BusinessMirror November 2, 2014

If planes failed like space shuttles, 272 would crash every day

SpaceShipTwo crashes SpaceShipTwo, British billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic spacecraft designed to take tourists into space, crashed during a test flight.

1

Ship climbs to 65 mi. (105 km) above Earth, then glides back 2 down, landing like an airplane

Mothership, WhiteKnightTwo, carries craft to a height of 50,000 ft. (15,240 m) Wing span 42 ft.

(13 m) WhiteKnightTwo

Christened Virgin Space Ship (VSS) Enterprise, uses basic design, technology, construction of SpaceShipOne

OR

Mojave Air and Space Port: SpaceShipTwo crashes during a test flight Oct. 31, its first test flight since January.

NV Pacific Ocean 200 km

CA L.A

A

s investigations begin into the crash of a Virgin Galactic Llc. test vehicle on Friday and the explosion of an unmanned Orbital Sciences Corp. rocket seconds after liftoff this week, the history of space travel suggests such failures are neither rare nor unexpected. GlobalEye»C1

At a glance Hybrid rocket motor

AZ

© 2014 MCT Source: Virgin Galactic, Reuters Graphic: Staff

200 miles

three-time rotary club of manila journalism awardee 2006, 2010, 2012

U.N. Media Award 2008

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

week ahead

ECONOMIC DATA PREVIEW Foreign Exchange

n Previous week: The local currency appreciated against the greenback last week, after the central bank settled to pause tightening measures further in its October 23 meeting. The local currency moved sideways at the week’s open at 44.8 to a dollar, from 44.81 to a dollar the Friday before. This movement continued toward Tuesday to further appreciate at 44.775 to a dollar and at 44.715 against the US dollar on Wednesday.

The appreciating trend was snapped on Thursday, when the US Federal Reserve announced its recent decision on its monetary policy and interest-rate normalization.

The peso then slightly corrected on Friday to hit 44.88 to a dollar. Total traded volume for the week is at $1.865 billion.

n Week ahead: In his reaction following the Fed’s statement of a conclusion of asset purchases and a low interest-rate regime for a “considerable” amount of time, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. warned of shortterm foreign-exchange volatility in emerging markets. “[The]…language that the Fed could keep rates low for a considerable time could still keep market participants on the lookout and, therefore, still mean some market volatility See “Outlook,” A2

A broader look at today’s business

n Sunday, November 2, 2014 Vol. 10 No. 25

P25.00 nationwide | 7 sections 32 pages | 7 days a week

October inflation to hit 4.2 percent–economists San Miguel’s Optimal L to join Calax rebidding

By Bianca Cuaresma

ocal economists backed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s (BSP) view of a tamer inflation in October that is expected to push the central bank’s implementation of another tightening measure no earlier than in the first quarter of 2015.

Economists polled by the BusinessMirror showed a median forecast of 4.2-percent inflation for October this year.

The economists’ forecast sits squarely within the central bank’s official target range of 3.7 percent to 4.6 percent for the month. It is also a deceleration from the September’s actual inflation of 4.4 percent.

Economists Joey Cuyegkeng of ING Bank and Nicolas Antonio Mapa of the Bank of the Philippine Islands forecasted a growth of 4.1 percent for the month. “[The] moderation is likely to continue with lower commodity prices, especially oil prices. Domestic price pressures are easing on a week-on-week basis for rice, meat and other products. Power rates, though, are higher but are unlikely to derail the inflation downtrend,” Cuyegkeng said.

“It had been duly noted that

PESO exchange rates n US 44.8760 n japan 0.4108

the recent price malaise was on the back of supply-side factors, such [as] crop damage, delays in importation and generationcharge adjustments. Although these have not been totally snuffed out just yet, the importation by the NFA [National Food Authority] to augment rice supply and the free fall seen in global crude prices have helped ease some of the price pressures for the time being,” Mapa also said in a separate response.

Meanwhile, First Metro Investment Corp. Senior Vice President and Treasury Group Head Reynaldo B. Montalbo Jr., as well as Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Chief Market Strategist Jonathan L. Ravelas, forecasted a 4.2-percent inflation for October, still on lower prices of food and oil.

Barclays Regional Economist Rahul Bajoria and Security Bank See “Inflation,” A2

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

T

HE infrastructure arm of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) will participate in the rebidding of the P35.42billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) project, should President Aquino decide to pursue what industry leaders tag as a “distasteful prospect.”

Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. said it will honor the decision of the President on the issue, and will continue to pursue to win the muchcoveted thoroughfare-construction contract.

“We vow to participate in case of a rebid— whether the original terms of reference are altered or retained,” the unit of SMC said.

The group will also continue to support the government’s key infrastructure thrust, which has more than 50 projects in the pipeline, amounting to roughly P1 trillion in needed investments.

“Optimal Infrastructure will continue to join government biddings for vital infrastructure projects in line with San Miguel Group’s commitment to nation-building,” the camp of businessman Ramon S. Ang said.

Mr. Aquino is soon expected to rule on the petitions of the food-to-infrastructure company and Team Orion, a consortium led by Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Land Inc.

He will decide whether to award the project to either of the two groups—with Team Orion as the highest complying bidder, and Optimal Infrastructure supposedly offering a P20.1-billion premium that comes with a defective bid security, thus its

PRESIDENT Aquino (left) and Ramon S. Ang during the inauguration of a Petron gas station in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on February 27.

Goh Seng Chong/Bloomberg

disqualification—or to stage a rebidding.

President Aquino earlier announced his inclination to rebid the deal, citing a conundrum on the bids, as SMC’s proposal was P8.5 billion higher than that of Team Orion, which offered an P11.6-billion premium that goes on top of the project cost.

The camp of conglomerate Ayala and property developer Aboitiz Land said it is open to the prospect of losing the bid to Optimal Infrastructure. However, this raises the question of the President’s and the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program’s integrity.

“Should the President decide to grant Optimal Infrastructure’s appeal, Team Orion will respect See “San Miguel,” A2

n UK 71.8106 n HK 5.7867 n CHINA 7.3376 n singapore 35.1362 n australia 39.5453 n EU 56.5976 n SAUDI arabia 11.9625 Source: BSP (31 October 2014)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, November 2, 2014

Inflation...

news@businessmirror.com.ph

continued from A1

economist Patrick Ella, however, sees inflation falling at 4.3 percent for October.

“Commodity prices will remain contained as growth slowdown in the euro zone and slowing Chinese growth will contribute to waning demand for oil. Crude will continue to see lower prices also due to US shale-soil production gains. Overall this should keep domestic inflation contained and returning to normalized 3.7 percent to 4.5 percent range that has been seen in the past 12 to 18 months,” Ella said.

Implications to policy

As such, economists reiterated that the further easing of inflation pressures will give the central bank breathing room to pause policy actions for this year.

“The BSP will likely no longer change policy rates for the balance of the year and resume first quarter of 2015 the earliest,” Ella said.

“Given the current modest growth outlook for the US and the global economy, we expect a pause with the possibility to resumption of tightening in first half, possibly second quarter,” ING’s Cuyegkeng said.

BPI’s Mapa said its next tightening measure will largely be influenced not mainly by rising inflation, but by the Federal Reserve’s hike in its own interest rates.

“Tetangco needed to return to a relatively more neutral stance, as opposed to his ultra-accommodative stance, keeping the powder dry for their inevitable bout with the financial tempest due in 2015 when the Fed begins its rate-hike cycle,” Mapa said.

“Given the disinflationary trend and the slowing of domestic liquidity, we may expect the BSP to stand pat until, perhaps, the second quarter of 2015, when more clarity will be afforded for the timing of the Fed hike cycle,” he added.

The Philippine Statistics Authority will be releasing October’s inflation numbers on November 5.

The central bank, meanwhile, will be having its next policy meeting in December 11. This will be the central bank’s last meeting this year.

Outlook...

Inflation (October 2014) November 5, Wednesday

n September inflation: The Philippine Statistics Authority announced that the country’s inflation in September slowed down from 4.9 percent seen in July and August this year, bringing the country’s nine-month inflation average to 4.4 percent,

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST NOVEMBER 2, 2014 | SUNDAY

Northeast Monsoon locally known as “Amihan”. It affects the eastern portions of the country. It is cold and dry; characterized by widespread cloudiness with rains and showers.

TROPICAL STORM “PAENG” MAXIMUM WINDS: 75 KPH GUSTINESS: 90 KPH MOVEMENT: WEST NORTHWEST WIND SPEED: 15 KPH NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING NORTHERN LUZON. (AS OF NOVEMBER 1, 5:00 AM)

LAOAG CITY 22 – 33°C

SBMA/CLARK 24 – 32°C METRO MANILA 23 – 31°C

TAGAYTAY CITY 22 – 28°C

NOV 4

TUESDAY

24 – 31°C

23 – 32°C

TUGUEGARAO

22 – 31°C

23 – 32°C

21 – 32°C

22 – 32°C

NOV 5

WEDNESDAY

25 – 31°C

23 – 32°C

TACLOBAN

24 – 31°C

23 – 31°C

24 – 32°C

22 – 33°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

23 – 31°C

23 – 31°C

23 – 31°C

24 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

24 – 31°C

24 – 32°C

23 – 33°C

SBMA/ CLARK

25 – 31°C

24 – 31°C

24 – 31°C

ZAMBOANGA

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

METRO CEBU 26 – 31°C CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 24 – 31°C ZAMBOANGA CITY 24 – 32°C

PUERTO PRINCESA

ILOILO/ BACOLOD

24 – 31°C

24 – 31°C

SUNRISE

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

5:51 AM

5:27 PM

1:07 AM

1:49 PM

21 – 27°C

25 – 32°C

HALF MOON FULL MOON

OCT 30

24 – 31°C

25 – 32°C

NOV 7

6:06 AM

CELEBES SEA

0.05 METER

4:38 AM

0.85 METER

Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms.

25 – 30°C

25 – 31°C

24 – 31°C

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rain showers.

Weekday hourly updates: 6:00 AM on Balitaan, 7:00 AM & 8:00 AM on Good Morning Boss!, 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 1:00 PM on News@1, 3:00 PM, 4:30 PM, and 6:00 PM on News@6

www.panahon.tv

SABAH

12:51 PM

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and/or thunderstorms

Watch PANAHON.TV everyday at 5:00 AM on PTV (Channel 4).

METRO DAVAO 25 – 32°C

LOW TIDE MANILA HIGH TIDE SOUTH HARBOR

10:48 PM

24 – 31°C

NOV 5

WEDNESDAY

26 – 32°C

15 – 24°C

21 – 28°C

NOV 4

TUESDAY

26 – 32°C

15 – 24°C

21 – 27°C

NOV 3

MONDAY

24 – 32°C

15 – 23°C

LEGAZPI

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 24 – 31°C

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

BAGUIO

TAGAYTAY

TACLOBAN CITY 23 – 31°C

prompting the central bank to establish a downward path of inflation and pause its monetary-policy tightening in its October 23 meeting.

n October inflation: Tetangco forecasted inflation to fall between 3.7 percent and 4.6 percent in October this year, owing to tamer prices of oil and the decrease of supply-side issues following the port congestion and rice supply resolutions. Likewise, the economists polled by the BusinessMirror showed a median forecast of 4.2 percent for October, squarely within the government’s forecast range for the month (see related story). Bianca Cuaresma

METRO CEBU

LEGAZPI CITY 24 – 32°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 24 – 31°C

such decision and commits to abide by it without legal recourse,” the group said.

Business groups and foreign chambers warned the President that his cornerstone infrastructure thrust stands to lose its title as one of the best programs around the globe due to the possible rebidding of the multibillion-peso expressway.

Rejecting three complaints bids received during the auction for the P35.42-billion thoroughfare deal would tinge the formidable name of the PPP Program, a phenomenon that would make the private sector more reluctant to investing in the government’s thrust in pursuing key infrastructure projects.

This was the warning of five international chambers and three local business groups, which tagged the possible rebidding as “ill-advised.”

“The proposed rebidding of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway would be an inopportune and ill-advised decision that would surely have a negative impact on our improving standing in the investor community,” local and foreign businessmen said in a statement.

They noted that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) bidded out the deal “with complete transparency and fairness,” and in full compliance with the build-operatetransfer law.

“As such, we believe that there is no legal basis for rebidding the project. We share the concern of our colleagues in the private sector that a disregard of the present rules through a rebid will adversely impact investor confidence in the PPP Program and in our bidding procedures, which the DPWH and the PPP Center have been painstakingly reforming for the better, and consequently promoting here and abroad,” the businessmen added.

The deal has been in limbo for four months now owing to a petition for reconsideration filed by the disqualified bidder.

Optimal Infrastructure was disqualified from the bidding owing to a defective bid security, which was a few days short of the required cover period.

Continued on A8

METRO DAVAO

TUGUEGARAO CITY 22 – 32°C BAGUIO CITY 15 – 24°C

NOV 3

MONDAY

METRO MANILA

LAOAG

continued from A1

continued from A1

before the actual lift happens,” Tetangco said. Likewise, in the latest issue of the First Metro Investments Corp.’s Market Call, economists said the local currency is expected to remain weak through the year to end 2014 at 45 to a dollar due to the US economy’s strength.

TODAY’S WEATHER

San Miguel...

@PanahonTV

EconomySunday

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BusinessMirror

Sunday, November 2, 2014 A3

Neda’s Balisacan: PHL must work hard to diversify growth drivers

T Sidewalk footwear bazaar A female Moro stall owner (right) displays

and sells her collection of sandals and rubber footwear, mostly imported from China, along a sidewalk in Santa Cruz, Manila. Nonie Reyes

Travel agency offers luxury tourism services to Filipinos

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

A

SINGAPORE-BASED travel agency is coming into the Philippines to offer Filipinos luxury-tourism services.

Insight Vacations, an online travel agency that specializes in European tours, has released its 2015 brochure, which includes destinations such as Europe, Britain, Eastern Mediterranean and Morocco.

Tours include four new “European Gold” itineraries, which are, for the first time, all inclusive of evening dining, sightseeing excursions and so-called signature experiences “Our collection of Gold itineraries is for those looking for a step up in luxury and refinement. Not only have we designed four new Gold itineraries, the Gold journeys in our 2015 program are now all-inclusive of evening dining and excursions.

We’ve also included a wide range of Signature Experiences to ensure guests spend less time thinking about the details and more time appreciating their destination experiences Europe has to offer,” Insight Vacations CEO John Boulding said.

Guests will stay in luxury hotels in Europe, such as the Capri Palace

in Italy. Variety and exclusivity are key characteristics of Insight Gold, so guests may sit down to a gourmet meal one night; a freestyle evening of unlimited choices the next; taste rustic country-cooking in an authentic bistro; and delightful dining at the hotel on other occasions, he added.

“Guests can experience their travel destinations through the eyes of a local as they are treated to private cooking and artisan demonstrations.

On many itineraries, Insight also offers guests a chance to dine as the locals do where they can from a selection of authentic local restaurants and share a table with a few companions for Dine Around Evenings.”

Boulding noted that Insight “has always been about offering guests outstanding quality and comfort, where guests can comfortably enjoy the extra legroom, high-deck views and business-class comfort of Insight’s 40-seat coaches, the best hotels and unbeatable service from local tour directors; and, more important, each journey now includes a unique collection of engaging and authentic Signature Events that go far beyond run-of-the-mill tourist fare.”

Poverty incidence remains high in 9 provinces–Briones

By Estrella Torres

F

ormer National Treasurer and Social Watch convener Prof. Leonor Magtolis-Briones said the national budget has not been responsive to the needs of the poorest sectors, like farmers and fishermen, with the dramatic rise of poverty in nine provinces in the country, mostly in Mindanao.

She said the P2.606-trillion proposed budget for 2015 carries lump sums under the P378.6billion special purpose funds and the P123-billion unprogrammed funds.

Br iones fea rs t h at t hese funds are vulnerable to misuse similar to the pork barrel and the Disbursement Acceleration Program funds that have only benefited lawmakers and influential individuals, including Janet Lim-Napoles.

“If we want the national budget to tackle problems of poverty, hunger and unemployment, it has to focus on the sectors where the poorest are and where unemployment is highest,” said Briones in her presentation to the budget hearing in Congress.

She said the 2015 budget should address the gaps and distributional issues of the gross domestic product to ensure that economic growth is enjoyed by all sectors.

Briones lamented that in the last four years, there are nine prov-

inces that experienced dramatic rise in poverty from 2009 to 2012.

In Luzon the provinces of Apayao and Ifugao have experienced dramatic rise in poverty incidence of 54.7 percent in 2012, from 39.9 percent in 2009 and 36 percent to 23.9 percent, respectively.

At the same time, Briones said three provinces in the Visayas have remained under impoverished situation, including her hometown Negros Oriental, as well Eastern and Western Samar.

Poverty incidence in the sugarproducing province Negros Oriental increased to 43.9 percent in 2012, from 28 percent in 2009.

Poverty incidence in Eastern and Western Samar rose to 55.4 percent, from 49.2 percent, as well as 43.5 percent from 34.9 percent over the same period, respectively.

Four provinces in Mindanao, have seen rise in poverty incidence, notably Maguindanao, with a 54.5-percent poverty incidence rate in 2012, from 43.3 percent in 2009.

She said Lanao del Sur has experienced the highest increase in poverty incidence, with 67.3 percent in 2012, or more than half of its people living in hunger and misery from 48.7 percent in 2009.

Poverty incidence rates in North Cotabato and Camiguin have more than doubled to 44.8 percent and 41 percent in 2012 from 23.4 percent and 20 percent in 2009, respectively.

By Bianca Cuaresma

HE Philippines must work harder to diversify its growth drivers for sustainability so as not to miss the chance to be attractive to foreign investors again, a government official said.

At the sidelines of a recent briefing in Makati City recently, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the Philippines—due to its robust performance in the past years— has the change once again of becoming an investment hub in the region.

Balisacan said that decades ago, the Philippines was one of the leading candidates of being a manufacturing investment hub of Japanese investors. However, subsequent political unrest blew that opportunity, he added.

This time, as the country be-

comes an outlier in terms of growth comparable to its Asian peers, Balisacan said the Philippines must grab this opportunity to finally ramp up its foreign direct investment numbers.

“Performance feeds into further attractiveness of the country. So we have this window…we have good fundamentals, while our neighbors have their own problems. Of course, we like our neighbors to solve their own problems because we have synergies with them but, if we miss it this time, it will all go to waste,” Balisacan said.

As such, the country’s socioeco-

BALISACAN: “Even if we only hit the lower end, that is already spectacular comparatively.

An above 6percent growth is remarkable given global economy and local problems.”

nomic-planning secretary said the country must diversify its growth to ensure its sustainability.

“There is so much scope in domestic growth. But, at the same time, because we want to be more stable, we want to be less vulnerable from shocks from the global economy of anywhere, the sources of growth are quite diverse…we are also pushing trade and investments,” Balisacan said.

He explained that, when one’s nation’s growth depends largely on domestic sources, growth can be limited and paralyzed if a large economic problem hits the country.

There is only so much you can do with domestic sources of growth.

The bigger market out there is the global, so, for an economy to continue growing rapidly, you have to connect to the bigger market,” Balisacan said.

In our case, according to Balisacan, the Philippines must be able to diversify especially its manufacturing capacity apart from its main produce of semiconductors and electronics.

In the first half of 2014, the Philippines has grown by 6 percent based on the data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

This is lower than the government’s target of 6.5-percent to 7.5-percent growth for this year.

This means that the Philippines must have a growth rate of 7 percent in the next two quarters to hit the lower end of the government’s target.

“Even if we only hit the lower end, that is already spectacular comparatively. An above 6-percent growth is remarkable, given global economy and local problems,” Balisacan said.

IC drafts framework on microhealth insurance for marginalized sectors

T

By Genivi Factao

he Insurance Commission (IC) is working on the framework of microhealth insurance products which seeks to extend health-care coverage, especially to the marginalized sectors of society.

Insurance Deputy Commissioner Dorothy Calimag said they are in the process of meeting with government agencies to be able to craft the regulatory framework for microhealth products.

“We have meetings with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and the Department of Health, and we’ll be coming out soon with a microhealth insurance product,” Calimag told reporters at a recent news conference. “We’re looking forward to that, microinsurance coverage,” she added.

The challenge to achieving universal health-care coverage in the Philippines is how to extend health-care coverage to the informal sector, Calimag said.

According to a research of the UPecon Foundation-Health Equity and Financial Protection in Asia Project, the coverage of the informal sector remains slow.

Under the National Health Insurance Program, the formal sector I enrolled in the social-health insurance program, while those in the informal sector, mostly the self-employed and the near poor, have to enroll voluntarily.

The study showed that the PhilHealth benefit delivery rate (BDR) for in-patient care for the informal sector in 2010 was only 10.51 percent.

The BDR is a summary measure of social health-insurance performance that reflects the enrollment of the target population (coverage rate); its accessibility to beneficiaries (claim rate); and the magnitude of social-health insurance benefits relative to medical expenditures (reimbursement rate).

The IC sees challenges on how to effectively and rationally utilize insurance benefits for beneficiaries and, most important, how to make informal sector enrolled in health-insurance coverage.

Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Solutions General Manager Jonathan Batangan said Cebuana Lhuillier will be launching a microhealth-insurance product early next year.

SundayV

Busine

A4 Sunday, November 2, 2014 • Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

editorial

Wealth and income inequality

T

HERE is a book that has been exciting the international economic community lately. It is titled Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Harvard University Press, 2014), written by French economist Thomas Piketty and translated into English by Arthur Goldhammer.

After decades of focusing on development—in particular, how to increase economic growth—economists are being redirected by this tremendous book to the issue of distribution. We in the Philippines should be interested in the book, given that we have been riveted to the problem of poverty in the last several decades.

In Piketty’s words, do the dynamics of economic change inevitably lead to the concentration of wealth in ever fewer hands, or do they lead to reduced inequality and greater harmony among the classes?

After analyzing data on the wealth and income of various countries dating back to some 300 years, Piketty tells us that inequality, already evident in the earliest societies, rose to an extreme degree during the Industrial Revolution, came down steadily at the end of World War II, and then began going up again. Developments in social life reflected these changes: revolutionary ferment in the late 19th century, when capitalism was emerging; relative peace and quiet in the 50 years that followed; and renewed social upheaval over growing inequality in the current generation.

The most disturbing finding of Piketty, however, is that capital will become even more dominant as we approach 2100. In his fundamental equation B = r/g, B—the capital intensity of gross domestic product—increases because r—the rate of return to capital—is higher than g, which is the growth rate of the economy. This will deepen and widen the inequality between a capital-owning class and a working class.

Worse, Piketty says, there is nothing in the capitalist system to halt or slow down this slide to the abyss, and any action to slow it down or halt it must come from outside the system. Historically, this outside force has come only from wars and depressions.

What is in store for capitalist societies? More wars and depressions? More instability? More Occupy movements?

At the end of his magnum opus, Piketty proposes, in addition to strengthening governments in executing bold social-development programs, the imposition and collection of a global progressive tax on capital, a counterpart to the progressive income tax.

Our reaction? We admire Piketty’s analysis, but do not know exactly how to respond to his tax proposal. We in the Philippines are embarked on attracting as much foreign investments as we can for the acceleration of our country’s development. We would want to make the country as congenial as it can be to foreign investors, as well as to our domestic ones. We cannot afford to talk of a progressive tax on capital. Not yet, anyway.

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S, N , 

N the latest plunder charge that has the media buzzing—this one, against Senate President Franklin M. Drilon and involving the Iloilo Convention Center (ICC)—there is one thing that stands out: Hillmarc’s Construction Corp.—the contractor that built that controversial Makati City Hall II parking building, for which Vice President Jejomar C. Binay is being pilloried in the august halls of the Senate—is also the contractor of the now-controversial ICC. On paper, the nation’s No. 2 and No. 3 officials’ odds of being charged with plunder in connection with allegedly overpriced buildings and tapping the same company to construct them look very small, but that’s exactly what happened. Also, the chances that the accusations of overpricing that were hurled at those officials by their former confidantes seem very slim, but, again, that’s precisely what happened.

As a result, businessmen are betting that the same scenario being played out in the Senate would also play out for Drilon and the plunder complaint thrown at him by Manuel Mejorada, whom the Senate President accused of having an ax to grind.

They expect the controversy that complaint has created to generate noise that is similar to the one made by former Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado of Makati, whom Binay accused of being an ingrate.

Mejorada’s complaint is worth noting, though, for it compared the construction of the P679.8-million ICC, which, he said, was overpriced by more than P400 million, with that of the P500-million, 12-story Richmonde Hotel Iloilo, which stands across the convention center. According to Mejorada, ICC was built at a cost of P106,226 per square meter, which is much higher than the stardard P30,000 per sq m.

While Drilon insists that Mejorada’s charge is ludicrous, the latter has bared the reason for his cutting ties with the Senate President: a story he wrote in July 2011 that implicated the lawmaker in the scandalous purchase of an overpriced piece of agricultural land that was to be used as a relocation site for informal settlers in Iloilo.

Should the Senate hold an inquiry into the complaint, this question may

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crop up: Would this inquiry lead to an inspection of the land that the government had purchased and planned to use as a relocation site?

It’s worth noting that Hillmarc’s odds of being involved in two plunder cases involving allegedly overpriced buildings was almost nil, and, yet, that’s what happened.

Hillmarc’s has, indeed, made a mark.

Nlex gets plaudits

THE Manila North Tollways Corp.

(MNTC), the builder and concessionaire of the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex), recently earned another coveted certification from United Kingdom-based Certification International for the various management systems it has in place, as well as its corporate practices that hew closely to topnotch standards in quality, environment, and occupational health and safety.

It’s no small wonder for the MNTC to win that certification for the third time, as the company has been consistent in its delivery of great service.

In fact, before starting a particular repair or rehabilitation work along the 90-kilometer Nlex, the company taps a top Davao City-based trafficengineering firm to audit how many vehicles pass through the road segment to be repaired or rehabilitated in order to determine what barriers to erect, and to know how to deal with the inconvenience that drivers would experience.

The MNTC received the certifications ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:2007 for the effective implementation of its integrated management systems, making it the country’s first tollway

OW when Jesus came, he found that Laz’arus had already been in the tomb four days.

Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met Him, while Mary sat in the house.

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. And even now I know that

concessionaire to get them. The latest certification it received, which is valid until September 2017, is on the “operation and maintenance management of the toll roads; construction management, including outsourced design; and construction implementation.”

“We are pleased that our efforts to mitigate our environmental impact, and provide quality service and a healthy, safe workplace for our employees have, again, been recognized as one [on a] par with international standards,” MNTC President Rodrigo Franco said.

Trouble at OSS Center

THERE is trouble brewing at the One-Stop Shop Inter-Agency Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Center (OSS Center), a government agency that takes care of tax certifications and other incentives that the Department of Finance accords to the country’s exporters.

Thirty-eight OSS Center officials and employees, led by Deputy Executive Director Carmelo Casibang, sent to Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima last month a petition to remove the newly named officer in charge of the center, lawyer Sheila Castaloni, from her post because of her emotional immaturity and attitudinal problems, among others.

“Although we have wanted to work in harmony with her, Atty. Castaloni is totally unfit for the job. In brief, she is incapable of leading the OSS Center and carrying out the mandate of this office,” the petition said. With angry words such as these, Purisima needs to act fast.

whatever You ask from God, God will give You.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, He who is coming into the world.”— JOHN 11:17-27

Voices

essMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph • Sunday, November 2, 2014 A5

Comparative advantage A Free Fire

By Teddy Locsin Jr.

ish conquest was never good at growing rice. There were always rice shortages; rice imports made up the bulk of foreign trade for the islands. What we were good at, the Spanish monks observed, was piracy and fighting for gain. We just liked it.

No way could we be convinced, let alone compelled, to work in agriculture. Why we never had slavery, unlike in Latin American colonies, remains a mystery.

Not surprisingly, the Spanish cardinal in Manila advised the Spanish king in Madrid, after whom the islands were named, to consider invading Japan with a maritime force made up of Filipinos.

Learning of this somehow, the shogun at the time invited the cardinal to Edo to view his samurai forces, equipped with the usual razor-sharp swords—and with Portuguese cannons and rifles made and improved in Japan in staggering quantities. The Japanese did it better, even then.

Not surprisingly, future United States President Andrew Jackson welcomed the help of Filipino TNTs who jumped from Spanish galleons in New Orleans. With their help, Jackson beat back the British when they invaded the city. The Filipinos were honored by being allowed to bury their dead in what became the all-white Confederate cemetery in New Orleans, across from that superb restaurant, Commander’s Palace.

LL countries, except the absolutely poorest ones, can make everything they need. To be sure, they’re advised by the rich-controlled World Trade Organization (WTO) to buy those things they need abroad instead, if they are already available, because that is the cheapest.

It is not, of course.

Still, when you come right down to it, each country can make everything it needs and wants—unless, as I’ve said, that country is the absolutely poorest one in, say, Africa.

But the WTO now advises—as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade did before it, and the imperial powers before that—that it is still best for every country, except those in the West, to find the one or two things it is best at making or growing. Or, better yet, the one or two things the West thinks it can farm out to poor countries to make or grow instead, because the West doesn’t have the land, climate and docile laborers willing to do it for next to nothing.

This is David Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage, whose discovery has eluded us for centuries.

For example, in the landmark two-volume study The Lands Beneath the Winds, it was observed that what came to be known as the Philippines after the Span-

Still, the search for a comparative advantage continued, in vain. Now we have finally discovered our comparative advantage, the economic activity at which we are the best: crocodiles, specifically growing ’em and serving ’em as a delicacy.

The Kremlin announced recently that the largest crocodile farm in the Philippines had been granted a permit to export crocodile meat to Russia. It currently bans imports of meat from the US, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Norway, as well as of fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables from the rest of the West in retaliation for the trade sanctions they imposed on Russia for its moves against Ukraine. Thus, cheese is scarce and expensive, and a brewery in Siberia is now making mozzarella from goat’s milk. The Italians say good luck to that.

But freshness is key when it comes to food, as Deniece Cornejo once told Vhong Navarro, who interpreted it the wrong way. And so it has been suggested that Congress be moved to Russia.

Nothing in the 1987 Constitution requires Congress to be situated here, where crocodiles are elected. For tougher leather, we can relocate the Palace, too, especially after 2016, when the next president may want to be close to those whose plunder matches the scale of a cupidity still in the process of demonstration.

“I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.”

—Tim Cook, chief executive officer (CEO) of Apple Inc., in an essay written for Bloomberg BusinessWeek that was published last Thursday. His admission made him the highest-profile CEO to come out as gay.

Hong Kong’s tycoons should take a stand L

Bloomberg View

By William Pesek

I KA-SHING’S uncanny ability to leap over competitors and swell profits won him the nickname Superman in Hong Kong. These days, he’s more the Invisible Man. As student protesters wage the biggest assault on Beijing’s authority since the 1997 handover, Asia’s richest man and his fellow Hong Kong tycoons are largely keeping silent. Thus far, Li’s only statement on the demonstrations has been his October 15 warning that protesters shouldn’t “let today’s passion become tomorrow’s regrets.”

The reason behind the reticence is obvious enough: Toeing Beijing’s line is the cost of maintaining lucrative business monopolies. Just in case Li or anyone else had forgotten that, the state-run Xinhua news agency recently ran a piece (quickly taken down) complaining that the tycoons had not condemned the protests strongly enough. Late last Wednesday the advisory body to China’s rubber-stamp parliament expelled James Tien, leader of a business-friendly, pro-Beijing party in Hong Kong, for calling upon Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to resign.

Mainland pressure is nothing new. Earlier this year, encouraged by Beijing, the Big Four audit firms ran a newspaper advertisement warning that proposed protests risked “shaking Hong Kong from its position as an international financial and commercial center.” Yet, if obedience seems mandatory to Hong Kong’s

HONG KONG tycoon and Liberal Party Chairman James Tien (center) walks out of the Legislative Council chamber in Hong Kong’s Admiralty last Wednesday. AP

privileged business class, it’s also shortsighted.

Last week the World Bank said the protests hadn’t significantly damaged Hong Kong’s business climate. That’s true. Any economic damage from shuttered businesses and lost tourism is likely to be limited and temporary. The real threat is the chilling effect that China’s response is having on the speech and press freedoms that have long kept the city

in the top tier of financial centers.

Having seen the treatment meted out even to a loyalist like Tien, will any other legislators dare to express their opinions about relations with the mainland? A year from now, will Hong Kong economists have the courage to question the veracity of China’s gross domestic product data? Might bank analysts pull punches in reports on state-owned enterprises for fear of

reprisals and business losses? Will academics studying health risks associated with mainland pollution feel safe in telling the truth?

The metrics used by organizations such as the World Bank to judge Hong Kong’s economic vibrancy—construction permits, credit access, enforcement of contracts—risk becoming easier for friends of the Communist Party than for its critics. At the very least, it’s time for the Heritage Foundation to downgrade Hong Kong’s standing as the globe’s freest economy.

Low taxes, the free flow of capital and the rule of law mean less and less if the kind of opacity that cloaks business on the mainland begins to settle across Hong Kong, too.

Protesters are dwindling in number and appear to be losing steam. Behind-the-scenes, though, Li and other top Hong Kong businessmen should be making clear to Beijing that the students’ fundamental message remains a valid one: It would be better for China to emulate Hong Kong’s success and freedoms than to smother them. Instead of running antiprotest ads, those Big Four audit firms should be decrying China’s efforts to reduce the disclosure of personal data on company directors, obscuring who owns what.

The students are not just fighting for the right to pick their own leaders; they’re defending a way of life that made the tycoons fantastically wealthy. Hong Kong’s supermen should have the guts to do the same.

Women’s work is not free or cut rate B G B

The Hartford Courant (TNS)

H

ER E’S something that women need to stop doing to other women: We need to stop asking each other to lower our fees, cut our rates or work for free because we’re members of the same sex.

Many women donate our time and expertise, offering the gift of our energy to a group or a cause, on a regular basis. (Me? I’m right there for libraries, literacy groups, socialjustice groups and domestic-violence prevention). Just as men in leadership positions have always given back to the community once they’ve established themselves in it, many women are willing to participate in, volunteer with or offer support for special causes.

Certainly, organizations can ask for a charitable gift; it’s what charitable organizations do.

But what about groups that

are neither charities nor not-forprofits who ask women—and I’m focusing on women here; sorry guys—to work for little or no pay by issuing the request as a genderspecific invitation?

This request came pretty much right after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced, at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, that women should trust “the system” and rely on “karma” to reward them financially, a statement that naturally caused waves of outright sustained and bitter laughter to emerge from women globally.

So you could see why companies with the best of intentions (or not) might want to encourage their female employees to feel welcome. Maybe the large company actually wanted its female employees to learn how to present their skills most effectively when asking for advancement. Hey, anything is possible.

Yet, the woman inviting me to

speak, who worked in human resources, saw no irony in explaining to me that the invitation would include lunch, but not offer any sort of honorarium.

Isn’t that like saying, “We want you to teach an assertiveness-training class, but we insist you do it exactly on our terms”?

Put it this way: Is it really helping women generally if we tell women individually that their work isn’t worth what they’re asking?

When writing this column, I asked other women about whether they’d had similar experiences. I had no idea there would be such a chorus, and such a diverse chorus.

I heard from three female clergy members.

I heard from a number of nurses, physicians and financial advisers who felt perpetually on-call.

Female writers, singers, musicians and artists (especially photographers) expressed their frustration

at being asked to give, often at a cost to themselves, their time and talent for everything from gala fundraisers (at least one’s work gets attention, plus it’s for a good cause) to bridal showers of friends who’d been out of touch for years (one’s work gets taken for granted, plus you still have to order from the registry).

I heard from a disgruntled scrapbooker.

A newly minted divorce attorney who initially offered a sliding scale when dealing with clients explained: “My largesse has led to my feeling abused. It seems that when you don’t bill, you give the green light for texts and phone calls at all hours of the day and night…. These same clients…most definitely play the gender card. There is a presumption that, as a woman, I am deeply invested in their individual situations…and that I should work free of charge.”

Yet, I have hope, as always, for the future.

In her mid-20s, Caitlin O’Donnell, assistant to the president at Emmanuel College in Boston, understands that saying “Yes” to as many professional opportunities is crucial, because young workers “need to get experience.” But O’Donnell also knows that saying “No, thanks” or “That’s not appropriate for my role” is equally important. She’s “been rewarded with raises and a promotion,” which is more useful than a wink and a pat on the head.

What’s most insidious about being asked to work for less or work for free is that it’s almost always women who are sent to do the asking. They wouldn’t let a guy do it because it would seem sexist and demeaning.

Why? Because it is sexist and demeaning.

This hypocritical gender provincialism isn’t helping any of us: In such ways do women become complicitous in our own undoing.

NewsSunday

A6 Sunday, November 2, 2014 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BusinessMirror

Lawmaker, OFWs eye graft raps vs Abaya, Honrado over ‘illegal’ airport terminal fee

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By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

party-list lawmaker and overseas Filipino workers (OFW) groups are planning to file graft charges against transportation and airport officials in connection with the allegedly “illegal” collection of P550 airport terminal fee from OFWs leaving for abroad.

Party-list Rep. Roy Seneres of OFW Family made the statement after a Pasay City court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to the said payment of airport terminal fees.

The lawmaker said airport authorities should be held liable for “wilfully, deliberately and maliciously stepping on the rights of the OFWs” by forcing them to pay for terminal fees despite being exempted under the law.

On Friday Regional Trial Court in Pasay City Branch 109 Judge Tinagaraan Guiling issued the TRO directing Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) to put on hold the implementation of Memorandum Circular (MC) 08, which integrated the P550 terminal fee in the cost of airfare tickets, that was issued by MIAA General Manager Angel Honrado and approved by Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya.

The petitioners resorted to a court action after President Aquino failed respond to their appeal for a recall of the allegedly illegal Miaa directive.

The groups said that the memorandum is contrary to Section 35 of Republic Act (RA) 10022, or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995. RA 10022 grants OFWs exemption

from payment of terminal fees.

Under MC 8, however, terminal fees collected from outbound passengers will be integrated in the cost of airline tickets. Thus, all OFWs will be forced to shell out payment for terminal fees and will have to demand refund from the government later.

The group also asked the Miaa and the Department of Transportation and Communications to recall the questioned memorandum circular.

Seneres said that, while a refund has been promised, the collection of fee is already considered “a fait accompli [complete] violation of the law.”

Aside from Seneres, other petitioners included Ma. Susana V. Ople for Blas F. Ople Policy Center; Gemma Comiso, Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards; Nelson Ramirez and Bienvenido Lorque for United Filipino Seafarers; Carmelita Nuqui, Philippine Migrant Rights Watch; Ellene Sana, Center for Migrant Advocacy Philippines; Loreto Soriano, LBS Recruitment; Alfredo Palmiery, Federation of Associations of Manpower Exporters; Rodolfo Rashid Fabricante, OFW Movement Inc; Elso Cabangon and Francisco Aguilar, Filipino Migrant Workers Group; Sister Teresa Evasco, Daughters of Chairty Migrants Desk; Luther Calderon, Kampi;

Ma. Fe Nicodemus Kakampi; Mohammad Omar Fajardo, Ang Bagong Bayani OFW Labor Party; Edward Era, Filipino Lifeline Inc.; and OFWs Milgaros Juare, Rilda G. Ongcal and Susan Cuenca.

Convenience

Meanwhile, in a letter to the BusinessMirror, Ma. Consuelo Bungag, officer in charge of the Miaa public affairs department and media affairs division, said the integration will, in fact, bring added convenience to passengers as a result of reduced queuing process for them.

“Under the [previous] system, all OFWs line up to either pay terminal fee or have their OEC [Overseas Employment Certificate] validated to obtain exemption. With the integration in place, passengers, including OFWs, will no longer have to line up because exemption will be honored at the point of sale except for tickets purchased abroad or online. For this purpose, refund may be done at the terminals or at the Miaa administration building,” she said. Bungag added the total number of departing passengers who will not line up to pay terminal fee is 5.6 million and these include OFWs, athletes and pilgrims.

“The 197,569 passengers expected to buy their tickets online or abroad also may not even have to line up because according to POEA [Philippine Overseas Employment Administration], in most cases, the OFW does not pay for the airfare as it is a condition in the employment contract that tickets should be for the account of the foreign employers.

Thus, the terminal fee which has been incorporated in the airfare can only be refunded by the foreign employer,” she said.

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Aquino urged to hasten full implementation of Asean accords on professional services

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he Philippines has yet to fully implement the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) entered into among Asean member-states covering eight professional services, a lawmaker said over the weekend.

Party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, chairman of the House Committee on East Asean Growth Area, said that’s why his committee has recently adopted the House Resolution (HR) 1482 authored by Rep. Catalina G. LeonenPizarro of ABS Party list.

HR 1482 urges President Aquino to issue a memorandum circular to fully implement the MRAs entered by the Asean member-states, such as Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and other Asean memberstates affecting eight professions in the country, including engineering services, nursing services, architecture, surveying, medical practice, dental practice, accountancy and tourism services, ensuring enhancement measures and safety nets in the light of the Asean integration in 2015.

According to Leonen-Pizarro, MRA seeks to facilitate mobility of practitioners with the Asean region and to exchange information and enhance cooperation in respect of mutual recognition of practitioners.

She added that the MRA also seeks to promote adoption of best practices on standards and qualifications, and to provide opportunities for capacity building and training of practitioners.

The lawmaker said that since Decem-

ber 15, 1995 the Asean has recognized and emphasized the growing importance of trade in services through the adoption of the Asean Framework Agreement on Services (Afas) by the Asean Economic Ministers during the Fifth Asean Summit in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Afas aims to substantially eliminate restrictions to trade in services among Asean member-states, enhance cooperation in ser vices, liberalize trade in services, and promote efficiency and competitiveness of Asean service suppliers.

The Afas establishes the general guidelines for mutual recognition, denial of benefits, dispute settlement, institutional mechanism and other areas of cooperation in the services sector, she pointed out.

Article V of the Afas, the HR noted, provides that the Asean member-states may recognize the education or experience obtained, requirements met, and licenses or certifications granted in other Asean member-states for the purpose of licensing or certification of services suppliers.

Leonen-Pizarro said during the Ninth Asean Summit held on October 7, 2003, in Bali, Indonesia, Asean members signed the Bali Accord II and declared the establishment of an Asean Community which comprises the political, economic, and security communities to include the completion of MRAs for qualifications for major professional services by 2008 to facilitate free movement of professional/skilled labor and talents in the Asean.

Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Visit to the departed Thousands flocked to the Eternal Gardens in Baesa, Quezon City, as the nation commemorates the

observance of All Saints’ Day on Saturday. Photo also shows an orderly stream of visitors who came to the Eternal Gardens to “reunite” with their departed loved ones. Nonie Reyes

Solon proposes use of credit cards for payment of taxes

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lawmaker has recently filed a measure allowing the use of credit cards or debit cards for the payment of taxes in the country.

House Bill 5095, filed by Liberal Party Rep. Eric Olivarez of Parañaque City, said the taxpayer may not use or utilize the credit cards or debit cards issued under the name of a person other than himself for the payment of his own taxes due.

The bill mandates the Bureau of Internal Revenue to select companies to process credit and debit cards on its behalf, and these companies may charge taxpayers a reasonably and regulated amount go processing fee.

The measure also disallows any person to use or disclose anyinformationrelatingtocredit-ordebit-cardtransactions obtained pursuant to this Act other than for purposes directly related to the processing of such transactions, or the billing or collection of amounts charged or debited pursuant thereto. “Exception to this confidentiality rule is when debit or credit-card issuers or others acting on behalf of such issuers use or disclose such information for purposes directly related to servicing an issuer’s accounts,” it said.

In filing the bill, Olivarez said that the use of credit cards or debit cards will become an acceptable way and a convenient way to pay taxes. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

PHL pushes Albay for 2015 UN Sasakawa Award in DRR

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he Philippines is pushing Albay as its best bet for the prestigious 2015 United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction, banking on the province’s strong culture of disaster resilience as among its best points.

The 2015 Sasakawa Award will be conferred to nominees who have shown exemplary commitment to disaster-risk reduction (DRR) with significant impact to the community or across the globe, according to Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Jesus R. S. Domingo, in a letter to Albay Gov. Joey Salceda dated October 21.

In 2011 the UN declared Albay as its Global Model and Salceda as its Senior Global Champion for Climate Change Adaptation and DRR. He was later elected as cochairman of the UN Green Climate Fund to represent Southeast Asia and developing countries.

Albay’s DRR program has received numerous accolades recently. The

province has survived the onslaught of calamities by demonstrating its absorptive capacity and forward planning by its institutions to reduce risks rather than just respond to them, according to Salceda.

The governor said Albay’s growth continues because it “has already evolved to a higher level of resiliency to natural disturbances.” The province is now acknowledged as the fastest-growing tourism destination in the country. From its 8,700 arrivals in 2006, it lured in 339,000 foreign tourists in 2013 posting a staggering 66-percent growth.

At the moment, Albay maintains over 55,000 people in its 46 evacuation centers for over a month now. They were tucked to safety from the threat of Mount Mayon’s eruption. Despite its costs, the threat’s impact on the province’s economy and development momentum has greatly been reduced due to its forward planning and DRR mastery. PNA

Regions BusinessMirror

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DILG launches centralized alert system to hasten disaster response

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HE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has launched “Charlie,” a centralized alert system that will use local response strategies for better disaster-risk reduction and management.

Using best practices, Interior Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II said the National Police, the Office of Civil Defense and the Department of Science and Technology adopted an alert system that uses a flowchart to guide local officials in

making “minimum critical preparations” that are translated to stepby-step actions during and after a disaster strikes.

“You can treat this as a checklist of what has to be there at the very least. It’s hard to work while con-

fused. The chance of confusion in coordinating disaster response is very high,” he said.

Using the signaling system of the Bureau of Fire Protection, an area is declared under Charlie status if it is exposed to the highest risk brought about a typhoon or an earthquake.

Roxas also explained that before the actual implementation of the alert system, comprehensive predisaster-risk assessments are to be conducted in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development. That way, response strategies can be based on the actual needs of specific areas.

“We also want to harmonize the

new system with our local DRRM plans,” he said.

The DILG will provide all local government units with the necessary materials such as landslide and flood susceptibility maps, as well as the flowchart which comes with a manual of operations.

Roxas has set the target in December for the finalization and release of these materials.

He explained that the new system will not compete with the risk reduction and management program of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, but will even reinforce it.

Roxas is the vice chairman of the council. Rene Acosta

BFAR eyes partnerships for better care of sick, stranded marine life

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UBIC, Zambales—The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is etablishing a partnership with the Philippine Marine Mammal Stranding Network [PMMSN] for the care of sick and injured whales, dolphins, and dugong in the wild.

During his keynote speech at the Second PMMSN National Symposium here, Bfar Director Asis Perez said the agency can push its agenda of looking after the welfare of marine mammals by partnering with chapters of the PMMSN, enabling both to draw on the expertise and personnel of each other.

Perez said he has authorized Bfar regional directors to establish links with PMMSN chapters all over the country, paving the way for a more closer cooperation whenever a stranding occurs, which could save the lives of stranded marine mammals anywhere in the Philippines.

He added that time spent by regional directors and Bfar personnel during PMMSN Board meetings, trainings, workshops, and symposium is a crucial part of the agency’s work.

Ga i l L au le, executive v ice president of Ocean Adventure, welcomed the greater cooperation with the Bfar and said the “the growth in trained members of PMMSN and their experience and expertise show that the organization has taken on a life of its own. I truly believe this is unprecedented anywhere in the world.”

Laule pointed out that through the PMMSN’s partnership with the Bfar, 3,100 key personnel and stakeholders nationally have been trained, with 85 training sessions conducted since its inception, and there are now 24 regional, provincial, and city chapters in the country.

Ocean Adventure veterinarians care for a dolphin brought from Ilocos Norte, where the animal became very sick owing to dynamite fishing.

Currently there are seven memorandums of agreement (MOAs) between PMMSN and the Bfar regional offices in the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Central Mindanao and Caraga.

These MOAs authorize PMMSN as official responders to all cetacean stranding events, Laule said.

During the symposium, Laule said, “The reports from each of the regions in the country were incredibly impressive, i.e., number of strandings, quality of response, improvising with limited resources, and in working together in looking

after the welfare of stranded marine mammals.”

Laule also said, “Techniques we feel are irresponsible—like releasing or pushing all stranders back to sea—were also discussed and critiqued. If an animal has been stranded because it is incapable of surviving in its own world, simply treating it on the beach and pushing it back is cruel and inhumane and insures that it will likely suffer and die. That is why we promote best practices in decision making with three options—release, rehabilitation or euthanasia.”

Timothy Desmond, CEO of Ocean

Adventure, said regional chapters of PMMSN showed during the symposium how the members and volunteers of the network have improved on their capability to respond during marine mammal strandings.

Desmond said, “More stranding events were reported and responded to this year than ever before. For the network, of notable success is the organization of the new chapter in Region 7 and a provincial chapter in Sarangani province, where there were three stranding events of Cuvier’s beaked whale, a rare species of marine mammal, in a period of three weeks.”

Leyte mass-grave site Legislator calls for mandatory truck-driver education draws more visitors A

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ALO, Leyte—In this season of honoring the dead, the mass-grave site along national road in this town’s Barangay San Joaquin is drawing more public attention than cemeteries.

Major television networks based in Metro Manila had set up facilities near the grave site for live reporting.

Local government and private organizations conducted medical missions. Humanitarian aid workers were also present to provide various services.

“We asked the mayor to deploy more policemen here to augment our village watchmen because we noticed that many people have been coming this week,” said village chairman Gregorio Papoose V. Lantajo, whose father is one of the 371 Supertyphoon Yolanda casualties buried in the mass grave site.

The mass-grave site dotted with colorful tarpaulins printed with names and faces of those killed by super typhoon, is the most visible in Leyte.

The place is just in front of a Roman Catholic parish church along a national highway that connects Luzon and Mindanao.

“Today the site is more colorful as survivors offered flowers ahead of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. “Bloggers, journalist, humanitarian workers and even travelers usually made a stop here to take photos and talk to survivors. We have to step up security measures in this site because of so many people coming here to visit,” Lantajo said. PNA

LAWMAKER has proposed a mandatory driver education for truck drivers to promote road safety for motorists and the commuting public.

At present, Liberal Party Rep. Linabelle Ruth R. Villarica of Bulacan said the rules and procedures for the accreditation of driving schools do not include truck-driver education.

Villarica said while the regulation of driving schools has significantly improved the education and skills of drivers, truck drivers, specifically, have to be reoriented on the intricacies of driving their vehicles in view of their size and weight.

“This will ensure road safety for motorists and the commuting public, as well as protect and preserve properties from damage and destruction,” Villarica said.

Under House Bill 5107, to be known as the “Professional Truck Driver’s Education Act,” which Villarica authored, all establishments employing professional truck drivers shall secure for them a professional truck-driver

education and safety program.

Villarica said only accredited driving schools should be allowed to conduct the professional driver’s education and safety program.

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is authorized to suspend or revoke any license or certificate issued for the operation of commercial trucks and vehicles for violation of any provision of this act.

The amount needed for the initial implementation of the measure shall be charged against the existing appropriation of the LTO, but the budget needed for the full implementation of the proposed act shall be included in the General Appropriations Act. Villarica said the proposal is in line with the mandate of the state to maintain peace and order and protect the life and limb of motorists and commuters alike as they routinely take to the streets for work or leisure or for other reasons.

The measure mandates the LTO to formulate the rules for the implementation of the Act. PNA

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Sunday, November 2, 2014 A7

Power company acts to stop indiscriminate disposal of battery acid

By Butch D. Enerio Correspondent

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AGAYAN DE ORO CITY— To help protect the environment from indiscriminate disposal of sulfuric acid coming from old batteries, a power-generating company based in Misamis Oriental signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a recycling company and a non-governmental organization on Friday.

Steag State Power Inc. (SPI), Oriental Motolite Marketing Corp. (OMMC) and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) have agreed to support the “Balik Baterya” Program and, at the same time support the Learning Enhancement and Assistance Package (Leap) for the youth.

SPI, since its operation eight years ago, has accumulated 660 of used lead acid batteries, as well as scrapped uninterruptible power- supply batteries, in different sizes, and has donated them to OMMC. In return, OMMC will peg a premium price to the used batteries and the proceeds will be given to the PBSP to support its Leap projects. The Leap has provisions of textbooks and workbooks, conduct of remedial reading, supplemental feeding, teachers’ training and some logistics like chairs and desks.

Carsten Evers, SPI plant manager, said the company has found competent partners in the disposal of the old batteries wherein the proceeds can also help in SPI’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) on education through PBSP. “Old batteries must be handled with care since they are hazardous when carelessly disposed of. And it can be put to use

when what’s inside are recycled and used for other applications,” Evers said.

He said that with PBSP’s projects in helping alleviate poverty in the country through education, with the old batteries, SPI in some way, is participating for the development of the next generation.

Ghaye Alegrio, SPI community-relations manager, said that SPI is heavily committed to the social upliftment, particularly in its host communities where various interventions have been made, and its ongoing educational programs have shown positive results.

Connie Deligero, OMMC CSR officer said that what her company is doing is to recycle old batteries and the materials inside are carefully sorted out and then manufactured into chairs for schools-helping meet the backlog of 5 million school chairs for the public schools in the country.

Deligero said that there are almost a million kilos of used batteries in the country that are not recycled properly and its hazardous elements are just thrown away indiscriminately.

Its liquid content which is sulphuric acid is drained in canals and waterways and pollutes bodies of water.

Sufuric acid is corrosive on other materials, like metals, living tissues—skin and flesh, or even stones, can be mainly ascribed to its strong acidic nature.

Sulfuric acid at high concentration can cause very serious damage upon contact, as it not only causes chemical burns, but also secondary thermal burns. It burns the cornea and can lead to permanent blindness if splashed onto the eyes, thus safety precautions should be observed when handling it.

Ilonggos offer native delicacies for departed loved ones

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LOILO CITY—Most Ilonggos are now busy serving kakanin or native delicacies with lighted candles on top of their tables as offering for their dead loved ones in observance of the traditional All Saints’ Day. Native delicacies are in the form of suman, puto, cuchinta, suman latik, maja blanca, bayebaye, bibingka, and ibos, among others. Most of these food stuffs are made from ground glutinous rice, sugar and coconut milk.

Melanie Padilla, a professor at the Center for West Visayan Studies of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas said there is no such explanation why Filipinos, particularly Ilonggos, are serving native delicacies during this occasion.

“Native food because the ingredients are cheaper and maybe that’s the only available delicacies known by our grandparents during their time. It was later adapted from generations to generations,” she said.

Padilla also said Filipinos, especially those in Christian faith are the ones celebrating the All Saints’ Day, but other countries are not giving importance to this event.

In the Philippines, the national government has declared November 1 as official holiday to give Filipinos time to visit the grave of their dead family members and relatives.

As an old practice, families visit cemeteries on November 1 instead of supposed All Souls’ Day on November 2, to honor their

departed loved ones by laying out flowers, lighting candles and dedicating prayers.

Oftentimes, this occasion is treated as a family reunion where family members bring food to camp out all day. Some big cemeteries are even hiring live bands to entertain people visiting the cemeteries during night time.

Some Filipinos believed that native food served on top of the tables invite souls of departed family members to dine with so that the souls will not disturb other family members inside the house. There is a belief that once dead souls will greet anybody from the family members, it causes illness particularly fever.

Quack healer advised ill family member to have a ritual of suob (pausokan) by the use of kamangyan or incense, to shoo away spirits.

Catalina Opial, 60, of Barangay Pang-pang, Leganes, Iloilo, said she has been selling native delicacies for almost 21 years.

Opial said she received the secret recipe of these delicious delicacies from her mother, who was also expert in cooking native food, before she passed away.

Opial said that with this livelihood, she and her husband Junjie were able to send their six children to school. Four of them are already college graduates and have their own stable jobs.

She added during this kind of celebration she prepared almost 15 kilos of glutinous rice for different delicacies, almost double to her daily regular order. PNA

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

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Sunday, November 2, 2014

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ATM-deposit losses up 26% T

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By Genivi Factao

EPOSITS ripped off due to automated teller-machine (ATM) fraud rose 26 percent, from P175 million in 2012 to P220 million in 2013, according to a legislator.

Rep. Roman Romulo of Pasig City said depositors lost a total of P400 million in 2,872 cases of ATM fraud, mainly card-skimming, from 2012 to 2013.

“These losses do not include the sum lost by cardholders due to conventional ATM robberies or holdups at gunpoint,” he said over the weekend.

Citing Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) figures, Romulo said in 2013, some P220 million in deposits were looted from accounts due to the proliferation of illegal devices capturing personal identification numbers (PINs) on ATMs.

The amount was P45 million, or 26 percent, higher than the P175-million deposits ripped off in 2012 due to the covert copying of information from the magnetic strip of an ATM card.

Card-skimming refers to the illegal capture of a cardholder’s PIN, mainly via a “skimming plate” sneakily installed by scammers on an ATM. This enables the perpetrator to create a cloned card and withdraw from the victim’s account.

The scammer then uses the cardholder’s personal and

How debit card skimming works

Here are some of the ways thieves steal bank information from ATMs and point-of-sale debit card readers:

Switch the entire device

Thieves replace the entire card-reading device with their own, then recover the machine after it’s filled with customers’ data

Install a card skimmer

Thieves insert a device into an existing machine — a skimmer — that reads account info from users’ cards; this device may transfer that info wirelessly

Store card reader

Install a new keypad

Thieves install their own keypad over the existing one, enabling them to capture personal identification numbers as users enter them

Install a camera

Thieves install a tiny camera that enables thieves to see PINs as they are entered on the keypad; a transmission antenna sends the information wirelessly

Card skimmer Thief’s key pad

Thief’s card reader

Hidden micro camera

How to protect yourself • ATMs at banks may be safer than those at gas stations and stores since banks have more experience in providing security

• Credit card transactions provide more security because you have more time to dispute questionable charges

• Don’t use an ATM or payment machine if the equipment appears altered, such as if there’s glue residue around the keypad or card slot

• Feel the keypad or card slot to see if they are raised, suggesting thieves have inserted an extra layer of equipment

account details to borrow money or take out loans in the victim’s name.

Meanwhile, Romulo credited the Philippine National Bank (PNB) for its ATMSafe, which provides ample insurance protection and benefits to cardholders.

“We consider PNB’s ATMSafe as a groundbreaking cardholder-friendly initiative,” Romulo said.

Romulo is the author of House Bill 5036—the proposed ATM Theft Insurance Act—which seeks to require all banks

• Jiggle the card as you withdraw it from the slot; the movement might shake loose a card skimmer

• As you enter your PIN, cover the keypad with your other hand

• If you’re having trouble using an ATM, don’t accept help from strangers

• Check your bank statements regularly for suspicious activity

© 2008 MCT Source: Identitytheft911, Wells Fargo Bank, Los Altos Police Department Graphic: Karl Kahler and Rob Hernandez, San Jose Mercury News

to extend financial protection to their cardholders against losses due to fraud or robbery.

“Banks are duty-bound to safeguard customers and their deposits against all forms of attacks at all times,” Romulo said.

PNB’s ATMSafe pays up to P50,000, or the card’s daily withdrawal limit, whichever is less, to replace cash stolen during an ATM robbery, or when the insured loses cash due to the tampering or mechanical malfunction of an ATM.

In case of death as a result of an ATM mugging, the cardholder’s beneficiary will receive P112,500 benefit payment. If the cardholder is hospitalized due to an ATM assault, the insured is entitled to P2,250 daily benefit payments for up to 30 days.

ATMSafe also pays up to P11,250 to enable the cardholder to replace documents such as government-issued ID cards lost during an ATM stickup.

Banks adequately serving OFWs–BSP

HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said private banks have adequately served the requirements of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), downplaying the need to establish an OFW bank.

BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said private banks offer a host of loan, deposit and other banking services especially geared toward OFW needs.

He cited private bank’s initiatives, such as the Overseas Kababayan Services of China Banking Corp. (China Bank); Global Filipino by Philippine National Bank (PNB); and the Asenso Kababayan of BDO Unibank Inc.

He said joint efforts between the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines led to an OFW reintegration-loan program.

He said the financial welfare of OFWs through their reintegration into Philippine society is already the thrust of several programs offered by government banks.

Also, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) provide livelihood loans, ranging from P300,000 to a maximum of P2 million, to OFWs engaged in or who will engage in local productive endeavors.

The reintegration-loan program makes loans available without need for collateral, for viable projects with confirmed market order.

A total of P2 billion has been allocated for the program, of which only P500 million to P700 million has been availed of as of August 21, 2013.

In a letter to House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries Chairman Rep. Nelson Collantes, Tetangco said the creation of an OFW government bank—with its attendant cost of P2-billion initial capital in House Bill (HB) 1491 and P100 million in HB 2942—will raise fiscal implications that may warrant further evaluation, such as the sources of appropriation for its capitalization.

“The creation of a new bank would be inconsistent with the present thrust of the BSP to consolidate the Philippine banking industry,” he said.

The BSP said a new bank should be anchored on a solid feasibility assessment in order to strike a balance between the developmental objective of the House bills and the preservation of the stability of the Philippine banking system.

“To this end, the creation of a Philippine OFW bank appears to be unnecessary,” Tetangco added.

Instead, the BSP proposed that the limited government resources be used to educate OFWs to maximize the usage of existing financial services offered by government and private entities.

He also sought proponents of the bills to explore rationalization of documentary requirements for existing governmentfinancing programs for OFWs as these could be potential hurdles to their access. Genivi Factao

China manufacturing slowed last month as growth pressure deepens

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hina’s manufacturing slowed further last month, as a property slump and slowdown in investment growth put the world’s second-largest economy on course for the slowest full-year growth since 1990.

The government’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was at 50.8 in October, trailing the 51.2 median estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg News survey and compared with September’s 51.1. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.

A pullback in manufacturing will test the government’s determination to refrain from broad stimulus. The economy expanded 7.3 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the weakest pace in more than five years.

“China’s growth remains on a downward path,” analysts, led by Julian Evans-Pritchard at Capital Economics Ltd., said in a note before Saturday’s data.

The official PMI is released by the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of

Logistics and Purchasing in Beijing. The index is based on responses to surveys sent to purchasing executives at 3,000 companies.

A property downturn dragged the economy to its lowest growth in five years last quarter.

China will “stabilize” property-related consumption and make it easier for people to access mandatory housing savings, according to a government statement citing a State Council meeting chaired

by Premier Li Keqiang. This came after the central bank on September 30 relaxed mortgage rules for homebuyers who have paid off existing loans.

China will support consumption in six areas, including property, e-commerce, environment-friendly products and tourism, according to the statement.

The preliminary reading of another manufacturing PMI from HSBC Holdings Plc. and Markit Economics released last month rose to 50.4 in October from 50.2 in September. The final reading for October is due on November 3. Bloomberg News

San Miguel’s Optimal to join Calax rebidding Continued from A2

San Miguel asked President Aquino, who is the nephew of SMC Chairman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., to declare its bid compliant and accept the offer to finally get the construction going.

But despite the uproar from business groups, Palace Spokesman Edwin S. Lacierda signaled that the DPWH is already setting up a date for the new tender.

He told the BusinessMirror that a date has yet to be determined for the rebidding.

The project is a 47-kilometer highway that would start from the Manila-Cavite Expressway in Kawit, Cavite, and end at the South Luzon Expressway (Slex)Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna. It would consist of nine interchanges and a toll barrier before the Slex.

The third PPP project under the DPWH, the expressway is seen to decongest traffic on the Cavite-Laguna road network.

Construction of the multibillion-peso expressway is seen to start by October next year. It is expected to be completed by September 2017.

Since the infrastructure program’s inception in 2010, the government has awarded eight contracts so far. These are:

n the P1.96-billion Daang Hari-Slex project, bagged by Ayala Corp. in 2011;

n the P16.42-billion first phase of the PPP School Infrastructure Program, which went in 2012 to the consortium formed by Megawide Construction Corp. and Citicore Holdings Investment Inc., as well as the BF Corp.-Riverbanks Development Corp. Consortium;

n the P15.68-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport expressway, given to SMC unit Vertex Tollways Development Inc. in 2013;

n the P3.86-billion PSIP Phase II contract, partially awarded last year to Megawide

and the BSP & Co. Inc.-Vicente T. Lao Construction consortium;

n the P5.69-billion modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center project, which went to the Megawide-World Citi Inc. consortium also last year;

n the P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System contract, awarded to the AF Consortium of Ayala and Metro Pacific Investment Corp. in January;

n the P17.5-billion Mactan Cebu International Airport New Passenger Terminal project, bagged in April

by Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR Infrastructures Ltd.; and

n the P64.9-billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite Extension deal, awarded in September to Light Rail Manila Consortium of Ayala and MPIC.

The administration aims to sign at least 15 contracts by the time President Aquino steps down from office in 2016.