Businessmirror april 04, 2018

Impact of Boracay closure seen at 0.1 percent of GDP D

United nations

2015 environmental Media Award leadership award 2008

“For Malay, it [the impact] will be significant, and yes, we have done those analysis, like I said, it has been submitted to the proper authorities. I think it’s best that we leave it to the concerned authorities just to say that there will be a contingency plan for them; so there will be a plan to provide social protection for those who will be affected,” Edillon said.

What is important, she added, is finding new employment opportunities for workers who will be affected by the closure of Boracay.

DOLE assistance

An initial 7,700 workers, who are expected to be displaced by the looming closure of Boracay Island, will be given assistance by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Continued on A2

BusinessMirror

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A broader look at today’s business n

Wednesday, April 4, 2018 Vol. 13 No. 172

Grab-Uber deal below PCC’s compulsory notification levels

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

rab has informed the government that its merger deal with Uber falls below the thresholds set by the antitrust body for compulsory notification.

Still, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) indicated it is bent on reviewing the transaction as it could lead into a “virtual monopoly” in the country’s ride-sharing market.

BALISACAN: “If prohibited, Uber may decide to continue operating or to still exit the Philippines by selling to another party that is not Grab.”

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Spokesman Aileen B. Lizada said officials of Grab told her that the transaction was less than the Continued on A2

San Miguel’s airport pitch advances to Neda Board

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@cuo_bm

espite the noise being generated by the proposal to close Boracay Island, its possible overall impact to the economy will only be equal to 0.1 percent of GDP, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

National Policy and Planning Staff Director Reynaldo R. Cancio said this is based on assumptions that include the closure of the tourism destination for six months. He did not give more details.

Still, Neda Deputy Director General Rosemarie G. Edillon said they recommended to the President the creation of a contingency plan for those that will be affected by the closure, especially the residents and workers in the municipality of Malay in Aklan.

Apart from its fine white sand, this kind of magnificent sunset is one of the wonderful scenes that Boracay Island can offer to foreign and local visitors. FAYE PABLO

media partner of the year

By Cai U. Ordinario

Continued on A12

PESO exchange rates n US 52.1350

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I was late for dinner Teddy Locsin Jr.

free fire

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he last meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) for the Ministerial Meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, was a last run-through to present a clean draft document in Baku. There would be a call for a last—no, not vote but—attempt at consensus to adopt various statements.

Or not.

Continued on A10

PCC: Quasi-court in full swing

₧735.63B

he interagency Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) has The estimated cost approved San Miguel of the proposed Corp.’s proposal to New Manila build an airport in Bu- International lacan, as well as eight Airport in Bulacan other projects, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

In a briefing on Tuesday, Neda Undersecretary for Investment Programming Rolando G. Tungpalan said San Miguel was able to provide a “reasonable rate of return” in its proposal, which will now be submitted to the Neda Board for approval.

Tungpalan added the proponent has promised to complete the airport by the time President Duterte ends his term in 2022.

“There was a reasonable rate of return that is being recommended; that will still be approved

2016 ejap journalism awards

Stella Luz Quimbo, PhD

SPECIAL FUND Sen. Cynthia A. Villar (left), Committee on Agriculture and Food chairman, questions Agriculture Undersecretary Evelyn G. Laviña during the Senate hearing on the implementation of the law extending the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund on Tuesday.

Labor groups: ‘Endo’ EO a test of Duterte’s political will

By Samuel P. Medenilla

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@sam_medenilla

abor groups are becoming more restive each day the proposed executive order (EO) on contractualization is left unsigned, now accusing President Duterte of lacking political will to issue an order that does not even fully ban contracting

and subcontracting arrangements.

“The so-called study being done by his [Duterte] legal team is more than two weeks past the deadline,” Federation of Free Workers (FFW) Vice President Julius H. Cainglet said. “ The continued abuse of workers through contractualization and manpower

W

COMPETITION MATTERS

hat do you do at the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC)? This has been the most common question asked of me since taking office in January 2016, and it deserves an answer.

Under the Philippine Competition Act (PCA), the commission shall be composed of a chairman and four commissioners. One must be a member of the Philippine bar and one must be an economist. The framers of the law must have recognized that the interplay between law and economics is necessary for the proper functioning of the commission.

Continued on A11

See “Labor groups,” A2

n japan 0.4924 n UK 73.2392 n HK 6.6427 n CHINA 8.3004 n singapore 39.7249 n australia 39.9458 n EU 64.1469 n SAUDI arabia 13.9023

Source: BSP (3 April 2018 )

BMReports BusinessMirror

A2 Wednesday, April 4, 2018

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Grab-Uber deal below PCC’s compulsory notification levels Continued from A1

thresholds set by the competition watchdog, and, thus, it does not require the parties to notify the PCC. “During our meeting with Grab yesterday [Monday], they said that they did not meet the P2 billion and P5-billion thresholds,” she told the BusinessMirror. Lizada was present in the meeting among officials of Grab, Uber, the PCC and the LTFRB. Under PCC’s Memorandum Circular 18001, a transaction is notifiable if the size of the transaction reached P2 billion, or if the size of the party is P5 billion.

Notification to the antitrust body should be made within 30 days after signing of the definitive agreement.

If the transaction is notifiable, Grab and Uber are not allowed to consummate the deal without the approval of the competition watchdog.

However, if the transaction does not meet the threshold and is not notifiable,

the parties are not so precluded, but they are urged to allow a voluntary review to take its course before consummating to minimize the need to unscramble the deal if found to have anticompetition concerns.

The BusinessMirror sought Grab’s confirmation for Lizada’s statement, but a company spokesman declined to confirm or deny it, saying the company “does not disclose valuations.”

For his part, PCC Chairman Arsenio M. Balisacan said his group has commenced a motu proprio review on Tuesday of the acquisition by Grab of Uber’s assets in the Philippines.

“After meeting with the parties on Monday, the antitrust commission has not yet received any notification of the transaction from the parties,” he said, noting that the parties made “representations” that the transaction is not covered by the compulsory notification requirements.

Under the preliminary assessment of the transaction, the mergers and acquisi-

tions office of the regulator indicated that “there are reasonable grounds that the said acquisition may likely substantially lessen, prevent, or restrict competition.”

The same office also noted the that there may be adverse effects on the riding public and partner-drivers should the deal be allowed to consummate.

“The commission also found that the transaction will result in a substantial increase in concentration of an already highly concentrated market in an industry that provides a basic public service,” Balisacan said.

The PCC is mandated to protect competition in the market and prohibit anticompetitive conduct, including mergers and acquisitions of businesses and companies that may substantially prevent, restrict or lessen competition.

Among those that will be determined by the antitrust agency are the post-acquisition effects to the market, including price increases, service levels, options and fair entry of new competitors.

There are two scenarios that could possibly arise from the motu propio review.

First is that the antitrust body finds the transaction legal and not anticompetitive.

This means that Grab and Uber are allowed to consummate the deal without repercussions. The other scenario is that the PCC finds the deal as anticompetitive.

“In the event that the deal is found by the PCC to result in substantial lessening of competition, it is a prohibited merger under Section 20 of the PCA [Philippine Competition Act],” Balisacan told the BusinessMirror, when sought for clarification.

Section 20 of the competition law states that prohibited mergers or acquisitions are those that “prevent, restrict, or lessen competition in the relevant market.”

“If prohibited, Uber may decide to continue operating or to still exit the Philippines by selling to another party that is not Grab,” Balisacan said. He added that under the rules, Uber and Grab may still propose to amend the deal to be compliant with the

Impact of Boracay closure seen at 0.1 percent of GDP DOLE Region 6 Director Johnson G. Cañete said they already requested for additional budget to provide emergency employment to these beneficiaries in Malay.

“We already forwarded our proposal to the DOLE CO [central office] last Wednesday,” Cañete told the BusinessMirror.

“We used the 7,735 listing of LGU Malay as the number of displaced worker that we will cater to in our emergency employment,” he added.

Under their submitted project

proposal, the labor official said the beneficiaries will be given emergency employment for 30 to 90 days. They will be tapped to help in the cleaning operations within Boracay.

He said the beneficiaries will be paid the current minimum wage in Western Visayas (P323.50), plus insurance coverage.

Labor Undersecretary Joel B. Maglunsod said they will be coordinating with the DOLE-Region 6 to facilitate its fund requests for the

emergency employment and livelihood aid. Based on government estimates, as many as 30,000 workers are expected to be displaced due to the closure of Boracay island.

Maglunsod admitted that they may not be able to accommodate all the affected workers due to budget constraints.

“That is why we are profiling the affected workers so we can prioritize giving aid to the most distressed,” Maglunsod said.

The DOLE earlier said it has a

P2.3-billion budget for their Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers Program and Government Internship Program for 2018.

Malacañang earlier announced that the departments of the Interior and Local Government, Environment and Natural Resources and of Tourism have recommended to close Boracay to tourists for six months to address the environmental problems on the island-resort.

requirements under the PCA. “Also, it may be possible for the parties to propose remedies that will address the competition concerns by PCC. So, in that scenario, the deal will go through, subject to certain conditions set by the PCC,” Balisacan explained.

He noted, however, that the Philippine deal will continue as planned, “unless the commission issues interim measures that will prevent consummation from taking place.” To recall, Grab’s founders announced in Singapore last week that they are acquiring Uber’s Southeast Asia units, namely: the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Under the deal, Grab is taking all of Uber’s shares in Southeast Asia, with Uber receiving a 27.5-percent stake in Grab, which is reflective of the companies’ respective market shares. The deal has already been questioned by the Competition Commission of Singapore, where Grab’s headquarters is located.

Continued from a1

‘Go to nearby resorts’

Edillon said it is also important to determine if tourists can be accommodated by other establishments outside Boracay.

“For this the LGUs [local government units] will also need to coordinate closely with the DOT for possible placement of these workers to the nearby establishments not affected by the closure. We’re also hoping that the closure would happen during the lean season,” Edillon added. With Samuel P. Medenilla

Labor groups. . .

Continued from A1

agency work merits decisive action.

The absence of political will is the problem.”

This was in response to the statement of Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra in a news conference on Monday, where he confirmed that their long review of the labor-endorsed EO revealed some of its provisions go beyond the power of the Executive department.

This, Guevarra said, includes the total banning of contractualization— popularly known locally as endo— which, he noted, should go through Legislative process.

Partido Manggagawa (PM) Chairman Renato Magtubo said this should not have been an issue on the approval of the EO since they are not even pushing for the abolition of contractualization.

“Its not true that the labor-drafted EO submitted to the President on February 27 totally banned labor contracting,” Magtubo said.

“The truth is, the said EO provides exemption to jobs or functions that by their nature can be contracted out but subject to consultation between the labor secretary and labor groups represented in the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council,” he added.

Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Chairman Elmer Labog agreed with the position of PM, and said their draft EO only aims to ban forms of contractualization that are “anti-worker.” “ While the EO may not entirely eliminate contractualization, it can more or less deter it.”

He said it will also serve as a signal to Congress and the Senate to fast-track the passage of the pending bills on security of tenure to further regulate contractualization.

FFW President Sonny Matula said the content of the EO only aims to enforce the provisions of the Labor Code that prioritize regular employment.

“Under the present regime contracting and subcontracting arrangements are the norms, which resulted in the rampant disregard, violation, or circumvention of the constitutional right to security of tenure,” Matula said. “The draft EO would like the President to emphasize that regular employment shall be the norm under the present administration.”

To recall, Duterte tasked his legal team to review the draft EO after his meeting with with labor groups in February. The FFW, PM and other members of the labor coalition Nagkaisa and militant labor group KMU expected Duterte to sign the EO during their scheduled meeting last month.

The talk did not push through due to the other commitments of Duterte that time. Nagkaisa and KMU hopes that Duterte will finally sign the EO during their next meeting, which was scheduled this month.

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Stop tinkering with police, AFP ranks–Lacson

S

en. Panfilo M. Lacson Sr. is not keen on adopting a proposal for Congress to amend the Philippine National Police (PNP) law to allow police officers to revert to their former military ranks like their military counterparts.

“First, the Constitution provides for a PNP that is civilian in character,” Lacson stated on Tuesday.

SC affirms order to PNP to submit documentation on govt’s drug war

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By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday turned down the plea of Solicitor General Jose C. Calida to recall its resolution directing him to submit all records and documents related to the government’s antidrug campaign.

LACSON: “At a time when the public is becoming familiar with the police ranks, it may not be wise to give them military ranks.”

A former PNP chief before his election to the Senate, Lacson cited the 1987 Charter provision on PNP’s civilian character as “the reason the ranks of its personnel are made easily distinguishable from military ranks.”

For instance, a police officer with an equivalent rank of military general is called chief superintendent.

Lacson, likewise, voiced misgivings on the timing of the proposal to revert to military officer ranks for PNP officials.

The senator cautioned Congress against rushing the passage of remedial legislation enabling civilian police officers to regain use of military ranks, when the Constitution clearly specified the PNP’s civilian character.

“At a time when the public is becoming familiar with the police ranks, it may not be wise to give them military ranks,” Lacson said.

Classified as a civilian national police force, the PNP was placed under the Department of the Interior and Local Government when Republic Act 6975 was enacted into law in 1991, mandating the merger of the Philippine Constabulary and then called Integrated National Police.

The House proposal to revert PNP officers to military ranks is being pushed by Rep. Romeo M. Acop of the Second District of Antipolo, himself a former police officer.

But Sen. Gregorio B. Honasan II, a bemedalled Armed Forces Colonel, also aired concerns over the plan.

“Actually, we do not see the need for it at this time,” Honasan said in a separate radio interview.

Butch Fernandez

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Wednesday, April 4, 2018 A3

Cart trade Several carts laden with cell-phone cases and other related accessories are parked at the sidewalk along Pedro Gil Street in

Manila. ALYSA SALEN

Justices tells CJ: Present yourself during quo warranto oral arguments on April 10

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HE Supreme Court (SC) is set to hear oral arguments on the quo warranto petition, which seeks to nullify the appointment of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes A. Sereno.

At a news briefing on Tuesday, SC Spokesman Theodore Te said the magistrates have decided to hold an oral argument on the petition during the first day of their yearly summer session traditionally being held in Baguio City.

The 15-man High Tribunal also directed Sereno, who has gone on indefinite leave to prepare for her impending impeachment trial, to be present during the oral argument and answer questions from her colleagues.

“The Petition for Quo Warranto be heard on oral argument on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, at 2:00 in the afternoon at the Supreme Court Session Hall in Baguio City, with an instruction to respondent Chief Justice for her to attend personally and answer questions from the Court En Banc,” Te said after Tuesday’s en banc.

Meanwhile, the magistrates denied the petition filed by the Mak-

abayan bloc consisting of party-list lawmakers led by Party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani T. Zarate of Bayan Muna and a group of private individuals led by running priest Fr. Robert Reyes that they be allowed to intervene on the petition. The Court, at the same time, merely noted the same bid filed by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).

A quo warranto proceeding is initiated against an individual who usurps, intrudes into or unlawfully holds or exercises a public office; a public person who commits an act that serves as a ground for the forfeiture of the position; or an association that acts as a corporation in the Philippines without being legally incorporated or without lawful authority to act.

Solicitor General Jose C. Calida filed the petition seeking to nullify Sereno’s appointment, citing her alleged failure to fully disclose her wealth before applying for the top SC post in 2012 following the ouster of Chief Justice Renato Corona due to unexplained wealth.

Sereno had earlier filed her answer to the quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the

Sol icitor Genera l, where she insisted that her fellow magistrates have no authority to remove her from office via quo warranto, since the 1987 Constitution mandates that impeachable officials like her can be ousted “only by impeachment.”

Sereno cited Section 2, Article XI, of the 1987 Constitution, which provides that impeachable officials, which include all members of the SC, may only be removed from office upon impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court.

Sereno said the petition should be dismissed not only because of the Constitution and jurisprudence so demand “but also because the Chief Justice deserves her day in court before the Senate sitting as an Impeachment Tribunal.”

Sereno also argued that the quo warranto petition should be junked immediately for being “time-barred.”

Section 11, Rule 66 of the Rules of Court, provides that a petition for quo warranto must be filed within one year from the “cause of ouster,” she said. Joel R. San Juan

At a news briefing, SC Spokesman Theodore O. Te said the 15-man High Tribunal decided to junk Calida’s motion at the start of their yearly summer session in Baguio City.

“The Court denied the solicitor general’s motion for reconsideration of the Court’s order dated December 5, 2017, and directed the respondents to comply with the said order by submitting the required reports within a period of 15 days from notice,” Te announced.

It can be recalled that in its December 5 order, the SC mandated to submit within 60 days documents, including the list of persons killed in legitimate police operations from July 1, 2016, to November 30, 2017; list of deaths under investigation from July 1, 2016, to November 30, 2017; list of Chinese and FilipinoChinese drug lords who have been

the legal basis of the government’s antidrug war.

Calida cited risk to national security in seeking the recall of the Court’s directive.

“Their submission would not only compromise ongoing police antidrug operations, but [would] likewise put at risk the lives of informants who provide such information,” Calida said in his motion for reconsideration.

He added the right to information, including rights to official records, is not absolute and that the Constitution provides that the people’s right to know is limited to “matters of public concern.”

Calida also said that the SC might open the floodgates for the filing of baseless claims, even if it is aimed at nothing other than engaging in fishing expeditions.

The Court denied the solicitor general’s motion for reconsideration of the Court’s order dated December 5, 2017, and directed the respondents to comply with the said order by submitting the required reports within a period of 15 days from notice.”—SC neutralized; list of drugs involved whether shabu, cocaine, marijuana, opioids, etc.; comparative tables in index crimes, statistics of internal cleansing within the police force; and drug watch lists in affected areas.

The SC also directed the Office of the Solicitor General to submit the list of warrants and warrantless arrests in high-value target police operations and the list of cases under investigation under the Philippine National Police (PNP) Internal Affairs Service.

The order was issued by the SC after it concluded the oral arguments on the petitions questioning

The oral arguments stemmed from the petition filed by the Center for International Law (CenterLaw), seeking the issuance of a writ of amparo to protect the residents of 26 barangays in San Andres Bukid, Manila City, against the government’s anti-illegal drug war.

On the other hand, the petition filed by the Free Legal Assistance Group asked the High Court to declare as unconstitutional PNP’s CMC 16-2016, or “Oplan Double Barrel,” which it said allows the police to “neutralize” suspected drug pushers, instead of arresting and prosecuting them.

PHL welcomes Kuwaiti court’s death Neda eyes inflation target review after CPI changes verdict to Demafelis’s employers

By Cai U. Ordinario

By Recto Mercene

T

@rectomercene

he Philippines welcomes the decision of a Kuwaiti court to mete out the death sentence to the principal suspects behind the murder of Filipina domestic worker Joanna Demafelis.

The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait has been informed about the court decision, and is now waiting for a formal notification from Kuwaiti authorities, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a news statement.

“We take note of the swift action taken

by Kuwaiti authorities in connection with the murder of our kababayan Joanna Demafelis,” Foreign Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said.

“This is a very important development in our quest for justice for Joanna,” Cayetano added.

“We continue to look forward to the cooperation of our friends not only in Kuwait but also in Lebanon and Syria in our efforts to bring this case to a close,” he said.

The secretary added Kuwaiti authorities informed DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Y. Arriola of the court decision during a meeting in Kuwait last

Sunday but did not provide additional details.

The embassy, however, was able to obtain a copy of the court order.

The court authorities in Kuwait said principal suspect Lebanese Nader Essam Assaf and his Syrian wife Mouna Hassoun were tried in absentia last Sunday and sentenced to death for killing the 29-year-old Filipina domestic worker and hiding her body in a freezer.

The couple fled Kuwait immediately after the murder last year, but were identified after Demafelis’s frozen body was discovered in the refrigerator of the couple’s abandoned apartment last month. Both were later reported arrested in Lebanon and Syria, respectively.

Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Villa said Kuwaiti authorities have requested the extradition of Assaf, but it is possible that Lebanese authorities may decide not to turn him over and will try the case in Beirut instead.

Arriola said the department will provide lawyers to assist in the case should Lebanese authorities decide to hold the trials in Beirut.

She said the Philippine Embassy in Beirut is scheduled to meet with Lebanese authorities handling the case on Tuesday to see how they would prefer to proceed.

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@cuo_bm

he national government may review its inflation targets following the rebasing and methodological changes implemented in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

On the sidelines of the Socioeconomic Report briefing on Tuesday, Neda Undersecretary for Planning and Policy Rosemarie G. Edillon said the inflation target of 2 percent to 4 percent is still based on a CPI that is based in 2006 and a different methodology.

Edillon said once the Philippine Statistics Authority releases the “backtracked” version of the data, the government can start the review of the inflation targets.

“We will be reviewing the targets once we receive the backtracked data because we have to see the trends,” Edillon told the BusinessMirror.

Apart from rebasing the CPI to 2012, the PSA also used chaining which can pave the way for an improved method of computing the country’s GDP. The chained volume measure (CVM) is a means to compute economic growth using chained prices. The formula used to compute GDP in chained prices is not dependent on an assigned base year, which is now being

used to compute GDP in constant prices.

When using chained prices, the base year cancels out in the formula and only the constant and current prices will be able to affect the outcome.

The proposal to use CVM was broached as far back as 2008 by then Philippine Institute for Development Studies visiting Senior Fellow Jesus Dumagan, which he said, could prevent anomalies in official data.

In a study, titled “Avoiding Anomalies of GDP in Constant Prices by Conversion to Chained Prices: Accentuating Shifts in Philippine Economic Transformation,” Dumagan said the CVM has already been recognized by the United Nations Statistics Division as a more superior way of measuring economic performance.

Dumagan also said the new method will also give a clearer picture of how big or small the actual contributions of the three main sectors of the economy are. With the new method, Dumagan said that real price changes and the evolution of industries would be more accurate.

Meanwhile, the Neda said keeping inflation in check is a priority of the government because of its dampening effect on Filipino’s incomes, which is central to reducing poverty.

Edillon said food inflation is particularly important since this accounts for half of the

expenses of poor households. This is higher than the average which is about 30 percent of expenditures.

Among food items, the most important in poverty reduction is rice. Edillon said, however, that the only way to ensure this is to remove the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice.

The country’s QR has already expired in June 2017. The waiver, granted by the World Trade Organization (WTO), needs to be replaced with a specific tariff in order for the country to protect local farmers from the influx of imported rice.

“We need reform in the rice sector, making it more productive. For that, we think there is also a need for restructure or change in the sector and that is why we are pushing for reforms,” Edillon added.

Earlier, the Neda said it remains confident that the Philippines will be able to tarrify its QR on rice by June to meet its commitment to the WTO. In a recent phone interview, Neda Assistant Secretary Mercedita A. Sombilla, who represents the oversight agency in the National Food Authority Council, told the BusinessMirror, despite the failure of the Senate to submit its version of the legislation for plenary hearing in this session.

Economy

A4 Wednesday, April 4, 2018 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

PHL on track to become high-income nation despite job losses–Neda exec $3,500

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By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

espite posting nearly a million net job losses last year, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) remains confident that the Philippines is on track to becoming a high-income country by 2040.

At a news briefing on Tuesday, Neda Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon said the country may hit its goal of becoming an upper middleincome country by next year, three years ahead of target.

Edillon said a major indication of this is that the country’s gross national income (GNI) per capita increased by 6.5 percent, significantly higher than the 4.8-percent target.

“The implication for that is it means our vision of being a highincome country by 2040 is really within reach,” Edillon said.

“Actually the target for the PDP [Philippine Development Plan] is that we will be an upper middleincome country by 2022. But we think we will get to that status much, much earlier,” she added.

The Philippines is considered a

lower middle-income country with a per capita GNI of around $3,500 as of 2016.

The World Bank said lower middle-income economies, like the Philippines, have a GNI per capita ranging between $1,026 and $4,035.

As of 2016, the World Bank said low-income economies are defined as those with a GNI per capita, calculated using the World Bank Atlas method, of $1,025 or less in 2015.

Upper middle-income economies are those with a GNI per capita between $4,036 and $12,475, while high-income economies are those with a GNI per capita of $12,476 or more.

However, achieving a highincome status requires providing employment opportunities. In 2017 the country recorded a net

The Philippines’s per capita GNI as of 2016

job loss of 663,243.

Edillon said the job losses were mostly seen in agriculture, and many of these individuals were young people who were able to go back to school through the government’s conditional-cash transfer program.

Providing jobs will be a priority of the administration, which will be generated through the “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program.

The government, Neda Undersecretary for Investment Programming Rolando G. Tungpalan said the agency is already in the process of determining the number of jobs created by each of the 40 projects approved by the Duterte administration since June 2016.

Tungpalan added, however, that Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia earlier said the government hopes to create 1.1 million jobs from the BBB program between 2017 and 2022.

“The job count is really one of the things we’re looking at,” Tungpalan said. “The actual projects

that have been approved by the Neda Board under the Duterte administration, our running count is about 40 over P1.4 trillion.”

This month DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar told the BusinessMirror said the national government is embarking on a hiring spree to increase the number of technical personnel needed to implement the BBB. Villar said this will be done through the “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs” program, which will be undertaken with the Department of Finance and other key agencies. The program aims to match the skills of returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with the manpower needs for the BBB program.

Being able to attract returning OFWs augurs well for the quality of BBB projects. Villar said major infrastructure undertakings abroad, such as in Saudi Arabia, were mainly done

by Filipinos.

He added returning to the Philippines is an option for OFWs, especially now that the government is open to offer them competitive salary rates.

In the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) alone, Villar said the agency is adding seven more lawyers in each regional office, as well as hiring at least 3,000 more engineers to implement the BBB.

Biz, LGUs tap DOST’s research and devt projects

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he Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has undertaken 152 research and development projects for the past five years that have been adopted and used by several business entities and local government units (LGUs).

In a news statement, the DOST said businesses and LGUs that have made good use of its technologies are from Zamboanga, Butuan, Negros, Batangas, Camarines area, Quezon, Ilocos region, Parañaque City and Navotas City.

Among the technologies on top of the demand list are bioreactor, plastic densifier, wine kit and foodrelated technologies, the DOST statement added.

Some of the business entities that have availed of the DOST technologies or have worked with the department are Splash Foods Corp., Sally’s Authentic Bicol Express, House of Polvoron, Jennie’s Pork Chicharon, Navarro Foods International Inc., Carreon’s Sweets & Pastries, Zambo Tropical Foods and Trappist Monastic Food Products, among others.

According to the DOST, the research projects were mostly in the field of chemicals and energy, environmental and biotechnology, foods, materials science and packaging.

According to Nelia Florendo, chief of the Technical Services Division of the DOST’s Industrial Technology Development Institute, “these governmentdeveloped technologies are [very much helpful and useful because they were] designed to factor in the social, economic and environmental benefits.”

They were also responsive to climate-change adaptation and mitigation, Florendo added.

Thus, DOST-developed technologies are better compared to the ones manufactured by private firms, she said.

W h at i s e ve n b et te r w it h DOST technologies is that they were all conceptualized and manufactured through the use of local raw materials that went through innovations in terms of product or process improvements, making them distinct from their commercial counterparts, the DOST official said. Nelson S. Badilla

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Gender-equality score slides–PIDS E

xperts from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) are concerned that the country is losing its leadership position as one of the world’s most gender-equal countries in the world.

In a news statement issued on Monday, PIDS President Celia M. Reyes said the country must step up its efforts in gender equality by introducing improvements in leadership, labor-force participation and wage.

“While the country has actually maintained its top spot in Asia, we had gone down to the 10th place, despite the increase in the absolute score. This is something we need to focus on not because we have retrogressed, but because other countries are also doing a lot more in terms of making sure they have gender equality,” Reyes said.

Based on the latest Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum during “Making Change Work for Women: A Policy Dialogue” organized by the PIDS, Reyes said the Philippines has slid from seventh place in 2016 to the 10th spot last year.

A total of 145 countries were ranked based on four categories, namely, labor-force participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

In leadership, for instance, Dr. Clarissa David, a professor at the UP College of Mass Communication, explained that 60 percent of female employees constitute the first and second levels in the government.

However, this figure, she said, diminishes to 30 percent or less in terms of women representation in high-level appointive and elective offices.

David also shared women leaders in both the Senate and the House of Representatives are typecast in handling committees, such as cultural communities, women and gender equality, health, nutrition, education and family planning, among others.

In terms of labor-force participation, PIDS Senior Research Fellow Dr. Jose Ramon Albert noted that the lower labor-force participation among women is noticeable across all member-states of the Asean, and even in many countries across Asia and the Pacific. He said men outnumber women by a large majority in work as laborers, farmers, trade and unskilled workers.

Albert also said that in the Philippines, women tend to have a bigger share of vulnerable employment than men. According to recent data, about 7 in 20 men are in vulnerable employment compared to 8 in 20 for women.

Those in vulnerable employment, he added, are less likely to have formal work arrangements, and are therefore more likely to

lack decent working conditions, adequate social security and voice.

“Vulnerable employment is often characterized by inadequate earnings, low productivity and difficult conditions of work that undermine workers’ fundamental rights,” Albert said.

Meanwhile, Maria Kristine Josefina Balmes, deputy director for operations of the Philippine Commission on Women, discussed issues that hamper the passage of womenrelated laws in the country.

She said the existence of prevailing culture in both legislators and pressure groups like faith-based organizations and the church are usually the deciding factor in the passage of a specific bill.

One of Balmes’s observations is that the majority of legislators are men and they usually bring in their conservative, patriarchal and chauvinistic stance in the discussion of women-related bills.

To address these challenges, Balmes emphasized the need to inform and engage women as stakeholders in government programs and services, as well as to create and facilitate platforms to discuss good practices, gaps, challenges and commitments in pursuing gender and development in order to strengthen the implementation of the Magna Carta of Women.

Apart from these, the 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) revealed that there were around 11,558 married women aged 15 to 49 years old who were abused.

This was a 5.43-percent increase from the 10,963 women who were abused based on the 2003 round of the NDHS. One in 5, or 20 percent of these women experienced emotional violence, while 14 percent experienced physical violence, and 5 percent experienced sexual violence by their current or most recent husband or partner.

“As observed, the percentage of women who have experienced violence in physical, sexual and/ or emotional form from their husband declines slightly with women’s age,” the Philippine Statistics Authority added.

The NDHS data also showed women who are separated or widowed are more likely to have experienced all forms of violence by their most recent partner, compared with women who are married or living together.

Around 53 percent of separated or widowed women have experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence, compared with 24 percent of women who are married or living together.

It is also worth noting that women belonging to the second wealth quintile, which is the second-poorest group in the population, reported the highest incidence of physical abuse at 25.6 percent. Cai U. Ordinario

‘Cut rice stockpile once QR is scrapped’

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he National Economic and Development Author it y (Neda) has proposed to slash the rice stockpile requirement of the National Food Authority (NFA) once the country’s quantitative restriction (QR) on the staple is scrapped.

Neda Assistant Secretary Mercedita A. Sombilla said the NFA should maintain fewer volume of buffer stock, as there is an expected influx of “cheaper” foreign rice in the domestic market once the rice QR is removed.

The NFA is mandated by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council to maintain a rice buffer stock good to last for 15 days at any given time and for 30 days at the onset of the lean months, which runs from July to September.

“I think that is going to be huge, that is a lot for the NFA to keep, especially now with tariffication coming in. We hope that we will encourage more rice to come in— cheaper rice at that,” Sombilla said

at a news briefing on Tuesday.

“I do not think we need the NFA to be getting that much rice to keep.

What it would need is to keep much, much lesser than the 15 and 30 days buffer stock, which it is being empowered to get,” Sombilla added.

The proposal, she said, is part of the NFA Council’s plan to restructure the state-run grains agency in a postQR regime. Sombilla is a member of the NFA Council, the highest policymaking body of the NFA. Furthermore, the Neda official told the BusinessMirror that based on preliminary estimates, the NFA should only maintain about eight-to 10-day buffer stock level in a postQR regime regardless of season.

“My estimate is between eight and 10 days, that is my estimate only, especially when [rice imports] are going to be tariffied. So, more cheaper rice will be coming in,” Sombilla said in an interview after the briefing.

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Editor: Jun B. Vallecera • Wednesday, April 4, 2018 A5

Cash-rich market demand premium for 3-year money

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By Rea Cu @ReaCuBM

he three-year bond rate proved more expensive than previous, when the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reissued them last Thursday. The rate widened by 38.2 basis points to 4.632 percent from 4.25 percent.

Nevertheless, Treasury officials welcomed this development as a positive event on the basis of market demand, given bids reaching P20 billion when only P10 billion was for sale.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon

told reporters the auction committee was pleased with the turnout as bids doubled to P20 billion.

“We are pleased with the auction today because the tender amount was twice [that on offer]. I think markets see the three-

Pasig RDO reports over performance in March

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he Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reported that Revenue District Office (RDO) 43 in Pasig City collected P2.69 billion in March, or a 20.68-percent increase compared to target for the month of just P2.23 billion.

Data provided by BIR RDO 43 Director Rufo B. Ranario show revenue collection in Pasig City amounting to P2.69 billion in March, exceeding the target for the month by P461.16 million. This made the RDO the highest collecting unit for the month.

Mandaluyong City came in second, as it collected revenues amounting to P1.23 billion, or an increase by 19.59 percent, from its goal for the month of only P1.024 billion.

The third local government unit (LGU) to hit its target for the month was Novaliches, Quezon City, which reported collections amounting to P349.95 million. This was higher by 12.15 percent from its target of only P312.028 million.

The Marikina area came in fourth place, with revenue collection for the month amounting to P490.86 million, an expansion by 7.53 percent from its goal of P456.47 million.

The urban LGUs that failed to meet their collection goal for the month included North Quezon City, South Quezon City, Cubao, Cainta and Taytay.

Based on its cumulative statement for the first quarter, RDO 43 was the top performer by actually collecting P8.417 billion. This exceeded its goal by 21.18 percent, or P1.5 billion, given the target of P6.95 billion.

Ranario said that this was the first time that the tax collection in Pasig City stood at its highest.

He further said that based on their data,

RDO 43 was a major contributor to the increase in tax collection for Revenue Region 7 Quezon City, whose collection goal in March amounted to P9.68 billion.

“The collection goal of RDO 43 Pasig was bigger than [the] region of Caloocan City and the total goal allocated was more than 55 percent. But as of yesterday, our contribution to the total collection of Revenue Region 7 was more than 50 percent,” Ranario said.

Tax collection from Revenue Region 7 in March totaled P9.86 billion, expanding by 1.81 percent, or P174.78 million, from its target of P9.68 billion.

In the first quarter, total collection reached P32.54 billion, rising by 11.14 percent, or P3.3 billion from its goal of P29.27 billion.

Rañario, along with his assistants Ramon D. Navarro, chief revenue officer III, and Raymund Ranches, revenue officer IV, said RDO 43 will continue to exert effort in increasing their actual revenue collections in line with the directive of BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay.

He added the programs they have instituted, including the implementation of the “one-window policy,” is one of the reasons taxpayers in the area are diligent in paying their taxes, resulting to the increase in collection.

Ranario thanked the taxpayers in Pasig City, as well as the developers in the area, since they also contributed to the increase.

The Department of Finance earlier said both the BIR and Bureau of Customs (BOC) exceeded their collection targets in the first two months this year when the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law began to take effect. The BOC raised its collections by 26.5 percent, and the BIR by 10.8 percent, during the period versus the year before. Rea Cu

year [tenor as] their happy spot,” de Leon said on Tuesday.

She attributed the widening threeyear rate to accelerated market concern over inflation and its likely path in the coming months.

According to de Leon, the projected path to the price of services and goods over the policy horizon is a persistent and nagging concern for the market.

“There [remain] unresolved issues about the Fed, causing people to continue to say about uptrends in inflation, that there is a need for policy rate hikes about three times [more],” she said.

She said the market rate for three-year bonds in morning trades averaged 5.262 percent and that secondary market rates in the afternoon session averaged 4.583 percent.

“If you would look, the secondary market rate was at 4.5 percent or around 5 basis points higher, with tenders twice that on offer. I think three years is a hap-

py spot for the market given the offering today and the bids submitted. [That’s why] we made a full award,” de Leon said.

The BTr also released a revised Treasury bill (T-bills) and Treasury bond (Tbond) sale schedule, allowing for the alternate weekly issuance of the IOUs each Tuesday and Wednesday in the April-toJune quarter.

Thus, T-bills began selling on Monday, April 2, all the way to June 25 this year as the quarter ends.

T-bonds also began selling on Tuesday, April 3, until the end of the exercises on June 26 when the last of the three-, seven-, 10- and 20-year T-bonds shall have been disposed.

De Leon said the revised schedule allows the BTr to sell potentially more IOUs than before to help feed an ambitious spending program that focuses on the buildup of public infrastructures not just this year but for the balance of the term of President Duterte.

Lender loan program targets loan sharks

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ecurity Bank Corp. (SBC) recently rolled out a new personal loan facility that will allow customers to avail themselves of short-term loans through a fully automated mobile cash facility that serves as a safer alternative to dealing with loan sharks.

Security Bank’s Salary Advance loan facility provides safe, convenient and affordable installments to individuals who do not usually qualify for regular loan products, as the bank aims to reduce Filipinos’ borrowing from informal lenders that offer risky terms and high interest rates.

“The majority of those who borrow do not think twice about approaching loan sharks because they think it is faster and easier, without realizing the repercussions and high interest rates. We plan to reach out to that segment and give them a viable option,” said Maki Tingson, executive vice

president and Retail Banking Segment Head of Security Bank.

“Our objective is to provide affordable credit access to everyone. Giving an opportunity for borrowers, especially during emergencies, is part of our BetterBanking promise. Our loan facility will provide formal credit access to those who fall prey to loan sharks, causing more burden to their financial condition,” Tingson said.

Approval time for loan proceeds is as fast as 10 minutes and can be requested and reavailed via SMS. Loan proceeds will then be transferred to the payroll account of the borrower, which can be withdrawn through any ATM. Security Bank added that it is planning to offer a higher loan amount and employee benefits to clients with good payment behavior, including interest-rates discounts, to help them build a good credit history.

Case clippings

By Justice S J Ranada Jr. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS–rationale and purpose The rationale and purpose of the summary nature of administrative proceedings is to achieve an expeditious and inexpensive determination of cases without regard to technical rules. Thus, in such proceedings, decisions may be reached on the basis of position papers or other documentary evidence only. They are not bound by technical rules of procedure and evidence. To require otherwise would negate the summary nature of the proceedings and defeat its very purpose.

Sibayan v. Alba 17 Jan. 2018

GR No 23339 Velasco, J

TWOGIE—Executive Search

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few months ago, I was invited by my old friend Anthony Sotelo, a lifelong Human Resources practitioner, to become an independent director of his new company TWOGIE. Of course, my first question was what is TWOGIE? TWOGIE is the first professional online platform in the country that is exclusive to senior managers and executives. It directly links top-tier talents and preferred employers across various functions and industries.

The name TWOGIE had a more complex answer but it essentially is the second generation method of executive search. Having been in the corporate world for more than 35 years and on both sides—looking for new opportunities, as well as looking for executives, I could see the opportunities being presented

by TWOGIE. Previously, executives who were looking for more challenging and fulfilling roles had to take a more aggressive role in making it known that they were avail-

FINEX free enterprise George S. Chua able. They would typically get in touch with their friends in industry and quietly let them know that they were open to new opportunities, send out their resumes to executive search firms, or do such an outstanding job that they would stand out and get pirated.

Likewise, companies that were looking to fill in critical managerial positions also had limited access to the talent pool available. They had to reach out to specific individuals who were personally referred by company insiders and associates. These companies also

typically make use of the services of an executive search firm that would do a targeted approach in providing a short list of individuals in their data base that would fall within the parameters set by the company.

TWOGIE is a game changer. It has a data base of thousands of managers and executives that have individually been prescreened by TWOGIE HR Professionals for the completeness and accuracy of relevant data. This data base is then available to companies that subscribe to the TWOGIE service.

There are numerous advantages to both the executives that elect to be in the data base and the companies that subscribe to TWOGIE. For the executives, they are not specifically applying for a position but merely providing their résumé like a registry. This information becomes widely available to the subscriber companies and it is not the executive search firm that decides on endorsing your resume

but the companies themselves that determine that. The executive’s qualifications and experience would determine the fit with what companies are looking for. This system also allows companies to go “window shopping” for talent. Like when you go shopping, sometimes you are not looking for something specific, but when you see something you like, you go ahead and get it.

To be in the data base, individual membership is limited to senior-level managers and executives and must pass the three-step process of registration, competency evaluation and corporate fit assessment. Reputable local and foreign companies, including executive search firms, can subscribe to TWOGIE. TWOGIE is not for everyone, but it could be for you.

For more information look at their web site at www.twogie.com or call 6219157/6219154. Comments may be sent to georgechuaph@yahoo.com.

DOF crafting PHPay system for government transactions

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he Department of Finance (DOF) is in the process of establishing an online-based payment gateway, enabling taxpayers and other state clients to remit fees and other charges electronically to government agencies.

The program is in line with the Duterte administration’s efforts to cut red tape and further improve the ease of doing business in the country.

DOF Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran said at a recent DOF executive committee (Execom) meeting that the payment gateway, dubbed the PHPay system, “will cover the development of a payment gateway and a payment ledgering management system for the whole of government.”

The PHPay system is designed to be a secure and reliable collection system in which government clients can transfer payments online for government services anytime and anywhere, minimizing the need for human contact and eliminating long queues in state offices.

“Taxpayers and other government clients, can however, still opt to use other payment methods even when PHPay is in place,” said Beltran, the DOF’s anti-red tape czar.

He updated officials from the Departments of Trade and Industry, Public Works and Highways and of the Interior and Local Government, and the National Competitiveness Council; along with Quezon City Mayor Herbert M. Bautista of this DOF initiative during a recent meeting to discuss the measures being done to improve the ease of doing business in the country.

Complementing this DOF effort, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has minimized the processing time and procedures for paying taxes, registering properties and starting business.

“In the BIR, they cut down the steps of registering a new business from six days to one day. So that’s a big improvement,” said Beltran in his report to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III during the DOF Execom meeting.

The BIR also cut the process from 12 to two days, he added.

For paying taxes, the BIR has cut the number of procedures from 20 to only seven steps, while for simple transactions in registering properties, the processing period has been reduced from 15 to six days.

Besides these measures, Beltran said to ease trading across borders, the simple export and import processes of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) will be done online.

He said the BOC will tap Tradenet.gov.ph a fully owned Philippine government digital platform, which will automate the licensing, permit, clearance and certification systems for regulatory agencies.

“With Tradenet.gov.ph imports and exports processing will be done online and completed within a day. Documentary requirements will be reduced significantly and unnecessary information discarded,” Beltran said.

Launched last December the TradeNet platform will also serve as the Philippines link to the Asean Single Window (ASW) gateway and is expected to minimize the costs of doing business and cut the processing time for the issuance of import and export permits.

The ASW is a regional initiative that aims to speed up cargo clearances and promote economic integration by enabling the electronic exchange of border documents among the organization’s 10 member-states. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are already using the ASW to exchange information on customs clearances.

Beltran said TradeNet.gov.ph will allow traders to initially use the system to apply for import and export permits for rice, sugar, used motor vehicles, chemicals (toluene), frozen meat, medicines (for humans, animals or fish) and cured tobacco.

A6

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

The World BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Egypt’s president wins reelection King’s heirs still grappling with his killing 50 years later with 97 percent of vote counted A

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AIRO—Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has won a second, four-year term in office, with more than 97 percent of the vote in last week’s election, according to official results announced on Monday by the election commission, which put turnout at 41.05 percent.

El-Sissi faced no serious challenger in the March 26-28 vote, after a string of potentially strong candidates withdrew under pressure or were arrested. His sole opponent, little-known politician Moussa Mustafa Moussa, was a supporter of the president who made no effort to challenge him.

Moussa won less than 3 percent of the vote and far less than the 1.76 million invalid ballots cast.

In a televised address, el-Sissi thanked voters and promised to work for all Egyptians, saying “those who renewed their trust in me and gave me their votes are no different from those who did otherwise.”

“Eg y pt is large enough for all Eg y ptians, so long as our differences of opinion do not adversely affect the nation,” said el-Sissi, who has often insisted

that the country’s stability must come before the expansion of political freedoms.Mentioning Moussa by name for the first time since the French-educated politician joined the race in Januar y, el-Sissi thanked him for the “patr iotic, honorable and civilized competition” he and his campaign had shown.

Moussa had earlier congratulated el-Sissi and defended his decision to enter the race at the last minute, which critics had suggested was aimed at sparing the government the embarrassment of a one-candidate race.

“I only had Egypt in mind,” Moussa said. “Those who criticized me had ulterior motives against the country. They wanted it to be a referendum, but I turned it into a free and open election.”

The vote’s result and the absence

of any meaningful competition bet ween t he t wo c a nd id ates harkened back to the yes-or-no referendums held by Egypt’s autocratic leaders in the decades before the 2011 uprising raised hopes of democratic change.

US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin separately called el-Sissi to congratulate him.

A W hite House account of the call makes no indication of whether Trump raised concerns about the conduct of the vote.

Earlier Monday, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the U.S. “noted reports of constraints on freedoms of expression and association in the run-up to the elections.”

El-Sissi led the 2013 military overthrow of Egypt’s first freely elected leader, the Islamist Mohammed Morsi, whose divisive rule had sparked mass protests. ElSissi has since overseen a sweeping crackdown on dissent, jailing thousands of Islamists and several prominent secular activists, and rolling back most of the freedoms won in the 2011 uprising.

El-Sissi has enacted ambitious economic reforms, including subsidy cuts and the floatation of the local currency, that have won international praise but exacted a heavy toll on ordinary Egyptians.

Egypt has meanwhile struggled to contain an insurgency based

in the northern Sinai that gained strength after Morsi’s overthrow and is now led by the Islamic State group.

Thousands of supporters took to the streets in Cairo and other cities soon after the results were announced to celebrate el-Sissi’s victory, waving flags and dancing to patriotic songs. Hundreds were in Cairo’s iconic Tahrir square, birthplace of the 2011 uprising, shortly before nightfall.

With the outcome of the election a foregone conclusion, authorities went to great lengths to boost turnout, using their vast resources to get voters out and threatening on the third and final day of the election to fine anyone boycotting the vote.

“The election was an epic of love dedicated to Egypt,” said Lasheen Ibrahim, the head of the election commission, who announced the official results.

“It was an epic that embodied the struggle of the people for justice, dignity and democracy.”

Addressing voters, Ibrahim said: “You proved your love for Egypt and that you were and still are behind your country. Your participation was not in response to either promises or threats, but rather motived only by your love for Egypt.”

He also congratulated el-Sissi, saying “we pray for God’s support for you in ruling Egypt.” AP

Syrian rebels begin evacuating last stronghold near Damascus

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EIRUT—Syrian state media said on Monday that the largest rebel group in the suburbs of Damascus has begun evacuating its last stronghold after seven years of war, but the rebels refused to say whether they had surrendered, and it was unclear who was on board a dozen buses seen leaving the town.

Residents trapped inside Douma expressed fear that further foot- d rag g ing cou ld provoke another major government offensive, like the one that killed an estimated 1,600 people across the eastern Ghouta suburbs in February and March.

“We don’t know what our choices are, we don’t know what’s in store for us,” said local media activist Haitham Bakkar.

Douma was one of the earliest hubs of the Arab Spring uprising against President Bashar Assad that swept through the country in 2011. Just 11 kilometers (7 miles)

from the Old City of Damascus, it was part of the capital’s Ghouta hinterland, once famed for its orchards and produce. The government responded to the protests by putting Douma and other suburbs around Damascus under siege, bombing hospitals and residential areas and blocking the entry of food and medical relief.

On Monday more than 600 people evacuated the town on buses sent by the government and the Syrian Red Crescent to take them to Jarablus, a northern Syrian town controlled by Turkish troops and allied Syrian forces.

State media said those on board were fighters and family members belonging to the Army of Islam, the largest rebel group in eastern Ghouta. The Saudibacked group, which has deep roots in the region, has held firm in recent weeks as virtually all the other insurgents of eastern Ghouta have reached deals to

relocate to the rebel-held north.

The Russian military, which is allied with Assad’s forces, said 1,146 rebels and their relatives have left Douma for the northern province of Idlib over the past 24 hours. Maj. Gen. Yuri Yevtushenko, of the Russian military’s Reconciliation Center in Syria, said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies that more than 30,000 people have left Douma since Wednesday.

The Army of Islam has refused to respond to media requests for comment. Syrian activists say the group has told them it is determined to remain in Douma. The group is estimated to command 10,000 fighters in the town, and possess a formidable arsenal of tanks and other heavy weaponry, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the civil war through a network of activists on the ground.

Observatory head Rami Abdurrahman said the Army of Islam is divided over whether to evacuate Douma, with hard-liners demanding they stay and fight.

He sa id t he buses leav ing Douma on Monday were transporting wounded fighters as a first step in the evacuations.

Bakkar, the media activist, said the evacuees were wounded civ i lians. Douma loca l counci l member Iyad Abdelaziz said the buses were for medical evacuations and “ humanitarian cases.”

The Army of Islam ruled Douma with an iron fist, and embodied a more conservative and intolerant vision for Syria than the one promoted by the civil uprising of 2011.

It has been accused of abducting human-rights activists and committing abuses as it crushed rival groups. Its power largely derived from Saudi aid and its control of an extensive smuggling network in eastern Ghouta. AP

TLANTA—On April 4, 1968, a movement lost its patriarch when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed on a hotel balcony in Memphis.

Yolanda, Martin, Dexter and Bernice King lost their father.

The loss has not gotten easier in 50 years, but his three surviving children each bear it on their own terms.

“That period, for me, is like yesterday,” said Dexter King, now 57. “People say it’s been 50 years, but I’m living in step time. Forget what he did in terms of his service and commitment and contribution to humankind...I miss my dad.”

His children cling to the few memories they have left of him. For years, they have had to publicly mourn a man who was among the most hated in America at the time of his death—a task they have been reluctant and, at times, angry to carry out.

Now that King is among the most beloved figures in the world, his heirs are forced to share him with the multitudes who have laid claim to his legacy. For more than a decade, they have had to do this without two of the family’s cornerstones: their mother, Coretta Scott King, who died in 2006, and eldest child, Yolanda, who died in 2007.

As adults, the siblings have earned a reputation over their infighting, which has spilled into rancorous lawsuits over heirlooms including their father’s Bible and Nobel Peace Prize. Today, the three say they are in a “good place” and have managed to compartmentalize their differences and come together as a family in times of difficulty.

Their recollections are a reminder that at the center of this tragedy was a young family, robbed of a loving husband and father, who was just 39. All are older now than King was. The tributes to their dad—from the buildings and streets that bear his name, to statues in his home state and in the nation’s capital—are points of pride, but also constant reminders of the void he left.

Martin Luther King III’s eyes crinkle into a smile as he recalls the happier times: in

the pews at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta helping his dad greet new members, tossing a football or baseball on the lawn of the family home, swimming lessons at the YMCA. When he came home from the front lines in the fight against racism, King’s somber expression would give way to smiles and a playful mood.

For them, he was not an icon, but a buddy.

King III and his brother also traveled with King.

Months before he was killed, they accompanied King as he mobilized people in South Georgia to attend his upcoming Poor People’s Campaign in Washington.

“That was our time for camaraderie,” recalled King III, now 60.

King III said he can still get emotional around his father’s death. If he listens too closely to King’s “Drum Major Instinct” speech, in which the preacher muses about wanting to live a long life, he still gets moved to tears.

For years afterward, King III tensed whenever he saw a news bulletin like the ones that told him his father was killed, or that his uncle, A.D. King, had been found dead in his swimming pool, or that his grandmother had been killed by a madman while playing the organ at Sunday service at Ebenezer—all while he was still a child.

“I was afraid, because I was like, ‘Is this going to be something else that happens to our family?’” he said.

Bernice K ing, the youngest, was once env ious of her siblings, who had many more memor ies of K i ng.

S h a re d stor ies f rom he r mother, sisters and brother, as well as home movies, helped humanize her father.

Nicknamed “Bunny,” Bernice King said she cherishes the scant moments she remembers sharing between father and daughter, like t he “ k i ssi ng g a me” t he y would play.

“That stayed with me so vividly,” said Bernice, now 55.

“I’m glad I had that, because everything else, other than a few memories of being at the dinner table, I don’t recall. I wish I knew him more.” AP

Trump lawyers: Stormy Daniels case should be resolved privately

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resident Donald J. Trump and a company affiliated with him filed court papers on Monday, seeking to force the pornographic film actress Stephanie Clifford to raise her disputes through private arbitration, not lawsuits.

Clifford, whose stage name is Stor my Da niels, was pa id $130,000 to keep quiet about her claims of an affair with Trump.

She sued last month to get out of the nondisclosure agreement she signed in October 2016, alleging that it was void because Trump had never signed it. That raised the prospect of further embarrassing revelations for a president who has already been rocked by Clifford’s public statements.

In a motion filed on Monday, Essential Consultants—a shell company established by Trump’s lawyer Michael D. Cohen to pay Clifford—asked the US District Court for the Central District of California to compel Clifford “to arbitrate any and all disputes

arising” from the confidentiality agreement she signed. In a separate document filed on the same day, Trump formally joined the motion. Arbitration would be beneficial to Trump because it is a private process in which a third party resolves a legal dispute after all parties agree to be bound by the decision. A lawsuit, by contrast, could create a public spectacle, bringing embarrassing information to light through the discovery process and trial.

Michael J. Avenatti, a lawyer for Clifford, said on Monday that they would “vigorously oppose the motion by Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen to have this case decided in a secret arbitration, in a private conference room, purposely hidden from the American public.”

“This is a democracy, and this matter should be decided in an open court of law owned by the people,” Avenatti said.

Trump and his lawyers have been trying vigorously to avoid further public statements by Clif-

ford, particularly since she said in February that she believed that Cohen had violated the agreement and that she, as a result, was no longer bound by it. Cohen secretly obtained a restraining order late that month to prevent her from speaking.

And last month, Trump’s legal team filed a motion asking to move the case from state court to federal court, which may have been motivated by a desire to keep the case in arbitration: The Federal Arbitration Act favors arbitration in certain types of disputes, and federal courts have generally applied that law more strictly than state courts.

Also on Monday, America Media Inc. answered a lawsuit from the former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also claims to have had an affair with Trump. McDougal alleged in her lawsuit that the company, which publishes The National Enquirer, misled her when it made a $150,000 deal to squelch her story, buying the exclusive rights to it during the campaign

but never publishing anything.

American Media asked the Los Angeles Superior Court to throw McDougal’s lawsuit out based on an “anti-SLAPP” statute, which many states have enacted to halt frivolous lawsuits devised to “chill the valid exercise of the constitutional right of free speech and petition.” In effect, the company’s lawyers are arguing that McDougal is challenging its “constitutional and contractual right to exercise its editorial discretion not to publish.”

The company said in a news statement issued on Monday that it hoped McDougal would stay on as “a valued contributor” and that it still sought “an amicable resolution” with her.

A lawyer for McDougal, Peter K. Stris, wrote on Twitter, “The tabloid went to great lengths to silence her and others, and they are now attempting to silence her again with the absurd claim that their own free speech was violated.”

New York Times News Service

IN this March 17, 1963, file photo, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, sit with three of their four children in their Atlanta, Georgia, home. In the picture are (from left): Martin Luther King III, 5, Dexter Scott, 2, and Yolanda Denise, 7. On April 4, 1968, a movement lost its patriarch when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed on a hotel balcony in Memphis. Yolanda, Martin, Dexter and Bernice King lost their father. AP/File

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Winnie Mandela, apartheid activist, dies

W

INNIE Madikizela-Mandela, whose reputation as a hero of the fight to end white-minority rule in South Africa was tainted by kidnapping and fraud convictions, has died. She was 81.

The former wife of Nelson Mandela died in Johannesburg on Monday after a long illness, a family spokesman said in a statement. Her marriage to Mandela in 1958 thrust her onto center stage of South African politics, and she emerged as a symbol of the struggle to end apartheid while her husband was serving a 27-year jail term for treason. The security forces subjected her to constant harassment, detention and a nine-year banishment to a tiny rural town.

“For many years, she bore the brunt of the senseless brutality of the apartheid state with stoicism and fortitude,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in an e-mailed statement. “Despite the hardships she faced, she never doubted that the struggle for freedom and democracy would succeed. She remained throughout her life a tireless advocate for the dispossessed and the marginalized. She was “a voice for the voiceless.”

In 1991 she was convicted for the kidnapping of 14-year-old Stompie Seipei, an anti-apartheid activist who was later stabbed to death. Her initial six-year jail term was reduced to a fine and suspended sentence on appeal.

Madikizela-Mandela continued to court controversy after the countr y’s f i r s t m u l t i ra c i a l e l e c t i o n s a n d t h e appointment of Mandela as president in 1994. She was fired as a deputy minister in her husband’s administration in 1995 after she took an unauthorized trip to West Africa, and he divorced her the following year for “brazen infidelity.”

Madikizela-Mandela ended up on the wrong side of the law again in 2003, when she was convicted of fraudulently obtaining bank loans in the name of bogus employees of the African National Congress Women’s League when she was its president. She received another suspended sentence.

While the case forced MadikizelaMandela to resign her party post, her legal travails did little to dent her popularity among the ANC’s rank and file. In 2007, she polled the most votes in an election of the party’s national executive committee and was reelected to the top decision-making panel five years later.

Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela was born on September 26, 1936, in the Bizana district of South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, the fifth child of Columbus and Gertrude, who were both teachers.

After graduating as a social worker in 1955, she worked at a hospital in the sprawling Soweto township south of Johannesburg, where she met her husband.

After Mandela went underground in 1961 and cofounded the ANC’s armed wing, his

wife was subjected to a series of banning orders, dictating where she could live and work and who she could socialize with. She was detained in 1969 under antiterrorism laws, spending 17 months in solitary confinement.

In 1977 Madikizela-Mandela was banished to the town of Brandfort in the central Free State province. She returned to her home in Soweto in 1985 in defiance of government restrictions.

In 1986 Madikizela-Mandela elicited public outrage when she encouraged anti-apartheid fighters to “necklace” their opponents by placing gasoline-filled car tires around people’s necks and ignite them. Her image was further tarnished by her entourage of bodyguards, known as the Mandela United Football Club, who lived with her in her Soweto home and were responsible for numerous crimes in the area in the late-1980s, including Seipei’s killing in 1988.

T h e Tr u t h a n d R e c o n c i l i a t i o n Commission, a panel established to probe apartheid-era atrocities, found MadikizelaMandela initiated and participated in an assault on Seipei and three other youths and implicated her in several other crimes.

Madikizela-Mandela “is accountable, politically and morally for the gross violation of human rights committed by the Mandela United Football Club,” the commission said in its 1998 report. “Madikizela-Mandela herself was responsible for committing such gross violations of human rights.”

M a d i k i ze l a - M a n d e l a d e n i e d a ny k n o w l e d g e o f t h e c l u b’s c r i m i n a l activities, describing the allegations against her as “ludicrous.”

While Nelson Mandela stood by his wife throughout the scandal, the two separated in 1992 and were divorced in 1996. After Mandela died in 2013, Madikizela-Mandela unsuccessfully challenged a provision in his will that left a property in Qunu, a village in the Eastern Cape where he grew up, to his family trust.

“Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was for many years a defining symbol of the struggle against apartheid,” Desmond Tutu, a fellow anti-apartheid activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, said in a statement. “She refused to be bowed by the imprisonment of her husband, the perpetual harassment of her family by security forces, detentions, bannings and banishment. Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists.”

Madikizela-Mandela ser ved as a lawmaker for the ANC at the end of her political career, but rarely attended parliamentary sittings. She underwent knee surgery in October 2017 and was treated for a kidney infection in January 2018. She is survived by her daughters Zindzi and Zenani. Bloomberg News

Asian stocks fall on US-China trade tensions, yen rises

B

EIJING—Asian stocks fell for a second day on Tuesday amid jitters about United States-Chinese trade tensions and mounting public scrutiny of technology companies. Markets in China, Japan, Australia and South Korea all declined while the Japanese yen rose against the dollar as currency traders looked for a safe haven.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.1 percent to 3,129.55 points, and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.9 percent to 21,199.98.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9 percent to 29,828.46.

Investors worry China’s decision to raise tariffs on $3 billion of US goods, including pork, apples and steel pipe, raises the risk of a broader conflict that might depress global trade.

The amount of goods affected is a small share of China’s $150 billion in annual imports of United States goods. But investors see a bigger fight looming over US President Donald J. Trump’s approval of possible higher duties on $50 billion of Chinese goods in response to complaints B eijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology.

“The risk of a downward spiral to titfor-tat trade measures has appreciably increased,” Weiliang Chang of Mizuho Bank said in a report.

China’s foreign minister tried to reassure companies and investors that Beijing, the No. 1 trading partner for all of its Asian neighbors, wasn’t closing its markets.

“Despite the rise of protectionism in the world, China will remain committed to

openness [and] will open wider to the rest of the world,”Wang Yi said at a news conference.

Elsewhere in the region, Sydney’s S&PASX 200 shed 0.1 percent to 5,752.70. Seoul’s Kospi retreated 0.6 percent to 2,429.18.

Benchmarks in Taiwan and Southeast Asia also declined.

The dollar edged down to ¥105.87 from Monday’s ¥105.89 as currency traders shifted money into the Japanese currency, seen as a haven in times of market turmoil.

Benchmark US crude gained 15 cents to $63.16 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract plunged $1.93 on Monday to close at $63.01.

Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 16 cents to $67.80 in London. It tumbled $1.70 to $67.64 on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks sank as worry about trade tensions compounded by heightened public scrutiny of tech companies in the US and Europe. That deflated some previously high-fliers, including Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.9 percent to 23,644.19. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gave up 2.2 percent, to 2,581.88.

The Nasdaq composite slumped 2.7 percent to 6,870.12.

Amazon fell 5.2 percent following broadsides from Trump on Twitter. Facebook tumbled as a widening privacy scandal weighed on its stock.

The threat of tighter regulation in Europe and the US prompted investors to pull money out of Netflix, Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet. AP

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

A7

Israel PM cancels deal with UN to resettle African migrants

IN this March 13, 2018, file photo, African migrants hold signs during a protest outside the Holot detention center in the Negev Desert, southern Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Monday that it has reached an agreement with the United Nations to scrap plans to deport African asylum seekers and will resettle many in Western countries instead. Israel said it reached an “unprecedented understandings” with the UN refugee agency in which Israel will send more than 16,000 migrants to various Western countries willing to absorb them. AP/Sebastian Scheiner, File

J

ERUSALEM—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled an agreement with the United Nations on Tuesday to resettle thousands of African migrants after pressure from hawks in his coalition prompted him earlier to suspend it.

Net a nya hu sudden ly a nnounced he was suspending the deal Monday night, just hours after touting it on national television, until he could meet with Israeli residents of south Tel Aviv, areas with large migrant populations who feel slighted by the deal.

After meeting with residents on Tuesday, Netanyahu said he had weighed the pros and cons, and he “decided to cancel the agreement.”

The move came after pressure from Netanyahu’s nationalist allies who lashed out against the deal.

Naftali Bennett, leader of the nationalist Jewish Home party, tweeted shortly before Netanyahu’s statement nullifying the deal that the agreement “is bad for Israel.”

He said “it’s not enough to suspend it. I call on the prime minister

to cancel it completely. Its approval would cause generations of crying and determine a precedent in Israel granting residency for illegal infiltrators.”

Netanyahu announced on Monday afternoon that Israel agreed to cancel the planned expulsion of the migrants. The deal called for sending about half of the 35,000 African migrants to Western nations and allowing the rest to remain in Israel.

Dozens of migrants and their Israeli supporters protested the suspension outside the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem and government offices in Tel Aviv as Netanyahu met with the neighborhood representatives.

Some protesters stripped to the waist, draped themselves with chains and taped their mouths shut at a protest in Tel Aviv. Others waved signs reading “Human

lives are not to play with. Yes to the deal.”

Protester Daniella Elyashar called on Netanyahu to “stop this political game.” Another protester, Veronika Cohen, said, “Yesterday, we were in tears of joy and this morning just in tears.”

Hard liners in Netanya hu’s coalition strongly criticized the deal for allowing thousands of A fricans to remain after the prime minister announced it.

Labor Party leader Avi Gabbay slammed the sudden turnaround on Army Radio questioning if defense decisions are also made in the same manner.

“It is sad, troubling and even a little scary that decisions are made that way,” Gabbay said. He accused Netanyahu of leadership based on polls and comments on social media.

Israeli commentators slammed Netanyahu for folding to pressure.

Writing in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Sima Kadmon noted Netanyahu’s decision “lasted for just six hours and 45 minutes” before “an important and courageous decision by the prime minister was trampled under the boots of the right-wing divisions.”

Most of the African migrants are from war-torn Sudan and Eritrea, the latter having one of the world’s worst human-rights records. The migrants say they

are asylum-seekers fleeing danger and persecution, while Israeli leaders have claimed they are merely job seekers.

The Africans started arriving in 2005 after neighboring Egypt violently quashed a refugee demonstration and word spread of safety and job opportunities in Israel. Tens of thousands crossed the porous desert border with Egypt before Israel completed a barrier in 2012 that stopped the influx.

T housa nd s of A f r ica n mig r a nt s a r e c o n c e nt r a t e d i n ne i g hb orho o d s i n sout h Te l Aviv, where ethnic food shops and phone-card stalls line the streets, and the area has become known as “Little Africa.”

This has sparked tension with the working-class Jewish residents who have been putting pressure on the government to find a solution.

R esident s compl a i ned t he agreement doesn’t address their needs and demanded assurances that remaining migrants will be dispersed around the country as promised. The prime minister’s turnaround threw into limbo the surprise agreement, which had finally offered a solution to an issue that has divided Israel for a decade. The deportation plan had been widely criticized at home and abroad, even by some of Israel’s closest supporters. AP

Gold heading to $1,400 as Sprott sees ‘winnerless’ trade war

G

OLD will surge to the highest level in five years if a global trade war breaks out, according to Rick Rule, CEO of Sprott US Holdings Inc., who’s been involved in the market for four decades.

Bullion could top $1,400 an ounce in 2018 as escalating trade tensions drive investors to havens and the three-decade bull market in bonds nears an end, said Rule, who’s due to speak at a conference in Hong Kong on Wednesday. Spot gold traded at $1,337.50 on Tuesday after three straight quarters of gains, while exchange-traded fund holdings are around the highest in half a decade.

President Donald J. Trump has ordered import tariffs on steel and aluminum and sought new restric-

tions on Chinese investment. Asia’s top economy retaliated by imposing its own levies on Monday, while the United States is expected to release this week a new list of Chinese products to be slapped with duties. A trade war could crimp demand for US assets just as the budget deficit swells, with the dollar vulnerable should international buyers shun American debt.

“In the 40 years I’ve been involved in the gold market, the most impor tant deter minant of the gold price has been international confidence in the USdollar and, in particular, the US dollar as expressed by the US 10-year Treasury,” Rule said in an interview on March 29. “ The fact that the US seems to be bound to engage in a zero-sum

trade war has begun to strike people as something that’s bad for everybody in the world, not just the US. The potential for a winnerless trade war certainly gives cause to some concern.”

The aggregate federal, state and local debt in the United States, both on balance sheet and entitlements, relative to levels of savings and investments in the economy, will contribute to worries over the longer-term purchasing power of the dollar, particularly in view of low current yields, Rule said. Rising income and savings in Asia, a region with a disposition for gold buying, could also lead to more demand, he said. Sprott US Holdings is a subsidiary of Toronto-based Sprott Inc., which had C$11.5

billion ($8.9 billion) under management as of December 31.

An easing of the China-US trade row may damp bulls’ enthusiasm.

China on Monday urged talks to prevent greater damage to relations, and repeated its position that disputes should be resolved with dialogue. Plus, the biggest United States tax overhaul in years signed into law by Trump last December will provide more stimulus to the US economy and may curb the impact on the budget deficit.

BNP Paribas SA predicted at end-February that bullion will probably be lower by the end of the year than the start, with four Federal Reserve rate hikes expected in 2018, while IHS Markit sees gold dropping to $1,200 by the year-end. Bloomberg News

A8

The Regions

Wednesday, April 4, 2018 • Editor: Dennis D. Estopace

BusinessMirror

Ilocos eggplant output rose by 3.45% in 5-year period

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

T

@jearcalas

HE eggplant production of Ilocos region, the country’s top producer of the vegetable, expanded at an average rate of 3.45 percent from 2012 to 2016, surpassing the country’s average growth output of 2.7 percent during the five-year period.

A new report released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the country’s total eggplant output managed to rise by an average of 2.7 percent annually despite a 0.5-percent contraction in harvest area during the five-year period.

Philippine eggplant output in

2016 rose by 1.18 percent from 2015 to a record high of 235,630 metric tons (MT).

The PSA report, titled “Crops Statistics of the Philippines 20122016,” noted that the growth was driven by increased eggplant production in Ilocos region, which offset the contraction in harvest area.

“The increment could be attributed to additional area planted in Ilocos region given the availability of seeds and sustained usage of high-yielding varieties distributed by the Department of Agriculture through the local government units,” the report read.

The report noted that the Ilocos region registered the biggest production at 87,220 MT (in 2016), which represented 37 percent of total eggplant production in the country.

Total area planted for eggplant in 2016 declined by 2.08 percent to 21,038 hectares, from 21,485 hectares recorded in 2012, PSA data showed.

In contrast, the area dedicated for eggplant production in the Ilocos region posted a five-year average increment of 1.04 percent, reaching 5,111.85 hectares in 2016.

Furthermore, the PSA data showed that the 87,220-MT eggplant output by Ilocos region in

Military claims foiled NPA’s plan on Surigao del Sur base

T

HE Armed Forces of the Philippines claimed on Tuesday that it foiled a plan by the New People’s Army to attack a military patrol base in Surigao del Sur following a series of encounters between soldiers and rebels at that southern Philippine province.

Lt. Col. Xerxes Trinidad, commander of the Army’s 36th Infantry Battalion, claims they uncovered the “plot” after soldiers engaged reb-

els at around 12:05 a.m. on Tuesday at Barangay Bolhoon, San Miguel, Surigao del Sur. Trinidad said the rebels converged near the Bolhoon Patrol Base in preparation for their attack when a team from the battalion caught up with them, triggering a firefight.

The presence of the guerillas near the patrol was reportedly tipped off by residents.

“Troops of Bravo Company, 36IB

was sent to conduct combat patrol to verify information coming from local folks that a bulk of CPP-NPA terrorists is converging toward Bolhoon Patrol Base ready to attack,” Trinidad said.

About a quarter of an hour later, another clash occurred at the adjoining barangay of San Roque, also in San Miguel, with the rebels believed to be forming part of the blocking force by the NPA. Rene Acosta

2016 was the highest since 2012.

PSA data also showed that the region sustained an average market share of 35.73 percent from 2012 to 2016, making it the top eggplant-producing region in the country.

Pangasinan remained as the top producer of eggplant in the Ilocos region during the five-year period at an average market share of nearly 83 percent.

From 2012 to 2016 aubergine output in the province went by an average of 2.9 percent. Average annual production during the period reached 67,724 MT. In 2016 alone Pangasinan produced a total of 72,009 MT of eggplants, 6.84 percent higher than the 67,400 MT recorded in 2015.

In the same report, the PSA said, Ilocos region also remained as the top peanut-producing region from 2012 to 2016, and accounted for nearly 40 percent of total output.

However, the region’s peanut output from 2012 to 2016 declined at an annual rate of 1.17 percent, while area harvested contracted by 0.52 percent.

In 2016 the Ilocos region’s peanut output declined by 3.05 percent to 11,210 MT, from 11,563 MT recorded volume in 2015.

The reduction in the region’s production and area harvested dragged down the country’s total peanut output during the five-year period.

The PSA report noted that total peanut production from 2012 to 2016 decreased at an average annual rate of 1 percent, while total peanut area harvested shrank by an average of 2.6 percent.

“In 2016 peanut production at [27,920 MT] was 4.4 percent lower than the 2015 level of [29,200 MT],” the PSA said. “This was attributed to lesser areas planted in Ilocos region [Pangasinan] due to limited planting materials.”

I​ mprove farm productivity, Duterte tells DA

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

D

AVAO CIT Y—President Duterte on Monday directed the Department of Agriculture and other agencies catering to farmers to improve farm productivity and the well-being of Filipino farmers.

He aired the directive after distributing certificates of land ownership awards (CLOAs) to farmers in Sultan Kudarat, consisting of long-time tillers among the Moro tribes and indigenous peoples communities, and settlers, as he assured them of government’s continued support and assistance.

Duterte said the Department of Agriculture and other concerned agencies must “continue your efforts to increase farm productivity, reduce farm expenses and promote the well-being of farmers, consumers and the general public through various programs.”

He added the programs and services provided to farmers “are the building blocks to achieve a comfortable and dignified life for everyone.”

“The Philippines is nothing without our farmers who regularly provide our people with sustenance and ensure food security despite difficulties, such as disasters, price fluctuations and financial shortages,” the President said. “I assure you that the government stands by you every step of the way. We continue to provide support services from other agencies through livelihood programs, such as crop insurance, production and postharvest trainings and credit access.”

Together with acting Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones, Duterte led the distribution of CLOAs covering 4,266 hectares of agricultural land located in Laguilayan, Isulan town.

A total of 1,680 farmers received their CLOAs, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said in a statement. The recipients were 1,396 Maguindanao farmers, 227 Manobo and other tribal farmers and 23 nontribal settlers, who all got an average farm size of 2.55 hectares each.

In his speech, Duterte congratulated the farmers, saying that they “rightfully deserve the lands as hardworking Filipinos” and promised them that he would implement “genuine land reform

t hrough strong a nd decisive governance.”

“I stand before you to say only one thing: Today is a victorious day for you, our farmers,” he said.

“I laud the efforts of the Department of Agrarian Reform for being instrumental in upholding the rights of our farmers to own, control, secure, cultivate and enhance their agricultural lands, as well as to improve their quality of life,” he added.

He urged farmers though, to continue “your duties of tilling the fields and bringing food on the table of every Filipino” and to “demonstrate solidarity in the shared task of building a stronger and more robust society.”

Gratitude

SOME farmers expressed gratitude for finally receiving the CLOAs, according to the DAR. Mohamad Dondoy, a Manobo tribal chieftain, added their long wait for owning the land was finally over: “Sa tagal ng paghinintay, napa-saamin din ang lupa.”

Another Manobo farmer, Tosida Ibal, turned emotional after receiving his CLOA from Duterte.

He narrated a life with difficulties, especially after his father’s death and how his mother raised them through farming. Growing up illiterate, he does not know any kind of work but farming.

“Growing up, there were days when there was no food for us to eat; until the DAR told us to apply for land,” Ibal was quoted by the statement as saying. “The DAR’s assistance is a blessing from the Almighty. Now, the land I till is mine.”

A 75-year-old Maguindanaon woman-farmer Linang Lagasi was also teary-eyed when she received her CLOA, the statement said.

Castriciones said the agency will continue to provide support services to the awardees of the lands.

“We will put into action a convergence strategy to provide support services to our farmers.”

According to Castriciones, among those lined up for implementation are scholarships for children of agrarian-reform beneficiaries, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, provision of crop insurance from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. and credit assistance from the Land Bank of the Philippines and from other financial institutions. With Jonathan L. Mayuga

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Groups ink deal with govt for El Nido’s ‘sustainability’

P

ROMISING to work together toward the sustainability of El Nido, Palawan, groups recently signed an agreement with government agencies to protect and strengthen the natural resources of the booming tourist destination.

“It is refreshing to see this level of commitment for the protection of our environment coming from our stakeholders,” Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy A. Cimatu was quoted in a statement as saying.

Cimatu issued his statement after ordering a crackdown in tourism areas, particularly beach resorts, to prevent another “Boracay.”

The world-renowned Boracay, an island paradise in Malay, Aklan, is besieged by environmental problems.

President Duterte is set to decide whether to shut down Boracay for six months as recommended

by Task Force Boracay led by Cimatu.

Cimatu said the pact signed by the various stakeholders in El Nido will boost its sustainability as a tourist destination.

“This covenant that our officials signed, together with the local government, non-governmental organizations and people’s organizations, is the right step toward achieving sustainability in El Nido, one of the most beautiful and most biodiverse ecotourism destinations in the Philippines,” he added.

The Department of Environment and Natura l Resources (DENR), through El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area Super intendent A lexander E. Mancio and El Nido Mayor Nieves C. Rosento, signed the renewal of the Conservation Agreement for El Nido.

Signing the agreement with Mancio and Rosento were Malampaya Foundation Inc. (MFI) President Belinda C. Racela, Barangay Bucana Chairman Aracel A. Bacolod, Barangay Buena Suerte Chairman Ricky C. Ballena and the people’s organizations Pagkakaisa Pagtutulungan Kalikasan Pakaingatan Ecotourism Service Cooperative of Barangay Buena Suerte and Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Magsasaka, Mangingisda at Kababaihan Tungo sa Maunlad na Kinabukasan ng Pamayanan of Barangay Bucana.

“This partnership aims to implement and sustain ecotourism and other livelihood activities for the people of El Nido. MFI will train and provide livelihood programs for the people, while our local officials, together with the local government, will support them,” Cimatu said.

Under the agreement, the parties also resolved to implement and maintain programs aimed at protecting the environment, including the establishment and maintenance of materials-recovery facilities, tree and mangrove seedling nurseries, scheduling regular coastal and sea clean-up activities, and cooperatively guarding and patrolling the seas and forests of El Nido.

Cimatu said the conservation agreements signed in El Nido go hand in hand with the mission of Task Force El Nido to save and protect the area, known for its beautiful islands, spotless beaches, crystal-clear water and towering limestone cliffs. The task force is composed of the DENR, the Environmental Management Bureau, the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development and the El Nido local government.

El Nido is part of the El NidoTaytay Managed Resource Protected Area, a 90,321-hectare key biodiversity area protected under Presidential Proclamation 32 signed by then-President Joseph E. Estrada in 1998. Jonathan L. Mayuga

ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Wednesday, April 4, 2018 A9

DTI-EMB pushes for increased PHL exports to Russia

I

N an effort to help Philippine exporters tap more legitimate foreign buyers from Russia, the Department of Trade and IndustryExport Marketing Bureau (DTIEMB) will provide Philippine exporters a list of Russian importers of the target products using its subscription to Seldon.Basis database facility.

The service is offered primarily to exporters who are being assisted by the EMB and those who are registered in its online businessmatching system accessible via businessmatching.dti.gov.ph.

The system is part of the Tradeline Philippines Portal, the DTI-EMB’s business intelligence platform that aims to deliver timely and relevant information and assistance to existing and potential exporters to enhance their capabilities and competitiveness as suppliers of quality goods and services to global markets. It is accessible via tradelinephilippines. dti.gov.ph.

Seldon.Basis collects and analyzes all company and entrepreneur information from official sources. The software is used for a comprehensive analysis of Russian contractors to find out how reliably they fulfill their financial, contractual or legal obligations.

Russia is the fourth-largest consumer market in the world. It is the wealthiest market per capita of all BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries. Russian gross domestic product per capita is three to nine times that of China and India. It represents the largest and the fastest sales

DTI-TIPG lauds opening of Zapateria, cocreation hub for Marikina shoemakers

By Kate Bondoc

Office of the Undersecretary for Trade and Investments Promotion Group

ZAPATERIA is a cocreation hub where designers can create and attend shoemaking workshops.

of the business,” she added.

Sta. Ana said generations of shoemakers in Marikina City included her family’s business, which was then among the exporters of Marikinamade shoes abroad.

“The family shoe business was one of the successful companies during that time. We were the first shoe exporter to the United States,” she added.

With Zapateria, the Sta. Ana father-daughter tandem wanted to put up a platform where the next generation of designers and artisans of the shoe industry can reconnect, gather, and cocreate new wave of Philippine-made shoes.

“The thought of Zapateria without the full concept yet came into mind when my dad got into accident in 2015. When he was at the hospital, shoes was still on his mind, he thought maybe the reason he got through it is because he’s still not done with shoes,” Sta. Ana said.

Zapateria calls for greater collaboration through its shared pooled

upcoming events Compiled by Louise Kaye G. Mendoza

APRIL 2-10

Event: PHL participation to MIHAS 2018/Outbound Business Matching Mission (OBMM) to Malaysia Venue: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

APRIL 10

Time: 6 p.m.-10 p.m.

Event: QBO QLITAN Tuesday: From Startup Purgatory to Startup Glory ft.

Chatbot PH

Venue: QBO Innovation Hub, DTI International Building, 375 Sen. Gil

Puyat Avenue, Makati City

april 12

Time: 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Event: BASIQS: QBO’s Introductory Class on Startups Venue: QBO Innovation Hub, DTI International Building, 375 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City

resources and facilities, shared research and development, and knowledge exchange. It also calls for cocreation through design partnerships, crowdsourcing, personalization and mass customization. It also provides market facilitation and retail.

Sta. Ana said more than the platform that Zapateria provides for key players in the shoemaking industry in Marikina City, they also see the hub as a form of movement that focuses on fostering local artistry and craftsmanship.

“Celebrating the rich history of Marikina, we see Zapateria as a movement to increase awareness and appreciation together with all the members of the community,” Sta. Ana added.

For 2018 the DTI aggressively promotes Filipino creativity through support programs for the creative services sector. Terrado said Filipino ingenuity in design is highly evident to wearables, including shoes produced by Filipino artisans.

“Marikina-made shoes once made it to the world map as a source of top-notch shoes. As we promote more and more of passionately produced and design-driven Filipino products to the rest of the world, we see Zapateria as a contributor in further urging designers and makers to keep up with cool, modern and trendy products,” Terrado said.

Sta. Ana also shared the important role of the government in sustaining these initiatives made by the private sector for the shoe industry. “[The] Government’s role is to create an environment where entrepreneurs have easier ways to thrive to a more convenient access to shared services facilities for the processing of materials and development of tools like shoe lasts. Community development programs and marketing would also help to bring everyone closer together and attract more talents,” Terrado said.

Zapateria is located in 56 Midtown Subdivision, San Roque, Marikina City.

Trade and Investment Center in Moscow to show that the President is determined to increase Philippine exports to Russia.

The Philippines exported various products, such as electronic products (static converters, ignition wiring sets for aircraft or ships, electric space heating apparatus and other office machines), and agricultural products such as carrageenan, desiccated coconuts, processed fruits and nuts.

To avail themselves of the free database service, qualified exporters may contact Jing Go-Aco and Kaye Mendoza at 465.3300 local 228 and 224.

DTI holds overseas and domestic construction information and capacity-building sessions

By Gliceria N. Cademia Trade and Industry Development Specialist, DTI-EMB

Conclusion

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HE Department of Trade and Industry’s Trade and Investments Promotion Group (DTI-TIPG) lauded the opening of a cocreation hub for shoemakers in Marikina City.

Zapateria is a cocreation hub for shoemakers, designers and hobbyists that intends to foster innovation and creativity in the shoe industry. DTI Trade and Investments Promotion Group Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado said the opening of Zapateria in Marikina is a significant step in reviving the shoe industry in the country.

“This initiative by the private sector plays an important part in expediting efforts to revive Marikina as a primary source of quality and truly world-class shoes. It means a lot for key players in the industry as we bring the community together to make Philippine-made shoes more attractive to buyers from across the world,” Terrado said.

Founded by Rico Sta. Ana and his daughter Unyx Sta. Ana, the Zapateria serves as a workshop/playground for aspiring shoemakers and designers with the opportunity to get them connected with the market and vice-versa.

“This signals a stronger call for designers in tapping artisans and skilled Filipino shoe designers in making knowledge, facilities and resources accessible especially to small entrepreneurs and young designers,” Terrado said.

Zapateria officially opened its doors to the public on February 24 in San Roque, Marikina City. During the simple opening ceremonies, designers and key players in the industry attended and showed their support to the establishment of the hub.

Unyx Sta. Ana said shoes played an important part in the growth and history of the Marikina community and the families living there.

“My father started as a shoeshine boy at age 13 working for his dad at their factory. He got involved in every production process and learned the ins and out

growth market in Europe with over 150 million people.

Russia was the Philippines’s 29th trading partner in 2017, with a total bilateral trade valued at $537 million or 0.34 percent of total Philippine trade with the world at $156.07 billion. It was the Philippines’s 37th export market, amounting to $61.35 million and 24th import source valued at $475.95 million.

President Duterte’s visit to Russia in May 2017 reinforced the importance of trade, economic and sociocultural cooperation. A Commercial Attaché has been commissioned this year and established the Philippine

articipants were advised to get familiarized also on the World Trade Organization classification of their services to get engaged to more networks from partner economies to connect and maximize the benefit from free-trade agreement.

She encouraged contractors and professionals to register at Apec and Asean registry of engineers to allow them to join overseas projects in Apec Engineer economies looking for without having to undertake further examination or interview. In some cases, they may also be able to obtain discounted dual membership in both accredited professional Organization and an equivalent engineering society or institution overseas.

Eleven general areas of practice are currently available for registration in Apec Registry of Engineers: Agricultural Engineering, Civil/Structural Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Geodetic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Mining Engineering, and Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.

The Regional Interactive Platform for PH Exporters (Ripples) Plus, a flagship project of EMB is designed to increase exports and investments and intensify small and medium enterprises development efforts. It aims to expand the supply base of internationally competitive Philippine export products and services by extending strategic firm level interventions to participating companies to make them export ready and/or enhance their export capacity and competitiveness and to establish and maintain a database of exporters/ manufacturers from all over the country.

The Development Bank of the Philippines has a financing program to support the national government’s “Build, Build, Build” program. DBP offers a maximum loan amount up to 70 percent of awarded contract/s or allowable ranges of contract cost whichever is lower. The eligible borrowers are contractors duly licensed by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) under classification general engineering,

building and specialty contracting with license under quadruple A, Triple A, Double A and A,B,C,D and Trade categories.

The eligible projects are social infrastructure, residential buildings, nonresidential buildings, transport infrastructure, water supply, wastewater, sanitation and other utility infrastructure, communications infrastructure, waste infrastructure, power and energy infrastructure.

The CIAP’s PCAB is mandated to issue, deny, suspend or revoke contractors licenses per Republic Act (RA) 4566. It issues a regular license to constructorfirms of Filipino sole proprietorship, or partnership/corporation with at least 60 percent Filipino equity participation and duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Philippines, and a special license to a joint venture, a consortium, a foreign constructor or a project owner which shall authorize the licensee to engage only in the construction of a single specific project.

CPES is a system of grading the performance of a constructor for a specific kind of project using a set of criteria being implemented by CIAP’s Philippine Domestic Construction Board.

It is embodied in RA 9184 which provides that “All procuring entities implementing infrastructure projects are mandated to evaluate the performance of their contractors using the Neda-Approved CPES Guidelines regardless of contract amount and funding source. CPES shall be done during construction and upon completion of each government project.”

CIAP Document 102

CIAP document 102 is a uniform general condition of contract for private construction. It contains terms and conditions ordinarily established in construction contracts and was formulated to provide the procedures, guidelines, and criteria to be used by parties in a construction Contract, or use as reference to the Contract to address deficiencies and/or any ambiguity.

In case of disagreements, CIAP resolves disputes through Construction Industry Arbitration Commission which is tasked to provide the industry with the necessary alternative dispute resolution facilities for the speedy and equitable settlement of claims and disputes arising from, or connected with, construction contracts in the Philippines.

The DTI holds overseas and domestic construction information and capacity-building sessions.

DTI intensifies promotion of animation sector

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HE Department of Trade and Industry’s Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), in collaboration with the Animation Council of the Philippines (ACPI), held the “Information Session on Visual Development for the Animation Sector” at A. Venue Hotel, Makati City, on March 27.

EMB Assistant Director Anthony B. Rivera, in his welcome remarks, underscored EMB’s aggressive support of the animation industry all throughout its value chain. “We would like to see our animation sector level up in a very sustainable manner. We proactively work hand in hand with the private sector to develop more talents in the country, strengthen our capabilities and

ultimately generate more jobs by progressively engaging in global animation and content opportunities not only as service providers but also intellectual property [IP] asset owners,” he said.

The animation sector is one of the priority sectors for global competitiveness under Philippine Export Development Plan (PDP).

“The DTI, with its programs, is in full support of the development and promotion of the animation sector where Filipino creativity and talents are highlighted. We have seen and heard many success stories in this particular sector and we value their contribution in generating employment opportunities and in making

the Philippine brand known to the rest of the world. As we aggressively advance our strategy to make growth truly inclusive and innovation-led, we are rooting for the Filipino animation sector and our private-sector partners in leading many of our entrepreneurs and talents in making it big in to the global market through knowledge sharing and coaching,” DTI’s Trade and Investments Promotion Group Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado said.

EMB hired the services of Armand Serrano, a Filipino-American animation artist known for his works at Walt Disney Animation Studio and Sony Pictures Animation, to conduct a seminar for the Philippine animators.

Serrano shared his experiences on conceptualizing and animating international films, such as Surf’s Up,Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Arthur Christmas, Hotel Transylvania, Planet Earth, Animal Crackers, Hero 6, Zootopia, Mulan, Tarzan, Lilo and Stitch, and Brother Bear, among others. The making of these movies took five to 10 years each.

Serrano also does game-concept designs and storyboards for TV commercials with clients that include Blizzard Entertainment, Blur Studio, Fisher Price, Reel FX, Laika House, Big Red Button, Charlex and 321 Launch. He showed how he did his commercial for a cereal crackers and its final outcome. Gliceria N. Cademia

A10 Wednesday, April 4, 2018 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Solomonic solution

F

ollowing the recommendation of Task Force Boracay to temporarily close the entire island for six months to one year, starting April 26, to fix all the areas where establishments were built in violation of environment laws, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has proposed to President Duterte a partial closure of the island so as not to undermine the livelihood of residents, resort owners and some 30,000 foreign and local workers.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said he is against total shutdown, as this will affect the operations of law-abiding businesses. Instead, Lopez recommended to the President the closure of noncomplying resorts, but those who have been law abiding and compliant with environmental laws must be spared. He said: “I agree with a phased rehabilitation. Anyway, construction can be done in phases just like in an operating business to keep it running. Also, why penalize law abiding ones?”

Calling Boracay a “cesspool,” President Duterte earlier threatened to close the whole island because of the severe environmental problems that businesses there have created, especially on the issue of sewage management. Reports said some 200 establishments operating in Boracay were found to have various offenses. Some have violated the easement law, where 30 meters from the shore to the inland should be a no-build zone. Others have illegally tapped the rainwater drainage pipes of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, where they connected their sewage pipes. Still, others were found dumping untreated water and sewage into the sea.

We agree that all efforts must be made to restore the environment’s balance while ensuring Boracay’s sustainability as the country’s top tourism destination. And there’s a general consent that total closure of the entire island will cost the government billions of pesos in foregone taxes, and billions more in private-sector revenues. That’s why the government must consider all options available before adopting the most severe solution to the Boracay problem, which is total closure as proposed by Task Force Boracay.

According to the Department of Tourism Region 6, the number of workers employed in Boracay accounts for 68 percent of the total number of persons employed in the tourism sector in the region. Government estimates place the number of workers directly employed by Boracay establishments at 17,000. However, this could run to about 30,000, which would include those in the informal economy, such as boatmen and tour guides, among others. What will happen to the families of these workers if the government decides to close Boracay for six months or one year?

These workers will need all the help they can get, and the government must be ready to offer a package of services for displaced workers in Boracay. Help can come in the form of job facilitation or job referrals, emergency employment, livelihood projects and skills-upgrading programs. The best way to help them, however, is to allow them to continue working in Boracay. This can be done if the government follows the recommendation of the DTI chief: Close noncomplying resorts and allow business establishments complying with environmental laws to operate. There’s wisdom in Lopez’s recommendation for a phased rehabilitation of the whole island instead of adopting the most severe solution, which is total closure.

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I was late for dinner Teddy Locsin Jr.

Free fire Continued from A1

B

efore we could start, the chair, Venezuela, announced that it had received several proposals to add marginal groups as Observers at the Baku meeting. That was fine. But Venezuela added that if the proposals failed to attain consensus at the meeting—“nay” from two or more was sufficient to exclude it—the matter could still be taken up in Baku.

Morocco objected on procedural grounds, not least that NAM is composed of state parties; Saudi Arabia concurred. Cuba argued the contrary, followed by others arguing the same.

Both sides had a point. I objected on the ground of “surprise.” If the matter of including marginal groups as Observers could be taken up at the last minute in Baku, that might take the attending foreign ministers by surprise. On top of which, and this I thought was crucial, some NAM countries are in crisis and on the verge of social, political and economic collapse. Would their foreign ministers want to confront their political oppositions in a formal capacity at Baku? I think the proposal died.

The Philippine interest was twofold: One: the previous failure—due to a mostly African objection—to include Asean updates of the old NAM paragraph on the South China Sea in the light of recent developments, such as our legal victory at The Hague, which is now international law and a piece of national patrimony that no one can compromise without provoking “the Armed Forces is the protector of the state” clause a la Turkey. A brilliant provision in Cory’s Constitution that sets up a military shield when elected politicians betray the state in its fundamental aspect: territorial integrity. Singapore would point out that there were other key developments that demanded an updated restatement of the paragraph on the South China Sea; including positive developments involving all the countries concerned.

NAM had accepted by consensus updated provisions in light of changing facts on the ground in other places. The overriding principle is: what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Asean was the gander; Africa and former Eastern Europe were the geese. Two: a provision condemning Myanmar. The other provisions had been accepted and required, if at all, congratulations on our part. So, starting with the usual formality, this was the Philippine statement as crafted.

“Under Venezuela’s guidance we cut our draft Final Document for Baku from almost a thousand paragraphs down to a few.

“On disarmament, we filled the legal gap left by the ban on chemical and biological weapons with the nuclear weapons ban treaty which passed in the General Assembly by 160 votes; so far 57 countries have signed on—Philippines among the first. A higher parameter now informs non-proliferation talks.

“We are pleased that NAM welcomes the anniversaries of all treaties establishing nuclear-weaponfree zones, including the 20th anniversary of the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone. [I have always wondered if nuclear weaponsfree zones—far from establishing nuclear parity and safety through mutual deterrence—rather favor emerging nuclear powers which have yet to achieve the celerity, distance and throw weight of the established nuclear powers that guaranteed by mutual deterrence the peace of the world: the US and former Soviet Union, Russia.]

“On sustainable development, like many NAM members, we should address the challenge posed to Middle Income Countries [or MICs] by the suggestion that having achieved so much already, MICs should graduate out of UN assistance programs despite the fact that MICs contain the greatest numbers of the very poor in the world by the sheer size of their populations. That they achieved MIC status shows they’ve been doing the right things; but obviously not enough of those. To cut them off in midstream is a signal that progress carries the penalty of being cut off and set adrift. Progress in MICs will continue along with widening income inequality but the temptation will grow to consign the poor into the biggest caste: the hopeless, while the hopeful parts of society move on to greater riches. In conscience this we cannot do.

“On UN reform, the Philippines supports the obvious: trimming the fat, downsizing the inessential to the achievement of UN goals; transparency to be able to spot them; accountability and remedy upon discovery; and imparting a sense of ownership to the member-states—with which and through which alone—the UN must work if it expects to get anything done. On counterterrorism,

we appreciate NAM’s support for our widely acclaimed victory over the Daesh-inspired and drug tradefinanced attempt to establish a caliphate in Marawi, Mindanao. The victory was total. But it was not just a military achievement against great odds, it was a social one as well. Most Muslim residents of Marawi fled the Islamic terrorist takeover of their city, while shielding their Christian neighbors from radical reprisals.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country effortlessly absorbed some 200,000 internally displaced persons. Terrorism is an evil so pure, it must be countered with means that are sure: a global effort against terror on every front by every society. Terrorism is a global problem that no country can tackle alone.”

As I had already said all this in the General Assembly time and again, and with Algeria and a few other NAM members monopolizing the discussion that afternoon which would have to end by 6.30 in the evening for purposes of economy, I thought it best to abbreviate and thereby cut to the chase the crafted Philippine statement for the moment the South China Sea statement was taken up by the Asean chair, Singapore. When she did, I followed with this.

“I take the floor to support Singapore, our Asean Chair, who succinctly tabled our group’s proposal for our way forward in the Southeast Asia section of the document.

“We repeat our appeal to friends whose countries lie in the shadows of great powers [lines in bold were said emphatically with tapping a finger on the table] for a little more solidarity, reasonableness and goodwill toward your fellow NAM members in Asean.

“In the name of what this Movement stands for—non-alignment with any great power and submission to none—we ask you to respect the Asean consensus on the latest and encouraging progress in our region for all concerned parties.

“It would be odd if the Baku document will recognize the developments in your own respective regions since 2016, without doing the same for Southeast Asia. It would be a mockery of our founding principles and our solidarity if the Baku document will allow the updating of commitments in the light factual developments, while allowing the use of Cartagena rules to block NAM’s recognition of indisputable facts and law on the ground—or rather on the water in our region. It is sad that they insist on the 2014 language when so much that is now part of international law has happened since.

“The purpose of the draft final document is for NAM to remain relevant. To that end the ministers must take stock of global and regional developments since the last NAM ministerial meeting two years ago—or what’s the point of meeting again? The draft is not yet clean but

allow me to refer to the Cartagena Document on Methodology, where NAM consensus decision-making does not require or imply unanimity but implies substantial agreement which is just enough. Thank you.”

I was followed by Vietnam’s feisty Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, who is always eloquent and that evening was utterly emphatic on this issue which concerns all the littoral Asian states, including Japan. Then, one after another Asean ambassador supported the Asean consensus on the matter.

The African states gave short statements reaffirming their rejection of any changes in the South China Sea language from 2016, capped

by Belarus, who said that we should “face the facts: the matter was not only complex”—which it is not because The Hague Tribunal clarified everything clear as crystal—“but it would involve NAM in a matter that involves a nonmember of NAM and therefore none of NAM’s business.”

To which I rejoined: “Let’s face the fact that that statement comes from a country in the shadow of a great power.

“Let’s face the fact that the NonAligned Movement is composed of countries that are and can never be a threat to each other.

“And let’s face the fact that the NAM was precisely founded to protect countries that have two things in common: the first is that they are no threat to each other but are, one way or another, under threat from big powers with whom no NAM member should align or submit. That is why there is a NAM.” Vietnam joined in with equal emphasis and vigor.

I did not bother to say that much of what is no longer part of the Soviet Union was for eons part of the uninterrupted and enduring Russian Empire of the Czars and Commissars; an empire the reelected Russian president wants to take back.

On the other hand, the littoral countries of the South China Sea were either always independent like Thailand or parts of long dead-andburied empires: the Hindu Sri-Vijaya and the Indonesian, more accurately Javanese Madjapahit empires; and the Spanish and Portuguese, Dutch, British and French in that chronological order. All gone with the winds of wars but not before acknowledging in their humiliation the sovereignties of their former colonies. China was never an empire. It just happened to be, through millennia, one hell of a giant state bigger than most empires but occasionally divided yet always composed of one homogenous race which preferred to stay inside its ancient borders and behind its Great Wall—which was repeatedly breached by barbarians who, however, were careful to rule over the Chinese race in Chinese dress out of deference to the superior culture of the defeated. In short, Asean is See “Locsin,” A11

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Corporate governance Balutan is right! for insurance companies Florante S. Solmerin

FACT IS MIGHT!

Dennis B. Funa

INSURANCE FORUM

C

orporate governance has been defined as “the system of rules, practices and processes by which a company is directed and controlled. Corporate governance essentially involves balancing the interests of a company’s many stakeholders, such as shareholders, management, customers, suppliers, financiers, government and the community. Since corporate governance also provides the framework for attaining a company’s objectives, it encompasses practically every sphere of management, from action plans and internal controls to performance measurement and corporate disclosure.”

The first Code of Corporate Governance issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2002 defined corporate governance as “a system whereby shareholders, creditors and other stakeholders of a corporation ensure that management enhances the value of the corporation as it competes in an increasingly global marketplace.”

On June 18, 2009, the SEC issued a revised Code of Corporate Governance. In November 2016 the SEC issued the Code of Corporate Governance for Publicly-Listed Companies, which took effect on January 1, 2017.

With the amendment of the Insurance Code in 2012, corporate governance has been expressly recognized in Section 193. It states the primordial objective of maintaining the quality of management of insurance companies and the protection of policyholders and the general public. Corporate governance is also consistent with the Insurance Core Principles (ICPs).

Specifically, with ICP 5, the Suitability of Persons; ICP 7, Corporate Governance; and ICP 8, Risk Management and Internal Controls.

Following the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the SEC issued Memorandum Circular 2, series of 2002, adopting the Code of Corporate Governance. Soon after, the Insurance Commission issued the very first rule on corporate governance, Circular Letter (CL) 132002 on July 12, 2002, adopting the Code of Corporate Governance for Insurance Companies and Intermediaries. This circular mandated the filing of annual reports on corporate governance, as well as requiring the appointment of an independent director. Since then, the regulation of corporate governance has evolved progressively. CL 3-2004 required the General Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practices by insurance companies.

This was amended by CL 21-2009.

CL 31-2005 provided the qualifications of independent directors. CL 2014-49 introduced term limits for independent directors.

In CL 31-2005, the Corporate Governance Principles and Leading Practices was promulgated. CL 35-2006 enumerated the submission requirements, among them are minutes of meetings of stockholders, the biodata of members of the board, and list of independent directors and officers.

In 2004 CL 12-2004 required the attendance in a course on corporate governance for all directors and officers with the rank of vice president and up.

The basis for determining the fitness and propriety of the directors and officers is the Fit & Proper Rule spelled out in CL 13-2004 and Department Order 54-2015.

Self-assessment questionnaire

CL 31-2005 introduced the SelfAssessment Questionnaire on Corporate Governance Principles and Leading Practices to be answered by companies and submitted at the end of every semester. CL 3-2008 amended this to become an annual submission. With the adoption, however, of the Corporate Governance Scorecard (CGS) in 2009, the

The ADB, in partnership with the Asean Capital Markets Forum (ACMF), jointly developed the Asean Corporate Governance Scorecard, an assessment based on publicly available information and benchmarked against international best practices that encourage publicly listed companies to go beyond national legislative requirements.

A

few months after his appointment by President Duterte, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Alexander “Mandirigma” Balutan said that illegal gambling, apart from drugs and kidnapping, is the source of campaign funds of corrupt politicians who want to secure a seat in the government.

The message is clear. There won’t be clean and honest elections if we won’t stop illegal activities that fuel corruption and dirty politics in our country.

It is crystal-clear why the Philippine National Police (PNP) is ignoring the call to clean up our country from jueteng, masiao, swertres, pares, and other illegal games.

Some police officers are disregard-

Stella Luz Quimbo, PhD

Competition Matters

Corporate Governance Scorecard

Lawyer Dennis B. Funa is the current insurance commissioner. Funa was appointed by President Duterte as the new insurance commissioner in December 2016. E-mail: dennisfuna@yahoo.com.

But, instead of helping the PCSO thwart illegal gambling, the concerned PNP in the area remained silent and did nothing to stop this illegal activity. Instead of the police, the National Bureau of Investigation provided support to PCSO officials who raided and padlocked Globaltech’s peryahan in Albay and in other parts of the country.

We don’t have to tell the PNP that peryahan is illegal because that would sound silly. This is a slap on the face of the PNP, which is like telling them they don’t know their duty to stop illegal gambling.

Apart from EO 13, there’s a memorandum of agreement between the PCSO and the PNP that the latter shall be the primary lawenforcement agency of the government to eradicate illegal gambling in the country.

Balutan is correct in saying the PNP’s action is “anemic” when it comes to jueteng, masiao, suertres, pares, including peryahan. But certain quarters are vocal: Who can

PCC: Quasi-court in full swing

Self-Assessment was discontinued

by CL 5-2009.

Pursuant to CL 1-2010, the first submission of Corporate Governance Scorecard (for insurance companies) was required to be made on or before May 15, 2010. The scorecard was developed in November 2008 by the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), a non-governmental organization committed to promoting corporate governance, together with compliance officers from both the life and nonlife insurance companies and the officers of the Insurance Commission. The scorecard is a system of self-assessment and validation.

It covered five main issues: rights of shareholders, equitable treatment of shareholders, roles of stakeholders, disclosure and transparency, and board responsibilities.

Subsequently, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in partnership with the Asean Capital Markets Forum (ACMF), jointly developed the Asean Corporate Governance Scorecard, an assessment based on publicly available information and benchmarked against international best practices that encourage publicly listed companies to go beyond national legislative requirements. It was launched in 2011 as one of the initiatives in preparation for the Asean economic integration. The Asean corporate governance initiative comprising the Asean Corporate Governance Scorecard (Scorecard) and the ranking of corporate governance of Asean publicly listed companies are among several regional initiatives under the ACMF. It started in early-2011 and is supported by the ADB through the “Promoting an Interlinked Asean Capital Market” regional technical assistance.

Although developed for publicly listed companies, it was adopted for use by insurance companies. Following the adoption of the Asean Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS) on May 3, 2013, CL 14-2013 was issued. Under this revised system, ratings will be based on disclosures found in the respective company web sites. The Insurance Commission directed the development of the companies’ web sites by July 31, 2013 to facilitate compliance. CL 2015-23 was issued to provide guidelines on the compliance with the ACGS. Under this circular, companies were enjoined to upload in their web sites by June 15, 2015 the completed ACGS Response forms. The circular also enumerated the lists of “default” and “not applicable” items based on the nature of the corporate structure.

ing Executive Order (EO) 13 of the President.

An example of their obvious disregard of EO 13 was the resurgence of peryahan ng bayan operations of Globaltech that uses the name and logo of PCSO. In 2016 the PCSO has terminated the deed of authority of Globaltech to play peryahan, as it failed to remit an alleged amount of P100 million.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018 A11

Continued from A1

T

he commission is an independent quasi-judicial body.

Broadly speaking, it works like a court: it ascertains facts, holds hearings, weighs pieces of evidence, and makes conclusions based on the facts and evidence presented. For any decision to be adopted, three affirmative votes from the commission members are needed.

This is the most interesting part of my job as commissioner, and what follows is my take on this role of “quasi-judge,” as seen through the lens of an economist.

The investigation of most prohibited acts under the PCA requires economic analysis to determine if they had or might have harmful effects on market competition. For instance, the commission can disapprove a merger if the transaction can “substantially lessen competition” in the market.

How do we know if competition would be reduced substantially after the merger? To answer this, we assess whether prices are likely to increase, quality might deteriorate, innovation would slow down, or consumer choice would be restricted.

The assessment is based on economic reasoning and evidence. The

first step is to determine the “relevant market” or the scope of the assessment that will be conducted. In a relevant market, products are substitutable, which means that price increases would cause consumers to shift from one supplier to another.

Next, the economic analysis determines if there is ability or incentive to increase prices after the merger. When two competitors who offer substitutable products merge, a price increase by one may cause enough consumers to shift to the other, such that overall profit for the merged entity increases.

Deciding on a merger without going through the rigor of economic analysis might not only harm a market, but also may erode the commission as an institution in the long run. Commission decisions that are not evidence-based could introduce

uncertainty in the business environment and leave an impression of regulatory capture. Decision-making must abide by scientific and legal standards to ensure a robust case.

The commission is, likewise, empowered to prohibit anticompetitive agreements and abuses of dominance.

When a case is opened, a preliminary inquiry is conducted by the Competition Enforcement Office (CEO). The commission members take no part in the actual investigation. “Firewalls” are in place to differentiate the decision-making by the commission from the factfinding by the CEO. This is to ensure that the commission remains an unbiased judge. It is only after CEO lodges a formal complaint before the commission that its members hear the case.

Every case is thoroughly deliberated by the commission. So far, I have found these deliberations to be a lively mix of professional debate and academic discussion, covering interpretations of the law and economic findings. An independent commission implies independence in thought among its members. Due to differences in perspective, deliberations can lead to various outcomes when it’s time to vote, particularly when a case is complex. In a few instances, there was no unanimity on how to dispose of a case.

Just like in regular courts, a commissioner has the right to dissent from the majority position when

say no to payola?

On top of that, there’s Republic Act 9287 (An Act Increasing the Penalties of Illegal Numbers Games, Amending Certain Provisions of Presidential Decree 1962, And for Other Purposes).

The law aims to impose heavy penalty or punishment to government officials—elected or appointed —and employees who will be proven corrupt, with up to 20 years of imprisonment, and providing bail amounting to P3,000 up to millions.

Apart from that, they will be perpetually disqualified from holding any government position.

To quote from the law: “In case of failure to apprehend perpetrators of illegal-numbers game of any law enforcer, he will suffer administrative penalty of suspension or dismissal, as the case maybe, to be imposed by the appropriate authority.”

Don’t tell us this doesn’t matter to the concerned authorities.

E-mail: mikealunan@yahoo.com

they believe it necessary, but without upsetting the harmony of the institution. Dissenting opinion requires of the majority to fortify its position based on evidence, and to ponder on the implications of the decision. In a way, this insulates the commission from whimsical and capricious decision-making, thereby ensuring its continued independence.

This is similar to what competition does in markets. When faced with competition from a new entrant with a disruptive technology, the incumbents have little choice but to strengthen their market position with an appropriate technological response. As such, some dissent is healthy. Steve Jobs, the maverick who changed the competition landscape in the market for computer hardware, reminds us that friction is needed to polish a stone: “It’s that through the team, through that group of incredibly talented people bumping up against each other, having arguments, having fights sometimes, making some noise, and working together they polish each other and they polish the ideas, and what comes out are these really beautiful stones.”

Commissioner Stella Alabastro Quimbo is an academician who served as professor and department chairman of the University of the Philippines School of Economics before her appointment to the Philippine Competition Commission. She has an extensive research portfolio in the fields of health economics, industrial organization, microeconomics, education, poverty, and public policy and regulation.

E-cigarettes destroy the health of millions

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leek and featherweight in metallic black or navy blue, Juul-brand electronic cigarettes have become a fashion—you could say, a contagion— among high-school students across America. Easily mistaken for an ordinary flash drive, the gadgets let kids “Juul” without notice in hallways or school cafeterias and conveniently recharge on their laptops.

This is a sure sign, if one were needed, that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is failing in its responsibility to regulate e-cigarettes. By its inaction, the agency allows a wall of vapor to obscure the fact that tobacco in any form poses a real danger—and imperils children’s lives.

By the latest count, in 2016, 1.7

Locsin. . .

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composed of ancient sovereignties, none of whose territories are subject to reclamation by former and reemerging hegemons unlike other regions.

Singapore came in again to say that Asean would raise the issue again at Baku. And Papua New Guinea expressed full support of

million high-school students (11.3 percent) used e-cigarettes, plus another half-million middle-school students. Beguiled by unregulated advertisements and fruit flavorings, and undeterred by the federal prohibition on sales to minors, children take in as much nicotine from Juuls as some from combustible cigarettes. Once addicted to vaping, research suggests, they may be more easily drawn to oldfashioned smoking.

All vapers suffer nicotine’s ill effects on blood pressure and heart rate, and expose themselves to any number of other toxic chemicals that may inflame airways and otherwise poison teenage (and adult) lungs and other organs.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb

says he hopes e-cigarettes might be useful in helping smokers quit. But there’s far too little evidence to support that idea. On the contrary, new research suggests that smokers who switch to e-cigarettes may be less likely to quit than those who don’t. Even if e-cigarettes help a few people escape tobacco, they attract so many teenagers that their net effect is decidedly harmful.

The FDA is belatedly considering limiting or banning e-cigarette f lavorings—“peanut butter cup,” “bubble pop” and the like, which so obviously appeal to kids. But Gottlieb has postponed any further regulations and requirements that e-cigarette makers disclose their ingredients. The American Academy of Pediatrics and

several other health groups (including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which is supported by Bloomberg Lp. founder Michael R. Bloomberg) have filed suit this week to challenge the FDA’s delay.

Litigation shouldn’t have been necessary. The agency ought to move quickly to restrict e-cigarette advertising and online sales, and to impose testing and labeling rules so consumers know what dangerous ingredients e-cigarettes contain. Further delay will prolong the myth that e-cigarettes are benign, give a malignant habit time to spread, and destroy the health of millions of American children. Just because there’s no smoke doesn’t mean cigarettes can’t kill you.

the Asean case for updating the language on the South China Sea in light of incontrovertibly significant developments. Thank you, PNG. Then came the Myanmar statement that sought to be included in the final draft document to which I objected, along with Cambodia and Thailand: “We align with Cambodia and Thailand to insist on the deletion of the paragraph to which they object.

The Philippines fully realizes the

gravity of the situation in Rakhine State which has greatly affected Bangladesh and the immediate region. The Philippines has opened its doors unconditionally to refugees therefrom. The proposed language has good intentions but a road paved with good intentions does not always lead to good results. Especially this one. At this crucial time, we must engage with Myanmar rather than condemn it on a matter profoundly touching on the principle of national

sovereignty. There are other angles from which to approach a humanitarian crisis other than by inflaming nationalist and ethnic passions. We need to cooperate with all the parties concerned. Condemnation will only aggravate instead of ameliorate the humanitarian crisis. Thank you.”

With that I stood up, walked over to the Myanmar ambassador, a good friend and longtime champion of Burmese democracy, and shook his hand.

And walked out. I was late for dinner.

Bloomberg View

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Consortium: Govt needs an upgraded Naia to make inclusive growth a reality

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

PGRADING and modernizing the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) could generate “inclusive and significant economic growth,” an official of Naia Consortium said on Tuesday, as it renews its pitch to develop the decades-old facility that is currently overutilized but underdeveloped.

Naia Consortium Spokesman Jose Emmanuel P. Reverente said a more efficient airport can help drive a country’s GDP growth, citing a 2014 study conducted by Oxford Economics and the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

“If there is one single economic catalyst that carries so much punch, it is the Naia. That we are an archipelago endowed with natural beauty makes the Naia even more important,” he said on Tuesday.

According to the study, the local aviation sector contributed 3.2 percent, or more than $9 billion, of the country’s 2014 GDP and generated a total of 1.2 million jobs.

From then, the aviation sector has grown larger, and the Naia’s operations became more constrained as more and more passengers use the airport every year.

There were 38.8 million passengers who used the Naia in 2014. After only three years, it handled 42 million passengers thanks to efforts to boost tourism in the Philippines.

For 2018 the airport is seen to accommodate 44 million passengers, way above its 35-million passenger rated capacity.

“In all those years, the Naia’s terminal capacity remained constrained at 31 million. If we want air transport to create more economic wealth and generate more jobs, we have to expand, upgrade and improve the Naia now, not later,” he said. Given this, Reverente warned that, without improving the Naia, the airport will become another burden to the common Filipino, much like Edsa. “Time is running out to prevent the Naia from becoming the next Edsa.” The Oxford-Iata study also noted that of the 1.2 million jobs generated in 2014, close to a million came from tourism.

“Clearly, Naia is a lifeline for the countryside. Tourism is one of the ways the government can achieve its goal of making the country’s growth more inclusive. The bigger and

better Naia is, the better for everybody all over the country,” he said.

Naia Consortium’s P350-billion unsolicited proposal involves expanding and interconnecting the existing terminals of the Naia, upgrading airside facilities and the development of commercial facilities. Divided into two phases, the group’s proposal aims to increase the capacity of the Naia to about 100 million passengers per year. It also plans to construct a people mover that will link the Naia’s terminals to existing transport systems in Metro Manila.

Actual work will take 24 more months for the first wave of immediate expansion. Further expansions are planned to meet projected passenger demand moving forward.

More expansion will follow to meet the expected growth in tour-

ism, business and the economy.

In 2017 the four Naia terminals, designed to handle only 31 million, accommodated 42 million. The offer carries a concession period of 35 years.

Very urgent

R everente noted, however, that to enable the consortium to deliver, it must get the notice to proceed from the government by late this year.

“The Naia is a must-solve-now challenge. The country cannot wait.

We hope the government can expedite the approval process so we can start rebuilding our gateway and giving passengers an experience they only enjoy when abroad,” he added.

Due to their nature, unsolicited proposals are required under law to go through several approval processes, including a review from the implementing agency and an evaluation from the several bodies of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Under current rules, unsolicited proposals are also required to undergo a Swiss challenge, which essentially allows other groups to outbid the original proponent of the project.

The original proponent, however, has the option to submit a counteroffer to win the challenge.

The winner of the challenge will be determined after the Neda Board, currently chaired by President Duterte, evaluates the challenger’s offer and the original proponent’s counteroffer.

Hence, the process could go for as quick as six months to over a year, and as long as almost a decade, as in some cases in the past.

The group, composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., submitted its bid in February.

Aside from tourism, Reverente said the Naia is the “portal through which investors and exports like electronics and manufacturing pass.”

The same Oxford study showed that in 2014, the country exported $82.2 billion worth of goods and services.

The Naia, he said, is “at the heart of the country’s economic action” and so close to most industrial estates that it must be considered a national economic asset that needs immediate remedial attention.

The Naia is a must-solve-now challenge. The country cannot wait.

We hope the government can expedite the approval process.”—Reverente

E-JEEPNEY A solar e-jeepney of Star 8 Green that offers free ride waits for passengers in front of the Philippine International Convention Center Forum at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex in Pasay City. The modernized jeepney, which can travel up to 100 kilometers on a full battery charge, can seat 20 passengers. ALYSA SALEN

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Intramuros welcomed 1M Catholic faithful during Holy Week

An estimated crowd of 1 million visited Intramuros during the weeklong Lenten celebration. Photo courtesy D.O.T.

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

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HE heritage city of Intramuros received some 1 million visitors from both foreign and local shores this past Holy Week.

In a news statement, Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo said: “For a predominantly Catholic country like the Philippines, the Holy Week or Lenten season is a perfect time to reflect, repent and travel. We congratulate the Intramuros Administration (IA) and our Faith Tourism sector for the successful reopening of the Walled City for the Lenten season.”

Most prominent of the events was the revival of the Visita Iglesia, or the traditional visitation to seven churches, after 70 years. The practice was discontinued after World War II, after many of Intramuros’s churches were bombed and destroyed.

This year, IA administrator Guiller Asido was able to have some chapels in the resident universities opened to help pilgrims complete their Visita Iglesia within the city walls.

Pilgrims were able to make their traditional Maundy Thursday tradition by visiting the Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church, San Ignacio Church site, Guadalupe Shrine in Fort Santiago, Knights of Columbus Fr. Willman Chapel, Lyceum of the Philippines University Chapel and Mapua University Chapel.

There were Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) stations installed along General Luna Street, using a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion, following the Vatican II sanctioned New Way of the Cross.

A modern interpretation of the Senakulo or the dramatic presentation of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, entitled “Martir sa Golgota,” was staged by the Tanghalang Santa Ana theater ensemble directed by renowned stage and film actor Lou Veloso, in front of the Palacio del Gobernador.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) also supported the 2018 Lenten festival of Cainta, Rizal, which were highlighted by the traditional Lenten Grand Parade, senakulo, penitencia (Sacrifice), and Ang Pagpapako (The Crucifixion of Jesus). At least 17 per-

forming groups reenacted a particular scene of the Senakulo in front of the Cainta Plaza during the Lenten Grand Parade.

Among the groups that performed were the Samahang Nazareno Inc., Samahang Hebreo, Samahang Pasang Krus, Samahang Walang Sindak, Cainta Nazareno, Kabataang ng Kalbaryo Inc., Samahang Pieta, Krus Sa Nayon, Samahang Junior Nazareth, Samahang Penitencia and Romans Club.

Teo reiterated the DOT’s push for more faith-based tourism activities for the Catholic faithful from here and abroad. “We aim to capitalize on our unique Catholic festivals and Filipino traditions to pursue more Catholic pilgrims or faith tourists from Brazil, Mexico, the United States, Columbia and Spain, among others.”

According to the 2017 Annuario Pontificio, or Pontifical Yearbook, and the Vatican Statistical Yearbook, 82.2 million Filipinos considered themselves Catholics in 2015, accounting eight out of 10 Filipinos.

The Philippines is also ranked as the third country in the world with most Catholics following Brazil and Mexico, but remains the largest Catholic nation in Asia.

The number of Catholics around the world is projected to grow by an estimated 500 million by 2050 led

by Latin America with significant increases seen in developing countries in Sub-saharan Africa.

The rise of spiritual tourism in the Philippines is anchored on the diversity and richness of the churches and religious sites open to the public, the DOT said. Around 72 dioceses in 16 ecclesiastical provinces, as well as seven apostolic vicariantes, and practically a church in every town or village presents a wide selection for Catholic devotees.

“We will also highlight the numerous papal visits in the country with the head of the Catholic church as the focal influencer of pilgrimage and faith tourism,” Teo stressed.

Pope Paul VI visited the Philippines in 1970, while Pope John Paul II came in 1981 and 1995. In January 2015 the country made history for the world’s largest papal mass during the visit of Pope Francis, with an estimated crowd of 6 million.

San Miguel’s airport pitch advances to Neda Board by the Neda Board. But since this is the basis of negotiating for the original-proponent status, it is held in deepest secret,” Tungpalan said.

“It’s a commitment being made by the proponent. I have no basis to say yes or no. But it’s a commitment, and we hold the proponent to that commitment,” he added when asked whether the project will be completed by the time the President steps down from office.

Once approved by the Neda Board, the New Manila International Airport (NMIA) will be subjected to a Swiss challenge to

allow other interested parties to outbid the initial project proponent.

Other companies will be given 60 working days to match the proposal made by an original proponent. If there are no other proposals submitted, the project is granted to the original proponent.

“But, apart from the ROR [the reasonable rate of return], it’s important to bear in mind that there is minimum performance standards and specifications and key performance indicators that have to go with it,” Tungpalan said.

The nine projects approved

by the ICC, including the NMIA, amount to around P900 billion. These include the Subic-Clark Railway, 10 more bridges across Pasig River and a joint-venture (JV) project of the National Development Company (NDC).

The NDC will go into a JV to develop its property in Davao, which it aims to convert into an agro-industrial complex.

Tungpalan added the Chinese government is keen on financing an airport and the 10 bridges to be built across the Pasig River.

He said the government will

be meeting with Chinese officials on Wednesday to discuss infrastructure-financing activities, among others.

Earlier, the BusinessMirror reported that the NMIA project involves the construction, operation and maintenance of the new international airport in San Miguel’s 2,500-hectare property in Bulakan, Bulacan. The location of the proposed airport is a firstclass municipality that is 35 kilometers north of Metro Manila. As of 2015 the municipality has a current population of 76,565.

Of the total land area, around 1,138 hectares will be allocated for the actual airport. It will also have a 100-hectare government center area, with 1,132 hectares more reserved for other developments.

The airport will have two runways for domestic flights and two runways for international flights.

The design allows for an expansion of another two runways. The parallel runways will allow 240 movements per hour, or 60 movements per hour per runway.

Airport facilities will include air cargo, aircraft maintenance, cater-

Continued from a1

ing/flight kitchen, ground support, airport management and maintenance, rescue and fire-fighting services, police, fuel storage, an air-traffic control complex and fixed-based operators.

These facilities and project details come at a cost of P735.63 billion, using 2017 current prices. The bulk of the amount, or P641.53 billion, will be allocated as capital cost, particularly for land development, design, construction, contingency and insurance. The remaining P94.1 billion will be the financing cost for the project. Cai U. Ordinario