BusinessMirror August 15, 2015

Japan’s idled nuclear plants

Nuclear reactors in Japan

Kyushu Electric Power Co. has restarted the No. 1 reactor at its Sendai nuclear plant. The restart marks Japan’s return to nuclear energy after the 2011 meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant following an earthquake and tsunami.

Current status of nuclear capacity in Japan (compared to 2012 capacity) 50,000 megawatt 45,000

Tomari power station Shika power station

Kashiwazaki power station

35,000

Tsuruga power station Mihama power station

JAPAN

Ohi power station Takahama power station Shimane power station Genkai power station

40,000

Shut down after Fukushima (5 reactors) Fukushima reactors (6 reactors)

Permanently shut down 6,644 MW

T kyo To

Higashidoori power station

30,000

Onagawa power station

20,000

Ikata power station

200 km 200 miles

Sendai power station Source: AP, OECD Graphic: Staff, Tribune News Service

Map does not include power plants under decommissioning or construction

25,000

Restart application under review (19 reactors)

15,000

Fukushima 1 & 2 power station

Tokai power station Hamaoka power station

Yet to file restart applications (19 reactors)

Approved by Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority to restart; still subject to local government approval (5 reactors)

10,000 5,000

NUCLEAR RESTART

This November 12, 2014, file photo shows water tanks that store contaminated water at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan. As Japan resumed generating nuclear power on Tuesday, restarting one reactor in the south, the destroyed Fukushima Dai-ichi plant remains a highly radioactive site, more than four years after an earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdowns in three of its six reactors. Story on B3-3. AP/SHIZUO KAMBAYASHI

0 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Graphic: Tribune News Service

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

U.N. MEDIA AWARD 2008

A broader look at today’s business Saturday 2014 Vol. No. 40 Vol. 10 No. 310 Saturday,18,August 15,102015

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nn

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

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES TO BRING FOREIGN SHOPPERS TO PHL STORES, MALLS

Retailers seen hiking sales by 5% L B C N. P

OCAL retailers are optimistic of increasing sales by 5 percent this year on the back of sustained growth in consumer spending, international conferences and tourism initiatives rolled out by the government, the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) said on Friday.

INSIDE

STAND & DELIVER Heal the world

D

EAR Lord, stay with us in any situation of the world. Only You know when the end will come. Only You know who shall be there to witness the terrible signs— only You, who are wisdom and love. Heal the world of its blindness. Open it to Your grace.

Lead everyone to conversion. May we all go to Your Kingdom. Amen.

DAILY PRAYERS, VIRGIE SALAZAR AND LOUIE M. LACSON Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life

PRA President Lorenzo C. Formoso made this pronouncement at the sidelines of the media launch of the 17th Asia-Pacific Retailers Convention and Exhibition in Manila (APRCE Manila 2015). APRCE Manila 2015 will be held from October 28 to 30 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. “[The retail industry] has been growing by 1 percent to 2 percent year-on-year. The month of August is considered a lean season [for retail]

3 TIPS FOR CREATING A MAGICAL DATING LIFE AFTER 50 »D4

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Stand & deliver

Want to live longer and be healthier? Get on your feet B L B The Dallas Morning News

U

PPER back pain and Mary Anne Lide used to be wary companions. They palled around at work; they hung out at home. Tylenol and Advil might separate them temporarily, but never completely, and rarely long enough.

Then Lide, 54, a coordinator with the Richards Group in Dallas, made a simple change. The difference between life now and then, she says, “is huge.”

Her posture is better. Her legs are stronger. She’s in a better mood. She has more energy. She’s more outgoing.

She can’t even remember the last time her back hurt.

To what does Lide owe her newfound self? Pills?

Surgery? Hard-core exercise?

No, instead, what she began doing is almost embarrassing in its simplicity: Standing.

“The key is, and I tell this to all my patients, if you sit still, they throw dirt on you,” said Dr. Michael Isaac, director of cardiology quality outcomes at Medical City.

Research has long backed him up—most recently, findings from 47 studies on sitting, which were analyzed

by The Annals of Internal Medicine and released earlier this year. In a nutshell, the longer you sit every day, the higher your risk of dying prematurely. But every time you raise your bottom from the chair, couch or car seat, you lessen your chances for developing diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, heart disease.

A few basics: n From the American Cancer Society: Its Cancer Prevention Study II reports that women who sit six or more hours per day have a 37-percent greater chance of dying within 15 years than those who sit half that amount of time. For men, that risk is 17 percent.

More recently, the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention reported an association between more time sitting “during leisure time” and a 10 percent overall higher risk of cancer—specifically,

multiple myeloma, ovarian cancer and invasive breast cancer—in women. No similar link was found for men. n From the American Heart Association: Sitting for long periods of time increases the risk of heart failure among men, even among those who exercise regularly. n From the American Diabetes Association: A sedentary lifestyle is linked to a 91-percent increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. In May the organization sponsored Get Fit Don’t Sit day. When you stand, explains Carrie Camin, assistant vice president of wellness for Methodist Health System, “you’re priming the pump, getting the circulation going. If you’re sitting, you’re not burning calories and you’ll gain weight. Being overweight is a gateway to all kinds of chronic diseases.”

A sedentary lifestyle starts to snowball, Isaac said: “You’re diabetic, hypertensive. Your cholesterol goes up, your sugar goes up. You’re a perfect storm. When you’re sitting and not moving, you gain weight. You’re not burning calories. Your heart is challenged a little more than if you’re lying flat, but not really. You have no cardiovascular fitness. You become deconditioned.

“People who are sedentary have a higher risk of having bad outcomes with, for example, the flu or pneumonia. If you’re active, you can fight it, your heart is used to it.” Just standing up is work, he said: “Your back muscles keep balanced. Your legs are having to carry your weight.”

Reuben Miller, owner of PullPin in Carrollton, has always been in good shape. He served in the US Army for five years. He has run the Bataan Memorial Death March in New Mexico and is training for the desert marathon again.

His heart is good and his muscles strong, but he has long dealt with back pain, which was exacerbated by long hours in front of the computer in his work as an illustrator and a brand and product designer.

“I realized I tend to lean forward when I’m drawing or typing,” said Miller, 39, who lives in McKinney.

“You’re always on your butt. Your shoulders are pushed

JUST MOVE IT YOU don’t have to have a standing desk to incorporate movement into your day. Here are some suggestions from Dr. Michael Isaac, director of cardiology quality outcomes at Medical City, and Carrie Camin, assistant vice president of wellness for Methodist Health System: n Get up and walk, even if your job requires you stay in a sedentary position for eight hours, Isaac said. “If you can’t walk, stand up at a table.

When you stand, blood pools in your legs by gravity and your heart has to work to pump it through your body.” n Make movement a priority. “Do you want to be healthy or not?” Isaac asks. n Incorporate movement. Every time your phone rings, stand up, Camin said. Set your watch for every hour, then do something that takes 60 or 120 seconds.

Do push-ups against your desk. Walk up and down a flight of stairs. Walk to a colleague’s desk instead of e-mailing. n Make the most of sitting time. Sit up straight in meetings, Camin said. Raise and lower your heels.

Tap your feet. In the car or at your desk, do mini crunches. “You could have abs of steel by the time you get home,” she said.

forward.” Sitting only worsened the pain. More than once, surgery was an option. But after watching his father’s life go downhill after back surgery, Miller was determined to find alternatives. He started doing research on the dangers of sitting. Five years ago he bought a small standing desk.

“I love it,” said Miller, who transitioned to a larger desk almost two years ago. “It took me about a month to get used to it. I started out feeling a little soreness, but it was my muscles, not my spine. I stuck it out.”

He now stands about 80 percent of the time, he said.

His blood pressure is down; he has “no foggy head.” Any discomfort in his back, hamstrings or quadriceps (which also had been hurting) “100 percent went away when I started standing,” he said.

He also has found one more entirely unanticipated benefit. “I used to have anxiety issues. Not anymore. I attribute a big part of that to standing,” Miller said.

For Lide, a long day of walking in Spain, where her son was stationed with the US Navy, made her realize the extent of her pain. By day’s end, she “was nearly in tears. I thought I won’t be able to do cool things like this much longer. I’ll stop because I’ll know how much pain I’ll be in.”

She began researching ways to alleviate the pain, and found herself reading more and more about the dangers of sitting. Late last year, she bought an inexpensive, adjustable computer stand and pushed away her chair.

Initially, her upper back still hurt, but pain was more muscular than skeletal. After a few weeks though, she was singing standing’s praises.

“I have more energy, less pain,” said Lide, who tends to stand about 70 percent of the time.

Like Miller, she also experienced a surprise benefit to standing. “I don’t think I realized how much you tend to withdraw when you’re in pain,” she said.

“I find I’m much more open and outgoing when I’m not in pain. At work, I’m more sociable and chatty and I attribute that to not having the pain. I’m really happy now, I’m starting to realize.” n

LIFE

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FINDING PASSIONS www.businessmirror.com.ph

Parentlife BusinessMirror

Saturday, August 15, 2015

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B C L The Dallas Morning News

ARE PASSIONS FORCED OR FOUND?

I

B H S The Orange County Register

WAS possibly the first overscheduled child.

While all the other kids in the 1970s were playing in the backyard or watching The Brady Bunch, my mom had me taking modern dance, piano lessons, music theory, art classes, you name it. She wanted to enrich my life—and she has never really tolerated laziness—but I think she was also hoping something would click during one of these many classes and that I’d find my “passion.”

I loved many of those activities (music theory, not so much), but I never felt the ultimate click of, “This is it: my life’s work!” My true love became writing, fairly early on, and I’m not even sure how that happened. I remember sitting at my desk when I was about nine and just writing a story, almost automatically, as if it were

already written and I was just copying it down from a voice inside my brain. No one encouraged me to try writing—it just happened. My passion found me.

It got me wondering how kids find what they love to do. Is it by being immersed in as much as possible, or is it just inevitable?

I also wondered how often children find their passion by being pushed to do something first, then growing to love it. I’ve heard numerous kids say their mom or dad made them participate in an art or a sport for the first year or so, before they grew to adore it on their own. Does that mean a passion can be forced?

Like my own mother, I enrolled my kids in lots of activities (though not as many as I was in; I like them to have some dreamy free time, too). But just as I found writing on my own, my daughter found her passion by herself, as well.

In fourth grade, Lux tried out for the play Way’s End

at her elementary school and got the part of Daisy Duck.

From that moment on, she was hooked. Three years later, she has performed in nine plays and will attend the Orange County School of the Arts’ acting conservatory this fall. I can’t exactly explain how she found what she loves to do at such a young age. Being in a play was her own idea, if I recall. After quitting many other activities—ballet, gymnastics, guitar lessons, swim team—she found that click of connection. I’m not sure if it will last a lifetime, but it brings her pleasure and focus now. I don’t think everyone finds something they really love to do, an art or a sport or an activity that drives them through life and colors their days. I also don’t think everyone needs a focus like that to live a happy life. I just find that a love for writing makes my life feel richer, so I’ve wanted to give that to my kids. But in the end, all that really matters is that they find something— be it a job or a hobby—that brings them joy. n

FOR many families, summer is a time for ice cream cones, water parks and vacations, but when Heather Creekmore tried to get her son enthused about a family trip, all he wanted to do was play on his iPad. “Once my kids have gotten on the screen,” said Creekmore, who writes for the Dallas Moms Blog, “they beg and scream and fuss if they can’t get on the next day.” Screen addiction in kids is a growing concern for many parents. Where TV was once the major preoccupation of children cooped up indoors, there are far more screens vying for their time now, and experts say it’s taking a toll on their abilities to interact socially.

The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that children are spending an average of seven hours a day staring at the screens of TVs, computers and other electronic devices. That’s often only a fraction of their parents’ screen time, which is a big part of the problem, says Dr. Susan Fletcher, a psychologist in Plano.

“What I’m seeing is parents are contributing to it,” she said. “Parents shouldn’t have to justify why they are on their screens. Showing their ability to be responsible is so much more effective.”

Fletcher acknowledges that off-hours screen time is just part of the job for many parents, but she recommends that they establish strict device-free times as a start—and adhere to those rules themselves.

Creekmore has had difficulty with this particularly because she must use a device to post on her blog.

“I’m not addicted to my screen, but I’m not the best role model,” she said. “I do like to distinguish and tell them I’m working when I’m with it. But I don’t think they can see that distinction.”

Often the easy solution to occupying children when doing that work is to toss a screen at them, too. That can aggravate kids’ perception of acceptable screen time.

“It’s a mixed message for kids,” Fletcher said.

“Parents are doing what works, and kids aren’t learning interactive skills.”

Studies have linked prolonged hours with electronic devices to social problems and effects on general mental and physical health. Fletcher suggests being deliberate about children’s expectations. Encouraging social interaction should be key, she said.

“It’s about what our families did before screens,” she said. “You set expectations, teach them how to be a part of a conversation, and set expectations that we are going to interact with each other.”

So the next time the kids are fighting in the back seat or making a scene in public, don’t be so quick to subdue them with “Minecraft” or another episode of My Little Pony. Fletcher says you may regret it down the road.

Pony “Parents need to recognize that if it’s a way to keep kids quiet or they do it themselves, it sets the values for the family,” she said. “Be deliberate about wanting your kids to be well-rounded with social interaction and screen time.

“It’s not going to happen on its own.”

Kids clothes get cooler THOUGH the rainy days seem to be trickling in one day at a time, British-inspired international fashion brand F&F, exclusively distributed around

by Stores Specialists Inc., continues to bring your little ones fun, affordable, and fashionable items to banish the unsettling weather this season.

The brand’s latest collection for babies, toddlers and young kids introduces an understated feel and chic practicality that can be seen across the board. There’s a romantic feel to girls’ wear with pretty tea dresses in floral prints with volume swing skirts and tulle dresses. Casuals see jumpsuits and soft blazers in chiffon with separates in nautical colors of red, white and navy.

Meanwhile, layering is the foundation for boys’ wear, with a spirit of travel through utility cargos and textured knits paired with madras check shirts and shorts in hot, sand-blasted colors and evening blues.

With F&F collection’s laidback vibe, relaxed silhouettes and loose fitting separates, your kids will surely enjoy play-dates with their friends— whether the sun is out or not.

PARENTLIFE

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C  A

MALACAÑANG LAUDS RESULTS OF MAKATI BUSINESS CLUB POLL B B F

Parents set the tone for use of e-devices

because of the monsoon rains but, I think, we can rebound in the latter part of the year,” Formoso said.

Data from the PRA showed that retail sales rose by 1.5 percent on an annual basis in May. This is slightly lower than the 1.8-percent hike posted in April.

Formoso said the country’s hosting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings and other international events, as well as the

A L AC A ÑA NG welcomed the results of the latest survey of the Makati Business Club (MBC), saying that the Office of the President’s +29.5 net satisfaction rating that reaffirmed the international community’s earlier vote of confidence for the Philippines’s improved potentials as an investment haven.

“We thank the business community for giving a renewed vote of confidence to the departments and agencies in the economic and financial-management sector,” Communications Secretary

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 46.1290

Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said on Friday, following the release of the MBC’s Executive Outlook Survey for the second semester of 2015.

In a statement, Coloma said Palace officials were “also pleased to note that the Office of the President improved its standing from No. 36 to No. 27, with a net satisfaction score of + 29.5.”

He said the MBC survey’s results “mirror and affirm the vote of confidence extended by the international community to the country, as reflected in successive upgrades in C  A

GREEK OUTLOOK Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras looks on during a parliamentary session in Athens on Friday, as lawmakers continue a debate in parliament to approve a massive new bailout deal after repeated delays over procedure and dissent within the governing left-wing Syriza party caused the session to last through the night. AP/YANNIS LIAKOS

Cebu Pacific’s H1 profits up 63.6% on cheaper jet fuel B L S. M

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ROFITS of Cebu Air Inc. rose by more than two-thirds in the first semester of 2015, thanks to the savings generated from the declining price of jet fuel.

According to the carrier’s latest financial statement, the operator of budget carrier Cebu Pacific booked P5.2 billion in net profits during the first six months, a 63.6-percent increase from the P3.18 billion the year prior.

In the same comparative periods, the company registered a 10.4-percent increase in revenues to P29.51 billion and a 1.2-percent decline in operating expenses to P23.47 billion.

The robust top line was fueled by the increase in passenger, ancillary and cargo revenues generated during the period.

Cebu Pacific and sister airline Cebgo flew 9.2 million passengers during the six-month period, 8.2 percent more than only 8.5 million customers in 2014.

Airline-ticket prices fell in January this year, as the Civil Aeronautics Board decided to scrap the fuel surcharge from airfares due to the declining jet fuel prices in the international market. Cebu Air itself saw its fuel expenses dropping by 21.5 percent to P9.16 billion.

Data from the International Air Transport Association (Iata) showed

jet fuel costing $63.5 per barrel as of July 31, down 14 percent from the preceding month and 47.4 percent less than the year-ago price.

The airline noted, however, that costs would have been lower if not for the increase in long-haul operating expenses and the impact of foreign-currency adjustments.

As of June 30, the group operated an extensive route network serving 56 domestic destinations and 42 international routes, with a total of 2,631 scheduled weekly flights. It has a fleet of 55 aircraft, comprising of 10 Airbus A319, 31 Airbus A320, six Airbus A330 and eight ATR 72-500 aircraft. Shares of Cebu Air ended on Friday’s trading at P94.15 apiece.

n JAPAN 0.3707 n UK 72.0304 n HK 5.9488 n CHINA 7.2088 n SINGAPORE 33.0390 n AUSTRALIA 33.9733 n EU 51.4800 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.2978 Source: BSP (14 August 2015)

A2

News

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Saturday, August 15, 2015

Retailers seen hiking sales by 5% Continued from A1

Department of Tourism’s (DOT) Philippine Shopping Festival would boost retail sales in the coming months. For one, the Philippine Shopping Festival—a new initiative rolled out by the DOT and the PRA— is seen to spur spending among Filipinos and foreign visitors.

“We’re going to have a Philippine shopping festival from the

last week of October to the first week of November, and it will be nationwide. Before Christmas, ’pag mataas ang spending, meron tayo nito,” Formoso said.

The Philippine Shopping Festival is aimed at making the country a shopping destination and drawing tourists on a seasonal cycle.

“We’re not just targeting the locals, but also international shoppers, like how it is in Hong Kong in

August, which attracts a lot of visitors,” Formoso said.

He said the shopping fest will coincide with APRCE Manila 2015, which is hosted by the PRA. The conference will feature well-known retail experts and draw in international delegates to the Philippines. It is also expected to increase opportunities for partnerships with local retailers. “[APRCE Manila 2015] will be

the gateway and tool of the local retailing industry to contact the international market,” Formoso added in his speech at the media launch.

According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, consumer spending in the Philippines reached a record P1.27 trillion in the first quarter of 2015, slightly higher than the P1.25 trillion recorded in the last quarter of 2014.

Luxe for sale as Cartier, Prada become bargains in Brazil

C

artier and Louis Vuitton, those global symbols of opulence, suddenly look like bargains in one of the world’s economic trouble spots: Brazil.

Because of a plunge in the value of Brazil’s currency, the real, many marquee-name luxury products are now cheaper in São Paulo than they are in New York.

Not that many ordinary Brazilians can afford the bobbles. At Cidade Jardim, an open-air mall with views of São Paulo’s business districts, a Cartier Tank Anglaise watch, in gold and steel, costs 32,700 reais, the equivalent of $9,326. On Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the same watch costs $580 more, taking various sales taxes into account. Similar deals were found at Prada, Tiffany & Co., Salvatore Ferragamo and Christian Louboutin.

The disparity provides another example—albeit a rarefied one— of how the collapse in the real

is rippling through the nation’s economy. Prices of many imports, from mobile phones to wine, have surged because of the weak real, adding to economic angst as Brazil heads for its worst recession in a quarter century.

But many high-end items have actually gotten cheaper in dollar terms because of a quirk of the luxury-goods industry. Louis Vuitton, Prada and many others don’t adjust prices very often, and many tolerate narrower profit margins in Brazil to partially offset high import levies and sales taxes.

“It’s truly a momentary phenomenon,” said Nadya Hamad, the manager of a Louboutin shoe store at the JK Iguatemi mall in São Paulo. “We used to get complaints about how much more expensive things were here. Now our customers are coming in saying how much cheaper it is.”

$1,000 off

How much cheaper? A tour of a

few malls found that among almost two dozen high-end items, 19 are cheaper here than in New York, w ith the sav ings ranging from a few dollars to about $1,000 on a pair of Louboutin crystal-encrusted New Very Riche Strass stilettos. Other bargains included Ferragamo ties, Tiffany watches, Prada wallets and Louis Vuitton purses.

The only outlier was Rolex, which has been adjusting prices in Brazil monthly, according to Nelson Semeoni Junior, owner of the Monte Cristo jewelry store at the JK mall.

The real has fallen 24 percent against the dollar this year, making it the world’s worst-performing major currency, as prominent business and political figures have been swept up in the graft scandal that began with the nation’s state-run oil company. The real, which reached 1.54 per dollar in 2011, now trades around 3.5 per dollar.

Brazil’s jet set

It’s a remarkable turnabout from early this decade, when a strong real turned affluent Brazilians into globe-trotting consumers. Back then, many would fly to New York or Miami to shop. Even including the cost of airfare, Brazilians could get deals by avoiding import levies and sales taxes that can double prices at home.

Today in São Paulo, the deals are hit or miss. Bargains are concentrated in ultra-high-end shops—and they aren’t likely to last. Representatives for the various companies declined to comment.

Sales clerks at Cartier, Louboutin, Louis Vuitton and Prada are warning customers that prices probably will rise soon.

“We’ve been trying to keep prices as is for as long as possible,” Louboutin’s Hamad said. “But| we’re very likely to raise them, sooner rather than later.”

Bloomberg News

news@businessmirror.com.ph

From bananas to phones: How cheaper yuan could reverberate. . .

Continued from A8

Fewer Chinese tourists in Thailand

Thailand, Malaysia Hong Kong and Taiwan could be among the most vulnerable countries because they are both highly reliant on China’s demand for their exports and services while also competing with China in other export markets, Credit Suisse analysts Santitarn Sathirathai and Michael Wan said in a report. They note, for example, that Thailand’s loss in market share of hard-disk drive production to China over recent years could accelerate if the currency trends continue. At the same time, the Southeast Asian country is also at risk because of its reliance on rising numbers of Chinese tourists, who may now find it costlier to travel overseas. Travel and tourism is expected to account for about two-thirds of Thai economic growth this year so “a slowdown in Chinese tourist arrivals is the risk to watch,” the analysts wrote.

A mixed bag for China’s exporters

A weaker currency is generally beneficial for China’s exporters because it makes their goods more affordable for overseas buyers. But there are other factors at play so the issue is not clear-cut. The yuan has weakened about 3 percent against the US dollar since Tuesday, not big enough of a move to overcome sluggish global demand and rising costs in China that are hampering the country’s manufacturing industry,

economists say. Also, the long term impact may be muted because yuan weakness adds pressure on Asian countries, for many of which China is their biggest trading partner, to devalue their own currencies to stay competitive. However, there’s little sign yet of a “currency war” in the making, though some Asian currencies have already responded by weakening on their own, most notably the Malaysian ringgit.

Japan, South Korea steel themselves

Companies competing directly with Chinese rivals may have the most to lose. One big example is the steel industry, with South Korean and Japanese producers bracing for a hit from a weaker yuan. With demand weak at home because of the slowing economy, Chinese steel makers are keen on increasing exports. Yuan weakness would push down the price of Chinese steel, intensifying the supply glut in the global steel market, and driving down prices globally, Mirae Asset Securities said in a report.

Tatsuro Kanno, of Japan’s Kobe Steel, said a cheaper yuan could help China boost steel exports to Japan, posing a competitive challenge to Japanese steel mills. “There is concern that weaker yuan could affect the Japanese market in terms of imports from China,” Kanno said. He said he’s worried “cheaper steel could come in,” though he added, “this is probably at least a month away, but it is a concern for the future.” AP

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Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Saturday, August 15, 2015 A3

Former poll exec hits Comelec for Smartmatic deal

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By Joel R. San Juan

ORMER Elections Commissioner Augusto C. Lagman on Friday expressed disappointment over the decision of the poll body to put the fate of the country’s automated election system in the hands of technology provider Smartmatic-Total Information Management (TIM) Corp. anew.

In an interview, Lagman told reporters that the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to lease 93,977 new optical mark readers (OMRs) from Smartmatic could have been avoided if the poll body only prioritized the repair and diagnostics of the more than 80,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (Pcos) machines.

Lagman insisted that leasing all the voting machines needed for the 2016 elections from Smartmatic is disadvantageous to the government.

“Dapat iyong repair and diagnostics, matagal ng ginawa. Hindi ginawa.

So iyan tuloy ang ginagamit nilang katwiran, na wala ng time. Paano, wala silang ginawa. Kasalanan nila.

Tapos sasabihin wala ng time. Kawawa naman ang Pilipinas,” Lagman said.

Lagman noted that part of the provisions of the contract previously signed by the Comelec and Smartmatic was for the latter to train Comelec staff on diagnostics and repair of the machines.

“Did they do that? If they did, then the trained people could have started the repair late 2014 and the whole of 2015,” Lagman asked.

Monopoly denounced

IN a related development, disqualified bidder Dermalog-Avante-Stone of David Joint Venture denounced the apparent monopoly prevailing in the automation of the elections in the

lagman: “If all the argument has been done by, for example, September 15, then we can have the 80,000 delivered by December.”

country after the Comelec abandoned the refurbishment of the Pcos machines and opted to tap Smartmatic for the lease of all new OMRs. At a news briefing, Dermalog Identification Systems CEO Gunther Mull said monopoly is bad for the market, as it would mean paying more but getting less service.

“I think if we want to get into this market, we are not happy about the monopoly. I don’t know how the Philippines feels about it...I think, for sure, the vendor in this position is trying to monopolize. And I think it’s quite obvious...maybe the Comelec would also appreciate in the future to have more choices. Because monopoly means it’s more expensive and less service,” Mull said.

Dermalog-Avante-Stone of David was the lone bidder in the second round of public bidding for the Pcos machines.

It was eventually ruled as ineli-

gible by the Comelec’s Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) 2 after it submitted incomplete samples of polling paraphernalia and spare parts, as well as lack of specifications on its personnel services.

The joint venture said it was unfortunate that it was not given the chance to refurbish the old Pcos machines, as they would have been able to deliver all the repaired 81,896 machines by December.

“If all the argument has been done by, for example, on September 15, then we can have the 80,000 delivered by December,” Avante Tech International Technologies CEO Kevin Chung said.

Failed biddings

THE Comelec conducted two failed biddings for the refurbishment of the Pcos machines, prompting it to abandon the option.

But despite being against monopoly, officials of the joint venture said they do not have any plans of challenging the decision of the commission.

“We will accept any decision of the Comelec, 100 percent. Sure, I can tell you, we will not do what some other competitors in our market do: to go to court. We won’t do this,” Mull said.

Instead, the joint venture said they are looking ahead at the planned refurbishment of the Pcos machines

Cabinet men free to back Mar’s rivals–Aquino

By Butch Fernandez

P

RESIDENT Aquino has assured that his Cabinet officials are free to support a presidential candidate other than Interior Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II, whom Aquino had earlier endorsed.

In a chance interview, Aquino said he was “not dictating” on anyone when asked if the Cabinet officials can opt to back their own chosen candidates in the 2016 presidential derby.

“Siyempre naman. Hindi naman kami nagdidiktahan…parating consensus building kami.” Aquino told reporters.

“Pero ’yung reports na ganyan e political season, puwedeng mag-allege. At the end of the day, may pruweba ba?”

The President, however, sought to play down reports that the Cabinet was divided in supporting Roxas’s presidential bid. “Not from my perspective. Baka you should ask... the others.”

Duterte tops surveys

DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, meanwhile, once again topped the surveys conducted separately by two radio stations.

Duterte bested eight other presidential contenders when a radio station held a two-hour survey from 2:00 p.m. to 3:55 p.m. on Wednesday. The anchors asked their listeners: “Sa mga presidentiables, kung ngayon magaganap ang eleksyon, sino ang inyong iboboto?”

None of the presidentiables’ names were given, and it was up to the public to vote whomever they want to become the next president of the country.

The listeners sent their votes via short messaging system (SMS).

At exactly 3:55 p.m., the votes were counted and Duterte topped the list, garnering 30.71 percent, or 797 votes, from the total of 2,595 listeners who participated in the survey.

Sen. Grace Poe landed at second place with 427 votes, while Vice President Jejomar Binay got 401 at third place.

Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer, Interior Sec. Roxas, was at fourth place with 269 votes.

Other perceived presidential contenders who were chosen by the listeners in the poll survey were: fifth-Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., 241 votes; sixth-Sen. Francis Escudero, 192 votes; seventhformer Sen. Panfilo Lacson, 97 votes; eighth-Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, 96 votes; and ninth-Sen. Antonio Trillanes, 75 votes.

Duterte also topped the latest online presidential survey conducted by radio station dwIZ dubbed, “#BosesniJuan 2016 Presidential Survey.”

The nationwide survey has been going on for the past weeks, where the radio station issues the weekly results of the survey in their web site.

For the July 31 and August 6 surveys, Duterte was number one in the survey results.

According to the dwIZ web site, “Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte continues to strengthen his position among the presidentiables by ranking first in Aliw Broadcasting Corporation [dwIZ 882 AM and 97.9 Home Radio Natural] #BOSESNIJUAN2016 political survey as of August 6, with rating of 27 percent, while Senator Grace Poe is at second place with a rating of 23 percent.”

DWIZ asked the question, “Kung ngayon ang eleksyon, sino ang iboboto mo?”

Roxas told: Leave DILG now

INTERIOR Sec. Roxas should have quit his Cabinet post irrevocably after the President anointed him as the presidential candidate of the LP in the May 9, 2016 election.

Party-list Rep. Carlos T. Zarate of Bayan Muna on Friday practically pleaded with Roxas to resign since “he

is clearly pursuing his presidential ambitions.”

“As the so-called anointed one, Roxas now has practically at his disposal the vast machinery and resources of the government. Thus, questions about the sources of his early massive campaign ads are not outlandish,” Zarate stressed.

Presidental Spokesman Edwin Lacierda was miffed when Zarate questioned the funding sources of Roxas for his television ads, in effect implying that state funds must have been used to prop up the image of Roxas and transform him into a man with a common touch rather than as a scion of the wealthy Araneta clan.

“That you already have the Presidential spokesman answering questions for Mar, speaks volume of how the ruling party takes advantage of the government machinery to push this early his candidacy,” Zarate added.

Bayan Muna also asked Lacierda to resign his post since he has been acting as the spokesman of Roxas and the LP rather than as a mouthpiece of President Aquino, something which Sen. Francis Escudero hinted at several weeks ago.

Continuing his blast, Zarate said the budget of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) under Roxas zoomed from P65.6 billion in 2010 to P104.5 billion in 2015, with lump sum appropriations of P13.7 billion in 2015 alone.

“Surely, DILG can play around with such a huge budget and use the same to buy political support, to the detriment of taxpayers.”

“We have pointed out how huge lump sums are vulnerable to abuse for corruption and patronage, especially with Malacañang’s brazen moves to perpetuate the pork barrel system through redefining the meaning of savings in the proposed national budget,” Zarate added. With Marvyn Benaning

after the 2016 polls. “We are not looking only at this [2016] elections. We are also looking at the future, and see how we can establish our presence here and contribute to the elections,” Mull said.

On Thursday the Comelec announced its decision to opt for the lease of 93,977 OMRs from Smartmatic for use in the 2016 elections.

Comelec Chairman Andres D. Bautista also disclosed that the poll body is no longer pursuing the refurbishment of the 81,896 Pcos machines, at least for next year’s elections.

Following their extensive consultations with stakeholders, Bautista said they have finally realized that refurbishment of the old Pcos machines is no longer feasible due to time constraints.

“Rush jobs are more expensive and present greater technical risk,” he said.

However, the Pcos machines will not be totally put to waste, as the Comelec said the refurbishment and upgrade of the machines will be bidded out for the 2019 elections.

‘Most viable, practical, safest’

THE lease of the new OMRs, according to the poll chief, is the most “viable, practical and safest” option to pursue in order to ensure the credibility and integrity of the 2016 elections.

Aside from the lease of new OMRs

and the refurbishment of the existing Pcos machines, the Comelec also considered the hybrid system as one of the options.

But, Bautista said, the Comelec ruled that the hybrid system “is not viable for 2016,” considering its high cost, which is approximately P25 billion to P36 billion and “operational and logistical challenges” in relation to the manual voting and counting and “legal doubt” given the pollautomation law of 2007 (Republic Act 9369).

On July 10 the commission en banc approved the SBAC recommendation to award the contract for the lease of 23,000 OMRs in favor of Smartmatic for P2.2 billion.

After denying the motion for reconsideration filed by losing bidder Indra Sistemas and prospective bidder Miru System, the Comelec issued a notice of award to Smartmatic.

Meanwhile, the lease contract for the 93,977 new OMRs was bidded out on June 9, with an approved budget of P7.867 billion.

Only Smartmatic and Indra submitted bid proposals, but the Comelec-SBAC 1 recommended the award of the contract to Smartmatic, which bidded P7.862 billion to undertake the project.

T he Come le c d i squ a l i f ie d I n d r a a f t e r it s u b m it t e d a nonresponsive bid.

DND irate over Chinese activities in Spratlys

By Rene Acosta

T

HE government could no longer be appeased by China, even with the latter’s announcement that it will stop reclamation activities on the West Philippine Sea. China earlier said it will stop building artificial islands in the disputed area on the West Philippine Sea, but it would also put up structures in the reclaimed islands in support of activities, like search and rescue operations.

“For whom are those search and rescue facilities for? Is it for our ships and installations that they are threatening to destroy?” Defense Spokesman Peter Paul Galvez said.

Since these structures sit on Philippine territory, then Galvez understood that they were directed against the country’s vessels, including Navy ships.

One of the developed reefs, Subi, has been the source of at least six cases of harrasments or challenges of Philippine patrols in the area, with China claiming the Filipino pilots were entering Chinese territory.

China has even built a runway on the reclaimed reef, which military officials said could accommodate Chinese aircraft that could struck deeper into Philippine territory.

Hit by consistent criticisms from the international community and even by members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), China has declared it was stopping its reclamation activity, but later said that some structures must be erected, including facilities for search and rescue.

But Galvez said China should do nothing other than dismantle the artificial islands that it has built.

“Regardless of what supposedly good details the Chinese leadership informs the peace-focused and rules-based international community, they illegally and blatantly continue

with their aggression as these are mere elements of their island building militarization which needs to stop and be dismantled,” Galvez said.

“Again, this is what we’ve been warning the international community about. It has become all too evident that the Chinese leadership had no intention of honoring its commitment to the Asean Declaration of Conduct all along. They’ve said one thing and have done another,” Galvez added.

“They are simply trying to cover their track. This is the worst stage of all, this is the militarization stage, and it must be stopped, otherwise, it will be the tipping point that will plunge the entire region including the peace loving Chinese communities into a deeper and irreversible crisis,” he also said.

Meanwhile, no assets and equipment will be coming to the Philippine military from Japan yet, until Tokyo’s legislators have relaxed their Constitution, allowing Japan to extend military assistance.

Gen. Hernando Iriberri, Armed Forces chief of staff, said that the Japanese Diet must pass laws that would allow Tokyo to sell or extend assistance in terms of assets and equipment to the Philippine military.

Japan has already reinterpreted its Constitution and it allows it to aid a key ally like the United States when it is attacked.

The Navy has submitted a “wish list” to Japan that contains the assets and equipment that it wanted to obtain from Tokyo.

The list is already being looked into.

But Iriberri said Japanese legislators must relax Japan’s Constitution before Tokyo could be allowed to assist the Philippines militarily through arms and equipment.

W hile it is true that Japan will be providing brand new patrol vessels for the Coast Guard, Iriberri said the transfer was for a civilian office and even for a civilian project.

Economy

A4 Saturday, August 15, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

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Post-Yolanda ODA-funded rehab projects reached $2.16 billion in Dec 2014–Neda

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By Cai U. Ordinario

W

he National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) estimated that Supertyphoon Yolanda-related official development assistance (ODA) projects amounted to $2.16 billion by the end of 2014.

The amount, the Neda said, covered 39 active programs and projects funded by both ODA loans and grants. This list only included ODA projects implemented by government line agencies. “[These projects and programs were] implemented in support of post-typhoon relief and/or recovery, as identified by implementing agencies and development partners,” the Neda said in the 2014 ODA Portfolio Review.

The Neda added that the bulk of the amount, or $1.88 billion, was composed by ODA loans for five projects, and the remaining amount of $282.91 million were ODA grants covering 34 projects. The two biggest loans, worth $1 billion, were funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank.

The ADB funded the $500-million Emergency Assistance for Relief and Recovery from Typhoon Yolanda, while the World Bank financed the $500-million Second Development Policy Loan to Foster More Inclusive Growth: Supplemental Financing for Posttyphoon Recovery.

Two other loans on the list were also financed by the ADB. This included the $372.1-million KalahiCIDSS National Community-Driven Development Project and the $70million Agrarian Reform Communities Project II (ARCP 2).

The other loan on the list was financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. This was the $438.33-million Postdisaster Standby Loan.

“Various organizations also

report on DP [disaster-preparedness] operations in the country, and their corresponding assistance on posttyphoon relief and recovery. For post-Yolanda response, in particular, some of these organizations include the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Philippines, the DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs] and the DBM [Department of Budget and Management],” the Neda said.

Meanwhile, out of the 34 ODA grant projects, the most number, or nine projects, were funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAid), followed by five projects funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The USAid projects amounted to $27.95 million, while the FAO projects amounted to $30.64 million.

In terms of value, the largest ODA grant amount came from the World Food Programme (WFP), which extended $96.68 million. The bulk of the amount, or $68.71 million, was used as Assistance to the People Affected by the Super Typhoon Haiyan.

The agencies that had the least ODA grants were the International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad), worth $3.72 million; and the Chinese government, $4.05 million.

The Ifad financed only one project, the Haiyan Agricultural Rehabilitation Programme, while the Chinese government financed two projects, which covered the provision of 540 units of prefabricated houses for Haiyan victims, worth $3.23 million, and rice donation for Haiyan victims, worth $0.82 million.

SMEs told: Invest in marketing

By Roderick L. Abad

W

ITH barely four months before the economic integration of the 10 memberstates of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) comes into effect later this year, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are encouraged to start investing at least 5 percent of their annual revenues in marketing.

Agora BEST Talks Chairman Donald Lim told the BusinessMirror that marketing is somewhat lacking in most of the small-scale businesses in the country today.

Instead, they are more focused on selling their trade sans a detailed plan as to how they will push it further to the market.

Marketing and selling are two different things, he pointed out.

The former “is all about selling a product that is so compelling that people line up that you don’t have to do any act of selling.”

While Filipino entrepreneurs are known for being passionate of what they do in business, he noted that they give less regard about marketing projects that would help grow their businesses.

“They don’t think about expansion, they don’t think about collaboration with others. They have the wild ideas but to make it commercially viable it requires business partners,” said Lim, who is also the chief digital officer of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.

Since the Philippines has an SMEdriven economy, as around 96 percent of the registered businesses in the country are in small size, players

in this category should now invest in marketing to be able to cope with their peer enterprises in an open market once the consolidation of economies in the region commences

by December 2015.

“If you do not market, you will die. So it’s going to be a battlefield.

Any company today will wake up realizing that they will not grow without marketing, especially when Asean integration comes in,” said Lim. While 5 percent is the ideal portion of a yearly revenue that should be appropriated for marketing of a certain business, he suggested that entrepreneurs should rather set aside at most 25 percent so as to compete more with the growing demands of the business landscape.

As entrepreneurs today are mostly considered “millennials” who are very “digital natives,” they can take advantage of the latest technologies to advance their businesses.

“I have very high hopes on the second wave of entrepreneurs. They are armed with technology and they begin to realize that there is so much to do with it,” Lim stressed.

To empower more entrepreneurs, the Philippine Marketing Association (PMA) is bringing back the Agora Circle Conference to the 36th Agora Awards this year, where they can learn firsthand personal stories of the awardees on what inspired them to create their winning marketing campaigns.

Also, they can be nominated until September 8 by a third party to the awards’ Entrepreneurship category divided into small-, medium- and large-scale businesses. With Mark Tarre

China beats US in trade volume with Asean nations

Chopper over the port

A private helicopter early this week hovers above the Manila International Container Port in Manila, where container vans await for transport. The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that exports fell 3.3 percent in June, the third month in a row of annual declines in shipments. Exports fell 3.3 percent to $5.28 billion in June, year-on-year. Electronics and semiconductors, the top category in shipments accounting for 46.2 percent of total exports for the month, rose an annual 9.5 percent, reversing a 7.5-percent fall in May. Alysa Salen

ERC sets target to finalize revision of rules on meter-deposit refund

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he Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will finalize amendments to the rules governing the refund of meter deposits before the year ends.

This, after various distribution utilities (DUs), including the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), proposed to revise the ERC rules promulgated in 2008.

In particular, the ERC directed the DUs to place all unclaimed meterdeposits refund and accumulated interest in an escrow account in a bank for 10 years. After 10 years, all unclaimed meter deposits in escrow would be escheated or waived in favor of the State.

However, instead of an escrow arrangement, Meralco proposed that unclaimed meter deposits should be deposited in a single bank account under the name of the DU in trust for the claimants for two years.

The DU shall cause the publication of a notice to all customers that their meter-deposit refunds can be claimed until December 31, 2017, Meralco added.

Thereafter, all unclaimed meter deposits, including accrued

interests, shall revert to the government through an escheat proceeding.

The ERC said that a number of DUs claimed that they could not fully implement the ERC directive to place in escrow the unclaimed deposits due to insufficient records to identify the amount of meter deposits and the names of the registered customers; unclaimed meter deposits even by those customers who terminated contracts; and deceased registered customers left numerous heirs so entitlement to the refund becomes a civil issue.

Therefore, the ERC said, DUs thus could not place the unclaimed meter deposits and accrued interest in escrow. Besides, an escrow account would entail a longer refund processing time, which will bring inconvenience for the customers, the DUs argued.

“These were some issues and comments that were raised during the public consultation that needs to be clarified by the ERC. The ERC is targeting to finalize the rules before the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, added the regulator,” it said.

The consultation was held on July 21.

Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co., for its part, asked that a clearer definition of active and inactive customers. Aboitiz Power, meanwhile, sought clarification on the methodology to be used for the computation of interest rates.

The ERC, in its promulgation of the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers (Magna Carta) and its Guidelines in July 2004 and November 2004, exempted residential customers from paying meter deposits, since the meters are the capital properties of DUs. The Magna Carta contained a directive to the DUs to refund meter deposits. Then in April 2006, the same directive to refund was applied to nonresidential customers through the implementation of Distribution Services and Open Access Rules.

In June 2008 the ERC promulgated the Rules to Govern the Refund of Meter Deposits to Residential and Nonresidential customers.

The ERC’s original directive was that the refund process and placing in escrow the unclaimed deposits should have been completed by December 2013. Lenie Lectura

Young vendor on duty A boy watches over a family slipper stall in Manila while his parents and sibling take a brief break. Mist of the slippers on display and sale are sold at a reasonable price, ranging from P80 to P100 a pair. Nonie Reyes

A SHINGTON— China has outstripped the United States in the volume of its goods trade with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said.

“China has surpassed the United States in goods trade with…Asean countries and trades a similar amount of services,” the report issued on Thursday stated. “In 2014 China’s total goods trade of $480 billion was more than twice the US total goods trade of $220 billion.”

Limited available data indicated that in 2011 the United States and China each traded about $37 billion in services with Asean countries, according to the GAO. However, from 2007 through 2012, US foreign direct investment flows to Asean countries of $96 billion exceeded China’s reported $23 billion.

“From 2009 through 2014, US agencies provided approximately $6 billion in financing for US firms in Asean countries,” the report noted.

“China reports billions of dollars more in financing than the United States worldwide, but data on China’s financing in Southeast Asia are unavailable.”

The 10 Asean countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Thailand, Laos and the Philippines have a combined population of 600 million and are one of the fastest-growing economic regions in the world.

The US GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars. PNA/Sputnik

Napocor awards contracts worth P204.9M for supply of 59 gensets

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By Lenie Lectura

HE National Power Corp.

(Napocor) has awarded a total of P204.9 million worth of contracts to private suppliers for the supply of 59 generator sets (gensets) to various off-grid areas.

These gensets, with a total of 11.28 megawatts, will be distributed to 52 small power utilities group (SPUG) plants aimed at improving the reliability of power supply in these far-flung areas that are not connected to the country’s main power grid.

“Napocor continues to be proactive in bringing electricity to more far-flung areas and in upgrading our services to our 291 SPUG plants across the country. We believe this will effectively boost the economic viability of off-grid communities, and will ensure the infrastructure and program support necessary for tourism and countryside development,” Napocor President Ma. Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita said.

The state-run corporation also announced recently that new SPUG plants on Calaguas Island in Camarines Norte and Camandag Island in Western Samar are presently under construction. Sta. Rita noted that another batch of 90 more gensets is under bidding. These will benefit another 55 SPUG plants.

The capacity addition and infrastructure projects in SPUG areas are the only portion of the Napocor budget funded by the national government. All other operational expenses of the corporation come from the company’s internally generated funds.

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briefs

new choppers boost pAF capability

The Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) mobility and close-air support capabilities will be greatly boosted with the arrival of eight Bell-412 EP combat utility helicopters and two attack versions of the AgustaWestland AW-109Es on Monday. This was disclosed by PAF Spokesman Enrico Canaya in a message to the Philippines News Agency on Friday.

“The additional helicopters will certainly help increase [the] capability of the PAF. The Bell-412EPs have better lifting capacity, suitable for mobility of troops and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, while the AW-109Es will augment the existing MG-520 gunships in close-air support to ground forces when needed,” he added. Turnover and blessing of the 10 helicopters will be done at Villamor Air Base, Pasay City, on Monday next week. Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin will be the guest of honor and speaker for this occasion. The Department of National Defense in March 2014 signed a P4.8-billion contract with the Canadian government for the delivery of eight Bell 412EP helicopters. The order for eight attack AW-109Es was signed in June 2013 and is worth P3.44 billion. PNA

Cebu-based shipping firm to serve Oroquieta City

OROQUIETA CITY, Misamis Occidental—A Cebu-based company is investing in the local shipping industry that would link this city by sea transport to the Visayas region through Cebu City.

This, as the city government is finalizing the negotiations with the Cebu-based Robles Shipping Inc. to ply the Oroquieta-Cebu route and vice-versa. The opening of the Oroquieta-Cebu route is in line with the plans and programs of Mayor Jason Almonte to make the Dagatan port fully operational.

Almonte told the Philippines News Agency that a Korean-made roll-on, roll-off passenger-cargo vessel of the Robles Shipping Inc. is set to ply the Oroquieta-Cebu route and vice-versa starting October this year. Almonte said the ship, MV Oroquieta Star, is a 600-passenger capacity with economy and tourist accommodations. It can also accommodate assorted cargoes.

The boat trip from this city to Cebu City is 12 hours. PNA

Pampanga capitol allots P8.74 million for SPES CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The provincial government will allot P8.74 million as its counterpart fund for the Special Program for Employment of Student (SPES) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Gov. Lilia Pineda said the Sangguniang Panlalawigan has already approved P8,736,960 to help SPES beneficiaries, who are composed of poor but deserving students.

Under Section 1 of Republic Act 9547, or the Special Program for Employment of Student, 60 percent of the salary of beneficiaries shall be paid by the local government unit, while the remaining 40 percent by the DOLE. At present, there are a total of 1,916 SPES beneficiaries in the province, 843 of them already received their salaries.

The SPES student-beneficiary who worked for 20 days received P7,600 each.

They were assigned to different municipalities in the province, where they worked as tax mappers, barangay survey personnel, encoders, school assistants, food-service crew, gasoline attendants and promotion merchandisers.

The remaining 1,073 student-beneficiaries will receive their salaries in the coming months.

PESO head Luningning Vergara said the SPES is a year-round program that aimed to help poor but deserving students to pursue their education by providing them jobs. PNA

Saturday, August 15, 2015 A5

Palace: P50.6-B state workers pay-hike plan ready in 60 days

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By Butch Fernandez

alacañang said that it expects the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to submit the proposed P50.6-billion state workers pay-hike plan for Congress approval “within two months.”

Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. told reporters on Thursday the DBM is already “preparing a proposal based on a compensation and benefits survey,” but would first present this to President Aquino and the Cabinet before its submission to Congress by October.

Asked when would government

workers receive their salary increases that Sen. Ralph Recto estimated to add up to P3,000 under the original proposal, Coloma said the pay-hike plan was already included in the proposed 2016 budget bill.

“As stated by Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad at the Senate and House hearings, the government has

included in the 2016 National Expenditure Program a proposed allocation of P50.6 billion for the possible increase in salaries of government employees,” Coloma replied.

The secretary explained that the Aquino administration had already implemented the third tranche of the Salary Standardization Law in 2012, “hence, the proposal being prepared will constitute the fourth phase.” Coloma pointed out that the proposed salary-standardization measure “will be over and above the implementation of the performanceenhancement incentive program for which an amount of P17 billion had been allocated.”

“According to Secretary Abad, the proposal will be presented to Congress within two months,” he added At the same time, Coloma confirmed that the Aquino administration is also in the process of working out a consensus on proposed remedial legislations pending in Congress

on “income-tax cuts” that would benefit millions of workers in the private and public sector.

“The government continues to work with Congress on initiatives to make the country’s taxation system more progressive,” Coloma said.

He acknowledged that there are a number of pending bills proposing such tax cuts, but indicated that finance officials still have to asses its impact on government’s efficient delivery of public services to the people.

“There is need to ensure that overall government revenues will be maintained, if not increased further, to be able to fund important development projects,” he said.

Moreover, Coloma added, the government also needs “to improve the tax to GDP [gross domestic product] ratio from 13.6 percent in 2014 to between 16 percent and 18 percent in 2016 comparable to the level of those attained by other members of Asean.”

PSHS calls on Math and Science wizards to take NCE LAOAG CITY—The Philippine Science High School (PSHS) is now accepting applicants for the National Competitive Examination set on October 3.

Dr. Ronnalee Orteza, Campus Director of PSHS-Ilocos Region campus based in San Ildefonso, Ilocos Sur, said on Friday that Grade 6 pupils who belong to the upper 10 percent of the class are highly encourage to apply and become a scholar of the country’s leading science high school that prepares its students to become world-class Filipino scientists dedicated to nation-building.

Set on August 24 as deadline for filing of application, Orteza said PSHS is offering at least 1,250 available slots for next school year.

Now with 15 growing campuses nationwide, PSHS offers an education that is humanistic in spirit, global in perspective and patriotic in orientation. It is based on a curriculum that emphasizes on Science and Mathematics, and the development of well-rounded individuals. A PSHS scholar is entitled to free tuition fee, free loan of textbooks, monthly stipend of P4,000 and uniform, transportation, and living allowances for low income groups. PNA

PHL industries gross revenue improved in Q1

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ross revenue of major industries in the country has improved in January-toMarch 2015 period, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported.

“Total Gross Revenue Index of key industries grew by 7.4 percent in the first quarter of 2015, higher than the 6.3-percent growth posted a year ago,” the PSA said.

Highest growth was recorded in real-estate sector, expanding by 13.7 percent in the first quarter of 2015, from a 13.4-percent growth in the same period last year.

Gross revenue index of transportation and communication sector posted a 12.3-percent growth in Q1 2015. However, it slowed down from a 15.7-percent growth last year.

Manufacturing sector had a faster expansion on revenues in Q1 2015 against last year, from a 2.2-percent

gross revenue index to 10.1 percent.

Private services sector gained 7.4 percent in Q1 this year, from last year’s same period of 5.1 percent.

On the other hand, decrements in gross revenue index were recorded in sectors of trade, which fell to 6.1 percent, and finance, which drop to 3.9 percent. For total employment index, it accelerated to 3.8 percent in Q1 2015, from 1.4 percent in Q1 2014.

Gains were posted in sectors of real estate, with growth of 15.3 percent; private services, with an 8-percent growth; finance, with a 7.9-percent growth; manufacturing, with a 3.7-percent growth; mining and quarrying, with a 3.3-percent growth; and trade, with a 0.1-percent growth.

Contraction in employment index were noted in sectors of electricity and water, as well as transport and communication. PNA

Anti-pilferage measure

A Manila Electric Co. lineman fixes a set of household power meters atop a post on a street in Manila. Power meters in most of the inner cities of Metro Manila are placed high on poles as part of a measure to prevent power pilferage. ALYSA SALEN

JSDF head calls for improvements in PHL-Japan HA/DR cooperation

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apan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) Chief of Staff Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano on Friday said that there is a need for the Philippines and Japan to improve their humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) cooperation.

Kawano arrived in the Philippines on Wednesday and will stay until Friday to observe the various activities under the Pacific Partnership 2015 (PP15), the largest multilateral HA/DR preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-AsiaPacific region.

“Aside from defense-equipment cooperation, Admiral Kawano stressed the importance of capacity-building cooperation with the Philippines, particularly on matters

concerning HA/DR,” Department of National Defense (DND) Spokesman Dr. Peter Paul Galvez said.

The Japanese military official also acknowledged that the conduct of staff-to-staff talks between the JSDF and the Armed Forces of the Philippines would enable the two countries to discuss potential areas of cooperation.

“He also raised the need to share information to address common security issues. He expressed his belief that Japan and the Philippines share the same values,” Galvez said.

He added that Kawano acknowledged that the Philippines-Japan Memorandum on Defense Cooperation and Exchanges had served as a framework for increasing high-level

exchanges between the defense and military establishments of the two countries. A notable increase was seen since the signing of the agreement.

“Admiral Kawano also expressed interest in conducting more exercises with the Philippines in the future, particularly amphibious landing exercises and amphibious operations. The SND [Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin] has welcomed Admiral Kawano’s interest in more activities with the Philippines, emphasizing that with regard to conducting such activities, a VFA [Visiting Forces Agreement] with Japan would be needed,” Galvez said.

Galvez added that Kawano also told Filipino defense officials that

the national security legislation was already in the Diet.

He shared that the (Japanese) public does not understand the recent developments necessitating commensurate changes in Japan’s security policies but assured that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is bent on pushing for national security legislation which could allow the JSDF to expand activities with the Philippines.

“On regional security issues, he mentioned that China is attempting to change the status quo in the region with its reclamation activities. In response, the SND pointed out that stronger defense relations between the two countries will promote security and stability in the region,” Galvez said. PNA

Construction of Iloilo’s P11.2-billion multipurpose dam seen to start in January

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LOILO CITY—The actual construction of the P11.2-billion Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Stage II (JRMP II) in Calinog town is expected to start in January next year, according to Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. On Wednesday the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples

(NCIP) has approved the consent to construct the project in their area.

Defensor said that the NCIP’s approval of the consent is a welcome development, since it is needed in order to proceed with the construction of the project.

However, Defensor clarified that the project will still have to undergo

another three months of bidding.

He explained that the JRMP II is a foreign-assisted project, and the funds will come from the Korea Export Import Bank.

“The contractor who will implement this project should be a Korean contractor or a Korean company, and the bidding should be in

accordance with the Korean laws,” Defensor explained.

As to the people who are opposing the project, Defensor said that he cannot expect unanimity in all events, undertakings, activities and all the functions of the government, since we are in a democratic country.

“We cannot expect everybody

to agree with all that what we do in this government, even how well meant is our program and our plans,” Defensor said. The JRMP II is the biggest project of the National Irrigation Administration.

Once completed, it could irrigate 32,000-hectare riceland, which will also open the opportunity to improve

the economy of Iloilo and to contribute to the country’s rice production, since agriculture is a critical activity to improve the lives of the people.

Defensor pointed out that the Korean loan for the project has less than 1-percent interest, which is very favorable to the Philippine government. PNA

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Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

BSP made the right move

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E wrote the other day that policy-makers at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) are suddenly facing a more difficult job in the wake of China’s currency devaluation.

The BSP Monetary Board (MB)—which is responsible for deciding the level of basic interest rates—met on Thursday, and decided not to make any changes to current Philippine interest rates. Further, the bank reserve requirements, the amount of physical cash as a ratio of deposits the banks must maintain, were also left unchanged.

We firmly believe that the MB made the correct decision.

In August 2014 the BSP raised interest rates in response to rising inflation. The purpose of that policy decision was to limit the expansion of credit and cash in the system, as inflation was growing potentially above the BSP’s targets. Partially as a result of that action, inflation has decreased significantly during the past year.

However, the Philippine economy has definitely stumbled and is in a declining trend. We expect that the economic growth numbers for the second quarter of 2015—to be released soon—are going to be below expectations.

It is not that the nation’s growth will be bad, but that it will not be as high as hoped for, in line with the government’s target for 2015.

There are those who are disappointed that the BSP did not lower rates, in an effort to stimulate economic growth by making borrowing more attractive.

The global banking system is a near-disaster, because the central banks are trying to “stimulate” and manipulate economies. We do not want to adopt the same policies where the central bank interferes with market forces.

The BSP mandate is clear: “To promote and maintain price stability.” Its primary purpose beyond keeping the banking system strong through supervision of the industry is to keep the money supply large enough to fuel the economy, and small enough to keep inflation in check. That is what it has been successfully doing. It has no role, whatsoever, unlike in the West, which is to push economic growth.

The mandate of the US Federal Reserve is to adjust policy to achieve “maximum employment, stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates.” In other words, keep inflation in check and do whatever is necessary to spur growth. That policy mandate has failed.

In its statement, the BSP did not mention economic growth at all, and that is good. Its focus is on inflation. While inflation is very low right now, and while it might have been politically prudent to lower rates in the hope that economic growth would be a side benefit, the BSP said the current low inflation is due to increased supply, such as seen with low oil prices.

But conditions could change at any time, and the BSP is correct about that.

There is too much confusion right now because of the Chinese currency devaluation, and no one can predict what the results will be in the months to come. The BSP must continue to keep its eyes on the longer-term horizon. It made the correct decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

Moving according to the plan John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

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T is payday weekend, and you might be traveling down your favorite shopping mall with a firm expectation that it will be open for your business.

When you make a purchase at the department store, you are reasonably sure that the merchandise is worth the price you are paying and if it turns out to be defective, the store will make it good. You trust the price on the item is the same amount that you will pay at the cash register.

The one thing that you do not think about, but in which you must place all your confidence, is that the store will accept payment with those pieces of paper in your wallet that have the word “PISO” printed on them.

Confidence in the money, businesses and government is what an economic system runs on.

Confidence runs in cycles, and we are about to experience a cycle change at the end of September. The Economic Confidence Model from Martin Armstrong has tracked three turning points in the confidence cycle in the last few years. A bottom occurred in mid-2011, a minor top in late 2013, and another minor bottom a year late in 2014.

Find a monthly chart of the Philippine Composite Index, and you can see similar turning points in the index, not exact, of course, but close enough to be more than coincidental. E-mail me, and I will send you the chart.

We are going into a major top turning point in the cycle at the end of September, and this will not bottom out until 2020, although the first down leg will last one year.

Economies run on confidence.

We can talk about technological breakthroughs and other economic game changers, but look at when they happened. Putting a man on the moon came out of the confidence of the postwar era, when the global economy was growing rapidly, lifting millions out of poverty. The period between World War I—The Roaring Twenties—and the depression brought things from instant coffee and stainless steel to penicillin and color movies, all important technological advances.

The breakdown of economic confidence is in process. We are seeing

it in the dramatic fall of commodity prices, like crude oil. It is easy to say crude oil and copper prices are falling because China’s economy is dropping. But why is that economy on the slide? Because its people have lost confidence in the government’s ability to keep the economy going.

China’s generally unexpected devaluation of its currency is only another piece falling into place. When the Chinese government itself loses confidence in its ability to firmly manage its economy, you know things are turning sour. Financial markets are in chaos, because if you can’t have confidence in the stability of the “greatest economy in the history of the world,” who can you trust?

After September, we will see a building rush to the US dollar as a safe haven. Ask yourself, which currency would you rather have in your pocket? Any place on Earth that will sell you a beer will also take US dollars in payment.

This dollar rush may take some time to evolve—several months or longer—but it will happen. We have seen a massive outflow of foreign funds (read dollars) from the local stock market all year long. At some point of critical dollar-buying mass, the US stock market will boom.

Think about it. If you are sitting on a few hundred million dollars, what are you going to do with it? Buy US condominiums that you might not be able to sell in the future? Put that money in a bank account at near-zero return? You will not buy commodities when consumer and

business confidence is falling along with economic growth. But you will go into a liquid investment that may appreciate—stocks.

The Philippines will also be subject to this trend change. We are seeing it progressing and if secondquarter economic growth comes in below expectations, that may be a confirmation. If growth is good, then maybe the Philippines has dodged a bullet—but don’t count on it.

Money often runs scared but equally as quickly changes direction. And the direction change will be into economies and stock markets that offer genuine growth and genuine value.

Countries with public- and private-sector debt denominated in US dollars will prosper. The Philippines will; Indonesia will not. Countries that are dependent on exporting commodities like minerals (Australia) will be hurting. Governments with high government foreign debt to gross domestic product ratio are in trouble, like Malaysia (63 percent), while the Philippines’s external debt is 32 percent.

Fasten your seat belt because it is going to get turbulent, but the Philippines and the Philippine Stock Exchange will have a safe landing.

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.

China’s devaluation becomes Japan’s problem William Pesek

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BLOOMBERG VIEW

mong the clearest casualties of China’s devaluation is the Bank of Japan (BOJ). The chances were never high that Governor Haruhiko Kuroda was going to be able to unwind his institution’s aggressive monetary experiment anytime soon. But the odds are now lower than even skeptics would have previously believed.

The real question, though, is what China’s move means more broadly for Abenomics. A sharply devalued yen, after all, is the core of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s gambit to end Japan’s 25year funk. Abenomics is said to have three parts, but monetary easing has really been the only one. Fiscal expansion was neutered by last year’s salestax hike, while structural reform has arrived only in a brief flurry, not the avalanche needed to enliven aging Japan and get companies to raise wages.

China’s devaluation tosses two immediate problems Japan’s way. The first is reduced exports. As Beijing guides its currency even lower, as surely it will, the yen will rise on a trade-weighted basis.

And Bloomberg’s Japan economist Yuki

Masujima points out that trade with China now contributes 13 percent more to Japanese gross domestic product than the US, traditionally Tokyo’s main customer.

“Given China’s rise to prominence, the yen-yuan exchange rate now has far greater influence on Japan than the yen-dollar rate,” Masujima says.

The other problem is psychological.

Japanese households have long lamented their rising reliance on China, a developing nation run by a government they widely view as hostile. But the BOJ was glad to evoke China’s 7-percent growth— and the millions of Chinese tourists filling shopping malls across the Japanese archipelago—to convince Japanese consumers and executives that their own economy was in good shape. Now, the

perception of China as a growth engine is fizzling, exacerbating the exchangerate effect.

“To the extent that the depreciation reflects weakness in China, then that weakness—rather than the depreciation per se—is a problem for Japan,” says Richard Katz, who publishes the New York-based Oriental Economist Report.

It’s also a problem for Abe, whose approval ratings are now in the low 30s, thanks to his unpopular efforts to “reinterpret” the pacifist constitution to deploy troops overseas. The prospect that Abe will enrage Japan’s neighbors by watering down past World War II apologies at ceremonies this weekend marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the war is further damping support at home.

The worsening economy, which voters hoped Abe would have sorted out by now, doesn’t help. Inflation-adjusted wages dropped 2.9 percent in June, a sign Monday’s second-quarter GDP report for the may be truly ugly.

It’s an open question whether such an unpopular leader can push painful, but necessary, structural changes through parliament. “Already,” Katz says, “Abe has backpedaled on many issues to avoid further drops.” After 961 days, all Abenomics has really achieved is a sharply weaker yen, modest steps to tighten corporate governance and marketing slogans asking companies to hire more women.

There could be a silver lining here:

China’s move may catalyze Abe to act. By undercutting Japan’s devaluation, China might increase Abe’s urgency to boost competiveness, innovation and wages.

Already, Abe’s surrogates are setting the stage for more BOJ easing. One top advisor, Koichi Hamada, told Bloomberg News that “the magnitude of China’s shock is much larger than that from Greece.” China’s devaluation, he added, “can be offset” by fresh BOJ action.

But Abe would be wise to react with far more than just another yen devaluation. If Japan offers a cautionary tale, it’s that weaker currency alone isn’t the answer. If Abe had used the yen’s 35 percent plunge since late 2012 to good effect—passing big reforms on labor flexibility, import tariffs, tax policy, supporting startups, reducing red tape— Japan might not be facing the prospect of another recession. Unless the prime minister changes course, Abenomics will be remembered as a policy that primarily benefited stock-trading hedge funds, not average households.

On Thursday, in a rare news briefing, China’s central bank downplayed fears of huge moves that destabilize markets. Yet, as growth sputters, Beijing will weaken the yuan as much as it can get away with geopolitically. Depending on how Tokyo reacts, this could be the moment Abenomics gains traction or becomes a $4.6-trillion casualty of China’s ascendancy.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

If we pursue business as usual, CO2 removal cannot save the oceans

‘Laudato Si’ Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER Part 1

Cecilio T. Arillo

database

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HE Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Picir) and the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GHCORK) in Germany said greenhouse-gas emissions from human activities do not only cause rapid warming of the seas, but also ocean acidification at an unprecedented rate.

In a press statement sent to Database, Picir and GHCORK, the world’s leading institutes in the field of marine sciences, said that artificial carbon-dioxide removal (CDR) from the atmosphere has been proposed to reduce both risks to marine life. A new study, however, based on computer calculations, now shows that this strategy would not work if applied too late.

According to Picir and GHCORK, “CDR cannot compensate for soaring business-as-usual emissions throughout the century and beyond, even if the atmospheric carbon dioxide [CO2] concentration would be restored to pre-industrial levels at some point in the future.”

“This is due to the tremendous inertia of the ocean system. Thus, CDR cannot substitute timely emissions reductions, and it may play a role as a supporting actor in the climate drama,” they said.

“Geoengineering measures are currently being debated as a kind of last resort to avoid dangerous climate change, either in the case that policy-makers find no agreement to cut CO2 emissions, or to delay the transformation of our energy systems,” says the institutes’s leadauthor Sabine Mathesius.

“Looking at the oceans, however, we see that this approach carries great risks,” Mathesius said, adding: “In scenarios of timely emissions reductions, artificially removing CO2 can complement efforts.” He said that in a business-as-usual scenario of unabated emissions, the acidity in the oceans could still be more than four times higher than the preindustrial level and that it would take many centuries to get back into balance with the atmosphere even if the CO2 in the atmosphere would later on be reduced to the preindustrial concentration.

Corals and shellfish: Acidification can affect ecosystems

Mathesius argued that about one-fourth of the CO2 produced by humans each day is being taken up by the oceans, resulting in a chemical reaction leading to a higher acid content in the water.

“In the long run,” he said, “this can threaten marine life forms such as corals or shellfish as the acidification reduces the shell and skeleton production, and would affect biodiversity and the intricately interwoven food webs. Thus, the CO2 uptake by the oceans is a danger for marine life.

Hopes, therefore, have been placed on carbon-dioxide removal measures.”

The expert cited one option: huge amounts of biomass, for instance fast-growing trees such as poplar, consuming CO2 during growth, could be burnt in bioenergy plants where the CO2 gets captured and stored underground.

While this technology is not yet proven at an industrial scale and would have to be carefully balanced against land needs for food production, one major intended benefit would be to preserve the oceans from acidification.

In the deep ocean, the chemical echo will reverberate for thousands of years.

“We did a computer experiment and simulated different rates of CO2 extraction from the atmosphere, one reasonable one, but also a probably unfeasible one of more than 90

In a business-as-usual scenario of unabated emissions, the acidity in the oceans could still be more than four times higher than the preindustrial level and that it would take many centuries to get back into balance with the atmosphere even if the CO2 in the atmosphere would later on be reduced to the pre-industrial concentration. billion tons per year, which is more than two times today’s yearly emissions,” says coauthor Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford, USA, who worked on this issue during a research stay at the institutes.

The experiment does not account for the availability of technologies for extraction and storage.

“Interestingly, it turns out that after business as usual until 2150, even taking such enormous amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere wouldn’t help the deep ocean that much; after the acidified water has been transported by large-scale ocean circulation to great depths, it is out of reach for many centuries, no matter how much CO2 is removed from the atmosphere,” Caldeira said.

The scientists also studied the increase of temperatures and the decrease of dissolved oxygen in the sea. Oxygen is vital, of course, for many creatures.

Together with acidification, these changes put heavy pressure on marine life. Earlier in Earth’s history, such changes have led to mass extinctions.

However, the combined effect of all three factors has not yet been fully understood.

“In the deep ocean, the chemical echo of this century’s CO2 pollution will reverberate for thousands of years,” says another coauthor, John Schellnhuber, director of the institutes.

“If we do not implement emissions reduction measures in time, we will not be able to preserve ocean life as we know it,” Shellnhuber warned.

The institute investigates the chemical, physical, biological and geological processes of the seafloor, oceans and ocean margins and their interactions with the atmosphere.

This broad spectrum makes Geomar unique in Germany. Additionally, the institute has successfully bridged the gap between basic and applied science in a number of research areas.

Geomar, funded by the German Research Foundation, has four major research foci: Ocean Circulation and Climate Dynamics, Marine Biogeochemistry, Marine Ecology and Dynamics of the Ocean Floor.

Together with Kiel University and other national and international partners, Geomar also leads a number of national research programs, including the Cluster of Excellence, “The Future Ocean,” and the Collaborative Research Center.

For their work, the institutes use four research vessels, large-scale seagoing equipment such as the manned submersible Jago, the unmanned deep-sea robots ROV Kiel 6000 and AUV Abyss, as well as state-of-theart laboratories, analytical facilities and a hierarchy of numerical models provide a unique basis for excellent marine research.

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

Note: Today we will start to reprint, as a series, the Encyclical of the Holy Father Pope Francis, Laudato Si (On Our Care for Our Common Home). Dated May 24, 2015 and officially published by the Vatican on the noon of June 18, the encyclical is the second written by Pope Francis, after Lumen Fidei, which was released in 2013.

‘L

AUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore”—“Praise be to You, my Lord.”

In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to You, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs.”

This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will.

The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Romans 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Genesis 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.

Nothing in this world is indifferent to us

More than 50 years ago, with the world teetering on the brink of nuclear crisis, Pope Saint John XXIII wrote an encyclical which not only

rejected war but offered a proposal for peace. He addressed his message Pacem in Terris to the entire “Catholic world” and indeed “to all men and women of good will.” Now, faced as we are with global environmental deterioration, I wish to address every person living on this planet. In my Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, I wrote to all the members of the Church with the aim of encouraging ongoing missionary renewal. In this encyclical, I would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home.

In 1971, eight years after Pacem in Terris, Blessed Pope Paul VI referred to the ecological concern as “a tragic consequence” of unchecked human activity: “Due to an ill-considered exploitation of nature, humanity runs the risk of destroying it and becoming, in turn, a victim of this degradation.” He spoke in similar terms to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations about the potential for an “ecological catastrophe under the effective

Saturday, August 15, 2015

explosion of industrial civilization,” and stressed “the urgent need for a radical change in the conduct of humanity,” inasmuch as “the most extraordinary scientific advances, the most amazing technical abilities, the most astonishing economic growth, unless they are accompanied by authentic social and moral progress, will definitively turn against man.”

Saint John Paul II became increasingly concerned about this issue. In his first encyclical he warned that human beings frequently seem “to see no other meaning in their natural environment than what serves for immediate use and consumption.” Subsequently, he would call for a global ecological conversion. At the same time, he noted that little effort had been made to “safeguard the moral conditions for an authentic human ecology.” The destruction of the human environment is extremely serious, not only because God has entrusted the world to us men and women, but because human life is itself a gift which must be defended from various forms of debasement. Every effort to protect and improve our world entails profound changes in “lifestyles, models of production and consumption, and the established structures of power which today govern societies.” [7] Authentic human development has a moral character. It presumes full respect for the human person, but it must also be concerned for the world around us and “take into account the nature of each being and of its mutual connection in an ordered system.” Accordingly, our human ability to transform reality must proceed in line with God’s original gift of all that is.

My predecessor Benedict XVI, likewise, proposed “eliminating the structural causes of the dysfunctions of the world economy and correcting models of growth which have proved incapable of ensuring respect for the environment.” He observed that the world cannot be

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analyzed by isolating only one of its aspects, since “the book of nature is one and indivisible,” and includes the environment, life, sexuality, the family, social relations and so forth.

It follows that “the deterioration of nature is closely connected to the culture which shapes human coexistence.” Pope Benedict asked us to recognize that the natural environment has been gravely damaged by our irresponsible behavior. The social environment has also suffered damage. Both are ultimately due to the same evil: the notion that there are no indisputable truths to guide our lives, and hence human freedom is limitless. We have forgotten that “man is not only a freedom which he creates for himself. Man does not create himself. He is spirit and will, but also nature.” With paternal concern, Benedict urged us to realize that creation is harmed “where we ourselves have the final word, where everything is simply our property and we use it for ourselves alone.

The misuse of creation begins when we no longer recognize any higher instance than ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves.”

To be continued The Radio Veritas Mary and the Saints in the Year of the Poor exhibit at the 3rd Level of SM North Edsa is extended until tomorrow, August 16. It is open to the public during mall hours, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. It features canonically crowned and popularly venerated images of Mary from various parts of the country, as well as images and sacred relics of saints whose apostolate were focused on the poor.

To know more about the programs of Caritas Manila, visit www.caritas. org.ph. For donations, call 563-9311.

For inquiries, call 563-9308 or 5639298. Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 846 in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph.

For comments, e-mail veritas846pr@ gmail.com.

Indian immigrants reach top ranks in US tech industry

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By Paresh Dave | TNS

t’s no secret that parents in India urge their kids to excel in math and science, believing that it’s the clearest path up the social ladder.

But education is only part of the reason Indian immigrants are reaching the top executive ranks at major US corporations—most recently Google Inc.’s appointment of Sundar Pichai this week to chief executive. That followed Microsoft Corp.’s promotion of Satya Nadella to CEO last year.

Along with Indian immigrants leading companies, such as Adobe Systems, Nokia, Global Foundries and Mastercard, Pichai and Nadella are evidence that a generation of Indians has benefited from upbringings in a culture that, at its best, values humility, close-knit family ties and respect for all walks of life, according to cultural experts and Indian executives themselves.

Such traits are highly valued in the corporate suite, not just in the US but at any global corporation.

Mix in India’s ongoing cultural chaos, which, for those who survive it, offers real-life lessons in cooperation, teamwork and leadership, and experts say it makes sense that executives might emerge, capable of steering a sprawling work force through rapid change.

“A very strong educational base and technical skills are key to many parts of the tech ecosystem,” said Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, who cofounded Sun Microsystems. “Strong entrepreneurial skills and work ethic…and growing up and dealing with scarce resources give the Indian community an advantage.”

It’s not just top executives, either.

There are 89,000 Indians living in Silicon Valley, according to the Migration Policy Institute, with most of the families involved in the tech

industry. Another 86,000 Indians live in San Francisco and Oakland, California.

Many have jumped into the start-up economy. Vivek Wadhwa, who teaches at Stanford and Duke universities and has studied Indian American entrepreneurs, found that by 2012, nearly 16 percent of startups in Silicon Valley had an Indian cofounder even though Indians represented just 6 percent of the region’s population. The figure for Indian start-ups is even higher in some areas, such as business software.

Venktesh Shukla, a venture capitalist and president of the Silicon Valley networking group the Indus Entrepreneurs, said even in the smallest of villages, Muslims live next to Hindus and white-collar professionals next to weavers. Languages, dress and hobbies diverge.

Skukla said they were taught to see the “different” people as neither superior nor inferior.

“Treating people with respect comes very naturally to Indians,” he said. “People from homogenous societies need that as an acquired skill.”

The respect showed through small gestures when running his own software start-up, Shukla said.

He’d offered his ear, especially to employees who weren’t talking much. He kept decision-making open-ended in favor of blanket policies. It added up to more viewpoints and greater success, he concluded.

Last year Nadella was the first male CEO to address the annual Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing. He committed a self-admitted goof onstage, saying women shouldn’t ask for raises but rather trust that they will come their

way. He acknowledged later that imputing his own experience to others was “insensitive.”

It’s the same mix of humility and respect that keeps Naghi Prasad in the office until midnight some days even though he doesn’t have a deadline bearing down. His father had been a linguistics researcher who emphasized that when he asked his team to work, he did too.

“He wanted me to lead by example, to walk the walk,” said Prasad, who recently sold his Silicon Valley ad tech company to Rakuten Marketing and became its senior vice president for mobile.

Staying behind as a show of support also demonstrates what he saw in a large Indian family: The success of individuals is crucial to the success of the family, so it’s important to acknowledge the work of others.

Balancing respect with the Silicon Valley ethos of going all out to succeed isn’t easy. But Indian tech leaders said they think expertise on both fronts gives them an edge, that competitive drive emerges naturally in a country with a billion people and limited opportunities.

“Government corruption, noise, pollution, traffic—every which way you go it’s problem, problem, problem,” Wadhwa said. “To survive, you have to be creative.”

Unlike the people in some cultures, Indians learn to challenge authority, a legacy of the country’s fight for independence from Britain. Indians learn English in school, and because the best-educated speak it fluently, they assimilate well into global-oriented businesses, where English is the primary language.

All these advantages belong to the cream of the crop, in a country deep in poverty and beset with enormous social problems, of course.

“You don’t leave behind a middle-class existence to become dirt,” Wadhwa said. “They are the top 1 percent of India, and now you put

them in the fertile ground of Silicon Valley and you have the magic.”

With more US-educated Indians choosing to return to India to start companies, there’s concern a brain drain might cause the Indian influence to wane. Several start-ups in India have surpassed $1 billion valuations on the private market, and they’re poaching some top Silicon Valley executives.

But the Indians who stick around have one trend to be excited about. Smart technology leaders with enough business sense are increasingly being elevated in companies, giving a leg up to Indians who traditionally have fewer sales and marketing skills. That’s part of why Pichai quickly rose up through the ranks at Google over the last 11 years. Shukla called it a tribute to Google and Microsoft that Pichai and Nadella had reached the top positions.

“They are relentless in identifying talent in early stages of their careers and providing opportunities for people who are so different to end up at the top,” he said. “It’s a reflection of the meritocratic cultures of these companies.”

There’s another positive sign, too. About a third of the 2 million people in the Indian diaspora in the US are children of immigrants, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Wadhwa worried a decade ago whether the next generation would be as successful, but he’s realizing as his son’s generation nears its 30s that they are on a path to be strong performers. Success stories include Indian born but Torontoraised Apoorva Mehta, who’s grocery delivery start-up Instacart has been valued at more than $2 billion by its investors.

“The second generation has the best of both worlds,” Wadhwa said.

“They have my values yet all the American advantages. They can achieve the same as my generation at much younger age.”

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

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$1.59-billion ‘hot’ money exited PHL in July–BSP

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By Bianca Cuaresma

olatilities in the financial markets were highlighted in the July data on short-term portfolio investments, also known as speculative or “hot” money, and reflected as the net outward migration of foreign funds during the month.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday of foreign capital leaving the country totaling $160.10 million in July.

Gross portfolio inflows totaled only $1.43 billion in July versus far

superior gross outflows reaching $1.59 billion.

Foreign portpolio investments are popularly known as hot or speculative money because they quickly enter and exit the econo-

my at the merest shift in global or local sentiment.

The net outflows were a reversal from $321.81 million in net inflows reported in the same month last year.

The central bank attributed the outflows for the period to the anticipated interest-rate hike in the United States, a development that has since stampeded fund managers elsewhere to retreat from emerging markets, such as the Philippines, to so-called safer havens, such as the US. Foreign fund flows in earlier months were reflected as inflows rather than as outward-bound foreign capital.

The January-to-July portfolio data aggregated as net inflows totaling $478.29 million, no matter the rounds of capital flight in the other months during the period.

The net inflows in the first seven months represented a reversal from

the $1.09-billion net outflow in the same period last year.

The equivalent of 75.4 percent of the investments during the month were for the purchase of securities freely traded at the local stock market.

These were the listed stocks of holding firms, banks, property firms, food, beverage and tobacco companies, and telecommunication firms. The other 24 percent of the investments were made invested in peso government securities and the rest in peso time deposits, and other peso debt instruments equal to 0.6 percent.

The United Kingdom, the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and Luxembourg were the top 5 investor countries for the month, with combined share totaling 80.2 percent.

The US continued to be the main destination of the fleeing capital, receiving 71.9 percent of total, the BSP said.

Malacañang lauds results of Makati Business Club poll Continued from A1

investment rating, as well as significant improvement in global competitiveness rankings.”

Coloma noted that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), likewise, garnered broad-based support for its steadfast stand on a rules-based and diplomatic ap-

proach to dispute resolution, pertaining to maritime-entitlement issues in the West Philippine Sea. He added that Pagasa also earned a “well-deser ved commendation for its accurate and reliable weather forecasting that is the linchpin of the country’s determined efforts to reduce risks and protect the lives and safety

of our people.”

Coloma said the MBC survey also placed the Civil Service Commission (CSC) on its top 10 list on account of the CSC’s campaign to “instill a strong public-service orientation among national government agencies rendering frontline services to the people.”

“On the observation that the Of-

fice of the Vice President is among those that registered the largest declines in satisfaction rating, it may be reasonable to infer that this represents the negative feedback of the business community on the Vice President’s criticisms against the administration in the aftermath of his resignation from the Cabinet,” Coloma said.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

OIL HEADS FOR 7TH WEEKLY DROP AS GLUT SEEN PERSISTING

O

il headed for the longest run of weekly declines since January, amid signs the global glut that’s driven prices to the lowest in six years will be prolonged.

Futures were little changed in New York, down 4.2 percent in the week through August 14. The market surplus will last through 2016, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday, while the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) reported that output climbed last month to the highest level in more than three years.

A measure of price fluctuations is poised for a second weekly advance amid mixed demand signals from China.

Oil has slumped more than 30 percent from its June closing peak, as leading members of Opec maintain output. China’s record imports in July boosted speculation that sustained buying may alleviate a glut, while further devaluation of its currency raised concern that its economy and demand are slowing.

“It’s the ongoing supply that is causing the major worries,” Michael McCarthy, a chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, said by phone.

“Statements from Opec of their increased production is clearly weighing on the price, while focus has turned to Chinese growth.”

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for September delivery was at $42.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 22

cents, at 1:22 p.m. Sydney time. The contract declined $1.07 to $42.23 on Thursday, the lowest level since March 2009. The volume of all futures traded was 73 percent above the 100-day average. Prices have decreased 21 percent this year.

Global supplies

Brent for September settlement, which expires on Friday, was unchanged at $49.22 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $6.99 to WTI. The more-active October contract was 7 cents lower at $49.56 a barrel.

Opec raised output by 100,700 barrels a day to 31.5 million in July amid a recovery in Iranian supply, the group said in its monthly market report this week, citing external sources. Saudi Arabia, the group’s biggest member, told Opec it cut production by the most in almost a year.

Crude stockpiles in the US, the world’s biggest oil consumer, remain about 90 million barrels above their five-year average even as production eased and supplies fell last week, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Crude Oil Volatility Index closed at 43.23 on Thursday, the highest level since April. The gauge of hedging costs on the US Oil Fund, the largest exchange-traded fund tracking WTI futures, is up 5 percent this week. Bloomberg News

Resorts World From bananas operator netted to phones: How P2.4B in H1 T cheaper yuan could reverberate H

ONG KONG—China’s unexpected move this week to lower the value of its tightly leashed currency, the yuan, sent shockwaves through global financial markets. The impact on consumers around the world and China’s neighbors will take longer to play out but possible winners and losers are already emerging.

Shop until you drop

Not quite. The effect on prices in shops for clothes or electronics or other China-made products might be limited overall, particularly if the yuan doesn’t fall further. On top of that, currency weakness cuts both ways for Chinese manufacturers.

A weak yuan could make exports from the world’s No. 2 economy cheaper, but that could be offset if a factory uses a lot of imported raw materials, which it has to pay for in dollars or other foreign currency.

Chinese manufacturers also face rising labor costs. Lower prices are possible in industries such as clothing and basic toys, where international competition is fierce and producers in countries such as China don’t have much power to pass on their higher costs to shoppers.

More cheap Chinese smartphones

Some analysts say the devaluation could speed the spread of inexpensive Chinese smartphones overseas. Chinese brands, such as Xiaomi and Huawei, already pro-

duce competitively priced handsets with decent displays and performance so a weaker yuan could make them even cheaper or allow Chinese handset makers to offer discounts.

On a broader level, it gives Chinese companies a bigger opportunity to raise market share overseas, which poses a “long-term threat” to South Korean companies, such as Samsung, said Song Eun-jeong, an analyst at Hi Investment & Securities. She said budget handset makers may enter developed countries earlier than planned if the yuan continues falling.

In China, more expensive bananas

Stephen Antig, executive director of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association, said the yuan’s devaluation definitely will have some impact for Chinese consumers and the banana growers in the Philippines who supply them. The Philippines exports around 60 million to 70 million boxes of bananas a year to China, with an average price of $5 to $10 per box. “With the devaluation of the yuan, they have to pay more for every dollar that they buy, and chances are some importers will reduce their purchases of bananas,” he said. “But it will depend on how big the devaluation is because they are also buying bananas from Ecuador which are more expensive than what they are buying from us.”

Continued on A2

ravellers International Hotel Group Inc. (TIHGI), ow ner a nd operator of Resorts World Manila (RWM), booked a 15.08-percent decline in profit in the first semester of 2015 due to the impact of foreignexchange fluctuation.

Net income reached P2.4 billion in January to June, from P2.82 billion during the same period last year, the company reported in a regulatory filing on Friday.

First-semester revenues also declined slightly by 7 percent to P14.2 billion, compared to previous year’s P12.27 billion. Gaming revenues contributed P12.5 billion of gross revenues, with hotel, food and beverage, and other revenues at P1.2 billion.

“We will continue to focus on strengthening the non-VIP segment, expanding the international market and, at the same time, growing the nongaming revenues,” TIHGI President and COO Kingson Sian said.

Sian said projects and developments at RWM are ongoing.

To date, a total of P14.3 billion has been spent on RWM Phase 2 and Phase 3 expansion projects.

The recently launched Marriott Grand Ballroom, part of RWM’s Phase 2 expansion, is the largest ballroom in the country.

Meanwhile, the Marriott West Wing is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2016.

The development of Phase 3 is in full swing with the construction of three hotels—the Hilton Manila and the Sheraton Manila Hotel, as well as the new wing of Maxims Hotel. The ongoing developments also include provisions for a new gaming area, additional retail space and a six-level basement-parking deck. PNA