the itinerary, in one of the bucolic towns of Quirino.

RIOR to my trip to Quirino, I have yet to hear anything about this land-locked province next to Aurora. Not a word, all I saw were photos. As the cliché goes, pictures paint a thousand words, but those words seem hollow, they had no experiences, no meaning.

Other than a friend I invited, I was traveling with complete strangers. I kept an open mind, as my adventurous side got the best of me; besides, where’s the fun in exploring a place you have not been to with a

fixed itinerary and with people you already know?

Getting lost is part of the discovery

THERE is an element of surprise to any new thing one does, whether

Nature at its rawest

THE towering formation was an imposing presence on an otherwise calm ride downstream.

it is starting a new job or visiting a country for the first time. You make plans, envision things to do; but you get lost, look at the map multiple times, and still get lost.

Technology failed us on our trip to Quirino; Google Maps took us through verdant rice fields and nipa huts, as we got lost along the way. Our van went around the same

farmlands twice before we returned to a main road, easily consuming almost an hour.

“This trip is off to quite a start,” I thought to myself.

OUR guide advised us to get straight to the day’s activities to avoid missing out, as there were attractions that will close after 5 p.m.

There were few tourists, hardly any; I love the town already.

The Siitan River created a mellifluous tune, as the gentle waves turned strong as they coursed downstream or lapped against the shore. The scars of the earth towered over the waters, with their beaten and scratched faces taking on different shapes. Fetching in a way only nature can make something.

We were like children again, playing in the river, jumping off

The Great Winter Escape to Hong Kong WINE TRAINING BY THE BAY U T HE dynamic gateway to China and the Far East, Hong Kong offers a dynamic fusion that is rich in Chinese culture and tradition with a British colonial heritage that has evolved into a cosmopolitan city of infinite attractions.

Hong Kong is one of the world’s greatest cities and a magnet for entrepreneurs, gourmets, fashion titans and adventurous shoppers.

What better way to rediscover Hong Kong than this upcoming autumn and winter season when the cool weather celebrates everything al fresco from spectacular shopping to the most diverse dining options on the planet?

The Great Winter Escape Package

EMBARK on your Hong Kong adventure and stay at Marco Polo Hong Kong, Gateway and Prince Hotels from October 1 to February 7, 2016. Avail yourself of the Great Winter Escape Package and get the following perks: complimentary break-

fast for two persons; guaranteed room upgrade to the next category; complimentary use of the Handy Smartphone, which offers unlimited 3G mobile Internet; unlimited local calls and free calls to five designated countries (China, the Philippines, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom) during your stay; complimentary extra bed (applicable to rooms with three guests only); 20-percent discount on food and beverages at the Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel (Cucina, Café Marco and Lobby Lounge), Gateway Hotel (Three on Canton) and Prince Hotel;

and 20-percent discount on laundry and dry-cleaning services.

five minutes from each other is unparalleled in the city. The entire walk is an event in itself, going through Harbour City and Canton Road, a global shopping mecca.

Each of the Marco Polo hotels is located within the Harbour City, the largest and most diverse shopping mall in Hong Kong. It is the ultimate shopping destination, featuring over 450 shops and where every designer brand has its flagship store with direct access to Marco Polo Hong Kong, Gateway and Prince Hotels.

The ideal shopping residence

Epic Events

ACHIEVE your shopping mission by staying at any of the three Marco Polo hotels Hong Kong. The powerhouse location of the flagship Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel along with Gateway and Prince Hotels along Canton Road forms the most illustrious shopping address set in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui. This remarkable network of the three Marco Polo hotels in a single stretch wherein each one stands less than

A CITY of incredible contrasts and many faces, Hong Kong also hosts some of the world’s most highly anticipated events, exhibitions and trade fairs. One of the city’s signature events has been held at Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel for the past 23 years, the highly popular German Bierfest, which is now ranked as the seventh biggest Oktoberfest in the world by Skyscanner.

NDERSTAND the aging process of wine and what- makes it special with every glass with The Fireplace’s Wine Training by the Bay. Be your own sommelier and get introduced to various wine varieties and the art behind its taste facilitated by wine connoisseur and trainers from Titania.

Experience sophisticated wine training and knowledge application at a multiawarded grill house that showcases premium steaks with a collection of fine wines, The Fireplace. Know what to pair your wine with your carefully crafted three-course menu for your newly acquired skill. Indulge your taste buds with crab duo, wood-fire grilled CAB Ribeye steak and green tea tiramisu following the wine training.

Broaden your appreciation of the five different types of wines; grape varieties; the importance of Old World and New World appellations for the quality and commanding price power of wines; kinds of wines from France, Spain, Italy, the US, Argentina, Chile and Australia; and food

and wine pairing. Titania Wine Cellar is the largest global importer of fine wines in the Philippines since 1982.

Being one of the pioneers in importing, distributing and retailing fine wine from all over the world, Titania Wine Cellar has established a strong foundation nationwide—with over 30 years of experience and strategic locations within the Philippines group of islands. The company has also been among the first to advocate wine education to the Philippines’s young wine market. It is with great pleasure to now see a significant growth among Filipino wine enthusiasts. Wine Training by the Bay is on November 7 at The Fireplace at the in New World Manila Bay Hotel. The class will have a special rate of P5,000, instead of the regular P6,000. Sign up and take home a wine training booklet; training certificate; complimentary bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon; complimentary Titania membership card; and the skill to enhance your next dining experience with friends and family.

Entertainment

ssMirror

tourism@businessmirror.com.ph • Monday, November 2, 2015 A7

COVERED IN QUIRINO

THE river turned from calm to raging during the tube ride.

THE view at Landingan View Deck turned strangers into friends.

OUR boatman provided us a scenic ride through nature’s wonders.

THE waiting area just before water tubing provides a scenic backdrop for the experience.

more than 15-foot-high cliffs, waiting for the tubes. Our water tubes arrived ready for our ride down the river. I had mixed feelings about the tubing experience, as the waters were calm in some parts and raging in others, but I was not complaining; I was in good company, and the surrounding rock formations were beautiful.

Our guide took us to a 15-foothigh cliff for some diving fun after a scenic boat ride. Everyone was hesitant at first, eagerly looking down to measure just how high we have to jump. Others were braver, taking the plunge as soon as they reached the cliff ’s tongue. I had doubts about jumping. But after several failed attempts, I jumped; hands flailing, feet soaring.

Our group of strangers turned friends headed further up town to catch the sunset on Landingan View Deck. The short ride to the viewpoint took us to scenic locations around the municipality. The slow rise and fall, and labyrinthine

turns of the road that hugged the mountains revealed a simple life of planting and farming. The rolling hills were different from the highrise buildings that we were accustomed to.

The view deck gave us a spectacular, overlooking view as the river conflates with the mountains. Time stood still for a moment, vestiges of a simpler life were upon us as the fleeting rays of the sun descended.

Despite the mishaps, the day ended on a high note. I was eager to discover more of Quirino.

The next day was off to a quick start as we embarked early to visit the Aglipay Caves. The cave lies 10 kilometers from Cabarroguis, the capital of Quirino. Since its discovery in 1983, 37 cave chambers have been accounted for, eight of which fully explored and four open for tourists.

As we entered the cave, the stalactites and stalagmites’ sharp teeth were on full display. Prepare yourself to get dirty; the cave chambers widened and tightened

URBAN ART HOP A B P P

RE you in need of a culture fi x and artful interruptions in your city tour? Makati City has a trail of prominent art galleries, cultural institutions and alternative spaces of exciting contemporary art that enthusiasts among local and foreign tourists can check out. Here, we have a list that can satisfy your craving for some visual treat.

■ Ayala Museum. This is the grand

dame of culture and arts in the district. The institution is known for its gold, textile and ceramics collection, and its regular program of events and exhibits of local and international art.

■ Filipinas Heritage Library. Formerly on the Ayala Triangle, but since 2013 it has been moved to

MARKET day in town; locals busied themselves selling their produce.

as we made our way through muddy and dark environs. We had to duck, crawl and use our hands to get through to the other side.

There are times when we had to squeeze into a crack not even large enough for an average-sized person to fit into. It was the closest I felt to being reborn, fighting out of a womb, on my hands and knees, following the light.

Ayala Museum. It is a repository of books, photographs, recordings and more—in both physical and digital formats, as well as access to over a thousand contemporary titles on Philippine arts, culture and history.

■ Tin aw Art Gallery. This gallery has a steady venue of diverse, sensitive and intelligent art exhibitions. Shows are always thoughtprovoking and often represent artists who are very socially oriented.

■ Yuchengco Museum. Opened in

■ Now Gallery. Located at the row

2005, it holds a regular program of select exhibitions and is on the ground floor of the RCBC Building on Ayala Avenue. It has a fine collection of the works of Juan Luna, Carlos “Botong” Francisco, Fernando Amorsolo and other masters of Philippine Art. ■ Finale Art File. This art hub is one of the leading and long-standing galleries in Makati and, by far with its present location, the largest.

The gallery’s artists include Carlo Gabuco, Lyra Garcellano, Ian Quriante, and Wire Tuazon.

of galleries on Pasong Tamo Extension, Now Gallery has a mixed program of exhibitions and auctions showcasing contemporary art, as well as rare works of local masters.

■ Altro Mondo Gallery. Located at Greenbelt 5, the heart of Makati’s commercial district, this gallery has a steady program of shows, featuring contemporary art from here and abroad with a tight curatorial and artistic direction. Its extension space Altro Mondo at the Picasso is at the Picasso Bou-

Each chamber has unique rock formations; from a bride and groom waiting to be married to chandelierlike furniture hanging on the ceiling. We let our imagination wander as we discovered the cave.

From subterranean exploration, our group made its way to Governor’s Rapids for a boat ride and another cave. The ride took us through soaring rock formations, probably

tique Serviced Residences on L.P. Leviste Street in Salcedo Village.

■ Vinyl on Vinyl. Formerly the space specializes in art toys, now Vinyl on Vinyl has provided platforms for young artists. It is also the favored space of visiting artists like Skinner, Tara McPherson, and Herakut, among others. Aside from exhibits, the venue regularly holds live art and book-signing events.

■ Nova Gallery. Located at La Fuerza Compound, this contemporary art space is dedicated to widen art collectors’ knowledge and appreciation of current artistic production through exhibitions, commission and acquisition of artworks by both local and foreign artists.

■ The Drawing Room. Founded in 1998 by Jun Villalon, the gallery has since taken on a consistent role

hundreds of years old, with nature’s hands wringing its body, scratching, pulling and molding until it formed its present yet evolving shape.

We reached another cave that was smaller than Aglipay’s but just as thrilling. We slithered through low passages and tight corners, until we found a small but cool waterfall.

We thought the crawling through the entrance was difficult, getting out was an adventure in itself. We were chest-to-chest with the cave’s body as we tried to exit, with a steep drop on a makeshift ladder leading out to our boat.

Our last stop was a long and labyrinthine drive over the mountains, with a short trek through an idyllic town to Pensal Falls. The tricycle we rented for P400 round trip could not take the steep rising and falling of the mountain’s body and rugged terrain, as we had to make several stops to alight and push or walk, under the scorching heat of the sun.

Almost an hour went by with rough roads and verdant landscapes

behind us, we arrived at Pensal Falls; I was disappointed as the falls were smaller than I expected.

“This is it?” I said to myself. Disappointment turned to relief, as we were told of a natural water slide right next to the falls. Our group took turns sliding down the waterfalls’ face, giddy, like children in a playground.

Day turned into night, as we clambered back to where our tricycles dropped us. We were hurrying back to the hotel for our return trip to Manila. Most of us were weekend warriors escaping the daily grind of a 9-to-5.

The mishaps, long and winding roads that transformed from paved to rough, the comely landscapes and small town feel made the (mis) adventures worth it.

Let the experiences walk in, make a mess, break things; let them cut your skin, bleed, leave a mark.

Maybe you discover something, maybe not, but do not cage that child-like wonder, let it ramble, lost.

in promoting local artists in the regional front; it also has a sister space in Singapore. They are big on prints, drawings and other works on paper along with the usual fare of art forms.

■ Silverlens’ Slab. This is one of the local art galleries with consistent presence in the region with its active participation in Art Basel Hong Kong and Art Stage Singapore. Among its represented artists are Gary Ross Pastrana, Wawi Navaroza, Christina Dy, Jake Versoza, Chati Coronel and Mariano Ching, to name a few.

■ Underground. A recent addition to the art scene, its quaint and humble space inside the Makati Square perfectly makes an intimate encounter with young artists dabbling in bold and experimental art quite often.

THE HEIR by Thomas Daquioag, to be featured at the sixth installment of the Papelismo series in Nova Gallery this November.

OurTime BusinessMirror

A8 Monday, November 2, 2015 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Trail master Sky Biscocho conquers PHL mountains

Sky Biscocho, 63, is a legendary trail master among Filipino hikers because of his notable exploration of mountain trails around the Philippines. He is known to have created the Mount Mariveles Range trail, the Mount Makiling Traverse and Mount Malipunyo Traverse from Batangas to Laguna, and the “Dragon Trail” Traverse of Mount Halcon in Oriental Mindoro, among many others. Biscocho became an Ayala Mountaineering Club Inc. trail master in 1995. He is also a sculptor, painter and country music singer-songwriter.

Story and photo by Noriel de Guzman | Special to the BusinessMirror

S

KY Biscocho was 63 years old at last count. He is youthful, strong and swift; and is known in the local mountaineering community for his various trailblazing feats.

Biscocho has ex plored and blazed countless trails all over the country’s mountains. Notable were his exploration of Mount Mariveles Range, Mount Makiling and Mount Malipunyo Traverse from Batangas to Laguna, and the famed “Dragon Trail” Traverse of Mount Halcon in Oriental Mindoro, among many others.

Biscocho was named an Ayala Mountaineering Club Inc. (AMCI) trail master in 1995. Aside from his feats in hiking, he is a sculptor, a painter and a country music singer-songwriter. He is proud to be considered a living legend in the Philippine mountaineering community.

Biscocho loves to climb with younger mountaineers, easily keeping pace with them. He says he enjoys hiking with younger mountain climbers because their presence reinvigorates him. He also loves heights and the feel of the changing weather outdoors. To him, hiking is a form of art.

He grew up in Bukidnon. His love for the outdoors and mountain climbing began as a child when he climbed nameless, unknown mountains around the village where he lived. He climbed with Manobo people sometimes, and those adventures became a memorable part of his childhood. Eventually, when he joined AMCI, he realized that what he had climbed as a child were peaks of the Kalatungan Range.

When he was in high school, he moved to Luzon, Batangas City in particular, where Mount Makiling is. He considered the mountain his first climb and his playground in Luzon. He later formed “Sky Mountaineers” to encourage his classmates to climb with him. He was leading this group when he blazed a traverse trail that connected

Santo Tomas in Batangas City to the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna.

He has many favorite hikes.

He is thrilled by the constant discovery of new places, fascinating vegetation and clear waters. Standing out to him is the Mariveles Mountain Range he calls the Blue Mountain.

He finds Mount Halcon’s Dragon Trail, which he created as among his most difficult because of the extreme hardship to finish the trail.

He wants to inspire young people to explore the country’s mountains. His philosophy is “the more difficult a trail is, the more fun it is.” He wants young people to see the beauty of nature up close and up there so they can appreciate it more and be its lifelong guardians.

He wants to discourage climbers who smoke and drink, exhorting those who climb to maintain the age-old respect for nature, particularly its pristine face in mountain trees, flora and fauna, and the numerous valleys, gorges and ridges.

He never tires of climbing because it feeds his artistic needs, he said. Of course, he wants to keep his hidden paradise from the prying eyes and destructive ways of the uncaring public.

To him, “to climb a mountain is to feed the visual needs of our living spirit.”

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Cebu City’s 60,000 senior citizens get ₧2K cash aid

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EBU CITY—Cebu City government on October 27 distributed the fifth trance of the cash assistance for the city’s 60,000 senior citizens of P2,000 each.

Cebu City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas said the distribution of the cash assistance was done in the city’s 80 villages. Each senior citizen in city by now has received a total of P10,000.

A qualified senior citizen receives a total of P12,000 a year from the city.

Cuevas said the city set aside P120 million for the fifth tranche of the cash assistance for senior citizens.

Cuevas added that the remaining balance will be given in December.

She said the city will also distribute the P1,000 cash assistance for the city’s 9,000 persons with disabilities on Thursday. Earlier, the city’s senior citizens council approved a resolution barring senior citizens from getting financial assistance if they failed to get it in two consecutive distributions.

Their names will also be deleted from the list of qualified beneficiaries and they have to reapply before the Department of Social Welfare and Services as new applicants to claim the cash assistance.

The records of the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs showed that only 47 percent of those in the list claimed the aid in January and 64 percent in April. PNA

Palawan is first province to accept EUPHL’s ‘Access to Justice Network’ project

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UERTO PRINCESA CITY—The EUPhilippines Justice Support Program (EPJUST II) “to promote equitable access to justice and its efficient enforcement for all poor and disadvantage citizens,” turned over on Thursday in this city and the province of Palawan the “Access to Justice Network” (AJN) initiative in close partnership with the provincial government and Muslim-Filipino groups.

AJN was launched through a memorandum of agreement on August 8, as an enterprise to provide Muslim-Filipinos the ability to take up legal issues through access to referral pathways, harmonize justice delivery instruments to guarantee fair dispensing in communities, chiefly to impoverished residents.

Lawyer Jose Ma. Mendoza, senior access to justice expert of the EPJUST II, said on Thursday that Palawan is the first pilot area in the Philippines for AJN, which will be established initially in 10 barangays, such as Puerto Princesa, Taytay and Bataraza, among others.

The primary beneficiaries of the AJN are the poor or vulnerable—walk-in clients with legal concerns, and women and children, vulnerable groups like farmers and indigenous peoples, elderly, Muslim-Filipinos and people with disability.

The preparation and training of around 50 facilitators for the purpose is ongoing and will conclude within the week, he said, to start the ball rolling on the initiative to gain access to justice for marginalized residents.

“In behalf of the EPJUST Program, we are thankful to everyone, to our partners because this moment is important since the preparation and training of what we call our AJN facilitators is about to conclude so they can be based in the barangays to be able to deliver the basic right of access to justice of every Filipino,” Mendoza said.

In his presentation, Mendoza added that, in 2008 the Social Weather Station carried out a survey that came out with the significant result that claimed 48 percent of respondents said “justice is practically inaccessible for Filipinos.”

Twenty six percent believed it is only a bit accessible; 13 percent said it is fairly accessible; and 13 percent said it’s accessible.

“I would think that if there will be an update this 2015, the data will not be that far from the response of 2008,” he said.

The survey also showed “marginalized individuals, especially the poor and vulnerable members of the society, including those in remote communities, are unaware of their basic human rights and legal rights, and the legal services that are available.”

The finding is significant, he added, be-

cause the right to access to justice is in the Constitution of the Philippines, but the marginalized are not aware of them, and it recognizes the fact that there are services in the government that can be availed, but not all are acquainted with them.

The AJN, according to a United Nations Development Programme report is “the ability to seek and obtain remedy through formal and informal institutions of justice in conformity with human-rights standards.”

“Let us not forget we have informal methods that are available to obtain justice, like the council of elders or lupon in the barangay, and other approaches to achieve justice that do need to present us to longer court hearings,” Mendoza said.

AJN will work to provide a referral system to concerned agencies; assist in tracking and monitoring cases to prevent them from stagnating due to lack of follow up; provide basic legal assistance or facilitation through affidavitmaking or case analysis.

Legal education every once in a while; provide legal information and eventually, centers, where people can access legal services; link with significant security and justice system; and provide facilitators, who are also from the barangays; and cases management.

Mendoza said most cases that do not see solutions in Palawan per their simple surveys are about land, domestic issues, personal loans or business-related and issues on drugs.

AJN Palawan is the first pilot site in the country, and Mendoza thinks Palaweños should be proud that their province is the chief province to accept the challenge; that it is unique as implementation is province-wide; and an exceptional province since it paved way for focus on Muslim-Filipino communities.

The 10 barangays that were chosen as pilot areas for AJN were because they have significant number of Muslim residents.

Mendoza said eventually, more access centers can be set up to cover all more than 400 barangays in the province.

Despite this, he said it is important for all Palaweños to know that access to justice will be provided to them no matter who they are.

“We need to point out that according to the facilitators, and although many of them are Muslims, they also want to serve other people in the barangays, who are non-Muslims,” he added.

The AJN is an initiative of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, EPJUST II, the Province of Palawan and the United Muslim Communities in Palawan for Peace and Progress. PNA

‘MASIRAMUN’ Lolo Benjamin sells his dried fish from his hometown of Bicol. Lolo Benjamin was been selling dried fish for the past 45 years along the stretch of Baclaran, a job he inherited from his mother. DENISE JANE REMOLACIO

More elderly expected to live alone as New Zealand population ages

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ELLINGTON—One-person households would be the fastest-growing household type in New Zealand with most of the new single people being elderly, the government statistics agency projected on Thursday.

One-person households were projected to rise from 390,000 in 2013 to 580,000 in 2038, Statistics New Zealand said.

They would account for 27 percent of all households in 2038, up from 24 percent in 2013.

“The growth in one-person households is mainly due to the increasing number of people at older ages,” the agency’s Population Statistic Senior Manager Vina Cullum said in a statement.

“Almost 90 percent of this growth in people

living alone will occur among those aged 60 years and over.”

Cullum said that 11 percent of New Zealand’s population would be living alone by 2038, compared with 9 percent in 2013.

Of those living alone, 65 percent were projected to be aged 60 years and over in 2038, compared with 54 percent in 2013.

“Our aging population will also see more couples living without children,” Cullum said.

“Most people will still have children during their life, but beyond the mid-50s they are more likely to be living separately from their children.”

The total number of households was projected to increase from 1.65 million in 2013 to 2.14 million in 2038. PNA/Xinhua

China’s pension funds ready for stock investment in 2016–ministry

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EIJING—China’s pension funds will be ready for investment in stocks and equities in 2016 after the government sets rules to regulate the change, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said onTuesday.

Officials are looking into the best methods of transferring funds from local governments to the provincial level and allocating these to authorized institutions for investment, said Li Zhong, spokesman for the ministry, at a press conference. “We’ll push forward for a launch in 2016 and ensure local pension funds are in place for investment then,” Li told reporters.

In August China’s Cabinet, the State Council, finalized guidelines on investing pension funds in higherreturn products, including stocks and equities. The funds were previously parked in banks or invested in treasury bonds with low yields, provoking calls for change as the country faces increasing challenges in caring for its growing elderly population. PNA/Xinhua

News BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, November 2, 2015 A9

PHL foreign debt rose 7.2% to P2.05T in Q3

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By David Cagahastian

he country’s foreign debt rose 7.2 percent against end-2014 figures and stood at P2.05 trillion in the third quarter, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.

The BTr said the 7.2-percent increase in the country’s foreign debt, which translates to P137.89 billion, was due to the continuing depreciation of the peso against the US dollar.

The BTr said net foreign financing accounted for P50.29 billion of the P137.89-billion increase in the country’s foreign debt from January to September, and the rest was due to foreign-currency adjustments.

The US dollar has strengthened in the past year due to quantitativeeasing policies from central banks in Europe and the Bank of Japan, among other reasons. The US dollar hit an 11-year high and an eight-year high against the euro and the yen, respectively, in May. In the Philippines, the US dollar has appreciated against the peso since July 2014, when the exchange rate was at P43.5 against $1. However, the US dollar’s value appreciated by more than P3 to a dollar since then, with the exchange rate as of September pegged at P46.76 to a dollar. On Friday the exchange rate was P46.79 to a dollar.

As of September 2015 domestic debt also increased from December 2014 levels, although at a lower rate of 1.6 percent, or by P62.56 billion.

The BTr said domestic debt as of end-September 2015 stood at P3.88 trillion, which increased from end-August 2015 level by 0.7 percent, or by P27.14 billion, due to a net issuance of government securities.

Added together, the domestic and external debt amounted to a total outstanding debt by the national government of P5.72 trillion by the end of the third quarter, up by 3.5 percent from December 2014 levels.

The guaranteed obligations of the national government also reflected an increasing trend, amounting to P445.20 billion as of the end of the third quarter. This is a big 7.8-percent increase from the amount of guaranteed obligations that was registered the previous month, which was only P412.91 billion.

The BTr said the bulk of the increase in the guaranteed obligations came from a loan by the National Food Authority in the amount of P32.08 billion from local creditors, particularly, the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines.

EU-supported program hopes to bring back mining’s child labors to schools

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

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hrough Bata Balik Eskwela (BBE), an alternative schooling program supported by the European Union, cause-oriented groups in the Philippines hope to rescue Filipino child workers in the mining industry.

The program, launched by the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) in partnership with the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR), Institute for Occupational Health Safety and Development and the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines Northern Mindanao said children may see a life outside the mines where learning can take them given the opportunity.

The proponents of the program recently started working in mining areas in Compostela Valley and plantation site in Davao del Norte, Bukidnon and Agusan del Sur, through a series of seminars about child-labor monitoring held by CTUHR through the BBE program.

The CTUHR said child labor is rampant in small-scale mining. Children learn working through their parents as early as 5 years old, and as young as 14 work full-time in small-scale mining companies, such as in the area of Compostela Valley Province, a gold rich area in Mindanao, where mining is a way of life for many poor families.

CTUHR cited the case of John Mark, 14, who started working in a small-scale gold mine when he was 4 years old by giving his father a hand in processing gold with mercury. After 10 years, he is now a full-time worker in a small-scale mining site.

According to the CTUHR, mining is considered as one of the world’s most hazardous occupations. M iners continuously experience poor ventilation and are helplessly exposed to dust, fumes and other hazardous chemicals. EILER reported that around 14 percent of the total population of children residing in mining communities work in mines.

Children as young as 5 years old are tasked to carry heavy sacks of rocks, fetch buckets of water, load wood unto trucks despite the risks involved, which for children, is twice as that for adults working in mines.

CTUHR said that working with mercury for gold panning makes children prone to health risks.

“Mercury is a dangerous chemical that can cause damages in the central nervous system and in the brain and can even cause death. Being exposed to mercury at such a young age, its longterm effects can and may have already caused damage within their bodies,”the group said.

CTUHR reported that children in the mining community often complain about skin infections, fever and headaches. Some parents said their children who go to school have a hard time understanding the lessons in class.

Workers in mining areas also encounter intense noise and vibrations for long periods of time during compressor mining or underwater mining for gold.

CLASSIFIED ADS The closed door of Pistina Store in Baguio City serves as a posting board for “want” ads, including part-time jobs that the store needs. A student browses the postings on the door.

MAU VICTA

Cases against INC weak, criminal defense expert says

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espected c r i m i n a l defense lawyer Sigfrid Fortun on Sunday raised doubts on whether the cases filed against leaders of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) would prosper, saying both the Department of Justice (DOJ) complaint and the Supreme Court (SC) writs of amparo and habeas corpus petitions suffer from glaring legal infirmities that weaken the said cases.

INC officials are facing serious illegal detention charges at the DOJ after ex-minister Isaias Samson Jr. alleged that he and his family were harassed and detained upon their orders.

The INC leadership will also face the Court of Appeals (CA) on Tuesday after the SC ordered

the CA to hear the petitions for habeas corpus and amparo originally filed with the SC on behalf of dismissed minister Lowell Menorca II. “As regards the DOJ complaint, any lawyer worth his salt knows that you file a serious illegal detention charge because it is nonbailable, and thus can be misused to embarrass and oppress no matter how flimsy the accusation may be” the renowned litigator said.

“The gulpe de gulat factor is strong when you file a serious illegal detention complaint, but the challenge is to be able to factually prove in court whether all elements of the offense exist; that is, if you first hurdle the DOJ or prosecutor’s level where

you establish probable cause the a crime had indeed been committed,” Fortun explained.

“The key elements of serious illegal detention, the ones that make it serious, are simulation of public authority, inflicting serious physical injuries or issuing threats to kill the complainant. Clearly they will be hard pressed to establish these elements in these complaints,” Fortun added.

According to Fortun, while the matter has attracted media coverage, “at day’s end, it will be a very difficult charge to prove beyond reasonable doubt.” As for the habeas corpus and amparo petitions, Fortun opined that Menorca’s televised interviews may have helped him

score publicity points, but it may have cost him the case that will now be heard by the CA. “The only question is whether Menorca is entitled to the reliefs he seek, that the bodies be produced, so to speak, for habeas corpus; and that they be protected as far as amparo is concerned.”

Fortun further explained that the writ of amparo must be judiciously issued as “it’s an extraordinary remedy available only in extreme cases such as extrajudicial killings or enforced disappearances. Obviously, Menorca is alive and well, and his loved ones know where he is, and they are even all together now. These could effectively render the petitions moot and dismissible.”

PHL eyes TFA ratification before WTO confab in Dec

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he Philippines is eyeing to ratify the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in time for the major meeting of the organization, the WTO Ministerial Conference that convenes in December.

Trade Undersecretary for Industry Development and Trade Policy Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. told the BusinessMirror recently that this is the country’s goal as it has yet to ratify the TFA, which is being scrutinized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of Finance.

The trade official did not disclose the finance department’s concerns in holding up the TFA. However, given the level of commitments (“technical measures”) on border-related procedures and obligations contained in the TFA, the BOC is struggling to resolve important issues that hold the agreement.

The TFA contains 40 technical measures related to transparency of laws, rules and procedures, fairness in border agency decisions, and streamlined clearance procedures.

Considering that the stakeholders and lawmakers have been hard-pressed to push the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, the BOC may be weighing its options in committing to a WTO agreement even if the Philippines is implementing the pact on its own pace.

Special provisions are contained in the TFA that allows developing and least developed countries to choose what measures they will prioritize immediately when the TFA comes into force, and which ones they may defer to a later date.

In a previous interview by the BusinessMirror, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) had conceded that the revival of the pre-shipment inspection scheme on certain types of cargo, which again provoked the ire of the business community, may be an obstacle to the Philippines’s ratification.

The scheme, however, has yet to be acted upon by the BOC. The DTI earlier committed to submit its instrument of acceptance to the WTO in July but has missed the self-imposed deadline.

The TFA text was concluded in December 2013 as part of the wider “Bali Package.” Since its conclusion, the WTO has moved to insert the text into the WTO’s founding agreement, or the Marrakesh Agreement, through a protocol of amendment.

WTO members must then submit their protocol of formal acceptance of the amendment to ratify the TFA. For the TFA to come into force, two-thirds of the WTO membership must ratify the agreement through submission of their “instrument of acceptance” to the WTO. The agreement will then be binding only to those who have agreed to it. So far, 51 WTO members have ratified the TFA with Pakistan being the latest to agree.

All Souls’ Day at Liwasang Bonifacio

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undreds of relatives and friends of the disappeared or “desaparecidos” will gather at Liwasang Bonifacio at 10:30 a.m. on November 2, All Souls’ Day, to demand that justice be rendered for those who were snatched for their political beliefs.

This year, the Pamilya ng mga Desaparecidos para sa Katarungan (Desaparecidos), said the gathering will also be held in solidarity with the more than 700 members of indigenous peoples (IPs) of Mindanao, or lumads, who joined the Manilakbayan 2015 caravan to Manila to demand an end to militarization of

their communities and the closures of their schools.

Desaparecidos members will join the Manilakbayan 2015 kampuhan at Liwasang Bonifacio in solidarity with grieving kin of lumad desaparecidos.

“Every year, families of the disappeared gather on November 2, All Souls’ Day. They offer flowers and candles with no tomb as they remain missing to this day,” Cristina Guevara of Desaparecidos said.

“This year, the gathering for desaparecidos will also be held at Liwasang Bonifacio, where the Manilakbayan ng Mindanao 2015 is holding

a kampuhan,” she added.

The participants in this caravan had to endure military checkpoints and attempts to stop their trek to Manila to protest the escalating attacks on IP rights, including killings and enforced disappearances, Guevara added.

“Twelve out of the 28 victims of enforced disappearance under the Aquino administration came from Mindanao. The latest victim was John Calaba, a Manobo from Sarangani province, who was last seen on April 30, 2015. The lumads are not only killed but disappeared,” she stressed.

FERRY BOAT RIDE A pump boat provides ferry services to passengers and motorcycles crossing the Pinacannauan River in San Mariano, Isabela. An unfinished bridge project keeps commuters straggling before reaching the other side of the river. LEONARDO PERANTE II

A10 Monday, November 2, 2015 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

The poor stealing from the poor

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t is a story that we have heard countless times before, including in the Philippines. A group of people is arrested for selling counterfeit goods that are purported to be the high-quality genuine original, but are replicas.

Three individuals in the United States were charged with selling jewelry—two rather expensive handcrafted rings for $700—that were falsely advertised to be made by Native American Navajo artisans. The US has the Indian Arts and Crafts Act designed to prevent products from being marketed as “Indian made,” when the products are not, in fact, made by Indians.

The products in question were marked “Made in Zuni,” the name of an Indian village in New Mexico known for its craft work. But in this case, the rings should have been labeled “Made in Zuni, Philippines,” as these fakes were locally produced by Filipino native craftsmen. Supposedly, as the demand increased for American Indian arts and crafts in the 1980s, an American jewelry manufacturer set up an assembly factory in a village in southern Philippines, and encouraged the locals to rename their village “Zuni”.

What caught our interest was a comment in one of the stories (from chicagotribune.com) about this incident that noted, “Developing nations are undercutting the United States’s own underdeveloped [people]. Foreign fakes are believed to account for as much as half of the market in Indian arts and crafts, worth $1 billion a year.”

Also in the 1980s the fashion rage was necklaces and trinkets made of Hawaiian puka shells crafted by Native Hawaiian people. In fact, the shells were coming from the Yapak Beach on our own Boracay Island.

The export of Filipino puka shells to the US was curtailed, because it was damaging the environment.

“Intellectual Copyright Violation” is not just some legal concept to protect the “rich” companies from being cheated by the “poor” rip-off artists in China or elsewhere. The poor farmers and rich agricultural companies in Mexico using the term “Manila Mango” for fruit grown and harvested in Mexico are, in effect, stealing from the farmers in the Philippines. And like it or not, we are doing exactly the same thing when we buy pirated software and entertainment DVDs. The Philippine government has made some strides over the years in trying to make Filipinos understand that everyone—rich, poor and in between—ultimately suffers from copyright stealing.

Although we might smile at the thought of rich Americans being cheated when buying expensive fake jewelry made by “underdeveloped” Filipinos in the boondocks, the underdeveloped Native Americans living in their own bundok do not view it the same way we do.

Growth and innovation in business and government Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

I

RISING SUN

nnovation and growth: these must be the drivers of the Philippine economy, President Aquino said in his October 27 speech at the 41st Philippine Business Conference.

In his message to business leaders and entrepreneurs, the President addressed the role of innovation in competition: “The greatest strength of capitalism is how competition in the marketplace pushes everyone to innovate, because that is the only way to truly gain a competitive advantage.”

He said, “Ours must be a capitalism defined by its most progressive elements; it must continue to compete with one another…in terms of the quality of our products and services—and in terms of how well we innovate. Our capitalism must be driven by vision and swift action….”

Growth should be the driver of business, he said: “Any competent business manager should always be driven by growth…when you stop growing, you start deteriorating.”

These principles, the President said, were applied to his administration’s process: “In many ways, the same vision and long-term thinking was demanded of our administration. There was a need for daring:

to abandon the broken systems of political patronage, to go against entrenched interests and bring about true reform.

“There was the need to be strategic: to abandon the Band-Aid solution and, instead, focus on longterm solutions that would ensure sustainability and move us up the value chain.”

It is this sustainability forged by long-term solutions that is also demanded of government agencies under the Aquino administration.

Under the daang matuwid, the officials and employees of government agencies, particularly governmentowned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), are given annual performance targets that keep raising the bar for service delivery.

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office is considered a GOCC, because it earns revenue from its lottery operations, thus it falls under the jurisdiction of the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) that performs monitoring functions in

line with balance scorecards and annual targets.

Each year since 2010, the start of the Aquino administration, the men and women of the PCSO have been encouraged to innovate and grow, so that they may provide better services to our bosses, the Filipino people.

With GCG setting annual targets that yearly push the bar higher and higher, the PCSO is continuing to improve itself by professionalizing and training its people, thus enabling the enhancement of its products and services.

The innovation and growth toward sustainability may be seen on an individual level, with the Civil Service Commission requirement for each employee to accomplish an Individual Performance Commitment and Review; and at the office level with the requirement for an Office Performance Commitment and Review, all under the Strategic Performance Management System.

In order to fulfill these requirements, PCSO employees turn to innovation on individual levels (through trainings and other forms of learning), and translate these into innovations for the company, through new and improved processes and ways of doing business in order to grow the company and create a sustainable program for the agency.

“In spite of the challenges my administration faced,” said the President in that speech, “we were determined to succeed. Our job was

to effect true transformation.”

While he was speaking about the nation on a macro level, we at the PCSO have taken such principles to mind and heart, and applied them to our agency operations; thus, over five years, effecting a positive transformation in our agency, in our personnel and, above all, in our service to our kababayan. nnn

The PCSO has received reports about certain unauthorized web sites and publications carrying erroneous information about PCSO Lotto results.

Please be reminded that for official information about Lotto results, visit the agency’s web site at pcso.gov. ph, or check the results posted at PCSO branches and outlets and aired via the daily live Lotto draw at 9 p.m. on PTV 4.

Thank you for your support of Lotto and the PCSO’s other games. By law, 30 percent of gaming revenues go to the PCSO Charity Fund, which sustains our 81-year-old agency’s social-welfare programs related to health care and medical assistance.

From individual hospitalization and treatment (dialysis, chemotherapy) assistance to medical equipment and ambulance donations, as well as other forms of help and support, the PCSO is here to serve the Filipino people.

Atty. Rojas is vice chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

US should support Canada and the pipeline

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hen terrorists struck America 14 years ago, Canada had our back. At a moment’s notice, Prime Minister Jean Chretien fortified our shared border and safely ushered hundreds of planes into Canadian airports.

Today, though, the United States is turning its back on Canada.

The Obama administration has refused to approve TransCanada’s permit for Keystone XL, a proposed 1,179-mile pipeline linking Alberta’s oil sands to the Gulf Coast. Yet the administration will soon lift restrictions on Iran’s oil exports as part of the Iran nuclear deal.

Put another way, the Obama administration is blocking Canadian oil exports while welcoming such exports from Iran. Such doubledealing weakens our relationship with Canada and threatens US national security.

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way. By approving Keystone XL today, the Obama administration can ensure a safe America tomorrow.

Canada and the US have enjoyed a strong security partnership since World War II. The two nations are currently engaged in a number of security efforts around the globe, including efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.

They have also jointly monitored North American airspace for the past 50 years through the North American Aerospace Defense Command. This binational, one-of-a-kind agreement guards against suspicious aircraft, space vehicles and missiles.

The two countries also have a mutually beneficial energy relationship. Canada supplies 97 percent of the US’s natural-gas imports, which accounts for 11 percent of domestic consumption. And Canada buys $23 billion worth of energy products from America.

Rejecting TransCanada’s permit for Keystone XL would jeopardize this alliance, especially considering that incoming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls the pipeline “one of the most important projects of our generation.” “It will be strictly a political nod to [non-governmental organizations] and maybe Hollywood,” Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall noted. “I don’t think it’ll be good for the relationship.”

TransCanada has already begun looking into challenging a potential Keystone XL veto under the North American Free Trade Agreement, “which calls for unfettered US access to Canada’s energy supply in exchange for Canadian access to the US market.”

But there’s no need to turn Keystone XL into a political fight. We can strengthen our relationship with Canada by approving the permit today.

Keystone XL would do wonders for North American energy independence. The pipeline would funnel 830,000 barrels of oil to US producers daily. That amounts to more than 90 percent of the Venezuelan oil America purchased in 2012.

Further, building Keystone XL would put North America on track to single-handedly satisfy US demand for liquid fuels by 2028. Given that the US gets back 90 cents of every dollar spent on Canadian oil via cross-border trade, there’s not a smarter energy partnership on the planet.

But scrapping the pipeline means limiting the use of North American energy resources while unleashing

Iran’s. That’s ill-advised. Cuttingedge technology has revealed that Iran has 50 million barrels of oil.

These reserves threaten to drown a market whose oil prices have already reached six-year lows, especially given China’s weak demand recently. And Iran is ready to hit the market the second sanctions are lifted.

Iran’s track record of terror makes it a shaky negotiating partner at best. The nation has played a large role in arming Sudan and Syria, and has fueled Hamas’ desire to, as US Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, put it, wipe “Israel off the face of the Earth.” The regime in Tehran has taken the lives of hundreds of US soldiers in Iraq and made a habit of silencing internal dissent with ruthless executions.

Negotiating with a state whose allies include the likes of Russia, China and North Korea while keeping Canadian oil at bay is ludicrous.

Instead, we should to turn to Canada. As John F. Kennedy once said of our neighbor, “Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies.” TNS

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Christmas vs tax: A case of every working Juan Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan

legally speaking

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he coming of the Yuletide season is much anticipated in the same manner as that of the monetary blessing that comes with it. Working all year-round, every Juan deserves to enjoy the fruits of his or her labor—the 13thmonth pay and other employer-specific bonuses. Yet, income tax imposed on these gratuities may be anticlimactic to what Juan might be thinking of spending using this expected monetary gain for the Christmas celebration.

Generally, before December 25, every employer is mandated by law to give out to all his rankand-file employees the 13thmonth pay. This is equivalent to 1/12 of the basic monthly salary the employee earned throughout the calendar year. Hence, the sum of the basic remuneration Juan actually earns every month of the year, which excludes allowances and monetary benefits, is just divided by 1/12 in order to arrive at the due amount as the 13th-month pay.

Historically, in the whereas clauses of Presidential Decree 851, as amended, or the 13thmonth law, institutionalizing the payment of the 13th-month pay was aimed to give “an oppor t u ne t i me for soc iet y to show its concern for the working masses to celebrate Christmas and New Year.”

In order to emphasize the meaning of the Christmas season, employers also give out to their employees Christmas bonuses or cash incentives by year-end on top of the 13th-month pay.

However, t hese add it iona l monetary gratuities can ripen into a company practice which, in effect, makes the payment thereof mandatory and demandable on the part of the employer.

W hen employers faithfully comply with this legal obligation in paying these sums, they give more life to the spirit of the 13th-month law. This, indeed, jolts every Juan to feel the festive atmosphere of t he holiday season.

However, just before these amounts get into Juan’s pocket, the government may take its share by imposing income t a x on t he p ay me nt of t he 1 3t h - m o nt h p a y a n d o t h e r Christmas bonuses.

As a rule, 13th-month pay and other bonus payouts are exempt from income tax when they are within the threshold amount.

Prior to Januar y 2015, when the amount of 13th-month pay and other bonuses reach P30,000, only the excess forms part of the taxable income subject to 5 percent to 32 percent graduated income tax. Hence, only a meager P30,000 is exempt from income tax. But, with the enactment of

The increase in the threshold amount somehow guarantees every Juan that the fruits of his or her hard work and perseverance will not just be parted away from him by any tax burdens. But it must be noted that the P82,000 threshold also includes other benefits for which equivalents are above their corresponding de minimis ceiling amounts. Effectively, if there are other benefits exceeding the threshold amount, the 13th-month pay and the Christmas bonus may be subject to income tax.

Republic Act 10653, the threshold amount exempt from income tax has been remarkably increased from P30,000 to P82,000 starting on the calendar year 2015.

In Revenue Regulations 3-2015, the Bureau of Internal Revenue clarified that the new threshold amount applies to the “13th month and other benefits paid or accrued beginning January 1, 2015.”

The increase in the threshold amount somehow guarantees every Juan that the fruits of his or her hard work and perseverance will not just be parted away from him by any tax burdens. But it must be noted that the P82,000 threshold also includes other benefits for which equivalents are above their corresponding de minimis ceiling amounts.

Effectively, if there are other benefits exceeding the threshold amount, the 13th-month pay and the Christmas bonus may be subject to income tax.

If at all the government desires to concretize the spirit by which the 13th-month law was enacted, legislation to exempt the 13thmonth pay and the Christmas bonus from income tax must be a priority.

In so doing , t he spir it of Christmas will, indeed, win over the lifeblood a tribute of taxation for the promotion of the welfare of every working Juan.

Monday, November 2, 2015 A11

The imminent inflation increase Paul Donovan

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ver the course of the past few months, financial markets seem to have become caught up in a disinflation mentality.

Disinflation is when the rate of inflation declines—and, at current inflation levels, disinflation would very quickly become outright deflation, which is when the rate of inflation is negative.

Fortunately for the world economy, this is very unlikely to happen.

We are not in a disinflation world. We are in a relatively low inflation world, but that is a very different situation.

Why are economists so relaxed about the risks of deflation? Economists are relaxed because the current very low levels of inflation are almost entirely caused by the slump in oil prices that took place between October 2014 and January 2015.

Oil prices have remained at very low levels since then. This means that in September 2015 an inflation rate would be comparing very low oil prices with the pre-slump oil prices of September 2014—and, of course, the change in oil prices would have been a substantial negative.

From October 2015 onward, however, we will be comparing post-slump oil prices with postslump oil prices. That means oil,

currently dragging consumer price inflation down like a lead weight, will cease to be a negative influence on inflation. It is not likely to be a strong positive force for inflation, but simply removing the negative influence is enough.

So what does this mean for inflation? It does not mean inflation is going to start roaring ahead. We remain in a low inflation world.

However, the simple way to think about this is to say that headline consumer price inflation will converge with the core consumer price inflation rate around the world. This means that headline consumer price inflation will likely rise by around 0.8 percent or 0.9 percent in most

of the major economies of the world.

There are two further points worth making about this. First, the core inflation rate will also be affected by the price of oil. Although the core inflation rate in theory excludes food and energy, it does not actually completely exclude these prices. Core inflation includes, for instance, the price of traveling by air. But airfares are about 40 percent fuel costs, and changing oil prices impact airfares, which impacts core inflation rates. So, the rise in the oil price will raise the core inflation rate a bit further, and the headline inflation rate too.

The second point worth noting is that core inflation rates have generally been creeping up a little in the major economies of the world.

Again, this is nothing too serious.

We are not on the brink of a Weimar Republic-style hyperinflation. But as labor costs have crept up a little, so core inflation rates have tended to respond. That means that, if we ignore the temporary impact of lower oil prices on inflation, we are in a slightly higher inflation world.

So what does this all really mean?

It means that headline inflation rates are likely to be a little more normal than they have been for the past 12 months. That in turn means, I believe, that investors will start to become a little more balanced in their assessment of risks. At the moment there seems to be a rather dour sense

B

Social engineering is a dangerous pursuit. China knew years and years ago that its one-child policy was a draconian step that could bring dire consequences.

But Communist Party leaders also considered it the only practical, expedient solution to overpopulation, which threatened to sabotage the country’s race to modernization.

Now, after 35 years, the onechild policy has been lifted—or at least, modified. The new rules permit families to have two children.

If you’re looking for a single example of how different life in China can be from in America, the one-child policy surely is it: a harsh government intrusion on privacy instituted for the greater good. It’s ending now, not because an enlightened leadership wants to right a wrong but because the policy is no longer needed.

Actually, the one-child policy threatens Chinese prosperity the way overpopulation once did. China, with 1.3 billion people, would have had about 400 million more

Paul Donovan’s latest book The Truth About Inflation was published

by Routledge in April 2015. Visit www. ubs.com/pauldonovan for more research. Donovan’s commentaries in the UBS series of documentaries on Nobel Laureates in economics is available at www.ubs.com/nobel.

Revisions in the CPA licensure examination Dr. Gloria J. Tolentino-Baysa

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DEBIT CREDIT

he Certified Public Accountants (CPA) licensure examination has always been viewed as the ultimate test of competency and the mark of quality for all aspiring accountants. It has been bannered by accounting schools and reviewer institutions as a gauge of their educational standards, taking pride in their passing percentages and the number of topnotchers that graduate from their hallowed halls.

The current seven subjects in the CPA examination as provided in the Revised Philippine Accountancy Law of 2004, Republic Act 9298, had been in place for almost half a century. The seven subjects are Theory of Accounts, Auditing Theory, Management Services, Auditing Problems, Practical Accounting Problems P1, Practical Accounting Problems P2, and Business Law and Taxation. These subjects have equal weight, equal number of hours in the examination but different total number of questions depending on the nature of the subject.

Since Section 15 of the Accountancy Law allows amendments to the CPA examination, the Board of Accountancy (BOA), after considering the developments surrounding the profession and the clamor of the different sectors of the profession, particularly those in academe during the debriefing conducted after the May 2015 examinations, decided to have the long-overdue revisions. The highlights of the revisions are as follows: 1) Reduction in the number of

subjects from seven to six; 2) Merging auditing theory and practice into one subject; 3) Merging accounting theory and practice and distributing the pertinent topics in Theory of Accounts, Practical Accounting I, Practical Accounting II to Financial Accounting and Reporting, and Advanced Financial Accounting and Reporting; 4) Segregating Business Law and Taxation into Taxation and Regulatory Framework for Business Transactions; and 5) Renaming Management Services to Management Accounting Services.

The revised six subjects in the CPA licensure examinations are now Financial Accounting and Reporting, Advanced Financial Accounting and Reporting, Management Accounting Services, Auditing, Taxation, and Regulatory Framework for Business Transactions.

Next step issues and concerns 100 percent mapping. The Commission on Higher Education Technical Committee chaired by Dr. Arnel Uy did a mapping of the subjects in

the current Bachelor of Science in Accountancy curriculum with the existing seven subjects and the revised six subjects in the CPA licensure examinations. The result was a 100 percent match.

Issuance of the PRC Resolution revising the subjects. The resolution had been signed by the BOA and is now for the approval of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

Finalization of syllabi and Table of Specifications (TOS) by October 2015. The BOA, with the support of the National Association of Certified Public Accountants in Education headed by its president, Omar Ampongan, conducted a workshop for the revision of the CPA Examination Syllabi and TOS. The workshop was participated in by the BOA; deans, chairmen and faculty of accountancy schools; CPA reviewers; and representatives of the accountancy sectors in public practice and commerce and industry. The output shall be out before the end of October 2015.

Coordination with the appropriate offices in PRC to implement the change. Coordination meetings with the commissioner and heads of the different divisions of the PRC have been conducted by the BOA to address issues and concerns that may possibly arise as a result of the revision in the examinations.

Preparation of test questions for the test bank under the outcome-based framework.

The members of the board are now in the process of preparing examinations questions based on the revised subjects and geared toward the competency requirements of outcomebased education.

China’s one-child policy ensured prosperity at a terrible price oy-boy-boy-girl. Boy-boy-boy-girl. Visit a school or playground in a Chinese city, and count the results of a government edict limiting most couples to one child. In a culture that favors sons over daughters, some families will use ultrasounds and abortions to get the baby they desire.

of pessimism from investors, constantly looking for the negative risks in any data release or any statement from a policy-maker. I doubt that this is going to suddenly transform into a panic about the upside for prices, but I think that there may be a tendency to view the risks around inflation as being more evenly balanced in the future.

This change is not going to happen immediately. The rise in headline inflation is going to take a few months to fully show up. But I do believe that we should start to become, not inflationist, but antideflationist in our outlook.

Of course, the world is also in an El Niño weather pattern that looks to be quite severe. That has potential implications for storms, drought and thus food prices. There are always external threats to economic stability.

But economists have enough difficulty forecasting the US Federal Reserve without trying to forecast weather patterns, as well. Let us confine our inflation view to the certainties of the oil price effect, and leave El Niño for another day.

By 2050 China will have more than 440 million people over age 60. Who will care for all those people as they grow old? Under the one-child policy, a married couple has sole responsibility for four elderly parents because the adult children have no brothers or sisters to share the burden.

mouths to feed without the onechild policy. But the country is aging and the labor force is shrinking, and that will put a tremendous burden on the country in the next few decades.

By 2050 China will have more than 440 million people over age 60. Who will care for all those people as they grow old? Under the one-child policy, a married couple has sole responsibility for four elderly parents because the adult children have no brothers or sisters to share the burden.

This gets at the human toll of such an extreme law: For more than a generation, China has been a culture that forbids siblings, where there are no aunts or uncles.

Local party officials, charged with carrying out the policy, levied heavy fines on couples who had multiple children, or punished women with forced abortions and sterilization.

Because many families subverted

the law by using fetal testing to determine the sex, the result has been devastating in its own way.

China has a serious gender imbalance. Globally, an average of 103 to 107 boys are born for every 100 girls, but in China the ration is about 118 boys per 100.

T he resu lt is a subcu lture of what the Chinese call “bare branches”—men who cannot find women to marry. There may be as many as 30 million of these lonely people. Enough that some social scientists worry they are disaffected enough to cause an increase in the crime rate. Enough that one economist suggested in a blog allowing multiple men to marry one woman. According to The New York Times, the economist was shamed

Two-year transition for conditional examinees. Conditional examinees in the seven subjects will still have the two-year period within which to retake the conditioned subjects based on the seven subjects.

Conduct of public awareness and consultations. Information dissemination and consultations are being conducted and are still ongoing. The Metro Manila group was held at the University of the East, Manila attended by more than 900 deans, faculty and students; the Luzon group was held at the Tarlac State University with more than 500 deans, faculty and student attendees; while the Visayas group held at the University of San Jose Recoletos in Cebu was attended by almost 1,000 deans, faculty and students. These are besides the awareness campaigns conducted at the Philippine School of Business Administration Quezon City and at the University of the Philippines Diliman and those already scheduled to be conducted.

Similarly, awareness campaigns have been made at the mid-year conventions of the National Federation of Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants for Region 3, Region 1 and Cordillera Administrative Region, and the National Association of Certified Public Accountants in Education. The implementation of the revised CPA Examination subjects shall commence in the May 2016 CPA Licensure Examination.

Dr. Gloria T. Baysa is a university professor retiree of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and is currently the vice chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy.

by critics, one of whom wrote: “Behind the imbalanced sex ratio of 30 million bachelors lie 30 million baby girls who died due to sex discrimination.”

The one-child policy was never applied to all Chinese; rural families, for example, were allowed two children and often had more.

The government began loosening the restriction in 2013, signaling the end of the policy was coming. But there is still a significant worry: birthrates typically decline as societies become more affluent, and so there is no guarantee that urban couples will embrace the opportunity to have a second child. China may find it is too late to undo all the damage caused by its cruel experiment. TNS

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Monday, November 2, 2015

TPB notes growing popularity of PHL in London travel fair

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

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Special to the BusinessMirror

ONDON, United Kingdom— The annual World Travel Market (WTM) here opens today (Monday, November 2) with a bigger, bolder and more colorful Philippine exhibit booth, underscoring the country’s growing popularity among the fair participants and foreign tourists.

In an exclusive interview, Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) COO Domingo Ramon Enerio III said: “The Philippines has been participating in the World Travel Market since its inception [in 1980] and has never been absent from this annual event.”

The TPB is the marketing arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT).

He added that the country’s booth “has grown from as small as 18 square meters [sq m] to our present size of 366 sq m. This indicates the increasing popularity of the Philippines in the WTM, as well as the growing support of our different tourism stakeholders with specific

ENERIO: “The Philippines has been participating in the World Travel Market since its inception [in 1980] and has never been absent from this annual event.”

interest in the European market.”

Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr. leads a 60-man delegation to the WTM, being held at ExCel London, until November 5. The delegation is composed of

several private tour operators, and representatives from hotels and resorts in Boracay, Bohol and Palawan.

The country’s pioneering flagcarrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has also sent a separate delegation, and has mounted its own booth beside the Philippines country booth.

PAL is the only Philippine carrier with direct flights between London and Manila.

Also expected to attend the WTM are lawmakers from the House of Representatives, namely, Reps. Frank Josef George Alvarez (First District of Palawan); Dakila Carlo Cua (Quirino); Randolph Ting (Third District, Cagayan); Victoria Isabel Noel (Party-list, An Waray); Gwendolyn Garcia, (Third District, Cebu); Scott Davies, Lanete (Third District, Masbate); Reynaldo Umali (Second District, Oriental Mindoro); and Ma. Zenaida Angping (Third District, Manila).

The DOT has declared 2016 as “Visit the Philippines Again [VPA]” year, hoping to reach its target of 10 million foreign tourists arrivals as envisioned under its National Tourism Development Plan for 2011-2016.

As such, the government agency is busy negotiating with local and

foreign tour operators and international travel agencies for incentives to give returning visitors to the Philippines, Jimenez said. “This is why we’re attending the WTM in London again; we will be talking with the private sector [to support the new campaign],” he told the BusinessMirror.

For his part, Enerio said: “We are seeking to establish viable partnerships with various international counterparts, which could help to stretch our reach and share of voice with our target audiences.” He added that he will be meeting with the US-based MMGY Travel Media Specialists; the GDI Digital Network covering social-media campaigns for Europe; and the Worldwide Student Travel Association.”

While other Asian countries with higher marketing budgets and larger booths also have a presence at the WTM, the TPB remains unfazed. “We expect to compete aggressively against the major tourism players of the region, and with relatively limited resources, we have to allow our creativity and fun nature to excel and shine,” Enerio stressed.

The Philippines booth is designed by celebrated Filipino architects Antonio Layug and Royal Pineda of

www.businessmirror.com.ph

FRENCH PRESIDENT HEADING TO CHINA TO PROMOTE CLIMATE TALKS

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A R IS —Frenc h P resident Françcois Hollande hopes to use a state visit to China to boost difficult climate negotiationsamonthbeforeaUnited Nations conference in Paris aimed at slowing global warming.

China, the most populous country and the biggest emitter of climate-warming greenhouse gases in the world, has promised it will try to cap its rising emissions before 2030 as part of its national pledge ahead of the Paris conference.

Hollande says he intends to launch a bilateral appeal with Chinese President Xi Jinping “to make the climate conference a success.” France is notably trying to get China’s approval of a mechanism that would require countries to step up their emissions cuts over time.

This would be “a key” to success of the UN climate talks, a French diplomatic official said, because the current national pledges won’t be enough to achieve the goal of keeping the rise in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) between preindustrial times and the end of the century.

China has “a leading role” in influencing other developing countries on this issue, the diplomat said. France is proposing to update those emissions targets automatically every five years, but the rules have yet to be defined. The official spoke anonymously because discussions on the content of the French-Chinese bilateral declaration were still ongoing.

On Monday the French president will visit Chongqing in southwest China, where he’ll see examples of the country’s efforts toward more environmentally friendly technologies. Later in the day, he’ll be heading to Beijing to meet with the Chinese president.

On Tuesday Hollande will meet with Prime Minister Li Keqiang and they will speak to a French-Chinese economic forum on green growth. Hollande will then go to South Korea for a one-day visit.

The Chinese president is expected to come to France on November 30 for the opening of the UN climate conference along with many other world leaders, including President BarackObama.Theconferenceruns through December 11. AP

See “TPB notes,” A2

Investments. . .

Continued from A1

added. Chua said cumbersome regulations add to the burden of small and medium enterprises who also need to pay P21,000 to P45,000 worth of legitimate fees annually.

He added that there are even times when these small businesses find it necessary to pay bribes just to obtain various permits and licenses. This adds to their business costs and threatens their financial position as a company.

The length of time required to open businesses, as well as the high legitimate and illegitimate costs they incur often discourages them from pursuing their investment plans.

“This translates to foregone employment of around 60,000, or around 5 percent of entrants to the labor force every year. These indicative estimates suggest that the high cost of doing business is clearly a toll on the country’s inclusive growth agenda,” Chua said.

In the 2016 Doing Business Ranking of the World Bank, the Philippines slipped six notches to 103rd out of 189 economies, from 97th in 2015.

The World Bank attributed this to the implementation of only one reform in the past year.

Among its Asean neighbors, the Philippines was the only country that registered the largest fall in the rankings.

Singapore retained its No. 1 ranking for the 10th consecutive year, while Hong Kong maintained is fifth ranking overall.

Vietnam was considered among this year’s best performers, which saw its ranking improve to 90th in the 2016 report from 93rd in the previous year.

In the second quarter of 2015, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed that approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals reached P90 billion in the second quarter of 2015, a contraction of 65.1 percent from last year’s P257.8 billion.

Filipino nationals continued to dominate investments approved during the quarter, sharing 59.8 percent, or P53.8 billion worth of pledges. Total projects of foreign and Filipino investors approved by the seven investment promotion agencies (IPAs) for the second quarter of 2015 are expected to generate 36,196 jobs, lower by 69.5 percent from last year’s projected employment of 118,835 in the same period.

Out of these anticipated jobs, some 71.5 percent would come from projects with foreign interest. The seven IPAs are the Board of Investments (BOI), Clark Development Corp., Philippine Economic Zone Authority and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, as well as the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan, BOI-Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN Thousands of people troop to the Manila North Cemetery to offer flowers and candles to their departed loved ones and relatives on All Saints’ Day. ROY DOMINGO

Fed releases updated model on US economy T he Federal Reserve (the Fed) Board released an updated version of its large-scale model on the US economy that may hold clues into why policy-makers pivoted at their meeting earlier this week toward a December interest-rate increase.

The revised inputs and calculations on Friday suggest the economy will use up resource slack by the first quarter of 2016, according to an analysis by Barclays Plc., and that also indicates Fed staff lowered their near-term estimate for how fast the economy can grow without producing inflation—a concept known as potential growth.

“The output gap appears closed,” said Michael Gapen, chief US economist at

Barclays’s investment-banking unit in New York. “This means further progress would lead to resource scarcity and potential upward pressure on inflation in the medium term.” Gapen said that may explain why US central bankers signaled this week that they will consider the first interest-rate increase since 2006 at their next meeting, on December 15 to 16.

The model assumes that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raises the benchmark lending rate in late 2015. However, immediate liftoff has “been a feature” of the model since late 2014, Barclays noted.

Fed Spokesman David Skidmore declined to comment.

2% Growth

In the current model, “the long-run growth rate is two-tenths lower” at 2 percent, Barclays said. FOMC participants forecast the economy’s long-run growth rate at 2 percent in September.

The unemployment rate stood at 5.1 percent in September, and the Fed model assumes little change from that level, dipping to a low of 4.8 percent in a forecast horizon that extends to 2020, according to Barclays. FOMC officials estimated full employment—or the level of the unemployment rate consistent with stable prices—at 4.9 percent last month.

“This view is quite different than ours,”

said Gapen, who formerly worked at the Fed. “We forecast ongoing declines in the unemployment rate and see it reaching 4.3 percent by end-2016.”

The model, known as FRB/US and updated periodically, is a series of calculations put together by Fed staff that sketch out how broad measures of the economy would change based on a set of defined parameters.

The staff also constructs a bottom-up forecast for policy makers before each FOMC meeting. US central bankers use the models and forecasts as reference points, not sole determinants of their decisionmaking. Bloomberg News