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Friday, April 21, 2017 Vol. 12 No. 190

Indicators point to solid Jan-March growth–MB

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By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

xpectations of strong economic growth continue to firm up, as the Monetary Board (MB) noted that early economic indicators point to another strong GDP expansion in the first three months of this year.

In the highlights of the MB’s latest meeting on Thursday, the seven-man monetary policy-making body of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said several so-called

high-frequency demand indicators show solid growth prospects for the first quarter.

“Latest indicators of domestic demand continue to point to firm

Latest indicators of domestic demand continue to point to firm growth prospects over the policy horizon.”

–Monetary Board

growth prospects over the policy horizon,” the BSP’s Monetary Board said. Among the indicators the MB cited were the continued increase in sales volume of automobiles and electricity, as well as the production volume in the manufacturing sector.

Continued on A2

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The merit of market independence Make Sense Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza

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ree markets serve as one of the levers for economic development.

If only the government adheres to the laissez-faire doctrine where there is minimal interference in the market by the State, free competition, a level-playing field and liberalization will truly be enhanced and institutionalized.

This very tenet became the foundation of the policy that would dramatically transform the landscape of the Philippine electricpower industry from a vertically integrated and monopolistic operating structure to a more competitive and transparent business model. In 2001 the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) was enacted, mandating the restructuring of the power sector and the establishment of a power bourse, the first of its kind in the country. This scenario basically allowed distribution utilities and big consumers to purchase their power requirements through bilateral contracts with generating companies or directly, on a real-time basis, from the power bourse…now commonly referred to as the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

Continued on A10

PSA slams DA chief for doubting rice data 7,950 MT

By Cai U. Ordinario @cuo_bm

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

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ISUZU’S STRENGTH This year’s edition of the Isuzu Truckfest formally opened on Thursday at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. Present during the opening ceremony are (from left) Centro Manufacturing Senior Sales Manager Vic Belezario, Isuzu Philippines Inc. Executive Vice President Shojiro Sakoda, Centro Manufacturing CEO Rommel Juan, Isuzu Philippines Inc. President Hajime Koso and Isuzu Philippines Inc. Sales Division Manager Joseph Bautista. The event will run until April 23. ALYSA SALEN

@jearcalas

he Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Thursday criticized the chief of the Department of Agriculture (DA) for questioning the accuracy and reliability of the rice-inventory data it releases periodically.

In an e-mail sent to BusinessMirror, the PSA said its data on rice stocks are based on various sources, namely, households, commercial and depositories of the National Food Authority (NFA).

PSA’s data on rice stocks are also released monthly and cover all provinces, except Batanes, and includes the National Capital Region, Zamboanga City and Davao City.

“Information on stocks from households is not affected by memory bias because of the regularity of the survey and because of the fact

The volume of rice procured by the NFA from farmers as of April 18

that stocking of rice is a common practice among households,” the PSA said. “[It is also] the only attempt to capture stocks of grain at the household level not only in the Philippines, but also in Southeast Asia,” it added.

The PSA said the Palay and Corn Stocks Survey undergoes quality control done through two levels of review—provincial and national. The data, which cover even urban households, are also readily available and accessible to all data users.

However, the PSA did recognize that there are areas of improvement Continued on A2

C.A. JUNKS PROPERTY CASE Eternal Gardens bares expansion as it honors top sales producers INVOLVING CARLOS FAMILY

By Rea Cu

By Joel R. San Juan

A

@jrsanjuan1573

NOTHER family feud over inheritance has resulted in a legal battle, this time involving former Tourism Secretary Vicente Carlos and his sibling Juan Carlos Jr. T he cont roversy stemmed from a complaint for perjury filed

by Carlos Jr. against his brother in-volving a house and lot on Morado Street in Dasmariñas Village with a market value of around P120 million.

In the complaint, Carlos Jr. alleged that he and his brother Vicente are stockholders of JC Realty and Building Corp., a real-estate firm.

As of January 2009, among the assets owned by JC Realty are the Dasmariñas property and a parcel of land in Baguio City with a market value of P5 million.

The said properties were left behind by their father Juan Carlos Sr. when he died on July 15, 2010.

Carlos Sr. was the president and chairman of JC Realty.

In April 2010 Carlos Jr. discovered that Vicente and his wife, Cristina Carlos, were able to cause the cancellation of the title over the Morado property and the issuance of a new one under their name over the said property by purportedly using fake and falsified secretary’s certificate dated July 29, 2009, and a deed of absolute sale dated July 16, 2009, wherein it was stated that the Morado property was sold by JC Realty, as represented by their father, to the spouses Carlos for the sum of P45 million.

For his part, Vicente claimed that he is the acting corporate secretary of JC Realty, thus, all the records of the corporation is under his custody.

Continued on A12

PESO exchange rates n US 49.7090

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@ReaCuBM

ternal Gardens, a company that operates in the memorial industry, has disclosed its plans to expand the number of its branches, aiming to open at least two more within the year, to further service the demand of Filipinos for memorial lots.

According to Eternal Gardens President and COO Numeriano B. Rodrin, the company is sure to open a branch in Cabuyao, Laguna, during the second quarter of the year, while it is also targeting to open another branch in the Batangas area, where the company has a strong market presence.

“We have 10 branches, but seven branches are actively selling lots, meaning we have a lot of inventory for sale. We have one in Baesa, and Biñan, fully soldout. And the latest is Balagtas, Batangas, also sold out. So right now, seven active branches selling our lot inventory,” Rodrin told the BusinessMirror on Wednesday

at the sidelines of the Eternal Gardens Grand Annual Awards Night at the Manila Grand Opera Hotel in Santa Cruz, Manila.

Rep. Mario Vittorio Mariño of the Fifth District of Batangas, which includes Batangas City, in his keynote speech, hailed the increased presence of Eternal Gardens in the province. To date, the company has three modern memorial parks in Batangas, including two in Batangas City’s Barangay Balagtas and Concepcion, and one in Lipa City.

Mariño noted that besides the memorial parks, the ALC Group of Companies, founded by the late Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, has acquired a property in the city that is now being developed as the city’s Grand Transport Terminal on Diversion Road, Barangay Alangilan, Batangas City, in partnership with the city government.

The congressman said the Ambassador immediately recognized the potentials of the property for job-generation projects when it Continued on A2

Rep. Mario Vittorio A. Mariño of the Fifth District of Batangas poses with top Eternal Gardens executives who presented a special gift to him as a token of appreciation following his keynote speech during the company’s Annual Awards Night for top sales producers on Wednesday. He is flanked by (from left) Numeriano B. Rodrin, Eternal Gardens president and COO; D. Edgard A. Cabangon, chairman of the board and CEO; D. Edward A. Cabangon, president of sister companies ALC Realty Corp. and ALC Industrial and Commercial Development Corp.; and Benjamin V. Ramos, vice chairman of Eternal Gardens. In his speech, Mariño thanked Eternal Gardens for investing in Batangas province, which now has three of the company’s memorial parks, two in Batangas City and one in Lipa City. ALYSA SALEN

n japan 0.4567 n UK 63.5331 n HK 6.3946 n CHINA 7.2168 n singapore 35.5496 n australia 37.2519 n EU 53.2533 n SAUDI arabia 13.2550

Source: BSP (20 April 2017 )

A2 Friday, April 21, 2017

BMReports BusinessMirror

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Indicators point to solid Jan-March growth–MB Continued from A1

Latest data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association showed a 23-percent increase in vehicle sales in the first quarter of the year, as March alone showed a 33percent jump in automobile sales.

The Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) monthly integrated survey of selected industries for February this year, meanwhile, showed that the volume of production index posted a 10.7-percent increase, faster than the 7.1-percent growth recorded in January.

“Strong national government

expenditure growth resulting form the initiatives of the Duterte administration to ramp up public spending as evident in the second semester of 2016 is also expected to provide a boost to the economy,” the MB also noted.

Other latest indicators of domestic demand, the MB noted, continue to “broadly point to firm growth prospects over the policy horizon”.

Among these other pointers include the Philippines’s composite Purchasing Mangers Index (PMI), which continued to remain in the expansion threshold as of the latest data.

In particular, regional business media organization Nikkei and

international think tank IHS Markit earlier said the Philippines’s PMI accelerated in March to 53.8 from the 53.6 in February.

The PMI is a composite index, calculated as a weighted average of five individual subcomponents.

Readings above 50 signal an improvement in business conditions on the previous month, while readings below 50 show deterioration.

The Philippines’s 53.8 PMI is above the Asean average PMI of 50.9 in March. It is also the second- highest PMI for the month in the region, next to Vietnam, with a 54.6 PMI during the period.

The BSP also said the business community—as shown in its quar-

terly survey of firms nationwide— continued to show “steady and positive” optimism for the economic prospects for the first quarter of 2017 and the next quarter.

Ind icators st ud ied by t he central bank’s MB back the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) optimism on the Philippine economy, which the IMF projects to grow 6.8 percent for this year.

For next year, the IMF said it sees the Philippines putting in a 6.9-percent growth.

With regard to prospects in the global economy, the MB said it sees improvement in overall economic activity and inflation.

“The pace of economic activity

PSA slams DA chief for doubting rice data in the statistics. But these were more “cosmetic”, such as the use of technology for data collection, like tablets. “PSA puts [the data] together one month after reference period e.g., 1st of April stocks is released first week of May,” PSA Deputy National Statistician of the Sectoral Statistics Office Romeo Recide told the BusinessMirror.

Recide was also the former head of the Bureau of Agriculture Statistics before it was placed under the supervision of the PSA in 2012.

The PSA is the country’s main statistical agency. It combined the National Statistics Office, National Statistical Coordination Board, Bureau of Agriculture Statistics and the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics into one agency.

The PSA’s current head is National Statistician Lisa Grace Bersales. She was appointed by former President Benigno S. Aquino III in April 2014 as the country’s first PSA National Statistician.

The PSA was created through Republic Act 10625, otherwise known as the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013, which became effective in

December 2013.

Its primary objectives are to rationalize and promote efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of statistical services and maintain an integrated statistical system characterized by independence, objectivity and integrity so as to enhance responsiveness to the requirements of equitable national development.

It also aims to promote the orderly development of a statistical system capable of providing timely, accurate and useful data for the government and the public, and support decentralization through the establishment of the statistical infrastructure necessary to service the statistical needs of local development planning.

‘Inspection not needed’

The NFA on Thursday said there was no immediate need to conduct the mandatory inspection of warehouses as they have yet to receive reports of rice hoarding.

“It’s not yet needed at the moment. But if we see that the situation calls for it [mandatory inspection] or we feel that there’s already

hoarding, then we can do it,” NFA Spokesman Marietta Ablaza told the BusinessMirror.

“But so far, there’s no such situation yet. The NFA conducts monthly surveys of warehouse inventory and we do not see evidence of hoarding,” Ablaza added.

The NFA official made the statement in reaction to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol’s pronouncement that he would seek the creation of a task force to conduct a mandatory inspection of all warehouses in the country to come up with a “more accurate” rice inventory.

Piñol also said the PSA’s rice inventory is “not accurate” as the government’s major statistical agency did not take into account rice being smuggled into the country.

“If there are suspicions that there is rice hoarding then there’s no problem about it. He can initiate the inspection as we in the NFA usually conduct inspections if there’s possible hoarding,” Ablaza said.

T he env isioned task force, which will be spearheaded by the DA, would include the NFA, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Bureau of Internal Revenue,

the Bureau of Customs, National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police and the PSA, according to Piñol.

Ablaza disclosed that the current rice stock of the NFA is already below the mandated 15-day consumption requirement.

“That’s why we are pushing for the importation of rice in preparation for the lean months,” she said.

Ablaza, however, refused to disclose the exact rice stocks of the agency, as this could encourage speculation among unscrupulous traders. “The NFA does not generally divulge data during this time, when the situation is tight because it might cause speculation in the market, resulting in higher rice prices, which could affect consumers,” she said.

The latest report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that rice inventory in NFA depositories as of March 1, pegged at 396,970 metric tons (MT), is good for 12 days.

The NFA official also said the food agency is not on-track with its palay procurement target for the January-to-April period, as

in the US, euro area and Japan remained steady, while production improved in China and India. The sharp increase in energy prices led to higher inflation in the US and euro area, while the uptick in the prices of food, tobacco and liquor pushed inflation up in China,” the central bank said in the highlights of the monetarypolicy meeting.

“Stronger growth, along with stronger inflationary pressures, including higher commodity prices, are seen to affect the future stance of monetary policy in advanced economies,” the BSP added.

This assessment also parallels IMF’s improved projection of the

Continued from a1

private traders willingly bought paddy rice at a higher price.

As of April 18, Ablaza said the NFA has only purchased 13 percent, or some 159,000 50-kilogram bags of palay, of its procurement target of 1.2 million bags. The 159,000 50kg bags is equivalent to 7,950 MT. “That’s why we’re pushing for the importation because we cannot buy from the farmers,” she said.

The food agency targets to buy 4,607,350 50-kg bags of palay, or 230,675.5 MT this year. The NFA’s 2017 palay procurement target is more than double the 107,877 MT volume of palay it bought from farmers last year.

The NFA buys clean and dry palay at P 17/kg. The food agency gives an additional incentive of P0.200.50/kg for delivery, P0.20/kg for drying and P0.30 for cooperative development incentive fund (CDIF) for farmers’ organizations.

PSA data showed that the farmgate price of palay as of second week of palay continued to increase, reaching P18.71/kg. Based on monitoring by NFA field offices, there are provinces where palay were bought at P22/kg.

world economy, as it recently upped its forecast from 3.4 percent to 3.5 percent for the year.

In its latest meeting in March, the BSP maintained all policy levers on hold and unchanged. The BSP is set to meet again on May 11 for its third monetary-policy setting for the year.

The MB emphasized that domestic economic activity is projected to stay firm, supported by buoyant household consumption and private investment, increased government spending and ample credit and liquidity.

The PSA, meanwhile, will be releasing the country’s GDP numbers in mid-May.

Eternal Gardens bares expansion as it honors top sales producers Continued from A1

was offered to him. The 2.5-hectare property now has the Isuzu dealership Isuzu Gencars Batangas, Planbank and several other companies under the ALC Group.

He paid tribute to the ambassador’s strong entrepreneurial spirit, saying it was not only profitability that drove the ALC Group founder to open up companies, but also his passion to render service to countrymen through his companies.

He called on the officers and staff and sales force of Eternal Gardens to preserve and keep alive the ambassador’s legacy of commitment to excellence in products and service offered to Filipino families.

More than 60 sales associates and executives were honored for top sales production in various categories. They include Helen Abesa, top general agency manager; Nayda Cuenca, top regular unit manager, who is also the Rookie of the Year for the same category; and Cynthia Leycano, top regular sales counselor.

Another Rookie of the Year awardee was Domnina Livra Franzuela for the regular sales counselor category. For the Garden League category, the awardees were Ma. Theresa Manlapig, top league manager; and Rachelle Anne Manlapig, top regular sales counselor.

Aside from Batangas City, Eternal Gardens also has branches in Baesa, Caloocan City; and in the cities of Biñan and Santa Rosa in Laguna; Lipa, Dagupan, Cabanatuan, Naga and Cagayan de Oro City (Greenhills Park).

The branch expansion is just one of the many programs that the company is trying to achieve this year. Eternal Gardens is also well into diversifying its projects, namely, the offering of funeral services aside from the sale of memorial lots.

Rodrin said, “Right now, we are diversifying projects, in fact, we already opened funeral services or mortuary services. We have already a crematory in four of our branches Baesa, Batangas City, Biñan and Dagupan. In fact, we already opened the Cagayan de Oro City funeral and mortuary services.”

According to Eternal Gardens Vice President for Finance Marvin C. Timbol, the company has incentive programs to further encourage its employees to work hard and sell more lots to further drive its sales collections.

“Right now, we have this branch excellence award, so for each category, like finance, part of the criteria is to hit their installment goal. So for each branch we set installment goals, like if you have 100 accounts, you have to collect at least 85 of those accounts to reach your goal.

It has a corresponding prices if you reach your target so it becomes a motivation,” Timbol said.

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Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Friday, April 21, 2017 A3

Marcos asks PET to junk Robredo’s counterprotest

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By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

ORMER Sen. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday asked the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, to junk the counter-election protest filed by Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo after she failed to pay the required P8-million initial installment that was ordered by the court for her protest to prosper.

“In view of the failure on the part of the protestee-counterprotestant to pay the first tranche of the cash deposit for her counter protest within the deadline set by this Honorable Tribunal, protestant Marcos is now constrained to move for the immediate dismissal of the counter-protest,” Marcos said in an eight-page omnibus motion filed through his lawyer George Erwin Garcia before the PET.

On March 21 the SC ordered Marcos to pay P66,223,000, while Robredo was directed to pay P15,639,000.

The first payment was supposed to have been paid on or before April 14, but was moved to April 17, since Good Friday fell on that day. The second payment is set on July 14.

On April 17 Marcos was able to comply and deposited P36,023,000 in the form of a cashier’s check with

the SC’s Cash Collection and Disbursement Division.

However, Robredo d id not pay P8 million and instead filed a Manifestation with urgent exparte omnibus motion for clarification and for reconsideration of the March 21 resolution.

Marcos argued that Robredo’s filing of a manifestation with urgent ex-parte omnibus motion does not excuse her from paying the cash deposit since the same is “obviously dilatory”.

“Robredo’s intention to further delay the proceedings in this case is evident from the arguments raised in her latest submission. Protestant Marcos finds it quite ironic that Robredo would ask for the deferment of the payment of her cash deposit even though she had already expressed her conformity and willingness to pay the same in the manifestation with urgent ex-parte omnibus motion,” Garcia added.

Robredo won by 263,473 votes over Marcos in the vice-presidential race in the May 2016 elections.

Marcos questioned the results in several provinces consisting of 662 towns and their component cities, and the 2,537 clustered precincts from five highly urbanized cities.

Group raps NHA for unoccupied houses

By Marvyn N. Benaning Correspondent

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HE Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) has scored a point in its tiff with the National Housing Authority (NHA), as the agency confessed beneficiaries of unoccupied houses in Bulacan were never consulted about the projects.

NHA officials earlier admitted that they never met with the beneficiaries to discuss the project design, its amortization scheme and the provision of utilities.

Gloria Arellano, Kadamay national chairman, said the money for the shelter projects came from the Disbursement Acceleration Plan (DAP) of the Aquino administration that the Supreme Court had ruled as illegal and unconstitutional.

She noted that the Pandi projects were part of the housing program for the members of the Armed Forces and the National Police signed by then-President Benigno S. Aquino III in 2011.

The target of the NHA was 21,800 units to be completed at a cost of P4.2 billion, but, according to the Housing

and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), the cost has ballooned to P20.78 billion.

Arellano said a total of 52,341 housing units for the soldiers and policemen are unoccupied.

Only 13 percent of the houses earmarked for policemen and soldiers have been occupied, with the beneficiaries claiming the shelters were badly designed and the materials used were substandard. In addition, there were no water or power facilities and the communities drainage and lacked were far from their work stations.

Ramos to launch new book on RPDEV

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N celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Ramos Peace and Development Foundation (RPDEV), Media Touchstone Ventures Inc. is set to launch former President Fidel V. Ramos’s newest and continuing saga of RPDEV, titled RPDEV @ 15: Our Continuing Voyage for Enduring Peace and Sustainable Development, at 3 p.m. on April 21 at the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewage System (MWSS), Katipunan Road, Balara, Diliman, Quezon City.

MWSS Administrator Reynaldo V. Velasco takes pride in hosting the book launching on the eve of the global celebration of Earth Day on April 22, saying, “It’s the opportune time to pay tribute to the enduring legacies of former President Ramos as an environmentalist, Chief Executive and in the water-supply development with the successful

public-private partnership project on water-supply development of the MWSS with the concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad during his administration.”

The book, written by Melandrew T. Velasco, the family biographer of Ramos, guides the readers in looking back at RPDEV Foundation’s accomplishments in the first 15 years of its unique voyage.

The book memorializes the multifaceted activities RPDEV has continued to pursue as part of its mission and advocacies, notably patriotism anchored on caring, sharing and daring; sustainable environment and development; weapons of mass upliftment (WMUs) for a better world; enduring peace and global security; good governance and leadership; socioeconomic and global diplomacy; and, continuing

vision and voyage for a better Philippines and world.

“As I review the accomplishments of RPDEV the past 15 years, I find solace in the thought that I made the right decision: that upon stepping down from the presidency in June 1998, I embarked on a continuing voyage for enduring peace and sustainable development,” Ramos said.

“I always remember with gratitude the readiness shown by my former cabinet members and other coworkers in the government to join me in this voyage. And I feel fulfilled when I see my fellow Filipinos here and there, even those settled abroad, extending assistance in ways that are meaningful so that we can bring our unfortunate countrymen to a better future through activities that RPDEV initiates, promotes and pursues.”

Immigration to deport 55 Chinese wanted in Beijing

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HE Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Thursday said it would deport the 55 Chinese that it arrested this week inside the free-port zone in Mariveles, Bataan, and who are wanted by authorities in Beijing for economic crimes.

BI Commissioner Jaime H. Morente said the bureau’s legal division already filed charges of violation of immigration laws against the Chinese for being undocumented aliens and posing risk to public safety and security.

He said the passports used by the 55 have been canceled by the Chinese government, which sought their deportation owing to their involvement in cyber fraud and illegal cyber gambling in the Philippines and in China.

“Our Board of Commissioners will soon issue a summary deportation order against them after which they will be flown to China to stand trial for their crimes,” Morente said, adding that the 55 will also be placed on the immigration blacklist to prevent them from returning to the Philippines.

It can be recalled that operatives from the BI fugitive search unit arrested the Chinese at the Bataan free-port area, where they allegedly operated an online gaming business.

Acting Immigration Associate Commissioner Jose Carlitos Licas said the operation coincided with a similar crackdown of their accomplices by authorities in China that resulted in the arrest of undetermined number of suspects.

Licas said the operations were carried out after months of intensive surveillance

by Chinese authorities and BI agents on the activities of the members of the gambling syndicate here and in China.

He added that the operation was coordinated with officials of the Bataan Freeport Authority and the police attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Manila.

The 55 are held at the BI detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, Taguig City, pending deportation proceedings. Joel R. San Juan

Duterte declines UP honorary degree

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RESIDENT D u terte has declined to accept the offer of an honora r y d e g re e from the University of the Ph i l ippi nes (UP), saying that accepti ng aw a rd s is not in his personality.

“With due respect sa University of duterte t he Phi l ip pines, I do not accept even when I was mayor. Hindi ako tumatanggap, I do not… As a matter of personal and official policy, I do not accept awards. Wala sa pagkatao ko,” the President told reporters following the Association of Southeast Asian Nations security briefing in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, on Wednesday.

“Hindi ko naman nire-reject. But I…to use the word reject is not good. I simply declined,” Duterte said.

The UP Board of Regents (BOR), the university’s highest policy-making body, is reportedly keen on conferring Duterte the honorary doctor of laws degree as part of tradition.

However, some sectors are opposing the move due to alleged human-rights violations in the campaign against drugs.

Earlier, Malacañang said the President was not angling for any awards but might accept the honorary degree if offered.

Following the development, Duterte became the third president to decline the conferment.

Former Presidents Joseph E. Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have both declined honorary degrees from UP. PNA

Economy

A4 Friday, April 21, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

Duterte economic team readies pitch for PHL growth, infra in US meeting

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By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

he President’s economic team will be meeting with credit-rating agencies in Washington this week, according to National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia recently told reporters these meetings will be done at the sidelines of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in the United States.

“We’ll of course highlight the positive tidings and good plans moving forward. Central Bank Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., [Finance] Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran and [Neda] Undersecretary Rolando G.Tungpalan will be with me,” Pernia said.

Among the positive developments and plans to be discussed are the strong growth of the economy,

which is expected to reach 7 percent in the first quarter of the year.

This growth will be boosted by the government’s plans to undertake P8.4 trillion-worth of infrastructure projects under the Duterte administration.

The infrastructure projects include a list of 55 to as much as 75 flagship projects that are yet to be presented to the President. The list will be finalized in the Neda Board meeting in May. Pernia said these projects will ensure that the economy’s high growth trajectory will be sustained by the current administration.

The Duterte administration tar-

gets a 6.5 to 7.5 percent in 2017 and 7 to 8 percent annually between 2018 and 2022.

The Philippines’s economic growth has steadily increased to 6.9 percent in 2016 from an average of 2 percent between 1980 and 1989; 2.8 percent between 1990 and 1999; 4.5 percent between 2000 and 2009; and 6.2 percent in 2010 to 2015.

“The Philippine economy has been very resilient, growing at 6 percent plus during periods of distress in our major trading partners. With our partners facing higher growth, we expect more growth drivers to perk up the economy,” Beltran said.

Neda estimates that the Duterte administration will be able to create an average of 1.6 million jobs every

year between 2017 and 2022.

This is based on the Neda’s estimation of the impact of the Duterte administration’s infrastructure spending, which could increase the annual average additional gross value added (GVA) to GDP to 3.4 percent.

The Neda estimates the government’s public infrastructure spending will create 106,824 jobs in 2017; some 823,696 jobs in 2018; around 1.12 million in 2019; 1.23 million in 2020; 1.399 million in 2021; and 1.705 million by 2022.

Data showed additional GVA will be 0.3 percent in 2017; around 2.6 percent in 2018; some 3.5 percent in 2019; another 3.9 percent in 2020; an addition of 4.4 percent in 2021; and 5.4 percent by 2022.

The Philippine economy has been very resilient, growing at 6 percent plus during periods of distress in our major trading partners. With our partners facing higher growth, we expect more growth drivers to perk up the economy.”—Beltran

Manila sets signing of new Vietnam and Russia JECs

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he Philippines is set to sign new Joint Economic Commissions (JECs) with Vietnam and Russia next week, Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo Jr. said in a briefing on Thursday.

Rodolfo said a JEC with Vietnam is crucial for the country, as it can take advantage of the Asean neighbor’s free-trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union and its participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.

He said the focus of the dialogue with Vietnam will be the cooperation on how to facilitate Vietnam’s excess capacity in some critical products like garments, in anticipation of its trade deals.

“We can talk on how we can cooperate in the excess capacity. For example, we can produce the garments here because that’s labor intensive, and we are also after job generation, then we export it to United States and EU,” the trade official said in Filipino.

He added that the JEC with Vietnam is aligned with the country’s VIP (Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines) strategy in the region, that aims to boost economic cooperation with the three Asean member-states, which account for half or up to twothirds of the Asean market.

On the other hand, the JEC with Russia focuses on cooperation in sectors of infrastructure, energy, hightechnology industries and aerospace.

In January Rodolfo had a bilateral meeting with Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alexander Tsybulskiy where they discussed the JEC between the two countries that will be signed next week.

Rodolfo also said Russia has committed to purchase $2.5 billion worth of agricultural products from the Philippines.

He noted most of the commodities that will be imported from the Philippines soon are products that are currently shipped from South America.

Vladivostok, Russia’s major port city, is nearer to the Philippines than South America, Rodolfo pointed out.

He added the purchase deal is viable for agricultural products coming from Mindanao. PNA with Catherine N. Pillas

Fruits of summer

A young girl picks her honeydew fruit at a roadside stall in Santa Ana, Pampanga. The town north of Pampanga is one of the top producers of a number summer fruit varieties in Central Luzon, ranging from melons to star apples. Nonie Reyes

briefs d.o.e. okays g.i.s. for 7 power projects THE Department of Energy (DOE) has cleared seven power projects for the conduct of a grid impact study (GIS).

These proposed projects could generate a total of 562 megawatts (MW) of installed power capacity.

A clearance for the conduct of a GIS is necessary for a power firm before it can proceed with the construction of its power project.

Based on the agency’s latest list as of March 2017 the following power projects received the green light: The Currimao Solar Energy Corp.’s Talisay wind power project (150 MW) in Camarines Norte, Talim wind power project (140 MW) and Calatagan wind power project (80 MW) in Batangas. The DOE issued its approval for all wind projects on March 3.

The 22 MW Capas solar power plant in Tarlac will be undertaken by Simdicatum C-Solar Power Inc. which received DOE approval on March 8.

The 30 MW battery energy storage of Silay Global Energy Solutions in Negros Occidental, meanwhile, received its approval on March 23.

Pilipinas Newton Energy Corp.’s 70 MW San Manuel 1 solar project and the 70 MW San Manuel 2 solar project of Pilipinas Einstein Energy Corp., which are both located in Pangasinan, were approved to proceed with the conduct of the GIS on March 23.

In all, the DOE approved 22 applications of power projects for the conduct of GIS in the first quarter of the year.

All proposed projects from January to March this year could generate a total of 2,230.53 MW of installed power capacity. Lenie Lectura

cavite still most populous province

TRECE MARTIRES CITY, Cavite—Provincial officials from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Cavite still tops as the country’s most populous province due to its rapid birthrate and migration factors.

In an interview with the PNA on Wednesday, Sergio U. Legaspi, PSA-Cavite statistical specialist II and Allan Benitez, DILG provincial director, attributed the growing number of Cavite inhabitants to its annual population growth rate (PGR) of 3.37 percent during the period 2010 to 2015.

Legaspi said Cavite’s population as of the 2015 census was placed at 3.68 million, and it is projected to reach 4,200,891 this year given the rapid birth rate and the migration spillover to the province from Metro Manila residents.

Given the annual population growth, the figure could reach 4,822,580 in 2020, retaining it as the country’s still fastest growing province based on projection, Legaspi added.

As of the 2015 census Cavite as the most populous with 3.68 million people was followed by Bulacan at 3.29 million, Laguna with 3.04 million and 24 other provinces that surpassed the one-million population mark.

Meanwhile DILG provincial director Benitez said they have also assessed continuing migration of people from the National Capitol Region due to Cavite’s proximity to Metro Manila.

Benitez said the local government units (LGUs) in Cavite reported of some 30,000 individuals, mostly informal settlers, who are now relocated in Naic, Cavite, while about 2,000 families were relocated in Hugo Perez in Trece Martires City, Cavite. PNA

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Slash corporate income-tax rate, legislate profit sharing–lawmaker

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

A

deputy minority leader on Thursday called for the passage of the proposals slashing corporate income-tax rate from 30 percent to 25 percent, and the proposed Profit-Sharing Act. Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza said corporations should be able to pay their employees higher wages once Congress slashes the corporate income-tax rate from 30 percent to 25 percent.

“Corporations are bound to generate substantial cost savings from the 5-percentage-point cut in the applicable income-tax rate, and we are counting on them to use some of the extra money to help raise the living standards of their workers through higher salaries, as well as nonwage benefits,” Atienza said.

“In fact, once we’ve lowered the income-tax rate, we are hoping that many corporations will start voluntarily adopting the profit-sharing plan for employees that we’ve been proposing,” he added.

Atienza, citing a study, said the reduction in corporate income-tax rate to 25 percent would “immediately lead to a 7-percent increase in corporate earnings”.

“Based on public records, we estimate that the 1,000 largest corporations [by gross revenue] alone raked in an aggregate net income of P1.5 trillion in 2016. Using the projected 7-percent rise in earnings due to the tax cut, the top 1,000 firms would enjoy a P105-billion increase in their combined net profit,” Atienza said.

“We are hopeful that firms will use most, if not some, of the new money to provide superior compensation to their employees,” he said.

According to Atienza, another potential beneficiary of the lower corporate income-tax rate would be jobs creation, saying that corporations could also choose to spend some of their savings from the tax cut to enlarge their operations, thus helping to create new jobs.

“We certainly hope that firms will not just use all of their spare earnings from the tax reduction to

simply pay more dividends to their shareholders,” Atienza said.

The proposed reduction in the corporate income-tax rate is part of the Duterte administration’s strategy to establish a new tax regime that is simpler, fairer and more efficient. The corporate income-tax rate is included to the second tax-reform package of the administration.

T he ad m inist rat ion’s f irst tax-reform package, meanwhile, seeks to lower personal income-tax rates, expand the value-added tax (VAT) base, adjust excise taxes on petroleum and automobiles and ease the rates of estate and donor’s taxes.

Sharing

Meanwhile, Atienza also urged the leadership of the lower chamber to pass his House Bill (HB) 2625, or proposed Profit-Sharing Act. Atienza said his proposal seeks to require all corporations to distribute at least 10 percent of their annual net income to their employees as profit share.

Under HB 2625, the amount handed out by a corporation as the 10-percent profit share of its employees shall be treated as tax credit that may be used to pay for the firm’s income-tax obligations the following year.

The bill said shared profit shall not affect or diminish in any way the salaries, 13th-month pay and other existing statutory, as well as collective bargaining agreement (CBA)-specified benefits enjoyed by employees.

The measure added that the total amount given by the company through profit sharing shall be tax creditable to his income-tax return.

Atienza said the bill seeks to help the people from this economic improvement by making sure this trickles down to our daily-wage earners.

“This profit sharing program would be derived from the net profit made by all companies, rather than increasing the minimum daily wage, which may not be feasible at this time. This measure might have more far-reaching effects on laborers and workers, and would encourage them to work harder for the successful operation of their companies,” he added.

Corporations are bound to generate substantial cost-savings from the 5-percentage-point cut in the applicable income-tax rate, and we are counting on them to use some of the extra money to help raise the living standards of their workers through higher salaries as well as non wage benefits.”—Atienza

SBMA bares plan to build ₧140-B industrial zone in Subic Freeport

By Catherine N. Pillas @c_pillas29

T

he Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is charting an ambitious plan to develop an industrial zone as part of a broader P140-billion development project in the area.

Speaking at the sidelines of the Dutertenomics forum held at the Conrad Hotel in Pasay, SBMA Chairman Martin Diño said there are plans for a major industrial zone in an area near the Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines in Subic Freeport zone.

“There’s an area we’d like to convert into another Subic development.

It’ll create another 150,000 jobs, with, say some 1,500 locators. In the master plan we’re building for Subic, we want to have roads and access to it,” Diño said, referring to his P140billion proposed project, dubbed as the Greater Subic Bay Freeport Multimodal Transport, Access and Logistics Support Project.

The project covers four com-

ponents, aside from the new industrial zone: 1) The creation of two new container terminals in the Port of Subic to add another 600,000 TEU capacity to the existing two terminals and further development of the Naval Supply Depot Compound and Bulk Cargo Port facilities; 2) Construction of a bypass road linking the seaport terminals in the Freeport to the SCTEX including road expansion; 3) Construction of a multimodal elevated expressway from Subic Bay to the Port of Manila; and 4) Upgrading of the Subic airport.

According to Diño, 900 hectares of the 3,000-hectare land to be transformed into an industrial zone has already been allotted to a foreign developer, Dynamic Konstruk Enterprises for an undisclosed project cost.

Two components of the project have reportedly been endorsed by the National Economic and Development Authority, but is still awaiting the approval of President Duterte.

Long Live the Queen A BusinessMirror Special Feature

Friday, April 21, 2017 A5

Queen Elizabeth II remains popular and relevant as ever (international code name Haiyan).

Known as The Princess Royal, Anne’s visit was part of her charity work for Save the Children. The British organization has been working in the Philippines for over three decades, providing emergency and long-term support to improve the quality of life for children.

The Queen Mother, on the other hand endears herself with the Filipinos as news of her show support for Philippine President Rodrigo Roa-Duterte.

“The Philippines is now reforming in the hands of President Duterte.

Who would have thought that, one day, a simple ordinary man would rise and shine? Who would have thought that one day, Philippines will get a brave and intelligent man like Mr. Duterte.” Queen Elizabeth was quoted saying this.

“I am convinced that Duterte will raise the Philippines from grass to the grace. The world needs such leaders and the Philippines government should not hesitate to work with the United Kingdom,” the Queen added.

By Leony Garcia

Sweet granny, head of the royal family

PRINCE William, in his speech

R

OYAL fans from all over the United Kingdom and around the world are one in greeting and wishing good health and long life for Queen Elizabeth II’s 91st birthday on April 21.

But, like in her past birthdays, the celebration is a private affair, although gun salutes mark the occasion. This is so because the Queen also has an official birthday on a Saturday in June every year, which is widely celebrated in Britain.

The British monarch’s birthday celebrations have often been held on a day that is not her actual birthday. The tradition is linked to the unreliable British weather because the Royal family want to hold the grand royal birthday parade in the summer.

The Queen’s official birthday in June is always celebrated with a military parade known as Trooping the Colour on Horse Guards Parade in London. After Trooping the Colour, the Royal family traditionally gather to watch a military fly-past from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

The Queen’s Birthday Honours list is published around the time of her official birthday celebration in the summer.

The Queen has reigned for more

than 63 years and shows no sign of retiring, even if she has, in recent years, passed on some of her duties to the younger royals.

Her heir Prince Charles and his son William are increasingly taking over the Queen’s duties, although she still carried out 341 engagements in 2015, including state visits to Malta and Germany.

Last year, a poll suggested the British public want it to stay that way, with 70 percent saying she should reign for as long as possible, the highest proportion since 1981 while support for the monarchy remains high at 76 percent.

Why does the Queen remain popular and relevant as ever?

ENTERING her 10th decade, the Queen has always been one to embrace modern technology. She has been using a mobile phone since 2001 and her grandsons Princes William and Harry have shown her how to send and receive text messages.

The Queen also surprised the netizens with her first tweet in October 2014 when she was visiting London’s Science Museum to officially open their Information Age exhibition.

She wrote: “It is a pleasure to open the Information Age exhibition today at the @ScienceMuseum and I hope people will enjoy visiting. Elizabeth R.” She posted her second-ever tweet to thank fans worldwide for the birthday wishes she received on social media last year. The then 90-year-old monarch wrote and personally sent the message herself, with photo evidence proving that she did.

Writing from the comfort of her home Buckingham Palace in London, the Queen tweeted: “I am most grateful for the many digital messages of goodwill I have received and would like to thank you all for your kindness. Elizabeth R.” An aide confirmed in a follow-up post: “This tweet was personally sent

by Her Majesty The Queen.”

Earlier in April last year, the nation also praised Her Majesty for her socialmedia presence when she appeared in a jokey video with her grandson Prince Harry to promote the Invictus Games.

The good-natured monarch was seen giving a smirk and saying “Oh, really?” after the Obamas “threatened” Team GB with their “fight talk”.

In the Philippines, the nearest we had experience of the monarch’s touch was through the Queen’s only daughter, Princess Anne, who visited communities in Leyte in March 2015 to meet with the survivors of Supertyphoon Yolanda

at the Queen’s birthday last year, added a personal touch to proceedings at the Patron’s Lunch.

Taking to the Admiralty Arch Stage on the Mall, William thanked his “granny” for everything she does for her grandchildren and greatgrandchildren in a moving tribute.

After talking to the 10,000-strong crowd about his grandmother and the work she has done as Patron of over 600 charities, William turned his attention to the role she has as head of the royal family.

“My family has had plenty of reason to celebrate since The Queen turned 90 in April: The Queen’s strong health and relentless energy; her sharp wit and famous sense of humor; and the fact that The Queen remains very much at the helm of our family, our nation and the Commonwealth.

The Queen at 90 is the one Head of State that world leaders can turn to for a first-hand perspective of the arc of history over the last six decades. At 90, The Queen is the leader of our country, who we all look up to in good times and in challenging moments to set an example, and to guide the way ahead.

But the reason we are here today is to celebrate a role that matters just as much to The Queen as the one that she holds on the world stage. We are here to celebrate The Queen as Patron. Her commitment to the more than 600 charities to which she lends her name and support is unwavering.

From national military and sporting bodies, to small local associations, to charities that champion children, faith, education and arts, The Queen’s pride in her role as your Patron is absolute.

“Through The Queen’s association with you, she is not just shining a spotlight on the individual causes you care about; she is reminding us all that being active and engaged in society has virtue in its own right. Service to those around you is what unites you all.” William said in his speech.

William with his wife Kate and two young children has brought fresh energy to the royals.

“I am incredibly lucky to have my grandmother in my life. As she turns 90, she is a remarkably energetic and dedicated guiding force for her family,” William said.

A8

Friday, April 21, 2017

The World BusinessMirror

Early results show defeat W for Jakarta’s Christian gov

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

Trump adviser Page’s visit to Moscow got FBI’s attention

J

AKARTA, Indonesia—Unofficial results showed the minority Christian governor of the Indonesian capital was resoundingly defeated on Wednesday by his Muslim challenger who swept up votes by appealing to a growing conservatism in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

So - c a l led qu ic k cou nts by 10 researc h companies show former Cabinet Minister Anies Baswedan winning between 55 percent and 60 percent of votes with more than 80 percent of ballots counted.

Incumbent Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama is on trial for bl asphemy, a nd hund reds of thousands protested against him in Jakarta, deriding his Chinese ancestry and calling for him to be imprisoned or killed.

Baswedan, highly educated and with a moderate Muslim background, capitalized on the backlash against Ahok by courting the support of conservative clerics and figures on the radical fringe who opposed electing a non-Muslim.

The polarizing campaign gave hard-line Islamic groups a national stage and has undermined Indonesia’s reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam.

Ahok’s defeat is a setback for his political patron, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who on Thursday hosts Vice President Mike Pence on the Indonesian leg of an Asian tour.

Ahok’s rival Baswedan was supported by the political and business elite that Jokowi unexpectedly bested in the 2014 presidential election and who will be seeking to unseat him in 2019.

Ahok congratulated Baswedan on his apparent victory and urged Indonesians to forget the acrimony of the campaign. Baswedan told reporters that he is committed to maintaining the diversity of Jakarta and will emphasize social justice.

Ahok, who was Jakarta’s first

ethnic Chinese governor and first Christian in half a century, has been popular with middleclass Jakartans for his efforts to stamp out corruption and make the overflowing polluted capital more livable.

But his brash manner and evictions of slum communities alienated many in the city of 10 million.

Opponents seized their moment last year when a v ideo sur faced of A hok tel ling voters they were being deceived if they believed a specific verse in the Quran prohibited Muslims from electing a non-Muslim as leader. Hard-line groups drew huge crowds to protests in Ja k ar ta, sha k ing Jokow i ’s centr ist gover nment. He was accused of blasphemy.

Opinion polls released earlier in the week seriously miscalled the outcome of Wednesday’s vote, showing Baswedan and Ahok neckand-neck.

In the west Jakarta neighborhood of Kebon Jeruk, Annisa Karolina, a 29-year-old restaurant cashier, said voting for a non-Muslim would be a sin, but she also believes Jakarta will be better run without Ahok.

A couple standing near her at the polling booth nodded in agreement. “Yes, we need a new governor, a well-mannered Muslim governor who isn’t protycoons and businessmen, but who is also helping the poor,” one of them, Faturrachman, said.

More than 7 million people were eligible to vote, and thousands of police and military personnel were deployed to secure the 13,000-plus polling places.

Jakarta Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama (left) speaks to the media with his deputy and running mate Djarot Saiful Hidayat (right) during a press conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 19. Unofficial results showed the minority Christian governor was resoundingly defeated on Wednesday by his Muslim challenger, after a campaign that cracked open religious and racial divides in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. AP/Dita Alangkara

Prosecutors seek two years probation for Jakarta gov

Prosecu tor s on T hu rsd ay recommended two years of probation for Ahok, who is on trial for blaspheming the Quran.

The relatively light sentencing demand comes a day after Ahok was swept out of office by a landslide election victory for a Muslim rival backed by conservative clerics. The maximum penalty for blasphemy in Muslim-majority Indonesia is five years in prison. Prosecutors recommended one year prison if Ahok violates his probation.

Pence praises Indonesia’s democratic, tolerant values

V ic e P re s id e nt M i k e Pe nce praised Indonesia’s democracy and moderate form of Islam after meeting on Thursday with the president of the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

The comments, though routine, had significance for Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who, the day before, suffered a serious political setback when a political ally was defeated

by Islamic conservatives in the election for Jakarta governor.

The divisive campaign undermined the image of Indonesia abroad as a generally tolerant Muslim nation.

Indonesia is the latest stop on an Asian tour by Pence that is reinforcing traditional United States alliances at a time when Donald J. Trump’s presidency has raised questions about the strength of

the US commitment to the region.

Pence said at a joint press conference with Jokowi that the US wants to strengthen its strategic partnership with Indonesia. In brief comments, Jokowi said they agreed to boost cooperation.

The vice president praised Indonesia for the moderate form of Islam it practices and said the two countries would continue to cooperate on combating terrorism. The US and Indonesia share democratic values, he said.

But Pence foreshadowed some reworking of commercial and economic ties, saying US exporters should face a level playing field, and the relationship should be “win-win”.

Indonesia is on Trump’s trade hit list, and US company FreeportMcMoran Inc., which operates the world’s largest copper mine in the Indonesian province of Papua, is in a protracted dispute with the Indonesian government.

Pence’s first engagement was morning tea with Jokowi at the presidential palace. Later Thursday Pence was to visit Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia.

Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, is active in Indonesia with plans to manage luxury resorts being built near the capital Jakarta and on the tourist island of Bali.

Trump’s Indonesian business partner, billionaire Hary Tanoe, is an aspiring politician who has said he might run for president in 2019. AP

S. Koreans feeling cheated after US carrier miscue

S

EOUL, South Korea—When news broke less than two weeks ago that the Trump administration was sending the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson to the Korean Peninsula, many South Koreans feared a possible war with North Korea.

Others cheered for Washington, calling the deployment a powerful symbol of its commitment to deterring the North.

On Wednesday after it was revealed that the carrier strike group was actually thousands of miles away and had been heading in the opposite direction, toward the Indian Ocean, South Koreans felt bewildered, cheated and manipulated by the United States, their country’s most important ally.

“Trump’s lie over the Carl Vinson,” read a headline on the web site of the newspaper JoongAng Ilbo on Wednesday.

“Xi Jinping and Putin must have had a good jeer over this one.”

“Like North Korea, which is often accused of displaying fake missiles during military parades, is the US, too, now employing ‘bluffing’ as its North Korea policy?” the article asked.

The episode raised questions about whether major allies of the United States, like South Korea and Japan, had been informed of the carrier’s whereabouts, and whether the misinformation undercut US strategy to contain North Korea’s nuclear ambitions by using empty threats.

Compounding their anger over the Carl Vinson episode, many South Koreans also

The USS Carl Vinson (right), accompanied by the USS Michael Murphy (left) and Lake Champlain, under way in the Indian Ocean on April 14. US Department Of Defense via The New York Times

were riled at President Donald J. Trump for his assertion in a Wall Street Journal interview last week that the Korean Peninsula “used to be a part of China” .

Although Korea was often invaded by China and forced to pay tributes to its giant neighbor, many Koreans say the notion that they were once Chinese subjects is egregiously insulting. “The 50 million South Koreans, as well as many commonsensical people around the world, cannot help but feel embarrassed and shocked,” said Youn Kwan-suk, spokesman of the main opposition Democratic Party, which is leading in voter surveys ahead of the May 9 presidential election.

US aircraft carriers regularly visit areas near the Korean Peninsula as part of annual military exercises with South Korea and Japan. But when the US Pacific Command said on April 9 that the Carl Vinson had been ordered to leave Singapore and return to the Western Pacific, the decision was considered highly unusual, as it had been in exercises

off the Korean Peninsula just last month.

“We’re sending an armada,” Trump said at the time. On Wednesday the South Korean Defense Ministry declined to comment, other than to say that the US and South Korea do not discuss the details of their joint strategy to deter North Korean provocations.

But critics accused the ministry of fanning jitters among South Koreans before a May 9 presidential election in which North Korea’s behavior has been a central issue—as have Seoul’s close military ties to Washington.

“There is no way for South Korea not to have known the Carl Vinson would not be in Korean waters last Saturday,” said Kim Dong-yub, a former navy officer and defense analyst at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University in Seoul. “Still, they kept mum, doing nothing to ease the anxiety when security was a key election issue.”

Kim added, “What they did was nothing short of trying to influence the election.

The whole episode is a reminder of how

fettered South Korea remains to its alliance with the US.” Shin In-kyun, a military expert who runs the civic group Korea Defense Network, said Trump appeared to have used the Carl Vinson as a feint aimed at preventing North Korea from conducting a nuclear test.

“It would have been very awkward for the South Korean military to come out and clarify when they knew that Trump was bluffing,” Shin said. “The bluffing worked, in fact. North Korea didn’t do a nuclear test last Saturday.”

Coupled with Trump’s order to strike a Syrian air base with dozens of missiles, and repeated warnings from his senior aides that “military options” were not off the table in dealing with North Korea, news of the Carl Vinson rushing back to Korean waters stirred anxiety in South Korea. The fear was if North Korea were to conduct a nuclear or long-range missile test on Saturday to commemorate the 105th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the North’s founding president and the grandfather of Kim Jong Un, the Carl Vinson would be in Korean waters by then to launch a preemptive strike.

North Korea, never one to be outdone in tough talk, accused the US of bringing war to Korea and vowed to respond with nuclear attacks at US military bases in South Korea and Japan. This week it unveiled a video depicting its missiles engulfing a US city in flames, shown as a backdrop for the Kim Il Sung celebration.

New York Times News Service

A SH I NGT ON — Eve r since FBI investigators discovered in 2013 that a Russian spy was trying to recruit an American businessman named Carter Page, the bureau maintained an occasional interest in Page. So when he became a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign last year and gave a Russiafriendly speech at a prestigious Moscow institute, it soon caught the bureau’s attention.

That trip in July was a catalyst for the FBI investigation into connections between Russia and President Donald J. Trump’s campaign, according to current and former law enforcement officials.

It is unclear exactly what about Page’s visit caught the FBI’s attention: meetings he had during his three days in Moscow, intercepted communications of Russian officials speaking about him, or something else.

After Page, 45—a Navy veteran and businessman who had lived in Moscow for three years—stepped down from the Trump campaign in September, the FBI obtained a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court allowing the authorities to monitor his communications on the suspicion that he was a Russian agent.

From the Russia trip of the once-obscure Page grew a wideranging investigation that has cast a shadow over the early months of the Trump administration. The Russia-Trump issue, repeatedly denounced by the President as a partisan witch-hunt, is also being examined by the Senate and House Intelligence Committees.

At a House hearing last month, FBI Director James B. Comey took the unusual step of publicly acknowledging the investigation of Russian interference in the election, which he said included possible links between Russia and Trump associates.

Before late July when Comey said the inquiry began, developments beyond Page’s trip may have heightened FBI concern about Russian meddling in the campaign.

Paul Manafort, then Trump’s campaign manager, was already under criminal investigation in connection with payments from a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine. WikiLeaks and two web sites later identified as Russian intelligence fronts had begun releasing e-mails obtained when Democratic Party servers were hacked.

Current and former law enforcement officia ls said that when the FBI opened its investigation, agents were just beginning to explore whether Trump’s advisers had contacts with Russian gover nment of f icia ls or intelligence operatives. In the months that followed, they said, intelligence and law enforcement officials gathered more e x tensive infor mat ion about contacts and communications, including intercepts of Russian officials discussing Page and other Trump associates.

In his talk at the New Economic School in Moscow, Page criticized United States policy toward Russia in terms that echoed the position of President Vladimir Putin of Russia, declaring, “Washington and other Western capitals have impeded potential progress through their often hypocritical focus on ideas such as democratization, inequality, corruption and regime change.”

His remarks accorded with Trump’s positive view of the Russian president, which had prompted speculation about what Trump saw in Putin—more commonly denounced in the US as a ruthless, anti-Western autocrat.

Page’s relationship with Trump appears to have been fleeting.

According to former Trump campaign officials, the two men have never met, though Page has said he attended some meetings where Trump was present. But last spring

when Republican foreign policy experts were distancing themselves from Trump, Page served a purpose for the flailing Trump campaign. Dismissing the notion that his campaign was bereft of foreign policy expertise, the candidate read aloud a list of five people who had offered to advise him on world affairs— including “Carter Page, PhD”.

Page was unknown in Washington foreign policy circles. But his doctorate and his Russian experience were real. He had worked as a junior investment banker for Merrill Lynch for a time, living in Moscow from 2004 to 2007.

He subsequently started his own investment firm, Global Energy Capital Llc., and partnered on some deals with a Russian businessman, Sergey Yatsenko.

Yatsenko had been deputy chief financial officer for the Russian energy giant Gazprom, which is majority-owned by the government and has close ties to Putin.

Page’s role in the Trump campaign appears to have been minimal. Papers he wrote on energy policy languished unread. Former campaign officials play down his significance almost to the vanishing point, saying Page had no ID badge, desk or e-mail address from the campaign.

“If the Russians were attempting to collude with him, they were attempting to collude with someone who had no influence on the Trump campaign,” said Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to Trump. “I think he’s a self-promoter—not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

But for Page, temporarily wearing the title of adviser to the man who would become president appears to have been gratifying. “The half year I spent on the Trump campaign meant more to me than the five years I spent in the Navy,” he said in an interview last month.

He denies there was ever any possibility of his being recruited to spy for Russia, including his 2013 encounter with the Russian intelligence officer. “Zero risk then or ever in my life,” Page said.

A f ter T he Washing ton Post broke the news last week of the court warrant the FBI had obtained, Page went on a Trumplike media blitz, defending his bona fides and asserting he was the victim of a smear campaign by Obama administration officials and Hillary Clinton aides.

“You talk about fake narratives,” Page said on Fox News.

“W hen you introduce false evidence in a court of law, including the [Foreig n Intel ligence Su r vei l l a nce A c t] cou r t ,” he said, referring to the court that issued the warrant targeting him, “that is illegal. So, let’s see what happens”.

He added, “I’m very encouraged that all of the lies that have been a drag on this administration are finally coming out into the open.”

Few who have met Page during his career appear to have pegged him as a likely prospect for either suspected spy or statesman.

Born in 1971 in Minnesota and raised in Poughkeepsie, New York, he graduated in 1993 from the Naval Academy, where he was in the selective Trident Scholar Program, but left the Navy before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

He earned a Master of Business Administration degree at New York University, and completed a doctorate a decade later at School of Oriental and African Studies University of London.

Richard Guerin, who was in his academy class and remains in regular touch, said Page had “a complicated mind”.

“He’s genuinely one of the smartest people I’ve ever met,” Guerin said. “I get a bit offended when I read reports of people calling him an ‘idiot’”.

New York Times News Service

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

The World BusinessMirror

Friday, April 21, 2017

A9

Japanese exports surge to end Q1 on strong note

J

apanese exports grew at the fastest rate in more than two years in March, supporting a moderate economic recovery in the face of weak domestic demand.

Exports rose 12 percent from a year earlier (median estimate +6.2 percent), according to data released by the Ministry of Fina nce. Impor ts ju mped 15.8 percent (median estimate 10 percent), the biggest gain in more than three years. The trade surplus for March was ¥614.7 billion ($5.64 billion), compared with an estimate of ¥608 billion.

Exports have recently become a bright spot for the Japanese economy. The March trade data indicate growing health in the global economy, particularly in Asia, will continue to support the Bank of Japan’s efforts to generate a sustainable recovery.

Questions remain: Will Japanese consumers start spending again, and will the United States take a tougher line with Asian exporters over their trade surpluses with America. “Japan’s production and exports are rising on the back of a global rebound in manufacturing,” said Masaki Kuwahara, senior economist at Nomura Securities Co. “In Asia, developing nations are doing well cyclically,

and that’s directly helping Japan’s exports.”

“A key point will be whether the US economy gets back on a firm footing,” Kuwahara said. “Exports to the US have been weaker than to Asia.”

Izumi Devalier, head of Japan economics at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said on Bloomberg TV that export growth will be very solid for another six months or so.

“But we are a little bit cautious about the outlook after the summer given that we expect a little bit of a slowdown in China, reflecting some monetary tightening that’s going on over there right now,” she said. Exports to the US increased 3.5 percent from a year earlier.

Those to the EU rose 1.4 percent.

Shipments to China, Japan’s largest trading partner, climbed 16.4 percent. The value of exports reached the highest level since September 2009, and exports saw the largest annual percentage increase since January 2015.

Exports of auto parts jumped 21.2 percent from a year earlier; much were to Japanese automakers in the US. Liquid crystal devices to China and iron and steel products to Thailand helped exports to Asia reach a record monthly high at ¥3.86 trillion. Bloomberg News

O’Reilly is out at Fox News but his influence endures

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O S A NGE L E S — D e s pit e the inglorious end to Bill O’Reilly’s two-decade Fox News Channel career, observers say his deep imprint on Fox and other cable news outlets and his influence on barbed political discourse are intact for the foreseeable future.

Fired on Wednesday amid a drumbeat of sexual harassment allegations, the vacationing host’s “The O’Reilly Factor” was quickly redubbed “The Factor”, and Fox News announced his time slot will be filled by Tucker Carlson, another adamantly conservative Fox host who dovetails with the channel’s audience. But it was O’Reilly who created the template for how to succeed in cable TV punditry, delighting his viewers with unapologetic attacks on liberal politicians and media members that he delivered with gusto.

“In many ways, he led Fox’s cable news revolution,” said Frank Sesno, a journalism professor at George Washington University and former CNN Washington bureau chief. “Cable news is someone standing on a mountain top shouting, and Bill O’Reilly was on the highest peak, so he echoed across the landscape.”

A nd he kee ps ec hoi ng i n the broader media landscape.

O’Reilly’s success at appealing to like-minded viewers made him and Fox into cable news leaders.

“That left CNN and MSNBC to figure out how to survive, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that MSNBC figured out the only path to success was to segment and go for the liberal audience,” said Tom Hollihan, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California.

That multiplying effect gave O’Reilly a role in a seismic change, he said. “He helped shape the kind of very polarized discourse that has come to define politics over the past few years in America,” Hollihan said. His ratings made him Fox’s most lucrative personality, with his show generating $178 million in advertising revenue in 2015, according to Kantar Media.

There was the prospect of even more, with his audience larger in the first three months of 2017 than it has ever been.

Then came an April 1 report in The New York Times that five women

had been paid a total of $13 million to keep quiet about disturbing encounters with O’Reilly. While O’Reilly denied wrongdoing, dozens of his show’s advertisers fled within days even as O’Reilly’s viewership increased.

Following the Times story, Fox parent company 21st Century Fox said it had asked the same law firm that investigated Fox News CEO Roger Ailes to look into O’Reilly’s behavior. 21st Century Fox leaders Rupert Murdoch and his sons Lachlan and James said in a memo to Fox staff that their decision to ax O’Reilly came following an “extensive review” into the charges.

“I understand how difficult this has been for many of you,” Rupert Murdoch said in the memo.

With a profit center gone, 21st Century Fox stock fell almost 1 percent on Wednesday in heavy trading. O’Reilly lost his job on the same day he was photographed in Rome shaking the hand of Pope Francis. In a statement, he called it “tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims”.

His exit came nine months after his former boss, Ailes, was ousted following allegations of sexual harassment. O’Reilly’s lawyers said he was the victim of an orchestrated campaign by liberal organizations like Media Matters for America, which contacted his advertisers to pressure them to leave the show. Conservative personality Glenn Beck—who once lost a job at Fox because a similar campaign choked his program of paying advertisers—came to O’Reilly’s defense on his radio show and called on viewers to pressure Fox, to no avail.

O’Reilly had ruled the “no spin zone” on television with a quick smile and an even quicker temper.

He pushed a populist, conservative-leaning point of view, and was quick to shout down those who disagreed with him.

O’Reilly and President Donald J. Trump are both “crowd-pleasing showmen who know how to signal to loyalists in their audience that they are not taking themselves quite as seriously as their detractors are”, said news consultant Andrew Tyndall. “Half of the fun that they have with their audiences comes from watching the outrage that they manage to provoke.” AP

Federica Mogherini (left), high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, shakes hands with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi before their meeting at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on April 19. Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Pool Photo via AP

China, EU push message of free trade, engagement

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EIJING—Top diplomats from China and the European Union (EU) pledged to work together on issues, including Syria and North Korea, and cooperate more closely to advance free trade, striking a contrast with American economic nationalism being promoted by President Donald J. Trump.

The statements came as China and the EU held their first highlevel talks since Trump took office in January. EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini cochaired the Seventh EU-China Strategic Dialogue with State Councilor Yang Jiechi, China’s highest-ranking diplomat.

“At present the international situation is complex with many new developments, challenges and problems,” Yang told Mogherini at the outset.

“Against this backdrop, for China and the EU to deepen cooperation and coordinate positions, not only concerns the common interests of the two sides, but also, is of great significance for international relations,” he added.

Mogherini said China and the EU had “a big responsibility” during “times of uncertainty”.

“We are looking forward to intensifying our cooperation on a positive agenda. What the EU and China can do together for the benefit, not only of our citizens, but also of the world,” Mogherini said.

The two sides discussed rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea moves to accelerate its nuclear-weapons development, and the war in Syria.

Mogherini told reporters afterward that ending the war in Syria is a priority, and she and Yang discussed at length how to actively support the UN-led process while

working to improve the humanitarian access into the country.

The one-day talks come ahead of an EU-China summit scheduled for Brussels in June.

On Tuesday Mogherini met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who said the international community was looking at how China and the EU would work together to tackle challenges including the world economic recovery, global conflicts and terrorism and Britain’s pending withdrawal from the EU. Li said he was optimistic about the outcome of the talks, based on “a stable China-EU relationship, with the consistency of our two sides toward multilateralism and free trade, and with our joint commitment to improving the international governance structure”.

Unlike Trump, who was elected promising to tear up trade deals, impose new tariffs and bring jobs back to America, Chinese President Xi Jinping has cast his country as a champion of free trade and stability, and has spoken out against protectionism.

Mogherini said such speeches

by Xi “have raised high expectations that China and the EU can work together on multilateralism, on rules-based global order and trade”.

“Not only our people, but probably the multilateral system, need Europe and China to work together on some of the major global issues

we are facing, from climate change to migration or counterterrorism, and also the many crises we have around us such as the tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” Mogherini told Li at the start of their meeting.

Beijing and Brussels have disagreements on trade, however, including complaints by European and other foreign companies that they are blocked from acquiring Chinese assets while China’s companies are buying major global brands.

They also say they are barred from or sharply restricted in telecoms, information technology, finance and other promising industries in violation of Beijing’s free-trading pledges.

Beijing meanwhile wants the EU to grant it market-economy status, which would make it harder for the EU to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports that it deems to be unfairly cheap.

Other points of dispute include China’s increasingly restrictive environment for civil society and internet censorship.

Mogherini said she told Yang about the EU’s “concern about human rights in China”.

“Frank and constructive dialogue is the best way to address all issues, as good friends who respect each other tend to do.”

The EU has agreed to hold the twice-annual human rights dialogue behind closed doors, and Mogherini did not mention any specific cases, although diplomats from EU countries have publicly advocated for lawyers and legal activists detained in a sweeping crackdown on civilrights groups.

Mogher i n i ’s f i rst meet i ng on Wednesday, w ith Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, was canceled. A foreign ministry official said the EU delegation had informed them Mogherini was feeling unwell.

She will give a speech at Beijing’s prestigious Tsinghua University on Thursday, and then travel to India and Russia. AP

Japan, Australia to deepen ties amid North Korea tension

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OKYO—Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop urged China on Thursday to do more to help out in the international effort to pressure and persuade North Korea to stop escalating nuclear and missile threat.

Bishop said China has a “unique and specific role to play in pressuring North Korea to cease its illegal behavior”.

Australia plans to work closely with Japan, South Korea and the United States, and with China, “to ensure that China can use its unique position”.

She made the remark to a group of reporters in Tokyo, where she is joining foreign and defense ministers’ talks between Australia and Japan to discuss deepening defense cooperation in time of the growing North Korean threat.

While supporting the US government’s shift to a tougher stance, Bishop said further effort for dialogue and economic sanctions are necessary.

“China is the source of energy, of ideas, of innovation, of expertise,” she said, noting 95 of direct investment in North Korea comes from China, and that the North’s exports mainly go to China.

“There is a far greater role China can play in assisting the region and the global community in bringing North Korea into line so it ceases the nuclear and missile program that is clearly designed to attack the US.” The North Korea situation makes military cooperation particularly crucial, Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada told Australian counterpart Marise Payne when they met late on Wednesday ahead of the talks. They agreed to expand joint exercises and arms-equipment trade.

China and the South China Sea are also likely topics when Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida joins the other ministers.

The four ministers are also expected to review President Donald J. Trump’s first three months in office, according to a Japanese foreign ministry official who briefed reporters on customary condition of anonymity.

The Australian ministers’ visit comes on the heels of US Vice President Mike Pence’s trip to Japan and South Korea earlier this week as part of a 10-day Asia tour to reassure allies of America’s commitment to the region. AP

A10 Friday, April 21, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

‘Fake news’ ban is starting to work

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he concern about false and inaccurate news items distributed to malign or push a particular agenda is global. All social-media platforms have disclosed that literally millions of their accounts are fake. Facebook just deleted 30,000 accounts that they deemed spread “spam, as well as fake news, hoaxes and misinformation”.

Some here in the Philippines were regretting that the same thing was not done before the past election, although studies in the US showed conclusively that these “news” items had absolutely no statistical effect on the voters.

Nonetheless, there is a “feel-good factor” to knowing that somebody is trying to keep this information away from our tender and easily fooled ears and eyes. We have been taught that if it is on the Internet and repeated by thousands of other people, then it must be true.

Besides, it is a lot of work to have to actually think and maybe even do some research to avoid being fooled by a picture of Steven Spielberg sitting next to a dead dinosaur that he just killed on his African safari. If you do not know what that means, then you are probably a more intelligent person for not having seen that on social-media sites.

The question—serious for some and dismissed by others—is who exactly gets to decide what is fake news and what is not? Any group or individuals given such a task would probably want to live up to the highest standards of ethics and objectivity. Of course, the first study and report about “fake news” web sites just happened to be a list of only conservative-leaning sites. A web site that reported that President-elect Donald J. Trump had made a secret trip to Russia the day after the election was excluded.

The largest social-media outlet is Facebook and under the direction of its founder—Mark Zuckerberg—has taken the initiative to monitoring and, perhaps, banning information deemed to be “fake”.

Apparently, it is working, but perhaps, not the way they expected.

The Chicago Tribune newspaper has been in publication since 1847 and is the eighth-largest paper in the US. Since Facebook began its campaign against fake news in December 2016, an interesting situation has developed for Tribune. Granted, this newspaper was responsible for the incorrect 1948 presidential election “Dewey Defeats Truman”, probably most famous headline in history. But it can hardly be called a fake-news publication.

Yet, since last December, an interesting thing has happened. Like most press and media, the Tribune posts links to its web site news stories on Facebook. From a previous 30,000 to 35,000 people a month, this has dropped to 15,000 to 20,000 visiting the site from Facebook.

As one commentator puts it, “Either the Chicago Tribune suddenly started producing a lot of garbage that no one wanted to read, which just happened to coincide with the implementation of Facebook’s new ‘fake news’ algorithm, or the media outlet was pumping out content that Facebook suddenly figured to fit the definition of fake”.

Government censorship is dangerous and we all acknowledge that as a fact. But at what point does any type of banning of news—fake or legitimate—by the private sector or even individuals become just as treacherous? It is a question that we must eventually answer.

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

Influential James Jimenez

spox

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he poll closed at 11:59 p.m., ET, on April 16. When the dust cleared, our President edged out other global celebrities in a news magazine’s poll of the 100 most influential people of the year. With 5 percent of the total “yes” votes, the President pulled ahead of others like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook’s Liker in Chief Mark Zuckerberg. Incidentally, the President also roundly beat the spiritual leader of more than a billion souls all over the world—none other than the Pope.

In its web site, the magazine running the poll explains how the list will be finalized: “although [our] editors will choose the final list of honorees, we want readers to share their choices with us, as well.” The final list will have been released yesterday, April 20, which means that the President’s men are all either over the moon right now, or totally bummed out.

Despite publishing an earlier notquite-a-disclaimer-more-of-a-justsaying-kind-of-thing statement— “Duterte has been known to use social media to promote his agenda and has reportedly paid people to

push him to popularity online.”— I doubt that the magazine will cut the President out of the list entirely.

There is, after all, no disputing his clout, although the magazine might hedge and say that it meant for the poll to measure global, as opposed to local, influence. Bottom line, the “readers” are just added input. The final say will be with the editors who will presumably draw on their years of experience and exposure to the currents of the world.

Still, as of this writing, I cannot help but wonder what all of this could mean. Assuming that the President is hailed as the most influential

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Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza

Jun B. Vallecera Max V. de Leon Jennifer A. Ng Dionisio L. Pelayo Vittorio V. Vitug

leader in the world today, what sort of strings come with the title?

For one thing, I cannot imagine that the accolade should be treated as a license to do whatever seizes his fancy. Nor is it, in any conceivable way, a “double-O” designation. And the certificate it comes with almost certainly cannot be waved in the face of other nations looking to claim our rocks and ridges. Popularity contests, after all, carry no legal weight in public international law.

So, what’s it good for?

Well, bragging rights, for one thing. It’s not every day that a Filipino can ascend to such rarefied heights of status and celebrity. And when one does, it’s only right that the rest of the nation join the cheering.

For another, the President’s stellar showing highlights the power of the mobilized Filipino. This is what we can achieve when we unite behind one cause: we can outvote 1.2 billion Catholics! Even assuming that a percentage of those results can be conclusively dismissed as botvotes, that’s still a massive number of people going out of their way to do something that will not get them any immediate or even tangible benefit (I can only hope that our registered voters can show the same passion in our elections).

And, inescapably, it’s good for doing good.

Continued from A1

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he WESM’s inception ushers in an era of competition, efficiency, transparency and reliability of electricity trade where a level playing field exists among its participants. As much as practicable, electricity prices are governed by instantaneous mercantile exchange wherein the process of economic dispatching and locational or nodal pricing framework are at work. This integrated pool type of power bourse ensures that both merchant and bilateral contract transactions are centrally coordinated for dispatch.

The nearly 10 years of WESM operations have led to significant developments in the sector with the implementation of the retail market, renewableenergy integration, as well as central scheduling of reserves in preparation for the ancillaries trading, among others.

Indubitably, such developments reveal the market’s vital function as springboard for the entry of sustainable power investments, greater choice of supply and competitive pricing, which are wanting and illusory under the former monopolistic regime.

This commercial approach to electricity service via the WESM has instigated a momentum for innovation

and sustainable power-sector development, which can only prosper or flourish when market operations uphold its independence. To ensure nondiscrimination and objectivity, the Philippine Electricity Market Corp.

(PEMC), which acts as the market operator of the WESM must now be truly independent of power industry stakeholders and of the government’s control. This has been the proven model in existing power bourses in other countries.

To carry out the Epira’s mandate, the Department of Energy (DOE) had caused the establishment of PEMC as the WESM’s interim market operator

and governance arm. It is a nonstock nonprofit private corporation that was organized and registered in November 2003. The DOE then had envisioned PEMC as a transition body that will eventually lead to the creation of the independent market operator (IMO) as mandated under Section 30 of the Epira. This entity has a governing board composed of 15 members, headed by the energy secretary, and with membership equitably represented by stakeholders in the power industry, as well as independent members.

To support the transition to an IMO and to set directions on its implementation, the DOE and PEMC had requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to provide technical assistance and to study the matter. The resulting report on the ADB’s IMO study was already submitted and its recommendations are now being considered.

The transition is envisioned to give rise to greater consistency of WESM systems and processes. Independent management and operations will help revitalize governance, boost innovation, obviate bureaucracy and facilitate a more efficient business performance.

Independence in WESM operations will then become a groundbreaking episode in the industry as it exemplifies the government’s commitment to industry reform and progress. Having an autonomous governance framework fosters more transparency and accountability in the electricity market.

An influential leader can teach his people to be less accepting of corruption, especially when the corruption actually brings them personal benefit, simply by modeling this behavior himself. The great Ramon Magsaysay, the gold standard for this strategy, proved this to be very doable.

Or he can appeal to the values of the people he governs, rallying them to a cause and creating unity instead of perpetuating petty feuds and disagreements. But most of all, a leader who is truly influential can use his clout to inspire the nation into becoming more tolerant of dissent, less vindictive in victory, and more deeply dedicated to the institutions and mechanisms of democracy that have kept us a free people for more than three decades now. nnn

As always, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) awaits the wisdom of Congress in deciding whether to pass a bill postponing the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections yet again. So far, it would seem that the House leadership is intent on doing so, while the Senate appears to have reservations. At the end of the day, however, these early indications ultimately mean nothing. What matters is what will eventually come out of the legislative mill for the President to sign; all the rest will just be the rationalizations of politicians.

PEMC had acquired extensive and valuable experience in running the market for the past nine years and in devising tools and programs that respond to various stakeholder requirements and emerging market conditions.

For PEMC to meet the Epira’s mandate for the creation of an IMO, and qualify as such, specific changes to the WESM rules are needed. These include changes in the composition of PEMC board and strengthening the so-called WESM Governance Committees that handles market surveillance, enforcement and compliance, rules change, dispute resolution and technical matters.

In the end, amid the crucible of the industry’s revolution, the WESM continues to evolve as a catalyst for sustainable energy development and the creation of a more conducive investment climate. Truly, market liberalization has heralded a more acceptable and efficient level of energy security at more competitive costs than ever before.

Nevertheless, WESM can only reach its utmost potential with veritable autonomy as it underpins stability in governance and injects a potent stimulus to the industry’s growth and the market’s relentless evolution.

Dr. Arranza is the chairman of the Federation of Philippine Industries and Fight Illicit Trade, a broad-based, multisectoral movement intended to protect consumers, safeguard government revenues and shield legitimate industries from the ill effects of smuggling.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Friday, April 21, 2017 A11

What are the financial markets responding to?

Ser Percival K. Peña-Reyes

EAGLE WATCH

A

pril 11 ended with the peso going back to 49.58, while the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) reached 7,601.40. At these levels, the peso has already appreciated by 1 percent and the PSEi has gained 11.4 percent year-to-date. Just about two weeks ago, investors have been jittery over the sideways and lackluster movement of the PSEi and the seeming freefall of the peso toward 51. What is happening with the financial markets? Usually, they move in relation to economic and political news. The most recent economic data that came out points to some weakening to the otherwise strong growth performance last year. Specifically, unemployment rate for January 2017 rose to 6.6 percent of the labor force, up from 4.7 percent posted in October 2016 and from the 5.7 percent in January 2016. Inflation, meantime, reached 3.4 percent, the highest in the last 30 months. The peso breached 50 to $1 in mid-February and the recent pronouncement of Credit Suisse that the country’s current account is reaching deficit levels and that could lead the peso to breach 51 in 12 months.

Our colleague, Dr. Cielito Habito, wrote about these in his column, entitled “Dark Clouds over the economy” (Philippine Daily Inquirer, April 7). He called them “dark clouds” to show that they can potentially derail the current growth trajectory. They seem to beckon a repeat of the boombust cycle experienced in the 1990s.

Nonetheless, he ended by saying he is not worried because the country continues to be resilient amid the weaker global growth conditions.

Indeed, these numbers need deeper corollary analysis. Unemployment, for instance, has risen but the more important measure of quality employment—underemployment has fallen to 16.3 percent of the labor force. This is the lowest in two decades. It is signaling that, while fewer jobs were created recently, the existing jobs are of better quality and of the right hours allowing workers to have sustainable income and job security. Inflation, meanwhile, has risen to the highest levels in two-anda-half years but this is well within the expectations of analysts and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

This is already taking into consideration the erratic price movement of oil and the increase in electricity prices. With expected better agricultural harvest this year, food prices, which comprises about 50 percent of inflation, are seen to remain within their current levels. Thus, our own Eagle Watch forecast see a gradual decrease of inflation to about 2 percent by the end of the year. This will mean that the full-year average will still be below 3 percent. As such, any interest rate increase by the BSP will be more due to adjustments from Federal Reserve rate hike rather than due to inflationary pressures.

Finally, regarding exchange rate, we have previously written that the exchange rate has a fundamental value. This value is determined by its Balance of Payments (BOP) position composed of a current account, which includes trade of goods, trade of services (including business-process outsourcing and tourism), overseas Filipino workers remittances and the capital account, which includes foreign direct investments (FDI) and portfolio investments. The current account reflects the foreign savings generated by the country in its regular trading and operating transactions. The Philippines has been posting surpluses in its current account in the last decade. The highest surplus was about 7 percent of GDP in 2009.

Our own Eagle Watch forecast see a gradual decrease of inflation to about 2 percent by the end of the year. This will mean that the fullyear average will still be below 3 percent. As such, any interest rate increase by the BSP will be more due to adjustments from Fed rate hike rather than due to inflationary pressures.

It has fallen to about 0.2 percent of GDP as of end-2016. The surpluses has allowed the country to generate more foreign-exchange reserves.

As of end-March, the reserves are about $80 billion, or equivalent to nine months of imports. While this has fallen from double digit levels in 2015, it is still way above the three months cover that could potentially lead to devaluation. This, however, does not determine the daily exchange rate. The daily rate reflects the actual market supply and demand for the currency (in this case, the US dollar). The chart below shows the apparent relationship between the peso-dollar exchange rate and the PSEi. Note that when the PSEi rises (+ change), the peso-dollar exchange rate appreciates (- change).

In a market driven largely by foreign funds, this twin effect is observable. Net foreign selling dominated the PSE from January to March. The tide began to turn by April with volume surges leading to net foreign buying. This is notable in the breaking of the 7,400 barrier on April 4 with total volume increasing by 30 percent and foreign buying increasing eight times. The exchange rate went back below P50 on April 6. About the same day, Pulse Asia released its March 2017 Presidential Trust and Performance Survey showing President Duterte’s trust and performance ratings remaining above 75 percent. Meanwhile, two days later the US launched missiles against a Syrian airbase effectively rebalancing the geopolitical landscape of the world. This spooked the global markets, weakening the US dollar and increasing gold prices and the yen. On April 12 the PSEi added another 0.4 percent and the peso appreciated further to P49.48 after Donald J. Trump said the US dollar is too strong for global trade.

In a globalized world, financial markets are not beholden to predictable factors. One has to cover and understand how events will ultimately affect the behavior of the investor, whether local or abroad.

April wars and love Tito Genova Valiente

annotations

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he 10th of April this year disappeared under the splendor of a week considered holy by most Filipinos. The Redeemer had just entered the city to the spectacle of swaying palms. By Monday, it was the beginning of sorrows for Him and His mother.

Grief was elevated to the sacral level and memories of war, fairly recent by historical reckoning, is profane. And yet, if there is an event in the country that figures in the annals of world history, it is that fateful day on the 10th of April, in 1942. Called the Bataan Death March, it was a march to defeat. American and Filipino soldiers who fought with them were forced to walk under the heat of the April summer from Bataan, the last bastion of defense made immortal by a speech which begins with the fall of Bataan and the imagination, or exhortation, that it will rise again.

For 60 miles, nearly 80,000

people (the number varies according to memory and histories) marched without food or drinks. Some survived to arrive in the concentration camps; some were lucky to fall on the wayside and die, forgotten but heroes in the documentation of a nation, unless if forgets an event for something important.

Some years back, I was with writers as we drove past the markers of the march. The ricefields and trees have grown over the remembrances of that day.

How did the place look like in 1942? Were women and children allowed to look at the odd mix of cruelty and courage? Were people,

already seeing the future, predicting that this day would go down as one of the biggest triumphs of the human spirit? History is generally about big tales. History to make it to books is writ large. What is missing in this Death March is the imagination of the ordinary.

I am interested in what the young Filipino soldiers talked about as they walked. The embankments along the way could have encouraged them to roll off them and disappear into the dark. I can see people hiding behind the trees brave enough to pull into the comfort of their homes some of the prisoners.

The Japanese soldiers, young as most of them, would have admired the tropical sceneries new to them, unless they came from Okinawa.

Contrary to the faceless, vicious killers materializing from the dark shadows, the youthful Japanese soldiers recruited or conscripted fresh from high school must have known a smattering of English greetings. Did they practice their English conversation skills with the Americans. In the heat of April, they must have missed the early spring and the sakura blooms in the Ueno Park.

It was war, however, and youth

Cardinal Tagle encourages the public to imitate the risen Christ’s selflessness

greedy. They cannot say ‘you first’,” Cardinal Tagle added.

He mentioned the attitude of some people who are rushing to enter the mall as soon as it opens as an example of this “me-first” mentality.

“Why do they have to enter ahead of everyone else and push one another when the products will not run out immediately?” he asked.

The Cardinal encouraged everyone to imitate the altruism of the resurrected Christ even in the smallest ways in their daily lives, such as giving the young, the old and persons with disabilities (PWDs) preferential treatment in public transportation, or letting others enter an establishment first. This is a sign of the resurrection, the Cardinal said, the capacity to withdraw and allow others to come first. The resurrection is about God preparing a place for everyone, telling that “it is for you, you first”.

The Holy Mass was followed by the joint anniversary celebration of Radio Veritas 846 and Radio Veritas Asia, the start of our three-year

partnership toward the celebration of our golden anniversary on 2019.

With the theme “Enabling Communion of Communities in the Social Communications Ministry”, the event was highlighted with the performances of Hiyas ng Hagonoy Folkloric Group, Alay sa may Kapansanan Association Inc., Gawad Kalinga Mabuhay Choir, Hangad Music Ministry, Vietnamese students from Institute for Consecrated Life in Asia and a surprise performance

by Jose Mari Chan.

Also, Veritas 500, the station’s campaign for the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines, was launched, as well as the new logos and theme songs of three of its stationproduced programs, namely, Veritas Pilipinas, Barangay Simbayanan and Hello Father 911.

Vice President Nelia Halcon issued a press release containing the lie.

Last month Chito Gozar, senior vice president for communications and external affairs of OceanaGold, repeated the falsehood (“Mines absent in 10 poorest provinces,” March 7).

A belated check with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) directory of operating mines online (http://www.mgb.gov.ph/201505-13-01-44-56/mining-projectsdirectory, http://www.mgb.gov.ph/ attachments/article/50/MAR_2017_ MPSA_2A.pdf) showed that two of the 10 poorest provinces host a mine each. No. 9 Siquijor is the location of Lazi Bay Resources Development Inc. (limestone) and Philsaga Mining Corp. (gold and silver) operates in Agusan del Sur, the No. 10 poorest province. In the case of Philsaga Mining Corp., it is hard to believe

that Halcon and Gozar are not aware of its existence and location because the company is a regular member of the COMP and the group only has 25 regular members. OceanaGold is also a member of the COMP. When I first read the press releases, I did not see the need to countercheck because of the presumptions that nobody would be so reckless as to try to turn the tables on anyone on the strength of false data and that nobody in his right mind would dare monkey with easily verifiable information. It turns out I was dead wrong. But I was not the only one taken for a ride because albeit the wide exposure of the press releases specially that of Halcon, which was carried by almost all the major news outlets in the country, nobody had earlier come out to dispute the claim.

Based on these brazen attempts to fool the public and the silence of the entire mining industry while Halcon and Gozar perpetrated the whoppers seven months apart, truth appears to hold only as much value to our mining sector, as their mine wastes the proper disposal of which they still have to learn more than a century after they set up business in this country.

If these mining companies could not even be trusted with ordinary information like the places they operate in, of what worth now are their vehement denials and protestations against the allegations leveled by Secretary Lopez at them?

Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

H

is Eminence Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, D.D., said the “me-first” mentality is the root of social problems in his homily at the Eucharistic Celebration during the 48th anniversary celebration of Radio Veritas 846 and RadioVeritas Asia on Easter Sunday, April 16.

“It lies at the root of social problems, and could prove ‘deadly’. People have this feeling of needing to be first all the time and not being left behind. That kind of attitude is the mentality of the corrupt, thieves and

Brazen lies MAIL

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) and the OceanaGold deliberately misled the public when they claimed in the media that there are no mines in the 10 poorest provinces in the country. In the wake of Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez’s statement sometime middle of last year that mining causes poverty, COMP Executive

had nothing to do with peace. Only films would bask in the heroic tales.

The men marching were there to die and the Japanese, the enemies, were there to kill. These soldiers would benefit from the system called “comfort women”. Not the peaceful years of correct politics would right this wrong.

If I walked this road, at night, would I be able to listen to more stories? Darkness is such a solace in Bataan. There is a quiet that tells me if I just paused behind the markers, I would hear pains and dreams.

Juan Gelman, the Argentine poet of loss, could tell them: it’s beautiful to walk along with you/to discover the source of new things,/to get at the root of happiness,/to bring the future in on our backs….

To them, the spirits of the Great March, I would offer these lines from Gelman: I tell them, it’s beautiful, what a great mystery/to live treated like dirt….

And, like what Gelman says, still sing and laugh. For that was what some of them were doing, in the heat and in the night, to sing a bit, and to laugh, and to weep in silence. All of them, including the young unfortunate enemies.

Estanislao Albano Jr. Secretary, Kalinga Anti-pollution Action Group casigayan@yahoo.com

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Friday, April 21, 2017

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DOT still confident of meeting 8 million arrivals target despite Bohol cancellations

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

DTI moves to curb sale of inferior steel goods

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

D

LOPEZ: “We need a more representative size of the shipment . …

We’re trying to avoid substandard products.”

ESPITE a number of cancellations by tour groups to Cebu and Bohol due to the clashes between the Philippine military and the Abu Sayyaf in Inabanga, Bohol, on April 20, the Department of Tourism (DOT) remains confident it will meet its 8 million visitorarrivals target for 2017.

This, after the agency reported visitor arrivals in the first two months of 2017 reached 1.2 million, up 10.88 percent from the same period in 2016. Tourism Undersecretary Benito C. Bengzon Jr. told reporters that even if just keeping with this trend, “we can easily exceed 7 million to 7.2 million visitor arrivals”.

The DOT said the arrivals report was preliminary and details on the breakdown of market sources were still not available.

Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo and Bengzon met with industry stakeholders from Central Visayas on Thursday to find out the situation on the ground, especially with regard to cancellations of trips by foreign tourists.

Teo informed them that she has already written the Japanese and Chinese embassies about recalling their travel advisories to the Philippines, adding that she urged its ambassadors to help spread the word that it is safe to travel to the country.

T

OLYMPIC HERO STAMPS PhilPost Postmaster General Joel Otarra (left) and Lenie San Diego (right), chief of the Philatelic Services Division of PhilPost, unveil the postage stamps honoring Rio de Janeiro Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz in ceremonies on Thursday at the PhilPost offices in Manila. The unveiling of the Diaz stamps is part of the PhilPost’s 25th anniversary celebrations and just in time for the opening of the Palarong Pambansa in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique, this weekend. ROY DOMINGO

1.2M

The total visitor arrivals in the Philippines in the first two months of the year She told reporters later that she also spoke with United Nations World Tour ism Organi zat ion Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, who will also assist in announcing that the Philippines is a safe country for tourists.

Other measures to be undertaken by the DOT to counteract the negative publicity on the

Philippines and the Central Visayas—arising due to the Inabanga clashes, Teo said—would be the invitation of foreign media for familiarization tours to Bohol and Cebu, and the increased promotion of these provinces in foreign travel fairs and expos abroad, such as the upcoming Arabian Travel Mart. “ We w i l l be meeting w ith McCann [Worldwide Group] today to flesh out promotion materials that we can use to encourage visitors to the Philippines and, particularly, to these two provinces,” Teo added.

Speaking with the BusinessMir ror a f ter at tend i ng t he meeting with Teo, Alejandra Clemente, chairman of Rajah Tours Philippines, said the incident in Inabanga cost her tour agency

about P30 million alone from the cancellation of 308 Japanese tourists. “Unfortunately, when the Japanese cancel, it’s difficult to talk to them to change their minds. We just have to accept it.”

Bengzon added that about 150 Korean tourists, likewise, canceled their trip to Bohol. At an estimated $50 per day spending in the country for about five days, for instance, the opportunity losses from the canceled tour group could reach about P1.86 million. But, he stressed, “we get 3,600 Korean tourists every day, so compare that to the 150 cancellations, [the amount is insignificant] although we’re not minimizing these cancellations.”

The DOT official pointed out, though, that despite these few

Once critical of global deals, Trump slow to pull out of any

W

ASHINGTON—The “America First” president who vowed to extricate America from onerous overseas commitments appears to be warming up to the view that when it comes to global agreements, a deal’s a deal.

From the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) to the Iran nuclear agreement to the Paris climate accord, President Donald J. Trump’s campaign rhetoric is colliding with the reality of governing.

Despite repeated pledges to rip up, renegotiate or otherwise alter them, the United States has yet to withdraw from any of these economic, environmental or national security deals, as Trump’s past criticism turns to tacit embrace of several key elements of US foreign policy.

The administration says it is reviewing these accords and could still pull out of them. A day after certifying Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attacked the accord and listed examples of Iran’s bad behavior. His tone suggested that even if Iran is fulfilling the letter of its nuclear commitments, the deal remains on unsure footing.

Yet, with one exception—an AsiaPacific trade deal that already had stalled in Congress—Trump’s administration quietly has laid the groundwork to honor the international architecture of deals it has inherited.

It’s a sharp shift from the days when Trump was declaring the end of a global-minded America that negotiates away its interests and subsidizes foreigners’ security and prosperity.

Trump had called the Iran deal the “worst” ever, and claimed climate change was a hoax. But in place of action, the Trump administration is only reviewing these agreements, as it is doing with much of American foreign policy.

Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University, said Trump may be allowing himself to argue in the future that existing deals can be improved without being totally discarded. “That allows him to tell his base that he’s getting a better deal than Bush or Obama got, and yet reassure these institutions that it’s really all being done with a nod and a wink, that Trump doesn’t mean what he says,” Brinkley said.

So far, there’s been no major revolt from Trump supporters, despite their expectation he would be an agent of disruption. This week’s reaffirmations of the status quo came via Tillerson’s certification of Iran upholding its nuclear-deal obligations and the administration delaying a decision on whether to withdraw from the Paris climate accord.

The president had previously spoken about dismantling or withdrawing from both agreements as part of

his vision, explained in his inaugural address, that “every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families.”

The Iran certification, made 90 minutes before a midnight Tuesday deadline, means Tehran will continue to enjoy relief from US nuclear sanctions. Among the anti-deal crowd Trump wooed in his presidential bid, the administration’s decision is fueling concerns that Trump may let the 2015 accord stand.

Tillerson on Wednesday sought to head off any criticism that the administration was being easy on Iran, describing a broad administration review of Iran policy that includes the nuclear deal and examines if sanctions relief serves US interests. The seven-nation nuclear deal, he said, “fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran”and “only delays their goal of becoming a nuclear state”.

On the climate agreement, the White House postponed a meeting on Tuesday where top aides were to have hashed out differences on what to do about the nonbinding international deal forged in Paris in December 2015. The agreement allowed rich and poor countries to set their own goals to reduce carbon dioxide and went into effect last November, after the US, China and other countries ratified it. Not all of Trump’s advisers share his skeptical views on

climate change—or the Paris pact.

Trump’s position on trade deals also has evolved. He had promised to jettison the Nafta with Mexico and Canada unless he could substantially renegotiate it in America’s favor, blaming Nafta for devastating the US manufacturing industry by incentivizing the use of cheap labor in Mexico.

Now his administration is only focused on marginal changes that would preserve much of the existing agreement, according to draft guidelines that Trump’s trade envoy sent to Congress. The proposal included a controversial provision that lets companies challenge national trade laws through private tribunals.

Trump has followed through with a pledge to pull the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a sweeping free-trade deal President Barack Obama negotiated. The agreement was effectively dead before Trump took office after Congress refused to ratify it. Even Trump’s Democratic opponent in the presidential race, Hillary Clinton, opposed the accord.

But on Nato, Trump has completely backed off his assertions that the treaty organization is “obsolete”. His Cabinet members have fanned out to foreign capitals to show America’s support for the alliance and his administration now describes the 28-nation body as a pillar of Western security. AP

cancellations, there were a number of tour groups that “pushed through” with their trips to Cebu and Bohol.

He said there is a “high-profile TV personality from Japan currently shooting in Cebu”, although he was not at liberty to mention his name due to security concerns.

Bengzon added that there are 80 persons in an “English as a Second Language” tour group that is “confirmed” to go to Cebu in the fourth quarter of the year. Also, he said, Philippine Airlines will be bringing in media and tour operators from Nagoya for a familiarization trip to Cebu and Bohol this July. He noted that the senior officials meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also pushed through this week.

he Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is issuing a department administrative order (DAO) that tightens the rules on sampling of imported steel products, in a bid to improve safety standards of construction materials at the onset of the government’s “golden age of infrastructure” campaign.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez, in a media briefing on Thursday, said the agency is attempting to strengthen the consumer-protection regulations on imported steel, following a yearlong dispute between the DTI, a private steel rebar importer and local steel makers.

“We are issuing a new DAO changing the sampling size for imported steel products for testing. We’ll be issuing an order to change it because we’re only getting three samples no matter the size of the shipment,” Lopez said.

Local steel makers have long groused at this perceived lax sampling regulation of the DTI on deformed, re-rolled and equal-angle steel bars, as compared with the stringent quality testing that locally produced steel products undergo.

Local steel makers are required to submit one bar of a steel product for every 20 tons made, while only three are required from importers no matter the volume of shipment. They’ve pushed for importers to be subject to the same rules under the Philippine National Standards 49:2002.

Trade Undersecretary for Industry Policy Ceferino S. Rodolfo, speaking on the issue before, said the sampling size should correspond to the shipment size, per internationally accepted standards.

The DTI- Bureau of Product Standards has yet to come up with a formula for the sampling size, but Lopez hinted its proportion would be like 1,000 pieces or bars for every 5,000 metric tons.

“We need a more representative size of the shipment. There’s a proportionate amount so that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to avoid substandard products. The DAO should hopefully be released within two weeks,” Lopez said. Catherine N. Pillas

CA junks property case involving Carlos family Continued from a1

Vicente narrated that in a special meeting of the board of directors of the company held on July 2, 2009, it was approved that Carlos Sr. be authorized to negotiate and conclude the sale of the property to the corporation.

Carlos Jr., however, said his brother’s statements made under oath in the secretary’s certificate are false and perjured, considering that the acting corporate secretary was not elected.

He said the corporate secretary of JC Realty from 2004 up to present is Anne Maria Velasco, as shown by the company’s latest General Information Sheet submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Carlos Jr. added that there was no meeting by JC Realty’s board of directors on July 2, 2009, and that there is no consideration for the alleged deed of sale, as his brother did not pay a single centavo for the Morado property. On February 28, 2011, the Office of the City Prosecutor issued a resolution ordering the dismissal of the complaint for lack of probable cause.

The resolution was affirmed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in a resolution issued on January 30, 2012. The DOJ explained that

it found no error to warrant the reversal of the findings of the City Prosecutor. In a decision issued on March 27 and penned by Associate Justice Romero Barza, the CA’s Special Seventeenth Division affirmed the resolution issued by the DOJ. It noted that as early as 2006, the Supreme Court already held that the decisions of the secretary of justice, being under the control of the President, are not reviewable by the court, but rather by the Office of the President.

“The pronouncement in Roa was thereafter reiterated recently in Callo-Claridad v. Esteban, wherein the Supreme Court explained that it is a grave mistake on the part of a party to assail the secretary of justice’s resolution…as the said mode of appeal should only be resorted to review decisions, resolutions or awards of quasi-judicial officers, agencies or bodies,” the CA ruled.

“On the other hand, the secretary of justice, in determining the existence of probable cause, was not performing quasi-judicial but rather an executive function….

Accordingly, the present appeal is hereby ordered dismissed,” the CA said. Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Socorro Inting and Maria Filomena Singh.