BusinessMirror February 11, 2016

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A broader look at today’s business ■

Thursday, February 11, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 126

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

‘Exports rebound unlikely sans market, product diversification’ T B C U. O

INSIDE

HERE is little hope for a rebound in the country’s export receipts this year due to the weak global demand, unless Philippine exporters are able to expand their markets, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said.

RED-HOT VACATION SPOT D

Life

Our mercy

EAR Lord, it is good to know that these two sentences strike us in the papal document.

“Mercy is the very foundation of the Church’s life”; and “The Church’s very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love.” The application of these principles to each believer caps it all: “Mercy is the force that reawakens us to new life and instill the courage to look to the future with hope.” Do we all deserve mercy and compassion? We do, Lord. Our mercy is in Your hands. Amen.

WORD & LIFE, FR. SAL PUTZU, SDB AND LOUIE M. LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

Editor: erard . a o • i e t e

ine

irror

REELING: ‘THE EMPEROR’: LOSING THE BATTLE BUT NOT THE WAR D2

BusinessMirror

ai . o

Thursday, February 11, 2016

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❶ TROPICAL

flowering shrubs border stately pavilions made of stone and wood.

❷ PARTY

people will no doubt enjoy everything that Azure Beach Club has to offer. The club hangs on a cliff to give diners a panoramic view of the beautiful Mactan sea.

‘L'amour’ in Amelie

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CUPID’S arrow will surely strike hearts this Valentine season with “L’amour” from Amelie Hotel Manila (www.ameliehotelmanila.com).

A romantic treat specially created for the love month awaits couples from February 12 to 15. The “L’amour” special rates start at P 5,500, which includes overnight accommodation for two, dinner for two couples’ massage (advanced reservation required), breakfast for two and complimentary Wi-Fi, pool and gym use. Guests who avail themselves of this special promo will also get a raffle coupon for a chance to win a complimentary overnight stay at the hotel. Raffle draw will be on February 16.

Owned by The RuyGroup Hotel Corp. and managed by Paramount Hotels & Facilities Management Co. Inc., the hotel, situated in Malate, Manila, is a short drive from the international and domestic airports, cultural sights, shopping malls, and the business districts of Makati City and Fort Bonifacio—ideal for a total Manila experience.

❸ SEA-FRONT villas come with a private pool and a breathtaking view of the ocean.

❹ ADULT and children alike can enjoy the three-tiered infinity pool.

❺ CEBU-

MADE furniture and décor provide elegant touches and warmth to the luxurious rooms.

❸

❹

❺

Red-hot vacation spot

With natural beauty and world-class amenities, Crimson Resort and Spa makes for the perfect leisure destination STORY AND PHOTOS BY VIC SEVILLA

INSPIRING ADVENTURES IN PUERTO PRINCESA, PALAWAN LOCATED at the heart of Puerto Princesa, Canvas Boutique Hotel (www.canvasboutiquehotel.com) is an adventure in itself.

You know you’re in for something special as soon as you step into the lobby: light installations inspired by the stalactites of the Subterranean River, comfortable and unique furniture pieces, colorful murals that tell stories of the exciting culture of Palawan, and a vibrant in-house restaurant that celebrates the rich flavors of a Filipino home. This 49-room boutique hotel vibrates with inspiration at every turn, moving you to go on your adventure.

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O urbanites weary of the scene in Metro Manila, Cebu City is often regarded as the perfect alternative. After all, the Queen City of the South throbs with the same energetic vibe and cosmopolitan sophistication that have made Manila a fun destination. What’s even better is that the city is cocooned by some of the most alluring seascapes anywhere in the world—in some cases, a short ride is all it takes to get to a white-sand beach framed by coconut palm trees. But to those who wish to really get away from it all (but still want to take the retreat in great style), a jewel of a destination far from the madding crowd awaits: Crimson Resort and Spa in nearby Mactan.

A GARDEN OF LUXURY SPREAD across a 6-hectare property, Crimson Resort and Spa Mactan combines the most delightful elements to create a haven of absolute beauty and luxury. It is, first and foremost, a garden lush with trees, decorative plants and flowering foliage. Tucked between the greenery are stately pavilions made of wood and stone housing the food, beverage and indoor recreational outlets.

The tree-covered pathways radiating from the

THE shore of Crimson Hotel and Spa is laced by a white-sand beach lapped by the azure sea.

pavilions lead guests to graceful private villas and quiet guest rooms peeking behind the hedges and trees. Laid out like a luxurious Balinese resort, gardens nestle the accommodations to provide a natural screen from the tropical sun and offer relaxing vistas of nature.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise to step out in the morning and find tropical blooms at your doorstep in a Zen-like arrangement, sending happy thoughts to start the day.

Inside, carefully selected Cebu-made décors punctuate the room with beauty. There are wall decors of polished Mactan stone and wood, elegant handcrafted furniture and intricately woven accents.

The interior design presents a synergy of Cebuano and Asian decorative elements combined with the most modern amenities and creature comforts.

There are villas that come with their own private pool and a sun-drenched patio that looks out to the blue sea. Tranquility reigns here, surrendering once in a while to the momentary shriek of a sea bird. But tempting as it is to stay indoors and luxuriate in the lavishness of the room, the rest of Crimson waits to be explored and experienced.

FROLIC AND DINE IN UTMOST STYLE TO those whose idea of a perfect getaway is throwing body into azure waters, Crimson will not disappoint.

For starters, there is a three-tiered Infinity Pool that meanders along gardens and snakes its way beneath flowering trees to seemingly reach out into the ocean.

Depths range from 2, 3 to 4 feet so that even kids will have endless fun in this refreshing water facility.

If the young ones get too excited and raucous in the pool, one can always head to the private whitesand beach and take a dip in the cool, the blue waters lapping at the resort’s edge. The sports-minded can play beach volleyball, or indulge in adrenalinepumping activities such as jetskiing, paragliding, or straddling a banana boat at full speed.

Foodies on the lookout for delicious morsels and fastidious gourmets with a predilection for haute cuisine will surely have their fill of satisfying repast.

Saffron Café offers the delightful flavors of Eastern and Western cuisines in an atmosphere that’s freewheeling and friendly.

The café opens to lush gardens and offers a view of the infinity pool—making it perfect for long, casual

dining with family and friends.

Meanwhile, Tempo’s sleek interior captures the perfect ambiance for intimate dinners and romantic evenings. Low but warm lighting and the display of Oriental artifacts, enhanced with nightly live entertainment, set the mood for a gourmet dinner, or after-dinner drinks. On the menu is a selection of PanAsian cuisine to whet the appetite.

Party people will no doubt enjoy everything that Azure Beach Club has to offer. Hanging on a cliff, this rock bar and restaurant offers a perfect view of the ocean, and has a laidback beach vibe. The bar’s hip cocktail concoctions, modern Asian cuisine (with lots of fresh catches from the sea, such as plump mussels, juicy prawns and fish on the grill), and cool club music make it the place to wine, dine and dance.

Score Sports Bar, on the other hand, is for those with a no-nonsense approach to having a fun night out. A haven for sports enthusiasts, Score is the best place to hang around with the guys, have a few beers, a game of 8-ball, or catch the latest sports matches or events. At the Videoke Room, the whole gang can sing their hearts out, snack on the scrumptious selections on the a la carte menu, and get their fill of the featured cocktails and mocktails.

PLEASURE THE SENSES AFTER a night of indulging the tastebuds and the desire to be intoxicated, it’s probably best to take a down time and head to Aum Spa. Pronounced “om,” Aum is a retreat exclusive at Crimson Mactan. Just a few steps outside the resort, this enclave of health and wellness offers serenity amid gurgling pools and the rustle of bamboo leaves.

It has 14 treatment rooms (including couple’s rooms) decorated with Asian accents to deftly harmonize with the lush outdoor gardens. In this relaxing atmosphere, one can enjoy authentic therapies and thoughtful service to restore and energize the mind and body.

After a short respite at Crimson, one leaves with a desire to stay longer and a longing to return again.

Like a pleasant dream worth repeating again and again, vacations at Crimson are likely never to be forgotten.

LIFE

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■ For reservations, call (32) 401 -9999 or (32) 239-3900, or e-mail info.mactan@crimsonhotel.com.

GANGS AN OBSTACLE IN BATTLE VS ZIKA A8

Thursday, February 11, 2016 | Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

The World BusinessMirror

Gangs an obstacle in battle vs Zika in Central America

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USCATANCINGO, El Salvador— For health workers battling Zika across much of Central America, the immediate menace is not the mosquitoes that transmit the virus.

It’s the gangsters who control the streets, and sometimes threaten their lives.

A r med and wel l-organized street gangs known as maras exert near-total control over entire neighborhoods, using sentries to track everyone who comes and goes.

In some cases, they deny access to health crews they suspect of working with police or a rival gang.

In 2014 an emergency medical technician accompanying a fumigation team in greater San Salvador was shot dead by mara members after they lifted his shirt and, according to local media reports, found he had a tattoo from a rival gang. Similar incidents have played out in neighboring Honduras and in Guatemala, where fumigators are chased by thugs, assaulted or charged a small tax for access.

“The state is absent” in such areas, said Carlos Carcach, a criminologist with the Superior School of Economics and Business in El Salvador. “The state is being replaced by the gang.”

More than 7,000 suspected cases of Zika have been identified in El Salvador, where government officials have advised women to put off pregnancies for two years due to severe birth defects tentatively linked to the virus. The country has also launched a campaign against the Aedes aegypti mosquito, relying on aggressive fumigation and

the removal of standing water and refuse where its larvae can breed.

But El Salvador, a country of just 6 million people, recorded more than 700 murders in January and had a homicide rate of 103 per 100,000 inhabitants last year, believed to be the highest of any country not in open war.

T hat’s the env ironment in which government health workers struggle to contain Zika.

To get into Cuscatancingo, on San Salvador’s outskirts, a reporter met a local resident outside town and traveled there in his car, which would not raise the gangs’ suspicions.

Approaching the Villa Mariona government health clinic, the driver rolled down the vehicle’s windows so a group of young Mara Salvatrucha gangsters in low-hanging jeans, gelled hair and plaid shirts could see who was inside.

One asked what was going on, and whether the reporter had cameras.

When a police foot patrol came up the street, a teen shouted “Policia!” into his radio and the youths ran.

Several years ago, the clinic was forced to shut down for several months because staff members were being extorted, according to Nelson Mejia, Villa Mariona’s sanitation coordinator. He and

the then-director met with gang members to explain why it was important that they work there. Gang members asked that their people get prompt treatment at the facility then agreed to allow operations to resume under a wary truce. But there have been more incidents.

Gang members beat up and took away a man working on a local water project for the health ministry.

Once, when a clinic employee was going door-to-door for a health project, a gang member called to warn that he should leave immediately because he was suspected of being a cop. Another worker on a fumigation mission left after being intimidated by gangsters.

“When this clinic reopened, it reopened with fear,” Mejia said.

Whenever a suspected case of Zika is identified, the Villa Mariona clinic tries to send teams into the area to look for others with fever and to destroy mosquito breeding areas. Mejia said workers from another clinic in Cuscatancingo have been denied entry at times.

Eduardo Espinoza, vice minister of health, said such incidents are sporadic. “We haven’t had any significant trouble except in some areas, specifically in the metropolitan area,” Espinoza said.

I n Gu atem a l a f u m ig ators planned to go into one Guatemala City neighborhood last week but locals warned it was too dangerous, said Sergio Mendez, fumigation coordinator for the health ministry.

“We don’t ask for help from the police or the army to enter an area, because later they go and carry out raids,” Mendez said. “And we have to go back. The people think we reported them.”

Gangs can also hamper the fight against Zika and other public health efforts in less-direct ways.

Fear of the maras leads many residents to refuse to answer the door or let health workers inside.

Of the nine suspected Zika cases in the area served by the Villa Mariona clinic, only five have been identified because people refuse to share relatives’ phone numbers or addresses. It’s common for people to suddenly and secretly relocate to escape gang threats, making it difficult to do proper follow-up and contain the epidemic.

Mejia said fear also contributes to the root causes of the epidemic.

For example, when a water pipe breaks in a gang-controlled neighborhood, the government responds slowly because sending a repair crew is dangerous, he said. That leads to unreliable service in the area, prompting locals to stockpile water in barrels perfect for mosquito breeding.

Resident Cesiah Estel Vargas said the three huge metal drums of water on her clean-swept patio are for when the water stops flowing.

Two were covered, but one was open and filled to the brim. She said that one is used to flush the toilet and usually gets refilled daily, so she doesn’t worry about mosquitoes.

Across the way, Raul Rivera swatted at mosquitoes swarming inside his tidy living room. In a smaller room just off it sat a large concrete water tank, where even more of the bugs flitted about.

Rivera got Zika two months ago and missed work for a week. Last year, his mother and son came down with chikungunya, which is transmitted by the same mosquito.

He said he knows the water in his house is the problem, but it had been months since health workers distributed the larvicide for the water tanks. He seems resigned to disease. “It’s nothing new,” he said. AP

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Senate to vote on hitting North Korea with tougher sanctions

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a plutonium reactor that could start recovering material for nuclear weapons in weeks or months.

Both f ind ings w i l l deepen concern that North Korea is not only making technical advances in its nuclear weapons program, but is working to expand what is thought to be a small nuclear arsenal. US-based experts have estimated that North Korea may have about 10 bombs, but that could grow to between 20 and 100 by 2020.

Clapper said Pyongyang has not f light-tested a long-range, nuclear-armed missile but is committed to its development.

Underscoring the difficulty of understanding North Korea’s actual intentions, Clapper said the US does not know whether North Korea would use nuclear weapons for defensive or retaliatory purposes.

“We have long assessed that Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities are intended for deterrence, international prestige and coercive diplomacy,” he said.

Nor th Korea a lready faces wide-ranging sanctions from the United States and under existing UN resolutions is prohibited from trading in weapons and importing luxury goods. At the UN Security Council, the US and China have been working on the text of a new sanctions resolution since North Korea’s January 6 nuclear test and last weekend’s rocket launch. The council pledged to adopt “significant new measures” at an emergency meeting on Sunday.

The US, backed by its Western allies, Japan and South Korea, wants tough new sanctions that wou ld i mpac t Nor t h K orea’s ability to do business. But diplomats say China, the North ’s ally and key protector in the Security Council, is reluctant to impose economic measures that could cause North Korea’s economy to collapse. AP

A S H I N G T O N —T h e Senate is considering hitting North Korea with more stringent sanctions i n t he w a ke of P yong y a ng ’s satellite launch and technical advances that US intelligence agencies say the reclusive Asian nation is making in its nuclear weapons program.

The bill that senators are expected to vote on Wednesday targets North Korea’s ability to access the money it needs for developing miniaturized nuclear warheads and the long-range missiles to deliver them, according to the legislation’s backers.

The House overwhelmingly approved a similar measure last month and there is strong bipartisan support in the Senate for the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act. “ T he k i nd of be l l igerence we’ve seen from Pyongyang must not be ignored,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday.

North Korea on Sunday launched a long-range rocket carrying an Earth observation satellite into space. The launch, which came about a month after the country’s fourth nuclear test, was quickly condemned by world leaders as a potential threat to regional and global security.

Washington, Seoul and others consider the launch a banned test of missile technology. That assessment is based on Pyongyang’s open efforts to manufacture nuclear-tipped missiles capable of striking the US mainland and that the technology used to launch a rocket carrying a satellite into space can be applied to fire a long-range missile.

In t he a n nu a l a ssessment of global threats delivered to Congress on Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence James R . Clapper said North Korea has ex panded a uranium-enrichment facility and restarted

C  A

Refugee mental-health needs could overwhelm, experts fear B OSTON—For the thousands of Syrian refugees expected to arrive in the US in coming months, the first order of business will be securing the basics— health care, jobs, education and a safe home. But what organizations helping resettle them might not be prepared for, and what refugees themselves might be in denial about, is the need to treat the mental scars of war, experts said.

Iham Al Horani, a 32-year-old refugee living in Worcester, Massachusetts, said he has had little time to think about his mental health in between months of job hunting and shuttling his mother, recovering from sniper gunfire, to doctor’s appointments.

“It was difficult, what we came from,” Al Horani said through a translator. “The living conditions in the refugee camp were bad. But at least we’re all here.”

Organizations that work with refugees said it’s too early to assess the full scope of arrivals’ mental-health needs. But experts say it’s important to keep tabs on the emotional state of new arrivals, since symptoms may not appear until months or years later—well after most resettlement support services have ended. The US has taken about 2,500 Syrian refugees since the conflict there began in 2011, including about 100 in Massachusetts.

The Obama administration expects to take in at least 10,000 in the federal fiscal year that began in October. Experts estimate 10 percent to 20 percent of incoming Syrians will have war-related psychological problems warranting treatment. “They’re in the honeymoon phase,” said Richard Mollica, a psychiatry professor

at Harvard Medical School who has spent decades working with torture and genocide victims. “In the first year, they’re so happy to be out of that situation. They feel something wonderful is going to happen in America.

“It’s only about two years later or so when there’s a mental-health crisis,” he said. “It’s at that point that reality hits and they really need a lot of mental-health care.”

Ahmad Alkhalaf, a 9-year-old who arrived in the Boston area this past summer for medical treatment, said he used to have restless nights when he would relive his mother’s screams from the night a bomb killed three of his siblings and left him without arms. But those sounds, he said, have largely faded.

“I’m fine,” Ahmad said through a translator. “They’re gone.”

Ahmad’s father, Dirgam Alkhalaf, said he recently took his son to a counselor, who found nothing concerning. They don’t plan to go back. Ahmad Houssam Hallak, a 51-year-old Syrian recovering from an artillery attack that left him with speech and movement problems, said winning asylum last year hasn’t eased his stress. He is working to bring over his wife and three children, who remain in Lebanon.

“They live in an unstable country,” Hallak said through a translator. “It’s a constant fear that I’m living in.” Such stresses— finding a job, adjusting to a new culture or dealing with life apart from family—can also contribute to mental-health problems, said Bengt Arnetz, a professor at Michigan State Universit y who has been studying trauma in Middle Eastern refugees.

WORLD

IN this December 18, 2015, photo Syrian refugee Ahmad Alkhalaf, 9, sits on a prayer rug in a mosque in Sharon, Massachusetts. Ahmad, who arrived in the Boston area this past summer for medical treatment, said he used to have restless nights when he would relive his mother’s screams from the night a bomb killed three of his siblings and left him without arms. But those sounds, he said, have largely faded. AP

Failure to address them could lead some refugees to withdraw from society, increasing the chances they’ll be drawn to extremist groups, Arnetz warned.

Alexandra Weber, chief program officer at the International Institute of New England, an agency contracted by the US government to resettle refugees, agreed mentalhealth services can be improved.

Many agencies, for example, don’t

have enough Arabic speakers, she said. But, she said, agencies are increasingly asking refugees about their emotional state as part of initial health screenings—something not done in years past.

“For the first time in my career, I feel encouraged,” Weber said. “In some ways, Syrians couldn’t be coming at a better time.”

A spokesman for the US Department of Health and Human

Services, which oversees the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, declined to comment but pointed to general information on the office’s web site about federally funded programs for torture victims and its efforts at promoting “emotional wellness.”

At the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, a Detroit-area nonprofit, publichealth manager Madiha Tariq

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said she hopes the government will hurry to get refugees out of squalid, dangerous refugee camps and to the US. “With the Syrian population, they’ve already been the victims of extreme trauma. They’ve also been in refugee camps for a long time,” Tariq said. “So the longer that displacement is, the more work we’ll have to do repairing the stress and damage.” AP

L.A.’S POWER PUNCH Sports

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Miami to retire Shaq’s No. 32 next NBA season

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IAMI—Shaquille O’Neal helped the Miami Heat put up their first championship banner, and soon another banner will sway over the team’s home floor in his honor.

The Heat announced on Tuesday that they will retire O’Neal’s No. 32 at the beginning of next season on a stillto-be-determined date. He becomes the third player to get such a designation from the Heat, joining Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway.

Miami is the second team to retire an O’Neal jersey. The Los Angeles Lakers retired the No. 34 he donned for that franchise.

“Shaquille O’Neal is one of the truly elite players in the history of the game and one of the greatest players to ever wear a Heat uniform,” Heat President Pat Riley said. “He took us to another level as a basketball franchise while leading us to our first NBA [National Basketball Association] championship.”

Miami has also retired No. 23 in Michael Jordan’s honor for contributions he made to basketball, but Jordan never played for the Heat.

While the breakup with O’Neal wasn’t pleasant when he essentially forced Miami into trading him to Phoenix in 2008, the contributions that the Hall of Famer made to the franchise have never been questioned—or forgotten.

Among players with at least 1,000 field goals for Miami, no one has a better shooting percentage than O’Neal, who is fifth on the team’s all-time list in blocks despite only playing with the Heat for three-and-a-half seasons.

“Retiring his number in the rafters, along with Heat greats Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway, is something we are very proud of,” Riley said.

Other numbers likely to be retired by the Heat in future years include Dwyane Wade’s No. 3, LeBron James’s No. 6 and Udonis Haslem’s No. 40.

“That was a great time for Heat Nation and Heat history,” Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Those were a fun two, three years. All the building blocks that [managing general partner Micky Arison] and Pat put in place, those great Heat teams that couldn’t get over the hump, and then they brought in Shaq and it really felt like larger than life. It feels like the Heat have continued with that kind of mentality, so he had a great impact on the organization.” AP

Warriors post 42nd straight home win B J M The Associated Press

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AKLAND, California—Stephen Curry had 35 points, nine assists and six rebounds to help the Golden State Warriors put away the Houston Rockets in the fourth quarter of a 123-110 victory on Tuesday night. Even with a remarkable 47-4 record, Golden State is far from satisfied.

“We can definitely play better and just sustain our level of play and be more consistent over 48 minutes. It’s hard,” Curry said. “As long as you keep that at the forefront and challenge yourselves, that’s what hopefully inspires to continue to get better.”

Andrew Bogut added 13 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and a season-high six blocked shots—three in the fourth—during one of his best games yet.

“Bogut was phenomenal,” Warriors Coach Steve Kerr said.

Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes hit consecutive three-pointers to start the fourth quarter to get the defending champions going after the game was tied at 93 after the third.

Golden State won its 42nd straight regularseason home game and is 24-0 at Oracle Arena this season. The Warriors are within two home victories of matching the Chicago Bulls’ NBArecord home winning streak of 44 games from March 30, 1995 to April 4, 1996.

James Harden overcame a scoreless first quarter to finish with 37 points, five assists and five rebounds in Houston’s eighth straight loss to Golden State.

“We didn’t win the game but we gained some momentum. It was a competitive game against an undefeated team at home and we put ourselves in a position to win,” Harden said.

At Miami LaMarcus Aldridge scored 28 points, Kawhi Leonard added 23 and the San Antonio Spurs got seven points on one possession in the fourth quarter to help them

beat the Heat, 119-101, on Tuesday night.

Danny Green added 15 for the Spurs, who have won six straight over the Heat going back to the 2014 National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals.

Dwyane Wade scored 20 points on 9 for 12 shooting for Miami, which goes into the All-Star break on a two-game slide. Chris Bosh scored 18 and Hassan Whiteside added 14 points and six rebounds before getting ejected in that pivotal possession in the fourth.

Whiteside was assessed a flagrant-2 for elbowing the Spurs’ Boban Marjanovic as they tried to get position for a rebound. That was part of a seven-point trip for the Spurs, who pushed an 87-80 lead to 94-80 in 16 seconds and weren’t threatened again.

At Dallas Gordon Hayward hit a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer in overtime and Utah extended its season-best winning streak to seven games with a 121-119 victory over the Mavericks.

Rodney Hood had a tying three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left in regulation as the Jazz ended a 10-game losing streak in Dallas. Their last win on the Mavericks’ home court was on January 9, 2010.

Hood finished with 29 points, and Hayward had 20, including 13 in the second half and overtime.

Chandler Parsons led Dallas with 24 points but missed an open three-pointer for the lead with 24 seconds left in the Mavericks’ second straight overtime game and NBA-high eighth of the season.

At New York John Wall had 28 points and 17 assists, Bradley Beal scored 26, and Washington beat New York, 111-108, in the Knicks’ first game under Kurt Rambis.

Wall made four free throws in the final 6.6 seconds and the Wizards held on when Langston Galloway’s three-pointer at the buzzer was just short.

Carmelo Anthony had 33

points and 13 rebounds, but the Knicks lost their sixth straight in their first game since firing Derek Fisher on Monday. They have dropped 10 of 11 and started Rambis’s era the same way Fisher’s ended, by quickly falling in a huge early hole.

At Milwaukee Khris Middleton made one-of-two free throws with 0.6 seconds left as Milwaukee defeated Boston, 112-111.

Middleton drew a foul on Avery Bradley to get to the line. Boston had tied the game when Kelly Olynyk made two free throws with one second remaining.

Milwaukee appeared to have won the game on Greg Monroe’s last-second hook shot, giving the Bucks a 111-109 lead. Olynyk then drew the foul with no time expiring off the clock.

Monroe, who was removed from the starting lineup, had 29 points and 12 rebounds as the Bucks ended a fivegame losing streak.

Crowder and Bradley had 18 points each for the Celtics.

THE Houston Rockets’ Corey Brewer (right) has his shot blocked by the Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson. AP

CLIPPERS PROVE THEY’RE SERIOUS WITH GRIFFIN SUSPENSION

L.A.’S POWER PUNCH

THE Los Angeles Clippers are 18-4 without Blake Griffin, who was handed a fourgame suspension by the team for punching a staff member. AP

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B B P Los Angeles Times

OS ANGELES—This time, the Clippers’ punch should be applauded.

This time, bones weren’t broken, but strengthened.

Midway through its second season, the Steve Ballmer Era made its first real statement on Tuesday, and there was no question mark about it. In a move that hurts them during the most difficult stretch of their schedule but solidifies the commitment to their new vision, the Clippers suspended Blake Griffin four games—and docked his pay for five games—as penalty for his parking-lot punching of equipment staffer Matias Testi.

The same old Clips? Not hardly.

Judging from this penalty, which is harsher than it might seem, the rowdiness of the Donald Sterling years has been replaced by a focus on doing the right thing. The Clippers still need to hurdle their Rocket-sized demons on the court, but if the Griffin incident were a playoff series, their organizational vision won in a sweep.

“We have made it clear that this conduct has no place in the Clipper organization,” said Ballmer and basketball boss Doc Rivers in a joint statement.

The conduct on January 23 in Toronto was reprehensible, the 6-foot-10 Griffin attacking a guy who stands more than a foot shorter and is employed to pick up his socks. The results were brutal, with Griffin punching so hard he broke his hand while Testi’s face was bruised and swollen. By not releasing the news immediately—the fight was revealed more than a day later by ESPN—the Clippers allowed questions to be raised about the seriousness with which they viewed the incident. In this column space it was wondered whether they had the fortitude to deliver the proper punishment.

Wonder no more. They delivered. And they did it on their own accord, without the cover of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the accountability beginning and ending with Ballmer and Rivers.

Some might ask, only four games? Well, it’s two games more than Matt Barnes was recently suspended by the NBA for an off-thecourt fight with Derek Fisher, who at the time was a head coach.

Others might ask, what’s a five-game fine for a guy who makes about $19 million a year? Well, that’s still an $859,440 penalty, which is surely the most expensive dunce cap in Clippers history.

Because Griffin is already in the middle of a projected two-month absence because of surgery on the broken hand, there are those who will wonder what would stop the Clippers from simply announcing he is ready to return four games before he is ready to return, turning this into a suspension of a player who couldn’t perform anyway. Well, everyone is watching their every move with Griffin now, and there seems little chance they would risk resurrecting the specter of Sterling by running a suspension scam.

About one thing, there can be no question.

Even though the basic numbers don’t support this, the loss of Griffin during his suspension could seriously hurt the Clippers during the most compelling part of their regular season.

Yes, the Clippers have gone 18-4 since Griffin initially left the lineup last December 26 with a partially torn left quadriceps tendon, but check that schedule. Only eight of those 22 games were against teams that currently have better than .500 records. In those games they were 6-2, but lost both games to the top 2 teams in the Eastern Conference—Cleveland and Toronto. Also, without Griffin, they have yet to play any of the three teams they are chasing in the Western Conference—Golden State, San Antonio or Oklahoma City.

Accounting for Griffin’s remaining expected injury absence, his suspension could occur during the Clippers’ most grueling portion of the schedule, an 11-game stretch

between March 2 and March 23 that includes nine games against teams with winning records and matchups against each of the NBA’s current top four teams.

The Clippers fulfilled their duty by suspending him. Now the burden will be on Griffin, who will return as slightly damaged goods with an increasingly lousy reputation.

No, the Clippers won’t, and shouldn’t, trade him. That’s silly. Remember, this is a guy who is still one of the 10 best players in the league. Because of the contract status of Chris Paul and Griffin, the Clippers have another one-and-a-half seasons to chase a title with their standout trio that includes DeAndre Jordan. There is seemingly no way they would break up that group before giving them two more postseasons to get it right.

But when he returns, Griffin must show some change. He will hopefully return humbled, grateful and prepared to modify his behavior, not to mention make nice with

Testi, who will probably have returned to the locker room by then.

That punch changed things. Like it or not, the target on his back just got bigger and bolder and will be noticed by everyone from referees to opposing fans to folks in the street. The incident with Testi is Griffin’s second publicized off-court tantrum in less than two years—remember the alleged confrontation with a photo-snapping patron in a Las Vegas nightclub? Griffin needs to understand that his quick temper will be tested like never before, from places he never imagined.

Griffin also needs to be calmer on the court. He is still tied for the league lead with two ejections, and is tied for eighth with seven technical fouls, even though he’s played in only 30 of the Clippers’ 52 games.

The Clippers need the same Blake Griffin.

They also need a different Blake Griffin. With this suspension, the Clippers have shown their aspirations of excellence. It is now Griffin’s turn.

SPORTS

GASOL

Grizzlies’ Gasol out indefinitely

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EMPHIS, Tennessee—Grizzlies center Marc Gasol is out indefinitely with a broken bone in his right foot.

“Marc is a cornerstone of our franchise, and we are focused on getting him healthy,” General Manager Chris Wallace said in a statement issued on Tuesday. “Marc will be out indefinitely and a further update will be provided after the All-Star break.”

The 7-foot-1 Gasol is averaging 16.6 points and 7.0 rebounds in 52 games this season. He left Monday night’s overtime loss to Portland in the first quarter after scoring 11 points and did not return. Coach Dave Joerger said after the game that Gasol had a problem with each leg

C1

EXPANSION PLAN Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Chairman and CEO Osamu Masuko (left) briefs the media on the company’s plan to invest P4.3 billion to expand production capacity and increase the local content of their cars. To his right is Sojitz Corp. Executive Vice President Sigeki Dantani. ALYSA SALEN

JFC: Clear econ plan a must B C N. P

BusinessMirror

| THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

$58.6B

“A d v a n c e d a n d e m e r g i n g economies continue to face difficulties. In particular, the slowdown in China due to ongoing structural transformation and the contractionary fiscal poliValue of cies in oil-exporting countries Philippine as they adjust to declining oil revenues pose risks to the Philmerchandise ippine economy this year,” Neda exports in 2015, down Director General and Economic Planning Secretary Emmanuel 5.6 percent F. Esguerra said.

The China-precipitated global gloom and the oil situation already caused a 5.6-percent contraction in Philippine export revenues in 2015. And this is expected to continue, thus,

HE next administration should have a clear economic blueprint that will allow the Philippines to attract more foreign direct investments (FDI) and grow faster, the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) said.

While foreign businessmen cited the Aquino administration for making substantial progress in implementing reforms, JFC said there should be no letup in the government’s efforts to sustain the country’s growth momentum.

Looking at the last five or six years, the government understood the idea of having integrity and good governance.”—Schumacher “Looking at the last five or six years, the government understood the idea of having integrity and good governance. Have we achieved everything that we wanted to achieve?

Maybe not, but we’re now looking at a generational perspective,” European

Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines External Vice President Henry J. Schumacher said.

Schumacher added that a “stable and open” business environment will make it easier for the Philippines to S “JFC,” A

and an MRI scan on Tuesday confirmed the injury.

Gasol signed a five-year contract last July after earning a starting spot in the All-Star game last season and also became the first Grizzlies player voted to the All-NBA (National Basketball Association) first team.

The Grizzlies (30-22) ranked fifth in the West going into Tuesday night’s games and have made the playoffs the past five seasons.

“I know he’s disappointed,” Joerger was quoted as saying. “It’s bad for our team. They care about each other. It hurts everybody. Marc is a guy who lays it out there for his teammates and the fans.” AP

Companies lose billions buying back their own stock

229 I

Number of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index that are losing money due to stock buybacks

F you think your stocks are doing poorly, check out the performance of some of the most sophisticated investors, the ones with more knowledge about what’s going on inside businesses than anyone else: companies that buy their own shares.

The companies losing money on these bets are down a collective $126

PESO EXCHANGE RATES ■ US 47.7370

billion over the past three years, a decline of 15 percent.

Many corporations would have been better off investing that cash on an index fund instead of their own stock. The overall market rose 39 percent over the same period.

The companies could also have distributed that cash as dividends to shareholders, allowing them

to spend what is, in the end, their money.

And it’s not just a few big corporate losers accounting for all the pain. The group includes 229 companies in the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 index, nearly half of the companies in the study prepared by FactSet for the Associated Press.

WORST OF THE OIL SLUMP ISN’T OVER, EXPERTS SAY

A

S the oil industry gathers in London for its annual round of cocktails and conferences, one message is coming through loud and clear: the worst of the price slump isn’t over.

Crude is trading close to $30 a barrel after falling to a 12-year low last month, but production is still taking longer than expected to decline and record oil stockpiles just keep on growing, according to bankers, traders and executives attending the International Petroleum (IP) Week conference.

There are few signs that prices will rise, and plenty of risk they will drop further.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this market goes into the teens,” Jeff Currie, head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in London. “The most striking feature of this market, relative to past cycles,

1.7M barrels

Increase in oil supply from Opec in January despite the prevailing global glut is the lack of a supply response” and the current surplus is probably more extreme than the industry downturn from 1998 to 1999, he said.

IP Week brings together more than 1,000 people from the global industry, from producers and refiners to traders and bankers. More than a year into a downturn sparked by the decision of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries S “O ,” A

S “C,” A

■ JAPAN 0.4148 ■ UK 69.0802 ■ HK 6.1214 ■ CHINA 7.2719 ■ SINGAPORE 34.1637 ■ AUSTRALIA 33.8464 ■ EU 53.9333 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 12.7319

Source: BSP (10 February 2016 )

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‘Exports rebound unlikely sans market, product diversification’ C  A

necessitating proactive actions on the part of the Philippines.

“As soft global demand is expected to continue, the challenge is to be able to expand export market destinations and diversify product offerings,” the Cabinet official said.

To boost export growth in 2016, Esguerra said the Philippines should take advantage of the Asean Economic Community and diversify its markets to include India and Mexico, which have been increasing their demand for consumer products.

Further, he said the Philippines should also remain committed to the implementation of the Manufacturing Restructuring Program (MRP) to complement such market and product-diversification efforts.

“Implementing the MRP will rebuild the domestic production base and improve competitiveness through innovation. Given the high multiplier effects and potential for employment generation, the revival of the

Oil slump. . .

However, semiconductors decreased by 0.8 percent to $1.7 billion in December 2015 from $1.71 billion in December 2014.

“But on a positive note, the Philippines’s major trading partners such as the US, Japan and the Euro area are expected to post a slight recovery this year,” Esguerra said.

PSA data showed that total export receipts from the country’s top 10 market destinations for the month of December 2015 was $3.91 billion, for a share of 83.8 percent.

The country’s top 3 export markets last December were Japan, the US and Hong Kong, which accounted for 20.2 percent, 15 percent and 12.3 percent of total exports in December 2015, respectively.

Exports to Japan amounted to $939.17 million. This, however, decreased by 7.7 percent from $1.017 billion recorded in the same month a year ago.

Shipments to the US reached $697.33 million in December 2015, up 3 percent, while Hong Kong recorded a 17.3-percent growth to $574.85 million.

US shale fields are pumping more oil and gas than previously estimated, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The seven major shale formations in the country will produce 5.02 million barrels a day in February, up from last month’s forecast of 4.83 million a day, the EIA reported on Monday.

more volatile, Goldman’s Currie said.

The capacity to store oil has been exhausted in some places, which means “prices have to spike below cash costs because you have to shut in production almost immediately,” Currie said. Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for U crude futures, reached 64.2 million barrels in the week to January 15, the highest in data from the Energy Department that extend back to 2004. National stockpiles are also at a record.

C  A

(Opec) to keep pumping to defend market share, much of the industry has little reason to party. Prices are still 70 percent below their 2014 peak and companies are beset by plunging profits, dividend cuts and mass layoffs.

Elusive cuts

manufacturing sector is expected to spur domestic employment and investments in the country,” Esguerra said.

In 2015 the difficulties faced by advanced economies affected the country’s export growth. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said total merchandise exports declined to $58.648 billion in 2015 from $62.102 billion in 2014.

In December 2015 alone, the PSA said the country’s export earnings reached $4.66 billion, a 3-percent decrease from December 2014.

Total receipts from the top 10 exports reached $3.96 billion, or 85 percent of the total exports, up merely 0.3 percent.

Data showed electronic products were the country’s top export, with total receipts of $2.529 billion. It accounted for 54.3 percent of the total export revenues in December 2015. It increased by 6.4 percent from $2.377 billion registered in December 2014. Components/devices (semiconductors) had the biggest share of 36.5 percent among electronic products.

WEST Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, dropped 5.9 percent to $27.94 a barrel on Tuesday, the lowest close in three weeks, and traded at $28.43 at 8:18 a.m. London time on Wednesday.

The anticipated decline in oil production resulting from low prices is taking longer than expected, according to Christopher Bake, a member of the executive committee at Vitol Group, the world’s largest independent oil trader. Both conventional crude production and US shale output have been “sustained” better than forecast, he said in London.

Growing surplus

THIS means global oil inventories, already at a record, will continue to expand. About 360 million barrels of crude and refined products—or about 2 million a day—will be placed into storage over the next six months, Bake said. That’s a surplus equivalent to the output of Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer.

Oil could drop below $20 a barrel as the search for a level that brings supply and demand back into balance makes prices even

Mayfair ballroom

THERE was little evidence in London that the architects of oil’s slump—Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar—were feeling enough financial pressure to reverse their policy of letting prices fall in order to squeeze rival suppliers. Bloomberg News

Companies. . .

C  A

When a company shells out money to buy its own shares, Wall Street usually cheers. The move makes the company’s profit per share look better, and many think buybacks have played a key role pushing stocks higher in the seven-year bull market.

But buybacks can also sap companies of cash that they could be using to grow for the future, no matter if the price of those shares rises or falls.

And the recent losses highlight another criticism: Companties may be good at finding oil or selling bathroom trinkets, but they aren’t always smart stock investors. Some corporations bought ever more of their own shares even as prices tripled from financialcrisis lows and several measures showed the market was overvalued.

“Whenever you see a buyback, the company always says, ‘We think our stock is cheap,’” says Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at brokerage ConvergEx Group.

They are sometimes so confident that they take out enormous loans just to buy more and more shares. That those shares have now plunged in value is something Colas calls a “great irony” of the bull market.

Among the companies with the biggest paper losses are struggling ones that bought after their stock fell, only to watch prices drop even more. Macy’s, the beleaguered retailer, is down $1.5 billion on its purchases, a 26-percent loss. American Express has lost $4.1 billion, or 34 percent. As the price of oil plunged, driller Chevron racked up $2.8 billion in paper losses, or 28 percent.

The losses are also piling up in unexpected places, such as at companies that have generated solid earnings through most of the bull market, suggesting that there is danger when stocks of even top performers climb too high. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and Ford Motor have each lost hundreds of millions on their buybacks, more than a fifth each of what they spent.

Defenders of buybacks say they are a smart use of cash when there are few other uses for it in a shaky global economy that makes it risky to expand. Unlike dividends, they don’t leave shareholders with a tax bill. Critics say they divert funds from research and development, training and hiring, and doing the kinds of things that grow the businesses in the long term.

“The company doing the most buybacks is often not investing enough in its business,” says Fortuna Advisor CEO Gregory Milano, a consultant who has written several studies criticizing the purchases. He says most buybacks are

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“financial engineering” and a waste of money.

The study looked at 476 companies in the S&P 500 index, leaving out the index members that split off parts of their businesses during the period. Among the findings:

$100-million club

NEARLY a third of the companies studied, 153 in all, lost $100 million or more on their purchases in three years.

Not just about oil

FOUR of the top 10 biggest dollar losers are energy companies. But big losses are hitting a variety of companies, including insurers and banks, retailers, technology companies, airlines and entertainment giants.

Biggest winner, biggest loser

MASTERCARD has the biggest paper gains from buybacks: $7.9 billion. IBM has the biggest paper losses: $9.8 billion. IBM says it isn’t neglecting long-term investments and notes that the money it spent on R&D, big projects and acquisitions last year was triple what it spent buying its stock.

Gainers help, sort of

WHEN the companies that have profited from buybacks over the last three years are included with the losers, the paper losses narrow to $11 billion. Total spent on buybacks by all companies: $1.43 trillion, more than the annual economic output of all but 12 of 193 countries in the world, according to the World Bank.

Stocks may bounce back, of course, turning losses into gains. But the history of buybacks isn’t encouraging.

Companies often buy at the wrong time, experts say, because it’s only after several years into an economic recovery that they have enough cash to feel comfortable spending big on buybacks. That is also when companies have made all the obvious moves to improve their business—slashing costs, using technology to become more efficient, expanding abroad— and are not sure what to do next to keep their stocks rising.

“For the average company, it gets harder to increase earnings per share,” says Fortuna’s Milano. “It leads them to do buybacks precisely when they should not be doing it.”

And, sure enough, buybacks approached record levels recently even as earnings for the S&P 500 dropped and stocks got more expensive. Companies spent $559 billion on their own shares in the 12 months through September, according to the latest report from S&P Dow Jones Indices, just below the peak in 2007—the year before stocks began their deepest plunge since the Great Depression. AP

JFC. . .

C  A

attract $10 billion to $12 billion in FDI and grow by 10 percent annually. Members of the JFC will discuss the government’s progress in implementing reforms during its Fifth Arangkada Forum scheduled on March 1.

Based on the Fourth Anniversary Assessment Report of the JFC published last year, the number of measures where substantial progress has been made have been increasing since 2011, when the first Arangkada Philippines document was published.

The original Arangkada Philippines 2010 : A Business Perspective document has been the basis of the foreign groups’ monitoring of the government’s progress on key economic areas.

Every year academics, business executives and former government officials assess the government’s performance in terms of Arangkada Philippines’s 471 recommendations.

JFC’s recommendations covered the business environment, select economic sectors, competitiveness and general economic factors.

From 2011-2014, recommendations where substantial progress has been noted grew from 36 out of the total of 471 recommendations, to 117.

The number of active recommendations, or those that have at least been initiated by the government starting 2011, has grown from 232 to 331 in 2014.

Those that are dormant, or have been given a rating by experts as regressing or no longer relevant, have decreased from 219 recommendations in 2011 to 115 in 2014. Arangkada Philippines’s targets $75 billion in FDI and the creation of 10 million jobs from 2010 to 2020. From 2011 to 2015, FDI attracted by the Philippines have reached $20 billion.

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Uber bares new service; oppositors advised to sue B L S. M  J R. S J

T

RANSPORT-NETWORK company (TNC) Uber Philippines launched on Wednesday a new ridesharing option that allows commuters heading in the same direction to share a ride even as a Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Quezon City judge advised a drivers and operators group to sue the TNCs whose operations are adversely affecting their livelihood.

UBER triggered protests—and counterprotests—even in other countries, including France. In the photo, a chauffeur sits on his vehicle during demonstration in Paris.

He is among hundreds of French chauffeurs staging a counterprotest after repeated demonstrations by taxi drivers against looser industry regulations. Tensions have mounted between taxis and chauffeured car services, like Uber, throughout Europe, with taxis claiming the smartphone-based services are operating outside of the law. AP

Uber Philippines General Manager Laurence Cua said the new service, called uberHOP, “empowers commuters with smarter mobility choices within areas that are chronically underserved.”

At P75 per head, uberHOP is currently available in Makati and Bonifacio Global City.

The new service makes use of high-capacity vehicles, which results in more savings and fewer cars on the road.

“By making it convenient and affordable for people to share rides, we can get more people into fewer cars,” he said. “With uberHOP we are providing viable alternatives to car ownership that can improve quality of life.”

Manila becomes the third city in the world, after Toronto and Seattle, and the first in Asia that has seen the introduction of uberHOP. By putting more riders into fewer vehicles, “uberHOP helps ease congestion by making transportation more efficient, while providing another reliable alternative to Filipinos for their daily commute,” Cua said.

Traffic in Metro Manila is tagged as the “worst in the world,” by global-positioning system-based navigation application Waze. The congestion in the capital will cost P6-billion daily loss in productivity costs come 2030, from the current P2.3billion losses posted every day from the chronic bottleneck.

Meanwhile, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Quezon City on Wednesday said the failure of Angat Tsuper Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator ng Pilipinas Genuine Organization (Stop and Go) to implead TNCs Uber and Grab may be fatal to its bid to halt their operations.

During the hearing at the sala of RTC Branch 84 in Quezon City presiding Judge Luisito Cortez, Stop and Go urged the court to extend the temporary restraining order (TRO) against Uber and Grab, saying their operations has been adversely affecting the livelihood of their members.

Cortez then asked Stop and Go whether Uber and Grab were impleaded in their complaint, to which the group replied, no.

In its complaint, Stop and Go assailed the legality of Department of Transporation and Communications (DOTC) Order 2005-11 that allows the Transportation Network-Vehicle Service (TNVS) to operate even without certificates of public convenience (CPC) and franchises.

The group also sought to invalidate the memorandum circulars issued by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) allowing Uber and Grab to merely secure a provisional authority for their units to be allowed to operate.

The group noted that the DOTC memorandum and LTRFB circulars resulted in the decrease in the income of taxi drivers

by P600 a day since their net earnings is from P1,200 to P1,500.

The petitioner said since Uber and Grab were allowed to operate, their net income is now around P600 only, while the drivers of UV Express now earn only P1,200 instead of P2,500 to P3,000.

The group also blamed the heavy and chaotic traffic situation in Metro Manila to the 2,900 to 6,000 TNVS units plying Edsa and other routes.

“How come they are not impleaded as party if their operation is adversely affecting the income of petitioners,” Cortez asked.

Stop and Go lawyer David Erro said they did not implead

Uber and Grab since the group is also questioning the orders issued by the DOTC allowing TNVS to ply the streets.

The court, however, pointed out that the DOTC has already given authority for TNVS to operate.

“It will constitute a violation of contracts of government without implead ing t hose pa r t ies,” Cortez explained.

He added that assuming that the DOTC followed the TRO previously issued by RTC Branch 217 in Quezon City last year, the government agency could be sued by the TNCs for violation of the contract.

“So, it would be better that the court’s hands can also reach Uber and Grab,” Cortez said.

Even if the court issued a writ of preliminary injunction to indefinitely

stop Uber and Grab’s operation, such order cannot be enforced on them since they are not parties in the case.

“No way in heaven’s name can the court enjoins them to stop operating,” Cortez said during the hearing.

“That is very basic in the Rules of Civil Procedure whether they are indispensable, necessary or nominal party because they are the ones operating, not the DOTC,” the judge

said while noting that this was just his preliminary view.

It can be recalled that RTC Branch 217 in Quezon City presiding Judge Santiago Arena last year issued a 20-day TRO against the enforcement of t he gover nment order and circular allowing the existing operation of TNVS. Arenas, however, inhibited from the case when the TRO had lapsed.

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Closely fought presidential race gets under way

P

HILIPPINE presidential candidates launched their campaigns on Tuesday in festive showbiz-style rallies to draw in the crowds in what is emerging as a closely fought contest to lead one of Asia’s most unwieldy democracies.

From Manila’s slums to the countryside, the candidates competed to captivate the Filipino everyman at the start of a threemonth campaign leading to the May 9 vote. They promised to cure the same ailments that have hounded the Southeast Asian nation for decades: widespread poverty, corruption, crime and insurgencies.

President Aquino’s single six-year term ends in June.

Three decades since the Southeast Asian nation of more than 100 million people emerged from dictatorship with the 1986 People Power revolt, the economy has grown steadily under Mr. Aquino, who rose to power on a promise to battle corruption and poverty.

His predecessor was detained on an election-fraud charge and three prominent senators were held on corruption charges under President’s Aquino’s antigraft fight. Mr. Aquino says his term has turned around the drift and hopelessness that preceded his presidency.

Rallies on Tuesday, featuring singers, dancers and celebrities, helped many of the candidates draw the public’s attention to how they would deal with the country’s longstanding social ills.

Most sniped at their rivals in lengthy speeches. “It’s like a fiesta, beauty contest, sitcom and drama all rolled into one,” political analyst Ramon Casiple said.

“And, of course, politics here

It’s like a fiesta, beauty contest, sitcom and drama all rolled into one.”—Casiple is like a boxing match.”

The leading contenders are seen as Sen. Grace Poe, the adopted daughter of a popular movie couple; and Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, followed by former Interior Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II, who has been endorsed by the President.

Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, known for his tough anticrime campaign in southern Davao City, and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago are also among the candidates.

Binay, whose campaign rally in the capital drew thousands, swayed to a song with some of his allied candidates, including boxing star Manny Pacquiao, who is running for a Senate seat.

In his speech, Binay accused the Aquino administration of failing to generate enough jobs and pledged to scrap income taxes for some workers, something the President has refused to do because of its adverse impact on government revenue.

“To those who are saying that this can’t be done because the government will go bankrupt, my reply is simple: billions in govern-

POE

T

HE Philippines is composed of—not just 7,101 islands—but 7,500 islands.

Environment PAJE Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje made this remark in his speech at the ongoing Philippine Environment Summit at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on Wednesday.

“Hindi lang tayo 7,101 islands, 7,500 islands na tayo,” Paje told summit participants as he reported the state of the Philippine environment.

An official of the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (Namria) confirmed that using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IfSAR), the agency was able to “discover” more than 400 previously “unknown” islands in various parts of the country.

An attached agency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Namria is mandated to provide the public with mapmaking services, and to act as the central mapping agency, depository and distribution facility for natural resources data in the form of maps, charts, texts and statistics.

Interviewed at the summit’s sidelines, Jose Cabanayan Jr., deputy administrator of Namria, said the discovery of the previously unknown islands came after the nationwide survey conducted in 2013.

Namria, he said, is currently conducting ground validation of the captured images using the IfSAR. Majority of these “newly discovered” islands are in Mindanao.

To be considered an island,

ROXAS

DUTERTE

DEFENSOR-SANTIAGO RELIGIOUS groups have joined forces in calling for orderly elections in May. (From left) Bishop Efraim Tendero, secretary-general, World Evangelical Alliance; Broderick Pabillo, auxiliary bishop of Manila; Noel Pantoja, executive director, Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches; Salma Rasul, executive director, Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy; and Bishop Reuben Abante, senior pastor, Lighthouse Bible Baptist Church and Ministries, announced the convening of FAITH.e Coalition, which stands for Faith-based Coalition for Fairness, Accuracy, Integrity, Transparency and Honesty in Elections, at Max’s Restaurant Quezon City Circle on Wednesday. NONOY LACZA

ment revenues are lost in smuggling, improper tax collection of the rich and improper government spending,” Binay said.

Roxas, who flew to central Capiz province with the President for his campaign appearance, pledged to continue President Aquino’s reforms, including his anticorrup-

Namria ‘discovers’ 400 previously ‘unknown’ PHL islands using IfSAR B J L. M

BINAY

7,500

Number of islands within Philippine territorial waters as revealed by Namria through the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar Cabanayan said that the landmass should be above sea level and high tide at any given time, and can support either plant of animal life, or both.

“Kailangan nakalutang ang lupa at above high tide,” he said.

These new islands were previously believed to be part of a bigger island, but using a more sophisticated and high-tech gadget, Cabanayan said Namria was able to count them as a separate land mass surrounded by bodies of water.

“Ito kasing mga isla, dati makikita mo using the old radar na one island lang. Pero using IfSAR, nakita namin na nakahiwalay pala itong mga isla na ito,” Cabayanan said.

Cabayanan added that Namria has completed ground validation in Luzon and is currently working in the Visayas.

By the end of the year, he said, they hope to complete the ground validation, including that in Mindanao.

Of the previously known 7,100 islands, more than 5,000 are “nameless islands.” These islands, according to the official, have not been given names by the agency yet.

“Marami naman kasi sa mga isla natin talagang walang pangalan.” He said Namria gives names to small islands and puts them in the map.

“Sa susunod na Philippine map, after our ground validation, itong mga island masasama na sa mapa ng Pilipinas,” he said.

tion fight. He did not name Binay, who has faced investigation over alleged corruption as a mayor years ago but has denied any wrongdoing.

Poe led in a recent voter-preference poll but her candidacy has been clouded by questions over her citizenship and whether she meets local residency require-

ments. Poe once renounced her Filipino citizenship to live with her family in the United States.

“To those people who try their best to put a stain on my character, I’m also ready to defend my being a Filipino,” she said at a rally at a downtown Manila public square.

She promised to bring people relief

from travails under the current administration. Duterte, whose tough anticrime campaign in Davao City has alarmed human-rights advocates, opened his campaign in Manila’s Tondo slum district.

In the country’s north, Defensor-Santiago, a tough-talking former trial court judge, kicked off her campaign with her vice presidential running mate, Sen. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the dictator who was ousted in the 1986 public revolt. AP

Miaa, Caap move to solve congestion at premier airport B R M

A

VIATION authorities would implement in March this year a new scheme to address flight delays by adopting a more efficient implementation of the current policy on flight movements per hour.

The present traffic-movement scheme calls for 40 airplanes to land and takeoff every hour. Any aircraft beyond that number has to wait.

This is the reason we see airplanes flying over the designated holding pattern waiting for their turn to land.

Those running out of fuel or those airplanes that do not want to wait more than 30 minutes simply fly to Clark field in Pampanga, only 15 minutes away, and wait until their turn to come back and land at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

The Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) and the Civial Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) announced that in March, 10 flight movements would be grouped into 15-minute block periods to ensure compliance with the policy of having a maximum of 40 movements per hour.

“The 40 movements per hour had been in effect before, but the new measure would entail more detailed monitoring and rather than looking at it from an hourly basis, the Miaa-Caap will focus on the 15-minute periods,” Naia Spokesman David de Castro said.

The authorities discussed the new scheme with the Civil Aeronautics Board and with executives of domestic airlines.

Scheduled arriving and departing flights beyond 10-movements-per-block time will be retimed and accommodated in the next quarter-hour, de Castro said.

On the other hand, flights unable to meet their original schedule will be retimed to the next block period to guarantee the on-time

There is no better way to highlight the importance of airport security than to conduct trainings with our very own partners in aviation security. We thank the Australian government for this.”—Honrado

performance of other flights, he added.

Airline executives, such as Philippine Airlines (PAL) President Jaime J. Bautista, PAL Express Vice President for Ground Operations Bryan Lim, Cebu Pacific Chief Executive Advisor Garry Kingshott, Cebgo President Michael Shau and Air Asia Zest Chairman Maan Hontiveros, agreed to the new measure, but they requested more time to review how to align their internal procedures with the new measure.

Naia General Manager Jose Angel Honrado thanked the airline executives, saying it is high time that the authorities and the airlines set aside differences to enhance the experience of every passenger through effective collaboration.

Further consultations will be conducted by the Miaa with foreign airlines and its slot coordinator, the Airport Coordination Australia, to finalize the said measure.

Meanwhile, security personnel of the Miaa is scheduled to undergo refresher courses on airport security from the Australian government’s Office for Transport Security (Aus-OTS) this month.

From February 10 to 19, the Aus-OTS will conduct a Quality-Control Inspector Course which will be attended by 20 Miaa personnel from the Airport Police Department, the Intelligence and Access Management Department and the Airport Security Inspectorate Office.

The course is designed to enhance the skills of airport inspectors in conducting internal quality-control activities, the Miaa said.

The course will include a review of techniques related to surveillance and information gathering. Modules on documentation and reporting will also be tackled for security planning and coordination activities.

The same batch of security personnel attended the Aviation Security Refresher Course, also sponsored by the Aus-OTS, last week.

The training covered airport procedures on proper access control, perimeter security, passenger and cargo screening, baggage handling and passenger profiling.

Funding for this activity is shouldered by the Aus-OTS under the Philippine Aviation Security Training Assistance program.

Honrado thanked the Australian government for the joint partnership.

“There is no better way to highlight the importance of airport security than to conduct trainings with our very own partners in aviation security. We thank the Australian government for this,” Honrado said.

More than 2000 Philippine aviation security personnel have received training from the Aus-OTS since 2006.

The Australian government considers the Miaa a key partner in aviation security being the operator of a last port of call to Australia.

Asean

BusinessMirror Editor: Max V. de Leon • Thursday, February 11, 2016 A5

www.businessmirror.com.ph

AEC 2016...and on to 2025 Asean-EU Perspective

HENRY J. SCHUMACHER

A

SEAN has just launched the Asean Economic Community, but has already put in place the path to ensure that the momentum of the integration process continues over the next 10 years.

Through the Asean Leaders’ Kuala Lumpur Declaration on “Asean2025”: Forging Ahead Together,’ Asean member-states resolved to implement their vision of Asean 2025 in a timely and effective manner to push forward their desire and collective will to live in a region of lasting peace, security and stability, sustained economic growth, shared prosperity and social progress, as well as to promote Asean interests, ideals and aspirations.

Asean 2025 is a forward-looking road map that articulates their vision of Asean 10 years from now—one that is “politically cohesive, economically integrated, and socially responsible” and a consolidated community across three pillars—political-security, economic and sociocultural. In sum, Asean 2025 reaffirms the commitment toward the continuation and consolidation of Asean Community-building.

Asean Leaders have adopted the specific Blueprints for Asean Community Vision 2025 in the three pillars. These have action lines/strategic measures that are to be completed within a specific and limited time frame.

Community-building over the next decade will build on the experiences and expertise acquired in the preceding 10 years to tackle new challenges, harness new technologies and ensure opportunities for all.

Through the Asean Community building process, Asean demonstrates to its partners and the world that it is determined to maintain Asean’s role in dealing challenges that affect peace, security and stability of the region.

The broad goals of Asean 2025 include putting more emphasis on the peoples of Asean and their well-being; the increased awareness of Asean; more engagement with the peoples of Asean member-states; commitment to fundamental freedoms, human rights and better lives; strengthened capacity to deal with challenges while maintaining Asean centrality; remaining an outward-looking and global player; implementing the Asean agenda, while pursuing national aspirations and contribute to Asean Community-building; and strengthening Asean organs and the Asean Secretariat.

Asean 2025 lays out a vision of an interlinked, thriving community not only for Asean peoples, but for Asean’s partners, including Europe.

For Asean peoples, Asean 2025 means that they will continue to live in a more united, secure, peaceful and cohesive region; enjoy the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, be better prepared for pandemics and natural disasters, enjoy greater prosperity, and benefit form greater job opportunities and connectivity.

For Asean partners, Asean 2025 means engaging with a community that is committed to and has the capacity to contribute to a peaceful, secure and stable region; can respond effectively to existing and emerging challenges, and is committed to working with external partners to address issues ranging from drug-related crimes to trafficking in persons and people smuggling. Engaging with the Asean Community offers more economic, trade and investment opportunities. It also offers linkages with an Asean that has a greater role and voice in global economic fora and contributes to global economic governance.

Let me conclude by stating that the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines is fully committed to make Asean work, to encourage the cooperation between Asean and European companies, and to see to it that the expectations of Asean members and Asean partners are met. This commitment is done directly and through our shareholding in the European Union-Asean Business Council in Singapore.

In this context we are looking forward to the Philippine Asean Chairmanship in 2017 and the political and business events to be organized during that year.

Indonesia in big push to open up economy and boost growth

I

NDONESIA is intent on opening up previously closed sectors of the economy to foreign capital, the trade minister said, as the government prepares to announce changes to its investment guidelines.

Greater foreign investment and increased government spending on infrastructure will compensate for weaker export performance and drive economic growth in Indonesia to as fast as 5.2 percent this year, Minister Tom Lembong said in an interview on Tuesday.

President Joko Widodo is holding a Cabinet meeting later on Wednesday to discuss revisions to the so-called negative investment list, a document that determines which sectors of Southeast Asia’s largest economy are open to foreign capital. The government plans to announce the final changes after the meeting, said Azhar Lubis, deputy chairman for investment supervision at the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board.

“We are opening up and rationalizing our investment regime,” said Lembong, a Harvard graduate who joined the government as part of a cabinet reshuffle in August. “It’s a big push. We had fallen behind from where we should be.“ Since taking office in October 2014, the president, known as Jokowi, has sought to increase infrastructure spending and implement bureaucratic reforms to rejuvenate an economy hurt by sliding commodity prices. After a shaky start characterized by policy U-turns and protectionist policies, there are signs growth is starting to rebound. The rupiah outperformed its emergingmarket peers in the four months through January, while economic growth beat analyst estimates in the final three months of 2015 to reach 5.04 percent.

Lembong said he expected expansion this year to be between 5.1 and 5.2 percent, up from 4.79 percent in 2015, which was the slowest annual rate of expansion since 2009. Foreign direct investment rose 7 percent in

the final three months of 2015 from the previous quarter. Investment was up 3 percent the full year.

“We are seeing financial stabilization now,” Lembong said during the interview at his office in central Jakarta. “Our infrastructure program is now snowballing. That is the engine of growth.” The rupiah, meanwhile, rose the most since October on speculation Indonesia will lure more inflows as the economy picks up and after a central bank official said the currency is undervalued.

Bank Indonesia sees room for easing and growth can be higher in 2016 after expansion in the fourth quarter beat analysts’ expectations, Juda Agung, executive director of monetary policy, told reporters in

5.2%

Indonesia’s growth forecast for 2016

Jakarta on Tuesday. The currency is benefiting from declining bets for more US interest-rate increases due to concern over global economic growth and has room to strengthen, Nanang Hendarsah, head assistant at the central bank governor’s office, said on Wednesday.

The rupiah rose 1.5 percent to 13,413 a dollar as of 12:55 p.m. in Jakarta, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg, and has rallied 2.7 percent in a fourday streak. That was the strongest level since October 15 and the biggest daily advance since October 9.

“People have been bearish on Indonesia for some time and now they’re seeing it’s performing much better on a fundamental basis,” said

CLERIC sent to jail Radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir gestures as he speaks to the judges during his appeal hearing at the local district court in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, on Tuesday. The 77-year-old cleric, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2011 for setting up a militant training camp in the province of Aceh, is currently appealing to have his conviction overturned. AP

Thailand highlights 12 provinces in ‘Discover Thainess’ campaign

T

HE Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is using its Discover Thainess campaign to attract foreign tourists to “Hidden Gems” —12 provinces most people miss on their trips here.

The provinces are Lampang, Nan, Phetchabun, Buri Ram, Loei, Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi, Trat, Chanthaburi, Trang, Chumphon and Nakhon Si Thammarat.

The Bangkok Post has already looked at the tourism potential of nine of them. The 10th hidden gem is the northern province of Nan, 669 kilometers from Bangkok.

Slow life

“TWINKLE, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are.”

You may think of this lullaby when you lie down atop Doi Samer Dao, where hundreds of stars can be seen in the dark night sky. The experience has been shared by many socialmedia users and in blog reviews.

Congestion in major destinations is driving some tourists to explore new areas, and Nan is a good choice. Word of mouth has made the less-developed province a bigger draw in recent years.

The province is in the remote Nan River valley, surrounded by forested

‘Hidden Gems’

The 12 destinations tat most people miss in their trips so Thailand is launching a campaign for them mountains. The top 2 attractions are Doi Samer Dao and Wat Phumin, a temple with many local art masterpieces.

Outside investors cannot enter Nan easily, as locals are keen to preserve their communities. Land prices in the province jumped 111 percent last year. Nan has a brand of charm that most tourist destinations lack.

Apart from safety and a slow pace of life, the northern province offers an atmosphere of old shophouses, morning markets, cultural sites and mountains.

Two popular temples are Wat Phumin and Wat Phrathat Chae

Haeng, a sacred place since the reign of Phaya Kharn, the king of ancient Voranakorn City, some 600 years ago.

According to Nan Gov. Suwat Promsuwan, tourism is up sharply since 2013 and now contributes an estimated 30 percent to the province’s GDP. Satit Boonthong, president of the Nan Tourism Business Association, says the number of hotel rooms in Nan has doubled to 4,000 in the past two years. Average occupancy is nearly 100 percent during the high season (the cool season) and 50 percent during the low season. Room rates have more than doubled from the prices seen in 2009.

Satit says most visitors to Nan are “quality” tourists and, thus, willing to spend extra on a nice room.

Private and state tourism groups believe Nan will continue on its growth path, particularly as regional integration under the Asean Economic Community sets in. The province is near Lao PDR and Myanmar, offering the prospect of future connections to attractions in those countries.

The Tourism Department says arrivals to Nan rose by 19 percent to 1.76 million last year, of whom Thais constituted 1.44 million. Tourism

Wai Ho Leong, a senior regional economist at Barclays Plc. in Singapore. The reopening of some Asian markets after the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays will see increased buying of Indonesian assets, he said.

The Bank of Japan’s adoption of negative interest rates on January 29 buoyed demand for local assets, Bank Indonesia’s Agung said. Overseas investors have pumped 9.5 trillion rupiah ($708 million) into Indonesian local-currency sovereign bonds so far this month, Finance Ministry data show, taking inflows this year to 29.3 trillion rupiah. The economy expanded 5.04 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, compared with a revised 4.74 percent in the previous three months and the 4.8-percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The monetary authority cut its benchmark rate for the first time in 11 months in January and will meet again on February 17 and 18.

The yield on the nation’s twoyear government bonds fell 11 basis points to an eight-month low of 7.76 percent, Inter Dealer Market Association prices show. That on the 10-year notes declined three basis points to 8.01 percent. Bloomberg News

revenue rose by 14 percent to 4.43 billion baht.

The TAT expects tourist arrivals to Nan will rise by 10 percent to 1.94 million this year, as tourism revenue grows by 10 percent to 4.88 billion baht.

Selling points

NAN province focuses on cleanliness, safety and conservation as its strong points. In the province, local regulations have been issued to limit the height of buildings in municipal areas and preserve the landscape.

Provincial authorities are promoting tourism in Pua and Na Noi districts to relieve congestion in central Nan and distribute tourism income more evenly. The 70-kilometer stretch from Nan’s centre to Pua features various tourism sites, such as the Nan Riverside Art Gallery.

Problems and suggestions

NAN faces tourist congestion during the high season and long weekends.

In the cool season, the province’ six natural parks are booked solid.

“Arrivals to Nan should be a maximum of 2 million visitors per year,” Suwat says. “We want only quality tourists, not a big volume.” MCT

TheBroa

Business

A6 Thursday, February 11, 2016

GOVT, PRIVATE SECTOR A SOLUTION TO MIND P

B L L

OWERHUNGRY Mindanao is looking forward to having 1,000 megawatts (MW) of new power-generating capacity this year— assuming that all new power plants committed by power producers make good on their promise.

But, will this be enough to solve Mindanao’s power crisis?

Mindanao is beset by numerous problems. Topping the list is the region’s peace and order situation.

However, resolving the power supply problem is equally as important as finding a permanent solution to end the conflict in Mindanao.

‘Inherited’ problems

PRESIDENT Aquino, whose term will end in a few months, is being criticized for failing to solve the Mindanao power crisis. Critics said the worst of Mindanao’s power woes happened during his six years in office Mr. Aquino, however, disputed this, saying the problem had already existed even before he assumed office.

“This was the situation that our administration inherited, and the results were clear: In recent years, Mindanao has had very little energy surplus,” the President, who was invited as guest of honor at the inauguration of Aboitiz Power Corp.’s coal power plant in Davao last month, told the crowd. He said the rotating brownouts in 2010 not only “frustrated our countrymen,” but also “stifled local economies.”

“This was a problem we had anticipated even before we took office, which is why, from day one, we made a stern commitment to foster an environment that would encourage the private sector to make massive investments in energy in Mindanao.

We knew, however, that even if we succeeded, these plants would not begin operations overnight.

Even the most basic power plants, after all, take around three to four years before completion,” Mr. Aquino said.

Outgoing Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, in an interview, stressed the importance of Mindanao to the overall growth of the economy.

“The potential of Mindanao is huge,” Balisacan said.

In 2014 Mindanao’s contribution to GDP increased to 14.4 percent from 14.32 percent a year ago.

To sustain its growth, Balicasan said achieving peace in Mindanao is a key factor.

“To sustain it, it needs to have peace in the area. Security must be tightened. Infrastructure in Mindanao should be given a priority. Resolve the peace and order situation and, I think, everything else will be addressed,” he said.

The President briefly narrated how the power crisis in the region, in which more than half of the energy supply is sourced from hydroelectric plants, started. Mindanao has suffered several power crises primarily brought about by droughts that, because of its over dependence on hydro power, resulted in a shortfall of power with outages extending up to

eight hours a day during the summer months. With the region’s economic growth over the years, the island’s need for additional capacity fell short because it was not feasible for private capital to put up the required capacity and compete with the National Power Corp.’s (Napocor) low selling price. As a result, power reserves in Mindanao dwindled, causing the power crisis to recur more often in recent years.

The Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira), meanwhile, forbids the government from putting up its own plants, and the private sector simply could not compete with the artificially low prices.

“The result: As the demand for electricity grew, the supply didn’t. In fact, the governmentowned hydroelectric plants that were once abundant sources of energy suffered from a number of factors, including the lack of regular maintenance, the vanishing watersheds and the worsening effects of climate change,” Mr. Aquino said.

New power source

MINDANAO was reeling from the power crisis when the private sector made a bold move to build new power plants—most of which use coal as this is cheaper—to reduce the region’s overdependence on hydro and plug the shortfall in power supply. It takes an average of five years to build new power plants. Just recently, Therma South Inc. (TSI), a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp., inaugurated its 300-MW based load power plant.

T he f irst 150 -M W unit of the power plant star ted commercia l operations in September 2015. T he second unit is u nd e r goi n g re l i a bi l it y t e s t s and w il l be in f u l l commercia l operations this month. Aboitiz said it took the company five-anda-half years to build the power plant at a cost of P35 billion.

This plant’s dependable capacity is roughly equivalent to one-fifth of the Mindanao grid’s highest peak demand in 2015.

TSI’s new power plant is just one of the many new power plants that promise to end Mindanao’s power crisis. For this year, a total of 1,096.6 MW of power-generating capacity will be added to the Mindanao grid. Of this capacity, 1,059 MW will come from coal power plants, 25 MW from hydro, and 12.6 MW from biomass. The figures are based on Department of Energy (DOE) November 2015 data, the latest available information the agency has provided.

The following coal power facilities are expected to come on line this year:  100 MW of Sarangani Energy Corporation (SEC), a unit of Alsons Power Corp., with commercial op-

THIS Cagayan de Oro Corn Products Corp. facility in Barangay Tablon, Cagayan de Oro City, is sourcing its electricity requirements from its own plant, although it now needs to augment its power supply. PHOTO PUBLISHED BY SUNSTAR CAGAYAN DE ORO

erations set next month  150 MW of TSI a subsidiary of AboitizPower, with target commercial operation also next month  150MW of San Miguel Consolidated Power Corp. (SMCPC) in Davao del Sur. The target commercial operation is in March  Another 150 MW of SMCPC in June  Three units, with a total capacity of 405 MW, of FDC Utilities Inc.’s power facility in Misamis Oriental.

The first unit’s commercial operation is targeted in June, followed by the second unit in September and the last unit in December  Another 100 MW from SEC, with commercial operations set in November.  A 25-MW hydro power project of Agusan Power Corp. is set for commercial operation in March.  Also, a 10-MW biomass project of Lamsan Power Corp. and a 2.6-MW biomass project of Green Earth Enersource Corp.—both in Maguindanao—are expected to come on line in February and May, respectively. DOE data indicated that there is an additional

763.99 MW of power projects also lined up this year, but the agency has categorized these under “indicative power projects” because these have yet to undergo commissioning.

“Indicative because the power producers have yet to set the target testing and commissioning which are different from target commercial operation,” Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada.

On track

THE DOE, according to Monsada, continues to monitor if these power plants are really going to be commercially available as scheduled. She also said these are enough to ensure the stability of the region’s power supply. “We don’t see any problem because new power sources are coming in. Aboitiz is one. Conservation of water is also being put in place to address effects of El Niño.”

However, there is nothing the DOE can do if these power plants do not come on line as scheduled.

It has no authority to penalize the power producers for failure to

meet the target dates since they are the ones that set the schedule, not the DOE. Former Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla said there are no penalties imposed on power producers if they fail to meet their original target schedule.

Any delays, Petilla said, would cause companies to incur financial losses.

“They do not want that happening, of course,” Petilla explained.

The power producers, for their part, said they would commercially deliver the power as scheduled.

“The second unit of TSI that’s 150 MW—is set for commercial operation by February 2,” Aboitiz Power President Antonio Moraza assured in a text message last week.

Alsons’s SEC Unit 1 is presently undergoing commissioning, Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACRI) Vice President for Project Development Joseph Nocos said in a text message.

“SEC Unit 1’s commercial operation is end-February, at the earliest,” said Nocos, adding that “latest (commercial operation) is mid-March.”

With SEC’s Unit 1 and TSI’s two units running by end-March this

year, Nocos said the additional power-generating capacity “will plug the gap grid-wide.”

According to the DOE, the first unit of SCMPC’s coal plant in Davao del Sur and FDC’s first unit are on track to begin commercial operations as scheduled. “Based on the latest or last published outlook, yes, that is the timeframe,” Officer in Charge assistant Secretary Patrick Aquino said. UP Prof.

Rowaldo del Mundo believes that the Mindanao’s power crisis will be solved this year as more power plants come on line very soon.

“Capacity reserve is at 83 percent of peak demand. This means that even if we have seasonable variation output of hydro plants, we have enough supply if these new power plants come in,” del Mundo said during the recent Energ y Pol ic y a nd De ve lop ment Program conference held in Makati City.

Transmission constraints

BUT what good are these new power plants if transmission-related problems persist? Transmission

aderLook OR SCRAMBLE TO FIND DANAO’S POWER WOES

sMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Thursday, February 11, 2016

A7

THE FOLLOWING COAL POWER FACILITIES ARE EXPECTED TO COME ON LINE THIS YEAR: POWER PLANTS

CAPACITY

DATE OF COMMISSIONING

Sarangani Energy Corp.

100 Megawatts

March 2015 and November 2015

Therma South Inc.

150 Megawatts

March 2015

San Miguel Consolidated Power Corp.

150 Megawatts

March 2015 and June 2015

DC Utilities Inc.’s

450 Megawatts

June, September and December 2015

Agusan Power Corp.

25 Megawatts

March 2015

Lamsan Power Corp.

10 Megawatts

Febraury and May 2015

Green Earth Enersource Corp.

2.6 Megawatts

Febraury and May 2015

tapped, government authorities through the involvement of local leaders are convincing the landowners to allow entry of NGCP maintenance personnel to restore the transmission towers.

The NGCP legally holds the right of way in the areas near and around the transmission towers and posts. The assets, however, are still government-owned.

Grid collapse

The possible grid collapse is not imminent but its vulnerability is something we are very much concerned of. It’s like driving without a spare tire.”

—Alabanza lines are vital to the chain of power supply. Electricity can’t reach end-consumers with the absence of transmission lines.

There has been a series of bombing incidents involving the transmission towers managed by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). Normally, when these untoward incidents happen, the grid operator can finish the repair and restoration of damaged facilities in a week or two, depending on the extent of damage.

Based on NGCP data, 19 towers were targeted in 2015. Of this figure, nine were toppled while seven were damaged. Moreover, three failed attempts were recorded.

NGCP said improvised explosive

devices were recovered in three towers. For this year, two NGCP towers have already been bombed.

More power projects are lined up beyond 2016, based on DOE data on indicative power projects. The DOE said the additional capacity, should these power plants are built, will be more than enough to cover the projected increase in demand for the years ahead. Hence, an oversupply could happen sometime in 2019 and beyond. An interconnection plan, which would help distribute excess power from Luzon and the Visayas to Mindanao and vice versa, has yet to be rolled out.

AboitizPower CEO Erramon Aboitiz, in an interview, could not stress enough the importance

of these transmission facilities.

“What adds complexity to these power projects is not just building power plants, you have to combine it with transmission lines and too many other things. If there is no transmission line what happens to the plant? The plant loses money so at the end of the day it’s like the plant was not built at all,” he said.

Nocos said the situation facing the NGCP is “challenging,” but he believes it can be solved with the cooperation of the NGCP, the national and local governments, and the various stakeholders.

“In general, the Mindanao grid is capable of providing reliable transmission services to generators and off-takers on the island.

I believe that whatever problems that NGCP is experiencing in some segments of the grid, while challenging, can be solved.

The many new power stations that are being built, added Nocos, are a testament to the confidence that the private sector has in the growth prospects in the grid and the capability of the NGCP to transmit power.

For his part, AC Energy Holdings Inc. President John Eric Francia said the grid constraint issue affects the whole of Mindanao. Therefore, the government must also assist in finding a solution to the problem. AC Energy is the development arm of the Ayala group in the energy sector. “In the past, when a tower is bombed, the NGCP can fix it in a few days. This time, however, the situation is different. We are not completely shielded from this issue,” Francia said in an interview.

The government did step in. A taskforce was formed.

“We are creating a taskforce, an interagency taskforce. The proposal is for the Executive secretary to head the task force,” Monsada said.

She said the participation of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of National Defense (DND) is extremely important in mapping out a security plan.

“Bombing is a security issue. So, we need the involvement of the DND and PNP. That will be the main thing to tackle,” Monsada said.

While the military is being

BA LISAC A N a lso commented that the recent incidents involving destruction of transmission towers, lines, and poles are “quite disturbing.” The NGCP has even warned of a possible grid collapse should the remaining transmission line, which delivers power from the Napocor-owned Agus hydroelectric power plant, encounters a technical glitch.

By grid collapse, the NGCP meant that brownouts would likely happen. “It’s the kind that takes several hours to recover from restoration. It’s like restarting a smartphone. So, it takes time,” NGCP Spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said in an interview. No one knows when the grid may collapse, but right now Alabanza said the grid is “vulnerable” and that enough supply may not solve the problem entirely.

“The possible grid collapse is not imminent but its vulnerability is something we are very much concerned of. It’s like driving without a spare tire. The network is one entire system. If you let one part remain damaged then the entire grid remains impaired. We are happy with all the new plants coming in, but we are not happy if not all portions of the grid are not operating at its full capacity,” the NGCP official stressed.

Balisacan, meanwhile, said the new power plants would “definitely help solve the problem,” but the “issue on vulnerability” of transmission facilities remains.

“As I’ve said, Mindanao has a huge potential. Aside from addressing vulnerability, the issue on affordability is also a concern.

That’s why the peace and order situation there must be resolved at the soonest time possible,” he added. The Maramag-Bunawan 138-kiloVolt (kV) line is the remaining line that currently delivers power from the Agus Hydro Complex. If it is in any way compromised, no power will flow from the remaining Agus hydro facilites to south of Mindanao where the bulk of power demand is located.

Both Davao City and General Santos City are in the south, and are in real danger of being completely cut off from the bulk supply coming from the hydro facilities, the NGCP said.

Only one transmission line is operational because the NGCP has yet to repair the Agus 2-Kibawe 138-kV line.

Agus 1 and 2 hydro facilities are connected to the grid through Agus 2-Kibawe 138-kV line.

The NGCP has yet to restore bombed Tower No. 25 along the Agus 2- Kibawe 138-kV line in Ramain, Lanao del Sur, due to uncooperative land owners. The line has been unserviceable since Christmas Eve, when it was bombed by unidentified lawless elements.

The NGCP will shoulder the cost of repairing the damaged facilities, but this will eventually be passed on to the consumers as authorized by the Epira. The owners of the property where the tower is located, Johnny Sambitori, Intan Sambitori and Naguib Sambitori, refused NGCP entry to repair the damaged transmission facility.

Negotiations with the Sambitoris were unsuccessful because the owners alleged that the government failed to pay their claims long ago, the NGCP said.

“Add to this Mindanao power situation is the toppling of transmission towers by lawless elements and the refusal by landowners to allow entry of NGCP maintenance personnel to cut tree branches that have grown and reached the highvoltage transmission lines. The result: electricity cut-off to urban and rural areas in southwestern Mindanao or in the Zamboanga peninsula,” Committee on Energy Chairman Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro said.

He said people in Mindanao are still suffering from brownouts because reserve capacity is still low or drops to almost zero, especially during instances of forced outages of the aging 200-MW Steag coal power plants in Misamis Oriental.

Umali believes that government can do something about it, “with its awesome power, failing which, no one else can.”

So Monsada was asked again if Mindanao’s power woes could be resolved soon, albeit other pressing issues, she confidently said, “Yes, of course. It can not be done overnight, but we will get there.”

T he p e o ple i n M i nd a n ao, meanwhile, will just have to take her word for it.

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Thursday, February 11, 2016 | Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

The World BusinessMirror

Gangs an obstacle in battle vs Zika in Central America

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USCATANCINGO, El Salvador— For health workers battling Zika across much of Central America, the immediate menace is not the mosquitoes that transmit the virus.

It’s the gangsters who control the streets, and sometimes threaten their lives.

A r med and wel l-organized street gangs known as maras exert near-total control over entire neighborhoods, using sentries to track everyone who comes and goes.

In some cases, they deny access to health crews they suspect of working with police or a rival gang.

In 2014 an emergency medical technician accompanying a fumigation team in greater San Salvador was shot dead by mara members after they lifted his shirt and, according to local media reports, found he had a tattoo from a rival gang. Similar incidents have played out in neighboring Honduras and in Guatemala, where fumigators are chased by thugs, assaulted or charged a small tax for access.

“The state is absent” in such areas, said Carlos Carcach, a criminologist with the Superior School of Economics and Business in El Salvador. “The state is being replaced by the gang.”

More than 7,000 suspected cases of Zika have been identified in El Salvador, where government officials have advised women to put off pregnancies for two years due to severe birth defects tentatively linked to the virus. The country has also launched a campaign against the Aedes aegypti mosquito, relying on aggressive fumigation and

the removal of standing water and refuse where its larvae can breed.

But El Salvador, a country of just 6 million people, recorded more than 700 murders in January and had a homicide rate of 103 per 100,000 inhabitants last year, believed to be the highest of any country not in open war.

T hat’s the env ironment in which government health workers struggle to contain Zika.

To get into Cuscatancingo, on San Salvador’s outskirts, a reporter met a local resident outside town and traveled there in his car, which would not raise the gangs’ suspicions.

Approaching the Villa Mariona government health clinic, the driver rolled down the vehicle’s windows so a group of young Mara Salvatrucha gangsters in low-hanging jeans, gelled hair and plaid shirts could see who was inside.

One asked what was going on, and whether the reporter had cameras.

When a police foot patrol came up the street, a teen shouted “Policia!” into his radio and the youths ran.

Several years ago, the clinic was forced to shut down for several months because staff members were being extorted, according to Nelson Mejia, Villa Mariona’s sanitation coordinator. He and

the then-director met with gang members to explain why it was important that they work there. Gang members asked that their people get prompt treatment at the facility then agreed to allow operations to resume under a wary truce. But there have been more incidents.

Gang members beat up and took away a man working on a local water project for the health ministry.

Once, when a clinic employee was going door-to-door for a health project, a gang member called to warn that he should leave immediately because he was suspected of being a cop. Another worker on a fumigation mission left after being intimidated by gangsters.

“When this clinic reopened, it reopened with fear,” Mejia said.

Whenever a suspected case of Zika is identified, the Villa Mariona clinic tries to send teams into the area to look for others with fever and to destroy mosquito breeding areas. Mejia said workers from another clinic in Cuscatancingo have been denied entry at times.

Eduardo Espinoza, vice minister of health, said such incidents are sporadic. “We haven’t had any significant trouble except in some areas, specifically in the metropolitan area,” Espinoza said.

I n Gu atem a l a f u m ig ators planned to go into one Guatemala City neighborhood last week but locals warned it was too dangerous, said Sergio Mendez, fumigation coordinator for the health ministry.

“We don’t ask for help from the police or the army to enter an area, because later they go and carry out raids,” Mendez said. “And we have to go back. The people think we reported them.”

Gangs can also hamper the fight against Zika and other public health efforts in less-direct ways.

Fear of the maras leads many residents to refuse to answer the door or let health workers inside.

Of the nine suspected Zika cases in the area served by the Villa Mariona clinic, only five have been identified because people refuse to share relatives’ phone numbers or addresses. It’s common for people to suddenly and secretly relocate to escape gang threats, making it difficult to do proper follow-up and contain the epidemic.

Mejia said fear also contributes to the root causes of the epidemic.

For example, when a water pipe breaks in a gang-controlled neighborhood, the government responds slowly because sending a repair crew is dangerous, he said. That leads to unreliable service in the area, prompting locals to stockpile water in barrels perfect for mosquito breeding.

Resident Cesiah Estel Vargas said the three huge metal drums of water on her clean-swept patio are for when the water stops flowing.

Two were covered, but one was open and filled to the brim. She said that one is used to flush the toilet and usually gets refilled daily, so she doesn’t worry about mosquitoes.

Across the way, Raul Rivera swatted at mosquitoes swarming inside his tidy living room. In a smaller room just off it sat a large concrete water tank, where even more of the bugs flitted about.

Rivera got Zika two months ago and missed work for a week. Last year, his mother and son came down with chikungunya, which is transmitted by the same mosquito.

He said he knows the water in his house is the problem, but it had been months since health workers distributed the larvicide for the water tanks. He seems resigned to disease. “It’s nothing new,” he said. AP

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Senate to vote on hitting North Korea with tougher sanctions

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A S H I N G T O N —T h e Senate is considering hitting North Korea with more stringent sanctions i n t he w a ke of P yong y a ng ’s satellite launch and technical advances that US intelligence agencies say the reclusive Asian nation is making in its nuclear weapons program.

The bill that senators are expected to vote on Wednesday targets North Korea’s ability to access the money it needs for developing miniaturized nuclear warheads and the long-range missiles to deliver them, according to the legislation’s backers.

The House overwhelmingly approved a similar measure last month and there is strong bipartisan support in the Senate for the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act. “ T he k i nd of be l l igerence we’ve seen from Pyongyang must not be ignored,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday.

North Korea on Sunday launched a long-range rocket carrying an Earth observation satellite into space. The launch, which came about a month after the country’s fourth nuclear test, was quickly condemned by world leaders as a potential threat to regional and global security.

Washington, Seoul and others consider the launch a banned test of missile technology. That assessment is based on Pyongyang’s open efforts to manufacture nuclear-tipped missiles capable of striking the US mainland and that the technology used to launch a rocket carrying a satellite into space can be applied to fire a long-range missile.

In t he a nnu a l a ssessment of global threats delivered to Congress on Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence James R . Clapper said North Korea has ex panded a uranium-enrichment facility and restarted

a plutonium reactor that could start recovering material for nuclear weapons in weeks or months.

Both f ind ings w i l l deepen concern that North Korea is not only making technical advances in its nuclear weapons program, but is working to expand what is thought to be a small nuclear arsenal. US-based experts have estimated that North Korea may have about 10 bombs, but that could grow to between 20 and 100 by 2020.

Clapper said Pyongyang has not flight-tested a long-range, nuclear-armed missile but is committed to its development.

Underscoring the difficulty of understanding North Korea’s actual intentions, Clapper said the US does not know whether North Korea would use nuclear weapons for defensive or retaliatory purposes.

“We have long assessed that Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities are intended for deterrence, international prestige and coercive diplomacy,” he said.

Nor th Korea a lready faces wide-ranging sanctions from the United States and under existing UN resolutions is prohibited from trading in weapons and importing luxury goods. At the UN Security Council, the US and China have been working on the text of a new sanctions resolution since North Korea’s January 6 nuclear test and last weekend’s rocket launch. The council pledged to adopt “significant new measures” at an emergency meeting on Sunday.

The US, backed by its Western allies, Japan and South Korea, wants tough new sanctions that wou ld i mpac t Nor t h K orea’s ability to do business. But diplomats say China, the North ’s ally and key protector in the Security Council, is reluctant to impose economic measures that could cause North Korea’s economy to collapse. AP

Refugee mental-health needs could overwhelm, experts fear B OSTON—For the thousands of Syrian refugees expected to arrive in the US in coming months, the first order of business will be securing the basics— health care, jobs, education and a safe home. But what organizations helping resettle them might not be prepared for, and what refugees themselves might be in denial about, is the need to treat the mental scars of war, experts said.

Iham Al Horani, a 32-year-old refugee living in Worcester, Massachusetts, said he has had little time to think about his mental health in between months of job hunting and shuttling his mother, recovering from sniper gunfire, to doctor’s appointments.

“It was difficult, what we came from,” Al Horani said through a translator. “The living conditions in the refugee camp were bad. But at least we’re all here.”

Organizations that work with refugees said it’s too early to assess the full scope of arrivals’ mental-health needs. But experts say it’s important to keep tabs on the emotional state of new arrivals, since symptoms may not appear until months or years later—well after most resettlement support services have ended. The US has taken about 2,500 Syrian refugees since the conflict there began in 2011, including about 100 in Massachusetts.

The Obama administration expects to take in at least 10,000 in the federal fiscal year that began in October. Experts estimate 10 percent to 20 percent of incoming Syrians will have war-related psychological problems warranting treatment. “They’re in the honeymoon phase,” said Richard Mollica, a psychiatry professor

at Harvard Medical School who has spent decades working with torture and genocide victims. “In the first year, they’re so happy to be out of that situation. They feel something wonderful is going to happen in America.

“It’s only about two years later or so when there’s a mental-health crisis,” he said. “It’s at that point that reality hits and they really need a lot of mental-health care.”

Ahmad Alkhalaf, a 9-year-old who arrived in the Boston area this past summer for medical treatment, said he used to have restless nights when he would relive his mother’s screams from the night a bomb killed three of his siblings and left him without arms. But those sounds, he said, have largely faded.

“I’m fine,” Ahmad said through a translator. “They’re gone.”

Ahmad’s father, Dirgam Alkhalaf, said he recently took his son to a counselor, who found nothing concerning. They don’t plan to go back. Ahmad Houssam Hallak, a 51-year-old Syrian recovering from an artillery attack that left him with speech and movement problems, said winning asylum last year hasn’t eased his stress. He is working to bring over his wife and three children, who remain in Lebanon.

“They live in an unstable country,” Hallak said through a translator. “It’s a constant fear that I’m living in.” Such stresses— finding a job, adjusting to a new culture or dealing with life apart from family—can also contribute to mental-health problems, said Bengt Arnetz, a professor at Michigan State Universit y who has been studying trauma in Middle Eastern refugees.

IN this December 18, 2015, photo Syrian refugee Ahmad Alkhalaf, 9, sits on a prayer rug in a mosque in Sharon, Massachusetts. Ahmad, who arrived in the Boston area this past summer for medical treatment, said he used to have restless nights when he would relive his mother’s screams from the night a bomb killed three of his siblings and left him without arms. But those sounds, he said, have largely faded. AP

Failure to address them could lead some refugees to withdraw from society, increasing the chances they’ll be drawn to extremist groups, Arnetz warned.

Alexandra Weber, chief program officer at the International Institute of New England, an agency contracted by the US government to resettle refugees, agreed mentalhealth services can be improved.

Many agencies, for example, don’t

have enough Arabic speakers, she said. But, she said, agencies are increasingly asking refugees about their emotional state as part of initial health screenings—something not done in years past.

“For the first time in my career, I feel encouraged,” Weber said. “In some ways, Syrians couldn’t be coming at a better time.”

A spokesman for the US Department of Health and Human

Services, which oversees the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, declined to comment but pointed to general information on the office’s web site about federally funded programs for torture victims and its efforts at promoting “emotional wellness.”

At the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, a Detroit-area nonprofit, publichealth manager Madiha Tariq

said she hopes the government will hurry to get refugees out of squalid, dangerous refugee camps and to the US. “With the Syrian population, they’ve already been the victims of extreme trauma. They’ve also been in refugee camps for a long time,” Tariq said. “So the longer that displacement is, the more work we’ll have to do repairing the stress and damage.” AP

The World BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Thursday, February 11, 2016

6 founding European Union nations commit to the original unity goals

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RUSSELS—The six founding nations of the European Union (EU) on Tuesday stressed their commitment to seek an “ever closer union” ahead of next week’s summit where Britain is expected to seek a new agreement to help convince a skeptical public to remain part of the EU.

The foreign ministers of host Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg said in a joint statement on Tuesday they reconfirm their “strong commitment to Europe and the European project and invite all other member-states to join.”

Such momentum goes against the terms British Prime Minister David Cameron will be looking for at next week’s EU summit, where he will seek to obtain reform commitments to give Britain a more independent say in its affairs and Chancellor of the Exchequor George Osborne said a few months ago that “quite frankly, the British people do not want to be part of an ever closer union.”

At the same time Britain has said it does not want to hold others back, creating a momentum that could lead a core of nations to integrate much tighter. “We remain resolved to continue the

process of creating an ever closer union among the people of Europe,” the joint statement after their meeting in Rome said. “Europe is successful when we overcome narrow self-interest in the spirit of solidarity.”

The low-key meeting, said Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, “sought to start a reflection on how to reinforce internal cohesion in the EU.” The lack of solidarity has become a central theme as the EU has struggled from crisis to crisis over the past years, from the financial chaos and the near exit of Greece from the Euro, to division over how to deal with the migrant issue to the possible departure of Britain from the bloc.

Each of these issues could still fundamentally damage the EU project and wreak the celebrations next year for the 60th anniversary of the founding Treaty of Rome. AP

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Journalist kidnapped in southern Mexico has been founded dead

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EXICO CITY—A reporter who was kidnapped by armed assailants in the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz this week has been found dead, Mexican authorities said on Tuesday. Anabel Flores Salazar’s body was discovered on a highway in the neighboring state of Puebla and later identified by family members, Veracruz prosecutors said in a statement.

Flores Salazar, a crime-beat reporter for a local newspaper in Orizaba, Veracruz, was dragged from her home near the city before dawn on Monday. At least 15 journalists have been killed in Veracruz since Gov. Javier Duarte took office in 2010, and three more have disappeared. His administration has been criticized for suggesting many of those reporters had links to drug gangs or were victims of common crime. In Flores Salazar’s case, prosecutors have said they were investigating “all the reporter’s possible ties.”

The office said she had been in the company of an alleged Zetas drug gang member when he was arrested in 2014. AP

“We disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision to stay the Clean Power Plan while litigation proceeds,” White House Spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement.

Earnest said the administration’s plan is based on a strong legal and technical foundation, and gives the states time to develop cost-effective plans to reduce emissions. He also said the administration will continue to “take aggressive steps to make forward progress to reduce carbon emissions.” A federal appeals court in Washington last month refused to put the plan on hold. That lower court is not likely to issue a ruling on the legality of the plan until months after it hears oral arguments begin on June 2.

Any decision will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court, meaning resolution of the legal fight is not likely to happen until after Obama leaves office.

Compliance with the new rules

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AUSSIE LAWMAKERS THINK DESIGNER WATCHES RECEIVED AS GIFTS ARE FAKE

SYDNEY—Australia’s former prime minister and two other politicians were gifted designer watches by a Chinese businessman—but initially kept them only because they thought the A$40,000 ($28,000) timepieces were fake. The Herald Sun newspaper reported on Wednesday that former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and fellow Liberal party lawmakers Stuart Robert and Ian Macfarlane received the watches in 2013 when their party was in opposition. Macfarlane told the paper that a representative of China’s Li Guancheng Investment Group gave them the watches in a plastic bag during an informal dinner. AP

THE US’s second-largest foodservice distributor has filed papers for an initial stock offering. US Foods Holding Corp., based in Rosemont, Illinois, said on Tuesday it plans to raise $100 million in the initial public offering. US Foods said it has about 25,000 workers and annual sales of $23 billion. It reported a net loss of $73 million last year.

The filing comes several months after a judge blocked plans by larger rival Sysco Corp. to acquire US Foods for $3.5 billion. The company says it will use proceeds from the stock sale to pay off debt, among other purposes. AP

RAMS OWNER BUYS WAGGONER RANCH

IN this January 20 file photo, protesting farmers from the agricultural region of Thessaly park their tractors in the Vale of Tempe, central Greece.

Protest organizers said on February 9 that the tractor blockade on the highway linking Athens to Greece’s second-largest city, Thessaloniki, would be in effect indefinitely unless the government withdrew proposals for tax hikes and an overhaul of the pension system. AP

isn’t required until 2022, but states must submit their plans to the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) by September or seek an extension.

Many states opposing the plan depend on economic activity tied to such fossil fuels as coal, oil and gas. They argued that the plan oversteps federal authority to restrict carbon emissions, and that electricity providers would have to spend billions of dollars to begin complying with a rule that might end up being overturned.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia, whose coaldependent state is helping lead the legal fight, hailed the court’s decision. “We are thrilled that the Supreme Court realized the rule’s immediate impact and froze its implementation, protecting workers and saving countless dollars as our fight against its legality continues,” Morrisey said.

Implementation of the rules is

considered essential to the United States meeting emissions-reduction targets in a global climate agreement signed in Paris last month. The Obama administration and environmental groups also say the plan will spur new clean-energy jobs.

In opposing the request for delay, the EPA argued that states had plenty of time to comply with the requirements as the rule is rolled out over the next six years.

“A stay that delays all of the rule’s deadlines would postpone reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions and thus contribute to the problem of global climate change even if the rule is ultimately sustained,” US Solicitor General Donald Verrilli said in legal filings.

Environmentalists were stunned by the court’s action, which they stressed did not reflect a decision on the relative strength of the Obama administration’s case.

“The Clean Power Plan has a

firm anchor in our nation’s clean air laws and a strong scientific record, and we look forward to presenting our case on the merits in the courts,” said Vickie Patton, a lawyer for Environmental Defense Fund, which is a party to the case.

To convince the high court to temporarily halt the plan, opponents had to convince the justices that there was a “fair prospect” the court might strike down the rule. The court also had to consider whether denying a stay would cause irreparable harm to the states and utility companies affected. The unsigned, one-page order blocks the rules from taking effect while the legal fight plays out in the appeals court and during any further appeal to the Supreme Court, a process that easily could extend into 2017.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan would have denied the request for delay. AP

State agency review critical of workplace-safety policy ONTPELIER, Vermont— An inspection has found the state child welfare agency’s safety policy didn’t have comprehensive measures to protect employees from workplace assaults when a social worker was shot dead outside her office building last August.

T he Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration completed the review of the Department for Children and Families (DCF) on Friday. A letter with the findings has been given to the commissioners of the child welfare agency and the Department of Buildings and General Services and was obtained by the Associated Press on Tuesday.

“Our inspection found that: the State DCF had a workplace violence policy; the policy was not fully developed and implemented;

briefs

2NDLARGEST U.S. FOODSERVICE COMPANY FILES TO GO PUBLIC

Supreme Court puts on hold Obama’s Clean Power Plan ASHINGTON—A divided Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to halt enforcement of President Barack Obama’s sweeping plan to address climate change until after legal challenges are resolved.

T he su r pr i si ng move i s a blow to the administration and a victory for the coalition of 27 mostly Republican-led states and industry opponents that call the regulations “an unprecedented power grab.”

By issuing the temporary freeze, a 5-4 majority of the justices signaled that opponents made strong arguments against the rules. The high court’s four liberal justices said on Tuesday they would have denied the request for delay.

The Obama administration’s plan aims to stave off the worst predicted impacts of climate change by reducing carbon-dioxide emissions at existing power plants by about one-third by 2030.

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and, did not contain comprehensive measures to protect workers from assaults at the workplace,” Safety Administration Manager Daniel Whipple wrote in the letter. “It cannot be said that a more comprehensive, fully developed and implemented policy would have prevented the fatality.”

Social worker Lara Sobel was gunned down outside her state office building in Barre as she was leaving work last August 7.

A woman whose 9-year-old daughter had been taken into state custody, Jody Her r ing , shot Sobel twice with a hunting rif le and then was tackled by bystanders, police said. Sobel, a 14-year veteran of the child welfare agenc y, had hand led Herring’s daughter’s case, and authorities have said Herring was upset over losing custody.

Police have said they believe Herring shot and killed three of her own relatives in the adjoining town of Berlin before going to kill Sobel.

Herring, who’s from Barre, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of her cousins Regina Herring and Rhonda Herring, her aunt Julie Falzarano and Sobel.

T he safet y administration recommended better training of child welfare agency workers, better record keeping of t h reat s a nd more work pl ace violence controls such as locks, lighting and barriers. It also recommended an annual review of the safety program and development of a response team responsible for immediate care of victims and debriefing with victims and coworkers.

The child welfare agency said it will continue working to improve employee security. The agency’s commissioner, Ken Schatz, said on Tuesday that a worker-safety policy has been proposed and the agency has added training sessions and asked staff members to report threats to the commissioner’s office, not just to the buildings department, so it can better understand the nature of them and where they are occurring.

“Obviously, the tragedy of the killing of Lara Sobel continues to weigh heavily on our minds,” Schatz said, adding that he appreciated how the Department of Labor, which oversees the safety administration, was looking into workplace violence issues.

Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin’s budget proposes stepped-up security at state buildings. AP

VERNON, Texas—A billionaire sports mogul has purchased a Texas mega-ranch that has been operated by one family for nearly a century. The heirs of cattle baron W.T. Waggoner said on Tuesday that a judge permitted the sale to Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke for an undisclosed sum. The ranch had been listed for $725 million when it hit the market in August 2014.

The Waggoner Ranch is about 175 miles northwest of Dallas.

It’s the largest ranch behind one fence in the United States. AP

U.S. AGENCY: SEPARATE RECHARGEABLEBATTERY SHIPMENTS ON AIRPLANES

WASHINGTON—Accident investigators are recommending the US government require air shipments of rechargeable batteries be separated from other flammable cargo to prevent uncontrollable fires that can destroy planes. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said its recommendation is based on an investigation by South Korean authorities of the destruction of an Asiana Airlines cargo plane in July 2011.

NTSB Chairman Chris Hart said in a letter to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration that a fire on board the plane developed on or near two pallets, one containing lithium-ion batteries for hybridelectric cars and the other with flammable liquids. AP

NUMBER OF HAITIANS NEEDING FOOD AID SPIKES AMID DROUGHT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti— Drought-stricken Haiti is grappling with its most serious food crisis in 15 years as the number of people in need of urgent food aid has recently spiked, the head of the United Nations World Food Program’s (WFP) country office said on Tuesday. Roughly 1.5 million Haitians are considered severely insecure when it comes to food.

Haiti’s northwest, southeast and some areas on the border with the Dominican Republic have been hit hard amid a long drought that has been worsened by the arrival of a strong El Niño weather pattern. WFP Country Director Wendy Bigham called the situation alarming. AP

A10 Thursday, February 11, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Suu Kyi–the next Myanmar president

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HEN Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory late last year in Myanmar’s first national vote since a nominally civilian government was allowed to work in 2011, ending nearly 50 years of military rule, the world expected the country’s democracy icon to finally take the helm of government.

That’s because her party will control the next parliament and can choose the next president.

As things stand, however, Suu Kyi can’t become president. Article 59 (F) of the Myanmar constitution states that if one of your “legitimate children…owes allegiance to a foreign power” you are disqualified. That covers both Suu Kyi’s sons Kim and Alexander, who carry British passports. Her long-shot chance is to change this provision of the country’s basic law. But changing the constitution is impossible without the support of the unelected army representatives.

Myanmar’s 2008 constitution sets out a complex process whereby the Hluttaw (Parliament) chooses a president. First, the Hluttaw will divide into three groups: the elected representatives of the Lower House, the elected representatives of the Upper House, and the unelected army representatives.

Each group puts forward a candidate and then the three of them face a vote in a joint session that includes all the elected and unelected representatives of both Houses. The winner becomes president and the two losers automatically become vice presidents.

Given the scale of the NLD win in the national elections, Suu Kyi’s party will be able to nominate two of the three candidates and then ensure that one of their bets takes the top job. It’s certainly possible that the NLD might nominate Suu Kyi even if she didn’t meet the constitutional criteria.

There are encouraging signs this will happen. After Parliament Chairman Mann Win Khaing Than announced on Monday the Upper House, the Lower House and the military will have to select one candidate each for the three posts and submit them to parliament on March 17, observers said there are growing signs that Suu Kyi’s talks with the military to remove the constitutional hurdle blocking her path can be completed in March.

Reports from the Associated Press (AP) confirmed that Suu Kyi is negotiating with Commander in Chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on having the clause suspended. The constitutional provision can be legally scrapped through a 75 percent plus one vote in Parliament. The military holds 25 percent of seats in parliament—all unelected—which means the NLD cannot remove the constitutional hurdle on its own.

The AP reported that in separate but identical broadcasts late Sunday, Sky Net and Myanmar National Television, both pro-government, said “positive results could come out on the negotiation for the suspension of Article 59 [F] of the constitution.”

Suu Kyi earlier said even if she does not become president she would run the country from behind the scenes. Her partymates, however, would prefer that the 70-year-old Nobel peace laureate would lead Myanmar on its march to a democratic and civilian government.

Deflation: It’s your fault John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

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HE idea that supply and demand determines price is one of those economic models that sounds good on paper but is less than accurate in real life. Certainly, I have spoken of supply/ demand countless times in another context but more so that buyers determine the price of everything.

Demand determines price. A few years ago there was a health scare that caused people to stop buying pork. The price of chicken went up.

There was chicken-supply problem for a few days but the price still stayed high as buyers were willing to pay a higher price. Pork supply never changed, but prices went down because there were fewer buyers.

You could say that supply exceeded demand, therefore, influencing prices, and that is true. However, it was demand that changed, not supply.

The only way that “chicharon

with laman” can sell for P1,000 per kilo is because that is the price— maybe the highest price—buyers are willing to pay. I am not an expert on making chicharon, but I bet the profit margin is relatively high so that a 5-percent increase in production cost would not necessarily mean a 5-percent increase in the retail price.

Price inflation comes from a variety of causes, but most price increases that we experience are because the seller thinks that the buyer will pay a higher price. If sales then drop, the

price is usually lowered.

Deflation is the decrease of the general level of prices in an economy.

Governments, financial institutions, and the financial media “talking heads” that spread the propaganda are all panicking about the fact that prices of commodities and certain finished goods are either not going higher or are going down. They should panic because deflation is the clearest proof global economic policies in the last decade are a total disaster.

Prices are in deflation because people are not spending. Stock markets are in “deflation” because people are not buying stocks. People around the world are hoarding cash.

Remember when local gasoline prices were skyrocketing in 20072008 and some were stockpiling— hoarding—gasoline? They thought that their stockpile of gasoline would be worth more tomorrow.

People are now hoarding cash because they think their cash will be worth more tomorrow. If you knew local stock prices would be 10 percent lower in a month, would

you buy shares today? Buyers determine price and if there is little buying, prices of stocks, crude oil and chicharon will go lower.

But governments go absolutely crazy if price deflation occurs because the politicians lose their lifeblood and power—taxes and other revenues go down. Japan now has officially gone to negative interest rates, which mean eventually it will cost a person to store money in a bank. Governments now want to move to a cashless system so they can force people to spend or just take the money away. You have less to worry about from a robber with a gun than you do from the government.

Here in the Philippines, though, deflation is not and will not be a problem. Maybe it’s because we like chicharon too much. However, a little cash hoarding right now is not a bad idea.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com.

Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

Trump and Sanders won New Hampshire, not the White House

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HE pollsters got it right for a change. Donald Trump, the Republican outsider, won solidly in New Hampshire over a divided field, while Bernie Sanders, the Democratic insurgent, won in a landslide over Hillary Clinton.

Sanders needed to win big if he had any chance at all of winning his party’s nomination because New Hampshire played to all of his strengths. He is a senator from the state next door. He did well among independents, who are allowed to vote in party primaries in New Hampshire. In many other states, the party primaries are open only to registered Democrats or Republicans, and that is expected to benefit Clinton. Also, New Hampshire is largely white, so her strength with minority voters was not a factor.

The big advantage for Sanders over the next few weeks is that we’re about to have a media freakout about Hillary Clinton and her chances. It will be largely unjustified.

No, she will not sweep all 50 states, as Al Gore did in 2000, but nothing so far suggests her polling leads in coming primaries are phony.

Is it possible that black and Latino voters will suddenly #FeeltheBern?

It isn’t clear what would make that happen. We’ll begin to find out in Nevada, the next stop for the Democrats, on February 20.

Trump, too, had advantages in New Hampshire, since evangelical

and very conservative voters make up a much smaller percentage of the Republican electorate than in most states. The biggest advantage for Trump, however, is that neither Marco Rubio nor Ted Cruz nor anyone else capitalized on the Iowa results to break out of the pack. Trump received about a third of the vote.

Polling suggests that in a more typical Republican state he’ll perform more the way he did in Iowa and fail to reach 30 percent.

That isn’t going to be enough once the Repubican field consolidates.

And, yes, it will consolidate.

New Hampshire probably knocked out only Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina. They may straggle along through South Carolina, but neither will have the resources to compete going forward. That narrows the field to six candidates, with one—Ben Carson—barely still above water.

John Kasich and Christie put their bets on New Hampshire, and Kasich managed a second-place finish. But it wasn’t a particularly impressive one: The Ohio governor failed to reach 20 percent. He has little campaign presence elsewhere.

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Nor does it seem likely resources will flood toward him, even after he edged out Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.

Cruz, Bush and Rubio all leave New Hampshire in a jumble. But they’re unlikely to remain that way for long since South Carolina Republicans vote on February 20.

We’re going to hear more speculation that Trump will either now win everywhere, or that we’re headed for a contested convention with no candidate winning an overall

delegate majority. Don’t believe it.

In four of the last five contest Republican contests, four candidates received at least 10 percent of the South Carolina vote, but eventually the logic of place-order finishes continued to knock out losers until a winner emerged.

No, those elections didn’t have a Trump. But Cruz, Kasich, Rubio and Bush would each defeat Trump oneon-one, and nothing that happened in New Hampshire or in Iowa has changed the way this works.

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Brazil launches national Commitment to God plan to combat Zika virus B H.E. R  A S

Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Brazilian Ambassador to the U.S.

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N February 1 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika virus, transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, an international public-health emergency. The announcement follows the declaration by Brazil of a national public-health emergency.

An outbreak of the Zika virus was detected last year in Brazil.

The virus has since been found in several countries in Latin America and, more recent, the United States.

The main concern is over the virus’s link to microcephaly, a congenital condition where a child is born with a smaller than normal head size and impaired brain development.

The WHO declaration will allow for better coordination of actions and mobilization of the necessary funding in a global effort aimed at preventing the spread of the virus, as well as speeding up the research to develop a vaccine and new therapeutic drugs.

Despite the real public-health risk, it is important to avoid misinformation. At this point, there is no reason to cancel business or pleasure trips, but extra precautions must be taken by pregnant women, who should talk to a doctor before traveling to the most affected areas.

The Zika is not a new Ebola, its symptoms being similar to a mild flu in adults. The Zika virus is of course a matter of concern, given association with microcephaly in newborn babies. More data and standardized protocols are needed before the link—first discovered

by Brazilian doctors—between the virus and such cases of abnormally small heads and brain damage can be fully clarified.

Microcephaly in newborn babies can also be caused by a number of other diseases. Health experts are dealing with something new: the link between Zika and microcephaly is unprecedented in the scientific literature and requires in-depth studies and analyses— which are already under way—both to find out what is really happening and to determine the risk level for pregnant women.

The Brazilian Ministry of Health is currently investigating 3,670 suspected cases of microcephaly in the country. According to the latest information released on February 2, a total of 404 diagnoses of microcephaly were confirmed, of which 17 were linked to the Zika virus.

Another 709 suspected cases of microcephaly had their diagnosis discarded. This in no way diminishes the seriousness of the risk, nor does it weaken the resolve of the Brazilian government to take action.

From a Brazilian perspective, this fight is global, regional and national. Globally, the WHO will be the main coordinator of efforts in this fight to control the virus worldwide. On the regional level, Brazil is also in permanent contact with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and regional partners, such as the US. In a January 29 telephone conversation, Presidents Dilma Rousseff and Barack Obama discussed shared concerns about the spread of the Zika virus in the Western Hemisphere. The leaders agreed on collaborative efforts to deepen our knowledge, advance research and accelerate action to develop vaccines and other technologies to control the virus. They also agreed to continue to prioritize building national, regional and global capacity to combat infectious disease threats more broadly. The heads of state decided to create a high-level group to build on the successful partnership already in place between the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Butantan Institute, both of which are working together and testing a vaccine against dengue fever.

At the domestic level, the Brazilian government is seriously

addressing this issue as a matter of utmost importance, not only in view of the Olympics, but also because of its potential long-term impact on the Brazilian people. The federal government has launched a threefront National Plan to Combat the Aedes and Microcephaly: prevention and combat against the Aedes aegypti; health care and assistance to pregnant women and children; and research. All efforts are coordinated by the federal government in partnership with State and local governments.

In order to fight the vector of the infection, the mosquito, the Brazilian government has deployed 220,000 troops and 300,000 health agents, who are visiting communities to educate the population and help eliminate all mosquito breeding grounds. Insecticides and larvicides, as well as repellents, are also being employed as traditional weapons that proved efficient in the past. The mobilization also involves the civil society, schools, non-governmental organizations and other public and private institutions in a broad-based alliance to raise public awareness about the infection and prevent the spread of the disease.

Apart from these more traditional strategies and the efforts to strengthen its health-care network, Brazil is investing in technology and research to develop a vaccine and new therapies. A genetically modified mosquito, now under trial, could offer a new and promising weapon. Our national public health institutions are reaching out to their partners abroad to strengthen the research network and develop more efficient diagnostic kits, antiviral drugs and a Zika vaccine.

In Brazil, the Butantan, Chagas, Pasteur and FioCruz Institutes operate as leading world-class institutions with vast experience in tropical diseases and a successful record in technological development. All the available expertise and manpower of these and other organizations is now directed toward this fight, in cooperation with international partners. The private sector, especially drug companies, is also investing in research into new and innovative ways to defeat the virus.

This is an emergency, but Brazil and the world have the know-how and are able to muster the human and material resources to meet the challenge. As Brazil prepares for the Olympics in August, authorities are working hard to rid the Rio de Janeiro region and the whole country of Aedis aegypti mosquitoes. Moreover, the Olympics will take place during winter in the Southern Hemisphere, a period of cooler temperatures, which usually contribute to a sharp decrease in mosquito-borne illnesses. The Brazilian government promptly notified PAHO and WHO about the Zika outbreak and is taking the measures that have proved effective in similar situations in the past. I am certain that this strategy will pay off.

While any reaction based on misinformation may disrupt our daily lives without helping to solve the problem, effective measures require scientifically consistent data, transparency, rational planning and decisive action. The international community must unite in this global effort and draw the right lessons to improve the international framework for preventing and fighting epidemics and tropical diseases. Brazil will continue to do its part with resolve and determination.

ALÁLAONG BAGÁ

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E shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in distress and deliver him (Psalm 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15). You shall worship the Lord, your God, and Him alone shall you serve (Luke 4:1-13).

God is my refuge in Him I trust THE verses of the psalm here pieced together form a cultic liturgy. First, in an exhortation that seems to come from a priest or Levite in the temple, the worshiper is called upon and told to turn to God in trust. The devotee, who comes and stays at the temple or shrine (living in the “shelter of the Most High” and abiding in the “shadow of the Almighty”), is instructed to confess to God/Elohim (the Most High/Elyon—the Creator of heaven and earth and ruler of the universe, the Almighty/Shaddai—and the Lord/Yahweh—the

Mighty One who has entered into covenant with His people) that He is his refuge and fortress and his trust is in Him. Next is described how God comes to the assistance of one who trusts in Him. Under the protection of angels commanded to guard him, no evil shall befall him, as no affliction shall come near him. Angels’ hands shall bear him up, lest he dashes his foot against a stone. And he shall be protected from the dangers of snakebites and the threats of ferocious animals; he shall be constantly under God’s protection anywhere.

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The psalm ends with an oracle from God Himself, who promises to deliver anyone who devoutly clings to Him and glorifies His name; He will answer when he calls on Him, rescuing him when in trouble. As he is faithful to God, God will be faithfully there for him.

God alone is to be worshipped

FULL of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led in the wilderness to be tested by the devil with false strategies in carrying out God’s will. To prove he is the Son of God, the devil suggested that Jesus use his miraculous power to feed himself in the desert; as God fed the Israelites in the wilderness, Jesus could, likewise, focus on the physical needs of the people to get their allegiance. But the fact that Jesus fasted from food for 40 days shows that He personally knows that “one does not live by bread alone” and that God’s words are as essential for life in bringing about conversion (Deuteronomy 8:1-3).

With a glimpse of all the kingdoms of the world, the devil offered to Jesus their essence of power if

Jesus would worship him. But Jesus is committed already to God, and only God does He worship and serve. Jesus came to transform the world, not to imitate it or be of it.

With the third temptation to jump off the pinnacle of the temple in order to demonstrate to the people that he had the backing and protection of God, Jesus knew He did not have too nor would He want to test God precisely because His trust is in God. His loyalty and commitment is to God who is there always for Him. Alálaong bagá, Lent is in the first place the time for us to examine our commitment to God. To let God’s plan to unfold within us and around us, we have to put our trust in Him and not in what we claim, or are insinuated to us by the devil, as our achievements.

That is why we start off with ashes on our forehead: Remember we are dust. Let God be God for us! Defer to the divine mercy and power.

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

Compromise and abatement remedies to the court Atty. Irwin C. Nidea Jr.

TAX LAW FOR BUSINESS

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HE law protects you from excessive and bloated assessments by providing ways that you can question the same.

Normally, you file a protest against a final assessment that you think is wrong.

But like any other normal route, there is always a detour. You may apply for a compromise or for abatement while the normal assessment process is ongoing, or you may choose to just apply for a compromise or abatement and disregard the normal assessment process. You may file for a compromise on the following grounds: a) doubtful validity; or b) financial incapacity. On the other hand, you may file for abatement on the ground of: a) unjust or excessive assessment; or b) the cost of collection does not justify the collection of the amount due.

Just recently, the revenue commissioner issued Revenue

Memorandum Order 4-2016 which simplified the processing of application for compromise settlements and abatement cases. According to the RMO, once the Revenue Regional Office denies the application for compromise or abatement, it shall be considered final. What happens when your application for compromise or abatement is denied? What is your remedy? In a recent case (CTA Case 8816), the Court of Tax Appeals explained that it has jurisdiction to rule on the validity of the denial of an application for abatement. Although it has not ruled on its jurisdiction as regards applications for compromise,

it seems that the court will also take jurisdiction of the same. According to the court, it has jurisdiction on all decisions of the commissioner on “other matters” arising under the Tax Code.

Apparently, other matters include decisions on applications for abatement and applications for compromise.

But we all know that a compromise must be consensual. In other words, both parties must approve the terms of the compromise for it to prosper. But questions will arise on whether the court can impose on the commissioner to accept an application for compromise. Can the court determine for the commissioner that the tax assessment has doubtful validity or that the company is financially incapacitated? If the court can take a second look at a decision of the commissioner on “other matters”, then the answer is yes. The taxpayer, though, must present evidence that it qualifies under the two stated grounds and that there is a grave abuse of discretion by the commissioner in denying the application.

Like any other detour, elevating a denial of an application for compromise or abatement to the court has its

Who’s afraid of a falling yuan?

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VERYONE from buttoned-down Japanese central bankers to ex-slugger Jose Canseco (or whoever hacked his Twitter account) seems to be worried about the sliding value of China’s currency, the yuan. The fear is that a cheaper yuan will spur other export-dependent countries to devalue as well in order to remain competitive, sparking a global currency war. Meanwhile, ordinary Chinese will presumably race to move their money out of the country and Chinese companies will struggle to pay back loans taken out in dollars. A truly uncontrolled dive threatens to cause havoc throughout China’s opaque financial system.

Such fears are overblown. The true impact of a falling yuan is likely to be both more nuanced and more limited in nature.

At the most basic level, a falling currency raises the prices of imported goods and lowers the prices of exported goods. Demand for and consumption of imports should decline as they become more expensive, while exports receive a boost. That’s the model China used for decades to power its economic boom. Most other countries, including the US, have traditionally favored a strong currency that raises the domestic standard of living vis-à-vis the rest of the world.

China, too, says it now favors a stable yuan and has been spending billions each month to buy up the currency to bolster its value. There would appear to be two dangers: first, that the effort fails in the face of concerted downward pressure from the markets; or second, that China itself decides to devalue in order to revive its export-focused manufacturing sector. Yet, how bad

would that really be? Chinese companies are moving quickly to pay off or restructure their dollar loans. As for consumers, it’s important to remember that large countries such as China trade less than small countries in relative terms. Thus they’re better insulated against a rise in the price of imports. (Imports comprise only about a fifth of Chinese GDP.) Additionally, not all the products countries import are equally pricesensitive. Machinery, metals, minerals and chemicals make up about 60 percent of Chinese imports. Add in precision equipment such as watches and medical devices, precious metals, transport and rubber products and the proportion rises to nearly 90 percent. Price affects but doesn’t finally determine demand for most of these goods. Chinese commodity imports are likely to continue declining, but more because of the overcapacity created by a surge in investment after the 2008 global financial crisis, rather than anything to do with the yuan.

China says it now favors a stable yuan and has been spending billions each month to buy up the currency to bolster its value. There would appear to be two dangers: first, that the effort fails in the face of concerted downward pressure from the markets; or second, that China itself decides to devalue in order to revive its export-focused manufacturing sector.

The sheer volume of Chinese exports means the country does have an outsized impact on world markets.

Yet, Chinese exports remain dominated by electronics and garments.

Base metal processing and miscellaneous manufacturing bring the proportion up to almost 70 percent of total exports. These are, despite talk of moving up the value chain, still low-wage and low-skill sectors.

The countries that will feel the most pain—low-wage nations such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia—represent a relatively limited subset of the global economy. While China’s recently raised its share of global clothing exports at their expense, the world’s biggest economies have much less to fear.

The latter no longer make the kind of basic manufactured goods that dominate Chinese exports, at least not in large quantities. To take one example, China received $459 per ton of exported steel last December but paid $1,023 per imported ton. Why the difference? China is exporting low-quality steel but

own consequences. How the decision of the commissioner will be questioned and the level of proof required to overturn the commissioner’s discretion is a novel matter. But what is important is that taxpayers are given more remedies to protect themselves against unjust tax assessments.

What is clear is that the power to deny or approve an application for abatement and compromise is not absolute. The commissioner cannot just deny applications out of whim because the court will have the final say whether the commissioner has exercised her discretionary power judiciously.

The author is a partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices, a member-firm of World Tax Services Alliance.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at irwin.nidea@bdblaw.com.ph or call 403-2001 local 330.

importing more valuable, specialty products. Japan, the US and South Korea hold dominant positions in the latter fields.

Nor would a falling yuan necessarily generate a wave of global deflation. Core price deflation in areas such as energy, commodities and food has more to do with increased productivity and overinvestment outside of China than it does with yuan policy. If declines in the dollar after the 2008 crisis and the yen more recently didn’t spur worldwide deflation, there’s no reason to think a fall in the yuan would now.

Before worrying about what China does or doesn’t do with its currency, other countries should set their own houses in order. After 2008 the world economy revived on the back of a Chinese construction boom that drove up commodity prices and investment.

Now that China’s slowdown has been evident for at least a year, companies would be well advised to start planning for a “new normal” of slower growth and investment, as well as a moderately weaker yuan.

If the rest of the world wants China to join the global economy, they have to be willing to treat the country the same as any other. It’s a bit rich for nations such as Japan, which has allowed the yen to plummet against the dollar, to suggest that China should impose hard capital controls to prevent the yuan from sliding. If the market thinks the Chinese currency is overvalued, it should be allowed to find its fair level. It won’t be the end of the world.

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