Businessmirror august 14, 2017

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Monday, August 14, 2017 Vol. 12 No. 305

SMC unit puts on hold chicken exports to Japan 200 MT S

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

SMPCI Vice President for Corporate Affairs Oscar R. Sañez told the BusinessMirror that around

four container vans of chicken products are ready for shipment, but the company wanted to get

The volume of chicken products that SMPCI wanted to ship to Japan this month

clearance from both Manila and Tokyo to proceed.

“The thing is, we don’t know yet if Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries would clamp down on Philippine chicken imports because of the reported bird-flu outbreak,” Sañez said in an interview.

Continued on A2

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PPP conversations #8 with Bataan Gov. Abet PPP Lead

@jearcalas

an Miguel Purefoods Co. Inc. (SMPCI) has decided to postpone the shipment of around 200 metric tons (MT) of chicken products to Japan, after the government confirmed last Friday the outbreak of avian influenza (AI) in Pampanga.

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Alberto C. Agra

O

ne Bataan. One provincial public-private partnerships (PPPs) ordinance. One component city and 10 municipalities with PPP policies. All 237 barangays following the provincial PPP ordinance. Seven awarded and pending PPP projects…and more.

Indeed, the whole of Bataan is PPP-ready…and it is not just ready on paper. PPP is now a bureaucracy-wide, developmentoriented, people-centric and public good-driven strategy in the whole province. While no one person or leader can claim credit, critical to this enviable reality is the innovative, performancebased and democratic leadership of the young father of the province—Gov. Albert “Abet” S. Garcia.

Continued on A15

Freediving ‘envoy’ BM Reports endorses ocean protection agenda Tax on sugar-sweetened beverages

stirs bittersweet flavor for industry

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

S

GUILLAUME Néry steered the coral reef-restoration efforts at Pangatalan Island employing the Sulu Reef Prosthesis method by fixing unstable coral fragments on reinforced concrete structure placed in strong reef structures. PHOTO COURTESY OF D.O.T.

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

C

ELEBRITY freediver Guillaume Néry called on the Philippine government to protect the country’s environment and promote ocean preservation.

Néry, recently named by the Department of Tourism (DOT) as its “freediving ambassador”, made the call in El Nido, Palawan, one of his stops in his monthlong freediving expedition in the Philippines. Palawan has been dubbed “The

Last Frontier” by many environmentalists because of its unique ecological balance, consisting of lush virgin rainforests, crystal-clear rivers and waters with a wide array of marine life and colorful coral reefs, caves, white-sand beaches and wildlife.

In a press statement, Néry said: “One of the big challenges for the Philippines to become a worldwide top freediving destination is to promote ocean preservation.

People need to realize that the oceans are endangered and we need to protect them.”

Continued on A2

PESO exchange rates n US 50.6880

Part One

OME call it a train to a land of progress.

Indeed, even government officials banner the domino effect of positive changes on the lives of Filipinos of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) bill, which includes the proposed excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).

For some, however, whatever course the Train bill would take, imposing tax on SSBs is a bittersweet pill for industry.

So Jesus L. Arranza argues.

According to Arranza, chairman of the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), the ripple effects the proposed SSB taxation would create is contrary to what the government intends to achieve: a pro-rich and anti-poor measure.

Reduced demand

INDUSTRY stakeholders estimate a TRAIN law would lead to higher prices in products with a wide consumer base.

Once the proposed additional tax is applied, a 3-in-1 coffee sachet, currently priced at P5, will be P8; a 1-liter bottle of juice

This August 11 photo shows a customer checking various brands and types of sugar displayed inside a supermarket in Makati City. Sugar planters and millers believe the proposed additional P10-per-liter excise tax will negatively impact the sugar industry. NONIE REYES

concentrate, currently priced at P9, will have a retail price of P30; a 1 liter bottle of tea, currently priced at P20, will be sold at P30; and carbonated drinks and tetra-pack of ready-to-drink juice, currently being sold for P15 per

liter, will cost P25.

The products covered by the TRAIN, or House Bill 5636, will include all sweetened juice drinks, sweetened tea, sweetened coffee, all carbonated beverages with sugar, including those with caloric and

noncaloric sweeteners, flavored water, energy drinks, sports drinks, powdered drinks not classified as milk, juice, tea and coffee, cereal and grain beverages and even nonalcoholic beverages with sugar.

Continued on A2

n japan 0.4642 n UK 65.7727 n HK 6.4840 n CHINA 7.6240 n singapore 37.1831 n australia 39.9117 n EU 59.6801 n SAUDI arabia 13.5175

Source: BSP (11 August 2017 )

BMReports BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, August 14, 2017

Tax on sugar-sweetened beverages stirs bittersweet flavor for industry Continued from A1

Arranza says these price hikes would drag down the demand for the affected commodities that are usually bought by the masses, particularly those in the lower classes of the society. The upward adjustment in prices, he noted, could result in great reduction in the income of sari-sari store owners, who are the usual sellers of these commodities.

“As far as the additional tax is concerned, aside from poorer economic class, its ripple effect is that many people directly and indirectly making income from all these drinks will suffer,” Arranza told the BusinessMirror.

Repercussions

ARRANZA argues that the TRAIN discriminates against the poor, as its provisions have exempted commodities, which also utilize sugar but could only be afforded by the middle class and upper-middle class of the society.

“The question is, will this tax be applied to all products with sweetener? Are they taxing cakes, pastries? Are they taxing the coffee drinks that only the rich could afford? No,” he said.

“They exempted these commodities. And if there are sectors who will be taxed and those who will be not, then it is not pro-poor but pro-rich,” he added.

Furthermore, this class discrimination, Arranza notes, could create a market segmentation that

could be detrimental to the growth of the Philippine economy.

“Is that not favoring a market? If you come up with a law not u n i for m l y ap pl ie d [a nd could] only be classified as class legislation in violation of the competition law that has been recently passed, then I think it’s not good.” he said.

Arranza cited the Philippine constitution to emphasize his argument. “Remember there is a provision in our constitution stating equal protection of law. Is this equal? You tax 3-in-1 [beverages], you tax smaller stores, but exempt the establishments where rich people frequently go,” Arranza said.“So, this is a pro-rich and anti-poor tax legislation. And that’s our sentiment.”

Ripple effect

THE FPI chairman said the government, particularly the lawmakers, should review the provisions of the TRAIN, especially those pertaining to taxation of SSBs, to come up with a fairer and equitable legislation.

“Bear in mind, when the tax is so high, what will be the consequence to our market? There will be reduction in volume of demand of commodities,” Arranza added.

“Reduced demand would have a ripple effect across the value chain.

What will happen to producers of sachet? What will happen to the coffee plants? What will happen to our sugar farmers?”

Sugar planters and millers belonging to the Sugar Alliance of the Philippines (SAP) said the additional P10 per liter excise tax could result in two scenarios for the sugar industry.

First, they see a lower demand for sugar due to lower sales of SSB products. Second, there would be a lower farm-gate price of the commodity due to absorbed costs by beverage companies.

“Assuming there’s a beverage with an existing cost of P30, if it’s passed on, that would be P40 [at retail level]. Then, the effect would be, there will be lower sa les, and lower sa les wou ld call for lower demand for sugar.

Supposing it is absorbed by the beverage corporation, then the effect would be they will now buy sugar at the farm gate at a lesser price level,”SAP Spokesman Emilio Yulo told reporters in an earlier interview.

“This is not part of their corporate social responsibility, so the most viable and logical thing to do is to lower your buying price at the farm gate. Whichever, either of the two scenarios, we will be affected,” Yulo added.

Lifeline

FOR members of the Philippine Association of Stores and Carinderia Owners (Pasco) the proposed tax measure would be a burden for their members. Pasco officials believe the tax on SSBs would cause them to lose more than half of

what they earn daily.

“What would be taxed would be products that form the lifeline of microretailers,” Pasco President Victoria Aguinaldo told the BusinessMirror.

According to Aguinaldo, whose group boasts of some 6,000 sarisari store owners nationwide, the increase in the prices of these products would lead to fewer buyers and, hence, lower sales, lower earnings and inability to buy products for sa le at the microretailer level.

Beyond ‘sari-sari’

BASED on government data, there are currently 1.3 million sari-sari stores nationwide. It is estimated that 91 percent of all retail stores in the country are sari-sari stores.

Aguinaldo is urging the government to thoroughly review the tax measure, as her group believes it may not achieve the economic reforms and improvements it hopes to bring to the lives of Filipino people.

“Ang pagkakaalam ko po, P47 billion ang madadagdag sa buwis dahil sa tax sa SSBs, at siguro nga po ganoon kalaki,” she said. “Kaso, saan po kukunin iyong P47 billion kung hindi kami makatinda dahil sa kamahalan ng aming tinitinda?”

[As far as I know, the government would be able to raise P47 billion from the tax on SSBs. However, where would they get that amount if we can’t sell anything because prices have increased?]

Aguinaldo added the impact of a tax on SSBs go beyond mic roret a i lers.If we cannot order from our supplier naturally, suppliers would cut down on the volume and, maybe, the number of their workers.

Closures

PUNDITS fear at least half of the current number of sari-sari stores nationwide will eventually close shop because running one will no longer serve as a viable source of additional income for a household.

The closures directly or ind i rect ly t ra nsl ate to a rou nd 133,750 jobs lost, leading to an increase of 1.5 percent in the unemployment rate. The closures may also lead to a P20-billion decline in beverage sales, around a P2.4-billion loss in value-added tax, a P7-billion loss from affected industries and more than P130-billion investment losses for the Beverage Industry Association of the Philippines.

The House of the Representatives has passed the TR AIN bill, which included the imposition of an excise tax equivalent P10 for every liter for beverages sweetened with local sugar and P20 for t hose w it h HFCS or imported sugar.

The Train bill is now under scrutiny of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, which is chaired by Sen. Juan Edgardo M. Angara. To be continued

SMC unit puts on hold chicken exports to Japan Continued from A1

“So, we put on hold our shipments until we get clearance, just to make sure we don’t waste our resources. We just want to make sure that before we ship, the products won’t be rejected,” he added.

Sañez said the company has already sought the assistance of the Department of Trade and Industry to secure clearance from Tokyo to proceed with the shipment of Yakitori chicken and marinated chicken products to Japan.

“We are also communicating with our customers from Japan to assure them that our products are safe,” he added.

The food unit of San Miguel Corp. has been exporting chicken products to Japan for more than a decade.

While the company has six poultry farms in Pampanga, Sañez said these are all located outside the

7-kilometer radius-control area identified by the government.

“We have checked all our farms and processing plants in Region 3, because we have the testing tools, and we are free of any AI contamination,” Sañez said.

“Because of our strict biosecurity measures, we were able to protect our farms from any contamination.

It is also good that these are outside the 7-km radius of San Luis, Pampanga, where the reported outbreak happened,” he added.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol assured the country’s trading partners that the birdf lu outbreak is under control and is confined to only one town in Pampanga.

“Obviously, [the outbreak] will affect our exports, but we have to explain to our trading partners that the Philippines is an archipelagic country. That is why I have

banned the transport of fowls from Luzon to other regions to contain the outbreak,” Piñol told the BusinessMirror.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) announced last Friday that it will cull some 200,000 fowls to ensure that the bird-flu virus, which struck commercial layers, won’t spread.

Piñol said the DA would complete by Monday the culling of chicken, quail and ducks within the 1-km quarantine radius in San Luis, Pampanga. The United Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra) and SMPCI urged stakeholders in the local poultry sector to cooperate with the government.

“With the strong cooperation of all poultry-industry stakeholders under the guidance and leadership of the DA and the Bureau of Animal Industry [BAI], we are optimistic that the bird-flu outbreak in Pam-

panga will be resolved swiftly, enable affected poultry farmers and their families to recoup their losses and the industry to grow stronger,” Ubra said in a statement.

‘Loss of competitive edge’

With the AI outbreak in Pampanga, Philippine Institute for Development Studies senior research fellow Roehlano M. Briones said the country has lost its “competitive edge” over other poultry-producing countries in Asia. “ O t h e r c o u nt r i e s i m p o r t chicken from the Philippines because of our bird-flu free status.

We do not have that anymore. Local producers must now compete on the basis of cost,” Briones told the BusinessMirror.

As for local production, Ubra President El ias Jose Inciong told the BusinessMirror that growers would closely monitor the reaction of consumers to the bird-flu outbreak.

“The effect on production would depend on how consumers will react. If the demand will decline severely, naturally, there will be a delay in the production cycle, which will slow down harvest,” Inciong said.

“I hope consumers will be more well-informed and realize that there is no danger. According to the government, the type of AI virus in San Luis, Pampanga, is not transmissible to humans,” he added.

Malacañang last Sunday said it is keeping an eye on businesses that might take advantage of the bird-flu outbreak to manipulate the prices of poultry products in the market.

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella said the government is “closely watching the quality and price of poultry products in the market”.

“Concerned government agencies are now looking at businesses that might take advantage of the situation and are monitoring the price of raw and processed chicken meat in the markets,” Abella said.

To this, Abella added there should be no price increases in

chicken meat because the avian flu is confined to only one area, although markets still have to ensure the meat they sell is uncontaminated.

The President’s spokesman last Friday urged the public to remain “calm yet vigilant”, as officials of the Department of Health (DOH) and the DA roll out preventive measures to control the outbreak. “ The DOH is assisting the DA for avian-f lu investigation and containment, which include flu vaccinations and protective equipment for poultry handlers and responders. Heightened surveillance for flu-like symptoms is now instituted in Pampanga within the 7-kilometer radius of the affected farms,” Abella said.

In a statement last Friday, the DOH said it has stepped up surveillance on human flu-like illness since its reported outbreaks in Hong Kong and India over the past months. The DOH added it has coordinated with the DA, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization “to prevent human cases” in the Philippines.

T he DOH a lso sa id it has enough supply of antiflu medication and commodities should regional health centers and hospitals need it.

Last Friday, the DA said the tests conducted by the BAI revealed the presence of highly p at ho g e n i c av i a n i n f lu e n z a (HPAI) subtype H5 in a quail farm in Barangay San Agustin in San Luis, Pampanga.

The BAI’s National Avian Influenza Focal Person Arlene Asteria V. Vytiaco said there are two strains of AI transmissible to humans—H5N1 and H5N6. Vytiaco added initial tests ruled out H5N1 as the virus strain. Vytiaco said the government will send samples to Australian Animal Health Laboratory for further testing.

She added it could take up two weeks to release the results.

With a report from Elijah Felice E. Rosales

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Freediving ‘envoy’ endorses ocean protection agenda Continued from A1

The celebrity freediver, who has beaten numerous records in the sport, is a staunch supporter of Campagne des Ecos Gestes and the Antinea Foundation, two organizations that are focused on ocean conservation.

Néry, likewise, stressed the importance of developing a sustainable way of engaging in ecotourism. “It’s not just about consuming the place. It’s also about having an experience, protecting and respecting every place we go,” he said.

Freediving is a sport where practitioners only hold their breath as they go underwater, not relying on external breathing aids, such as scuba-diving equipment. Pearl divers in Sulu are recognized as among the earliest freedivers in the world.

A DOT official said the agency is working closely with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources–Biodiversity Management Bureau, the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the National Economic and Development Authority, among others, to fully implement the government’s National Ecotourism Strategy (NES) of 2013–2022.

“We at the Department are conscious of the need for sustainable practices and programs as we develop the freediving segment,” said DOT Undersecretar y for Tourism Development Planning Benito C. Bengzon Jr. “Our own master plan cites the need for the preservation of the environment and promotion of climate-change adaptation,” he added.

With the NES as a blueprint, the DOT is developing ecotourism sites, including marine sanctuaries accessible to divers and freedivers for low-density tourism activities, Bengzon said.

In El Nido, Néry joined the coral reef-restoration efforts at Pangatalan Island before gracing the launch of the Sulubaaï Environmental Foundation, a nonprofit organization that aims to establish more sustainable projects in Palawan.

The Pangatalan Island proje c t i s a 4 . 2- he c t a re m a r i ne protected area surrounded by coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass meadows.

A two-time presenter at TED Talks, Néry explained the role of education in supporting ocean conservation and, at the same time, promoting freediving in the country. “If the young generation is aware about the dangers and the problem, it will change the way we are interacting with nature. That’s why I’m here, that’s why I’m going to go to many places and that is what I’m trying to teach also when I’m here, and I do freediving workshops,” he said.

Nér y earlier conducted two workshops in Mactan and Moalboa l , Cebu , i n col l aborat ion with Freediving HQ and Freediving Planet. “Freediving clubs and shops also have this role to show ecotourism to these people coming. So it’s the responsibility of ever yone to protect the environment, to make people more conscious and open minded about all those problems as we develop the Philippines as the freediving capital of Asia,” he said.

Néry gained celebrity status outside the diving community after starring in DJ Naughty Boy’s music video of the 2015 hit, “Runnin’ (Lose It All),” featuring Beyoncé and Arrow Benjamin.

In the video, Néry is seen running on the ocean f loor without a breathing apparatus.

He has also dived into Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas, known as the world’s second-largest underwater sinkhole.

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Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, August 14, 2017 A3

Duterte’s war on drugs nets 1.3M surrenderees

By Manuel T. Cayon

D

@awimailbox

AVAO CITY—President Duterte’s war on drugs has netted 1.3 million surrenderees in one year, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

National Police Chief Director General Ronald M. dela Rosa told a thanksgiving party here last Saturday that, “In the war on drugs, we have 1.3 million surrenderees among users and pushers and those involved in the illegal drugs trade.” The event was organized

by Duterte supporters abroad called “Du30 OFW Global”.

Dela Rosa did not say how many have died in Philippine National Police (PNP) antidrugs campaign, but private groups keeping tract of the war on drugs said the casualties have exceeded the 7,000 mark.

“Mind you, these did not come without a price. We have lost many good men,” dela Rosa added.

The government placed the number of drug users nationwide, including those engaged in the illegal drugs trade, at 4 million, and Duterte has blamed this on the lukewarm action of previous administrations against illegal drugs.

Dela Rosa said the war on drugs was the single reason the police has also brought down significantly the incidence of crime nationwide.

“We significantly brought down specific crimes by so much: physical injury by 17.44 percent, robbery by 33.94 percent, theft by 38.41 percent, carnapping of motor vehicles by 47.59 percent, carnapping of motorcycles by 39.81 percent and rape by 7.23 percent,” he said.

Dela Rosa added the all-out support of the President resulted in the tremendous gains in the war on drugs. “At no time in our country’s history did we have a leader as tough and committed as President Duterte.”

He said the PNP vowed to push through with the campaign against illegal drugs, which he said was one of four areas that Duterte wanted to solve during his term. The other three were crime, corruption and terrorism.

“We have made tremendous change in the antidrug war and with constant encouragement from the President, we are doing everything to bring down the crime volume for the entire nation,” he added.

At the event, Duterte supporters from the US, Great Britain, Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries were asked onstage to give testimonies that centered on their respective experiences about “bringing hope that there is a bright future for the Philippines”.

“We believe that the President has brought hope that one day,

‘PHL supports US’

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

T

@alyasjah

he enemy of the United States is also the enemy of the Philippines. This was how President Duterte’s press secretary described the Philippines’s position in the nuclear tension between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the US. Presidential Communications Secretary Martin M. Andanar said Washington has the backing of Manila in its virtual standoff with Pyongyang. “Our government supports our allies—United States, South Korea, Japan,” Andanar said in a radio interview over the weekend.

“So, whatever dreads the United States also dreads the Philippines, especially that there are thousands of Filipinos in Japan, South Korea and Guam,” Andanar added. He said the President and Foreign Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano are keeping a close watch over the conflict.

US President Donald J. Trump last Wednesday vowed to respond to North Korea with “fire and fury” should it make any more threats to strike the US with its ballistic missiles.

“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States [because] they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen,” Trump told reporters.

In response to Trump’s comments, North Korea said it is closely studying a plan to strike Guam at any moment, which could hurt a population of as much as 160,000. The small island, in the western Pacific, also shelters thousands of American military personnel.

“North Korea knows who its enemies are and who the allies of the US are. On our part, we will always be here for the United States and our allies,” Andanar said.

The press secretary added the Philippines is doing everything it has to do to maintain peace and order in the region as part of Duterte’s chairmanship of the Asean.

“At the same time, we [have to] always act together with our Asean neighbors and, of course, as an ally of the United States,” Andanar said.

In a joint communiqué, foreign ministers of the Asean urged the DPRK “to fully and immediately comply with its obligations arising from all the relevant United Nations Security Council resolution”. Headed by Cayetano, the diplomats said they support the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the resumption of dialogue to de-escalate tensions in the region.

Meanwhile, Armed Forces Spokesman Restituto F. Padilla Jr. last Friday said the least the Philippines could receive from a potential DPRK strike on Guam are debris of the ballistic missile. “We don’t see this as potentially hitting us in any way because it is directed toward an outer island of the Pacific itself,” Padilla said in a news briefing. “[Debris] could hit some northern coastal areas so we have to forewarn our citizens to be on the lookout, but that’s something that we see as remote,” Padilla added.

going abroad would only be by choice, not by necessity anymore,” a US-based female organizer said of the Du30 OFW Global thanksgiving concert party held at the Crocodile Park here last Saturday.

“The blacks in America have always congratulated us for having a President that has balls,” she said. “And we told them that he not only is tough, but he walks the talk.”

She said the war on drugs was one move many

overseas Filipino workers appreciated, adding that, “One of the worse things that could happen to us abroad is to see our children and family members back home hooked on drugs.”

Economy

A4 Monday, August 14, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

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DTI sees investment pledges hitting ₧550B

T

By Catherine N. Pillas

@c_pillas29

he Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is raising its investment pledges target to P550 billion this year, following the “steady” flow of investments from China.

“There have been indications of expansion and investments, but we think it can reach as much as P550 billion,” Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said.

The new target is nearly 25 percent higher than the P441 billion recorded last year.

Lopez made the pronouncement after the Board of Investments recorded a 40-percent hike in investment pledges in the Januaryto-July period. In the seven-month period of 2017, pledges reached P294 billion.

Jobs generated from January to July amounted to 58,758, an increase of 57 percent, from 37,487 in the same period in 2016.

The number of projects approved also went up by 40 percent to 268, coming from 192 in 2016.

Most of the big-ticket projects are expected to come from China, whose relations with the Philippines has seen a swift turnaround in the present administration.

The DTI chief is also scheduled to visit at least five more nations by year-end for trade and investment presentations, to make a pitch for “Dutertenomics”.

“The immediate visits include the United States, China, South Korea and Brussels,” Lopez said.

Earlier, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella said President Duterte’s visit to China has resulted in investments amounting to $4 billion.

Abella added the Chief Executive’s visits to Japan and Russia have produced investment commitments of $1.85 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively.

Earlier, Lopez said the government plans to ramp up infrastructure spending to make the Philippines attractive. As much as P1.097 trillion has been allocated for government infrastructure projects next year under the 2018 P3.7-trillion national budget. It is 29.5 percent, or P249.8 billion, higher than the 2017 national budget’s allocation for public infrastructure.

According to Lopez, the investment-registration figure is a clear indication of the continued confidence of domestic and foreign investors in the country’s sound economic policies and attractive business environment.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez leads the news conference on the DTI’s hosting of Asean-related activities held at the Board of Investments AVR Penthouse in Makati CIty.

ALYSA SALEN

Solon wants to look into pending power-supply deals

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

T

O secure Luzon’s power requirements, the minority leader of the House of Representatives has filed a resolution asking the leadership of the lower chamber to look into the pending approval by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of seven powersupply agreements (PSAs) of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

In House Resolution 1161, House Minority Leader and Rep. Danilo E. Suarez of the Third District of Quezon said the appropriate House committee should look into the matter in aid of legislation to help expedite PSAs of power utilities to avoid rotating brownouts that will be costly to the economy.

Earlier, Meralco told lawmakers in a hearing that there were actually more than 90 PSAs that were filed by different distribution utilities and electric cooperatives, following the ERC Resolution restating the effectivity of the Competitive Selection Process (CSP). However, some of these PSAs were being

questioned by lawmakers.

The Meralco’s PSA’s at ERC include power-supply agreements on the construction of coal-fired power plants with the following: Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. (225 megawatts [MW]; Atimonan One Energy Inc. (1,200 MW); St. Raphael Power Generation Corp.

(400 MW); Central Luzon Premiere Power Corp. (528 MW); Mariveles Power Generation Corp. (528 MW); Panay Energy Development Corp.

(70 MW); Global Luzon Energy Development Corp. (600 MW).

“Existing coal-fired power plants are outdated and insufficient rendering them vulnerable to transmission failures that may be caused by disasters like the earthquake in Samar and Leyte,” Suarez said.

Suarez added the construction of coal-fired power plants is part of President Duterte’s infrastructure development which will take seven to eight years to construct before becoming fully operational.

“These agreements are part of the infrastructure-development thrust of this administration, aim to reduce the transmission congestion in Lu-

zon that causes intermittent power outages and consequently interrupts business activities, dampening economic growth,” Suarez said.

Earlier, the minority leader said “[The province of Quezon] may lose P400 million in revenues if we don’t address the very thin power supply against the increasing consumption."

Suarez also recalled that the Luzon grid was placed several times in red and yellow alert because insufficiency of power following unexpected shutdown and unscheduled maintenance operations, resulting to power interruptions recorded in Luzon.

“The Luzon grid has a maximum supply of 11,000 megawatts while demand reaches at most 9,800 megawatts, leaving around 1,000 megawatts for the national grid corporation’s operating margin,” he said.

Moreover, Suarez, citing Republic Act 9136, or an Act Ordaining Reforms in the Electric Power Industry, said the government is mandated to ensure the quality, reliability, security and affordability of the supply of electric power in the country.

20 LGUs readied for connection to PHL Business Registry system

T

he Philippines is preparing 20 local government units (LGUs) to be connected to the Philippine Business Registry (PBR) this year, in line with its target to fully implement the online system by 2020, the country’s economic planning chief said.

During the “Philippine Development Forum: Sulong Pilipinas 2017,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said these will enable the LGUs to facilitate start-ups and help reduce transaction costs.

PBR aims to facilitate a seamless transactional environment for business registration and development across the application systems of various government agencies and LGUs. Under t he new Ph i l ippine

Development Plan, Pernia said improving the ease of doing business is highlighted as a development priority of the administration by simplifying government transactions.

This is through the reduction of documentary requirements, steps, processing time and number of signatories for registration documents.

Pernia added these should cover passports, driving licenses, Bureau of Internal Revenue and LGU processes and services for overseas Filipino workers, among others.

Promoting the ease of doing business and facilitate access to services for micro, small and medium enterprises was among the top 10 actionable recommendations

submitted by the private sector for the government to consider at last year’s Sulong Pilipinas forum in the context of the 10-point socioeconomic agenda of the Duterte administration.

Others include addressing the bottlenecks on implementation of infrastructure projects, the comprehensive tax reform and improving transport networks across the country, among others.

“Congress has already approved the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program’s first package on third reading in May, upon the President’s certification of the proposed legislation as urgent. We now look forward to its approval in the Senate within the year,” Pernia added.

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BusinessMirror

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, August 14, 2017

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PHL to buy more imported rice–report The future of agriculture and appropriations

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

hilippine rice imports this year could double to 1.6 million metric tons (MMT), from 800,000 metric tons (MT) in 2016, according to the latest report of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In its latest report, titled “Grain: World Markets and Trade”, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS) attributed the increase to efforts of Manila to prop up the dwindling rice stockpile of the National Food Authority.

The latest projection of the USDA-FAS is 14.28 percent higher than its July forecast of 1.4 MMT. With this, along with the expected increase in demand for rice by Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the USDA also revised upward its earlier forecast for global milled-rice production this year to 483.922 MMT, from 483.807 MMT.

“For 2016-2017, global production is raised even further to a new record. Trade is revised up on increased demand from Bangladesh, the Philippines and Sri Lanka,” the USDA-FAS said.

Data from the USDA-FAS showed that global rice imports this year would reach 43.322 MMT, 7.12 percent higher than the 40.440 MMT traded globally in 2016.

Philippine milled-rice production this year could reach 11.5 MMT, higher than the 11 MMT produced in 2016, according to USDAFAS data. This is due to the expansion in areas planted with rice.

Figures from the USDA-FAS showed that

rice harvest area in 2017 would expand to 4.6 million hectares, from 4.52 million hectares last year. The average rough rice (palay) yield this year could reach 3.97 MT per hectare, 2.84 percent higher than the 3.86 MT per hectare recorded in 2016.

The Philippine Statistics Authority said the country’s unmilled-rice output in January to September could go up by 10.16 percent to 11.69 MMT, from 10.61 MMT recorded in the same period last year.

Harvest area during the nine-month period is projected to expand to nearly 2.9 million hectares, from 2.67 million has a year ago.

s the House is still conducting hearings on the 2018 budget, I would like to reiterate what I have said in previous columns: the Philippines needs an Agriculture Initiative, which seeks to bring together both private and public sectors, to work on market-based solutions to the development of inclusive and sustainable farming. While I agree that the country needs infrastructure and support the well-funded “Build, Build, Build” program, agriculture must be given the same kind of determination and funding.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) only got a measly allocation of P54.2 billion for 2018, compared to P213.2 billion the DA asked for. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol is correct in saying that the low budget allocation for 2018 will not allow him to roll out the new initiatives to increase food production and address the requirements for a bright future for agriculture.

What would the justified heavy budget allocation for agricultural productivity and profit accomplish? There will be more investments in agriculture, farmers will get easier access to finance, there will be lower unemployment, and supply/value chains will be created. As a consequence, some 20 million rural Filipinos can be lifted out of poverty.

And the children of farmers will stop moving from rural areas to urban centers or become overseas Filipino workers. Isn’t this what the 11-point economic agenda of the Duterte administration had in mind? Fighting poverty in agriculture? If the DA budget allocation is properly implemented, millions can be given dignified lives.

Let me repeat what Mike Alunan said in a recent column “On The Contrary”: “Despite decades of agrarian reform, farmers now owning farms remain poor as land ownership does not guarantee better production

Henry J. Schumacher

europe Beat and higher incomes.”

Heavy public and private investments into agriculture will allow the consolidation of farm land; farm consolidation is of great importance. The best models of Philippine cooperatives should be copied and cascaded.

The adoption of advanced farming technologies can only be achieved by management systems that can focus on competitive land sizes, good research and development in coordination with existing research institutes in the country, supported by increased extension service to be provided by government.

As I and many others have mentioned before, increased agricultural productivity would necessitate improving the security of property rights by amending the antigrowth and development provisions in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law and removing the restrictions on sale and conveyance on agricultural land patents. Nobody will invest in agriculture if land titles are not available.

Lawmakers must be ready to provide millions of farmers and farmworkers with a good alternative to their current situation; the agriculture sector deserves a much better future; it would be a win-win situation for all agrifood stakeholders. The time is NOW. Comments are welcome; contact me at hjschumacher59@gmail.com

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Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Monday, August 14, 2017 • Editor: Jun B. Vallecera

news@businessmirror.com.ph

ICC green lights ₧57.5B more infra programs

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he Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) has approved six new big-ticket projects costing a combined P57.494 billion to improve the road system and mobilize the financial resources of local government units (LGUs) in the Mindanao area, among others.

According to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, who chairs the ICC, the largest of the approved projects amounted to P21.194 billion and will fund the upgrading of seven gravel roads totaling 236.5 kilometers and one 40km road segment providing more direct routes and open areas for development in Mindanao.

A project facilitation, monitoring and innovation task force was approved and created by the ICC-Cabinet Com-

mittee to monitor the government’s top 75 flagship projects worth an estimated P14.989 billion.

Dominguez added the ICC-Cabinet Committee also approved a P7.919-billion infrastructure preparation and innovation facility that will support project development and implementation of key infrastructure projects.

The facility will cover: feasibility assessment and studies; detailed engineering design; preparation of pro-

Dominguez curement documents; and due diligence reviews.

To mobilize financial resources for the LGUs and micro, small and medium enterprises in Mindanao, the committee also gave the go signal to the P1.519billion Conflict Sensitive Resource and Asset Management Program–Financial Cooperation Measure project that will

DOF to drop excise on SSBs if Senate adopts original CTRP T

he Department of Finance (DOF) is willing to drop the proposal to tax so-called sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) but only if the Senate will adopt the first package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) in its original form.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III reiterated this point last Friday to negate a statement attributed to Sen. Juan Edgardo M. Angara on the DOF ostensibly being open to drop the tax on SSBs. He clarified that the government will give up the tax on SSBs only if the committee passes the original CTRP proposal as encapsulated in Senate Bill (SB) 1408 authored by Sen. Aquilino L. Pimentel III. “What I told Angara was, I am willing to drop the sugar tax but pass the original DOF bill. You don’t have to pass it this time. You don’t have to pass it at all but pass

the original bill filed by Senator Pimentel.

You pass that, [we] take out the sugar tax,” Dominguez told financial reporters.

Just last week Angara claimed Dominguez was willing to compromise with Congress on the tax bills, specifically in dropping the tax on SSBs in exchange for the full package of the excise taxes on fuel alone. He was referring to the P6 fuel-tax hike that the House of Representatives passed in increments of P3 for the first year of implementation, P2 in the second year and P1 for the third year.

Angara said the meeting of the Senators in Malacañang was merely a discussion and not a bargaining opportunity and that he expected another meeting with the country’s economic managers on the pending tax bills.

According to Dominguez, around P167 billion was expected under the original DOF-supported SB 1408 in its first year

of implementation.

“That was the only reason why that sugar tax came in. They [the Senate] took out a lot in the first bill,” Dominguez stressed.

Finance Assistant Secretary Ma. Teresa S. Habitan said the sugar tax was not in the first package of the CTRP but was included in the fifth package that focuses on health.

“The sugar tax was not originally in package one. It was in package five together with the other health taxes. It’s really up to the Senate,” Habitan told financial reporters.

Under House Bill 5636, SSBs will be levied a P10 per liter excise tax to discourage consumption of unhealthy drinks. It is deemed more as a health measure rather than a revenue measure.

The tax on SSBs was seen generating an additional P47 billion on its first year of its implementation and earmarked for the country’s health programs. Rea Cu

Espenilla rules out free-falling peso

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he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) ruled out a free-falling peso last Friday when the exchange rate moved past the psychologically important 51 per dollar rate as the currencies market winded down.

BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. said the peso should not crash, despite recent weakness and the exchange rate corrects when markets finally see the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals remain strong.

The peso is market determined. It’s natural for it to show volatility as it adjusts to market conditions and all the short-term uncertainties, such as increased tension in North Korea.

We don’t expect it to do a free fall because our economic fundamentals now, unlike before, are solid and very strong. This is reflected in our investment grade rating. The peso is capable of correcting itself as the market calms down and digests the relevant information.

Last Friday data from the PDS showed the peso at 50.98 per dollar, or 10.5 centavos weaker from the previous’ day’s 50.795 per dollar. It actually started trading at 51.05 such that the morning trades averaged 51.027 but would eventually recover by day’s end.

The total traded volume last Friday aggregated only $690.1 million.

Espenilla said the BSP will “always be there strategically if volatility is considered excessive”.

“We have a huge pile of foreign exchange reserves to play an effective stabilizing role,” he added.

Latest data from the BSP showed the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) in July at $80.786 billion and enough finance 8.6 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and income.

It was also equivalent to 5.5 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.7 times based on residual maturity.

Espenilla also addressed worries on the Philippines’s weaker current account position this year.

“The Philippines is an emerging market economy that wants to grow. To be sustainable, it needs to catch up on high-quality investments, especially in infrastructure. It’s natural for it to run moderate current account deficits. In fact, it’s suboptimal for it to be persistently running current account surpluses. That’s like the equivalent of deploying our own savings to the world instead of using those internally to finance our own investment needs,” he said.

“As the recent IMF [International Monetary Fund] Mission observed, we’re doing well and the economy is not overheated. Nonetheless, the BSP stands vigilant. Let’s calm down. We’re on the right track,” he added. Bianca Cuaresma

be administered by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank).

The ICC has also approved the procurement of seven maritime disaster-response helicopters to strengthen and expand the Philippine Coast Guard’s capability to respond to maritime incidents during natural calamities.

The procurement plan involves the training of pilots and technical crew; purchase mission equipment, maintenance tools and spare parts; construction of hangars; and project management, costing an estimated P5.887 billion.

Earlier, the Cabinet Committee, to help ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila, approved the construction of the P4.607billion Binondo-Intramuros Bridge and the P1.376-billion Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge.

The Binondo-Intramuros Bridge will involve the construction of a steel bowstring-arch bridge with intersecting re-

clining arches supporting a four-lane deck of about 725 linear meters to connect Intramuros and Binondo with a viaduct over the creek adjacent to the Muelle de Binondo in Manila.

The existing two-lane Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge will also be expanded to four lanes to increase the road-network capacity connecting Makati City at Rockwell Center and Mandaluyong City.

In June the ICC submitted for approval of President Duterte around four transportation and flood-control projects with total combined cost of P541.58 billion.

The projects include: the P35.26-billion Mindanao Railway Project, which connects Tagum, Davao and Digos; the P285billion North South Railway Project; the P211.43-billion Malolos-Clark Railway Project; and the P9.89-billion Cavite Industrial Area Flood Risk Management Project. Rea Cu

Case clippings

By Justice S J Ranada Jr. ADMINISTRATIVE LAW–resignation of charged employee The precipitate resignation of a government employee charged with an offense punishable by dismissal from the service does not render moot the administrative case against him. Even if the most severe of administrative sanctions­—that of separation from the service—may no longer be imposed, there are other penalties that may be imposed if later found guilty, namely the disqualification to hold any government office and the forfeiture of benefits.

Judaya v. Balbona 06 Jun 2017

AM P-06-227 Perlas-Bernabe, J

LandBank builds garbage-collecting boats made of recycled PET bottles

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overnment-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) starts testing boats made of plastic bottles to collect garbage in tributaries of Manila City as part of the cleanup drive for Manila Bay. LandBank has built five boats using 700 two-liter soda bottles attached to a metal frame to be distributed by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to two tributaries or esteros this week.

At present LandBank and the MMDA are exploring the city to identify tributaries and communities that most urgently need the boats.

“We’ll be making more boats as we examine the city. Communities will need to sign agreements to ensure they will use them and maintain them. So, it’s also emphasizing their responsibilities to clean their own surroundings,” Catherine Rowena B. Villanueva, first vice president and president of Manila Bay Sunset Partnership Program of LandBank, said at the Landbank Manila Bay Cleanup 54th anniversary last Saturday on Roxas Boulevard.

The design came from Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance (Sipag) Foundation Inc. that resized

the boats smaller than the original ones created by Taiwanese Tzu Chi Foundation.

“With the new PET [polyethylene terephthalate] bottle boats, we are positive this will not only help clean Manila Bay but also address flood problems and rescue victims during calamities,” LandBank Executive Vice President Julio D. Climaco Jr. added.

The recyclable PET bottles were donated by LandBank’s other 27 partners and communities, including public schools, where it teach waste management thorough lectures and videos.

This year LandBank, together with Maynilad, will also educate communities on liquid wastes that add pollution in the small waterways.

Apart from the boats, LandBank is distributing 9,000 mud balls to be dropped into the water to kill harmful microorganisms and remove bad smell. The balls are sourced locally and cost P15.

LandBank has already piled 4,000 mud balls at the cleanup event, along with 1,500 sacks of garbage from the bay.

With its additional four partners this year and 5,000 employees, LandBank plans to conduct the Manila Bay cleanup weekly, more often than its quarterly operation. Kathryn Jose

Q2 expansion seen faster than 2%

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rivately employed economists believe the country’s local output growth, measured as the GDP, exceeded 6 percent in the second quarter, their optimism based on stronger exports and government spending during the period.

In a recent forecast on Asia-Pacific economies, Moody’s Analytics economist Jack Chambers said the Philippines’s GDP accelerated to 6.8 percent in the April-to-June quarter.

“The main boost will come from exports, which have been expanding rapidly in recent months largely because of stronger shipments of electronics,” Chambers said.

“Meanwhile, domestic factors have remained conducive to strong growth. Private consumption will grow rapidly for the foreseeable future thanks to rising incomes and favorable demographics,” the economist added.

Chambers’s forecast is an acceleration from the 6.4-percent GDP expansion in the first quarter.

Singapore’s DBS Bank economist Gundy Cahyadi, meanwhile, said growth actually slowed to only 6.2 percent in the same period instead, although he was optimistic on

the country’s prospects the rest of the year.

“Going by the government’s monthly budget expenditure, it is clear to us that government spending has accelerated, from 4 percent in the first quarter of 2017 to more than 13 percent in the second quarter. This is likely to be supportive of overall GDP growth,” Cahyadi said.

The Singapore-based economist said GDP was likely to average only 6.4 percent by year’s end.

Economists also believe investments will likely play a more significant role down the line.

“What is more interesting, however, is to see how investment growth fared in the period. While we continue to see double-digit growth in investments, the moderation in numbers is likely to have continued, partly due to the high base effects,” Cahyadi said.

Chambers, meanwhile, believes investment will expand rapidly in the year as a result of a mixture of private and government projects.

The Philippine Statistics Authority is set to release the country’s second-quarter GDP data last Friday. Bianca Cuaresma

news@businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • Monday, August 14, 2017 A7

Trump takes risk in pressing China on 2 fronts

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EIJING—In a diplomatic gamble, President Donald J. Trump is seeking to enlist China as a peacemaker in the bristling nuclearedged dispute with North Korea at the very moment he plans to ratchet up conflict with Beijing over trade issues that have animated his political rise.

Trump spoke late last Friday with his counterpart, President Xi Jinping of China, to press the Chinese to do more to rein in North Korea as it races toward development of long-range nuclear weapons that could reach the US. Xi sought to lower the temperature after Trump’s vow to rain down “fire and fury” on North Korea, urging restraint and a political solution.

But the conversation came as Trump’s administration was preparing new trade action against China that could inf lame the relationship.

Trump plans to return to Washington on Monday to sign a memo determining whether China should be investigated for intellectualproperty violations, accusing Beijing of failing to curb the theft of

trade secrets and rampant online and physical piracy and counterfeiting. An investigation would be intended to lead to retaliatory measures.

The White House had planned to take action on intellectual property earlier but held off, as it successfully lobbied China to vote at the UN Security Council for additional sanctions on North Korea a week ago. Even now, the extra step of determining whether to start the investigation is less than trade hawks might have wanted, but softens the blow to China and gives Trump a cudgel to hold over it if he does not get the cooperation he wants.

While past presidents have tried at least ostensibly to keep security and economic issues on separate tracks in their dealings with China, Trump has explicitly linked the

two, suggesting he would back off from a trade war against Beijing if it does more to pressure North Korea.

“If China helps us, I feel a lot differently toward trade, a lot differently toward trade,” he told reporters last Thursday.

Trump has sought to leverage trade and North Korea with China for months, initially expressing optimism after hosting Xi at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, only to later grow discouraged that Beijing was not following through.

The effort has reached a decisive point with the overt threats of US military action against North Korea—warnings clearly meant for Beijing’s ears.

China is widely seen as critical to any resolution to the nuclear crisis because of its outsize role as North Korea’s main economic benefactor.

China accounts for as much as 90 percent of North Korea’s total trade and supplies most of its food and energy while serving as the primary purchaser of its minerals, seafood and garments.

But even though the effectiveness of the new UN sanctions depends largely on China’s willingness to enforce them, the Trump administration has failed to come up with enough incentives to compel China to do so, analysts said.

In their phone conversation last Friday night, Xi stressed that it was “very important” for the two

leaders to maintain contact to find “an appropriate solution to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula,” according to a statement carried in the Chinese state-run media. The language indicated China wants to push forward with a diplomatic proposal for North Korea that the Trump administration has brushed aside.

The Chinese statement urged the “relevant sides”—a reference to North Korea and the US—to “avoid words and actions that exacerbate tensions.” It did not explicitly criticize North Korea, which issued its own searing rhetoric all week, including a threat against Guam, and did not draw a clear distinction between Washington and Pyongyang.

In its own account of the call, the White House emphasized points of concurrence. “President Trump and President Xi agreed North Korea must stop its provocative and escalatory behavior,” read a statement from the White House issued early last Saturday. “The presidents also reiterated their mutual commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

If Trump was trying to move Xi toward bolder action against the North, he did so while the Chinese leader is preoccupied with his own domestic political machinations, attending to a once-every-five-year political shake-up in the top ranks of the Communist Party.

Xi is believed to be at the beach resort at Beidaihe on the coast east of Beijing, where the leadership conducts a secretive retreat every summer, sometimes emerging casually dressed in open neck shirts and Windbreakers for photographs on the strip of sand along the beachfront.

The final stages of the political process to win Xi’s favor for a place on the standing committee of the party, now a seven-member body that makes the final decisions on the nation’s affairs, is underway among the resort’s villas and hotels, China’s political analysts said.

The selection will be unveiled at a national congress in Beijing sometime between September and November. Until then, almost all other matters, including foreign policy, are put on hold, the analysts said.

Still, the leadership has been vexed that the Trump administration has paid scant attention to China’s proposal for a “freeze for freeze” solution to North Korea.

Described many times by China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, the notion calls for North Korea to freeze its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program at current levels in exchange for the US drawing down military exercises off the Korean Peninsula.

So far, the US has dismissed the proposal as a nonstarter. Instead,

to China’s irritation, the US is looking to increase missile defenses in South Korea. In some respects, though, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has tried to please Beijing by pledging that Washington does not seek to overthrow the North Korean leader, and does not plan to send US troops north of the 38th parallel that divides North and South Korea.

Xi is said to be exasperated with Kim Jong Un, a leader much his junior, whom he openly disparaged during his meetings in Florida in April with Trump, US officials say.

But despite the frustration with Kim, China still prefers to have what it considers a relatively stable North Korea under Kim rather than a collapsed state that could result in a united Korean Peninsula on its border, with US troops in control.

In rebuffing the “freeze for freeze” proposal, Washington has raised suspicions in Beijing about its true intentions, said Yun Sun, a China expert at the Stimson Center in Washington. Chinese leaders believe the US sees its true rival as China, a mammoth economy, and not North Korea, one of the poorest countries on earth, Sun said.

In this estimation, Washington is merely using North Korea to mount a military containment strategy around China, she said.

New York Times News Service

The World

A10 Monday, August 14, 2017 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

US general jets into Asia as tensions run high

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en. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet with President Moon Jae-in in Seoul on Monday amid escalating tensions over North Korea’s nuclear program, according to an official with South Korea’s Blue House.

The chairman of Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the deputy commander of Republic of Korea-US Combined Forces Command and the head of Korea’s national security council will also attend, said the official, who asked not to be identified.

Dunford, whose trip includes stops in Japan and China, arrived in Seoul last Sunday, the official said.

The visit to the region by President Donald J. Trump’s top military adviser underlines heightened tensions after a week in which North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and the US leader exchanged threats.

China’s President Xi Jinping told Trump in a phone call that all sides should maintain restraint and avoid inflammatory comments.

The Trump-Xi phone call came as Japan set up a missile-defense system in western areas of the country, following a threat by North Korea to fire missiles over Japan toward the

The president’s rhetoric could be aimed at China, but largely it is aimed at North Korea, trying to deter.”—Roehrig US territory of Guam.

The deployment of four Patriot interceptors was expected to be completed last Saturday, a spokesman for Japan’s Ministry of Defense said by phone. He asked not to be named.

Trump said in a tweet last Friday that US military options were

night in the US masked underlying tensions between Beijing and Washington over how to deal with the errant regime in Pyongyang. Trump has often used sharp words to argue that China isn’t doing enough to rein in North Korea, and has threatened punitive measures on trade if Xi fails to act.

The European Union’s Political and Security Committee will meet on Monday in an extraordinary session called by foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to discuss “possible next steps” on North Korea, according to an emailed statement.

Military strike

Dunford Bloomberg

“locked and loaded” if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un acted unwisely.

Main benefactor

China is North Korea’s main benefactor, providing most of its food and fuel. Beijing is reluctant to put so much pressure on the regime that it risks collapse. While North Korea is testing the patience of its longtime benefactor, such a scenario could lead to a unified Korea and push US troops right up to China’s border.

China agreed to harsh United Nations sanctions earlier this month even while calling on all sides to take a step back and negotiate a solution. Formal talks on North Korea’s nuclear program collapsed in 2009, and Kim has accelerated his efforts to obtain the ability to strike the US with a nuclear weapon.

Dunford said last month that it was “unimaginable” to allow North Korea to develop the capability to strike a US city with a nuclear weapon.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican, told NBC News that Trump told him that “if thousands die, they’re going to die over there.”

The White House said Trump and Xi agreed during their call that North Korea must stop provocative behavior, reiterating their mutual commitment to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons. It also said that Trump looked forward to visiting China later this year, calling the relationship between the two leaders “extremely close.”

The warm words exchanged between Xi and Trump last Friday

Trump’s tepid criticism of violence slammed

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RIDGEWATER, New Jersey— President Donald J. Trump is rarely reluctant to express his opinion, but he is often seized by caution when addressing the violence and vitriol of white nationalists, neoNazis and alt-right activists, some of whom are his supporters.

After days of genially bombastic interactions with the news media on North Korea and the shortcomings of congressional Republicans, Trump last Saturday condemned the bloody protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, in what critics in both parties saw as muted, equivocal terms.

During a brief and uncomfortable address to reporters at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, he called for an end to the violence.

But he was the only national political figure to spread blame for the “hatred, bigotry and violence” that resulted in the death of one person to “many sides.”

For the most part, Republican leaders and other allies have kept quiet over several months about Trump’s outbursts and angry Twitter posts. But recently they have stopped averting their gazes and last Saturday a handful criticized his reaction to Charlottesville as insufficient.

“Mr. President—we must call evil by its name,” tweeted Sen. Cory Gardner, Republican-Colorado, who oversees the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of the Senate Republicans.

“These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism,” he added, a description several of his colleagues used.

Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and the father of the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, did not dispute Trump’s comments directly, but he called the behavior of white nationalists in Charlottesville “evil.”

Democrats have sug gested that Trump is simply unwilling to alienate the segment of his white electoral base that embraces bigotry. The president has forcefully rejected any suggestion he harbors any racial or ethnic animosities, and points to his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, an observant Jew,

Trump has stepped up warnings that Kim’s regime would face a devastating military strike if it continued threatening the US. Last Friday he said that if Kim makes any “overt threat” or strike at a US territory or ally “he will truly regret it and he will regret it fast.”

Trump also said the US was considering tighter sanctions against North Korea.

“Hopefully it will all work out,” he told reporters in Bedminster, New Jersey. “Nobody loves a peaceful solution better than President Trump.”

North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency accused Trump earlier of moving the Korean Peninsula “to the brink of a nuclear war.”

The US hasn’t taken any public steps to prepare for hostilities such as evacuating Americans from

and his daughter Ivanka, who converted to the faith, as proof of his inclusiveness.

In one Twitter post last Saturday, Trump nodded to that inclusiveness.

“We must remember this truth: No matter our color, creed, religion or political party, we are ALL AMERICANS FIRST,” the president wrote, a statement that had echoes of his campaign slogan, America First.

But like several other statements Trump made last Saturday, the tweet made no mention that the violence in Charlottesville was initiated by white supremacists brandishing anti-Semitic placards, Confederate battle flags, torches and a few Trump campaign signs.

Trump, the product of a well-todo, predominantly white Queens enclave who in 1989 paid for a full-page ad in The New York Times calling for the death penalty for five black teenagers convicted but later exonerated of raping a white woman in Central Park, flirted with racial controversy during the 2016 campaign.

He repeatedly expressed outrage that anyone could suggest he was prejudiced. When he retweeted white supremacists’ accounts, he brushed aside questions about them. When he was asked about the support he

had been given by David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, he chafed, insisting he didn’t know Duke.

Finally, at a news conference in South Carolina, Trump said “I disavow” when pressed on Duke.

He later described Duke as a “bad person.”

When his social media director, Dan Scavino, posted an image on Trump’s Twitter feed with a Star of David near Hillary Clinton’s head, with money raining down, Trump rejected widespread criticism of the image as anti-Semitic. And after years of questioning President Barack Obama’s citizenship, he blamed others for raising the issue in the first place.

In an interview that aired last September, Trump said, “I am the least racist person that you have ever met,” a statement he repeated at a White House news conference in February.

In Bedminster last Saturday, Trump said he and his team were “closely following the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville,” then tried to portray the violence there as a chronic, bipartisan plague.

“It’s been going on for a long time in our country,” he said. “It’s not Donald Trump. It’s not Barack Obama.”

Trump did not single out the

marchers, who included the white supremacist Richard Spencer and Duke, for their ideology.

While Democrats and some Republicans faulted Trump for being too vague, Duke was among the few Trump critics who thought the president had gone too far.

“I would recommend you take a good look in the mirror & remember it was White Americans who put you in the presidency, not radical leftists,” he wrote on Twitter, shortly after the president spoke.

The president remained silent on the violence for most of the morning even as House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Trump’s wife, Melania, and dozens of other public figures condemned the march.

Melania, using her official Twitter account, wrote, “Our country encourages freedom of speech, but let’s communicate w/o hate in our hearts. No good comes from violence. #Charlottesville.”

Ryan was even more explicit. “The views fueling the spectacle in Charlottesville are repugnant. Let it only serve to unite Americans against this kind of vile bigotry,” he wrote on Twitter at noon, around the time that Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia declared a state of emergency in the city. New York Times News Service

‘Muscular response’

Jamil Jaffer, founder of the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School in Arlington, Virginia, said Trump’s “muscular response” to North Korea was “the exact type of resolve we need to force the hand” of Pyongyang’s “Chinese patrons.”

Trump’s “firm break with 20plus years of failed American policy on North Korea represents the one chance we might have to forestall a massive conflict on the Korean peninsula,” Jaffer said in an e-mail. He added that China and North Korea understand that Trump “is actually prepared to use military force—credibility that prior administrations simply lacked.”Bloomberg News

Venezuela: Trump’s comment on military action is ‘madness’

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An injured woman is taken from the scene where a car plowed into people protesting a white nationalist rally, killing one and injuring at least 19 in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12. The “Unite the Right” rally, which both organizers and critics had said was the largest gathering of white nationalists in recent years, turned violent almost immediately. Matt Eich/The New York Times

Seoul, which is within range of North Korean artillery, or moving ships, aircraft or troops into position for an imminent response.

Terence Roehrig, a national security affairs professor at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, said Trump’s posture suggested he was trying to dissuade Kim from further provocations rather than setting the stage for a US military strike.

“The president’s rhetoric could be aimed at China, but largely it is aimed at North Korea, trying to deter,” Roehrig said. “North Koreans are not suicidal. They may continue launching missile tests but they don’t want a war, and the US doesn’t want military action either. ”

enezuela will defend itself from the “madness” of Donald J. Trump, its defense minister said, a day after the US president said he’s considering a military option in response to the escalating political and economic crisis in the oil-producing nation.

“It is an act of madness, it is a supreme act of extremism,” Vladimir Padrino said last Saturday in statements to Venezuela’s state broadcaster VTV. Venezuela has been subject to increasing sanctions since President Nicolas Maduro convened a national assembly designed to rewrite the country’s Constitution and consolidate his power.

Trump’s statement last Friday suggested the US may get more deeply involved, raising the specter of US intervention in Latin America that could spread turmoil in the region.

The foreign ministry, in an e-mail, called Trump’s statements “warmongering” and said they represent a “direct threat to Venezuela’s peace, stability, independence, territorial unity, sovereignty and right to selfdetermination.”

The top US diplomat in Caracas, Chargé D’affaires Lee McClenny, was asked to come to the federal building known as the Yellow House last Saturday, The Associated Press reported. The US and Venezuela have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010.

Trump weighed in on Venezuela’s turmoil during a brief news conference last Friday at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

“Venezuela is not very far away, and

the people are suffering, and they’re dying,” he said. “We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option, if necessary.”

The president declined to say whether the US would seek to overthrow Maduro. He gave no specifics on what the US would do militarily or whether it would act unilaterally.

Vice President Mike Pence flies to South America last Sunday, with stops planned in Colombia, Argentina and Chile over several days. On the eve of Pence’s arrival, the government of Colombia rejected Trump’s hint at intervention in a statement condemning “military measures and the use of force.”

Trump’s comment also triggered a negative response from a fellow Republican, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a member of the Armed Services Committee.

“No, Congress obviously isn’t authorizing war in Venezuela,” Sasse, a regular critic of the president, said in a statement.

“Nicolas Maduro is a horrible human being, but Congress doesn’t vote to spill Nebraskans’ blood based on who the Executive lashes out at today.”

Ben Rhodes, former President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, also weighed in. He said in a tweet that Trump’s comment may have the unintended effect of giving Maduro a rallying point for his supporters, even as he tries to suppress opposition to his policies.

“Hard to overstate how much this is a gift for Maduro who will play up threat from the US to seek support from VZ and rest of Latin America,” Rhodes tweeted.

Bloomberg News

Kim, Trump word war spurs demand for global assets haven

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he escalating war of words between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un has spurred demand for haven assets globally. In Seoul, bargain-seeking investors have turned bullish on consumer stocks.

Eight of top 10 gainers on the Kospi 200 Index since Trump’s “fire and fury” comment on August 8 include the cosmetics maker Cosmax Inc., which soared 11.5 percent over the next three days, Hansae Co., a garments producer that rose 6.7 percent, and furniture maker Hyundai Livart Co., which rallied 5.1 percent. The index itself slid 3.4 percent.

While South Korean stocks suffered their worst week since February 2016 as Trump dialed up his warning to North Korea on threats to US allies, investors including Shinyoung Asset Management and Korea Investment Management said the sell off is an opportunity to snap up consumer companies as President Moon Jae-in takes steps to stoke demand. Bloomberg News

AseanMonday BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Strong earthquake shakes Indonesia’s Sumatra; no damage

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AKARTA, Indonesia—A strong earthquake struck last Sunday off the coast of southern Sumatra in Indonesia, causing panicked residents to run from their homes but no major damage.

The US Geological Survey said the quake last Sunday morning had a magnitude of 6.4 and occurred at a depth of 35 kilometers.

It was centered 74 kilometers west of the coastal city of Bengkulu and also felt in Singapore, about 590 kilometers from the epicenter. It did not generate a tsunami.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the quake was felt for about 10 seconds in coastal cities and was strong enough to shake belongings from shelves and topple furniture.

Residents ran from their homes and there were power outages in some areas but no reports of casualties or structural damage to buildings, Nugroho said.

“The intensity of the earthquake felt mild to moderate,” he said.

Singapore broadcaster Channel NewsAsia said it received calls from residents in the city state who felt tremors.

Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago, is prone to the seismic upheaval and tsunamis due to its location on major geological faults known as the Pacific “Ring of Fire”.

In 2004 an extremely powerful Indian Ocean quake set off a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia’s Aceh province in northern Sumatra. AP

Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur warns of climate-change risks

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ATHMANDU, Nepal—Seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations last Friday agreed to conclude early a free-trade accord, implement the Paris Agreement on climate change and step up cooperation among their security agencies to combat terrorism.

The foreign ministers of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal expressed “great concern” over increasing threats to the planet and peoples’ livelihoods from climate change and agreed to combat it at local, national and regional levels.

They met in the Nepalese capital under the aegis of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec).

Nepal is also scheduled to hold the fourth summit of the grouping later this year.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said climate change, natural calamities and disasters were posing threats to his country’s survival.

Nepal, he said, was vulnerable to natural disasters as shown by the 2015 earthquake, which killed thousands of people.

“We are also bearing the brunt of climate change despite our negligible contribution to greenhouse-gas emissions.

To combat all these challenges, we need stronger partnership and deeper collaboration among ourselves,” he said.

The seven foreign ministers also agreed to expedite the ratification of the Bimstec Convention on Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism and Transnational Organized Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking, said a joint statement issued at the end of a two-day meeting last Friday.

The nations agreed to explore the possibilities of promoting energy trade in the region, particularly of renewable and clean energy sources. They finalized an agreement to be signed soon on the establishment of the Bimstec Grid Interconnection, the statement said.

Last October the Bimstec leaders interacted with the heads of state of five of the world’s rising powers—Russia, China, India, Brazil and South Africa—during a two-day summit in the western Indian tourist resort of Goa, which focused on economic recovery and counterterrorism. AP

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Monday, August 14, 2017 A11

Cambodia leader sees border crisis with Lao PDR averted

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HNOM PENH, Cambodia—Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who threatened last Friday to use force over a border crisis with neighboring Lao PDR, announced last Saturday that the situation had been peacefully resolved after he made a lightning trip for face-toface talks with his Laotian counterpart.

Hun Sen, an enthusiastic user of social media, announced on his Facebook page that he had successfully negotiated with Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith to have a small contingent of Laotian troops withdrawn from disputed frontier territory, with Cambodia also to remove its soldiers. His Facebook page showed video

of the two leaders at a news conference.

Hun Sen flew to the Laotian capital, Vientiane, last Saturday morning, a trip announced just the day before, when he had set an August 17 deadline for Laotian troops to withdraw or be confronted by Cambodia’s military.

News media close to Hun Sen’s government had shown troops in the Phnom

Penh area mobilizing last Friday night.

Cambodia and Laos have generally warm relations as both had fraternal communist governments after 1975. Hun Sen said last Friday that the problem began in April when about 30 Laotian soldiers entered a no-man’s-land on the border to stop Cambodian military engineers from building a road on what Cambodia maintains is its territory in Stung Treng province. Hun Sen’s critics have accused him of using past border crises with Thailand to boost his popularity.

Cambodia’s last major border disputes were with Thailand from 2008 to 2011, and were widely seen as benefiting Hun Sen politically, as he was able to portray himself as a nationalist protector of the country’s territory. His party won a strong victory in the 2008 general election, but lost seats in 2013 and is expected to face a strong challenge next year.

The state news agency of Laos, KPL, reported Thongloun’s remarks on the agreement by both sides to withdraw

military forces from the disputed area between the Laotian province of Attapeu and Cambodia’s Stung Treng.

“Today, we had frank talks in a friendly manner and in order to restrain the situation in that area from being intensified and consequently developing into military confrontations, I and Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen have agreed that the Lao side will withdraw the remaining military troops that have been left there since Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen ordered the stoppage of building an access road in that area,” the Laotian prime minister was quoted as saying.

He said he had ordered his country’s soldiers to withdraw no later than Sunday morning, and that Hun Sen was, likewise, ordering his troops to stand down.

Thongloun said at their joint news conference that the two sides agreed that their foreign ministries and border committees would continue talks on demarcating the border where markers have not yet been installed. AP

Thailand, PHL want no part of Asia dollar-bond boom

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VER in Asia’s booming dollar-bond market, there are two notable absentees: Thailand and the Philippines.

The two countries are missing out on the rush to dollar-denominated debt, instead relying on their domestic fixed-income markets and lending from banks—something that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. Issuance from Thailand and the Philippines combined stands at a paltry $3.7 billion, compared with $15.7 billion out of Indonesia and $10.6 billion from India, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The ensuing turmoil born-out of Asia’s currency crisis in 1997 lives fresh in the memories of companies looking for capital 20 years later. In those days a far bigger proportion of bonds sold by the likes of Thai firms were in dollars and even the most casual student of the period will remember how that contributed to the collapse in their economies. Now, their lack of participation in the five-year long boom for debt in the US currency may well be a price worth paying.

“Most of these issuers have been affected by the Asian financial crisis and since have been very conservative in their US dollar bond issuance,” said Jean-Charles Sambor, London-based deputy head of emerging market fixed income at BNP Paribas Asset Management. “These two countries have a very conservative corporate sector.”

This year the Philippine government is the only issuer out of the nation with a $2-billion offering in January, while Thai borrowers have sold just $1.7 billion. On a net basis—accounting for redemptions—the Philippines is shrinking its dollar-bond pool and Thailand’s is only just in the green this year at $93 million.

Indonesian companies can’t always rely on its domestic banking system and often have a greater need for nonlocal currency funding. Indonesia is a commodities exporting country and companies there have dollar revenues so it makes sense for them to have greenback liabilities, according to Terence Chia, head of Asia Pacific debt capital markets syndicate at Credit Suisse Group AG. “The Philippines and Thailand, in particular, have strong local currency-bond markets,” said Todd Schubert, head of fixed-income research at Bank of Singapore, the private banking unit of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.

“Issuers are able to get big deals done with reasonable tenors. From a political and policy perspective, this is actually preferable because it dampens volatility versus

This undated photo shows the skyline of Metro Manila. The Philippines and Thailand have been noticeably absent in Asia’s booming dollar-bond market. Bloomberg

countries that are dependent on the US dollar market for financing.”

Dollar liquidity

PHILIPPINE borrowers have been active in the domestic market this year, with peso-bond issuance soaring 63 percent over the same period last year to P878 billion ($17.4 billion), Bloomberg data show. The equivalent for Thai issuers shrank 10 percent to 5.1 trillion baht. Still, the size of the local-currency bond market in Thailand accounts for 81.2 percent of the nation’s GDP, among the highest in Asian economies.

“Thai and Philippine banks have ample dollar liquidity to lend to their top corporates,” said Desmond Soon, head of investment management for Asia ex-Japan at Western Asset Management Co. in Singapore. “Also, most major corporates in these two countries have liquidity and run rather conservative balance sheets.”

Banks in the two countries may come to the dollar market opportunistically for senior funding but subdebt can be easily done onshore, Soon at Western Asset said.

The Thai and Philippine governments have been encouraging local borrowing as they don’t want US dollar volatility on corporate balance sheets, said Ben Sy, head of fixed income, currencies and commodities at JPMorgan’s private-banking unit in Asia.

It took many years for companies of the two countries to deleverage after the Asian crisis and for the countries to develop local bond markets. Don’t bet on Thai or Philippine issuers tapping the US dollar market any time soon, said Credit Suisse’s Chia, and Bank of Singapore’s Schubert.

“Given the rarity of these issuers in the dollar-bond market, investor demand for these issuers will be strong as they seek to diversify their risks,” Chia said.

Bloomberg News

Thailand faces ‘tug-of-war’ after next elections, former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva says

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HAILAND faces the risk of discord between appointed senators and elected representatives after its expected return to democracy next year, according to former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Critics say the country’s 20th constitution will lead to an upper chamber that gives appointed soldiers, judges and bureaucrats the power to stifle politicians voted into the House of Representatives. Abhisit said if a coalition or single party manages to achieve a lower-house majority, senators could in theory try to block its candidate for prime minister.

“There could well be a tug-of-war after the election,” the 53-year-old leader of the Democrat Party said in an interview on August 8 in Bangkok. “I don’t subscribe to the view that the way it’s written means that the senators can call the shots. It’s not as easy as some people think.”

General Prayuth Chan-Ocha seized power in Thailand over three years ago after a period of political unrest, pledging to restore

stability. A date for elections has yet to be announced, but Abhisit said he expected curbs on political parties to ease before the end of 2017 and polls in the second half of next year, if Prayuth’s military government sticks to its road map.

“If there is chaos, if there is instability, we could be in a different game,” he said. “I see no other reasons to deviate from the road map.”

If no single party or alliance of parties emerges with a lower-house majority, then “obviously the senators can have their say,” Abhisit said.

Government Spokesman Werachon Sukondhapatipak couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Thailand’s current stretch of military rule is one of the longest since the 1970s, in a country with a history of coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932. Protests have flared over the past decade along class and regional lines.

Allies of exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, who introduced cheap health care

nationwide vote since 1992. He was picked by legislators in December 2008 after a court dissolved the pro-Thaksin ruling party for election fraud. The decision coincided with the seizure of Bangkok’s airports by protesters wearing yellow shirts who oppose Thaksin.

Economic focus

This undated photo shows former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Abhisit believes the elections next year is a make or break for Thailand democracy. Bloomberg

and bolstered price support for farmers, have won the past five elections, only to be ousted by either the courts or military.

Abhisit’s party hasn’t won a majority in a

PRAYUTH’S military administration has championed ambitious infrastructure programs, the development of advanced industries and greater adoption of technology to help kick-start investment and bolster Thai economic growth.

A substantial current-account surplus and foreign buying of Thai bonds have made the baht Asia’s best-performing currency this year. The Bank of Thailand predicts 3.5-percent economic growth in 2017, which would be the fastest in five years but still lag behind neighbors in emerging Southeast Asia.

“We hear up and down the country people complaining about the economy,” Abhisit said. “They feel that elections, when they

happen, will be a real opportunity for the economy to pick up.”

National strategy

THAILAND’S latest charter, promulgated in April, also provides for a two-decade national strategy. The military government is crafting it and says the plan will guide future administrations.

Abhisit, who led Thailand from 2008 to 2011, said that could be another potential flash-point, since an elected government will seek to implement its promises and pledges.

“If the national strategy needs to be amended, it has to be amended,” he said.

Recent experiences such as Brexit and the rise of President Donald J. Trump underline the unpredictability of the electoral process, he added. “There is going to be a fair bit of tension,” Abhisit said. “My advocacy for the senators to respect the will of the people is based on the rationale that that is the only way to ensure that there will not be fundamental conflicts.” Bloomberg News

Green Monday BusinessMirror

A12 Monday, August 14, 2017

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

The 10 Asean Biodiversity Heroes are (from left) Eyad Samhan of Brunei Darussalam, Sophea Chinn of Cambodia, Alex Waisimon of Indonesia, Nitsavanh Louangkhot Pravongviengkham of Lao PDR, Prof. Zakri Abdul Hamid of Malaysia, Dr. Maung Maung Kyi of Myanmar, Dr. Aangel Aalcala of the Philippines, Prof. Leo Tan Wee Hin of Singapore, Dr. Nonn Panityong of Thailand; and Dr. Dang Huy Huynh of Vietnam Alysa Salen

10 Asean Biodiversity Heroes recognized

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By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

he Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) held its first Asean Biodiversity Heroes Awards and recognized 10 heroes from the Asean member-states for their inspiring stories and championing biodiversity protection and conservation in their respective countries.

For ACB, a biodiversity hero could be a scientist, professional or a simple individual, who has proven his utmost dedication to conservation.

“A biodiversity hero is someone who believes in collaborative efforts in creating a positive impact for biodiversity. Biodiversity conservation must be the greatest concern of all as it is being threatened due to habitat loss and degradation, overexploitation and unsustainable use, invasive alien species, pollution and climate change,” the ACB said.

The awarding ceremony was held as part of the recent Asean ministerial meeting in Manila and 50th founding anniversary of the Asean, where the Philippines is a cofounder. Incidentally the regional group is currently chaired

by President Duterte.

Heroes

Besides the Philippines’s Dr. Angel Alcala, a national scient ist who c h a mp io n s c o a s t a l resource management in the country, named among the 10 Asean Biodiversity Heroes during the awards held at a hotel in Malate, Manila, were Eyad Samhan, wildlife-conservation officer who contributed significantly to research on f loral and fauna in Brunei Darussalam; Sophea Chhin, a young biodiversity information specialist who sparked interests in wildlife research in Cambodia; Alex Waisimon, an indigenous

community leader who protects forests for future generations in Papua Indonesia; Nitsavanh Louangkhot Pravongviengkham, a business leader who promotes environment-friendly agricultural production in Lao PDR; Zakri Abdul Hamid, an eminent scientist and diplomat who makes lasting impact analysis and assessment of global biodiversity and ecosystem services from Malaysia; Maung Maung Kyi, a conservationist who promotes community participation to conserve various habitats in Myanmar; Leo Tan Wee Hin, an outstanding science educator who champions biodiversity outreach and education in Singapore; Nonn Panityong, a biodiversity expert and business leader who raises public awareness of biodiversity through taxonomy in Thailand; and Dang Huy Huynh, a senior scientist who fosters exchange of knowledge and solutions to conserve Vietnam’s biodiversity.

Besides the Asean Biodiversity Heroes trophy and cash prize, they were also recognized with Hyndai Icon for Biodiversity by Hari Foundation Inc. Each of the awardees was recommended by environment officials, leaders of non-governmental organizations or academic institutions from the Asean memberstate where they belong. They were awarded for having achieved significant feats in the fields of scientific research, education, communication, which led to successful biodiversity protection

and conservation. To demonstrate their commitment, the awardees joined the Asean Biodiversity Heroes Pledge, during which a pledge board was unveiled to mark the commitment of the awardees, as well as the audience, to help promote biodiversity conservation.

For children of tomorrow

In his written message for the awards, Foreign Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said biodiversity is a blessing from the Almighty, which should be preserved and protected. As such, he said: “We have intergenerational responsibility to care for Mother Nature today, for the benefit of our children tomorrow.”

“The Asean Biodiversity Heroes are citizens of the region that people can identify with and inspire others to take action for biodiversity in their own spheres of influence. They play the crucial role of spreading awareness on the urgent need to conserve biodiversity as Asean member-states continue to conserve [the] Asean’s shared natural wealth and their respective national development and sustainability goals,” Cayetano, a former Philippine senator said.

Shared responsibility

ACB Executive Director Robert Oliva said during the ceremony: “Biodiversity is not just about the bees, the birds and the trees.

Without biodiversity, we will all be extinct.” ACB acts as the secretariat of the awards.

Oliva added anyone could be a biodiversity hero, underscoring the need to involve everybody in protecting and conserving the socalled web of life.

“It cannot be the task of government alone. It is a shared responsibility,” Olvia said, referring to the challenge of protecting and conserving biodiversity, particularly in Southeast Asia, which boasts of diverse species of plant and animal species, including marine wildlife.

The ACB has been promoting the declaration of protected areas in Southeast Asia through the Asean Heritage Parks Program.

He said there are 40 protected

areas all over the region, eight of which are in the Philippines, which also hosts the main headquarters of the ACB. “[The] Asean is very rich in biodiversity, upon which 633 million people or over are dependent.

The continued stability, progress and development of [the] Asean is anchored on the continued safety and presence of our biodiversity,” he added.

“Today, we honor the 10 biodiversity heroes who understand clearly the value and importance of biodiversity. They love their children, they love their families, they love [the] Asean, they love the next generation, and that is why they moved heaven and earth to inspire people to carry the cause of biodiversity conservation,” Oliva said. “[The] Asean is rich in biodiversity and there is hope because of you,” he added.

Inspiring people

Environment Undersecretary Jonas R. Leones who represented Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said in his message that the country’s hosting the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on its 50th anniversary, wherein an outstanding individual from the Philippines is honored as one of the 10 Asean Biodiversity Heroes, demonstrates the country’s commitment to the global effort toward biodiversity conservation and protection.

The message is clear that the Philippines and the Asean are teeming with champions in the biodiversity sector, he said.

He underscored the importance of the actions toward biodiversity protection and conservation, big or small. Recognizing biodiversity heroes, he said “is an important step toward inspiring people from all walks of life to contribute their share in combatting the loss of biodiversity resources.

“Many perceive biodiversity merely as the beauty of nature but it is certainly more than that. Biodiversity or the web of life is the foundation of our daily living. The richness of biodiversity resources in the Philippines classifies it as one of the Earth’s biologically

wealthiest countries,” he said.

“It [the Philippines] is endowed with rich natural resources that sustain essential life-support systems both for the country and the region. Apart from providing water, food and energy, these natural resources play important roles in sustaining a wide range of economic activities and livelihoods,” he added.

He said the Philippines ranks fifth in the number of plant species in the world, and maintains 5 percent of the world’s flora, he said.

However, he said the country’s rich biodiversity is constantly threatened by deforestation, wildlife hunting for food, pest and medicine, climate change, population growth and other causes.

He added the government’s commitment to the regional effort is demonstrated by its effort in expanding the coverage of terrestrial and marine-protected areas.

Echoing Oliva, he proudly said the Philippines is home to eight Asean Heritage Parks to date.

Leores said the Philippines support various regional initiatives to boost conser vation and protection of the region’s natural resources, such as the Coral Triangle Initiative.

The country’s commitment to the regional effort, he added, is also demonstrated by its hosting of the ACB’s headquarters, cit ing its newly inaug urated building in Los Baños, Laguna, with funding support from the Philippine government.

According to Leones, preventing biodiversity loss remains a major challenge in the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia, despite notable gains in biodiversity conser vation. He said many critical issues need to be addressed in reducing biodiversity loss in the region. The search for Asean Biodiversity Heroes, he said, is important in the regional effort to significantly reduce biodiversity loss.

“Without biodiversity, there will be no life, for biodiversity is life in itself. Without biodiversity and its interdependence, we will not survive and prosper,” he said.

He expressed hope that the

10 Asean Biodiversity Heroes will inspire other Filipinos and other “ heroes” in the region to work for biodiversity conser vation and protection.

EU’s commitment

For his part, Michael Bucki, Climate Change and Environment Counsellor of the European Union (EU) for the Asean, reiterated EU’s commitment to the regional effort in biodiversity conservation.

“As we all know, the future of our planet is now being challenged by an unprecedented pressure on global natural resources and the environment. Global diversity and ecosystems are under threat worldwide with an alarming extinction rate of species. With this current trend, scientists assert that the biodiversity crisis has now passed the tipping point of planetary boundaries with the risk of irreversible changes that will profoundly affect human beings. If we do not act strongly together now, what will be left to our children?” he asked.

Bucki said 50 percent of marine biodiversity has been lost since 1970, and that 50 percent of coral reefs have disappeared due to the acidification and pollution of oceans, while the life of half a billion people directly depends on reef resources and much more depend on marine resources to feed themselves.

Similarly, life on Earth is threatened to such level that 77,000 species have been listed as critically endangered by International Union for Conservation of Nature.

“The results of the latest assessment are disturbing with several species facing extinction: we are talking about 25 percent of mammals, 13 percent of birds, 41 percent of amphibians,” he said.

He said to save endangered species, there is a need not only stronger institutions and law enforcement, but also an assault on poverty, the creation of economic opportunities and the full engagement of communities in decision-making, along with the reduction of demand from the countries receiving illegally trafficked wildlife products.

Biodiversity Monday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Monday, August 14, 2017 A13

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

Asean Centre for Biodiversity recognizes National Scientist, former environment secretary

Dr. Angel Alcala is PHL’s biodiversity hero

‘P

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

produce more fish and you use only the fish produced by the marine reserves. The capital is left intact,” he said.

@jonlmayuga

eople have the tendency to exploit natural resources a lot faster than its capacity to produce. This is not the way to go if we are to ensure sustainable production.”

Thus, said Philippine National Scientist Angel C. Alcala, who was chosen as one of the 10 Asean Biodiversity Heroes by the Asean Centre for Biodiversity during its first awarding ceremony that gave recognition to outstanding biodiversity advocates, each representing the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member-countries.

With the award, Alcala, who was the former Department of Environment and Natural Resources secretary from 1992 to 1995, became the first Asean Biodiversity Hero from the Philippines.

A lcala and the other awardees also received the Hyundai Icon for Biodiversity from Hari Foundation Inc.

Father of Marine Protected Areas

As a young biology student at the Silliman University, Alcala spent time doing research about marine biology where his passion for sustainable coastal marine resources all began.

Even at his young age, Alcala has shown passion for biodiversity conservation, helping coastal communities find ways to make their natural resources sustainable.

Nominated by Environment Undersecretary Ernesto Adobo Jr., for Administration, Finance and Management, Alcala is wellknown for his pioneering advocacy in the establishment of marine-protected areas (MPAs) in the Philippines.

He established the Sumilon Marine Reserve in southern Cebu in 1974 and the Apo Marine Reserve in southern Negros in 1982. A dozen similar marine reserves in Bohol Sea were established because of his advocacy.

Alcala has also worked with various government agencies, local government units (LGUs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations to strengthen the management of 60 similar “notake” marine reserves in central and southern Philippines, particularly in the Bohol Sea. The establishment of marine reserves protects marine ecosystem, enhances and promotes sustainable fish production in many areas.

Today, there are more than 70 national MPAs, 30 of which are predominantly marine reserves and 1,500 locally established and managed MPAs.

Sustaining advocacy

60

The number of “no-take” marine reserves in central and southern Philippines for which Dr. Angel Alcala has worked with government agencies, local governments, nongovernmental organizations and community-based organizations to strengthen their management National Scientist

The Biodiversity Heroes’ Award is a new feather added to his cap, as Alcala is already an accomplished scientist.

He was elected Academician to the Philippine National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in 2004.

In 2008 he was chosen as one of the 50 men and women of science in the Philippines for the period 1958-2008.

In September 2011 he received the Gregorio Y. Zara Award for Basic Science from the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science Inc. Fittingly, NAST voted him to the Order of National Scientist in December 2013, and was proclaimed National Scientist by President Benigno S. Aquino III through Presidential Decree 782 on June 6, 2014.

Through his research, Alcala, along with his peers, added 50 new species of amphibians and reptiles out of the 400 known species in the Philippines. This gave international conservationists a reliable basis for establishing conservation programs on Philippine vertebrate biodiversity, conducting research since his days as a student in the mid-1950s, according to the profile prepared by the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), which organized the Asean Biodiversity Heroes Awards, the

Dr. Angel Alcala, Philippine National Scientist and former environment secretary, receives the Asean Biodiversity Heroes recognition from the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), which awarded 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) advocates at ceremonies held at a hotel in Manila on Monday. With him are (from left) Philippine Environment Undersecretary Jonas Leones; Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee, deputy secretary-general of Asean Socio-Cultural Community; ACB Executive Director Roberto Oliva; and Michael Bucki, climate change and environment counselor for Asean of the European Union. Alysa Salen

first of its kind to honor outstanding individuals who work on their sphere of influence for the protection and conservation of biodiversity in the region.

The subjects of his research during the early years were taxonomy and ecology of Philippine amphibians and reptiles supported by grants from the US National Science Foundation based in Stanford University and the California Academy of Sciences, of which he is an Honorary Fellow.

A l c a l a aut ho r e d o r c o au thored more than 200 papers and books on Philippine herpetology, marine science, MPAs and biodiversity conser vation in collaboration with noted scientists, like Dr. Walter C. Brown and Dr. Garr y Russ.

A longtime professor and educator, particularly at Silliman University, A lcala, who eventually became its president for two consecutive years, founded the Si l liman Mar ine Laboratory, which is later renamed as the Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences), which is actively engaged in research on marine science.

True biodiversity hero

Director Theresa Mundita Lim of the DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) described Alcala as a true biodiversity hero “Secretar y A lca la is a National Scientist whose studies have greatly supported biodiversity-conser vation efforts in the Philippines. He is an expert on Philippine reptiles and amphibians and is a strong pillar for MPAs. His contribution to

biodiversity field research has led to the discover y of several new species,” Lim said.

Inspiration for biodiversity champions

Interviewed by the BusinessMirror during the awarding ceremonies at a hotel in Malate, Manila, on August 7, Alcala lauded the organizers of the event for inspiring biodiversity champions to make a difference.

Such initiatives, he said, need the support of various sectors, particularly national and local gover nments, pr ivate sector, academe and NGOs. “With the support of the private sector, national and local government and academic institutions, these initiatives will help protect and conserve biodiversity. Without support, it will not be sustained,” he said.

He said everybody can be a biodiversity hero, and those aspiring to become one would have to get inspiration, support and advice from people with track record.

“They should work with NGOs, work w it h loc a l gover nment units, work with the communities,” he said.

Fight overexploitation

Alcala said the private sector has a big role in biodiversity conservation.

“Ever ything in this world is reduced to business. T he resources that are used for business will eventually be gone, extinct,” he added.

“Our role is to inspire young people. The trend now is use and more use of our natural resources

for commerce. That we have to stop,” he said.

In fighting for the environment, he said threats, harassments and intimidations experienced by young environmental advocates should not stop them from pushing for biodiversity protection and conservation.

Invest in biodiversity

Everybody, he said, should invest in biodiversity because it is the key to human survival.

He likened investment in biodiversity to putting money in a bank.

The capital, he said, continues to earn interest until the capital is withdrawn, hence, the interest stops, as well.

“There is no excuse. Biodiversity is capable of renewing itself.

So what you do is like putting money in the bank, if you use that money, you lose. But if you improve that capital, then you earn more interest. If you take it away, then the production stops,” he said.

According to Alcala, sustainable management of natural resources is a must, especially when most species are now going extinct.

“We must see to it that our exploitation is based on actual production without touching that capital,” he added.

“Businesses can actually earn, benefit from biodiversity. You don’t exceed the limit or the capacity of the resource to cover. The natural resource capital must be kept intact and only the production from that capital should be used,” he said, citing the lessons in establishing MPAs. “In establishing MPAs, you

According to Alcala, there must be no letup in biodiversity advocacy. Otherwise, he said the gains will be all for naught.

“People should continue to advocate, because they tend to go back to their old habits of overexploitation. When there is a resource, they get it, they exploit it, until they are gone. I am against it,” he said.

He war ned that when people stop car ing, they star t to lose biodiversit y—that leads to the extinction of one species after another.

“We will lose our biodiversity.

It will lead to extinction. When it becomes extinct, that resource will never come back. That is why sustainability is needed.”

He said biodiversity advocates should target their audience and employ social science, explain as a scientist. The problem lies in changing the way of life of people, particularly those who are largely dependent on natural resources around them.

“Overexploitation begins because of their way of life. You shou ld teach the communities how to do it [protect biodiversit y]. I demonst rated it. We did a research, we had ex per iments and we had showed them [ways to protect biodiversity],” he added.

Community support

In every endeavor to help the community, support of the people themselves is needed.

He said people in the communities would tend to ignore ideas, like his advocacy to establish MPAs. “At first, they did not believe. But later, they realized it is true. You keep on hammering. Forest, marine [areas], [they have the] same principle. You have to prove it. Demonstrate it,” he added, citing the case at Apo Marine Reserve, which is now a model of community-based coastal resource management in the country.

“Even in protected areas in land, it will work,” he said.

He added that, for a successful biodiversity conservation project, the support of the people is needed. But, more important, the people will need a good leader to follow.

“We need the support of people who will lead the people,” he said.

“That is why you have to work at various levels. Agencies of t he gover n ment , pol icemen, soldiers can be good partners.

Local governments or the leaders of communities can be good partners. People close to you, and other sectors, you have to involve ever ybody,” he said.

Smart renews commitment to protect Marikina watershed S

mart Communications and PLDT- Sm a r t Fou nd at ion (PSF) have renewed their commitment to the Marikina Watershed Initiative (MWI) by expanding their livelihood assistance to the communities working to rehabilitate the protected area.

Smart, the wireless unit of PLDT, and PSF recently provided funding in support of the Tayabasang Umuusad ng Pangkatutubong Asosasyon (Tupai) community and Facilitating and Organizing Rehabilitation and Ecosystem Stability through Family-Based Approaches (Forest Families) project,

which gives incentives to families for their efforts to protect forest areas, addressing livelihood challenges and environmental degradation within the watershed.

The two organizations are committed to the protection of 13 hectares of remaining forest and restoration of 5 hectares within the high conservation areas of the Marikina watershed for a period of five years.

“PSF has been supporting the Marikina watershed initiative for many years now. Efforts to rehabilitate the watershed go beyond just planting trees; we also have to

address the livelihood concerns of the communities within the conservation areas,” said Esther O. Santos, president of PLDTSmart Foundation. “ We’ve seen the effects of Typhoon Ondoy [international code name Ketsana], and we realized how nurturing the environment can help us avoid this situation. By giving livelihood to the communities who live near the remaining forest area of the watershed, we not only help them earn income but also encourage them to help mitigate flooding,” said Ramon R. Isberto,

PLDT and Smart public affairs head. “The livelihood program has greatly helped us. It has also made a way for us to introduce our native fruits. Some of us have even been able to send our children to school, unlike before, where they just stayed on the mountains,” said Joelito V. Doroteo, Tupai head, in Filipino.

The Forest Families is a project under the MWI of the Center for Conservation Innovation (CCI) supported by the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), which aims to reforest and rehabilitate the Marikina watershed

and, at the same time, contribute to poverty alleviation.

The Marikina watershed was the source of the water that flooded Metro Manila during Ondoy in 2009. The Tupai and the Forest Families members are part of the Dumagat-Remontado tribe families residing in Sitio San Ysiro, Barangay San Jose, Antipolo City, that have been working with the CCI for the protection and restoration of the watershed.

Since 2009, Smart has been backing efforts to rehabilitate the Marikina watershed by collaborating with PDRF, the government

and the private sector.

It has implemented programs to address the livelihood needs of those living within the watershed areas, as well as encouraged its employees to join in activities such as tree-planting and other reforestation efforts.

Apart from helping to mitigate environmental and livelihood concerns, Smart has also been at the forefront of disaster preparedness in the Philippines, providing communications and relief aid in times of calamities, as well as initiating programs to instill the culture of resilience within communities.

A14 Monday, August 14, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

War with N. Korea: Another reality

T

Over time, the meaning of the image was distorted to the current connotation of “two-faced”—saying different things to different people instead of speaking and behaving honestly.

During the 2016 US presidential campaign, transcripts of a speech by candidate Hillary Clinton in 2013 to a closed private group (National Multi-Housing Council) were uncovered. In that speech, she said, “You need both a public and a private position. You just have to sort of figure out how to balance the public and the private efforts that are necessary to be successful politically.”

Even as the government of North Korea and the US turn to inflammatory rhetoric, both sides have been in constant communication.

It is reported that Joseph Yun, the US envoy for North Korea policy, and Pak Song Il, a senior North Korean diplomat at the country’s UN mission, have regular meetings.

Although nothing positive has necessarily come from these meetings, there had not been any public mention by either side that these backchannel talks had even happened. And each side continues to threaten “fire and fury” and to “blow the US from planet”.

As the newspaper headlines scream that the world is at the brink of nuclear war, the background reality is something different.

The US would never launch a first strike because it would accomplish nothing and be counterproductive. Both China and Russia would be forced to support North Korea, as having US military forces on North Korea’s border with either would be unimaginable. That option is completely off the table.

Kim Jong Un has threatened to send a missile near the island of Guam, which is sovereign US territory no different than Chicago or New York City. An error that actually saw Guam hit would be an act of war that would bring China and Russia in on the US side, as neither wants a few million North Koreans crossing the border for safety from a US reprisal.

If by chance the US were able to destroy any North Korean missile in flight toward Guam, Kim Jong Un would lose great military credibility both at home and abroad, and this would reduce the legitimacy and effectiveness of any future threats he might make.

On the other hand, if the US tried and failed to stop a missile, this would scare its allies into thinking that maybe US protection from North Korea is not as strong as being forecast. Foremost, Japan would have to look to its own defenses, reducing US credibility.

A missile launch by North Korea that is unchallenged and is successful also accomplishes little, except to give the US enormous data of the capabilities and attributes of the North Korean missile when used under actual combat conditions.

We have each government appearing to increase tensions to a point of action where both sides have little, if anything, to gain and yet face great tangible loss. Governments often act foolishly, but this situation is almost beyond comparison. So then the question must be asked, what is the truth behind—to paraphrase Mrs. Clinton—the public position and the private agenda?

08142017

he ancient Roman god Janus—depicted as having two faces looking to the right and the left—represents beginning and ending, and the duality of looking both forward to the future and into the past. Coincidentally, around 500 BC in Greece, actors wore exaggerated masks to express emotions of sorrow and joy, which were then combined and looked like the two-faced Janus statues.

The new law on tertiary education Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

O

N August 3 President Duterte signed into law the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or Republic Act 10931. Four days later, however, he declared that he himself did not know where the funding for this program will come from.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) estimated that it would require around P100 billion to implement this law, and this was mostly why the government’s economic managers were not so keen about the bill in the first place.

On the other hand, student organizations and the students and parents of those studying in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)accredited Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) are rejoicing because on their part, this, of course, means

less to no expense for tertiary education. Aside from free tuition fees, students of these institutions (and technical and vocational institutions) will also enjoy free “other fees”, as well as education subsidy and loans from the government. Details pertaining to these components are still being

When to persist, when to give up

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crafted into the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), which everyone is anticipating at the moment.

Aside from the question on funding, several personalities have raised an issue about the end beneficiaries of the program, saying that it is most likely the rich students who will benefit more. This is mainly based on facts showing that there are more rich students enrolled in SUCs than poor students. For a program that is challenging to fund—and may possibly draw from existing budgets for other government programs—it should be mandatory that the limited budget for this should benefit those who truly deserve.

When the law will be implemented next school year 2018-2019, there is an expected influx of K to 12 graduates in the SUCs and LUCs. Aside from this, we can definitely expect, too, that some students will be returning to school (because it’s all free now) and some students from private institutions will surely be

O

ne of the greatest dilemmas we face is making the choice between pursuing a goal in spite of difficulties and giving up because of the difficulties. When faced with obstacles, do we persist and strengthen our resolve or do we concede, let go and walk a new path? While the phrase “quitters can’t be winners” stands true, there is also wisdom behind the saying, “quit while you’re ahead”.

Take the example of my highschool friend. It took him five tries to pass the Bar, but, at the age of 50, he finally succeeded at his dream to become a lawyer. He is now considering joining the judiciary. In contrast, a relative of mine took the Bar four times and never passed but, eventually, found a career in public service. Both men failed multiple times. When faced with the question of persistence and letting go, they chose differently.

Again: how do we know when it is the right time to choose between persisting and quitting?

For entrepreneurs and start-up companies, the difference between success and failure is a factor of time. How long must they wait to pivot and change direction?

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says, “We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details…. We don’t give up on things easily.” It took a while for Amazon to be where

it is now. But the formula of not giving up does not always have successful endings. For instance, the US-based low-cost airline People Express had very promising beginnings inasmuch as their initial flights were sold out. But after only six years of operation, it had to be sold due to enormous debts and, eventually, merged with Continental Airlines. Amazon Inc. chose to persist, People Express chose to quit.

In romantic relationships, quitting too early can lead to regrets in the future, but, at the same time, pursuing a pipe dream can lead to psychological problems. My friend thought that he was on the verge of committing to the love of his life.

Unfortunately, she was not ready to commit. To know whether such situation is a comma (,) and persist or a period (.) and give up is the key to a blissful life.

Leaders are often given that

natural gift of intuition, defined as a direct perception of a fact independent of any reasoning process.

Inspirational speaker and author John Maxwell said a leader with intuition can “smell the change in the wind”. Intuition relies more on a “sixth sense” rather than facts and figures. When General George Patton decided to push his Third Army way into the German enemy lines with little regard as to his logistical support, he intuitively relied on intangible factors, such as timing, momentum and morale. While other leaders are not born with a Patton-like intuition, they can actually develop and build intuitive skills like a muscle. Some opined that leaders can develop intuition by being more observant of and “reading” the situation we operate in, including trends, resources and, most of all, people. Servant leaders can reinforce their ability to read people by reading leadership, relationship and self-help books and by simply interacting with people from all walks of life. There is no formula to know when to persist or quit. However, intuition helps us to be aware of details that will likely elude others. Intuition can help us sense when something is happening and conditions are about to change.

Intuition has little basis in science and logic. In romantic relationships, if the pursuit of a loved one is making you a better person, then persist.

Conversely, if the journey toward being together is taking a toll on your mental being, then quit.

transferring to the SUCs/LUCs to avail themselves of the privilege. The questions this time would be these: Are the SUCs and LUCs ready to accommodate the deluge of enrollees in terms of facilities, teaching faculty and admin staff and academically or curriculum-wise? How do we ensure that the private institutions will not die because of this law?

There are apparently many more things to think about now that the law has been passed. Imperatively, the money needs to go where it is most needed, and the students who are availing themselves of the program should indeed receive quality tertiary education.

As the CHED-Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education and the DBM sit down with partners and stakeholders to draft the IRR, I continue to hope that this new law will pave the way for the realization of our lawmakers’ best intentions when they drafted the bill.

It has been said that what you are becoming is more important than what you are doing. Ultimately, the person faced with the predicament of persisting or quitting will have to choose what he wants to become and what he is becoming throughout the journey.

American philosopher Wayne Dyer explains intuition. He says, “If prayer is you talking to God, then intuition is when God speaks to you.” In Job 33:14, the Bible tells us, “God does speak—sometimes one way and sometimes another—even though people may not understand it.” Best-selling author and pastor Rick Warren mentions four channels: namely, the Bible, teachers, impressions, and circumstances, which we can use to understand Him. Warren further said that whenever we listen to Him through these channels, sometimes He will lead us in ways that we will never understand.

And similar to intuition, reliance to His Word will have little basis in logic and science.

When asked for guidelines when to persist or quit, a good friend from Bacolod told me, “Trust His plan, His will and, most of all, His timing.” The moment we place our trust in Him, we will experience that eureka moment of clarity when the answer to the greatest dilemma in life comes out crystal clear. While I must admit that intuition helps, I still say it is more about faith.

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

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

PPP conversations #8 with Bataan Gov. Abet

‘Res ipsa loquitur’

By Alberto Agra

Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan

PPP Lead

legally speaking

I

N the case of “he said—she said”, and in the face of alternative facts, speculations, trolls, bashing, the issue of a P1.2-billion unexplained wealth by an impeachable public official is slowly being buried, with matching tears, by the erring public official. In the interest of truth, hereunder are excerpts from the Affidavit of Patricia Paz C. Bautista, legal wife of Commission on Elections Chairman Juan Andres “Andy” D. Bautista. Portions have been previously quoted by enterprising broadsheets.

Bank Accounts A. Luzon Development Bank (LDB) Accounts 1. Among the several documents and papers I discovered, what struck me the most was the several passbooks from LDB in its Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City branch, which collectively totals P222,494,398.00, more or less, and composing of 30 separate accounts that I found under Andy’s name. These LDB Bank Accounts are as follows: LDB Account Nos.

Amount in PhP

040-17-00008-9

6,455,548.80

040-17-00009-5

7,453,430.17

040-17-00010-3

15,991,867.80

040-17-00012-6

6,944,404.90

040-17-00016-1

7,009,394.49

040-17-00017-8

9,155,500.76

040-17-00018-4

6,464,101.91

040-17-00020-9

11,636,802.58

040-17-00022-1

7,066,768.06

040-17-00025-1

6,129,498.15

040-17-00028-0

6,838,301.59

040-17-00029-6

8,614,375.07

040-17-00031-1

6,265,103.48

040-17-00033-3

10,778,908.68

040-17-00037-9

5,831,398.56

040-17-00038-5

13,193,920.08

040-17-00040-0

9,207,594.87

040-17-00084-2

8,123,352.02

040-17-00044-5

7,867,875.41

040-17-00046-8

5,965,089.09

040-17-00047-4

7,677,356.98

040-17-00049-7

8,020,695.60

040-17-00050-5

9,917,346.12

040-17-00052-8

5,534,028.51

040-17-00055-7

5,529,297.49

040-17-00051-1

400,000.00

040-17-00042-1

8,092,689.71

040-01-00058-2

37,055.17

040-17-00053-4

2,200,000.00

040-17-00042-2

8,092,689.71 Total—P222,494,398.00

2. Based on the passbook of each of the 30 bank accounts, deposits and withdrawals were made during the year 2016 for substantial amounts. However, these amounts were not declared in Andy’s 2016 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

3. Apart from these 30 bank accounts, Andy, likewise, maintains several bank accounts of LDB in its Makati City branch, totaling five accounts, which totals to, more or less, PhP101,519,909.00. These are the following: LDB Account Nos.

Amount in PhP

028-05-00103-5

12,225,070.69

028-17-00010-3

24,451,842.42

028-17-00012-8

29,469,320.37

028-17-00005-0

21,732,835.77

028-05-00104-1

13,640,840.34

Continued from A1

P

PP Lead chats with the dynamic governor.

What is your concept of PPPs? Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is an effective mechanism for government and the private sector to collaborate and combine their respective resources in order to promote economic growth, thereby creating jobs and opportunities, and advance much-needed public services to directly benefit the people.

What makes PPP a viable and preferred development strategy at all levels?

PPP is a viable strategy because it allows government to look at options to push development beyond its very limited resources

B. Banco de Oro Bank (BDO) Accounts 4. Apart from his LDB Bank Accounts, Andy also has accounts in BDO, peso and US dollar, with the following details: Denomination

007410001574

Pesos

107410002252

US Dollars

Amount in PhP/US$ 1,820,152.29 112,360.72

Total—P1,820,152.29/$112,360.72 5. Apart from the BDO passbooks I discovered, I also found several check books which belong to Andy, and which checkbooks would show that he made substantial deposits to certain LDB Accounts that I assume belong to him, and are also the same LDB Bank Accounts stated above.

C. Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) Accounts 6. Andy, likewise, holds a Foreign Currency Account and Peso Account with RCBC, under the following details and information: RCBC Account Nos.

Denomination

8275007227

US Dollars

1-275-93034-9

Pesos

Amount in PhP/US$ 12,778.30

257,931.60 Total– S$12,778.30/PhP257,931.60

To be continued

whether from local or national. It also enables government to engage a strategic private partner, which possesses not only much-needed resources, but, more important, the core competence specific to any particular relevant project,

whether it be a ferry operation, bus rapid transit system, redevelopment of a government compound, information-technology solutions, sanitary landfill, public-market development, construction of transport terminal, etc.. In other words, government can choose the most competent private partner to get the best deal for the people and ensure the success of the project.

What makes the province ready for PPPs? For a province to be PPP ready, it must have an environment conducive for business and investment.

Presence of rule of law, peace and order, government officials willing to facilitate business rather than giving it a hard time. Also a PPP ordinance as legal basis for all PPP projects the province will enter into is critical.

What are the challenges and risks of local PPPs? For the challenges and risks, just like with other government transactions, PPP can be subject to abuse and

corruption, political harassment, especially with change of public officials, legal obstacles, etc. So it’s very important to have the right intentions and follow the correct process to minimize risks and challenges of local PPPs. What is your message to the public?

IN my humble opinion, local PPP is heaven sent to local government units. We know the challenges of generating local resources and begging the national government to fund our priority programs and projects. With PPP, we are given another solution to promote growth, development, creation of wealth and advance social and public services. We should, by all means, take advantage of this opportunity that makes us more competitive and provide a better quality of life for our people at the soonest possible time. This is the ultimate reason why we were elected into office in the first place.

Don’t go to war over Pyongyang’s missiles Ricardo Saludo

DIPLOMASIA

A

merica is adamant: North Korea must not be allowed to have intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with nuclear warheads capable of hitting the continental United States.

For decades, Washington fumed as Pyongyang developed projectiles, first, short-range rockets threatening South Korea, then intermediaterange missiles worrying East Asia, especially Japan.

The world imposed sanctions over the decades, but somehow, despite a decrepit economy and widespread destitution and chronic starvation, the succession of Kims on the North Korean throne got ever bigger missiles with deadlier warheads.

That gave Seoul and Tokyo nightmares, but Washington slept well enough never to threaten war even if Pyongyang kept climbing the ballistic ladder.

Until now.

What’s changed, of course, is that North Korean nukes might now threaten not just allies from Bangkok to Tokyo, but Americans in Los Angeles or even New York, and all parts coast to coast.

For this, America is willing to wage war in Asia—its eighth since the 1899 invasion of the Philippines, and including the two Gulf Wars in West Asia—and risk thermonuclear conflict not just with North Korea,

but even China and Russia.

A US attack on Kim’s nuclear and missile facilities would likely trigger retaliation against South Korea, pulverizing Seoul with sustained artillery barrages. Asia’s fourth-largest economy and third-leading industrial center would be devastated, with crushing impact on world growth, trade and finance.

And if China and Russia join the fray to prevent a hostile unified Korea emerging at their doorstep, then the North Korean nuke threat America sought to eliminate could well turn into an actual nuclear exchange with one or two superpowers. Is all that worth risking just to spare Americans the fear of North Korean missile attack, which South Koreans and Japanese have lived with for decades?

So what if Kim can rocket LA?

Actually, even Americans face the prospect of nuclear Armageddon, as do Chinese, Russians, British, French, Indians and Pakistanis, to name other nations facing rival powers with atomic weapons.

And they all sleep soundly with the thought that their adversaries

Why we need CPD? Gerard Sanvictores

Total—P101,519,909.00

BDO Account Nos.

Monday, August 14, 2017 A15

DEBIT CREDIT

T

he Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is essential for any professional who desires to deliver world-class services to his or her clients. CPD will provide the professional with access to the latest trends in technology, processes, methodologies, skills and the like that he or she needs to keep up to date in developments in the profession. This is a lifelong learning activity that every professional should include in his or her schedule. Filipino professionals should always strive to be the best we can be and live up to our reputation as being “world class”.

Acquiring or taking CPD is a learning activity. It is part of our education, not an imposition, nor a numbers chase. We paid for our education from elementary to university to postgraduate levels. Learning and education does not end with graduation, but rather a never-ending activity that cherish. Our parents invested in our education. Now we need to invest in ourselves as professionals.

Education is not totally free as there is an attendant cost to learning.

Professionals should take/acquire CPD courses that are relevant to their role, specialization, maturity in the profession, industry, or field of practice. The Matrix of Activities annexed to the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) to the CPD law— PRC Resolution 2017-1032—serves as a guide to the various modes of

would never press the nuclear button for fear of retaliation in kind.

Indeed, since Washington and Moscow both got nukes in the 1950s, what has kept the peace between them is mutually assured destruction. Under this mutual assured destruction (MAD) doctrine, if one superpower actually launched atomic warheads, the other would have enough nukes left to inflict unacceptable death and destruction.

MAD doesn’t apply to China, Britain, France, India and Pakistan, since their arsenals do not have the retaliatory potency of the American or Russian strategic forces. But even a few nukes are fearsome enough to make even a superpower with immense atomic superiority think 20 times before going nuclear against any adversary with nukes.

Applying that thinking to North Korea, even when it develops ICBMs, it would know that firing even one rocket would lead to utter annihilation from instant US retaliation.

That would be SAD—singularly assured destruction.

However, while most nuclear states are believed to be rational enough to fear going nuclear, North Korea, especially its mercurial monarch, is deemed crazy enough to actually provoke a suicidal nuclear exchange with America.

After all, Pyongyang’s Kim-pins have repeatedly undertaken deadly and destructive insanities, from Kim Il Sung’s 1950 invasion of the South and kidnappings of Japanese and South Koreans, to the 1983 bomb attack on South Korea’s Cabinet members visiting Myanmar, reputedly supervised by the patriarch’s son

CPD, many of which does not necessarily require substantial additional cost on the part of the professional.

The cost of acquiring CPD is well worth it. Of course, investment in oneself is a long-term proposition with tangible returns coming in over time. The return on investment depends on how the professional applies what he or she learns through CPD to actual professional practice.

A satisfied and grateful client or customer or patient is the return of investment that professionals value most. A happy client or customer or patient is more than willing to pay a commensurate professional fee.

Our role as professionals is to promote CPD among our constituencies. We should emphasize the proposition that CPD is not merely a numbers or units accumulating game, neither is it only for compliance purposes. Any professional worth his or her title should view the CPD as a lifelong learning activity. We actively participate in various fora to explain the rationale for CPD, the various activities through which one can acquire credit units, and looking beyond the traditional face-to-face seminars and acquiring knowledge and skills through online learning courses and on the

and eventual successor Kim Jong Il. The madness continued under Kim Jong Un, in power since his father’s death in December 2011. At Malaysia’s airport this past February, suspected North Korean agents assassinated his older brother Kim Jong Nam, who was once groomed to inherit the throne, but lost favor after trying to enter Japan on a fake passport for a visit to Tokyo Disneyland.

If that’s not warped enough, Kim Jong Un proved certifiable by threatening last week to fire several missiles at the waters around Guam, a major American base in the Western Pacific. Such an attack would gain North Korea nothing but incinerating US retaliation and possibly full-scale war.

Why Pyongyang won’t nuke

So, is President Donald J. Trump right to threaten or even wage war to keep Kim Jong Un from having nuclear-tipped ICBMs, because the third-generation despot is mad enough to risk SAD by firing at Hollywood or Broadway?

In this life-and-devastation question, one must recall how North Korea has used its weapons programs all these decades. It was never to promote some global ideology.

Rather, Pyongyang has just two purposes in developing nukes: deterring invasion and regime change, and extorting aid and concessions.

Now, will a regime that values power and money provoke a war it cannot survive by firing ICBMs at the most powerful nation on earth?

Of all people, the dealmaker in the White House should know the answer. job training mechanisms. The Board of Accountancy (BOA) members are regularly called upon by the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the sectoral organizations to talk about updates on CPD. Our regular consultations and dialogues with our stakeholders over the last year have allowed the BOA to explain the rationale behind increasing our minimum CPD requirement from 60 to 120 credit units over a three-year compliance period. The CPD issues raised by certain sectors on this matter have been addressed by the CPD Council and the BOA. I am certain that our stakeholders have accepted the reality that CPD is needed by the professional accountant.

Gerard B. Sanvictores is a member of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy and chairman of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Council for Accountancy. He is also the Program manager of the CPD Program Management Committee of the Professional Regulation Commission. He is the 2017 president of the Philippine Association of the Professional Regulatory Board Members Inc. This column accepts contributions from accountants, especially articles that are of interest to the accountancy profession, in particular, and to the business community, in general. These can be e-mailed to boa.secretariat.@gmail.com.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A16 Monday, August 14, 2017

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ECONOMIC TEAM WANTS TO FOCUS ON CONVERSION OF RICE QR INTO TARIFF

‘NFA restructuring would have to wait’

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By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

he President’s economic managers decided to remove provisions calling for the restructuring of the National Food Authority (NFA) in proposals to amend Republic Act (RA) 8178 to convert the quantitative restriction (QR) of rice into tariffs.

National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Assistant Secretary Mercedita A. Som-

billa told the BusinessMirror that the Economic Development Cluster (EDC) of the Cabinet said

RA 8178 The law that has allowed the government to continue imposing rice-import caps

the Tariffication Act, or RA 8178, would be easier to pass sans the NFA provision.

The NFA provision would restructure the agency so it could focus on buffer stocking. The primary mandate of NFA is to “ensure national food security and stabilize the supply and prices of safe staple cereals both in the farm and consumer levels”.

“The tariffication [of rice], more

or less, is accepted by the public and legislators. As for the NFA, there are still some congressmen, some senators who do not see the wisdom of restructuring the agency,” Sombilla said.

“If the NFA’s restructuring will be included in the tariffication bill, its passage could be delayed,” she added.

The removal of the NFA provision would be recommended to lawmakers who are currently working on a consolidated bill for converting the rice-import caps into tariffs. The consolidated bill would be subjected to scrutiny by various House panels.

The House of Representatives has already conducted a technical working group (TWG) committee

hearing on the bill but a similar hearing has not been held at the Senate of the Philippines.

The Philippines wants to fasttrack the amendment of RA 8178 so it could convert the rice QR and comply with its commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“We really need to put that [tariff] in place. There’s a WTO meeting in October, so by that time we should already have a clear direction on the tariff,” Sombilla said.

“I have also asked the EDC to help us push the bill at the Senate.”

The Philippines is being pressured by fellow WTO membercountries to honor its commitment to implement a rice-tariffication scheme. The waiver to extend the special treatment on rice granted

by the WTO expired on June 30.

The QR has allowed the government to limit the volume of rice that enters the Philippines every year, preventing a possible influx of cheap rice imports.

The government could not immediately convert the QR into tariff because RA 8178 did not specify a termination date for it.

This means that even if the Philippines’s waiver expired on June 30, the government is bound to implement the QR on rice, as mandated by RA 8178.

The Duterte administration vowed to allocate all the proceeds from tariffs collected from rice imports to cut farmers’ production cost, according to the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022.

Financial literacy of young Pinoys PHL, U.S.TO EXPLORE to help strengthen PHL economy FREE TRADE PACT IN ASEAN MEET

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i n a nc e e x p e r t s h av e stressed the importance of educating the youth to boost financial literacy in the country, given that a high 41 percent of millennials fail to save. The sector is counted on to help contribute to the strengthening of the country’s economy in the coming years.

At the Financial Executives Inst it ute of t he Phi l ippines (Finex) Future Business and Finance Leaders Forum at the De La Salle University (DLSU) in Pasay City over the weekend, COL Financial Group Inc. Chairman Edward K. Lee stressed the importance of investing early. He said this will not only benefit the person but help in nation-building, as well.

“The biggest problem with a lot of people is when you’re doing well, you don’t really plan for your future. You have to have the discipline and to do it regularly,” Lee said.

He said at least 10 percent to 20 percent of what a person earns should be set a side as savings, which may be invested in stocks, mutual funds or in other securities that are, in turn, reinvested for the future. This progression aids in the circulation of money and contributes to overall liquidity in the capital market.

C aylu m Trad i ng I n st it ute President and CEO Edmund C. Lee said 41 percent of the current generation do not know how to save money. “Forty-one percent of millennials, this is in the Philippines, don’t know how to save.

In fact, 41 percent of millennials spend more for coffee than on savings,” Edmund said.

According to him, the most important skill the youth should understand is the importance of saving, which is a prerequisite to investing and growing your money for the long haul.

“You need to learn how to save and invest at an early point in time.

The earlier you are able to forgo all these initial spending, the more you save, the more you will rebate over time,” Edmund added.

He said the financial-literacy rate in the Philippines is one of the lowest in the world and that less than 1 percent of the Philippine population invests in the stock market.

Entrepreneurs, comprising 69 percent of the billionaires of the world, all have investments in the stock market. Lee said if one pursues a career in entrepreneurship, one must not only know how to run and operate their respective

The U.S. is one of the buyers of fresh mangoes from the Philippines. Local mango producers said they could not expand their shipments to the US because of high production and freight costs. FILE PHOTO

By Catherine N. Pillas

P

COL Financial Group Inc. Chairman Edward K. Lee speaks before JFinex students at the De La Salle University last Saturday.

business but that one should also know how to invest.

“There are always two sides in entrepreneurship. The first part is being a business owner and running your business. The other side is about the stock market because being a passive entrepreneur is all about being an investor among all the big companies in the world,” he said.

The Philippines generates $26.9 million from the remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and $25 million more from business-process outsourcing (BPO), helping make the country attractive among foreign investors.

Despite the ups and downs of the Philippine stock market, which has fallen 20 percent to 27 percent over the years, the local output growth or GDP remains robust, averaging 5 percent to 6 percent.

“Today, we are one of the luckiest countries in the world because we have one of the youngest demographics, with an average age of approximately 23 years. Most people are entering the work force, [helping create more opportunities,” Edmund said.

According to Edmund, the government and the country’s edu-

cational system should be more proactive in terms of spreading financial literacy among Filipinos.

The absence of effort by both institutions need be addressed.

“The government is supposed to take care of the working person through pension. If it’s not the government’s responsibility to teach people about investing, then we have a problem. It’s tied together with the educational system. But for the schools, at least we’ve seen a big activity in terms of cooperation with financial institutions, trying to teach more about financial investing. I believe the schools are required to teach financial literacy not just about investing, but really being financially literate. It’s not just for people taking up finance courses,” he said.

An initiative of the De La Salle University in terms of promoting financial literacy among its students and the youth is its collaboration with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in offering an Islamic Finance course by 2019, according to Dr. Brian Gozun, dean of the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business in DLSU. Finex executives during the event said stock market or fi-

REA CU

nance courses have already been approved by the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) and included in the lesson plans of certain schools and colleges as early as the secondary level.

COL Financial Group Inc. plans to have more branches in the Philippines first before eyeing expansions in the Asean.

“We are focused basically on building COL Financial branches in different parts of the Philippines.

Now we are 90 percent in terms of educating the public because less than 1 percent of the Filipino people are investing in the stock market,” Edward said.

Edward added COL Financial said the Philippines has a huge upside, which is why the group is focused in the region. The wealth management company has one branch in Hong Kong that trades global market stocks for the more sophisticated investor.

On whether it is wise to invest in the long term or short term, Lee said it is better to invest in stocks for the long term.

“There is no point in doing short term because 85 percent of those [investing for the short term] lose money,” Edward said. Rea Cu

@c_pillas29

hilippine trade officials are seeking a bilateral meeting with their counterparts in the United States during the 31st Asean Summit and Related Meetings in November to discuss the possibility of forging a freetrade agreement (FTA).

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Manila is focused on enhancing economic relations with Washington.

“We will ask for a bilateral meeting. There is a new US Trade Representative and we’ll have a more detailed discussion beyond Asean-US matters,” Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez told reporters on the sidelines of the Dutertenomics Forum held recently.

“We will thank them for the trade concessions they granted us, which, hopefully, can graduate to an FTA,” Lopez added.

To recall, the United States, under President Donald J. Trump, has made clear its intent to go the bilateral route in concluding trade agreements.

This is in contrast to former President Barack Obama’s preference for expansive, multilateral FTAs, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.

In an earlier interview, Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo confirmed this stance, as well as the country’s interest to engage the US on

$697.75M The value of Philippine goods shipped to the US in June economic matters, despite the souring of diplomatic ties.

“They confirmed that the US trade policy will really be toward bilateral rather than multilateral or regional. We put forward that the Philippines is still interested in further enhancing market access to the US. “That has always been a key objective, whether it was within the context of generalized system of preferences, or the TPP,” Rodolfo said.

The Philippines is currently a beneficiary of the US generalized system of preferences, a preferential trade scheme wherein a particular percentage of Philippine exports are allowed to enter the US duty-free.

Lopez noted that, while discussion on an FTA has yet to start, this will be a talking point during his meeting with the US Trade Representative in November.

The US remains as the Philippines’s top export destination accounting for 14.2-percent share of the total receipts, or $697.75 million, in June.

In terms of imports, the US ranked fourth, accounting for 7.3-percent share of the total import bill during the period.