Businessmirror november 06, 2017

Karen Ibasco wins fourth Miss Earth title for PHL

By C. Mendez Legaspi

@misscharlize Special to the BusinessMirror

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s soon as she introduced herself as “Liwanag ng Kalikasan” her “Heroine Fighting Climate Change” persona in the parade of nations segment, Karen Santos Ibasco of the Philippines proved unstoppable as the warrior-goddess to beat at the Miss Earth 2017 pageant last Saturday night.

To thunderous cheers from the hometown crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Ibasco was crowned the 17th Miss Earth by outgoing queen Katherine Espin of Ecuador.

The 26-year-old University of Santo Thomas applied physics major in medical physics cum laude graduate bested 85 other candidates from around the planet to win the grand-slam beauty title, wearing a gold gown by designed Rian Fernandez.

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In their evening gowns, the candidates were trimmed to the top 16, including Ermelinda de Matos (first delegate from Angola), Lela Karagić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Angele Kossinda (Cameroon), Maria José Castañeda (from Guatemala, who won Best in National Costume for North America), Sarah Laura Peyrel (Switzerland), Diamond Langi (from Tonga and Face of Beauty International 2013 winner), Andreia Gibau (the United States) and Vietnam’s Le Thi Ha Thu (Miss Photogenic).

During the top 8, the candidates were asked to expound on trending topics, such as #terroristattack, #millennials, #ecowarriors, #feminism, #overpopulation, #HowMissEarthChangedMe and #harrassment.

Ibasco’s topic was #biodiversity, to which she responded with nary a pause: “Biodiversity is very important. We are known in the Philippines to have a lot of

biodiversity, and they’re very important because they also balance the ecosystem. It’s very important for us to protect them because, as we protect them, we protect the environment to help save our home, our planet, our Earth, to be a better place to live in. Thank you.”

The ones who made it to the top 8 included Iva Uchytilová (Czech Republic), Faith Landman (Netherlands), Paweensuda Drouin (Thailand) and Ninoska Vásquez (Venezuela).

It was heartbreaking when these stunning contenders didn’t advance to the final round. All four were favorites and deserving of the Ramona Haar-designed crown. But one has to be articulate, assertive and an authority on the Miss Earth advocacy of actively promoting and getting involved in the preservation of the environment and the protection of Mother Earth.

(FROM left) Miss Earth Air Nina Robertson from Australia, Miss Earth Fire Lada Akimova from Russia, Miss Earth Karen Ibasco from the Philippines and Miss Earth Water Juliana Franco from Colombia C. MENDEZ LEGASPI

See “Karen Ibasco,” A2

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

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Monday, November 6, 2017 Vol. 13 No. 26

@jearcalas

he Philippines and 27 other countries are asking the World Trade Organization (WTO) to establish a program that would reduce trade costs and make it easier for more micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to participate in and benefit from international trade.

The Friends of MSMEs, a 28-nation group that includes the Philippines, has submitted a draft ministerial decision on establishing a work

program for MSMEs to the WTO General Council. The draft ministerial decision, a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror,

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PHL wants WTO to help small firms cut trade costs T

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

2016 ejap journalism awards

Dissecting PPP contracts #9: The party clause and assignment of rights

Azevedo: “Helping MSMEs to join trade flows in greater numbers will go a long way to making the trading system more inclusive and improving the lives of individuals and communities around the world.”

Alberto C. Agra

ead

PPPC.LAgra Alberto

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has been circulated among WTO member-countries upon the request of the Friends of MSMEs. The group hopes that it will get the nod of member-countries during the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC11) this December in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

ho pays attention to the party clause and assignment of rights provisions of a publicprivate partnership (PPP) arrangement?

For those who want to make the parties accountable—those here means us—we should. The parties are the ones entrusted by law and contract to serve the public through this development strategy. We should know who to point our fingers at and exact performance from.

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C.A. DENIES MAKATI CITY BM Reports BID TO REGAIN CONTROL OF TAGUIG’S THE FORT Customs bureau wrestles with multifaceted issues

By Joel R. San Juan

T

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Court of Appeals (CA) has denied the plea of the Makati City government to reverse the CA’s decision in March that effectively affirmed the ownership of the Taguig City government over the 729-hectare Fort Andres Bonifacio, popularly known as The Fort.

In a five-page decision penned by Associate Justice Edwin D. Sorongon, the CA’s Special Former Sixth Division found no basis to grant the Makati City government’s motion for reconsideration of the court’s March 8 decision.

In the said ruling, the CA granted Taguig City’s motion to dismiss for forum shopping. The motion targeted the appeal filed by the Makati City government of the July 8, 2011, order of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Pasig City enjoining the latter from exercising jurisdiction over the subject property.

In its motion for reconsideration, Makati sought liberal interpretation and application of the rules on forum shopping considering “the transcendental importance involving public interest” of the case.

Makati said the CA’s decision

We found nothing novel in the other arguments that were propounded in Makati’s motion for reconsideration.

These were but a rehash of the issues and arguments raised in its previous pleadings, which have already been passed upon and duly addressed in our March 8 resolution, and which are unsubstantial to warrant a reconsideration thereof.”—CA

would have “a deep effect on political, economic and financial aspects” of both Makati and Taguig and their respective constituents.

The CA, however, said Makati’s arguments were insufficient Continued on A2

PESO exchange rates n US 51.4880

By Rea Cu

I

@ReaCuBM

Part One

N line with President Duterte’s plan to rid the Bureau of Customs (BOC) of its corrupt image, the bureau and the Department of Finance have implemented a number of measures to help cut red tape and reform the agency.

According to the BOC, one of the reasons the bureau’s image remains to be corrupt, which is what is conveyed to the public, is because of the practice of “tara” or grease money and the benchmarking method used for determining the value of a shipment or cargo.

According to Natalio C. Ecarma III, deputy commissioner for the bureau’s Revenue Collection Monitoring Group, the BOC had received a rating of -68 percent in 2016 and was seen by the public as the least sincere in terms of fighting corruption.

“I think this is because, consistently, there would be reports of BOC employees engaged in corrupt acts, mainly because the operations and processes were vulnerable to corruption,” Ecarma told the BusinessMirror through e-mail.

Ecarma ex plained the tara

Containers are stacked at the Manila North Harbor in Manila. The Bureau of Customs is mandated to complete the inspection of container vans in the country’s ports within 24 to 48 hours. NONIE REYES

system as the use of “grease money” to hasten the processing of items or cargo pending at the BOC by companies who want their respective shipments released immediately. This often results in shipments not going through the proper processing system.

“But let me state, though, that not all employees are in this [the practice of tara]. Not all employees are corrupt,” Ecarma said. “In fact, I would say that majority of them are working honestly, doing their jobs efficiently, without anything

in exchange except their salaries.”

Reform agenda

NEWLY appointed Customs Commissioner Isidro S. Lapeña has bared his five-point reform agenda for the bureau, taking into account the President’s marching orders to stop corruption in the BOC. This includes eliminating instances of corruption, increasing revenues, ensuring trade facilitation, strengthening anti-smuggling efforts and enhancing the personnel incentives, rewards system and

compensation benefits for BOC personnel.

Lapeña believes the implementation of the reform agenda will eliminate the tara system and stop corruption in the BOC. In his report to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, Lapeña said topping his priority list is to weed out corruption at the BOC, which he plans to do by implementing the “no tara, no gift and no take” policy at the bureau.

For trade facilitation, the bureau has suspended the use of the customs green lane for the time being, where imports undergo only minimal inspection and verification. The bureau is maximizing the use of its red lanes, with goods passing through the red lane undergoing two levels of inspection to ensure tighter security checks.

To increase revenue collections, the BoC is expected to speed up the collection and forfeiture of outstanding and demandable bonds, order the collection of additional duties, taxes or penalties from post audit, immediately auction off forfeited shipments and overstaying containers and implement the one-strike policy against officials who fail to reach their monthly

n japan 0.4513 n UK 67.2485 n HK 6.6002 n CHINA 7.7906 n singapore 37.8922 n australia 39.7075 n EU 60.0350 n SAUDI arabia 13.7302

Continued on A2

Source: BSP (3 November 2017 )

BMReports BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, November 6, 2017

Customs bureau wrestles with multifaceted issues Continued from A1

collection targets due to incorrect or undervaluation of goods under their jurisdiction.

Benchmarking trashed

ACCOR DI NG to L apeñ a , t he BOC is also doing away with the method of benchmarking, which is the practice of imposing only a discretionary value rather than conducting the proper valuation and accurate assessment of duties, on container shipments.

He said benchmarking is one of the causes of corruption in the bureau.

“What was happening before with the benchmarking, the bureau wasn’t able to collect the right duties and taxes, and it’s [duty or tax] way below the supposed actual collections of the BOC,” Lapeña said.

Citing as an example, a container van valued at P1 million from the value-added tax alone at 12 percent, the BoC should already have collected around P120,000 ($2,340).

But, with the benchmarking system, the collection was reduced to a mere P40,000 ($780).

“It is really very low, the government loses a lot,” Lapeña explained.

“So I made a directive that it should be correct valuation, what is provided for by law.”

The customs chief has also abolished the Command Center set up by his predecessor Nicanor E. Faeldon and directed the strict implementation of a provision in the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act on completing the inspection of container vans within 24 to 48 hours.

Leveled field

Lapeña said these moves are expected to further enhance trade facilitation in the country.

“And, of course, to strengthen the implementation of the BOC mandate, I abolished the command center,” he said. “This is the one with a lot of issues that are being raised.”

Lapeña also vowed to implement a level playing field for all importers by upgrading and computerizing customs systems and processes, and reviewing the requirements and processing time for accreditation.

“We don’t want the benchmarking; it should be correct valuation. If we are able to implement the correct valuation, then we should be hitting a much higher collection of revenues,” he added.

“And I am optimistic that by next year we should be hitting our target or above the target.”

To strengthen anti-smuggling efforts, Lapeña said he has ordered the filing of cases against erring importers and customs brokers and directed the strict scrutiny of all documents to ensure their authenticity.

Plans to create a joint task force with the Bureau of Internal Revenue to intensify the government’s anti-smuggling campaign and improve the collection of import duties and taxes were discussed with the finance chief.

Lapeña’s plans

As part of his program to enhance the rewards and incentive system in the bureau, Lapeña had promoted 515 BOC employees. He prioritized seniority having discovered that the oldest staff had not been promoted for 30 years.

A review of the rewards system for employees will also be done under his watch, he said.

According to Lapeña, such a system is expected to fast-track the promotion and hiring of personnel to fill in vacant positions.

He also plans to establish a Counter-Intelligence Service and Internal Affairs Service within the bureau, among other measures.

Lapeña has also made good on his promise to implement the onestrike policy at the BOC, which has led to the relief of district collectors in the Port of Manila and the Manila International Container Port (MICP). The implementation of the policy also led to recommendations to remove other personnel in these two offices.

Lapeña also ordered surprise visits and inspections in Manila’s ports, which led to the arrest of an MICP security guard and two of his accomplices, who were allegedly caught in the act of receiving money from truck drivers.

The collection by the MICP guard and his cohorts has led to a long line of trailer trucks and container vans at the MICP gates. To be continued

Ca denies Makati City bid to regain control of Taguig’s The Fort Continued from A1

to warrant the reversal of the court’s March 8 decision.

“Guided by the Supreme Court’s categorical and emphatic pronouncements t hat Ma k at i is guilty of willful and deliberate forum shopping in City of Taguig v. City of Makati, we reiterate that the dismissal of this appeal is but a necessary legal consequence of Makati’s own acts,” the CA noted.

“For it is well-entrenched in this jurisdiction that if the forum shopping is willful and deliberate, both actions (or all, if there are more than two) shall be dismissed without prejudice.”

The CA added that Makati failed to present new arguments that would convince the court to reconsider its decision.

“We found nothing novel in

the other arguments that were propounded in Makati’s motion for reconsideration. These were but a rehash of the issues and arguments raised in its previous pleadings, which have already been passed upon and duly addressed in our March 8 resolution, and which are unsubstantial to warrant a reconsideration thereof,” the CA said. “Hence, we find no cogent reason to modify or reverse the said resolution.”

It can be recalled that, in July 2013, the CA’s Sixth Division issued a decision that granted the appeal of Makati City government of the July 8, 2011, order of the RTC in Pasig City.

The appellate court ordered the Taguig City government to cease and desist from exercising jur isd iction over severa l areas within Fort Bonifacio that

were earlier declared part of its territory.

These areas include the so-called military barangays comprising of Cembo, South Cembo, East Rembo, West Rembo, Comembo, Pembo and Pitogo, as well as the Inner Fort Barangays (Post Proper Northside and Post Proper Southside).

The appellate court also declared as constitutional Presidential Proclamation 2475 issued by the late former President Ferdinand E. Marcos on January 7, 1986, disregarding the claim of Taguig over Fort Bonifacio by stating that the same falls under the jurisdiction of Makati City.

Also declared as valid was Proclamation 518, modifying Proclamation 2475 that stated the said tracts of land are situated in Makati, although they are parts of Fort Bonifacio.

The Taguig City government

earlier sought the dismissal of the appeal filed by the Makati City government before the CA on the ground of forum shopping. The CA denied such motion.

The Taguig City government brought the issue before the Supreme Court. In a ruling issued last year, the Supreme Court Second Division granted Taguig’s petition and cited the Makati City government in contempt for forum shopping, especially when it simultaneously pursued legal remedies before the RTC in Pasig City and the CA seeking same relief.

The CA held that as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling, it has no other recourse but to dismiss Makati City government’s appeal of the RTC in Pasig City ruling declaring Taguig as the owner of Fort Bonifacio property.

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Karen Ibasco. . .

In the final, same-question round, Ibasco’s intelligence edged out her competition. The dashing host, road-safety advocate James Deakin, gave the final question.

“Who or what do you think is the biggest enemy of Mother Earth and why?”

Ibasco replied: “I believe that the real problem in this world is not climate change; the real problem is us, because of our ignorance and apathy. What we have to do is to start changing our ways, to start recalibrating our minds, and redirecting our steps because, together, as a global community, our micro efforts will have a macro effect to help save our home, our planet.

Thank you.”

Complet i ng her e lement a l court are Miss Earth Water Juliana Franco (Colombia), Miss Earth Fire Lada Akimova (Russia) and Miss Earth Air Nina Robertson (Australia), a half-Filipina from Melbourne.

Ibasco, from Manila, is the

Govt. . .

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The President in May instructed the government panel to withdraw from the peace talks with the NDF, after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) directed the New People’s Army (NPA) to heighten offensives in response to the martial-law declaration in Mindanao.

The CPP last Thursday rejected efforts by local government units to negotiate with local forces of the NPA. In a statement, the CPP said “Duterte’s local peace talks will surely fail in its aim of dividing the revolutionary forces waging a nationwide people’s war”.

Trump. . .

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Their goal was to impress upon the president—who has suggested that allies must share more of the costs of their own defense— that the US military presence in places like South Korea, Japan and the Philippines was not a matter of charity. “We’re not there for them; we’re there for us,” Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., head of the Pacific Command, told Trump, the official said.

That theme is likely to be highlighted again on Tuesday when Trump is in South Korea, where he is scheduled to visit US and South Korean troops at Camp Humphreys, which the White House has called a prime example of the kind of “burden sharing” the president wants to emphasize. The South Koreans paid most of the costs of a recent expansion of the base and moving US troops and their families there.

Trade deals

White House officials have framed the trip as a chance for Trump to showcase his warm relationships with world leaders, including Abe and President Xi Jinping of China, as well as to demand trade deals more favorable to the US after his decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The White House has signaled that Trump will push American economic interests in the region, but the North Korea issue is expected to dominate the trip. One of Trump’s two major speeches will come before the National Assembly in Seoul. But fiery threats against the North could resonate differently than they do from the distance of Washington.

It will also highlight the uncertainty in the region and around the world about what to expect from the Trump administration, and the degree to which major powers are charting their own course in the absence of clear signals from the US. Trump also makes the trip hobbled by new questions about the Russia investigation back in Washington, sharpened in recent days by revelations that his aides had sought to arrange meetings between him and Putin during the campaign. In contrast, Abe and Xi are newly empowered, with their countries handing them sweeping mandates.

Trump last Sunday denied being at a disadvantage when reporters noted that Xi was in a particularly powerful position.

“Excuse me, so am I,” Trump said, citing a surging stock market and low unemployment in the US, and asserting that “ISIS [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] is virtually defeated in the Middle East.”

“We are coming off some of the strongest numbers we’ve ever had, and he knows that, and he respects that,” Trump said of Xi. “We’re

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fourth winner from the Philippines, and the third victory in four years for the country. Karla Henry from Cebu won in 2008, Jamie Herrell from Cebu won in 2014 and Angelia Ong from Iloilo won in 2015.

Ibasco’s pageant trajectory is similar to Henry’s and Ong’s. The three queens previously competed at Binibining Pilipinas in various years and were unfortunate in their bids until winning the Miss Earth top plum.

Wit h I basco’s v ictor y, t he Philippines continues an unprecedented winning placements at international pageants. Binibining Pilipinas Grand International Elizabeth Clenci won third place at Miss Grand International on October 25 in Vietnam, Binibining Pilipinas Globe Nelda Ibe won second place at Miss Globe in Albania on November 3 and Binibining Pilipinas 2017 finalist Sammie Ann Legaspi also won second place in Miss Lumiere International in Malaysia on November 4.

“The Duterte regime is wasting time and the people’s money in setting up these useless local peace committees, which will go nowhere and achieve nothing. These are mere rehashes of worn-out psywar surrender programs, such as the ‘Balik-Baril Program’ and the Comprehensive Local Integration Program riding on the popular clamor for peace talks,” the CPP said.

The CPP told Duterte that it is better to resume the peace talks with the NDF so as to continue discussions on socioeconomic reforms and the release of political prisoners.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has created a peace committee tasked to hold localized peace talks with the NPA— an initiative that has earned the backing of the President.

going in with tremendous strength.”

Trump’s ability to stay on message during a lengthy and physically demanding trip will most likely be tested, with many opportunities for gaffes or intemperate language.

The journey will also test Trump’s stamina.

But the 71-year-old president assured reporters that he was up for the task. “It’s grueling, they tell me, but fortunately, that’s historically not been a problem for me. One thing you people will say, that’s not been a problem,” he said.

The visit will be closely watched by Asian allies worried that Trump’s inward-looking “America First” agenda could cede power in the region to China. They also are rattled by his bellicose rhetoric toward North Korea.

The North’s growing missile arsenal threatens several of the capitals Trump will visit.

Authoritarian leaders

The trip will also put Trump in face-to-face meetings with authoritarian leaders for whom he has expressed admiration. They include China’s Xi, whom Trump has likened to “a king,” and the Philippines’s President Duterte, who has sanctioned the extrajudicial killings of drug dealers.

Trump is also expected to have a second private audience with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a summit in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Da Nang, Vietnam. Trump told reporters he “will want Putin’s help” in dealing with North Korea. They previously met during a summit in Europe this summer.

Trump will forgo a trip to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the stark border between North and South Korea. All US presidents except one since Ronald Reagan have visited the DMZ in a sign of solidarity with Seoul.

The White House contends that Trump’s commitment to South Korea is already crystal clear, as evidenced by his war of words with Kim and his threats to deliver “fire and fury” to North Korea if it does not stop threatening American allies. The escalation of rhetoric, a departure from the conduct of past presidents, has undermined confidence in the US as a stabilizing presence in Asia.

“There’s a danger if there is a lot of muscle flexing,” said Mike Chinoy, a senior fellow at the US-China Institute at the University of Southern California. “Trump has been going right up to the edge, and I wouldn’t rule out some sort of forceful North Korean reaction to Trump’s presence in the region,” he said.

The White House said Trump would be undeterred. “The president will use whatever language he wants to use, obviously,” White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters before Trump departed Washington. “I don’t think the president really modulates his language, have you noticed?” AP and New York Times News Service

Economy

A4 Monday, November 6, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

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DOE to review pass-on power charges

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By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

recent decision of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) that allowed an electric cooperative (EC) to pass on to its customers P232 million worth of unpaid power fees owed to a power supplier has prompted the Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct a review on pass-on power charges.

Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said his agency is crafting a circular that will prohibit ECs and distribution-utility firms (DUs) from passing on charges to consumers “due to their inefficiencies and negligence.”

“We are revisiting all the passthrough expenses so that there will be a limit on what to pass and what not to pass on to consumers. The pass-through expenses brought about by inefficiency on the part of the EC should not be passed on to the consumers,” Cusi said.

He added the DOE would not allow consumers to be burdened by inefficiencies caused by, among others, over-contracting on the part of an EC.

“There is an issue in Bacolod. The ERC approved it. If it’s due to overcontracting, then why allow consumers to pay for it?” Cusi said.

The ERC has allowed the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) to pass on to its consumers P232 million of unpaid fees it owes to KepcoSalcon Power Corp. for the period July 2011 to November 2013.

Ceneco was authorized to recover from its consumers the said amount at a monthly rate of P0.0817 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for a period of 50 months, or until such time that the full amount is fully recovered.

“Over-contracting is just one example of inefficiency. How can we

encourage efficiency if we pass the burden to consumers? That’s why we need to review through a department circular these pass on charges so that we can refine our policies,” Cusi said.

There is also a proposed bill that seeks to prohibit electricity distributors from passing on other charges to consumers: nontechnical system losses caused by electricity theft or pilferage and the electricity company’s own power expenses.

“Consumers should not be made to pay for what is ultimately the responsibility of distribution utilities and electric cooperatives. It is time for us to prioritize the welfare of

Filipino households over the interests of power-sector insiders,” said Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, the bill’s author and chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy.

Senate Bill 1188, or the proposed Recoverable System Loss Act, lowers the system-loss cap—the maximum charge that can be passed on to consumers to compensate for electricity lost in the distribution system from the receiving point of private-distribution utilities and ECs to the consumer’s metering point—from 8.5 percent to 5 percent for distribution utilities, and from 13 percent to 10 percent for electric cooperatives.

Poorest Filipinos spent more for food in Q3–PSA

By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

T

he poorest 30 percent of Filipinos had to shell out more money in the third quarter due to the increase in the price of food items, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Data from the PSA showed the year-on-year (YoY) inflation experienced by the bottom 30 percent of income households increased to 3 percent in the third quarter.

“The annual growth of the food alone index moved up at a faster pace of 2.9 percent in the third quarter of 2017. It was pegged at 2.7 percent in the previous quarter and 1.6 percent during the same quarter in 2016,” the PSA said.

The inflation seen by the poorest Filipinos was higher than the annual rate in the previous quarter, which was recorded at 2.7 percent, and in the same period in 2016 at 1.5 percent.

PSA data showed the inflation experienced by the poorest Filipino households was the highest in the past 10 quarters since the first quarter of 2015, when it reached 3.1 percent.

In the July-to-September period, the highest inflation was seen in fish at 8.3 percent followed by

meat at 4.9 percent; corn, 2.2 percent; rice, 1.6 percent; and cereal preparations, 1.3 percent.

However, the YoY increases in the indices of eggs and fruits and vegetables slowed to 2.7 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively.

Also, the miscellaneous food index exhibited an annual drop of 0.1 percent, while that of the dairy-products index remained at 0.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the poorest households in Metro Manila experienced the highest rate of inflation nationwide at 4.8 percent in the third quarter, from 1.6 percent in 2016.

This was attributed to the hike in the prices of housing and repairs, services and miscellaneous expenditures.

Slower annual increases were noted in the indices of food beverage and tobacco (FBT) at 5.1 percent; clothing, 1.9 percent; and fuel, light and water (FLW), 5.7 percent.

“An annual decrease of 0.3 percent was noted in rice index during the quarter. Moreover, slower annual growths were recorded in the indices of [other] food groups,” the PSA added.

These were fruits and vegetables at 12.1 percent; fish at 8.9 percent; dairy products, 5.2 percent; meat, 4.6 percent; and eggs, 1.3 percent.

In areas outside of the National Capital Region, inflation increased 3 percent in the third quarter of 2017, from 1.4 percent.

The increase was largely due to higher FLW, FBT and housing and repair prices. Other commodity groups that saw prices increase were services, clothing and miscellaneous expenditures.

Poor Filipinos are sensitive to the prices of food. This is because the weight of food in the basket of goods used for the computation of the inflation experienced by the poorest 30 percent is 70 percent against 39 percent for all the households.

Monitoring the movement of prices, particularly for the bottom 30 percent, addresses indicators under Global Goals or Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2, which the Philippines adopted this year.

The United Nations said Goal 1 aims to end poverty in all its forms everywhere while Goal 2 aims to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

The SDGs are composed of 17 goals and 169 targets that need to be achieved by 2030. The set of goals were adopted by 189 countries in September 2015.

A store owner arranges stacks of dried fish at Puerto Princesa City market in Palawan. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority shows the increase in the price of essential food items in the third quarter hit the poor the hardest. ALYSA SALEN

Govt urged to set ‘minimum Retail prices up in Metro Manila quality standards’ for telcos on higher pump prices–PSA H T

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

he vice chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations last Sunday urged the government to shape up the country’s telecommunication companies by passing a measure mandating “minimum quality standards” for mobile telephone services.

Rep. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte Jr. of the Second District of Camarines Sur issued the statement after Chinese tech billionaire Jack Ma expressed indictment on the state of internet services in the Philippines.

“Gover nment reg u l ators should all the more crack the whip on the country’s telecommunication companies for them to shape up,” he said.

“The frank observation by Ma during his Manila visit on the quality of the country’s Internet services should not be taken lightly by the National Telecommunications Commission [NTC], given that this came from a global technopreneur who has built his fortune on Internet-based businesses, including e-commerce giant Alibaba,” he added.

The lawmaker, citing the recent report of the OpenSignal, said that out of 75 countries included in a study assessing the average quality of mobile 4G connectivity, the Philippines ranked a dismal 72nd, with 52.77-percent availability and 71st with 8.59-Mbps download speed.

“Jack Ma’s withering comment on the kind of Internet service that we get from our telcos should shame these corporate giants into finally shaping up to improve their services that are below global standards. It should also prompt the NTC and other state regulators to compel these telcos to deliver the kind of service that their tens of millions of subscribers deserve as paying customers,” Villafuerte said OpenSignal, a London-based company which studies and maps mobile networks, also said the Philippines’s 4G coverage falls below the 60-percent global benchmark it set, while speeds are way below the 16.2Mbps average.

With this, Villafuerte urged the leadership to approve House Bill (HB) 4695 mandating the minimum quality standards for mobile telephone services, while punishing telcos guilty of “horrendous complaints by subscribers, such as poor network signals, overcharging, interrupted or dropped voice calls, vanishing prepaid loads and the surge of spam messages.”

HB 4695 seeks to require the NTC to come up with a comprehensive and efficient system for subscribers to report their complaints of substandard services by their respective telco providers.

The bill also aims to protect the interests of Filipino mobile-service consumers by regulating prices, requiring proper detailed billing of both prepaid and postpaid subscriptions and providing full mobile-

number portability.

Other service improvements specified in the measure include offering consumers insurance for their mobile devices, protecting their right to privacy, and prohibiting unsolicited commercial advertisements unless allowed by subscribers and that must be sent only during business hours.

The bill also provides penalties against erring telcos range from fines of not less than P1 million but not more than P10 million and/or a suspension or revocation of their legislative franchises and other licenses issued by the NTC.

Ease regulation

Villafuerte also urged anew local government units to ease regulations for telcos in setting up the infrastructure necessary to ensure the delivery of reliable, faster digital services.

“There are now about 20,000 cell sites in the country against 70,000 in Vietnam,” he said.

“Telcos have been complaining that they have to secure dozens of permits, mostly from LGUs, to put up cell sites,” he added.

On top of securing permits from the NTC, plus the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for environmental clearance certificates and the Department of Health for Radio Frequency Radiation Clearance Certificates, Villafuerte said telcos must also get approvals from the city or municipal governments, from the barangay units and even from subdivisions.

igher pump prices caused retail prices in Metro Manila to increase on an annual basis in September, according data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

PSA data showed retail prices in the National Capital Region (NCR) increased to 3.2 percent in September, from 3 percent in the same period last year.

Data showed mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, as well as crude materials, inedible except fuels both rose to 11 percent and 3.4 percent, from a contraction of 2.4 percent and 0.6 percent last year, respectively.

“The GRPI [General Retail Price Index] is a statistical measure of the changes in the prices at which retailers dispose of their goods to

consumers or end-users relative to a base year,” the PSA said.

Data also showed there were faster increases in beverages and tobacco at 4.7 percent, and manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials at 1.4 percent.

However, the annual increase in the food index was slower at 5.4 percent; machinery and transport equipment index, 0.5 percent; and miscellaneous manufactured articles index, 0.6 percent.

On a monthly basis, the GRPI in NCR went up by 0.6 percent in September. In the previous month, its growth was registered at 0.3 percent.

This was largely due to the food index which picked up by 1.3 percent due to higher prices of beef, milk, rice, loaf bread, fruits, vegetables, raw peanuts, powdered

tonic drink, coffee, cooking oil and fish sauce.

“Price hikes in petroleum products, such as gasoline, LPG [liquefied petroleum gas], diesel, kerosene and engine oil resulted to a 2.5-percent increase in its group’s index for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials,” the PSA said.

Also, higher prices of “sin” products, such as selected liquors, wines and cigarettes, as well as softdrinks pushed up the beverages and tobacco index to 0.1 percent.

The GRPI is an indicator used to monitor the economic situation of the retail trade sector. It is also used as a deflator of the national accounts, especially on the retail trade sector and serves as a basis of forecasting business in the retail trade. Cai U. Ordinario

Furniture industry optimistic about hitting 10% export growth

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urniture manufacturers expect to sustain an export growth of at least 10 percent toward the end of 2017 and into next year while the domestic market is growing higher.

“Ten percent is very sure this year.

We are just talking only of exports but the growth of the local market is much, much higher. There are companies that their production is fully booked with the local market,” said Myrna Bituin, trustee for the furniture sector of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. Bituin pointed out the local

furniture industry is focusing on high-end market and catering to projects overseas.

“We say projects like for example in the Middle East, the palaces in Qatar, the villas in Morocco, the villas in Abu Dhabi. They are quite different from the regular exports but they are something that sustain the growth,” she said in an interview.

Bituin also noted the strong local demand fuelled by a booming property market.

She said Filipino companies can now access real estate developments.

“Today, if you are going to check,

the big hotels, their suppliers are local exporters. We are talking of something like a 600-room hotel, which is being now supplied by local companies, that is really a tremendous growth,” she said.

“Today, I can say that a lot of companies are busy because of the local market. But, of course, it is also important for us to tap, go into exports,” she added.

To seize these huge business opportunities, Bituin underscored the need for furniture makers to improve their export marketing strategy.

Philexport News & Features

The Nation BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, November 6, 2017 A5

Senate to probe Malampaya fund ‘misuse’

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By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

HE Senate Energy Committee feels duty bound to hold a “full” inquiry­—possibly in joint hearings with the Blue Ribbon panel—into how billions in funds derived by the government from the Malampaya gas field in Palawan had been used, Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian said last Sunday.

Asserting the Senate’s duty to find out how the multibillion-peso Malampaya income were disbursed, Gatchalian said it is their responsibility to double-check where the funds were spent.

“It’s the Senate Energy Com-

mittee’s task to find out where the funds went,” he said, citing reports that these were used for other nonenergy items like fertilizers, roads, etc. “We want to know how much is left and what strategy we can adopt in looking

for a new source of energy,” explained Gatchalian, the committee chairman, in a radio interview over the weekend.

The senator was referring to the experts’ estimates that the Malampaya field will run dry in a few years, even as the Philippines is still scrambling to put in place viable alternative sources.

Gatchalian noted that references to Malampaya fund misuse had been mostly tangential, as this was raised in the course of the hearings in the previous Congress on the pork-barrel scam.

At the same time, Gatchalian acknowledged the possibility that some names cited in past hearings on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), such as businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles and socialite Ruby Tuason, could surface anew when the Senate probers revisit the Malampaya funds use.

Noting the imperative to ensure the funds were not misused, Gatch-

alian said the Malampaya fund was set up with the objective of “looking for new energy sources, but this did not happen and, in fact, no funds were used for exploration.”

“We want to find out how much is still left, how much was used, whether there were anomalies. We will coordinate with the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee” on the inquiry, Gatchalian said.

Ideally, he added, if the law creating the fund were strictly construed, the income derived from Malampaya should have been used to look for new energy sources. “But as we saw, the fund was used for nonenergy-related projects. We will insist that the fund be used solely for exploration of new sources,” Gatchalian said.

He assured that Senate probers “will look into anomalies, and if COA [Commission on Audit] findings are proven, we will push for filing cases.”

The Blue Ribbon panel had to

play a key role in the probe because of the need to look into allegations of malfeasance and misfeasance, while his committee is focused on use of the funds for energy concerns, Gatchalian explained, as he noted that it was not even clear just how much was really remitted to the Treasury by the consortium that developed and managed the Malampaya facility.

Gatchalian quoted the COA, saying the use of P38 billion should be looked into, but other figures had been floated in the past. “It seems the figures are not accurate; they keep changing. They can’t give the exact figures.”

He added: “We want to know how much was disbursed, but they can’t give the figures.”

Gatchalian recalled that some P700 million of the multibillion porkbarrel scam review was attributed to have come from the remittances to the National Treasury from the Malampaya consortium. However,

he added, the previous inquiries were focused on pork barrel, not the Malampaya fund.

Underscoring the need for a deeper investigation now, Gatchalian recalled the Supreme Court had clearly ruled that the Malampaya funds must be used exclusively for energy projects. There is an imperative, the senator added, “to study how to make the law perfectly clear that Malampaya funds are solely for energy-related projects.”

Meanwhile, Gatchalian indicated the inquiry he would pursue in tandem with the Blue Ribbon might have to wait at least two weeks, considering the country will be busy with hosting events related to Association of Southeast Asian Nation’s 50th anniversary and Leaders’ summit. Lawmakers will also have to buckle down to resume working on the 2018 budget and the TRAIN or tax-reform package when they reconvene after the Asean week.

7,227 law graduates take 2017 Bar exam at the University of Santo Tomas

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

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HE four-Sunday Bar examination for 2017 started yesterday with 7,227 law graduates trying their luck to join the country’s roster of lawyers.

The number of 2017 Bar

takers is the highest in the past three years.

The Supreme Court-Public Statistics released by the Office of the Bar Confidant showed that for the 2017 bar examinations, a total of 7,270 filed their applications; of this number 13 were denied admission to the bar by the Court

for various reasons.

Out the 7,257 admitted candidates, 30 withdrew their applications before the conduct of the Bar, leaving 7,227 admitted candidates for the 2017 Bar examinations.

The 7,227 figure is higher compared to last year with 6,831

candidates admitted to take the examination. In 2015 the total number of examinees is 7,146, while there are 6,344 candidates in 2014.

The Bar examination covers eight subjects, with focus on two subjects every Sunday.

Yesterday’s examination covered Political Law and Public

International Law and Labor and Social Legislation.

Next Sunday the exam will cover Civil Law and Taxation, while Mercantile Law and Criminal Law will be taken on the third Sunday and Remedial Law and Legal and Judicial Ethics on the fourth Sunday.

The Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Coast Guard were deputized to ensure the safe and orderly conduct of the Bar examinations at the University of Santo Tomas in España, Manila.

A6

Agriculture/Commodities

Monday, November 6, 2017 • Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Chicken prices continue to recover

Food spending of Pinoys up 11.37 percent–report T

he per-capita food expenditure of Filipinos in 2015 rose by 11.37 percent to P20,144, from P18,088 recorded in 2012, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In its annual report, titled “Food Consumption and Nutrition,” the PSA noted that the total food expenditures in 2015 the reached P4.88 trillion, 18.36 percent higher than the P4.12 trillion posted in 2012.

However, data from the PSA showed that the proportion of food in family expenditures slid to 41.9 percent in 2015, from 42.8 percent in 2012.

“In all regions except Western

File photo

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

oultry growers are slowly regaining their footing as data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) showed the farm-gate price of broiler continued to recover, and breached P92 per kilogram in the third week of October.

Data from the BAI obtained by the BusinessMirror showed that the farm-gate price of broiler as of October 23 reached P92.56 per kilogram, slightly higher than the P92.07 per kg recorded on October 16.

The highest recorded farmgate price during the reference period was P94 per kg, while the lowest was at P91 per kg, according to BAI data.

O n a mont h l y b a s i s , t he P92.56-per-kg farm-gate price was 68.08 percent higher than

the P55.07 per kg recorded on September 22, BAI data showed.

BAI data also revealed that the retail price of fully dressed chicken as of October 23 was pegged at P142.08 per kg, 2.03 percent higher than the previous week’s P139.25 per kg.

The price of day-old chick (DOC) also went up during the reference period. BAI data showed that the price of DOC grew by 10.82 percent to P27.75 per piece, from P25.04 a week earlier. The figure was also 84.75 percent

higher than the P15.02 per piece recorded a month ago.

T he Un ited Broi lers R a is ers Association earlier told the Busi n e ssM i r ror t h at some poultry growers have started to reload their flocks to take advantage of the expected increase in demand for broiler meat, as the holiday season approaches. The group said this contributed to the recovery of the farm-gate price of broiler chicken.

While bird flu struck mostly commercial layers, the farm-gate price of broilers took a hit because consumers panicked over the government’s discovery of the outbreak.

Last month the Department of Agriculture (DA) has started to deploy sentinel birds in Central Luzon towns struck by bird flu.

Agriculture Secretary Emmañuel F. Pinol earlier told reporters that the DA has not received a ny ne w re por t s of bi rd-f lu outbreaks in the country since he declared the crisis was over in September.

However, Manila will still have to await the confirmation of the World Organisation for Animal Health that the Philippines is bird flu-free.

D

Henry J. Schumacher

europe Beat 50 percent of fresh goods are damaged during the journey from market to consumer (postharvest losses are estimated at 30 percent); this is compared to just 6 percent in Thailand. Again, the lack of a support framework, such as effective cooperatives, to ensure that farmers are able to access the market at competitive prices has meant that they are vulnerable to middle-men.

While there have been efforts at a national level to implement laws, policies and projects in support of agricultural development, often jointly with the private sector, the implementation of those is frequently challenged at the regional and local level.

However, there were some encouraging movements in recent weeks:

than its 2012 level of 35.3 percent.

“Among the food eaten at home, cereals and cereals preparation got the biggest share at 11.7 percent.

Around 5 percent each comprised the expenditures for meat and meat preparations and fish and marine products,” the report read.

“Fruits and vegetables accounted for only 3.5 percent. Oil and fats shared the least at 0.6 percent,” it added.

Filipino families also spent more for food regularly consumed outside of their homes, which accounted for 8.2 percent of total family expenditure for food in 2015, higher than the 7.5 percent recorded in 2012. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

EPA chief set to meet privately with chemical-industry execs

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A S H I N G T O N ­— T h e Trump administration’s top environmental regulator is set to speak privately to chemical industry executives next week during a conference at a luxury oceanfront golf resort.

Env i ron ment a l P rotec t ion Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt is listed as the featured speaker at a board meeting of the American Chemistry Council, a group that has lobbied against stricter regulations for chemical manufacturers. The three-day conference is being held at The Sanctuary resort on Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

Cou nc i l s p ok e s m a n A n ne Kolton said Pruitt’s speech will not be open to the public or the news media. Admission to the membersonly event, where Pruitt is speaking, ranges between $7,500 and $2,500, depending on sponsorship level. Rooms at the resort are being offered to conference attendees at a discounted rate of $389 a night, not including taxes and fees.

Travel and lodging expenses for Pruitt, four aides and his security team will be borne by taxpayers.

EPA Spokesman Jahan Wilcox declined to provide an estimate of the total cost for the trip, but said the government employees would

Agricultural supply and value chains

espite high levels of economic growth, the Philippines’s agriculture sector has shown consistently low growth and productivity rates. The lack of modernization, productivity and profitability of the agriculture sector is the result of an accumulation of factors across the supply and value chain: Farmers, in the vast majority smallholders with an average age of 57 and five years of education, are often unable to turn agriculture into a profitable business, as they lack the capacity or the funds to apply innovative methods and technologies to their farming methods. Indeed, the small size of the farms, the lack of mechanization, use of high-productivity agricultural methods, such as intercropping, planting of new plant varieties and proper application of agricultural inputs, are some of the major barriers to increasing farmers’ productivity. As mentioned in my last week ’s column, cooperatives have to be created to establish farming communities that will be able to address the issues I mentioned above.

The supply and value chain itself has handicapped the ability of the Philippines to guarantee food security, and increase its agricultural products’ competitiveness at an international level.

Farm-to-market infrastructure, including roads and logistics services, are an important hindrance to the supply and value chains.

Indicatively, it is estimated that 20 percent to

Visayas, food recorded a declining share in the total family expenditures in 2015 as compared with the 2012 records,” the PSA report read.

“The biggest proportion of food expenditures was reported in the ARMM [Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao] at 59 percent.

This was followed by Zamboanga Peninsula at 48.2 percent and Bicol region at 48 percent,” it added.

The PSA report noted that 33.7 percent of food bought by families were consumed at home, while the remaining 8.2 percent were spent for food regularly consumed outside the home. The share of food consumed at home, however, was lower

Pruitt Bloomberg be staying for $135 a night, within the limit allowed under federal travel reimbursement rules.

Registration fees for Pruitt and his staff were waived since the EPA administrator is an invited speaker. The government employees will not be participating in the golf events scheduled as part of the conference, Wilcox said.

Cor porate members of the American Chemistry Council include such industry giants Dow Chemical, DuPont, ExxonMobil, Chevron and Arkema.

A Republican lawyer who previously served as the attorney general of Oklahoma, Pruitt railed against federal environmental regulations he considers too re-

n The Board of Investments approved the granting of perks to two agri-processing expansion projects, with a combined value of P86 million (poultry and cashew). n The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is planning additional incentives for agri-value chain financing. The framework aims to promote value-chain financing as an effective, organized process of channeling funds to the agricultural sector. n The Department of Agriculture is pushing for a bill that will provide incentives to food manufacturers using domestic produce, in order to drive agricultural growth through effective value-chain developments; it has to be understood that local suppliers will have to be reasonably competitive, which—again—an effective cooperative movement can create. n The private sector should join hands with relevant government authorities, including local government units, to establish a constructive public-private partnership with the objective to share expertise, create joint ventures between Philippine and foreign companies in the agri-food supply and value chain, and invest in a bankable, sustainable agriculture sector with the following aims: n Reform the land title regime to establish a system that allows farmers to be bankable; n Establish professional, transparent cooperatives across the country to serve as agricultural hubs, and support farmers with access to finance, capacity build-

strictive on the petrochemical industry. Following his appointment to lead EPA, Pruitt has repeatedly intervened to reverse or delay implementation of regulations opposed by chemical and pesticide makers.

Pruitt overruled the recommendation of his agency’s own scientists to ban the Dow pesticide chlorpyrifos, after federal scientists concluded it can interfere with the brain development of fetuses and infants. Pruitt also delayed by until at least 2019 Obama-era rules that would have tightened safety requirements for companies, storing large quantities of dangerous chemicals after the industry opposed the regulations. AP

ing in agripreneurship and agri-business skills, new agricultural techniques and value-added processing; n Provide processing facilities, serve as a trading hub for agricultural goods to cut out the middle man and provide machinery and agricultural inputs to farmers at fair market prices; n Invest in transportation and storage infrastructure and facilities to reduce spoilage of products during the transportation/storage process from farm to market; and n Ensure cooperation and alignment between national and local government, in support of the implementation of pro-growth policies and projects for the agriculture sector.

Let me conclude by explaining again why we need to deliver support services to farmers and fishermen, such as financing, incentives, technology, irrigation, postharvest facilities, farm-tomarket roads, improved logistics and integration in the supply chain to fully develop the potential of the agricultural industry to develop rural areas and the countryside: Some 20 million rural Filipinos can be lifted out of poverty.

And the children of farmers will stop moving from rural areas to urban centers or become overseas Filipino workers.

Comments are welcome; contact me via email Schumacher@mcasia.org.

The World BusinessMirror

www@businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • Monday, November 6, 2017 A7

Saudi arrests 11 princes, billionaire Alwaleed

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ONDON—Saudi Arabia announced the arrest last Saturday night of prominent billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, plus at least 10 other princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers.

The announcement of the arrests was made over Al-Arabiya, the Saudi-owned satellite network whose broadcasts are officially approved.

Alwaleed’s arrest was sure to send shock waves through both the kingdom and the world’s major financial centers.

He controls the investment firm Kingdom Holding, and is one of the world’s richest men, with major stakes in News Corp., Citigroup, Twitter and many other well-known companies. The prince also controls satellite television networks watched across the Arab world.

The sweeping campaign of arrests appears to be the latest move to consolidate the power of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the favorite son and top adviser of King Salman.

At 32, the crown prince is already the dominant voice in Saudi military, foreign, economic and social policies, stirring murmurs of discontent in the royal family that he has amassed too much personal power, and at a remarkably young age.

The king had decreed the creation of a powerful new anti-corruption committee, headed by the crown prince, only hours before the committee ordered the arrests.

[That] Dopey Prince @Alwaleed_Talal wants to control our US politicians with daddy’s money.”—Trump Al-Arabiya said that the anticorruption committee had the right to investigate, arrest, ban from travel or freeze the assets of anyone it deemed corrupt.

The Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh, the de facto royal hotel, was evacuated last Saturday, stirring rumors that it would be used to house detained royals.

The airport for private planes was closed, arousing speculation that the crown prince was seeking to block rich businessmen from fleeing before more arrests.

Alwaleed was giving interviews to the Western news media as recently as late last month about subjects like so-called cryptocurrencies

In this July 23 photo, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman poses while meeting with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Presidency Press Service/Pool Photo via AP

and Saudi Arabia’s plans for a public offering of shares in its state oil company, Aramco.

He has also recently sparred publicly with President Donald J. Trump.

The prince was part of a group of investors who bought control of the Plaza Hotel in New York from Trump, and he also bought an expensive yacht from him, as well.

But in a Twitter message in 2015 the prince called Trump “a disgrace not only to the GOP but to all America.” Trump fired back, also on Twitter, that “Dopey Prince @Alwaleed_Talal wants to control our US politicians with daddy’s money.”

As president, Trump has developed a warm, mutually supportive

Trump admin issues report confirming global warming due to human activity

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he Trump administration released a sweeping federal climate report concluding that the Earth is warming at an alarming rate due to human activity.

The Earth is undergoing its warmest period “in the history of modern civilization,” fueled primarily by rising levels of carbon dioxide, according to the study last Friday. The Congressionally mandated report, released by the United States Global Change Research Program, was initiated under former President Barack Obama in 2015.

The conclusions about melting glaciers, diminishing snow cover, ocean acidification and other results of a warming planet are hardly new.

The central premise, that humans are to blame contradicts previous statements of President Donald J. Trump and many high-ranking members of his administration, who have questioned the scientific findings regarding climate change.

The White House declined to say whether Trump agreed with the

report’s conclusions. A spokesman issued a statement, saying the administration supports rigorous scientific analysis and debate. “In the United States, energy-related carbon-dioxide emissions have been declining, are expected to remain flat through 2040 and will also continue to decline as a share of world emissions,” Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah said in the statement.

Senators’ letter

Scientists had expressed concern that the White House would either alter the report’s findings or block its release.

Last Wednesday nine Democratic senators sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, calling on the administration to refrain from political interference.

In the end, the report was issued as the scientists wrote it.

“I am quite confident to say that there has been no political interference in the scientific messages in this report,” David Fahey, a research

physicist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and coordinating lead author of the study, said on a conference call last Friday.

It would not have been easy for the Trump administration to suppress or doctor the report, said Rachel Licker, a senior climate scientist for the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Union of Concerned Scientists.

The studywas mandated by Congress under a 1990 law signed by President George H.W. Bush. It also underwent a rigorous review process, including public comments and multiple federal agencies.

The report comes as the Trump administration has aggressively promoted fossil fuels and moved to dismantle federal programs to fight climate change. Friday’s report does not necessarily signify that will change, Licker said in an interview.

“This is a report that does not prescribe any policy action,” she said.

“It does not tell America what to do.

That’s up to policy-makers in the administration.” Bloomberg News

US voters: Trump has achieved little; Republicans loyal

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majority of voters in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll say United States President Donald J. Trump has achieved little in the first year after his upset win in the 2016 presidential election, yet most think the Democratic Party isn’t presenting alternatives.

Trump’s approval rating stood at 37 percent, the lowest for any president at this point in their first term in polling data going back to 1946, ABC said last Sunday.

Half of those who disapprove do so “strongly,” another high—and twice as many say they strongly approve of Trump’s performance.

The president logged big deficits on a number of key issues and personal attributes. Some 55 percent say he’s not delivering on major campaign promises, up from 41 percent

at his 100-day mark in April.

Views of Trump as a strong leader have dropped to 40 percent now, from 53 percent at 100 days. And as Trump travels to Asia, fully twothirds of those surveyed don’t trust him to act responsibly in handling the situation with a nuclear-armed North Korea. A small majority—53 percent—say America’s leadership in the world has gotten weaker under Trump.

After Trump’s first 100 days, 56 percent of voters said he’d accomplished anywhere from “not much” to “little or nothing” as president; that’s risen to 65 percent. A similar number say Trump lacks the personality and temperament to serve effectively.

Even so, the poll found that the president would run in a dead

heat with Democrat Hillary Clinton among 2016 voters in a hypothetical rematch, with 91 percent of Trump voters saying they’d support him again.

Trump has a 79-percent approval rating among Republicans, down from 88 percent at the time of his election.

Some 61 percent of Americans say Democratic leaders—hopeful of making gains in 2018 midterm elections—are mainly criticizing Trump without having a platform of their own.

The survey was conducted from October 29 to November 1 by Langer Research Associates via landline and mobile phones, among a random sample of 1,005 adults. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 points. Bloomberg News

relationship with the ascendant crown prince, who has rocketed from near obscurity in recent years to taking control of the country’s most important functions.

But his swift rise has also divided Saudis. Many applaud his vision, crediting him with addressing the economic problems facing the kingdom, and laying out a plan to move beyond its dependence on oil.

Others see him as brash, power hungry and inexperienced, and they resent him for bypassing his elder relatives and concentrating so much power in one branch of the family.

At least three senior White House officials, including the president’s

son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were reportedly in Saudi Arabia last month for meetings that were undisclosed at the time.

Before sparring with Trump, Alwaleed was publicly rebuffed by Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who rejected his $10-million donation for the victims of the Septetember 11 terrorist attacks in New York, because the prince had also criticized United States foreign policy.

As powerful as the billionaire is, he is something of an outsider within the royal family—not a dissident, but an unusually outspoken figure on a variety of issues.

He openly supported women

driving long before the kingdom said it would grant them the right to do so, and he has long employed women in his orbit.

In 2015 he pledged to donate his fortune of $32 billion to charity after his death. It was unclear last Saturday whether Saudi Arabia’s corruption committee might seek to confiscate any of his assets.

Saudi Arabia is an executive monarchy without a written constitution or independent government institutions like a parliament or courts, so accusations of corruption are difficult to evaluate.

The boundaries between the public funds and the royal family’s wealth are murky, and corruption, as other countries would describe it, is believed to be widespread.

The arrests came a few hours after the king replaced the minister in charge of the Saudi national guard, Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, who controlled the last of the three Saudi armed forces not yet considered to be under control of the crown prince.

The king named Crown Prince Mohammed the minister of defense in 2015.

Earlier this year, the king removed Prince Mohammed bin Nayef as head of the interior ministry, placing him under house arrest and extending the crown prince’s influence over the interior ministry’s troops, which act as a second armed force.

Rumors have swirled since then that King Salman and his favorite son would soon move against Mutaib, commander of the third armed force and himself a former contender for the crown. New York Times News Service

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The World BusinessMirror

Monday, November 6, 2017

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Belgium to act on warrant for Catalan leader

Mr. [Carles] Puigdemont, wherever you are, come back to Spain and show your face before the law.”—Rivera

Demonstrators holding banners reading in Catalan “freedom for the political prisoners” gather outside the Palau Generalitat, during a protest against the decision of a judge to jail ex-members of the Catalan government in Barcelona, Spain, on November 3. AP/Manu Fernande

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RUSSELS—The ousted leader of Catalonia remained the subject of a European arrest warrant last Saturday as questions mounted over how long he would elude the Spanish justice system by staying undercover in Belgium and delaying extradition.

For mer C at a l a n P resident Carles Puigdemont and several members of his separatist government fled north to Brussels after Spanish authorities removed the region’s top officials from

office a week ago. It is thought that Puigdemont and four others still are in Belgium, but sources close to them would not reveal their whereabouts.

Puigdemont wrote in Dutch on

his Twitter account last Saturday that he would “cooperate” with Belgian authorities, although his lawyer has said the pro-independence politician would fight a forced return to Spain.

“We are prepared to fully cooperate w it h Belg ia n just ice following the European arrest warrant issued by Spain,” Puigdemont wrote in Dutch on his Twitter account.

Prosecutors in Belgium’s capital, Brussels, said they were examining the arrest warrants for Puigdemont and four of his associates last Saturday and hope to launch extradition proceedings as soon as possible.

Federal prosecutors in Belgium shared the warrants with their city counterparts due to links

the five politicians from Catalonia have to Brussels, a statement from the Brussels prosecutors’ office said.

The statement did not explain what those links are. Puigdemont spoke at a news conference in Brussels last Tuesday and appeared on Belgian state television l ast Friday.

Besides the Dutch tweet he posted on Saturday, Puigdemont also sent a Twitter message written in Catalan to political followers in northeastern Spain.

He weighed in on a debate among secessionists in Catalonia regarding strategy for the December snap election Spain’s government has called as part of its temporary takeover of the restive region.

“It’s the moment for all democrats to unite. For Catalonia, for the freedom of political prisoners and the Republic,” Puigdemont wrote, endorsing calls for pro-secession political parties to unite in a coalition for the upcoming election.

Spanish government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo said last Friday that politicians, even those who are jailed on suspicion of a crime, can run in the upcoming election unless they are convicted before it takes place.

Puigdemont has left the door open to running.

Back in Barcelona, the government seat of Catalonia, pro-union parties criticized Puigdemont for his flight to Europe’s capital 1,066 kilometers away.

Albert Rivera, the leader of the liberal Citizens party, said that Puigdemont had gotten what he asked for when he pushed ahead with plans for secession despite warnings from Spanish authorities that he was b reaking the law.

“Mr. Puigdemont, wherever you are, come back to Spain and show your face before the law,” Rivera said. “When you once bragged about flouting the law, you cannot now be indignant when a judge opens an investigation into your acts.”

Miquel Iceta, leader of Catalonia’s Socialists, said at a separate rally: “We have members of the government in prison, and others in Brussels trying to avoid the law.

This is time to build bridges, not raise frontiers.”

Puigdemont and the four former ministers are being sought for five crimes, including rebellion, sedition and embezzlement, for their roles in pushing regional lawmakers to declare independence from Spain.

But the longer Puigdemont can delay his arrest and extradition,

the greater chance he would have of being a factor in the December 21 election.

Legal experts have told The Associated Press that the process of getting another country’s suspect turned over to face charges—from arrest to extradition, including appeals—could take about two months in Belgium.

Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens said his government would have no influence over the future of Puigdemont or the other Catalan officials because the European arrest warrant (EAW) “is a completely legal procedure.”

He said, unlike a normal international extradition, “the executive power does not play any role in the EAW procedure. Everything goes through direct contact between the justice authorities.”

Puigdemont’s Belgian lawyer did not answer calls requesting comment on the arrest warrant but has said his client would fight extradition to Spain without requesting political asylum.

Belgian federal prosecutors said they could question Puigdemont in coming days.

“We will study it, and put it in the hands of an investigating judge,” prosecutors’ spokesman Eric Van Der Sijpt told The Associated Press. “That could be tomorrow [Sunday], the day after or even on Monday...we are not in any hurry.”

In all, Spanish prosecutors are investigating 20 regional politicians for rebellion and other crimes that could be punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

While Puigdemont and his four aides hid in Belgium, nine members of his deposed government complied with a summons to appear in a Madrid court. National Court judge Carmen Lamela jailed them all, although agreed to let one former regional minister go free on bail. AP

Turmp’s ex-campaign chairman explains Saudi intercepts missile mysterious phone, having three passports targeting main airport

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aul Manafort, the indicted former campaign chairman of President Donald J. Trump, explained in a pretrial court filing why he traveled to China and other countries with a mobile phone registered to an alias, and why he had three passports.

Prosecutors cited the phone and multiple passports in saying that Manafort posed a risk of fleeing the United States after his October 27 indictment on charges that he and his righthand man, Rick Gates, concealed their work as agents of Ukraine, laundered millions of dollars and hid offshore accounts.

“While some reports have painted this as though Mr. Manafort is akin to a 68-year-old ‘Jason Bourne’ character, the facts are much more mundane,” his attorneys said, referring to the fictional former CIA assassin created by novelist Robert Ludlum and portrayed in several movies by actor Matt Damon.

I n t he f i l i n g l a s t S at u rd ay, Manafort’s lawyers asked a judge to modify the bail terms while offering to post $12.5 million in assets and arguing he poses no risk of flight.

They said Manafort traveled to China and elsewhere with a phone registered to an alias—his brother’s name—because he wanted to maintain confidentiality while working as

a political consultant to high-profile clients.

Phone alias

“It is common practice for many US citizens who travel abroad on business and pleasure to defend themselves against potential hacking, and confiscation, of their electronic devices and data,” Manafort’s lawyers wrote in the filing in federal court in Washington. This doesn’t show a “heightened potential for risk of flight,” they said.

Manafort had one passport for travel and a second one “to submit with visa applications to certain foreign countries,” according to his lawyers, Kevin Downing and Thomas Zehnle.

He lost the first passport and obtained a third one before finding the original one months later, at which point he told the State Department about his discovery.

Manafort and Gates were among the first people charged by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who’s investigating Russian influence on the 2016 presidential election. Both Manafort, who faces up as many as 15 and a half years in prison, and Gates, who faces 12 and a half years, pleaded not guilty on October 30. They’re confined to their homes and subject to electronic monitoring.

Manafort may owe $10 million if he violates his release terms, while Gates could owe $5 million if he violates his

terms. Both have asked for relaxed terms, and US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson will hear their arguments on Monday.

Manafort’s pledges

In his filing, Manafort asked that he be allowed to travel to Washington, New York, Virginia and Florida, which was described as his primary residence. He pledged not to travel overseas.

He also offered to pledge his $3-million apartment in Trump Tower in New York; a $3.5-million apartment in lower Manhattan; a $1.5-million home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; and life-insurance policies worth $4.5 million.

Manafort’s lawyers gave some hints about his financial condition. They said the $18 million in assets that prosecutors seek to seize if he’s convicted “would wipe out a substantial portion of Mr. Manafort’s wealth accumulated over a lifetime of work.”

They also said that accounts in Cyprus that are the focus of much of the indictment “have been closed or have relatively nominal balances” because his work in Ukraine ended in 2014.

Prosecutors haven’t agreed to the terms as Manafort has had some difficulty assembling supporting documentation, according to the filing. The Mueller team’s response is due on Sunday. Bloomberg News

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IYADH, Saudi Arabia—Saudi Arabia said its forces intercepted a ballistic missile fired last Saturday by rebels from Yemen toward one of the kingdom’s major international airports on the outskirts of the capital, Riyadh.

The missile fire drew an immediate rebuke from President Donald J. Trump, who blamed Iran in part for the attack.

The missile was fired across Saudi Arabia’s southern border by Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels, according to several Houthi-owned media outlets, including Al-Masirah and Saba. The rebels are at war with the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia said the missile was shot down by its air-defense forces, with fragments of the missile landing in an uninhabited area north of the capital.

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority said the missile did not cause any damage to King Khalid International Airport and that flights were not disrupted.

This is the first time that a Houthi missile has come so close to a heavily populated area, and it appears to be the farthest that such a missile has reached inside Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is around 1,000 kilometers north of the border with Yemen.

A Saudi military spokesman condemned the attack in a statement, saying the missile was fired “indiscriminately” toward a populated civilian area.

Saudi military forces have intercepted missiles fired by Houthis several times since March 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition launched a war against the rebels and their allies after they captured northern Yemen

and ousted the Saudi-backed president from power. The kingdom has also imposed an air and sea blockade on Yemen.

The stalemated war has killed more than 10,000 civilians and displaced 3 million others, pushing the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine.

Saudi Arabia accuses its rival, Shiite power Iran, of training and helping arm the rebels.

Iran denies that it has provided material support, though it acknowledges its political support of the Houthis.

The United States, which is one of the kingdom’s most important military suppliers, has backed the Saudi-led coalition with logistical support. Responding to the attack, Trump immediately put some of the blame on Iran.

“A shot was just taken by Iran, in my opinion, at Saudi Arabia. And our system knocked it down,” Trump said, referring to the Patriot missile batteries Saudi Arabia has purchased from the US. “That’s how good we are. Nobody makes what we make, and now we’re selling it all over the world.”

Iranian state media and officials did not immediately comment early Sunday on Trump’s remarks.

News outlet Al-Masirah said the missile launched last Saturday evening was made in Yemen and was the third to be fired toward Riyadh this year. It reported the rebels saying the missile was fired in response to “SaudiAmerican aggression and crimes against the people of Yemen.”

Earlier this week, a suspected air strike by the Saudi-led coalition killed at least 29 people, including children, in northern Yemen. AP

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Monday, November 6, 2017 A9

Assailing Iran, Lebanese PM quits B

EIRUT—Prime Minister Saad Hariri of Lebanon said last Saturday that he had quit his post, blaming Iran for interference in Arab affairs and throwing his country, already awash with tensions and regional rivalries, into deeper uncertainty.

Hariri, speaking in a televised address from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, condemned Iran and its growing power and influence in the region.

He also assailed Iran’s Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, the Shiite militia and political party that is part of the national unity Cabinet he led.

“Wherever Iran settles, it sows discord, devastation and destruction, proven by its interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries,” Hariri said, adding that Iran’s “hands” in the region “will be cut off.”

The surprise announcement—which shocked even his own staff—was an ominous sign of the escalating regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, analysts said, indicating the growing dominance of Iran and Hezbollah, as well as the Saudis’ increasingly assertive response.

Lebanese and regional analysts, whether supporters or opponents of Hezbollah, said it appeared that Hariri had been pressured to resign by his patrons, the Saudis, as they and the United States ratchet up efforts to counter Iranian influence.

The resignation came after weeks of sharp American and Saudi condemnations of Iran, including from President Donald J. Trump, and new US sanctions against Hezbollah.

By pushing out Hariri, analysts said, Saudi Arabia could deny Hezbollah a credible Sunni governing partner—an attempt to isolate it and deny the fig leaf of a national unity government.

“They concluded that Hariri was serving as more of a cover for Iranian and Hezbollah influence than as a counterweight to them,” said Rob Malley, a former special Middle East adviser to former President Barack Obama and the vice president of the International Crisis Group.

Yet, the resignation also shows how few options Iran’s opponents have. Without Hariri in power, the United States and Saudi Arabia lose their main partner in the Lebanese government.

Across the political spectrum, analysts and officials said the resignation ushered in new dangers. If the next government is more pro-Hezbollah, they said, that could lead to devastating sanctions.

It could even increase the chances of a new war with Israel, which would see added justification for its argument that there is little distinction between Hezbollah and the Lebanese state.

Hariri even raised the specter of internal violence. He compared the atmosphere in Lebanon now to the days before the 2005 assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, saying he believed his own life was in danger.

“I sensed what’s being woven in secret to target my life,” he said.

Hariri’s father was killed when his motorcade was bombed on Beirut’s seafront. Several Hezbollah members are being tried in absentia in a special United Nations-backed tribunal in The Hague, although the militant group has denied involvement in the assassination.

Saad Hariri became prime minister in late-2016, in a compromise deal after Michel Aoun, a political ally of Hezbollah, became president, ending a two-and-a-half-year political deadlock.

Lebanon, which is governed by a sect-based political system, has long been divided between a bloc aligned with Shiite Hezbollah and Iran, and one aligned with Saudi Arabia, the

UK Plc. wants end to Brexit ‘soap opera’ in bid for certainty

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NITED Kingdom business called for an end to the “soap opera” of Brexit and a return to the spirit of national unity last seen in World War II, as it pushed for certainty on Britain’s future relationship with the European Union (EU).

Confederation of British Industry (CBI) President Paul Drechsler will appeal for a “single, clear strategy” in an address on Monday to the CBI’s annual conference in London. He won’t shy away from criticism of Prime Minister Theresa May, with a stringent rebuke for her “episodic approach” to negotiating Brexit, according to e-mailed excerpts of his planned remarks.

“I’m reminded of a prime-time soap opera, with a different episode each week,” Drechsler will say, before listing the premier’s Brexit interventions.

“First Lancaster House, then Article 50, the European Council, two dinners with Juncker—and, no doubt, many exciting installments to follow. Each one becomes the big story, until the next one rolls around.”

Britain faces a steady drumbeat of warnings from business about the need for certainty as the clock ticks down to March 2019, when Britain will leave the EU—with or without a deal.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said last Thursday that Brexit is the biggest determinant of the UK economic outlook. Companies are holding back investment decisions as they wait to find out how Brexit will pan out, and banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS AG, are preparing to move workers to mainland Europe. Bloomberg News

dominant Sunni country in the region.

Hariri headed a 30-member national unity Cabinet that was crafted to protect the country from any spillover from the multisided war in neighboring Syria, where Iran backed the government and Saudi Arabia backed the insurgents.

That mission has largely been successful, even though Hezbollah has sided with the Syrian government, Lebanese Sunni militants have joined insurgents there, and well over 1 million refugees flooded this small Mediterranean country.

In Lebanon’s political system, power is divided between a prime minister, who must be Sunni; a president, who must be Maronite Christian; and a speaker of Parliament, who must be Shiite.

The exercise of real power in the country is a more complicated affair of alliances, rivalries and division of spoils between the leaders of sectarian groups, including former warlords from Lebanon’s civil war.

Hezbollah, which rose to prominence fighting the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon, is the strongest because of its powerful militia, which can act indepen-

dently of the state and in recent years has served as an expeditionary force across Syria.

In recent years Lebanon’s rival blocs have essentially agreed to confine their fight to Syria. But tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran have only increased.

In addition to Hezbollah’s decisive role in helping President Bashar al-Assad of Syria hold on to power, Iran has supported several militias in Iraq that have managed to defeat Islamic State forces in that country and remain a fighting force.

New York Times News Service

The Regions BusinessMirror

A4 A10 Monday, November 6, 2017 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

www.businessmirror.com.ph

LandBank offers ₧3-B loan to Cebu City

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By Charles R. Pepito | Correspondent

HE Cebu City government will avail itself of the P3-billion loan offered by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) to fund the city’s infrastructure projects.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña expressed interest to accept the offer, saying availing of the loan

is only a transition period while waiting to sell the 3-hectare lot at South Road Properties (SRP).

“We are going to negotiate. It’s only a transition period that’s why I’m selling the property. The moment it is sold, we will pay off the loan,” Osmeña told reporters.

He said the loan can be paid in full anytime or in installments.

“It’s a standby line of credit. Like a credit card, you can loan in increments of varying amounts. You can pay in full or in installments any time,” he added.

Osmeña said the 3-hectare lot sale will allow the city government to collect P3 billion as proceeds of the sale. The city is selling 3 hectares at

P110,000 per square meter (sq m).

While waiting for the lot to be sold, the city needs to fix the drainage system and the roads.

“In the meantime, we will start fixing our drainage and our roads.

There’s only 3 percent a year. What’s that? If we are in a hurry to sell, we will lose more money,” he said.

The City Council has already authorized the mayor to negotiate with the bank.

But councilors Joel Garganera, Jocelyn Pesquera and Eduardo Rama Jr. have registered their objection.

They said there is no need to bor-

row money because the city government has money from the proceeds of the 45.2 hectares of SRP lots sold by the previous administration for P16.7 billion.

Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia said the loan will incur interest, adding the city should use whatever resources it has.

Osmeña declined to issue further comments on the statements made by the opposition councilors.

He said he will show the public the lots at SRP are more than the P30,000 per sq m selling price of the previous administration.

Lawmaker seeks House probe on land-grab report in La Union

By Orly Guirao | Correspondent

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AUANG, La Union­—Rep. Sandra Y. Eriguel of the Second District of La Union wants a congressional inquiry on reports that some key personnel of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional office are allegedly being used as conduits of an influential group of real-estate developers in taking over prime beachfront property declared by the government agency as “underwater and in salvage zones.”

A senior staff of the La Union lady solon said a resolution calling for such probe is now being finalized and is expected to be filed before the House Committee on Environment chaired by Rep. Arnel U. Ty when Congress resumes session on November 12.

Eriguel’s move was in response to an appeal by owners of beach lots in barangay Pugo, this town, whose land titles have been ordered cancelled by the regional trial court in Bauang based on surveys by the DENR that the properties were “under water.”

The court order also reverted the titled lands into public estates with the DENR as caretaker.

However, the landowners—Immaculada Concepcion Lim, Ann Paredes and Cherry Lynn Castillo— contested the lower court’s decision

before the Court of Appeals, declaring the DENR surveys were “fake.”

They substantiated their claim with a private geodetic engineer’s certification that the properties were on “solid ground” located 150 meters from the shoreline.

Accompanied by their counsel, Reynaldo Dulay, the landowners presented to Eriguel evidence of connivance between the DENR personnel and the real-estate developers’ group.

They informed the lady solon that the realtors have even occupied and developed illegally a 5-hectare beachfront property adjacent to their lots whose title had been earlier ordered cancelled and reverted to public-estate status by the court.

Three other adjacent lots with mansions built by foreigners were also threatened to be stripped of titles with the DENR filing cases in court.

The real-estate group intends to consolidate 14 hectares of beachfront lots in the area with plans to develop a five-star hotel-resort and recreation complex.

The filing of title-cancellation cases in court contradicts the DENR’s administrative order, which calls for a judicious study, including ocular inspection, hearings and conferences of owners of affected properties, before any court litigation procedures, Dulay contended.

Comval ends preconstruction conference for P452-M road concreting, repair projects

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AVAO CITY—The Compostela Valley province recently finished holding the preconstruction conference for its P452million road concreting and repair of provincial roads.

The conference was a government condition prior to starting infrastructure projects.

Barangay captains and construction companies that were awarded the winning bid to the three big roadconcreting projects attended the conference, along with the officers of the Provincial Engineer’s Office.

The former were asked to assist the contractors to expedite the projects to allow their constituents to also benefit immediately the paved roads.

The three big-budgeted projects

among the list of all other road projects were the Nabunturan-SaosaoNuevo Iloco Provincial Road Phase II with a length of 6.85 kilometers and a budget of P75.9 million; the Mayaon-San Antonio Provincial Road Phase II with a length of 12.08 km and a budget of P200 million; and the Elizalde-Anitapan-Provincial Road with a length of 8.47 km and a budget of P176.25 million.

The projects were funded by the Office of the President coursed through the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The DILG has created the Conditional Matching Grant to Provinces for Road Repair, Rehabilitation and Improvement for the local governments. Manuel T. Cayon

“I don’t need to sell 45.2 hectares for the city’s needs. We will get that property back. All I need to sell is 3 hectares. I’m trying to tell the people of Cebu that we don’t need to sell 45 hectares.

Three hectares is enough for now,” Osmeña said.

He added he is working for the cancellation of the 45.2-hectare lot sale. For now, he said the loan will fund the infrastructure projects of the city.

The LandBank will be charging a 3.75-percent interest rate per annum for a period of 15 years.

ICRC gives Marawi returnees access to health care, potable water

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

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SALUTE TO SOLDIERS

D. Edgard Cabangon (second row, fourth from left), Aliw Media Group chairman; and Sharon Tan (second row, fifth from left) join the Philippine Marines in a get-together and a salute to soldiers held by supporters of President Duterte to honor government troops who fought for freedom in Marawi City.

Comval gov: Compensate people’s trust with economic sustainability

By Manuel T. Cayon

Mindanao Bureau Chief

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AVAO CITY—The provincial government of Compostela Valley said the government must compensate the trust of constituents with economic projects, especially infrastructure, to assure them of economic well-being.

“The pursuit of a sustainable economy is not just the task of the government because it’s a call of every sector of this province to engage, contribute and take ownership of our programs,” said Gov. Jayvee Tyron L. Uy during his first State of the Province Address at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan session hall in Nabunturan town last month.

He added the growth of the province “lies in its partners and the public that supports its policies.”

“We bank on the trust of our people, and it’s only due that we translate it to projects and programs that are beneficial. The improved mobility of our people, goods and services is a result of the continued projects of the provincial government through the Provincial Engineer’s Office,” he said.

So far, his administration already saw the completion of 182 road projects, government buildings and other infrastructure projects amounting to P713.92 million. Of these projects, especially those implemented beginning in July 2016 when he started his term, 115 infra projects amounting to P246.55 million were completed. These included 91 government buildings and other infrastructure projects costing P73.55 million and concreting of 24 road sections with total length of 19.454 kilometers amounting to P173 million.

Uy said there were still 12 roadconcreting projects 29.39 km long, and costing P375 million.

The province also regularly maintained 79 road sections totaling 749.78 km and was able to rehabilitate 8.7 km, with another 11 km scheduled to be finished by the end of this year.

“Economic activities are considered the heart of the province; thus, farm-to-market roads are vital to our overall economic cycle.

It’s worthy to note that the rehabilitation of roads has significantly decreased the travel time of our people,” Uy said.

In a related development in the

agriculture sector, the provincial government distributed 800,000 cacao seedlings from the Department of Agriculture (DA). This was on top of 102,000 rubber-tree seedlings; 84,000 seeds of Robusta coffee; and 5,850 bags of fertilizers to cacao and coffee farmers.

The seed distribution also formed part of the provincial government assistance through its “Rebuilding and Recovery” program to the agriculture sector that still reeled from the effects of Typhoon Pablo in December 2012.

The DA assured cacao and coffee farmers that their products continued to be in demand in the domestic and international market, with cacao experiencing an upward climb in pricing.

Meanwhile, the provincial government also banked on its declining crime incidence that may augur well for more economic activities.

T he prov incia l police sa id total crime volume dropped by 32.33 percent.

Supt. Jay Gasis Dema-ala, police provincial director, said only 226 cases were posted during the third quarter, from 334 cases logged on the same period last year.

S thousands of displaced residents of Marawi City started their journey home early last week, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) supported their return by enhancing their access to health care and potable water.

“As we support the needs of returning residents, we remain deeply concerned about the thousands of people who will be unable to return in the coming months. They will need constant support during this period,” said Roberto Petronio, head of the ICRC Mindanao subdelegation, after his recent trip to Marawi City.

Petronio visited Marawi several days after the government officially declared the end of armed clashes between its forces and Islamic State Ranao fighters.

The five-month conflict caused 65 barangays minimum to medium damage. This means more than half of Marawi’s estimated 200,000 total population will be allowed by the government to come home in the coming days or weeks.

Barangay health stations in Basak Malutlut, Poblacion Marawi, East Basak and Bangon received essential medicines and supplies from the ICRC for the health needs of returning residents.

With the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), it installed 11 water-distribution points to augment the supply of potable water to nine barangays in the west part; and donated two generators to the Marawi City Water District, enabling it to supply around 62,000 people with 5 million liters of water per day.

“In the coming weeks, we plan to focus our assistance to thousands of people who will remain displaced in the southern and western parts of Lake Lanao, as these are areas that do not receive as much help due to access issues,” Petronio said.

As part of its work to reunite families separated by conflicts, the ICRC continues to follow up on cases of people who went missing in Marawi; and supports the PRC on its tracing services on the ground and through the web site https:// familylinks.icrc.org/Philippines.

Eastern Samar tourism road map seen to reduce poverty

By Elmer Recuerdo Correspondent

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ORONGAN CITY­—Eastern Samar is undoubtedly one of the country’s most beautiful provinces, with each town having a spot that can lure the tourists, but for ages, the province could not capitalize on it.

The beautiful coastlines, magnificent falls, forest canopies and its unique place in Philippine history all come on a backdrop of widespread poverty where almost half

of its population are poor.

For years, Eastern Samar’s economy mainly relied on agriculture as its main economic driver, overlooking its capability to create local industries that could provide more jobs to its people.

Opportunities in tourism sector is lost as each municipality makes its own tourism plan, competing against each other for the meager number of tourists coming in.

On November 3 the provincial government launched the Eastern Samar tourism road map that

will not only harmonize tourism plans of all municipalities but also identify areas for investment, opportunities to create livelihood for the people and set a direction that will make tourism a main economic driver in the development of the province.

“We will no longer rely on agriculture alone to hasten economic growth of the province, but will have tourism as an economic driver as well,” Eastern Samar acting Gov. Marcelo Ferdinand Picardal said.

He added that, under his watch,

the priority of the provincial government will be to create livelihood opportunities as a means to reduce poverty from 46.3 percent in 2015 to 25 percent in the next three to five years.

“This is a tall order, but I’m determined to do that,” Picardal said at the launch of the provincial tourism road map. “Getting out of poverty has long been a dream of many Eastern Samareños. The realization of that dream is long overdue.”

“I want to see more Eastern Samareños earning more, through

employment or by engaging in livelihoods ­either as farmers of highvalue crops, as seaweed producers or as entrepreneurs adding value to local produce and creating jobs for our people,” he added.

Picardal said, in creating livelihood opportunities, the province can start with its resource base: ­“vast unoptimized lands, a long coastline fronting the Pacific, beautiful destinations for tourists and a lot of human resources.”

“As governor, I want more public investments in agriculture, fishery,

trainings and education that link to industry demands and, of course, tourism,” he added.

Picardal said that, while Eastern Samar is poor, it is also rich in natural resources and has a meaningful and significant history, as well as a rich cultural heritage.

“The challenge now is to transform this potential into an industry that can drive the economy, create livelihoods, build networks and convergences, inspire our people and our visitors and uplift the quality of life of our citizenry,” he said.

AseanMonday BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Three dead, 2,000 moved from homes as storm hits northern Malaysian state

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UALA LUMPUR, Malaysia— A northern Malaysian state was paralyzed last Sunday by a severe storm that led to three deaths and the evacuation of some 2,000 people in the worst flooding in years.

Penang, a popular tourist destination and manufacturing hub, has been hit by torrential rains and strong winds since Saturday, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said. He added the rains were probably associated with Typhoon Damrey, which also pounded Vietnam where at least 27 people have died and 22 are missing.

Floodwaters as high as 10 feet to 12 feet submerged houses in lowlying parts of the state. Extensive flooding also hit the capital George Town, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage site famous for its British colonial buildings.

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, who are on a weeklong visit

to Malaysia, are due to visit George Town on Tuesday.

The dead included a 75-year-old man who drowned in his house, an elderly woman at a nursing home and a Bangladeshi worker, Lim said.

Prime Minister Najib Razak pledged to assist the opposition-ruled state. Army personnel were deployed to evacuate those affected to higher grounds and in cleaning up operations. A total of 27 evacuation centers have been set up. Lim said there was no need to declare an emergency as the situation is under control. The state government showed reporters security videos of strong wind blowing off large billboards and uprooting trees and floods in the city center.

Rain and floodwaters eased midday last Sunday but the meteorological department forecast that the bad weather will continue, with expected continuous rainfall and strong winds. AP

Singapore authorities probe Goldman role in 1MDB deals

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INGAPOREAN prosecutors and police are examining Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s relationship with the Malaysian state investment fund at the center of global money-laundering probes, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The Commercial Affairs Department, the police’s economic crime unit, and city prosecutors have interviewed current and former Goldman Sachs executives who worked on bond offerings from 1Malaysia Development Bhd. (1MDB), said the people, who asked not to be named because the queries are confidential. Investigators are also looking into the firm’s links with Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, who the United States has alleged controlled a plot to siphon billions of dollars from the bond proceeds, the people said.

Investigators’ meetings with current and former Goldman Sachs employees are part of a criminal probe into fund flows related to 1MDB, the people said. The bank itself isn’t the focus of the investigation, they added. Neither Goldman Sachs nor its current or former employees have been publicly accused of criminal offenses or charged in relation to the fund, whose dealings have sparked probes in Singapore, Switzerland and the US. The interviews, which took place as recently as October, add to the scrutiny the New York-based bank faces over its role in raising almost $6 billion for 1MDB in 2012 and 2013.

The money was meant for development projects but US prosecutors allege that the bulk of it was diverted by high-level 1MDB officials and their associates.

Investigators in Singapore have asked for details about specific meetings involving Goldman Sachs officials concerning the bond deals, the people said. They’ve also quizzed the current and former bank employees about the nature of the firm’s relationship with Low, and whether he was considered a client, according to the people. “We are unable to comment because investigations are ongoing,” a spokesman at the Singapore Attorney General’s Chambers said in response to questions. A Goldman Sachs spokesman declined to comment. The 1MDB bonds were arranged and underwritten by Goldman Sachs International, the bank’s London-based unit. Both 1MDB and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who formerly chaired its advisory board, have consistently denied any wrongdoing.

It’s not clear whether Singapore’s investigation will result in any charges, and if so, against whom. Goldman Sachs’s work with 1MDB has also drawn scrutiny from US authorities, including the Justice Department and New York’s banking regulator.

Goldman Sachs earned some $593 million in fees and commissions for arranging the 1MDB bond deals—

a sum that drew scrutiny from Malaysian politicians. Investigators in Singapore have asked the current and former employees about the fees the bank received, as well as if any fees were due to the Abu Dhabi government-owned fund International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC) for guaranteeing two of the bonds, the people said. Goldman Sachs has previously said the Malaysia fees represented its underwriting risks and market conditions at the time.

Representatives for 1MDB and IPIC didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Three calls to Low’s Hong Kong-based Jynwel Capital Ltd. weren’t answered. Low said through a representative in July that no wrongdoing has been proven in any jurisdiction on the alleged misappropriation of 1MDB funds. While IPIC has verified the guarantees it made on the 1MDB bonds, it denied ownership of a company known as Aabar BVI, to which 1MDB said it sent $3.5 billion.

Industry bans

U.S. investigators alleged in a July 2016 lawsuit that the offering circulars of the bonds contained material misrepresentations and omissions, including how the proceeds would be used and whether any officials from 1MDB and IPIC, and their associates, would personally benefit.

The prospectus for one of the bonds said the proceeds could be used for general corporate purposes.

Goldman Sachs’s ties with 1MDB have already ensnared one former senior executive. Tim Leissner, the former chairman of Southeast Asia who was the lead banker to the fund, has been barred from the financial industries in Singapore and the US. He left Goldman Sachs in February 2016.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore in March barred Leissner from its securities industry for 10 years, saying he issued an unauthorized reference letter on behalf of Low to a financial institution and made false statements on behalf of Goldman Sachs without the bank’s knowledge. In September the US’s Financial Industry Regulatory Authority indefinitely barred Leissner for failing to provide documents related to the letter.

The meetings being examined by Singapore investigators include one in early-2012 about the bond offerings that was attended by Leissner, Low and officials from Swiss private bank BSI SA, the people said. Also in focus was a presentation that took place that year that led to IPIC agreeing to guarantee one of the bonds, dubbed Project Magnolia, and indirectly vouch for another, known as Project Maximus, one of the people said. A representative for Leissner didn’t reply to a request for comment.

Leissner’s lawyer Marc Harris said last December that his client looked forward to responding to the MAS about the allegations against him.

Bloomberg News

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Monday, November 6, 2017 A11

Govt agencies mobilized for Asean Summit 2017

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60,000-strong multiagency forces and resources mobilized last Sunday at the Quirino Grandstand for the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit 2017 and Related Meetings in Manila from November 13 to 17.

Catalino S. Cuy led the send-off ceremony. Cuy is the Department of Interior and Local Government officer in charge and the chairman of Asean 2017 Committee on

Security, Peace and Order, Emergency Preparedness and Response.

Cuy was joined by Asean National Organizing Council (NOC) Director General for Operations and

Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr., Asean NOC Chairman Honarable Salvador C. Medialdea, Asean Security Task Force Commander Napoleon Taas, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero and Philippine National Police Chief Director General Ronald M. de la Rosa.

Cuy said a total of 60,000 forces and resources from 21 government agencies have been deployed.

Aside from the large deployment of troops, he revealed that huge resources will be at the ready to monitor, respond and provide support during the summit.

These resources include the following: 203 patrol cars, 394 motor-

cycles, 22 armored cars, 30 helicopters, 59 fire trucks, 94 ambulances, 125 explosive detection dogs and 82 sniper teams. He also added that several joint task groups, task groups and subtask units have also been organized and are on deck with their personnel and logistics to ensure that the summit will run as smoothly and peacefully as possible.

Meanwhile, de la Rosa said that the 19,000-strong police force is all set and ready for Asean 2017.

This year’s Asean summit will be attended by heads of state of the 10 Asean member-nations, dialogue partners, observer states and other invited delegates from the Asia-Pacific region. PNA

Thai junta firmly in command after year of mourning for king

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ANGKOK—Thailand’s military government has emerged from the year of official mourning for King Bhumibol Adulyadej with a firm grip on power and in no apparent rush to hold elections it has repeatedly delayed during the four years since its coup.

The five days of solemn and choreographed spectacle for Bhumibol’s funeral last month was a mostly unblemished propaganda triumph for the junta that underlined its primacy and the sidelining of political parties.

After a reign of seven decades, Bhumibol’s death in October last year at age 88 was anticipated with trepidation by many Thais who feared greater instability without a traditional unifying figure.

In reality, Bhumibol’s power to sway events was more mythic than actual, particularly as his health faded in the last decade. Even so, the junta and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha have burnished their image and stocked up on public goodwill by presiding calmly over an anxious period, said Kevin Hewison, an emeritus professor of Asian studies at the University of North Carolina.

“There was talk of a succession crisis, violence and all sorts of things but none of it happened,” Hewison said.

“All the political parties look disorganized and not prepared for an election,” he added. “The military has got the whip hand.”

Thailand, the top tourist destination in Southeast Asia and a long-standing United States ally, has suffered more than a decade of upheaval, including two coups, as its conservative establishment struggled to stifle a grassroots political revolution fostered by the electoral success of billionaire businessman Thaksin Shinawatra. His leadership was marred by corruption and human-rights abuses and he now lives abroad in exile, but the political earthquake he unleashed with policies aimed at improving the lot of the country’s poor rural majority continues to reverberate.

Prayuth’s latest vague promise for elections is November 2018, but the junta’s ban on political activities remains in place and major parts of the legal and administrative groundwork for elections, required by Thailand’s new constitution, are still not completed.

The current military rulers are determined to avoid what they consider the mistakes made by the generals that ousted Thaksin in 2006 but didn’t eradicate his political machine.

Thaksin’s rural and working class “Red Shirt” supporters easily won every election held in the following decade, putting the military and other traditional arbiters of power in Thailand on the back foot. This time, the junta hopes to create a “very muffled democracy” that deprives the winning party or electoral coalition of a real ability to govern, said David Streckfuss, a scholar specializing in Thailand.

The constitution put in place under the junta government is likely to prevent any political party from gaining a majority and whatever coalition emerges is likely to have a prime minister imposed from outside, said Chaturon Chaisaeng, a former deputy prime minister and

In this October 26 photo, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha (center), participates in the funeral procession and royal cremation ceremony of late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej in Bangkok, Thailand. AP

leading figure in the Thaksin-allied Pheu Thai party that was ousted in a 2014 coup.

“They are rules that are very undemocratic. Extremely undemocratic,” he said. “The elections that will take place will not mean as much as elections do in other countries.”

The latest chapter in the decadelong struggle between Thailand’s ruling classes and grassroots democrats unfolded in September, when former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the younger sister of Thaksin, fled the country to evade prison.

Yingluck, ousted in the 2014 coup and derided by her many critics in Thailand as a bumbling proxy for her exiled brother, was accused of negligence in instituting a money-losing rice subsidy program and sentenced to five years in prison. A top minister in her government was sentenced to 42 years in prison and is appealing. Many influential Red Shirt activists and organizers have been cowed by government pressure.

In a sign Prayuth feels under no pressure to cede power, he is already threatening to prolong the ban on political activities by referring to his dissatisfaction with a lack of calm and order in society.

“The red heart is barely beating at the moment,” Hewison said.

Prayuth’s government does crave international respectability but that impulse to quickly hold elections has lessened with the administration of President Donald J. Trump apparently unwilling to lean too heavily on its Thai ally at a time of growing Chinese influence in Southeast Asia.

Critics of the junta also currently seem willing to accept the diluted democracy it may eventually get around to offering.

Chaturon said the Pheu Thai party is likely to contest elections,

though it hasn’t made a formal decision yet.

Worawut Wichaidit, a spokesman for the anti-junta group United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, said having an election is better than even if the new government is hamstrung.

“This unelected government has been in power for almost

four years now and we all see that the country’s economy is disastrous. The rich are extremely satiated and poverty is everywhere,” he said.

Streckfuss, who is based in Thailand’s northeast, said an election next year would open the possibility for wider political debate than at present. AP

Green Monday BusinessMirror

A12 Monday, November 6, 2017

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Soil erosion causes concern in Aklan

By Jun N. Aguirre Correspondent

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This artist rendering, provided by Confluence Partners Llc., depicts a proposed aerial tramway (at right) that would ferry tourists from the cliff tops of the east rim of the Grand Canyon to the water’s edge of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers below. Confluence Partners Llc. via AP

Tribe rejects plan to build tram, hotel in Grand Canyon

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egislation to build an aerial tram to take paying visitors to a riverside boardwalk in the Grand Canyon has been voted down by the Navajo Nation Council.

Members of the council voted 16-2 against the bill during a special session last Tuesday in Window Rock, Arizona. It was the first time the full council had taken up the measure since it was introduced last year.

The proposal had gotten a cold reception from lawmakers from the nation’s largest American Indian reservation even before last Tuesday’s lengthy debate.

Some lawmakers raised concerns about the development resulting in more public-safety demands, while others questioned a requirement for the tribe to invest $65 million for roads, water and power lines, and communications

at the 420-acre site that borders Grand Canyon National Park on the reservation.

Council delegates amended the legislation to change the operating license from nonrevocable to revocable, to delete language to prevent other development within a 15-mile radius and along access roads, and to strike a nontaxation provision before voting on the bill. The amendments didn’t convince them the project should move forward.

Developers had said the tram and accompanying retail and hotel sites at the East R im could be running by May 2021 had everything gone as planned.

Cooking to fight climate change

By Paloma Duran Inter Press Service

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NITED NATIONS—What you eat doesn’t only affect your own health— it also affects our planet’s health. From deciding which food to buy, to how you store and prepare it, you are making decisions that have profound effect on your personal health, as well as the health of your environment.

The good news is that food does not need to be a threat to sustainable development—it can be one of the solutions.

Sustainable cooking is vital in the fight against climate change, and can contribute to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world’s blueprint for tackling poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.

More people need to understand the power they have behind food-related decisions, and make choices that respect their bodies and planet.

The links between hunger and climate change are well documented. For example, climate change leads to more extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods and storms, all of which can destroy crops and critical infrastructure, according to the World Food Programme.

Ne a r l y 8 0 0 m i l l i o n p e o p l e a re undernourished, and one of the most

devastating impacts of climate change is that it could drive that number up. This month, we marked World Food Day, which set a bold goal to end hunger worldwide.

At the SDG Fund, we are working in 23 countries to achieve the SDGs, and food is often right at the center.

Sustainable food practices are not only helping keep our bodies and the planet healthy, they are boosting local economies, reducing poverty and ensuring gender equality.

In Ecuador, for example, we worked to strengthen local food systems by encouraging practices that help with climate-change adaptation, such as using organic fertilizers and diverse crops, and avoiding carbon emissions by limiting energy consumption and reducing water use.

In Fiji, where more than 44 percent of youth are unemployed, we teamed up with UN agencies to create jobs by strengthening local organic agriculture. We know that organic systems are more resilient to climate change; they retain 20 percent to 40 percent more topsoil, and have better yields during droughts than conventional farms.

In Sri Lanka we collaborated with the local government and UN agencies to revise the school curriculum and educate schoolchildren, teachers and others about nutrition, addressing a longstanding problem

They did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment after the vote.

Critics showed up to urge lawmakers to oppose the project as the debate finally got under way late Tuesday afternoon. They included families who hold grazing permits and leases to build homes in the area.

They have said the area is sacred, and the proposed development would mar the landscape where the Colorado River meets the blue-green waters of the Little Colorado River.

Declaring victory over what they termed a “monster,” they praised the council’s vote on social media and let out loud cheers outside the council chambers. “ T he y he a rd u s ,” a c t i v i s t Renae Yellowhorse said of the council members. “We needed to be a presence there to let them know we’re not going to go away.

We’re going to always be here to defend our Mother, to defend our sacred sites.” Environmentalists and outdoor enthusiasts

also decried the measure.

Actor Robert Redford released a video last December voicing opposition, and an online petition against the proposal has collected thousands of signatures.

The vote came ahead of a tribal election year, and as the tribe prepares for the loss of hundreds of jobs with the expected shutdown of a coal-fired power plant and its supply mine in 2019.

Lamar Whitmer, part of the Scottsdale-based Confluence Partners development group, previously said the East Rim project could employ up to 3,500 people on a reservation, where half the work force is unemployed.

T he management team includes former Navajo President Albert A. Hale and others who have helped develop resorts and theme parks.

Under the legislation, the Navajo Nation’s share of revenue was based on the number of visitors.

The tribe would have been guaranteed a minimum 8 percent of gross revenue, developers say. AP

of malnutrition among Sri Lankan children.

And in Peru we assisted more than 4,200 quinoa producers with everything from negotiating market prices to setting up systems that allowed them to increase exports of these popular grains. This was particularly helpful for the female producers in rural areas, who account for 69 percent of the producers.

But you don’t have to be a farmer or live in these countries to get involved. Anyone can start employing sustainable cooking methods to help fight climate change right from the kitchen.

Here are 12 simple tips to get you started: n To reduce energy consumption, don’t preheat your oven. Only open the door if you really need to, as each time you do that, the temperature significantly drops. n Use cookware that retains heat well, such as that made of cast iron, ceramic or glass. n Use water more efficiently by not letting the faucet run; you can wash your fruits and vegetables in a bowl of water instead. n About a third of all food produced— or 1. 3 billion tons of food yearly—is wasted each year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Help lower this number by planning your meals ahead and thinking about how you’ll use your leftovers. n Get creative about how you reuse your water. For example, you can cool the water you used to boil your pasta, then water the plants with it.

n Plan seasonal menus. By using produce

when it’s in season, you will not only make your meals more tasty, but save money. n Avoid processed foods. They are not only bad for your health, they are bad for the environment. They tend to use a lot of packaging, which you should avoid buying, and reuse whenever possible. n Get into gardening. Plant herbs, such as parsley, basil and mint in your backyard, on your rooftop or your windowsills. n Shop local. By visiting local farmers’ markets, you can buy local products that don’t have to travel as far to reach you, while also supporting the local economy. n Check product labels; food, that is transported across the world often requires more additives and preservatives, and less healthy. n Boil, grill and steam food instead of frying it to ensure healthy nutrients are preserved. n Become aware of your carbon-dioxide emissions, also known as your carbon footprint. For example, a vegetable diet has a lower footprint than an animal-based diet as livestock produce requires a lot of greenhouse gases and resources for feeding. Tools, such as the Nature Conservancy’s carbon-footprint estimate, can teach you more about your carbon footprint, and allow you to make contributions to offset it.

Paloma Durán is the director of the Sustainable Development Goals Fund.

ALIBO, A k lan—Various national and local government agencies in the province are bracing for the worsening problem of soil erosion and other environmental problems along the Aklan River, the third-longest river in Panay Island.

Engr. Noel L . Fuentebella, head of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) District Office in Aklan, said the soil erosion might be triggered by climate change and the fast development of human settlement.

“Since 1990s the DPWH has observed these problems on soil erosion along the 71-kilometer stretch of the Aklan River. Besides the river, other areas in the province were also affected by the soil erosion. We, in the DPWH, however, are still in control of the situation,” Fuentebella said.

As a result of soil erosion, sand bars also occurred in the river.

This causes the river to spread out threatening towns, especially the low-lying capital of Kalibo to be flooded during heavy rains.

The DPWH has deployed several backhoes and other equipment along the risky areas in Kalibo and Banga municipality to immediately repair eroded areas in order to avoid harm.

Besides mon itor i ng A k l a n River, the DPWH is also checking areas along the irrigation canals, which are experiencing lack of water. The irrigation canals provide water to the farmlands in the

province. “If this continues, the rice production in the province may be affected due to the absence of water in the field,” said Engr.

Wilson Rey, head of the National Irrigation Administration in Aklan and Capiz provinces.

Meanwhile, municipality of Libacao Mayor Charito Navarosa has ordered an investigation of an explosion at the hinterland area of Barangay Dalagsaan, Libacao, last Monday.

In an inter v iew last T hursday, Navarosa said three affected residents have repor ted that their houses were f low n by the strong ex plosion that a lso caused crack on the soil and landslide.

The mayor added that he has asked the concerned barangay officials to investigate the incident.

As of this writing, the three residents were asked to go to the población for their safety. They were interviewed by the socialwelfare officers upon their arrival last Friday.

“The rang of the explosion was around 1 hectare. I still have to determine from the residents if anybody was injured,” Navarosa said. The result of the investigation by the barangay officials will be submitted to the Environment Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The residents feared that the explosion was caused by the presence of a volcano. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, however, said there is no volcano in the area.

People watch a TV news program reporting North Korea’s nuclear test at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on September 9, 2016. North Korea said it conducted a “higher level” nuclear warhead test explosion, which it trumpeted as finally allowing it to build “at will” an array of stronger, smaller and lighter nuclear weapons. It is Pyongyang’s fifth atomic test and the second in eight months. AP/Ahn Young-joon

N. Korea nuclear tests raise fears of radioactive fallout

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EOUL , South Korea— Another powerful blast at North Korea’s underground nuclear-test site could destabilize the area and send radioactive material into the atmosphere, the head of South Korea’s weather agency said last Monday.

“Should another nuclear test take place, there is that possibility,” Nam Jae-cheol, director of the Korea Meteorological Administration, told law makers inquiring about the potential for radioactive fallout.

North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006, all of them in tunnels buried deep under Mount Mantap in Punggye-ri, in North Hamgyong province.

Fears that the repeated nuclear explosions might be destabilizing the mountain have spread since the North’s latest and most powerful nuclear test on September 3. The test produced between 50 kilotons and 300 kilotons of explosive energy, according to government and private estimates. In comparison, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II produced 15 kilotons.

Since the newest test, authorities have detected four minor tremors from the test site, which some experts attributed to underground cave-ins caused by the powerful explosion. Commercial-satellite imager y has also shown landslides and other earth deformations at the site.

An analysis of satellite imager y found a cavity, as much as 300 -feet wide under Mount Mantop, Nam told lawmakers last Monday during a parliamentar y audit of his agency.

L a st Fr id ay T he South China Morning Post reported that researchers at the Institute of Geolog y and Geophysics, an arm of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, had warned their North Korean counter parts of an implosion at the test site, 50 miles from the border with China.

A day after the September 3 test, the newspaper quoted a senior Chinese nuclear scientist who warned that a future test could blow the top off Mount Mantop, causing radioactive contamination of the atmosphere.

New York Times News Service

Biodiversity Monday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Monday, November 6, 2017 A13

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph

COP12 on Convention for the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals

More migratory species get stronger protection under COP12 CMS Story & photos by Jonathan L. Mayuga

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@jonlmayuga

articipants have started packing their bags—with enthusiastic and optimistic smiles for a job well done—ending an international wildlife conference with a high note for greater protection for more endangered migratory species and their habitats.

It was a grueling weeklong event which saw the momentum to save the world ’s migratory wildlife growing stronger, setting the pace for integration of wildlife and sustainable development with a historic number of amendments to species appendices having been approved on October 28 by environmental ministers and their representatives from 124 countries.

Hailed as a big success and victory for endangered migratory species, the 12th Conference of Parties Session on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (COP 12 CMS) saw a record number of commitments for stronger protection for migratory species and their habitats.

The meeting saw 34 species proposals from 24 parties from Asia, Africa and Americas, Europe and Oceania added to the list of the CMS Appendices. These include the more well-known species like the lion, leopard, giraffe and chimpanzees, which global population are on the rapid decline.

T he event saw more t h a n 1,000 participants, including official delegates and observers from the Range States, and representatives from 24 nonmembers, actively taking part in the weeklong discussions.

Philippine breakthroughs

The Phi lippines hosting the historic event—with the CMS meeting having been held for the first time in Asia—it was touted as the biggest gathering for the strengthening of protection measures for endangered migratory species and their habitats by the Range States.

It saw the approval of all-important resolutions the Philippines has put forward before the body, including the up-listing of the butanding (whale shark) under Appendix I, while maintaining its status under Appendix II. Also approved were proposals for the listing of four other migratory species under Appendix II. These are the white-spotted wedgefish, a shark species; and yellow bunting, black noddy and Christmas fragatebird, which are all bird species.

A total of 11 Philippine-drafted resolutions were approved. This includes the Manila Declaration on migratory species conservation vis-à-vis the sustainable development, the establishment of marine-protected networks in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region, establishment of a COP presidency, promoting intertidal and other coastal habitats for migratory species.

The Philippines, as an added bonus, was declared as a migrator y-species champion for its effort to protect and conserve

the whale shark, with scientific name Rhincodon typus.

Notable outcomes

Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu and Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) Executive Secretary Bradnee Chambers at last week’s opening news conference of the 12th Conference of Parties Session of CMS held at the Philippine International Convention Center

In its official statement, the CMS Secretariat noted some of the notable outcomes.

CMS Executive Secretary Bradnee Chambers described the international wildlife conference as “a game changer” for the convention, citing the intensive week of negotiations that have resulted in a stronger commitment by countries to step up their efforts to conserve migratory wildlife.

He noted that the governments had agreed to cooperate on reducing the negative impacts of marine debris, noise pollution, renewable energy and climate change on migratory species.

All fish proposals have been endorsed. This includes three species of shark and three species of ray, which will now receive greater protection with the whale shark on Appendix I and the angel shark being listed on both Appendix I and Appendix II. The dusky shark, the blue shark and the common guitarfish and the white-spotted wedgefish were listed on Appendix II. All proposals on avian species have also been approved for addition to the CMS Appendices.

On Appendix I are steppe eagle, four species of Asian vulture, five sub-Saharan vulture species, the lappet-faced vulture and the Christmas frigate bird.

A subspecies of the black noddy, the yellow bunting and the lesser and great grey shrike were listed on Appendix II The giraffe was listed under Appendix II, hence, for the first time, it will receive protection under an international treaty because of the overall population decline across Africa.

The leopard and lion will also be listed on CMS Appendix II, which will pave the way for a joint initiative on protecting Africa’s great carnivores, while the African Carnivores Initiative will become a focal point for the implementation of resolutions and decisions on lions, leopards, cheetahs and wild dogs, both under CMS and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

The chimpanzee is now listed on both Appendices of the CMS, as it faces a 50-percent drop in numbers over three generations of rapid habitat loss, especially in the western and eastern parts of its historic range.

In total, 12 mammals, 16 birds and six species of fish have been provided greater protection.

and Philippines for the successful holding of COP 12 CMS. In his opening statement, Chambers described the conference as a big success.

“What a week! Incredible! But it is worth it. Definitely worth it.

This is the first time that we held this in Asia. And it won’t be the last. There is an offer that has now been confirmed for the hosting of the next meeting. COP 13 in 2020 will be held in India,” he said.

He said the target of making the COP 12 CMS the biggest international wildlife gathering was achieved.

“We have broken a lot of records.

More parties attending, not only parties but nonparties. We have 24 nonparties here, a record number of [news] coverage; without the media, our work on the conservation of migratory species will not be known,” he said.

He said on the eve of the conference, a high-level panel and leadership breakfast were held.

Many ministers and vice ministers, he added, for the first time discussed the connection of migratory species and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as proposed under the Philippine-drafted Manila Declaration.

“The lion, leopard, giraffe and chimpanzee—these are animals we can easily identify or identify with and their populations are facing sharp declines. We now hope that the Convention will work together to start to turn [this] around and bring a better conservation status for these species,” Chambers said.

He lauded the efforts of the Philippines for the conservation of the iconic butanding and the integration of their conservation to development, particularly ecotourism.

He noted that the Philippines has proposed resolution on sustainable ecotourism.

A new policy to ensure sustainable ecotourism includes guidelines promoting “boat based” and “swim with” policies.

Another species facing sharp population decline and needs protection, he said, is the vulture which provides a very important role in the wild.

Chambers added two nonparties have signified their intention to join the CMS and expressed hope that the number of signatories will continue to to 250 members across the globe in a couple of years.

Next stop, India

The Philippines’s commitment

Speaking during the closing news conference, Chambers was ecstatic to report the accomplishments and praised the secretariat

En v ironment Undersecre tary Roldofo A Garcia, representing Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu during the last

Sharks mascots welcome the delegates attending last week’s 12th Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals held at the PICC.

Environment Undersecretary Jonas R. Leones (center) and representatives from the countries of Sri Lanka, Senegal, Honduras and Samoa submitted proposals for the conservation of six shark species during the 12th Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals held last week at the PICC in Manila.

DENR Strategic Communication and Initiatives Service

day of the event, acknowledged the importance of the media to heighten the people’s awareness about protecting and conserving migratory species. “ The body was able to adopt all resolutions submitted by the Philippines for which we are very thankful and very glad,” he reported.

The turnout, he said, was “very heart-warming” being the most attended meeting of the CMS. A total of 93 of 124 Range States were represented during the meeting. Besides the official delegates from the Range States, there are also leaders and representatives from 45 international non-governmental organizations and local NGOs in attendance.

He said the adoption of the countr y’s proposal for the listing of five species is a welcome development, not only in the Phi l ippines but among t he R ange States, as well.

“The protection of these species is considered not only as a success but an insurance that the generations to come will get to enjoy the beauty and wonderful creations,” he added.

Garcia underscored the importance of protecting and conserving migratory species and their habitats. The convention, he said, highlighted the importance of migratory species having direct and indirect impact on sustainable development because of their links to national and global economic activities, such as agriculture, fisheries, tourism, transportation, mining and trade.

A f f i r m ing t he Ph i l ippi nes commitment to the CMS, also ca l led the Bonn Convention, G a rc i a s a id t he Ph i l ip pi ne s would continue to develop new and strengthen existing policies for the protection of migratory species and their habitats.

He added unity and action are critical to the Philippines’s conservation effort. Quoting Cimatu’s welcome remarks on October 22, Garcia said: “We encourage the media to disseminate the fact that species migration is something that has a direct im-

pact on humanity through the services they provide. Their future is, indeed, our own future.”

More work ahead

Environment Undersecretary Analiza R. Teh, for Climate Change Service, lauded the CMS Secretariat for “a job well done.”

“As chairman of CMS, the Philippines will continue to assist and ensure the resolutions and work programs will be implemented.

The Philippines will also assist to bring on board other countries to the CMS,” Teh said.

Env i ron me nt Und e r s e c re tar y for Field Operations Juan Miguel T. Cuna said the support provided by the organizers and the participants made the convention a success, as no glitzes were encountered along the way.

He also noted that despite minor conf licts, all conf licts were e vent u a l ly resolved a nd t he entire process went smoothly.

Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) expressed elation that all the important resolutions and proposals were adopted.

“We are relieved now that it is over but it means more work to be done,” she said.

“All our resolutions have been adopted but we need to follow them through. There was a decision on how the Philippines will support the process. Intercessionally, we promise to work on that,” she added.

Lim also noted the support the convention generated from the private sector, “who also took part and expressed willingness to support these efforts.”

The way forward

Oysten Storkensen, chairman of the standing committee of CMS, underscored the need to protect not only the species listed in the Appendices of the CMS but their habitats.

He said governments must work together to ensure that the habitats or the range of the migratory species are protected.

“The convention has been focused on species. But now, at this conference, we see the focus, the second focus, on to how to conserve the habitats,” he said.

Antoinette Toss, founder of Planet Cora and a sustainable development advocate, said conserving species goes beyond simply conserving them, but more of a matter of respecting all life.

“Even with small things, like stopping the use of single-use practice, starting recycling, segregating, respecting all life we can make a big difference in this world,” she said.

Chambers said one way of moving forward for CMS is to ensure that countries comply with their commitment to the international treaty, by encouraging countries that are violating, and to comply and ensure the protection of the species.

To improve the conservation status of the species and their habitats, Chambers added there is a need to close the gap in legislation. He cited the importance of enacting laws, providing good financing and helping resourcepoor countries to put in place adequate protection measures not only for the species but for their habitats.

“I think one of the biggest things that we are lacking is the gap in legislation. In order to implement the good things that are happening in the convention, the guidance that is coming from the convention needs to be implemented at the national level,” he added.

Chambers said the implementation of the treaty can be done through different ways, and one of which is through improving legislation and implementing the treaty.

“We took a step forward in this COP by passing a national legislation project that is linked to our compliance review mechanism. This is a positive step forward. We need more financing. Within the range, you may have a few strong countries, but we also have a few developing countries,” he said.

Moreover, he said there are issues that need improvements, such as renewable energy, lead ammunition and the need to involve more actors for the implementation of positive actions.

“We have been setting up task forces that include industr y, government, experts, changemakers and policy-makers. By getting them together and arriving at a common understanding of the problem and a common understanding of the solution, t hen we can move for ward,” Chambers added.

A14 Monday, November 6, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Keep the banking system operating

I

F you are of a certain age—a senior citizen identification card qualifies—then you remember it was not too long ago that local Philippine television went dark long before the midnight hour. You will also recall those tall UHF antennas all over Metro Manila to receive the broadcasts from the Far East Network (FEN) and American television. There may be a whole generation of Filipinos who improved their English language skills from watching I Dream of Jeanine.

The streets of the metropolis were empty late in the evening back then. To travel the length of the South Luzon Expressway cost only a few pesos. Of course, that road also flooded waist deep and was not passable during a typhoon.

But we are now well into the 21st century. Television and the Internet run 24/7, as well as fast food and ramen restaurants. There is even the occasional late-night traffic jam well out to the normal rush hours.

Christmas music starts just as early in the malls and supermarkets as it used to be, but now that supermarket may be closed only long enough to restock the shelves.

One other thing that seems not to have changed in the past 30 years is the large number of public holidays in the Philippines. Officially, we rank No. 4 in the world for the most days off with 18, the same as Columbia. Sri Lanka tops the list with 25, followed by India (21).

No one is going to have any problem with having a national nonworking day to commemorate an historical event or even a religious celebration. The fact that the Philippines has more of these days than many other countries may only be an indication of our rich history and cultural diversity. And the fact that the Philippines has 18 holidays, and Indonesia, Chile and Slovakia have 14, is not a significant difference.

The problem arises with all the nonworking and “classes canceled” days that come up due to immediate circumstances. In the interest of both public safety and public convenience, these have to happen.

Certainly, there are going to be mistakes made, or errors in judgment.

How many times were classes canceled due to “bad weather” only have a bright sunny day?

However, there is no reason to create man-made situations that force nonworking holidays. The person who signed off on holding the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings in Metro Manila should be required to direct traffic in the middle of Edsa starting November 13th, and be personally responsible for the billions of pesos of lost productivity during “Asean Week.”

Maybe that’s too harsh and we are only expressing our own frustrations. Security concerns, as well as the logistical challenge of accommodations and meeting venue, could only be overcome by holding the events here.

Nevertheless, the thought of closing the banking system and the Philippine Stock Exchange for most of a week is far too much to bear.

There is only one government agency—the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)—that is responsible. Shutting down the BSP is not the same as cancelling classes or not being able to renew your driver’s license.

The decision of the BSP to keep the banking system fully functioning during the November 13 to 15 government office shutdown finally shows some common sense. The decision to close the nation’s banking facilities should only be taken occasionally and only under the most serious of circumstances.

A social responsibility Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

I

T would be well and good if social-media platforms like Facebook and Twitter would, indeed, bind people together, or help with enlightenment so Internet users can form intelligent or informed opinions. In an ideal world, we would be consuming wise, truthful content rather than the fake news and misleading information that are just too common these days.

I saw online exchanges regarding the recent visit of Apo Whangod, the last mambabatok, to Manila. “Guardians of tradition” were questioning the soundness of the organizer’s decision to have the old lady go through the travel and the actual events during the festival.

The other camp was saying something about respecting the wishes

of the famous tattoo artist and her family. The social-media posts may have amplified an already-existing division in opinions, and I wonder if any resolution or compromise has been reached regarding the matter.

This is true for many other issues appearing prominently on socialmedia platforms.

As to the spread of fake news

The right against self-incrimination

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and inaccurate information, I suppose we cannot expect social-media users—even those with huge following—to be meticulous about the content they are putting out as some may think that being “just a blogger” does not require responsibility. Misinformation is on the rise and, as an added observation, the media apparently has a polarizing effect. It does not help that there are certain groups or individuals that feed off the scandals and the online outrage. Evidently, some people are capitalizing on the weakness of the medium.

So what are we to do? As users of social-media platforms, we have to take our responsibility seriously.

For a lot of people, Facebook has become a main source of news. So it is very important that everyone becomes accountable for every content that appears on his or her feed or page. This is especially true for social-media outfits that distribute information to thousands,

Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan

legally speaking

T

he 1987 Constitution, in Article III, Section 17, provides that “no person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.” The phrase “self-incrimination” does not appear.

Nor does it appear in Section 12 of the same Article III on the rights of a person in custodial investigation which provides, among others, for the “right to remain silent.”

Also, under the Rules of Criminal Procedure, particularly Rule 115, Section 1(e), an accused at trial is exempt from being compelled to be a witness against himself. The phrase self-incrimination does not appear.

Likewise, self-incrimination is not used in Article VI, Section 21 of the Constitution in reference to inquiries in aid of Legislation. Section 21 provides that, “The Senate or the House of Representatives or any of its respective committees may conduct inquiries in aid of legislation in accordance with its duly published rules of procedures. The rights of persons appearing in, or affected by, such inquiries shall be respected.”

Why is this “right against selfincrimination” invoked everytime a witness refuses to answer a difficult question in Senate or House investigative hearings? Is this right without any limitations?

The landmark case of People v.

Ayson (175 SCRA 1989, 225-230 [1989]) distinguishes between “the right against self-incrimination”

and “the rights in custodial investigation.” The first right, against selfincrimination [Article III, Section 17], is accorded to every person who gives evidence, whether voluntarily or under compulsion of subpoena, in any civil, criminal or administrative proceedings. The right is not to “be compelled to be a witness against himself.” It prescribes an “option of refusal to answer incriminating questions” and not a prohibition of inquiry. It simply secures to a witness, whether he or she be a party, the right to refuse to answer any particular incriminating question, i.e., one to which has a tendency to incriminate him or her for some crime. However, the right can be claimed only when the specific question, incriminatory in character, is actually put to the witness. It cannot be claimed at any other time. It does not give a witness the right to disregard a subpoena, to decline to appear before the court at the time appointed or to refuse to testify altogether. The right against self-in-

crimination is not self-executing or automatically operational. It must be claimed. If not claimed, by or in behalf of the witness, the protection does not come into play. It follows that the right may be waived, expressly or impliedly, as by a failure to claim it at the appropriate time” (People v. Ayson, at pp. 27-28).

“The rights in custodial investigation [Article III, Section 12] apply to persons ‘under investigation’ for the commission of an offense, i.e. suspects under investigation by police authorities.” This was not in the 1935 Constitution. It is avowedly derived from the decision of the United States Supreme Court (SC) in Miranda v.

Arizona (384 US 436, 16 L. Ed. 694), a decision described as an “earthquake in the world of law enforcement.” In Miranda Chief Justice Warren summarized the procedural safeguards laid down for a person in police custody, “in custody interrogation being regained as the commencement of an adversary proceeding against the suspect” (People v. Ayson, at pp. 228-229).

Understandably, People v. Ayson, decided by the SC in 1989 before Senate/House inquiries became a fad, does not expound on the right against self-incrimination in investigative inquiries in Congress.

However, the Senate has provided in its Rules of Procedure Governing Inquiries in Aid of Legislation, in Section 19 thereof, that “the right against self-incrimination shall be allowed only when a question, which tends to elicit an answer that will incriminate, is propounded.” The senators can determine whether the right was properly invoked, by

or even millions, of followers.

As responsible consumers of information, do not trust everything you read or find online. Be vigilant and careful about the things you read and believe in, and especially about those that you share.

Don’t be instrumental in the spread of untruth or petty content.

Instead, try to enlighten and inspire.

Try to be on the side of wisdom and truth as often as possible.

For a medium that wields great influence over such a broad spectrum of the population—there was a study which found that, in rich countries, people actually touch their phones 2,600 times a day!— it is worrisome that the rules are vague, and that the medium itself is largely misunderstood. This is why many Internet users are getting away with the abuse of their freedom. Then again, the issue of expression is an entirely different matter that may be analyzed in another column.

a majority vote of the committee members if there is a quorum present. The right against self-incrimination covers testimonial compulsion only and the compulsion to produce real or physical evidence using the body of the witness or accused. It applies to commutative testimony and not mechanical testimony. Commutative testimony involves the use of intelligence on the part of the accused or witness.

Thus, handwriting, signatures and similar incidents, which involve the use of intelligence, are not permissible. Corollary, mechanical testimony, such as substance from the body, morphine from mouth, put on pants, physical exam, wallet, picture taking, etc. (not involving use of intelligence) is permissible (http://www.batasnatin.com).

Sadly, the right against selfincrimination (or more accurately, the right not to “be compelled to be a witness against himself”) has been rampantly abused. Case in point is the ongoing investigation on the anti-hazing law in connection with the charge of murder of Aegis Juris neophyte Horatio Castillo III, where Omerta appears to be the common strategy of accused fraternity members.

But what must not be forgotten is that before any questioning is done, the witness or accused is required to take an oath—to “tell the truth and nothing but the truth.” The consequence of not doing so would result in criminal prosecution for perjury under the Revised Penal Code.

Indeed, you can fool some people all the time, all people some of the time, but not all people all of the time!

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, November 6, 2017 A15

Are financial statements Dissecting PPP contracts #9: The party clause and assignment of rights still relevant?

By Alberto Agra

Dr. Eliseo A. Aurellado

PPP Lead

DEBIT CREDIT

S

ince the time of Fra Luca Pacioli, inventor of the double-entry bookkeeping system that eventually led to the accounting profession, various stakeholders have been looking at financial statements as a way of measuring the financial health and performance of an organization.

Based on this analysis, they have tried to make predictions of its future, the assumption being that past performance is an indicator of potential. If things remain the same, it is reasonable to expect that the organization will continue to perform just as well. Yes and no. As the external auditor indicates in his audit report, the balance sheet is merely a snapshot of the organization’s health as of a given date, and that the results of its operations are merely for a given period. Thus, anything can happen beyond that timeframe. The future is anybody’s guess, and divining it takes a lot of analysis of variables that could change over time. Consequently, we observe the accountancy profession’s emphasis on standards that every practitioner and organization must adhere to. While the adoption of international standards to make financial statements comparable across geographic boundaries is desired, it is not always followed because of peculiarities in the way other countries operate. Yet, there is wisdom in having financial statements conform to standards that are familiar to advocates of the profession so that investment, financing and operational decisions can be made with relative comfort across the globe.

While comparability of financial statements is aspired for, there is also the issue of valuation. Looking at audited financial statements is like looking at an old newspaper, carrying events that may have lost their relevance because passé. By analogy, acquisition or historical cost as a means of measuring the value of an asset, while easily verifiable, has lost some of its significance. The introduction of market-to-market values, as well as appraised values are some ways that the accounting profession has tried to address the issue of relevance and what is considered fair value. At the end of the day, what is the true measure of an organization’s

Many investors who wish to acquire a new company or make an investment try to foresee the future by making financial projections. This potential stream of cash flows is then translated to its present equivalent by adopting an appropriate discounting rate and using the time value of money. This discounted cash-flow analysis is familiar to all students of finance and accounting. worth? Is it the picture shown by its historical past, or is it the promise of its future?

Many investors who wish to acquire a new company or make an investment try to foresee the future by making financial projections.

This potential stream of cash-flows is then translated to its present equivalent by adopting an appropriate discounting rate and using the time value of money. This discounted cash-flow analysis is familiar to all students of finance and accounting.

What it does is to try to make an educated guess of what an organization is really worth, not by looking at its past but by concentrating on its future. This forward-looking view is deemed to be a more useful way of establishing values. However, it does not have the same verifiability feature of accounting as we know it.

Perhaps the accounting profession can look at it as a way of providing additional information to the interested public who may wish to make investments on the basis of what they see in the financial statements.

Dr. Eliseo A. Aurellado, PhD, is a certified public accountant and member of the Board of Accountancy. He teaches at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business and is vice chairman and COO of Metro Stonerich Corp., a Triple A ISO-certified construction firm.

Continued from A1

W

hen a government/implementing agency enters into a project-based arrangement with a private sector proponent (PSP), the transaction is embodied in a binding and legally enforceable contract. Like any other contract, the party clause captures the who of the PPP. The first party, the one awarding the contract, can only validly undertake the PPP Project if empowered to do under its charter or enabling law. The implementing agency is the party that is vested with law, let us say to supply water, lease out a parcel of land or provide basic services, to perform the task but could not do so completely, efficiently and/ or expeditiously, on its own. That

implementing agency, after choosing from other development strategies, opts to partner with a PSP using the PPP approach.

The second party, the PSP, is that entity that secured the award after going through a competitive and transparent procedure. That PSP was predetermined to have passed three tests—the legal test, oftentimes referring to the nationality

C and C in regulation Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

D

uring the first ever Philippine Aviation Day organized by the Air Carriers Association of the Philippines (Acap), Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade announced to the audience that more or less 70 percent of the infrastructure budget of the country will be allotted to the transportation sector. He also proudly shared recent accomplishments in the aviation industry, such as the addition of radars from three to 13 and the increase of night-rated airports from 10 to 16. Most importantl Tugade announced that the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) passed the global safety ratings, with ratings increasing from 58 percent to 69 percent. The global average is 65 percent.

Tugade attributed these developments, together with the fact that Ninoy Aquino International Airport is no longer considered as one of the worst airports in the world, to the dedicated team effort by government regulators and private stakeholders in the industry. There is so much to be accomplished, so much to build. And the mantra of the Duterte administration of “Build, Build, Build” will entail constant cooperation and closer collaboration between government and private sector. In the words of International Air

Transport Association Director General Alexander de Juniac, “You have a gold mine in your hands.”

De Juniac, however, cautioned that building or improving airport facilities ought to factor in long-term considerations, such as capacity, quality and affordability. He also added that excessive government regulation can be counterproductive. Such was the general theme of one panel discussion wherein a colleague in the airline industry even suggested the idea of self-regulation to allow businesses to implement and

Technology can make PHL schools at par with the best in the world

By Edeline U. Soliven

T

he grow ing role of advanced technology in the classroom has been widely acknowledged. The old argument that electronic gadgets in school only serve to feed an addiction to a mobile lifestyle for teachers and students is no longer valid. On the other hand, advanced technology has empowered otherwise shy students who have found their voices and made themselves heard in virtual classrooms.

No matter how talented a teacher may be, it is virtually impossible for her to tailor a learning experience that effectively works well for every student.

Thanks to the ever-evolving technology, teachers today can now have a virtual high-definition classroom. Teachers in the 21st century can forget about the “talk and chalk” method of the past. They can now teach with ease with the most advanced educational apps, and with the aid of educational web sites.

Emerging technologies, such as cloud computing, augmented reality and 3D printing are paving the way for the future of education in ways we can only imagine a few years back.

In the next few years, the futuristic classroom will change, including the way teachers will teach and collaborate with students.

Perhaps, a parent born in the 1970s can’t imagine that one day, grades and assignments can be posted online; group projects can be completed through collaborative software; assignments can be done online and uploaded through classroom portals; students using cloud storage instead of flash drives or paper to store their work; and teachers, parents, students and administrators are now communicating via social-media platforms designed specifically for education purposes.

All of these can be startling to those who have no idea about a virtual classroom. Currently, some schools are using apps that can do the work of some employees, who must adapt to the changing environment, and in the process reinvent their role in the academe to remain relevant.

Some educational apps that are useful for teachers and school administrators include: ClassDojo, which is a virtual classroom environment. It allows teachers, students and parents to interact with one another. Teachers can use the platform to send alerts to parents, send feedback to students and even

accept assignments from students.

It’s a way to keep everybody communicating with one another. The best part of the platform is that it’s free and easy to use. All a teacher has to do is set up the virtual classroom on the platform. From there, the teacher can get the students and parents to download the app. Then everybody is ready to go. ClassDojo is one of those available teacher apps that educators must try.

Google Classroom is Google’s venture into the virtual classroom.

The big selling point of Google Classroom is that it’s free. Schools that use the G Suite for Education (which is also free) can automatically integrate Google Classroom into their system. Each student will get their own e-mail account, cloud storage, and more. In addition, teachers will be able to assign homework to students, receive homework from the same students, and even communicate with their parents.

Microsoft Office is literally the only office suite that can compete with Google Drive on this level.

Much like Google Drive, Microsoft Office consists of a cloud storage service (OneDrive) along with Word, Spreadsheet and Powerpoint. The big draw here is that many universities, schools and institutions not only use Microsoft Office on PC, but

they also give it away to students at the university level (Microsoft Office for students). This allows for a consistent experience across all platforms, and offers most of the benefits of Google Drive. The only downside is its heavy software with a complicated pricing structure.

PBS Kids Video is a free resource from PBS. It features over 1,000 educational videos for kids. It includes access to your local PBS station schedule, learning goals and more. You can also buy shows from Google Play if needed. This is an excellent resource if you want to add some videos to your lesson plan. Kids always love movie day anyway, right? Most of the content is free, with new stuff coming out consistently. It’s a good way to educate and entertain the kids to lighten up their school day.

More and more educators are using advanced technology to help them educate their students. It is high time that government must help teachers by providing high-tech classrooms. Our education department must lead in adopting advanced technology in education to improve the K to 12 program, and make teaching and learning in the country at par with the best schools in the world.

The author is Teacher 3 at Santa Teresita National High School in Santa Teresita, Cagayan.

requirement and juridical status; the technical test or compliance with the track record, expertise and experience requirements; and the financial test, dealing with the financial capacity of the PSP evidenced by the capitalization, financial statements and bank guarantees.

The party clause states the name of the parties, their respective creating law, signatories, authority of the authorized signatories and the short name of the party.

The contract between the implementing agency and PSP is personal.

The trust reposed on them is nontransferrable. The PSP was chosen to the exclusion of others. No other person can substitute for that PSP. One acceptable exception to this is the operation of the assignment of rights provision, without which, no substitution, under this contemplated situation, can take place. Assignment of rights must be pursuant to an unequivocal contractual provision.

A typical straightforward provision may be worded this way: No

party to this agreement shall assign, transfer or subcontract this agreement nor assign any of its rights, obligations or duties to any other party without the prior written consent of the other party.

If this were the case, the only requirement is mutual consent in writing. Other restrictions may be imposed on the considerations of time, assignee and prior right. A lock-in period bars the transfer to another implementing agency or PSP for a certain agreed period. The PSP-assignee may also be required to be eligible like the PSP-assignor.

This columnist believes that this is implied from any assignment provision. The project could not be executed based on the parameters set if the PSP does not meet the three tests. A better template would be to explicitly require this. A prior right to be designated assignee may also be vested on the lenders of PSP based on certain conditions.

The PPPs involve trust. Trust is not a faceless exercise. Let us know who to demand trust from.

enforce their own good governance policies, presumably aligned with the objectives of government regulators. Everyone agreed that regulation is necessary so long, as it aims to solve real problems.

De Juniac further said that regulation becomes reasonable only when it is transparent and passes the cost-benefit test.

I was once a regulator. Our team optimized cooperation and collaboration with those people we regulated through consultative meetings, where members of Immigration Lawyers of the Philippines, the Consular Corps of the Philippines, various chambers of commerce, and other interested persons eagerly attended to learn more about recent bureau guidelines, and to suggest new ones. In fact, the idea of holding these monthly consultative meetings came from Michael Ang, the honorary consul of Jordan here in the Philippines. In formulating internal processes, I remember one colleague in the Bureau of Immigration who “regulated” the conduct of his subordinates by creating cluster groups to encourage initiative. Lawyer Ronaldo P. Ledesma created the Office of Special Services to allow smaller units in the bureau to have greater participation toward collective decision-making. Ledesma often regulated and rarely controlled his subordinates by empowering them, resulting to greater cooperation and teamwork. There was minimal oversight, as Ledesma trusted his subordinates to be

able to accomplish the simple mission of good guys in, bad guys out. Of the many things I learned from Ledesma, I will truly cherish his way of mentoring.

He taught the basics without spoonfeeding, provided goals and targets to his team, and, most important, created a structure to maximize cooperation and collaboration.

After Jesus chose His disciples, He gave out general guidelines on how to preach. In Mark 6:8-11, Jesus instructed His disciples in this light: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals, but not an extra shirt. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” I can only surmise that Jesus fully trusted His disciples in carrying out such instructions with minimal supervision. There were a few basic instructions given, but Jesus allowed each of His disciples to preach —their way, their style.

Whenever there are competing interests or whenever there are different ways of getting a job done, regulation is indispensable, not to make things harder by imposing unreasonable rules but to make things easier by enhancing cooperation and collaboration.

For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.

Powell’s Fed would be an unknown quantity

D

onald J. Trump has a cautious side after all. In naming Jerome Powell as next chairman of the Federal Reserve (the Fed), the president has chosen a loyal ally of the outgoing chairman, Janet Yellen. At first sight, the appointment signals business as usual in monetary policy, rather than the unconventionality that some of the other candidates stood for.

On the whole, this was wise. The Fed is gradually getting monetary policy back to normal, and a surge of uncertainty over its intentions on interest rates and balance-sheet operations wouldn’t help.

Even so, it would be an exaggeration to say that the appointment won’t have an impact. For a start, attachment to a particular theory of “normal” monetary policy is not the only thing, or even the main thing, that a Fed chairman must bring to the job. Leading the Fed’s policymaking committee, especially when it’s divided or confronted with unforeseen events, is the greater challenge.

In this regard, Powell is untested.

Note as well that vacancies mean further appointments to the committee are coming—choices that could make his job easier or harder. Powell is certainly well qualified, but he lacks the academic weight of his predecessors. This could make it more difficult for him to shape a consensus.

On financial regulation, as opposed to monetary policy, the Powell Fed can

be expected to adjust the emphasis, at least. Yellen has generally favored strict and proactive rule making. Powell has appeared to be less convinced of the Fed’s ability to usefully interfere with the financial markets’ role in allocating capital. That skepticism could lead in one of two directions—one promising, the other quite dangerous.

A reluctant financial regulator, aware of how hard it is to do that job well, might favor the lighter touch of simpler rules —combined with a renewed focus on the capital that banks and other financial firms use to support their lending. That particular change of emphasis would be good: Making financial firms stronger is the best way to avoid future crises, and stronger firms require less intrusive oversight. But the other possibility—lighter regulation combined with a more relaxed approach to capital adequacy—would risk the kind of regulatory failure that helped bring on the crash. Everything depends on what kind of lighter-touch regulator Powell intends the Fed to be.

It would have been customary for Trump to have reappointed Yellen, who has acquitted herself well. But he has never been one to do what is customary.

In Powell, Trump has selected the least unsettling alternative—which is fine, so long as both remember the most important advice for any Fed chief: Expect the unexpected.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A16 Monday, November 6, 2017

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DOT woos devotees of ‘Goddess of the South China Sea’ to visit PHL

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

P

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

RESSED to reach its target of 6.5 million to 7 million visitor arrivals target this year, the Department of Tourism (DOT) is reaching out to followers of the Chinese goddess Mazu (Mat-su), to take their holidays in the Philippines.

In a news statement, Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo said, “as a country blessed with so many heritage festivals ourselves, the Philippines can draw from the Mazu cultural tour festival’s overwhelming turnout year-on-year.”

This developed as the DOT revealed plans to position the

Philippines as a cultural festival center, which Teo said, paves the way for cultural diversity to flourish. “As a melting pot of many different cultures, religions, the Philippines stands to benefit in embracing this centuries-old Eastern belief,” she said of the Mazu festival.

She added that with the imple-

300M The estimated number of devotees of the Chinese goddess Mazu

mentation of the Philippines’s visaon-arrival program for Chinese travelers, Mazu followers will be more encouraged to come to the Philippines and make it a festival hub, as well.

“A game changer for Philippine tourism, the visa-on-arrival program can also become a major turning point in attracting the fastgrowing Mazu followers all over the world,” she said, noting that Mazu is a cultural movement that has turned into a widespread phenomenon.

Mazu keepers estimate 300 million devotees worldwide, with

festivals in the goddess’ name celebrated usually around April 23rd, and the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, or around October 9. She is highly regarded among Buddhists and Taoists, and also known as the “Goddess of the South China Sea.” Teo was among key personalities from across the globe invited by Friends of the Philippines Foundation (FPF) in the recently concluded Mazu cultural tour festival held at the Tin Hau Temple at Coloane in Macau, China.

Published reports say Mazu (Mat-su or Lin Moniang), was born a human on the 23rd day of the lunar month (usually April) in 960 AD in Meizhou island in Fujian province. The province is also where the bulk of Filipinos of Chinese ancestry come from.

Mazu became known for her supernatural agility in water, which is the reason she later became the

goddess of seafarers, fishermen and sailors. There are different versions on how she died, the most common thread being that she was a virgin and remained unmarried.

Tulay, the Filipino-Chinese digest, says “there are an estimated 1,500 Mazu temples in 26 countries around the world, of which almost 1,000 are in Taiwan, nearly 200 in Fujian and more than 90 in Hong Kong.” Teo said since she advocated with the Department of Justice to roll out the visa-on-arrival program for Chinese citizens, arrivals from mainland China surged by 54.92 percent from 61,766 arrivals August last year to 95,687 of same period this year.

“If these figures are any indication, the Philippines can certainly push the visa-on-arrival program to attract more Chinese travelers, considering that a huge number of this market are package tour buyers,” she said. “I am confident this

Govt keen on Christmas truce with communists

TRUMP CALLS JAPAN ‘CRUCIAL ALLY’AS HE KICKS OFF ASIA TRIP F

USSA, Japan—President Donald J. Trump praised Japan as a “crucial ally” and warned adversaries not to test America’s resolve last Sunday as he opened a grueling and consequential first trip to Asia.

Trump landed at Yokota Air Base on the outskirts of Tokyo and was greeted by cheering service members. Trump then donned a bomber jacket for a speech in which he touted American firepower and the United States alliance with Japan.

“Japan is a treasured partner and crucial ally of the United States, and today, we thank them for welcoming us and for decades of wonderful friendship between our two nations,” he said, speaking in front of an American flag inside an airplane hangar.

Trump was expected to spend much of his 12-day, five-country Asian tour exhorting allies and rivals to step up efforts to counter the dangers posed by North Korea, which continues to move forward with its nuclear-weapons program.

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been engaged in an escalating war of words, with Trump repeatedly referring to Kim as “Little Rocket Man” and threatening in a recent speech to “totally destroy” the nation, if necessary.

Even before he landed, Trump used the first moments of the trip to denounce the North as “a big problem” that must “be solved.”

“There’s been 25 years of total weakness, so we are taking a very much different approach” toward the North, he told reporters traveling with him.

During the speech, Trump did not mention North Korea by name, but warned of the consequences of crossing what he called the “most fearsome fighting force in the history of our world.” “ Together with our allies, America’s warriors are prepared to defend our nation using the full range of our unmatched capabilities. No one—no dictator, no regime and no nation—should underestimate, ever, American resolve,” Trump told the troops.

Some regional analysts have speculated that Trump’s

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

P

Harris Jr. :“We’re not there for them [allies like South Korea, Japan and the Philippines which host US military forces]; we’re there for us [US].”

presence in Asia may prompt North Korea to take provocative action, like another missile test.

Trump, when asked about that possibility aboard Air Force One, said “we’ll soon find out.”

Golf with Abe

After the speech, Trump flew by helicopter to the Kasumigaseki Country Club about 20 miles outside of Tokyo for lunch and a round of golf with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japanese golfer Hideki Matsuyama.

An avid golfer, Trump said Matsuyama is “probably the greatest player in the history of Japan.”

Trump and Abe have struck up a personal friendship, forged through multiple meetings and telephone conversations, as well as on the greens of one of Trump’s Florida golf clubs and over intimate dinners at Trump’s Florida estate.

At the club, the leaders signed white caps inscribed with the phrase, “Donald and Shinzo: Make Alliance Even Greater,” a tribute to the US-Japan friendship and a play on Trump’s campaign slogan. On the menu: a hamburger made from US beef.

‘We’re not there for them’

Before leaving for Asia, Trump stopped in Honolulu, where he visited the headquarters of the US Pacific Command and made a sunset visit to the USS Arizona Memorial, which honors the ship on which 1,177 Americans were killed during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

During the briefing, military officials showed Trump a huge map of the region, with laminated stickers marking the locations of US forces, according to a US official.

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ease in visa requirement is an attractive proposition for the country to host big-ticket events, such as Mazu culture festival.”

The DOT chief revealed that a Mazu Cultural Center will soon rise in Manila Bay under the auspices of FPF. “This should become a centerpiece for economic and cultural exchanges between Chinese and the Philippines, promoting the valuable Mazu culture, as well as advancing Sino-Philippine friendship.” The said hub will feature a much-anticipated 6-meter-high Mazu statue at the bay showcasing many tourism, business, leisure and cultural activities.

In 2009 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization inscribed Mazu beliefs and customs in the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Macau has hosted 15 successful editions of the said culture festival.

ASEAN AGENDA Photo shows (from left) Association of Southeast Asian Nations Business Advisory Council (Asean BAC) Chairman Jose Ma. A. Concepcion, with Asean BAC council members Teresita Sy-Coson and George T. Barcelon, during the Asean Business and Investment Summit 2017 held at the Manila Polo Club in Makati City. NONOY LACZA

PHL wants WTO to help small firms cut trade costs Continued from A1

“Costs related to foreign trade operations represent a significant burden for MSMEs interested in participating in international trade,” it read.

Once the draft ministerial decision is adopted by WTO member-countries at MC11, a work program addressing the issues surrounding the participation of MSMEs in global trade shall be established.

Among the issues to be tackled by the program includes the improvement of access to information on trade requirements, regulations and markets for MSMEs. It will also address the ways to promote a more “predictable” regulatory environment for MSMEs. Measures that contribute to reducing trade costs for MSMEs in areas, such as trade facilitation, shipping and logistics, and procedures and requirements related to origin will be identified.

The draft ministerial decision indicated that access to trade finance for MSMEs, including those through cooperation with other multilateral institutions, will be promoted.

The work program must identify MSMEs’ issues that could be addressed in WTO Trade Policy reports and consider how they could benefit from technical assistance and capacitybuilding initiatives.

“The discussions under the work program shall favor horizontal and nondiscriminatory solutions, which are likely to yield benefits for the participation of MSMEs in international trade, taking into account the specific needs of developing countries and least-developed countries,” the draft ministerial decision read.

Once the draft ministerial decision is approved, a working group will be established

under the general council to conduct discussions on issues that affect MSMEs. “The working group shall consider the work of other WTO bodies. As appropriate, it may invite these bodies to undertake specific assignments and cooperate with them closely in areas of their competence,” it read.

The general council will review the progress made by the working group and may also supplement the issues earlier set by the decision, according to the draft.

The established working group will prepare its first report for the 12th MC in 2019.

The Friends of MSMEs is comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, the European Union, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

Malaysia, Mexico, the Republic of Moldova, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, Uruguay and Vietnam are also part of the group.

Earlier, the Philippines urged WTO to create a body that would focus on how MSMEs, particularly those in developing countries, can participate in international trade.

The country’s statement was delivered by Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo Jr. during the informal ministerial meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, on October 9 and 10. The development of MSMEs is among the priorities of Philippines in the upcoming MC11.

“The Philippines, together with the friends of MSMEs, is seeking appropriate arrangements within the existing framework of the WTO and relevant committees, such as the establishment of a working group under the general council that will be mandated to consider how the

multilateral trading system can impact and benefit MSMEs, with particular consideration given to the needs and interests of developing and least-developed countries,” Rodolfo said.

He added the creation of a working group on MSMEs would ensure that discussions on how the international market may affect and benefit the MSMEs around the globe will be sustained. In his speech during a workshop organized by Friends of MSMEs in October 31, WTO Director General Roberto Azevêdo said WTO member-countries have built up “some good momentum” behind the MSME debate as MC11 draws nearer.

Azevêdo noted that MSMEs serve as the backbone of many economies, representing more than 90 percent of all companies worldwide and accounting for 60 percent of employment. “Yet, their participation in world trade does not reflect their importance domestically. In developing countries, for example, exports represent less than 10 percent of MSMEs’ total sales,” he said.

“Clearly, there is scope to do more here.

Helping MSMEs to join trade flows in greater numbers will go a long way to making the trading system more inclusive and improving the lives of individuals and communities around the world,” he added.

Azevêdo said among the barriers that hinder the participation of MSMEs in international trade include: lack of appropriate information and skills; difficulties in accessing trade finance; burdensome customs procedures; and high fixed costs. “The smaller the companies, the greater the challenges seem to be,” he said.

“If we want to help MSMEs to trade more, we need to understand better what is standing in their way. This is very important.”

@alyasjah

resident Duterte’s peace adviser has bared the government is pursuing efforts to hammer out a temporary ceasefire with the communists in December in observance of Christmas season, in spite of suspended peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF).

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Jesus G. Dureza said there are efforts to reach a short-time truce with the communists. However, he said he cannot yet divulge details so as to maintain the momentum of these efforts. “[I cannot] disclose details prematurely,” Dureza told the BusinessMirror. “We are at a sensitive stage and any public disclosure at this time may jeopardize efforts.”

Nonetheless, Dureza said his office is working hard not only to draw up the temporary cease-fire, but also to resume negotiations with the communists.

Government Chief Negotiator and Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III last Wednesday revealed the prospect for the resumption of the peace talks with the NDF is “very bright.”

This developed even as the President last Tuesday urged the communists to descend the mountains and lay down their arms in exchange of housing and jobs. “I’m just saying na kung mag-surrender kayo, ayaw na ninyo…ng patayan o pumatay ng kapwa mo Pilipino, magsurrender ka na. Bigyan kita ng bahay…at bigyan kita ng trabaho [I’m just saying if you want to surrender, if you are tired of killing your fellow Filipino, then you surrender.

I will give you a house and a job],” Duterte said.

Asked what the significant developments on the ground were, Dureza said: “My office’s mandate is to pursue peace efforts at all cost and in spite of obstacles and expected difficulties. We deal with all fronts, rebels or nonrebels, who pursue causes that need to be addressed.”

“We always look for the brighter prospects of our work, the [communists] included,” the peace process chief added.

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