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Tax on sugar-sweetened beverages stirs bittersweet flavor for industry By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

United nations

2015 environmental Media Award leadership award 2008

Conclusion

S some government officials seek to find the right track for the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) bill, some are uncertain with the course it is undertaking. While government officials boast the Train bill would deter deterimental effects on Filipinos’ health, some say the proposed tax-reform law runs the other way. So Victoria Aguinaldo thinks. “They are saying Filipinos are getting obese because of soft drinks and 3-in-1 [instant beverage], but is it really the reason? It seems that it has not been studied well,” Aguinaldo, president of the Philippine Association of Stores and

A worker arranges cases of carbonated drinks at a warehouse in Manila on August 14. The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion bill, which includes the proposed excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), is being opposed by some groups that said public health is an issue that shouldn’t be included as justification for the SSB tax. NONIE REYES

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Carinderia Owners, told the BusinessMirror.

Alternative

AGUINALDO argues that consumers choose powdered juices because these are cheaper alternatives to real fruits and healthy commodities. “That’s what the ordinary Filipino can buy; it’s a healthier alternative for them to consume. What can they buy with P10 or P20 that is nutritious?” she said. “One kilogram of banana is P60, while one piece of apple is P20. Meanwhile, powdered juices are priced way below and, in just a liter of water, a lot of people could drink,” she added. “If these commodities are unhealthy to Filipinos, then the government should not have allowed the manufacturing of these products.” Continued on A2

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

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Wednesday, August 16, 2017 Vol. 12 No. 307

Poultry growers incur huge losses due to bird flu–Ubra

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

ust days after the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced the outbreak of avian influenza (AI) in Pampanga, the United Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra) said poultry sales have declined by as much as 50 percent. Ubra President Elias Jose Inciong told the BusinessMirror that some of their members have seen lower sales, even as the AI outbreak is confined to just one town in Pampanga.

“Producers of broiler have seen their sales go down due to lower demand for chicken meat. In Tarlac sales declined by 50 percent as of August 14. In Pampanga sales contracted by 40 percent. In Southern

Tagalog the decline was between 20 percent to 30 percent,” Inciong said. Because of lower demand, the farm-gate price of broiler fell to as much P62 per kilogram. The production cost of small and medium

Memorandum Circular 9 The directive issued by the DA that authorized the ban on the shipment of poultry products from Luzon

broiler growers ranges from P70 to P75 per kg. Ubra appealed to the DA to lift the ban on the shipment of poultry products from Luzon to other parts of the country, as this could cause growers to incur more losses. Inciong also said the ban has “sown confusion” among consumers, as this made them believe that the AI See “Poultry,” A2

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Leaderships Teddy Locsin Jr.

free fire N the late-1970s, when I was in Singapore, Singapore Airlines threatened to strike.

Lee Kuan Yew said, “I will sell SQ to Lufthansa, which maintains it anyway.” End of strike. When the chief justice passed away, Lee Kuan Yew pondered in public, “Hmmmmm, I don’t see anyone of his quality here. I think I will go to the UK and get an English judge to replace him.” When mergers and acquisitions (M&A) were all the rage, he shared with media his observation about the shortness of legal talent in that field. He said, “I am inviting foreign law firms.” In no time a Singaporean judge of the required quality emerged. And Singaporeans rapidly acquired an expertise in M&A fully the equal of the best foreign legal talent invited. Continued on A10

Uber issue bares govt failure to keep pace with tech, consumer demands By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

& Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

BER is no longer available in the Philippines. The announcement on Tuesday irked rush-hour passengers relying on the ride-sharing application. Some had to use the platform of Uber’s competitor. Some, however, had to make do with what transportation is available just to

This August 13 photo shows a man selling live chickens on a street in San Antonio, Nueva Ecija, for P90. Prices of chicken in some areas dropped and stocks were slashed after an outbreak of bird flu was reported in Pampanga last Friday, affecting 37,000 fowls. Nonie Reyes

resident Donald J. Trump on Monday instructed the office of the United States Trade Representative to consider an investigation into China’s sustained and widespread attacks on America’s intellectual property. This investigation will provide

the evidence for holding China accountable for a decades-long assault on the intellectual property of the United States and its allies. For too long, the US has treated China as a developing nation to be coaxed and lectured, while tolerating its bad behavior as merely

PESO exchange rates n US 50.9830

growing pains. There has been an expectation that as China’s economy matures, it will of its own accord adopt international standards in commerce, including protection for intellectual property. There has also been a tendency Continued on A12

its service was the restoration of the service. According to Martin L. Delgra, the chairman of the land transport regulator, this “act of defiance” is similar to contempt, and will carry a huge consequence on the part of Uber and its peers. “This would be akin to contempt on the part of the respondent to a plain and unambiguous order of the board for the respondent to comply,” he said during a news briefing on Tuesday. See “Uber,” A2

N. Korea takes a pause but PHL consulate in Guam remains on alert By Mar-Vic Cagurangan

Special to the BusinessMirror

‘China’s intellectual-property theft must stop’

get to work or to school. Many of those who rely on Uber’s services considered themselves “hit” by the suspension slapped by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) against Uber. Stories of individuals and families quickly sprout out of social media, claiming that they are, in the words of Uber, among the “tens of thousands stranded” on Tuesday morning. But just as quick as Uber’s announcement of the suspension of

AGATNA, Guam—North Korea’s state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday that its leader Kim Jong Un has taken a pause on his plan to fire missiles toward Guam, but the Office of the Philippine Consulate said it would be premature to lift the precautionary alert for Filipinos living on Guam. “We need to get confirmation

from US and Guam authorities that we are in the clear, so we will not withdraw the warning alert just yet,” Consul General Marciano de Borja said. “Reports that Kim has backed down remain unconfirmed, so we cannot recall the warning and then learn later that the threats are still there,” he added. Guam’s lieutenant governor, Ray Tenorio, said the local government has been receiving some information that “the rhetoric has calmed

down” and that “at least, it appears” that there are no imminent threats to Guam at this point. “With respect to whether he is going to back off or not, we are just going to hold people accountable for their actions,” Tenorio said. “I think the rhetoric is one thing but if we have any belief, as a country or as an island, that there is going to be a threat, we are going to be prepared; we are going to be ready for it.” See “N. Korea,” A2

n japan 0.4651 n UK 66.1097 n HK 6.5186 n CHINA 7.6419 n singapore 37.4215 n australia 40.0166 n EU 60.0682 n SAUDI arabia 13.5951

Source: BSP (15 August 2017 )

BMReports BusinessMirror

A2 Wednesday, August 16, 2017

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

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 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 proposal, or House Bill (HB) 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.

Sleight of hand

FOR Louie C. Montemar, coconvener of consumer group Bantay Konsyumer, Kuryente, Kalsada (translated as guarding consumer, electricity and roads, or BK3), disguising the proposed tax reform as a “health” measure is “fooling”

Poultry. . .

Continued from A1

outbreak is widespread and affects broilers. The DA earlier said only commercial layers were hit by bird flu. “What I learned over the weekend is that many consumers do not know the difference between broiler and commercial layers”, he said. “Broilers are those grown for 30 to 35 days and are for meat consumption, while commercial layers are those for table egg production”, Inciong added. Inciong said the 90-day trade ban could adversely affect the sector’s performance in the second half of the year.

Proper labeling

The Department of Trade and I n du s t r y ’s ( D T I ) c o n s u m e r

Uber. . .

Continued from A1

Gridlock

FOR Malacañang, the one-month suspension of transport-network company (TNC) Uber is acceptable as its failure to abide by laws and regulations warrants government penalty. But if President Duterte’s urban-poor chief is to be asked, the LTFRB should not have suspended Uber’s operations. Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor Chairman Terry L. Ridon said he is astonished by the LTFRB’s decision to punish Uber. “The enabling environment for sincere discussions between stakeholders has been put in place already through the Senate, and we are wondering how the LTFRB, despite Senate intervention, proceeded with unilaterally imposing this suspension on Uber,” Ridon told the BusinessMirror. “We have to remind ourselves that, more than anything else, safe and reliable alternative transport services is a paramount concern of the public at this time that the Duterte administration is resolving the traffic situation in

the Filipino people. “There is a slight of hand happening here. They are packaging it as a health measure, and I think that’s fooling the people,” Montemar told the BusinessM irror. Montemar, a political-science professor, said officials cannot pinpoint sugar as the lone culprit on the reported rise of diabetes in the country. “There are a lot of factors that contribute to diabetes, particularly food consumption, and sugar is just contributory. You say this is a health package because of the rising case of diabetes,” he said. “Then that means the cause of this rising case is the food items they consume, and I don’t think they are showing it. The study they are showing that diabetes is on the rise but [they are] not [showing] the real reasons.” The BK3 official said they should come up with a study that shows that the poor people, who are expected to be burdened by the proposed tax measures, are also the ones with increasing rate of diabetes. “There are really other factors to consider, one is genetics. And if you consume a lot of sugar and you use it in form of energy for activities

then there’s no problem,” Montemar said. “ How about those people living a sedentary lifestyle? They are more at risk for diabetes than our laborers and workers who are sweating daily.” He also questioned why are the commodities, which also contain sugar, that are commonly bought by the middle to upper-middle class are excluded from the proposed tax measure. “Why is it like that? The poor are not buying Starbucks. They cannot even buy cakes regularly,” he said. “This is anti-poor. It is very clear [HB 5636] is anti-poor.”

protection arm encouraged poultry processors to appropriately label products to assure consumers that their products are bird flu-free. “Appropriate labeling is a DTI concern. The labels should disclose details on the source, the manufacturers and content,” Trade Undersecretary for Consumer Protection Teodoro Pascua said in a text message. The implementation of quality standards for manufacturing, distribution, sale, advertising and labeling of poultry rests with the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), an agency attached to the DA. The minimum requirements for labeling include the disclosure of ingredients in order of weight percentage and whether they are organic.

Labeling standards for prepackaged food also include the identification of Philippine manufacturer or distributor, packer or repacker, as well as the address. While the DA is already implementing the proper labeling standards, Pascua said it would be ideal if poultry processors would be able to disclose the origin of their products.

Metro Manila,” Ridon added. Ridon has backed the TNCs in its previous altercation with the LTFRB, saying Uber and Grab are “viable transport services” at a period the government is rolling out infrastructure development to resolve the traffic gridlock.

At loggerheads

PRESIDENTIAL Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella, however, said Malacañang supports the LTFRB in its move to suspend Uber for one month. “The issue here is striking a balance between innovation and laws and regulations that [the] LTFRB has to implement as part of its administrative function in regulating common carriers,” Abella said on Tuesday. Abella added that, while the government recognizes “the positive and beneficial services offered by the TNCs”, Uber should not have challenged the rules and instructions of the LTFRB. “The sooner that the said institution [Uber] complies, then the sooner these things will be resolved,” Abella said. On top of this, Abella said the government “empathizes with the traveling public”, who have been at the short end of the stick. “That’s exactly

Discriminatory

THE Beverage Industr y Association of the Philippines (BIAP) shares the same sentiment as Aguinaldo’s and Montemar’s. “The proposed tax is discriminatory. It applies to a single category, manufactured and prepackaged beverages, when, in fact, there are other categories that contribute to obesity and diabetes,” BIAP said in its official position paper regarding HB 5636. “SSBs account for just 2.1 percent of daily food intake in the Philippines.” The BIAP pointed out that the in-

Strict monitoring

Quar antine and airport authorities were ordered on Tuesday to strictly monitor and inspect all poultry cargoes from Manila bound for other provinces to ensure that they fully comply with the quarantine procedures. The BAI said the government is doing its best to contain the bird-flu outbreak in San Luis, Pampanga. why we wish that the LTFRB and the Uber situation be addressed completes as soon as possible,” the President’s spokesman said. The LTFRB and TNCs have been at loggerheads for more than one month now, tracing back to the latter’s crackdown on the former. Some 50,000 Uber and Grab drivers in July was ordered deactivated by the LTFRB for operating without government franchise.

Premature

UBER turned on its application on Tuesday noon to the horror of the LTFRB. The company explained it did so merely because it filed before the regulator a motion for reconsideration on the suspension. Uber also issued a public statement that it continued to ac cept new peers—without activating them—on the premise that the issue on their legality will be resolved soon. That earned Uber further ire from the LTFRB, which said Uber willfully violated a board order, thus endangering its peers from being apprehended by local authorities for being “colorum” or illegal. But in its motion for reconsideration, Uber said the government failed to give the company administrative due process. Uber also said it did not violate the July 26 order issued by the regulator.

cidence of obesity and overweight in the country is prevalent in the higher-income classes, rather than in the lower socioeconomic segment. “Eighty percent of beverages is consumed by the lower-income classes—those who are the least affected by obesity and diabetes,” it said. “The promotion of an active lifestyle is a more effective measure in curbing obesity and diabetes than taxing a particular food or beverage.”

Tier system

THE BIAP recommends the government adopt a tax and health measure based on the caloric sweetener content of products. “In consideration of the Asian flavor profile of consumers, the Senate may explore adopting the Singapore threshold system combined with the United Kingdom’s tiered system as a basis for imposing a tax rate as declared in the nutrition information panel,” the BIAP said in a statement. The BIAP said products falling under the first tier—zero grams to 7 grams per 100 milliliter (ml)—would be applied a zero rate, while the second tier—7.1 grams to 10 grams per

Officials and personnel of the BAI at the Ninoy Aquino Inter nat iona l A ir por t (Na ia) had already received a copy of Memorandum Circular (MC) 9 dated August 14, which ordered temporary ban on the movement of poultr y products from Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao. A ccord i ng to MC 9, t he shipment of poultr y products from Luzon outside the 7-kilometer radius control area of Pampanga will be allowed but must be accompanied by a shipping permit and a veterinar y health certificate issued by a government veterinarian. The veterinarian must certify that these products were sourced from farms with no incidence of AI for the past 21 days prior to shipment. “No Uber-accredited partners or operators were placed as of July 26 since no activations—which, to emphasize, is the grant of access to the Uber application for taking trips— were made as of such date,” Uber’s petition read. The company added that pending the issues on tech-based ride-hailing services, the regulator’s imposition of a one-month suspension is “rather premature”. “The motion for reconsideration is under consideration and we have to convene on it. But still, the order stands,” Delgra said. Hence, all Uber trips on Tuesday—whether a driver has a certificate of public conveyance or a provisional authority to operate—were considered illegal. Uber claimed that it turned on the Uber app for both drivers and riders because it has filed a motion for reconsideration. “Over the course of this morning, tens of thousands of riders were left stranded, causing needless inconvenience, while drivers were unable to access the earning opportunities they rely on,” the company said in a statement. “We have filed a motion for reconsideration with the LTFRB. This means that Uber’s operations will continue until the motion is resolved.” The LTFRB decided late Tuesday to deny the motion for reconsideration filed by Uber.

100 ml—would be applied P8 per kilo of caloric sweetener. Products falling under the third tier, those above 10 grams per 100 ml, would be slapped with P10 per kilo of caloric sweetener. Under such tax system, the industry will be encouraged to introduce new products promoting proper sugar intake and invest more resources to provide Filipino consumers a wider range of low- and no-calorie beverages, according to BIAP. “This system, while encouraging product expansion, will also balance the need to maintain Filipino flavor preferences, and subsequently, support local industries,” the group said.

Per kilogram

ANOTHER option would be imposing an excise tax of P10 per kilogram on caloric sweeteners. “To illustrate, under a P10-per-kilogram tax on caloric sweeteners, the price increase on the products will range up to 12 percent, which may burden the consumers less; as opposed to a 40-percent to 200-percent increase under HB 5636,”BIAP said.“By taxing caloric sweeteners, the beverage industry will continue investment and innovate

The DA and the BAI at the Naia said they will allow the transshipment of imported live birds and other product industry, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, semen sourced from bird flu-free countries that arrived at the Naia terminals 1, 2, 3 and 4. The shipment will be allowed but will be subjected to the following conditions: ■ Upon arrival from the international flights, the cargoes must be loaded to the domestic airline flights but not necessarily chartered. The cargoes must not confine in four terminals; ■ Cargoes from international flights cannot be off-loaded and transferred for another vehicle for loading at the North Harbor Port in Manila; ■ T he shipment must have

N. Korea. . .

Continued from A1

As of Tuesday, there is no change in the security-alert level, according to George Charfauros, Guam’s homeland security advisor. Despite reports about the supposed pause on threats, Charfauros said the military does not rest in complacency. “I don’t think the military ever relaxes when it comes to being prepared. There are [military] exercises next week,” he said. He was referring to next week’s start of military exercises between the US and South Korea that usually infuriates the North whenever it is held by the two countries. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs has issued alert Level 1 for Filipinos, following the escalation of Pyongyang’s threats this week that it would launch four ballistic missiles toward the US territory.” “Level 1 is a precautionary level. It means there is no immediate threat but people are advised to stay attuned to what is going on. They are advised to get ready with their grab bag and documents in the event that they need to be evacuated,” de Borja said. Level 2 refers to movement restrictions. “This means they are not supposed to go out when the siren goes off,” de Borja explained. Level 3 is when the consulate has to implement its contingency plans, “if there is

products. Further, since companies’ product information on content and ingredient data are already submitted to FDA, making administration feasible.” Last, BIAP suggested the government explore implementing a P5-per-kilogram tax on all caloric sweeteners used as a raw material. Under such tax measure, the government’s administration would be easier as they only need to monitor refined sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, as well as imported raw materials and finished products that use caloric sweeteners. “Compared to HB 5636, the P5-perkilogram tax on all caloric sweeteners used as a raw material will affect all users of caloric sweeteners, thus, broadening the tax base beyond just the beverage industry,” it said. “The impact on retail price will be less than 5 percent, therefore, making it less disruptive to investments and employment in the beverage, sugarcane, coffee and their support industries. More important, from a health perspective, this broad-based measure avoids being discriminatory by capturing all products that contain caloric sweeteners,” it added.

sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance, international veterinary certificate and other import documentary requirements must be in order and the cargo is accompanied by a shipping permit issued by the Naia veterinary quarantine officer; and ■ The transshipment procedures shall be enforced until such time that there are no new cases reported 21 days after the depopulation of affected areas; The Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific said they have already complied with the DA directive regarding the shipment of poultry products from Luzon. Both carriers said they are allowed to ship poultry products from the Visayas and Mindanao bound for Luzon. With Recto Mercene and Catherine N. Pillas

time and assuming we are still alive,” the consul general said. The newly built Philippine consulate building in Tamuning will serve as shelter for Filipinos who might be displaced, de Borja said. Level 4 requires mandatory evacuation. “We have a scenario listed for this, such as food and water shortage,” de Borja said. Besides the deployment of a C-130 from the Philippine National Defense, the Philippine government has made arrangements with commercial carriers, such as the Philippines Airlines and Cebu Pacific, to repatriate the Filipinos. There are roughly 40,000 Filipinos on Guam—an island acquired by the US from Spain under the Treaty of Paris, along with the Philippines and Puerto Rico. Filipinos account for 29.3 percent of Guam’s 160,000 population. While Filipinos on Guam are not packing up to leave, de Borja said his office has been receiving inquiries about the security situation. “We rely on advisories from US and Guam governments,” de Borja said. “Everything remains normal right now.” Tenorio said the government of Guam remains confident the security threat will not raise. “I don’t see any imminent threat—that may be a personal view but I believe that Kim Jong Un is giving himself pause on taking action against the United States and our citizens.”

RECORD NEW OFFICE SPACE CREATED IN Q2 BUT SUPPLY STILL OUTPACED BY DEMAND Continued from A12

however, tenants are already relocating to BGC, also developed by the Ayala Group, from the Makati CBD. “Furthermore, we still see rents to maintain its current growth trajectory as the vacancy rate is forecast to remain in the low single digits by end-2018,” KMC Savills’s research said. Vacancies in the BGC, on the other hand, rose to 3.8 percent, up from the previous 0.9 percent,

but mainly as a result of record completion of about 140,800 sq m of office space. Meanwhile, Alabang introduced a substantial amount of Grade A office space during the period, which includes Vector Three at the Northgate Business District. “Even with vacancies rising to 5.3 percent of total Grade A office stock, net take-up exceeded expectations and should temper the vacancy rate until the end of the year,” according to the research. Vacancies in Ortigas Center, however,

remained low at 1.2 percent of total top-grade office stock, a stark opposite of Quezon City’s high vacancy rate of 10.7 percent of total stock despite no additional supply in the market during the quarter. “The elevated vacancy rate is expected to be sustained with the introduction of the Vertis North Corporate Center towers in the second half of the year,” the research said. “Although preleasing for the first building shows promise, the lack of demand in other areas of Quezon City will likely drag overall performance.”

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news@businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Wednesday, August 16, 2017 A3

No rush for senators to probe ‘Davao group’ link in BOC

enate probers are not rushing to look into the alleged involvement of the so-called Davao group of President Duterte’s supporters in the P6.4-billion shabu shipment from China seized by authorities in a Valenzuela warehouse, dismissing the allegations as “hearsay” unless backed by evidence.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III brushed aside reports that key witness Mark Ruben Taguba II, a Customs broker, had linked the Davao group to be “inf luencing transactions” at the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

To the rescue

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella said the opinion of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs is “not enough” for Duterte to fire embattled Bureau of Customs Commissioner Nicanor E. Faeldon. At a news briefing, Abella said the President will take his time before deciding on the fate of Faeldon.

“From the Palace, the President said he will wait for the reports of both chambers of Congress before deciding how to best address issues in the Bureau of Customs,” Abella said. He added the President took note of the statement of the House panel, but will wait it out for the Senate to finish its own investigation on the matter. Duterte on August 2 said he will not add fuel to the fire by deciding on Faeldon’s case with premature evidence. “Let the investigation go to its hand [and] let them [lawmakers] wind up,” the President said. He added Faeldon still has his full trust, in spite of allegations of gross

negligence and corruption thrown by lawmakers at the customs chief. “I believe in his integrity. As a matter of fact, he was in Davao [City] four years ago, together with some military men, and they were urging me to run,” the Chief Executive said.

Possible prosecution

The National Bureau of Investigation-Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division (NBI-AOTCD), meanwhile, has recommended to the Department of Justice (DOJ) the criminal prosecution of businessman Dong Yi Shen, alias “Kenneth Dong”, and eight others, including Taguba, in connection with shabu smuggle attempt from China in May. Facing possible charges of importation of dangerous drugs under Section 4 of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, aside from Dong are Taiwanese Chen Min and Jhu Ming Jyun; Chinese nationals Chen Ju Long alias “Richard Tan” or “Richard Chen”, chairman and general manager of Philippine Hongfei Logistics Group of Cos. Inc., and Li Guang Feng, alias “Manny Li”; Taguba and Teejay Marcellana; and Eirene Mae Agustino Tatad, the sole proprietor of EMT Trading, which was identified as the consignee for the shabu shipment that was declared as

Youth in hurry: NYC head rejects polls postponement By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

he chairman of the National Youth Commission (NYC) on Tuesday urged lawmakers to spare the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections from postponement, saying the SK has reformed, and that it is needed to represent the youth sector in local government. NYC Chairman Cariza Y. Seguerra, who gained popularity in the 1980s as a child actress, said she is dismayed over the government’s insistence to suspend the SK elections. The House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms on Monday approved the proposal to postpone barangay and SK elections in October. “Sa totoo lang, nalulungkot po ang National Youth Commission sa balitang ’yan dahil may ilang taon na rin po na wala pong tumatayong SK chairman at SK council. Alam naman po natin na kapag walang kabataan na tumitingin, mahirap po ’yun kasi it’s hard if old people will decide for young people [The National Youth Commission is saddened over that news because it has been years since we last had an SK chairman and an SK council. It is difficult to not have youth representatives in the government because you are allowing old people to decide for the young people.] ” Seguerra said. She said she will understand if barangay elections on October will not push through, but pleaded to lawmakers to allow the SK polls to pursue. She added lawmakers need not worry about institutional errors of the SK in the past, as the Republic Act 10742, or the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act, is now in place. “If legislators

fear the SK will repeat its old practices, that’s why there is a reform, that’s why the SK is changed,” the NYC chairman said. Should the government postpone the SK elections, Seguerra said, a number of SK reforms will not see implementation. This includes the establishment of local youth development offices, which, according to Seguerra, is crucial in the rolling out of youth-intended programs and policies. Nonetheless, Seguerra said NYC officials will continue to attend congressional hearings to oppose the postponement of the SK elections. “The National Youth Commission will make sure that there will be youth representation whatever happens,” she added. Voting 19 to 2, the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms on Monday green lighted the measure to postpone barangay and SK polls anew. If passed into law, incumbent barangay officials will retain their posts in a holdover capacity, as agreed upon by lawmakers. Party-list Rep. and Committee Chairman Sherwin N. Tugna of Cibac expressed confidence that the measure be approved by the House before the end of August. “I think if the Lower House will put the bill for second reading in the plenary, it [approval] wouldn’t reach the end of August,” Tugna said. President Duterte has called for the postponement of the barangay and SK elections, saying candidates backed by drug lords will certainly win the polls if it were to be held in October. Duterte, along with his allies in Congress, alleges narcopolitics have taken over ground-level politics.

AFP retooling on urban warfare doctrine after Marawi City siege

he Armed Forces (AFP) will conduct a massive revamp on the way its units approach urban warfare once the Marawi crisis has been successfully resolved. AFP Public Affairs Office chief Col. Edgard A. Arevalo made the statement, saying that proposed upgrades will focus on theories, doctrines, tactics, techniques and procedures on this form of fighting the Maute Group terrorists are using. “Although the AFP has experience on urban warfare [e.g., close quarter battles], the fighting in Marawi City is a different level as [our troops have to fight in a locality] with very dense and reinforced structures [which the enemy is using as firing points and hiding places],” he added in Filipino on Monday. Aside from the well-built structures

converted by lawless elements into fighting positions, troops engaged in clearing operations are constantly being threatened by improvised explosive devices and snipers. Worsening the situation is the fact the Maute Group terrorists are willing to use civilian hostages as human shields, destroy private and public properties indiscriminately to meet their ends, and willingness to sacrifice themselves for their cause. Arevalo said the AFP needs to evaluate how its troops and their tactics have fared against the enemy. This evaluation will determine the changes in the military’s urban warfare theories, doctrines, tactics, techniques and procedures, he added. PNA

general merchandise and its content certified by China’s Customs. In addition, the NBI also asked the DOJ to prosecute Li, Dong and Taguba for unauthorized practice of Customs broker profession under Section 28 of Republic Act 9280 (Customs Brokers Act of 2004).

‘Name-droppers’

Sotto also suspects the group is “just being frequently name-dropped” to get past government regulators. “Mostly hearsay. It is unfair to people named,” Sen. Richard J. Gordon, chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee, told reporters after adjourning Tuesday’s Senate inquiry into the shabu shipment anomaly. Testifying before the committee, BOC Command Center Chief Gerardo Gambala was asked by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV if he heard reports that presidential son and Davao City Vice Mayor Paulo Duterte was “using influence” at the BOC, but Gambala replied he had no “personal knowledge” about this. “I do not have personal knowledge [on that]. I could hear noises, but only about the Davao group,” Gambala added. Pressed by Trillanes if he heard about Paulo’s involvement, Gambala said, “He [Paulo] was not involved in

any of the conversations.” Gordon said the committee is preparing a preliminary report on its findings, indicating the BOC’s potential liability for allowing the shabu shipment to pass through Customs without inspection, as admitted by Taguba. “It is not acceptable that the BOC had not done anything since the seizure of the contraband,” Gordon said. “If I am not convinced there is a smuggling syndicate [operating in Customs], I must be stupid.” Gordon told reporters he is close to wrapping up the BOC inquiry. “I am just waiting for evidence before calling the Davao group. I dont know who they are,” he said

Witness protection

The DOJ earlier said it is looking into the possibility of placing Taguba under its Witness Protection Program following his testimony before the House of Representatives detailing alleged corruption in the agency. It can be recalled that during the House hearing on the entry of P6.4billion shabu shipment in the country from China, Taguba implicated a trusted aide of Customs chief Faeldon, along with several others, in the reported P270 million in bribes to BOC personnel for prompt release

of shipments. Among those named by Taguba were Customs director Milo Maestrecampo, Faeldon’s former colleague in the military; Teddy Raval of the Intelligence Group; Intelligence Officer Teodoro Sagaral; District Collector Vincent Maronilla; director Niel Estrella of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service; a certain “Major Gutierrez” who turned out to be already deceased; a certain Jayson and Maita, the latter from the formal entry division. The controversy has prompted Estrella and Maestrecampo to offer their resignation from their respective posts.

Complaint

Based on its complaint, the NBIAOTCD recounted that on May 26, it received information from the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) with regard the illegal activities being perpetrated by a syndicate involved in the proliferation of illegal drugs in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

To validate the information, NBIAOTCD coordinated with the CIISBOC, which, in turn, requested the former’s operatives to meet them at Puregold, Valenzuela City. Butch Fernandez, Joel R. San Juan and Elijah Felice Rosales

Economy

A4 Wednesday, August 16, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

Tobacco tax may fund universal health-care drive, says DOH chief By Alladin S. Diega Correspondent

he Department of Health (DOH) is banking on an improved collection of tobacco excise tax to finance its Universal Health Care (UHC) program. “Though the fund of the [department] and UHC have increased, it is not enough. The Philippines needs more funds to truly realize the universal health care,” Health Secretary Paulyn Jean B. Rosell-Ubial said on Tuesday at a news conference. Aside from making available drugs, particularly maintenance medicines at lower prices, the program seeks to include annual checkup for the estimated 20 million poorest Filipinos, and improve the delivery of health care at the barangay level. The program also wants to address the lack of medicines and the usual absence of medical personnel in health centers in depressed areas across the country, also added. Aside for the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam have also recently moved to improve the implementation of their national health-insurance systems, similar to South Korea’s National Health Insurance Corp. funded from government subsidies, contributions and self payments. At the same news conference,

former health secretaries Esperanza Cabral and Enrique Ona supported the appeal of Ubial to the Senate to include the increase in tobacco tax to be part of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN), which is currently being deliberated by the Senate. Representatives of Philippine Medical Association (PMA) handed over to Ubial the petition of about 60 member-organizations of the Sin Tax Coalition who are pushing for the increase in tobacco tax to prevent the rising number of smokers since 2015, and to avert 45 life-threatening illnesses caused by smoking, including lung cancer, chronic lung disease, stroke, heart attack and even illicit drug use. “When we passed the “sin” tax law in 2012, Congress embraced the twin objectives of raising revenues for health programs and arresting the growing epidemic of life-threatening diseases caused by smoking. Now that we see the prices of cigarettes becoming affordable because of the people’s increasing income and the importance of implementing the All for Health Towards Health for All program that the present administration endorses, we are calling again our beloved senators to act decisively and raise tobacco tax as soon as possible,” Ona said in a separate statement.

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DFA, House tackle joint resource exploration in SCS with China By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@joveemarie

he Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday assured the public that any joint exploration agreement between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea (SCS) would be compliant with the 1987 Constitution.

This, after Foreign Affair Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano admitted that Manila and Beijing are now studying the possibility of joint exploration in the said territory. “I will assure you, any legal framework will conform with local laws and the Constitution,” Cayetano said. At a news conference, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, however, said the joint venture with China is unconstitutional. “That’s contrary to our Constitution in these areas under controversy. It’s supposed to [be] used exclusively for Filipinos,” Lagman said. “The only way the country can get some foreign help [is that] if the country went into serv-

ice contractors, but not a joint exploration,” he added. The House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the DFA held an executive session also on Tuesday to discuss joint the exploration deal after Cayetano called for it. The secretary, meanwhile, said the joint exploration deal would be more beneficial for Filipinos than that of Malampaya project in Pa lawan. T he $4.5 -bil lion Malampaya gas-to-power project is a joint undertaking of the Philippine national government and the private sector. In his presentation before the House of Representatives, Cayetano also mentioned that the Philippines is lagging behind its Asean neighbors in terms of trade with China.

Threat

Meanwhile, Rep. Gary C. Alejano of Magdalo said the alleged deployment of vessels by Chinese navy and coast guard is a threat to national interest in the heavily disputed waters of the South China Sea. According to Alejano, he received information from a source in the military, that on August 12, China has deployed two frigates, one coast guard vessel and two large fishing vessels, with their maritime militia 1 to 3 nautical miles north of Pagasa Island. Last Sunday Alejano said a Philippine government ship from Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources was allegedly prevented by the Chinese fishing vessels from

going near the sand located generally west of Pagasa Island, around 2 miles to 7 miles away. “This is highly suspicious and threatening considering the fact that China says one thing in public and does another on the ground,” he added. “This is must be taken seriously by the Philippine government and call the attention of China to order their ships away from Pagasa and file appropriate diplomatic protest against China. I call on the government officials to be transparent on what is happening in the West Philippine Sea. We must assert our right in the midst of talks with China,” Alejano added.

That [joint resource exploration with China] is contrary to our Constitution in these areas under controversy. It’s supposed to [be] used exclusively for Filipinos. The only way the country can get some foreign help [is that] if the country went into service contractors, but not a joint exploration.”—Lagman

DENR eyes Asean forest training hub in Zambales By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

O further boost the country’s reforestation effort, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is forging ties with the Asean-Republic of Korea (ROK) Forest Corp. (Afoco) to establish a forest regional training center in Candelaria, Zambales. The P700,000 budgeted project aims to enhance the knowledge and skills of forest managers and peoples’ organizations in restoring and protecting the Asean region’s forest and fight global warming and climate change, environment official said on Tuesday. The DENR is currently implementing the Enhanced-National Greening Program (E-NGP), which aims to reforest an estimated 7.1 million hectares of open, degraded and denuded forest being eyed as a climate-change adaptation and mitigation measure, food security and antipoverty alleviation program rolled into one. In a news statement, Orlando Panganiban, head of the Forest Resources Management Division of the DENR’s Forest Management Bureau (FMB), said the Asean regional training center will serve as a demonstration area for the application of assist-

ed natural regeneration (ANR) technology using the landscape approach for sustainable forest management. The training center will benefit forest technicians, including members of people’s organizations. Panganiban said the center will develop and promote a 30-hectare ANR demonstration area, which is being eyed as “a cost-efficient” way of regenerating forest by enhancing the establishment of secondary forest from degraded grassland and shrub vegetation by protecting and nurturing the mother trees and their wildlings inherently present in the area. He said the objective of ANR is to accelerate, rather than replace, natural successional processes by removing or reducing barriers to natural forest regeneration, such as soil degradation, competition with weedy species and recurring disturbances, like grass fire and grazing. “In ANR, seedlings are, in particular, protected from the undergrowth and extremely flammable plants, such as cogon [imperata cylindrical] and talahib [saccharum spontaneum],” he said, adding that as a protection effort, new trees are planted when needed or wanted, otherwise called enrichment planting. According to Francisco Milla

Jr., director of DENR in Central Luzon, the training center is a big support to the DENR and the Asean member-countries to further boost reforestation effort in the region. “This will enable us to fasttrack the restoration of degraded forestland and watershed, and with ANR, forests grow faster than they would naturally,” he said. The Afoco turned over to the DENR half-a-million pesos worth of equipment, including generators, fire fighting equipment, desktop computers, projectors and geographical positioning system (GPS) units, that will initially be used in the center to help improve the DENR’s reforestation efforts. The organization of Afoco was first proposed by the Republic of Korea in June 2009 to share their experiences and technologies with other Asian countries in the forest sector as a forest cooperation organization, which aims to promote forest restoration and rehabilitation and sustainable development in the Asian region. It was formally established in November 2011, after ratification by 10 Southeast Asian Nations, including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

PCOO wants ₧1.351-B budget for 2018

he communication office of President Duterte is seeking a P1.351 billion in the proposed 2018 national budget. The budget being porposed by the Presidential Communication Operations Office (PCOO), formerly the Office of the Press Secretary, and its attached agencies is equivalent to the P1.3 billion allotted to the Light Railway Transit (LRT) Line 1 South Extension (Cavite) Project and higher compared to the P895 million for Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2 East Extension Project and the P608-million LRT Line 2 West Extension Project. The PCOO’s budget is also almost thrice the P433-million budget of office of Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo for 2018, which was approved by the lower chamber in less than two-minute deliberations. T h e c o m mu n i c a t i o n o f f i c e

budget is also almost parallel to around P1.5-billion budget cutback on maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) of at least 49 public hospitals in the country, which is being opposed by several lawmakers. Dur ing t he PCOO proposed budget deliberations, Communication Secretary Martin M. Andanar, however, said the 2018 budget proposal of his office reflects a decrease of P22.3 million, or 1.63 percent lower compared to its 2017 budget of P1.373 billion. Andanar said the budget will be spent to develop and implement guidelines and mechanism pertaining to the delivery of information relating to policies, programs, activities and achievement of the President, the Cabinet and Executive branch of the government.

He said it will also ensure proper implementation of “Executive Order 2 on Freedom of Information by coordinating with departments and agencies to provide information requested by citizens”. Andanar added parts of the 2018 budget will also be allocated for the major upgrade of all provincials stations, establishment of Mindanao Communications Hub, establishment of an FM division to reach more audience from various age groups and market segments that AM stations fail to capture. He added that the PCOO budget also seeks to enhance the skills of production and technical personnel through training and retraining. Meanwhile, Andanar expressed regret over some “erroneous” news postings of some employees of the state-run Philippines News Agency.

Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

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Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Bird flu seen cutting farm growth in H2

By Cai U. Ordinario @cuo_bm & Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

hilippine farm output could grow at a slower pace in the second half of the year following the discovery of the avian influenza (AI), or bird flu, outbreak in Pampanga, according to economists. Economists told the BusinessMirror that the government should “act swiftly” to contain the bird-flu outbreak in San Luis, Pampanga, to prevent the “drastic decline” in demand for chicken. “If the outbreak is contained, then it would have minimal impact. But consumer panic could affect chicken demand and drive down prices and profits,” Dr. Rolando T. Dy, executive director of the University of Asia and the Pacific’s Center for Food and Agri Business, told the BusinessMirror. “If unfounded panic continues, then pork and fish prices would go up,” Dy added. Economist Pablito M. Villegas, vice president of the Confederation of Filipino Consulting Organizations, said the performance of the poultry sector during the July-toDecember period would depend on the government’s action. “It depends on the speed of containment versus its spread effect, including the extent of consumer scare, which will affect both supply and demand decisions,” Villegas told the BusinessMirror. “Surely, the bird-flu outbreak will have an impact on the poultry sector in the third and fourth quarters. [Production] could really go down,” he added. Philippine Institute for Development Studies senior research fellow Roehlano M. Briones said the 90day ban on the shipment of poul-

try products from Luzon to other parts of the country would hurt the poultry sector. “That’s a really big thing. That’s potentially serious, given that the concentration of poultry production is in Luzon,” Briones told the BusinessMirror. “The chicken-meat consumption pattern across Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao remains the same. Definitely, this might cause shortages in the Visayas and Mindanao,” he added. Poultry growers belonging to the United Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra) said the 90-day ban on Luzon poultry products would adversely affect the poultry sector’s performance in the remaining months of the year. “If the harvest slows down, the volume of sales decline by 40 percent to 50 percent, then there will be delays in raising new flocks,” Ubra President Elias Jose Inciong told the BusinessMirror. Inciong urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to immediately lift the ban on Luzon poultry products. “The government is saying that the outbreak is contained and that all products outside the 7-kilometer radius control area are safe. Why then can we not ship our products to other regions?” he said. In a news briefing on August 14, Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines (Agap) SecretaryGeneral Rufina S. Salas said egg

File photo

producers could lose as much as P963 million due to the ban. “We are shipping 18 millions eggs a week. So that is 214 million eggs in 90 days. That’s a lot of eggs,” Salas told Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol during the briefing. However, Piñol said he could not lift the 90-day ban as this will ensure that bird flu will not spread elsewhere. Piñol added he would await the recommendation of the team handling the AI case in San Luis, Pampanga, before he decides on lifting the ban on Luzon poultry products. The DA chief acknowledged that the bird-flu outbreak could affect the poultry sector’s performance in the third and fourth quarters— when demand for chicken goes up due to the holidays.

Q2 farm output

Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday showed that agricultural output in the second quarter recovered and grew by 6.18 percent year-on-year. The PSA said the crops subsector remained as the main driver of farm growth in the April-to-June period. The poultry subsector, which accounted for 16 percent of farm production, expanded by 8.36 percent. “The crops subsector registered an 11.72-percent increase in output. It shared 50.75 percent of the total agricultural production,” the PSA said in its report, titled “Performance of Philippine Agriculture”. Palay production in the second quarter rose by 11.72 percent to 4.15 million metric tons (MMT), from 3.71 MMT a year ago. The PSA attributed this to the expansion in

Reward offered to catch Nevada lake invasive fish dumper

ENO, Nevad a—Nevad a game wardens who spend most of their time hunting down big-game poachers are focusing on a serious threat to nature in a lake: An invasive fish species that eats all the other fish prized by anglers and then turns cannibalistic. The Nevada Department of Wildlife is offering a $10,000 reward to help nab the culprit who apparently dumped Northern pike in Comins Lake, a popular fishing spot surrounded by mountains near Great Basin National Park. By all accounts, Comins Lake was well on its way to recovery after the state restocked the fishery with largemouth bass, brown and rainbow trout in 2015. But the invading Northern Pike were discovered again last month by a fisherman who caught one and called state wildlife officials. Five more have been confirmed since then. “This malicious and illegal act seriously endangers our effort to restore this important fishery,” said Jon Sjoberg, chief of fisheries for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. “The people illegally introducing pike are destroying a fishery, not creating a new one.” Chief Game Warden Tyler Turnipseed announced the reward this week. “We intend to find who did it,” he said. Northern pike may not sound as scary as piranhas or the Asian swamp eel—two of the other halfdozen fish that Nevada law singles out as invasive, injurious aquatic species.

This August 2015 photo provided by the Nevada Department of Wildlife shows state fisheries biologist Kim Tisdale holding one of the Northern pike removed from Comins Lake in eastern Nevada during an effort to eradicate the invasive predators. Nevada Department of Wildlife via AP

But with its long, needle-sharp teeth, the voracious predator that sometimes grows longer than 4 feet (1.2 meters) can wipe out an entire fishery. “They eat all the trout we put in there,” Edwin Lyngar, spokesman for the state wildlife agency, said in an interview last Friday. “Then

they eat all the other fish they can find, and then they start to eat each other.” The remote eastern Nevada lake near Utah border covers about twothirds of a square mile (1.7 square kilometers) and draws numerous anglers. “It brings tremendous economic

activity to this part of the state,” Lyngar said. “Years ago, people came from all over the world to fish that lake.” At its peak in 2004, the lake logged 35,000 “angler user days” and generated more than $2 million for the local economy as the fourthmost visited fishery in the state behind Lake Mead, Lake Mohave and the Truckee River, which flows out of Lake Tahoe through downtown Reno. That fell to about 2,000 user days and $73,000 by 2013 as the non-native pike took over. The reward money was donated by several sportsmen’s groups, including Nevada Bighorns Unlimited and the Operation Game Thief Citizens Board. If officials catch a suspect, the person would face criminal penalties. Lyngar did not want to speculate on the perpetrator’s motives. “But we’ve had people put pike in waterways before because they want to catch pike. They are a good fighting fish,” he said. Authorities also cannot rule out a distant possibility that the fish found some natural way to get into the lake. “Anything is possible, but the evidence indicates very strongly that is not the case,” Lyngar said. “We believe very strongly they were introduced by someone on purpose.” Lyngar said state biologists are doing everything they can to stop the pike before they get a toehold and they’ve seen no evidence of any survivors since they netted the last four during an extensive electrofishing effort last week. AP

areas planted with rice and the availability of irrigation water. Favorable planting conditions also encouraged more farmers to plant corn. Output rose by nearly 46 percent to 1.3 MMT, from 911,000 MMT recorded in the same time period in 2016. In the first half of the year, PSA data showed that farm-production growth averaged 5.71 percent. “The recovery will continue in the second half of the year, but not probably as high during the first half because you have already posted a high growth rate in the first two quarters,” Briones said. Data provided to the BusinessMirror by the PSA showed the second-quarter growth was the highest since 2011, when the agriculture sector expanded by 6.68 percent. Data also showed that between

1999 and 2017, the most dismal performance of the farm sector was recorded in 2010—an election year—when output contracted by 2.79 percent. In the second quarter of 2016, which was also an election year, farm output declined by 2.21 percent. In ter ms of first-semester growth, farm output this year was the highest since 1999, when it expanded by 9.82 percent. Between 1999 and 2017, agriculture production was the lowest last year, when it contracted by 3.39 percent. The PSA said the agriculture sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP has been declining since 2006. Sans agriculture services and forestry, the sector’s output contributed only 8.2 percent to GDP in the past 10 years.

Philippine sugar production hits 2.5 MMT T he country’s sugar output has reached 2.5 million metric tons (MMT) as of August 6, surpassing the production target of the government for the current crop year, according to data from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA). Data from the SRA showed that sugar production as of August 6 is 11.7 percent higher than the 2.238 MMT recorded in crop year (CY) 2015-2016. It is also 11.1 percent higher than the SRA’s initial forecast of 2.25 MMT for CY 2016-2017, which will end on August 31. “For the current crop year, we produced beyond our expectations. The latest production figure, with all mills finished, is at 2.5 MMT,” Philippine Sugar Millers Association (PSMA) Executive Director Francisco D. Varua told the BusinessMirror in an interview. “This is one of the highest we have ever had. If I’m not mistaken this is the highest since the 1970s,” Varua added. Data from the PSMA showed that the country’s sugar output in the current crop year is the highest since CY 1976-1977, when production reached 2.685 MMT.

Earlier, SRA Administrator Anna Rosario V. Paner attributed the country’s “historic” output to the expansion of areas planted with sugarcane. SR A data showed that the total sugarcane areas in the CY 2016-2017 reached 419,207 hectares, slightly higher than the 411,502 hectares in the previous crop year. However, Paner said the increase in output and the decline in prices could discourage farmers from planting sugarcane in the next crop year. “Output in the next year could be around 2.4 MMT. This is due to contraction in hectarage. Current challenges, such as low prices, could force farmers to shift other crops,” she told the BusinessMirror in an interview. As of July 30, data from the SRA showed that the mill-site price of raw sugar has declined to P1,300 per 50-kilogram bag (Lkg). Varua said he expects the mill-site price of sugar in CY 2017-2018 to go up to as much as P1,600/Lkg. He said this is due to a decline in sugar inventory after the Philippines ships more sugar to the US. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

briefs Iranian president threatens to restart nuclear program

TEHRAN, Iran—Iran’s president issued a direct threat to the West on Tuesday, claiming his country is capable of restarting its nuclear program within hours—and quickly bringing it to even more advanced levels than in 2015, when Iran signed the nuclear deal with world powers. Hassan Rouhani’s remarks to lawmakers follow the Iranian parliament’s move earlier this week to increase spending on the country’s ballistic-missile program and the foreign operations of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The bill—and Rouhani’s comments—are seen as a direct response to the new US legislation earlier this month that imposed mandatory penalties on people involved in Iran’s ballistic-missile program and anyone who does business with them. The US legislation also applies terrorism sanctions to the Revolutionary Guard and enforces an existing arms embargo. AP

300 dead in mudslides, flooding in Sierra Leone

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone— Mudslides and torrential flooding killed more than 300 people in and around Sierra Leone’s capital early on Monday following heavy rains, with many victims trapped in homes buried under tons of mud. Survivors and volunteers dug through the mud and debris at times with their bare hands in a desperate search for missing relatives, and military personnel were deployed to help with the rescue operation in the West African nation. Sierra Leone’s national broadcaster announced late Monday that the death toll had risen above 300. Initial Red Cross estimates said as many as 3,000 people were left homeless by the disaster, and that figure was expected to rise. Communications and electricity also were affected. AP

Iraqi, coalition aircraft step up air strikes on I.S.-held town

BAGHDAD—The commander of Iraq’s air force says Iraqi and coalition planes have stepped up air strikes on Islamic State (IS) targets in the town of Tal Afar, ahead of a planned offensive there. Lt. Gen. Anwar Hama says the planes attacked the IS group headquarters, tunnels and weapons’ stores on Tuesday. This comes as Iraqi forces are building up around the IS-held town west of Mosul, one of the last pockets of militant-held territory in Iraq after victory was declared against the militants in Mosul in July. The UN says some 49,000 people have fled the Tal Afar district since April. Over the course of the nine-month operation to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, nearly a million people were displaced from in and around the city. AP

Protesters topple Confederate statue in North Carolina

DURHAM, North Carolina— Protesters in North Carolina toppled a nearly century-old statue of a Confederate soldier on Monday at a rally against racism. Activists in Durham brought a ladder up to the statue and used a rope to pull down the Confederate Soldiers Monument that was dedicated in 1924. A diverse crowd of dozens cheered as the statue of a soldier holding a rifle fell to the ground in front of an old courthouse building that now houses local government offices. Seconds after the monument fell, protesters began kicking the crumpled bronze monument. “I was a little bit shocked people could come here and come together like that,” said Isaiah Wallace, who is a black. AP

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Chinese quest for technology aimed at future dominance

EIJING—In Chinese schools, students learn that the US became a great nation partly by stealing technology from Britain. In the halls of the government, officials speak of the need to inspire innovation by protecting inventions. In boardrooms, executives strategize about using infringement laws to fell foreign rivals. China is often portrayed as a land of fake gadgets and pirated software, where intellectual property like patents, trademarks and copyrights are routinely ignored. The reality is more complex. China takes conflicting positions on intellectual property, ignoring it in some cases while upholding it in others. Underlying those contradictions is a long-held view of intellectual property not as a rigid legal principle but as a tool to meet the country’s goals. Those goals are getting more a mbit iou s. C h i n a i s g at her ing know-how in industries of the future like microchips and electric cars, often by pushing foreign companies attracted by the country’s vast market into sharing their technology. It is also toughening enforcement of patents and trademarks for a day when it can become a leader in those technologies—and use intellectual-property protections to defend its position against rival economies. President Xi Jinping is in the midst of an effort to strengthen laws on patents, copyrights and trademarks, giving fledgling firms in China new sources of revenue and prestige. The country is also pursuing an ambitious plan, called Made in China 2025, to become a global leader in areas like robotics and medical technology and kick off the next phase of China’s development. The efforts reflect the view of Chinese officials that controlling global technologies and standards is on a par with building military muscle. Zhang Ping, a scholar of trade law at Peking University in Beijing, said the West had long used intellectual-property laws as a “spear and shield” against Chinese companies, hurting their profits at home and blocking access to foreign markets. Now, she said, it is time for China to fight back. “If you want to enter our market to cooperate, it’s fine,” Zhang said, “but you can’t grab us by the neck and not let us grow.” Trademarks and patents protect companies and inventors, compensating them for their t i me, idea s a nd i nvest ment. W hile poorer countries have, throughout history, worked to obtain inventions from wealthier nations, sometimes running

afoul of intellectual-property laws, China has rewritten the playbook for acquiring advanced technology. Since Deng Xiaoping, as leader, opened the Chinese economy to the outside world nearly four decades ago, the country has made it a priority to obtain ideas and inspiration from overseas. Sometimes it has reverse engineered what it wants. US officials say Chinese companies have also carried out extensive economic espionage through cyber attacks and other means. (Chinese officials have denied those charges.) More recently, China has used its growing wealth to buy into cuttingedge technologies, like genetically modified crops and the latest innovations from US start-ups, and to attract promising talent. But since those early days, China has relied heavily on one tried-and-true method: forming joint ventures with foreign partners. Big-name companies like IBM and Qualcomm are required to share advanced technology and research with domestic firms in order to set up shop in China. And to entice partners, the country offers access to its enormous market and hundreds of millions of consumers. Joint ventures helped China build whole industries from scratch. After using them to explore high-speed rail technology, Chinese firms now dominate the global industry. Chinese ex per ts say those moves are simply smart deal-making, not violations of intellectualproperty laws, allowing the country to harness its leverage as the world’s second-largest economy to win practical knowledge. But now, China’s efforts are moving

US President Donald J. Trump (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping arrive for a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, in this July 8 photo. The Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported on August 2 that the administration of Trump is considering using rarely invoked US trade laws to compel China to crack down on theft of copyrights, patents and other intellectual property and fend off technology-sharing demands from Beijing. Saul Loeb/Pool via AP

beyond routine manufacturing into cutting-edge technologies— and the Trump administration has denounced the arrangements as coercive. In April the Office of the US Trade Representative accused China of “widespread infringing activity,” including stealing trade secrets, tolerating rampant online piracy and exporting counterfeit goods. On Monday President Donald J. Trump signed a memo that authorized an investigation into theft and the forced transfer of technology by China from US firms. But he mentioned China by name only once. Chinese commentators see hypocrisy in US criticism, noting that the US was once one of the world’s leading pirates when it worked to challenge British industrial dominance after the American Revolution by obtaining designs for inventions like steam-powered looms. The state-run news media has highlighted the case of Samuel Slater, often called the father of the US industrial revolution, who brought British textile designs to the US in the late-1700s. Still, as China comes up with its own innovations, the country’s leaders are embracing stricter laws on patents, copyrights and trademarks. The government has created specialized courts to handle intellectual-property disputes and awarded subsidies to entrepreneurs who file patent applications. In 2015 more than 1 million were filed, a record amount. Li Jian, a vice president of Beijing East IP, a Chinese law firm, said mainland companies increasingly saw strong intellectual-property

Many Chinese companies have realized that, through patent protection, they can gain an advantage in the market.... They have more faith now in the Chinese government to protect their intellectual property.”—Li

protections as a tool to help protect inventions and earn royalties overseas. “Many Chinese companies have realized that, through patent protection, they can gain an advantage in the market,” Li added. “They have more faith now in the Chinese government to protect their intellectual property.” The rules have also benefited some foreign firms. New Balance won a landmark case this year against a Chinese company that used its signature slanting “N” logo. China’s highest court last year gave Michael Jordan the rights to Chinese characters of his name. Enforcement is still inconsistent, experts say. Local officials are often reluctant to aid foreign companies, worried about jeopardizing tax revenues from homegrown companies. T he M ade i n C h i n a 2025 initiative is a key reason the country is improving intellectual-property rights. The plan focuses on sectors like electric cars, robotics, semiconductors and artificial intelligence. By forcing foreign companies to hand over more technology and encouraging local companies to make new products based on that technology, Chinese leaders hope to cement the country’s dominance in critical fields. They also see an opportunity to dictate the terms of the future development of technology and extract licensing fees from foreign firms that use Chinese-made technology. Several trade organizations and governments have said the plan is protectionist. Some have called for reciprocity, arguing that the US should impose on Chinese companies the same restr ict ions C hina pl aces on foreign companies. “There is an unmistakable national policy to boost the position of Chinese companies in cuttingedge areas,” said William P. Alford, a Harvard law professor and an expert on Chinese intellectualproperty laws. Chinese experts have defended the strategy. “To become an adult, you have to accumulate knowledge,” said Zhang, of Peking University. “It’s the same for a country.” New York Times News Service

Taylor Swift hopes verdict inspires assault victims

E N V E R — I m m e d i at e l y after a jury determined that Taylor Swift had been groped by a radio-station host before a concert in Denver, the singer-songwriter turned to one of her closest allies—her mother—and later said she hoped the verdict would inspire other victims of sexual assault. Sw if t hug ged her cr y ing mother after the si x-woman, two-man jury said in US District Court on Monday that former Denver DJ David Mueller had groped the pop star during a photo op four years ago. Per Swift’s request, jurors awarded her $1 in damages—a sum her attorney, Douglas Baldridge, called “a single symbolic dollar, the value of which is immeasurable to all women in this situation.” Swift released a statement thanking her attorneys “for fighting for me and anyone who feels silenced by a sexual assault.” “My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard,” she said, promising to make unspecified donations to groups that help victims of sexual assault. Nancy Leong, a law professor at the University of Denver, said the verdict is important because “we are getting to the point in society that women are believed in court. For many decades and centuries, that was not the case.” Leong, who also teaches in the university’s gender-studies program, said the verdict would inspire more victims of sexual assault to come forward. “The fact that she was believed will allow women to understand that they will not automatically be disbelieved, and I think that’s a good thing,” Leong said. Swift and her mother initially tried to keep the accusation quiet by reporting the incident to Mueller’s bosses and not the police. But it inevitably became public when Mueller sued Swift for up to $3 million, claiming the allegation cost him his $150,000-a-year job at country station KYGO-FM, where he was a morning host. “I’ve been trying to clear my name for four years,” he said after the verdict in explaining why he took Swift to court. “Civil court is the only option I had. This is the only way that I could be heard.” Swift countersued for assault and battery and, during an hour of testimony, blasted a low-key characterization by Mueller’s attorney, Gabriel McFarland, of what happened. While Mueller testified he never grabbed Swift, she insisted she was groped. “He stayed attached to my bare ass cheek as I lurched away from him,” Swift testified. “It was a definite grab. A very long grab,” she added. Mueller emphatically denied reaching under the pop star’s skirt or otherwise touching her inappropr iately, insist ing he touched only her ribs and may have brushed the outside of her skirt as they awkwardly posed for the picture. That photo was virtually the only evidence besides the testimony. AP

Trump’s words rattle fragile LatAm alliance P

r e s i d e n t Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela had become a pariah among fellow Latin American (Latam) leaders as his beleaguered country staggered toward dictatorship. But a threat by President Donald J. Trump to use the US military against Maduro’s government has united those leaders in a different direction: demanding that the US keep out of the region’s affairs. “The possibility of a military intervention shouldn’t even be considered,” Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia’s president, said last Sunday during a visit by Vice President Mike Pence to the region. “America is a continent of peace. It is the land of peace.”

Santos’ response to Trump’s remarks— echoed by many other Latin American leaders in recent days—could endanger a fragile alliance against what many fear is the first new dictatorship to emerge in the region in decades, analysts say. “Threatening military action undermines the strongest Latin American consensus in support of democracy that I have seen since the end of the Pinochet regime,” said Mark L. Schneider, an adviser at the Americas program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, referring to the Chilean militar y dictatorship led by Augusto Pinochet. Maintaining that alliance will be a

difficult balancing act for Pence as he tours Latin America this week, with stops in Chile, Panama and Argentina. Even on the first stage of his trip in Colombia, Pence shifted tones, urging a “peaceable” solution during a meeting with Santos last Sunday, then suggesting something tougher when he said the US would not “stand by while Venezuela collapses into dictatorship” as he met with Venezuelan refugees the next day. The dispute began last Friday when Trump, speaking with reporters about an escalating standoff over North Korea’s n u c l e a r we a p o n s, s u d d e n l y a d d e d Venezuela to countries where he said he

was considering military intervention. “We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option if necessary,” the president said. The remark was immediately seen as bolstering Maduro domestically, where he, like his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, has long warned of US coup plots and invasions. But it has also left Latin Americans in a difficult position, forced to choose between one country accused of dictatorship and another being called an empire—or to simply condemn both. Peru, which has taken some of the toughest stands in the region against Venezuela, issued a statement last Saturday

condemning possible use of force, and Mexico said the crisis could not be resolved with soldiers. Brazil said renouncing violence was the “basis of democratic cohabitation.” And human-rights groups in Venezuela rejected Trump’s threat. Much of the reaction may have to do with history. Many of the countries now rejecting Trump’s use of military force were themselves invaded by the US, which once regarded the region as “America’s backyard.” Panama, one of the countries on Pence’s visit, was invaded in 1989 when former President George H.W. Bush toppled its dictator, Manuel Noriega. New York Times News Service

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The World BusinessMirror

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Korean leaders, US signal turn to diplomacy

EOUL, South Korea—North Korea’s military on Tuesday presented leader Kim Jong Un with plans to launch missiles into waters near Guam and “wring the windpipes of the Yankees,” even as both Koreas and the United States signaled their willingness to avert a deepening crisis, with each suggesting a path toward negotiations.

The tentative interest in diplomacy follows unusually combative threats between President Donald J. Trump and North Korea, amid worries that Pyongyang is nearing its long-sought goal of accurately being able to send a nuclear missile to the US mainland. Next week ’s start of US-South Korean military exercises that enrage the North each year make it unclear, however, if diplomacy will prevail. During an inspection of the North Korean army’s Strategic Forces, which handles the missile program, Kim praised the military for drawing up a “close and careful plan” and said he would watch the “foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees” a little more before deciding whether to order the missile test, the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said. Kim appeared in photos sitting at a table with a large map marked by a straight line between what appeared to be northeastern North Korea and Guam, and passing over Japan—apparently showing the missiles’ flight route. The missile plans were prev iously announced. K im said North Korea would conduct the launches if the “Yankees persist

in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity,” and that the US should “think reasonably and judge properly” to avoid shaming itself, the news agency said. Lobbing missiles toward Guam, a major US military hub in the Pacific, would be a deeply provocative act from the US perspective, and a miscalculation on either side could lead to a military clash. US Defense Secretary James Mattis said the US would take out any such missile seen to be heading for American soil and declared any such North Korean attack could mean war. K im’s comments, however, w it h t hei r cond it iona l tone, seemed to hold out the possibility that friction could ease if the US made some sort of gesture that Pyong yang considered a move to back away from previous “extremely dangerous reckless actions.” That could refer to the USSouth Korean military drills set to begin on Monday, which the North claims are rehearsals for invasion. It also could refer to the B-1B bombers that the US has occasionally flown over the Korean Peninsula as a show of force.

This image was made from video of an August 14 still image broadcast in a news bulletin on August 15 by North Korea’s KRT shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un receiving a briefing in Pyongyang. North Korea said leader Kim Jong Un was briefed on his military’s plans to launch missiles in waters near Guam, days after the Korean People’s Army announced its preparing to create “enveloping fire” near the US military hub in the Pacific. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event. KRT via AP Video

Our government [South Korea] will put everything on the line to prevent another war on the Korean Peninsula.”—Moon Sout h Korea n President Mo o n Ja e - i n , me a nw h i l e , a liberal who favors engagement with the North, urged North Korea to stop provocations and to commit to talks over its nuclear-weapons program. Moon, in a televised speech on Tuesday on the anniversary of the end of World War II and the Korean Peninsula’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, said Seoul and Washington agree that the crisis over the North’s nuclear program should “absolutely be

solved peacefully,” and that no US military action on the Korean Peninsula could be taken without Seoul’s consent. Moon added the North could create conditions for talks by stopping nuclear and missile tests. “Our gover nment w i l l put ever ything on the line to prevent another war on the Korean Peninsula,” Moon said. “Regardless of whatever twist and turns we could experience, the North Korean nuclear program should absolutely be solved peacefully,

and the [South Korean] government and the US government don’t have a different position on this.” The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, on Monday met with senior South Korean military and political officials and the local media, and made comments that appeared to be an attempt to ease anxiety while also showing a willingness to back Trump’s warnings if need be. Dunford said the US wants to peacefully resolve tensions with North Korea, but Washington is also ready to use the “full range” of its military capabilities in case of provocation. Dunford is visiting South Korea, Japan and China after a week in which Trump declared the US military “locked and loaded” and said he was ready to unleash “fire

and fury” if North Korea continued to threaten the US. North Korea’s military had said last week it would finalize and send to Kim for approval the plan to fire four ballistic missiles near Guam, which is about 3,200 kilometers from Pyongyang. The plans are based on the Hwasong-12, a new missile the country successfully flight tested for the first time in May. The liquidfuel missile is designed to be fired from road mobile launchers and has been previously described by North Korea as built for attacking Alaska and Hawaii. The North followed the May launch with two flight tests of its Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile last month. Analysts said that a wide swath of the continental US, including Los Angeles and Chicago, could be within reach of those missiles, once they’re perfected. The North’s latest report said Kim ordered his military to be prepared to launch the missiles toward Guam at any time. Kim said that if the “planned fire of power demonstration” is carried out because of US recklessness, it will be “the most delightful historic moment when the Hwasong artillerymen will wring the windpipes of the Yankees and point daggers at their necks,” the North reported. North Korea is angry about new UN sanctions over its expanding nuclear weapons and missile program, and the upcoming military drills between Washington and Seoul. Kim said the US must “make a proper option first and show it through action, as it committed provocations after introducing huge nuclear strategic equipment into the vicinity of the peninsula” and that it “should stop at once arrogant provocations” against North Korea, state media said. AP

Three CEOs quitting business panel in rebuke to Trump T hree chief executives from top US companies resigned from a presidential business council on Monday following President Donald J. Trump’s tepid initial response to a violent weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel—one of the most important global manufacturers of computer chips—announced his departure from Trump’s advisory council on manufacturing in a late-night blog post on Monday. The decision followed similar moves from Kenneth C. Frazier, the chief executive of drugmaker Merck, who was the first executive to leave the advisory group on Monday, and Kevin Plank, the founder and chief executive of athletic apparel maker Under Armour, who also announced his decision on Monday evening. Taken together, the executives’ decisions are the business community’s strongest rebuke to date of a president who has courted controversy for his entire career. “Under Armour engages in innovation and sports, not politics,” Plank said in a statement. Although three CEOs had spoken out by the end of the day, for much of it, Frazier of Merck was the lonely voice of opposition. Last Sunday Frazier, the son of a janitor and grandson of a man born into slavery, watched news coverage of white nationalists clashing with counterprotesters in Charlottesville, and of Trump’s ambiguous response to the violence. That evening, he informed his board members that he was preparing to resign from Trump’s American Manufacturing Council, one of several advisory groups

the president formed in an effort to forge alliances with big business. If the president could not condemn the hate groups, Frazier could not support him. Frazier’s decision was made public through a statement on Merck’s Twitter account early on Monday. “America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal,” Frazier wrote. “As CEO of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against extremism.” The decision seemed certain to draw the ire of a president famously sensitive to personal slights. Sure enough, Trump lashed out at Frazier on Twitter less than an hour later. “Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President’s Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!” he wrote. The president continued to criticize the drugmaker later in the day, writing on Twitter: “@Merck Pharma is a leader in higher & higher d r ug pr ices while at the same time taking jobs out of the US. Bring jobs back & LOWER PRICES!” For most of the day, even as Trump took aim at Frazier, dozens of other chief executives who had agreed to advise the president remained silent. None aside from Frazier criticized the president’s initial response to the ugly episode, in which a woman was killed. And none came to Frazier’s defense after the president attacked him on Twitter.

In this February 23 photo, President Donald J. Trump (left) speaks during a meeting with manufacturing executives at the White House in Washington, including Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier (center) and Ford CEO Mark Fields. Frazier is resigning from the President’s American Manufacturing Council, citing “a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism.” Frazier’s resignation comes shortly after a violent confrontation between white supremacists and protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump is being criticized for not explicitly condemning the white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville. AP/Evan Vucci

The muted response was a reminder that, although big companies are increasingly willing to take public stands on many contentious social issues, they also covet their access to a businessfriendly White House and are being careful not to jeopardize their relationship with the president. “I’m sure that corporate leaders feel some reticence to speak out because they’re afraid of being attacked by the president by name,” said Michael Strain, an economist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. It was only late on Monday that other CEOs followed Frazier’s lead. Plank was first. Hours later, Krzanich issued his statement. “I resigned to call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues, including the serious need to address the decline of American manufacturing,” Krzanich said. Merck did not respond to either of the president’s Twitter posts and declined to make Frazier available for an interview, but within the

company, he appeared to have the support of his board. “Any time someone stands up and does something brave, rather than wimping out, sure, there is a risk,” said Thomas R. Cech, a Merck board member who was among those Frazier contacted last Sunday night. “You put your name and your company’s name in the spotlight, and people who don’t like what you did can find ways to try to retaliate.” Leslie A. Brun, another board member, said Frazier had e-mailed him last Sunday to seek his input before making his decision. Brun said that he was supportive and that he felt Frazier’s background, in some part, informed the action he chose to take. “As you can imagine, as the only African-American in that position, on that council, you can’t take yourself out of your own personal context,” Brun said. “As a consequence, Ken had a very strong reaction to what he saw as a failure of leadership.” As for Trump’s reaction, Brun

added, “I thought the pettiness of the president’s response, on a personal level, is indicative of how far we’ve sunk.” Over the course of the day, severa l top e xec ut ives made statements denouncing racism and bigotry generally, although none went as far as Frazier, Plank or Krzanich. “Bigotry, hatred and extremism are an affront to core American values and have no place in this country,” said Stephen A. Schwarzman, the chief executive of the private equity firm the Blackstone Group and one of the president’s closest advisers in the business community. “I am deeply saddened and troubled by the tragic events in Charlottesville.” Dell Technologies said that its chief executive, Michael Dell, would remain on the White House manufacturing advisory council. And General Electric said in a statement that it had “no tolerance for hate, bigotry or racism” while adding that Jeff Immelt, the company’s chairman and recently retired chief executive, would also continue to advise the president. The president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, Richard Trumka, went further than most, suggesting that Trump’s initial comments about the violence in Charlottesville was giving him pause. “We are aware of the decisions by other members of the President’s Manufacturing Council, which has yet to hold any real meeting, and are assessing our role,” Trumka said in a statement. But he, too, stopped short of stepping down or endorsing the actions

of Frazier. Several hours after Frazier resigned from the manufacturing council, Trump offered the kind of sharp denunciation of racism that many critics believed had been lacking over the weekend. In a prepared statement, the president explicitly condemned hate groups, including neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. Frazier, 62, grew up in a lowincome neighborhood in north Philadelphia, the son of a man who instilled in his children a sense of ambition. “My father had a very strong view of what it took to be successful, and he, in effect, brainwashed all his children to think t hat we cou ld do a ny t hing ,” Frazier said in a 2011 interview with the Harvard Law Bulletin. “Although he was a janitor by accident of birth, I believe he could have been a CEO of any company.” Frazier attended Harvard Law School and then went to work for a Philadelphia law firm. His most rewarding legal victory, he has said, involved the case of James Willie Cochran, a black death row inmate in Alabama who had been convicted of killing a white store manager. Frazier and his col leag ues determined Cochran, who was known as Bo, had been convicted on shoddy evidence. After a yearslong legal battle, they secured him a new trial. He was acquitted in 1997. In a 2004 article Frazier wrote about the case for The University of Toledo Law Review, he said race had clearly played a role in Cochran’s conviction. New York Times News Service

Banking&Finance

Wednesday, August 16, 2017 • Editor: Jun B. Vallecera

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Fitch unit forecasts more moderate rate hike

By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

here seems to be a general agreement building up each week that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) should recalibrate the policy rates soon because a rates freeze presents stability risks to the economy. An analysis on monetary-policy dynamics in the Philippines by BMI Research, a think tank operated by Fitch Ratings, bared expectations of a positive adjustment in the policy rates by 25 basis points within year. Colleagues in the industry forecast such adjustments coming no earlier than in the first three months next year, given prevailing monetary conditions. The adjusted forecast is a scale down from an earlier projection of a 50-basis-point increase. BMI Research said the recalibration was based on more recent signals from BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. indicating continued confidence in the monetarypolicy settings.

When it last convened in August 10, the policy-making Monetary Board opted to keep the rate on the BSP’s overnight reverse repurchase window at 3 percent. The corresponding interest rates on the overnight lending and deposit windows, as well as the banks’ deposit-reserve ratios were also left unchanged. “Although we continue to expect higher interest rates over the coming quarters as inflationary pressures mount and risks of capital outflows intensify, we have now revised our forecast for a 25-basis-point hike this year from 50 basis points previously, and another 25 basis points in 2018, as Espenilla signaled that the BSP is in no

rush to tighten monetary policy”. “Our view still chimes with the Monetary Board’s statement, which highlighted that: ‘the balance of risks to the inflation outlook continues to be on the upside’, and that the BSP will adjust its policy settings as needed to ensure that future inflation stays aligned with the medium-term target of [2 percent to 4 percent],” it added. BMI Research also warned that, while the BSP may still have sufficient policy space to delay further the inevitable rates hike, freezing them for too long could harm the economy instead. “While the BSP could certainly keep rates

Although we continue to expect higher interest rates over the coming quarters as inflationary pressures mount and risks of capital outflows intensify, we have now revised our forecast for a 25-basis-point hike this year from 50 basis points previously, and another 25 basis points in 2018, as Espenilla signaled that the BSP is in no rush to tighten monetary policy.”—BMI

Philippine Red Cross receives donation from BSP

angko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) handed over a P2-million check to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) at the BSP Complex in Malate, Manila. PRC Chairman and CEO Richard J. Gordon received the donation from BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. “Thank you, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

for your trust in the Philippine Red Cross. The PRC assures the BSP that its contribution will go a long way in fulfilling its mission to alleviate human suffering and help the most vulnerable through its quality of volunteers, logistics, and information technology,” Gordon said. The BSP has been a partner of the PRC

Filipino doctor wins awards

or the first time, the top cataract instructors from the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and Asia Pacific Cataract and Refractive Surgery Symposium held a joint symposium where they faced off and presented trade secrets in making cataract surgical cases smooth and more efficient. In that event and through an audience poll, Dr. Robert Ang, a Filipino, was voted over 13 other surgeons from Asia and the US. He was named as the Best Overall Instructor after he spoke about a capsule-marking technique that makes cataract surgeries easier by using a readily available and relatively inexpensive tool. Cataract is the clouding of the natural lens of the eye. This lens is enclosed in a clear lining called lens capsule. During cataract surgery, the surgeon opens the front portion of the lens

capsule to gain access to the cataract, break it into pieces, remove it and replace it with an artificial lens called intraocular lens (IOL). According to Ang, opening the front portion of the lens capsule is one of the three critical steps in performing a cataract surgery. “It should be consistent, appropriately sized and centered to make sure that there is a more stable position to place the IOL and provide patients with better vision.” Digital markers are used to guide surgeons in creating a consistently sized and round capsule opening, but these markers are expensive. Instead of using these digital markers, Ang suggested using an optical-zone marker. “The optical-zone marker is available in different sizes and can create a small temporary mark on the cornea. Since it is usually used in Lasik surgeries, it is also easily available to all eye doctors.”

Case clippings

By Justice S J Ranada Jr. RES ADJUDICATA–for subsequent proceeding Res adjudicata operates as bar to subsequent proceedings by prior judgment when the following requisites concur: 1) the former judgment is final; 2) it is rendered by a court having jurisdiction over the subject matter and the parties; 3) it is a judgment or order on the merits; and 4) there is—between the first and second actions—identity of parties, subject matter, and causes of action. Republic v. Bolante 17 April 2017

GR 186717 Sereno, C J

low to facilitate the government’s expansionary fiscal plans, this would risk further capital outflows and jeopardize macroeconomic stability,” BMI Research said. The BSP also said inflation pressure is similarly ramping up enough to warrant a similar recalibration in forecast inflation to 3.2 percent this year instead of 3.1 percent forecast earlier. BMI Research actually projected a more threatening inflation path this year, averaging 4 percent. Headline inflation averaged only 3.1 percent in the first seven months, with the latest reading in July at 2.8 percent.

for 10 years and is committed to donating blood twice a year among its employees to support the Red Cross’s blood-donation program. The donation forms part of PRC’s humanitarian assistance to affected families in Marawi and the PRC’s Blood Samaritan Program.

BAT acquires cigarette makers Reynolds American

ritish American Tobacco Plc. (BAT), the parent company of the local outfit that distributes the brands Pall Mall and Lucky Strike, announced the recent completion of its acquisition of Reynolds American Inc. in a deal valued at $49.4 billion. Reynolds owns, among other subsidiaries, RJR Tobacco Co., the second-largest US tobacco company. The acquisition creates a stronger, global tobacco and next-generation products company committed to delivering sustained long-term profit growth and returns. BAT now has a balanced presence in high-growth emerging markets and high-profitability developed markets, combined with direct access to the attractive US market, the world’s most profitable one after China. “This is a transformational deal. We will take the best of the best from both businesses across all areas to create a stronger, more sustainable company. We are pleased to welcome Reynolds group employees to British American Tobacco and look forward to progressing what we are confident will be a smooth integration. Work has already begun to realize the projected cost synergies, and we are committed to driving continued, sustainable profit growth and returns for shareholders long into the future,” BAT CEO Nicandro Durante said.

Music for a cause

ear yourself for an evening of scintillating piano music done by an international pianist, music educator and piano pedagogue—Rudolf Caesar Pelaez Golez. Golez, presently of Cagayan de Oro, began at an early age—at four, his mother had began to teach him, showing at a young age a proficiency that would be further developed. He enrolled with Sr. Lourdes Allegado, RVM, who prepared him for his Premier Piano Recital where he played Chopin’s “Heroic Polonaise” in A-Flat Op. 53 at the Lourdes College within a year of taking formal piano lessons. He was only 11 years old when he impressed then-First Lady Imelda Marcos at the Coconut Palace in Manila, who gave him a scholarship abroad after his performance. Whereupon, at age 13, he studied at the Juilliard School under Seymour Lipkin. Golez made his orchestral debut when he was 17 with the Manila Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Sergio Esmilla Jr., playing Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto. He took his undergraduate studies in Colegio de Inmaculada Concepcion in Cebu City and earned the degree of Bachelor of Music, Major in Piano in 1998. He eventually took his graduate courses in the University of the Philippines, where he graduated with the degree of Master in Music, Major in Piano Performance in 2002. Further studies brought him to Graz, Austria. He has also coached with Russsel Brandon, musicologist. Among his notable achievements were:

FINEX free enterprise Mercedes B. Suleik n In 2004 he was the sole prize winner at the First Asean Chopin International Piano Competition. n In 2006 he was the featured soloist at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Filipino Young Artist Series, during which he played Liszt’s B Minor Sonata. n In 2008 he won critical acclaim with his performance with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the composer/conductor Cristobal Halffter of Madrid, playing De Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain. n He represented the Philippines in concerts abroad, namely China, in 2010; Russia, in 2012; and Australia, in 2013. He also regularly performs in the US and his home country, the Philippines, with colleagues as a collaborative artist and soloist. n He performed in a Taubman Piano Festival at Montclair University, New Jersey, in June 2015. n He also performed at the Colburn School Zipper Hall in Los Angeles, California.

Dominguez pays tribute to Tetangco, welcomes Espenilla

inance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III paid tribute to the immediate past and current governors of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for their “adept management” of monetary policies, which has earned global recognition for the country’s central banking institution. In his testimonial at a recent dinner honoring BSP immediate past governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. and current Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. Dominguez cited the BSP’s resolve in “courageously maintain[ing] its independence”, even in the most trying times. Dominguez lauded Tetangco for leading the BSP for a period of 12 years marked by continued economic growth, a stable currency, low inflation and strong international reserves, as well as the adoption of global best practices in central banking. “Say [Tetangco] is probably the most awarded central banker in the world. He led the BSP in his inimitable low-key style. He does not hector. I suspect he charmed people into seeing things his way. He personified the demeanor and the calm confidence the nation’s top banker should have. With Say at the helm, the BSP was kept away from controversy, even as the institution’s policies had great consequences on everyone,” Dominguez said. “I am sure that the same quiet, but persuasive, leadership will continue with Governor Nestor Espenilla,” he added. Espenilla knows every challenge and tool available to the BSP to keep the country’s banking system strong and well regulated, Dominguez said. “It is always reassuring to have a new leader who is an old hand,” Dominguez added referring to Espenilla, who has been with the BSP for the last 36 years. “Nesting [Espenilla] is not an unknown entity. In his years as deputy governor, he kept a sharp eye on the banking system. He never hesitated closing down banks that fail. He has been conscious of over-regulation even as he has kept supervision tight. That is always a fine balancing act,” Dominguez said. The finance chief added “Our country is fortunate to have a strong central banking institution led by a long string of men with exemplary abilities and compelling credentials.” “The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has been recognized internationally for its adept management of monetary policy,” Dominguez said.

n Indeed, comments about his performances include one from Jim Lowe, Times Argus Barre, VT, thus: “deeply moving, eloquent with finesse and a deep musicality”, and another from Rosalinda Orosa of Philippine Star, thus: “refined nuances expressed through a masterful technique combined with artistic sensitivity”. n Golez was the dean emeritus of the College of Music in 2013 and 2014, and is concurrently the Vice President for Cultural since 2005 of the Liceo de Cagayan University in Cagayan de Oro City. n Since 2011 he has also served as faculty of Philippine Women’s University (PWU). Further, he is enrolled in the PhD Performance program of PWU under Prof. Reynaldo Reyes. Catch Rudolf Golez in Black and White on September 16 6:00 p.m., at the Tanghalang Haribon, Insular Life, Corporate Center in Filinvest Alabang, Muntinglupa City. At the same time,.as you enjoy this unique experience in music, you would also be helping elite students in Muntinglupa Science High School who are being provided with a Character Development Program by a group of committed ladies who call themselves “Cor Vitae”, for whom this musical adventure is benefiting. Sponsors to this event are most welcome. For further information and tickets you may get in touch with Marie, 0917-8177261, 0918-941-9472 and 02-585-3823. merci.suleik@gmail.com

ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Wednesday, August 16, 2017 A9

PHL trade chief urges Asean to collaborate, communicate

UALA LUMPUR, Malaysia— As the Asean celebrated its 50th founding anniversary, 2017 marks an opportune time to reflect on what Asean has achieved over the past five decades and what it seeks to accomplish ahead.

Speaking at the Asean@50 Conference in Kuala Lumpur on August 4 before an assembly representing various stakeholders, Asean 2017 Economic Ministers Chairman and Philippine Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said collaboration and communication are two essential elements to keep Asean moving. “The region has to focus on two Cs—collaboration and communica-

tion. By engaging multistakeholders, Asean develops a win-win solution in ensuring that economic opportunities will be equitably felt by all Asean citizens,” he said. Since its inception in 1967, the 10-member regional organization has transformed into a global economic powerhouse, with a population of 622 million and has become one of the world’s fastest-growing

investment destinations. Asean’s total trade increased by $700 billion between 2007 and 2015, with intra-Asean trade comprising the largest share. In 2015 Asean attracted $121 billion of FDI with intra-Asean constituting the largest share of inflows. Lopez said Asean should aim to communicate its programs and priorities to the Asean citizens, providing them with the right platform to know how they can contribute to the region’s growth story. “Our communication must be sustained and intensified if we want to reap the benefits of the Asean Economic Community [AEC], working toward a deeper regional integration in 2025,” he said. The trade chief made reference to the Asean 2025: Forging Ahead Together as a forward-looking road map to prepare the region in the next phase of evolvement,

and which charts the pathway for strengthening the Asean Community over the next 10 years. As one of the three pillars of the Asean Community, the AEC is a realization of Asean’s goal to have an integrated and prosperous economic region with a single market—where there is free movement of goods, services and investments. “Asean’s continuing economic transformation remains an example of how regional integration and cooperation is plausible despite challenges and diversity in size, geography, political background and culture,” the trade chief said. AEC reflects connectedness and translates diversity into strength as Asean’s variety becomes a source of attraction to global investors, mindful of the region’s stake in open global markets. Lopez said promoting complementation and cooperation is at the

heart of Asean integration efforts. Closer trade and enhanced economic cooperation, combined with continued engagement with dialogue partners, provides the region with a solid platform to continuously bolster the region’s growth and promote complementation of domestic reforms among member-states. The Asean has also become a significant link to the international community because of the dynamism and the huge potential it offers to the world. “We have engaged our major trading partners, namely, Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand in free-trade agreements, negotiating as a single Asean entity rather than as individual economies discussing bilateral trade arrangements,” Lopez said. In 2013 Asean initiated negotiations for a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP),

which aims to expand the current Asean market to a huge integrated market of 3.5 billion with its six dialogue partners China, Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and India. Lopez also took the opportunity to present the Philippine agenda as the current Asean chairman. Under the inclusive, innovationled growth theme, the country is poised to champion the development and internationalization of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with key strategic measures to increase trade and investment, integrate MSMEs in global value chains and pursue an innovation-led economy. “Asean continues to develop into a pivotal marketplace with its relatively young, growing labor force and emerging middle class,” he said, adding that Asean has transformed into a community of dramatic diversity and manifold opportunities.

Flights between PHL, Malaysia resume dti urges Bataan exporters

to tap eu-gsp+ tariff scheme

By Rosa Katrina V. Banzon PTIC-KL

TRONGER tourism, investment and trade relations between Malaysia and the Philippines were underscored by the reopening of the Philippine Trade and Investment Centre in Kuala Lumpur (PTICKL) in 2016. The renewal of economic ties is a push by the current administration to bring in investment and consequently economic development in Mindanao. The most recent hallmark in the business relations between the two countries is the launch of new PhilippineMalaysia flight routes by Philippine Airlines (PAL) and AirAsia. The reopening of PTIC-KL is very timely, as connectivity between the Philippines and Malaysia received a boost from the resumption of PAL’s daily flights between Manila and Kuala Lumpur on June 8 after a three-year respite. As such, the role of PTIC-KL has become more relevant as it expects to facilitate and assist a significant number of Malaysian businesses interested in the Philippines, and vice versa. A case in point is the assistance it extended to the Malaysian business delegation during the Fourth Davao Investment Conference at the SMX Convention Center Davao. During that conference, AirAsia’s top executive, Tony Fernandes, announced the launch of AirAsia’s direct Kuala Lumpur-Davao flight. Beginning on December 21, 2017, AirAsia will have four flights a week for its Kuala Lumpur-Davao route.

By Henry Empeño | Correspondent

DTI CHIEF CALLS ON MFIs TO CONTINUE STRENGTHENING MONEY ACCESS FOR MSMEs During the Annual Conference of the Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI) in Manila on July 27,

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez encouraged stakeholders of the microfinancing industry to partner with the government in continuously empowering the sector of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by strengthening their access to finance. Lopez shared with MCPI Chairman Fr. Jose Victor Lobrigo and members President Duterte’s commitment to empower the bottom of the pyramid and urged microfinancing institutions (MFIs) to take part in the goal toward shared prosperity for all. The government, through its flagship microfinancing program Pondo para sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3), has been working with MFIs in providing alternative funding source for MSMEs, as well as in putting a stop to the notorious “5-6” lending scheme. The trade chief also shared with the group the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) proposal to mall owners to allot market space for MSME products. He said the DTI will continue working with the private sector to uphold effective and meaningful ways to spur MSME growth.

REEPORT AREA OF BATAAN—The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is urging manufacturers, export producers and registered business locators here to take advantage of a preferential tariff scheme granted by the European Union (EU) that allows duty-free access to exporters from developing countries, like the Philippines. In a forum conducted by the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (Afab) recently, resource speakers from the DTI Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) and Bureau of Internal Trade Relations (BITR) said registered business locators here should maximize the competitive advantages from the EU Generalized System of Preferences Plus (EU-GSP+) in order to further expand their businesses and boost their presence in the EU market. Trade Industry Development Specialist Jollan Margaret Llaneza of BITR told locators they could avail themselves of zero-tariff schemes under the EU-GSP+ and penetrate what is considered to be the single largest market in the world. Llaneza said that, in particular, producers of textile, garments, apparel and shoes from the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) could avail themselves of duty-free export privileges under the EU-GSP+ scheme. She said that, while EU member-countries charge a regular tax rate of 16.9 percent for exporters that are not from GSP+ members, the Philippines’s enrolment to GSP+ gave FAB locators this competitive advantage. EMB Senior Trade Industry Development Specialist Maria Jaena Go-Aco explained the rules of origin and the procedures in exporting

to EU member-countries, pointing out that the preferential tariff scheme is given to developing countries that meet the very stringent application requirements. The Philippines was accepted formally into the EU-GSP+ on December 18, 2014, and is currently the only Asean country enrolled under the preferential tariff scheme. Under this system, Philippine manufacturers can export more than 6,000 products to any of the 28 member-countries of the EU at zero tariff. The products that may qualify for duty-free access include coconut and marine products, processed fruit, prepared food, animal and vegetable fats and oils, textiles, garments, headwear, footwear, furniture, umbrellas, and chemicals. In the same forum, Chairman and Administrator Emmanuel D. Pineda of the Afab encouraged companies at the FAB to avail themselves of the EUGSP+ offer, noting the EU-GSP+ scheme provides distinct advantages to Philippine manufacturers. “For the past several years, the authority has been actively collaborating with the DTI for promotions activities to invite more foreign investors to put up their businesses here in the Philippines, especially in the FAB. This is because the Philippines is currently the only country in Asean enrolled in the EU-GSP+ scheme. And this is an advantage that you, our FAB locators, can avail yourselves of and enjoy,” Pineda told the locators. Pineda said in recent years, the number of FAB locators tapping the EU-GSP+ scheme actually increased from 66 percent in 2015 to 71 percent last year. “The surge in utilization rate showed more industries are finding the benefits of this scheme,” Pineda added. “This could also become the competitive edge of the FAB locators.”

CIAP, EMB ink partnership to promote PHL construction industry By Gliceria N. Cademia

Trade and Industry Development Specialist, Export Marketing Bureau, Services Division

Part Two

he Philippines is aggressively promoting services, such as information technology BPM (services/software development and business-process outsouring like contact centers, Health Information Management System (HIMS), game development and animation and other services, like franchising and education audiovisual among others. Jocelyn Carrasco said that with the partnership with CIAP-POCB, a series of info sessions and focus group discussions for the construction services sector will be held. She said that service exporting entails establishing credibility and building confidence with prospective clients. The intervention of EMB as promotion and marketing agency of the Department of Trade and Industry

(DTI) comprises conduct of OBMM, Inbound Business Matching Missions (IBMM) and other specialized missions being done on a much-focused approach. OBMM is conducted by promoting and bringing Filipino companies to meet overseas clients, while IBMM is the matching of prospective corporations/associations with firms visiting the country to meet with Philippine exporters. Since services have no tariff, exporters should be aware on the nontariff barriers being imposed in countries of destination. The Philippines is currently engaged in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership negotiation. For promotion, she recommended tapping the emerging markets, like Macau, Solomon Island, Palau and the Asean market, where Philippines has great potential in construction. In IBMMs and OBMMs, the EMB partners with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PITC) and Philippine Embassy. Before an OBMM is done, EMB provides an information session, like negotiat-

ing skills, market entry strategies and tips in conducting business in the country where OBMM will be held. OBMM also offers business intelligence for better understanding of how the foreign buyer should be approached. She said a strict itinerary should be followed by the participants and the DTI is requesting all OBMM participants to update them after the OBMM to monitor developments and sales generated from the mission. Terminologies should also be understood by participants. For example, in FTA negotiations, there are issues whether to use “area” or “territory”. Loring said contractors should not only be concerned about their own strengths and weaknesses but their business competitors’ strengths and weaknesses as well. They must be able to identify best practices, know-how of strategizing, developing business intelligence and the exercise of due diligence before entering into any contract or business. She further emphasized that the EMB does not

fund airfare and accommodation of participants; however assistance is given to business-to business (B2B) related activities. Companies must be enrolled in Regional Interactive Platform for Philippine Exporters (Ripples) as participants of OBMM. Ripples is EMB’s program that supports the information session and capacity building, marketing and promotion of the EMB business matching. She talked about the process of identification of possible service providers, which include selecting the best Philippine companies that can be part of the mission and can be matched to overseas contractors. Since most the contractors participated have already experienced exporting abroad, they are considered market ready under the export pathways of Ripples. The EMB will provide intervention through training and capacity-building, marketing and promotion, support for innovation, product development and design, and market access facilitation. The

government is handling market access facilitation, hence agencies and companies should be mindful to provide inputs and cooperate with the issues and concerns they would want to be included during negotiations. One of the requirements of the DTI for companies to be part of the OBMM is the presence of official web site and e-mail. She hopes that with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) project for the Philippines to have a national broadband network, faster and reliable Internet connection will be in-place. Since the preparation of the implementation of OBMM is six months, OBMM for construction sector may be considered for 2018. She emphasized the importance of attending delegation meetings to equip the participants on the details of the mission and their accompanying obligation. Contractors were advised to have their profiles ready and updated for the business matching.

The EMB has session on how to have an effective company profile and web-site optimization. She encouraged participants to avoid too much graphics in their web site. For the business matching, contractors need to inform EMB if they have identified companies they would like to talk to, so EMB can coordinate with the post or the embassy can also arrange it for them. A one-on-one schedule is arranged with a dedicated schedule for each company. The DTI can also hire an interpreter for the delegation. Actual B2B meetings will be conducted and monitored. For some markets, like Japan, Japanese shows seriousness by bringing their operations head to the B2B. B2B can be conducted in the booth, hotel or separate venue depending on the schedule or where the company wants to meet their matches. As to revenue generation, there is longer gestation period for services hence the need for consistent exposure to establish presence in the market. (To be continued)

A10 Wednesday, August 16, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Tougher policies needed to fight bird flu

or more than a decade, the Philippines had enjoyed the distinction of being free from the avian influenza (AI) or bird flu, particularly the strain that could infect humans. The highly pathogenic AI (HPAI or H5N1) was first detected in Hong Kong, where human infections were recorded following an outbreak in poultry in 1997. After it resurfaced in Asia in 2003, the HPAI wreaked havoc on the poultry industry of neighboring countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam.

In 2004 the Philippine government had put in place a bird-flu preparedness and response plan to contain possible outbreaks. In 2007 the Department of Agriculture (DA) came up with the Avian Influenza Protection Program as part of its stepped-up efforts to shield the Philippines from the virus. Manila also banned live birds and various chicken products from AI-infected countries to protect the domestic poultry population. Experts had earlier said that the country’s tropical climate is a blessing as bird flu usually thrives in cold weather. Apart from its climate, the Philippines’s geography would help prevent the spread of the virus should it hit the country, according to experts. Unlike Vietnam and Thailand that are landlocked, the Philippines is an archipelago, making it easier for authorities to contain bird flu. Despite the country’s natural attributes and government efforts to protect the Philippines from AI, the virus managed to find its way into Pampanga’s poultry farms. Until now, the DA could still not say how bird flu was able to strike poultry farms in Pampanga. The DA’s focus, for now, is to ensure that the local poultry sector would not suffer huge losses and to compensate affected farmers. But the government’s search for answers, particularly the origin of the outbreak and why farmers hid the increasing mortality of their fowls, must not stop. And whatever it finds, the government must hold people—even influential ones—accountable for the loss of the country’s competitive edge. Because of the bird-flu outbreak, poultry exporters could no longer command a premium price for their products. According to Dr. Roehlano M. Briones, senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, poultry exporters must now compete with their counterparts in Asia based on cost. Businesses hate more regulation because this tends to weigh them down and add to their cost. Given the circumstances, however, the government cannot be faulted for putting in place more measures to contain and eliminate bird flu altogether. The DA must make good on its promise to regularly inspect livestock and poultry farms if it wants to help growers regain the trust of their customers. It must also find a way to penalize those who will not immediately report outbreaks, after the government conducts an information campaign on bird flu. The bird-flu outbreak also underscored the DA’s need for a bigger budget. The department must be given adequate resources to craft a better program and prepare the country for possible outbreaks of livestock diseases. Since 2005

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Banks fail to remit millions of premium payments Art Amansec

All About Social Security

mployers comply with their legal obligation to pay their and their employees’ premium contributions to the different Social Security System (SSS) branches posted all over the archipelago. Nonpayment of the same exposes the employers to suits filed against them by the SSS and its affected members. Suffice it to say that without said premium contributions, the employee cannot avail himself or herself of the benefits, among others, of a salary loan, sickness, maternity, death or disability. The premium payments, taken together, represent the fund that the SSS invests in stocks, real estate, securities, equities, bonds and bank deposits. These investments made the SSS what it is today in the financial corporate world—one of the biggest and most solvent corporations. To facilitate collection, past SSS administrations contracted with chosen banks under agency agreements to receive the premium contributions with the obligation of remitting the same to SSS coffers within a few days after collection. The bank partnerships, however, have turned out to be a nightmare for the present SSS commissioners as a number of these agent banks have failed and have been failing to remit to SSS coffers the moneys they received in trust from employers as

premium contributions. As of this date, the total amount of premium contributions received by the agent banks, which they failed to remit to the SSS, runs to hundred millions of pesos. Note that their failure to remit, in some cases, has not been only for a week or for months or for a couple of months but for years. A few newly appointed commissioners want the SSS to sue these banks, considering that the money they received but failed to turn over to the SSS is not lawfully theirs and it is, therefore, their obligation to turn over the same to SSS upon demand or within the timeframe given them by the SSS to remit the money. Commissioner Gonzalo T. Duque, chairman of the Coverage, Collection and Related Matters Committee, suggested that, before undertaking any appropriate steps, the commission should first entreat the Central Bank to help the parties find a mutually satisfactory solution to the problem. (By the way, Duque, a lawyer and PhD holder twice over, represents the labor sector and was endorsed to his

Leadership Teddy Locsin Jr.

Free fire Continued from A1

n the mid-1980s, after we had liberated ourselves from dictatorship without a shot fired, except the one that took out Ninoy Aquino, and we were whining about our poverty because we had endured for 13 years a thieving dictatorship we easily overthrew—so in a way, the gigantic waste and robbery was mainly our fault—Lee Kuan Yew spoke in public. This I got from a foreign diplomat stationed there.

Bad economic times had hit the world. Singapore registered near to zero growth. In his elite government uniform of white shirt and black

trousers, Lee walked to the microphone. He put his hands in his pants pockets and pulled up his pants. Then he said, “We have to make ourselves

The premium payments, taken together, represent the fund that the SSS invests in stocks, real estate, securities, equities, bonds and bank deposits. These investments made the SSS what it is today in the financial corporate world— one of the biggest and most solvent corporations.

position by the militant Bukluran ng Manggawang Pilipino.) What so far is holding back the present commissioners to commence appropriate action are the terms and conditions of the agency agreements, capped by restructuring agreements, entered into with the said banks by past SSS administration and past commissioners. From this quandary springs forth the legal issue on whether said agreements are valid and enforceable, considering that, at first glance, they effect an abject surrender of the SSS immediate right of dominion over the unremitted collections, a surrender which is clearly disadvantageous to the SSS and millions of its affected memberemployers and member-employees. A related issue is whether the present set of commissioners are obligated to honor these agreements even if they mean its sanctioning and tolerating the long delay in remitting the workers’ money to the SSS. Another relevant question is: are the moneys received by the agent banks still in their custody and are still under lock and key or have the banks used or have been using the

same for their business ends? From another angle, the principal issue herein presented (nonremittance by the banks to the SSS of premium payments) is more than meets the eyes. The issue, we believe, is one imbued with public interest. For one, it involves moneys belonging to workers, a marginalized sector of society, for their insurance needs. For another, it involves the fiduciary capacity and resoluteness of the SSS to collect and handle with care the premium contributions of its member-employers and -employees. Understandable should be the apprehension of the present Commissioners that their failure to promptly act on the matter might expose them to charges of negligence some unfortunate day. All told, the resolution of the matter, or nightmare, or malady, to be more precise, will reveal the mettle, sense of fairness, passion and financial savvy of the present set of SSS commissioners, led by Chairman Amado D. Valdez, a former law dean and illustrious legal practitioner; Vice-Chairman and President Emmanuel F. Dooc, a noted lawyer and a seasoned insurance executive; in addressing pressing SSS concerns and Duque. Needless to say, in this challenging quest, the two need the support and cooperation of their fellow commissioners Anita Bumpus-Quitain, Michael Regino, Diana Pardo-Aguilar; the Secretary of Labor and Employment or his very competent deputy, Undersecretary Ciriaco Lagunzad; Pompee La Viña, and yours truly.

more competitive. We have to cut back on public services. And we all have to take a 20-percent cut in our salaries. But I promise you that in a year or so, when things have recovered, the 20 percent will be restored to you and perhaps more.” The diplomat waited for the reaction. He went to the window to see rioting on the streets but the streets were empty and calm. People had stayed home to listen to their leader—preeminent in common sense and uncommon brilliance. After the broadcast, they turned in early to prepare themselves for the sacrifices ahead. When the recovery came and was exceeded by more progress, no one even remarked that Lee was good for his word. That went without saying. By this time Singapore did not have a single drug addict and, yet, bodies did not litter the streets.

Singapore survived and thrived in a dangerous world not by the naked force of numbers but the singular brilliance and dedication of its leaders who had convinced its people and neighboring countries that their collective defense and well-being turned entirely on the rule of law at home and in the region. That is leadership. Talent, dedication, modesty and discreetness, and moderation. Yet, Lee was a proud man; arrogant even. But he showed it not with brash words but by his country’s achievements. In the best way, Lee Kuan Yew achieved immortality. His presence is felt in his great city and all over the world to this day. When Singapore’s turn comes for a seat in the UN Security Council where the five great powers rule the world, no one will object and everyone will vote for it.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Why not ‘Forest for the Poorest’ bonds to wipe out poverty? Michael Makabenta Alunan

on the contrary

ne way to reverse the massive denudation of our forests and to wipe out poverty is involving Filipinos here and abroad as stakeholder-investors, getting them to contribute and invest in purchasing interest-earning securities, to be called “Forest for the Poorest” bonds. n Go bold for the bald? This was one of the issues raised at the State of Nature Assessment (Sona) symposium organized by Green Convergence headed by Nina Galang, who stressed the need for bold measures to reverse the denudation of our bald forests. She said, “We are already witnessing soil erosion, loss of fertile topsoil, flash floods and destruction of downstream ecosystems, including rivers and marine systems; ironic desertification during dry spells, despite our high rainfall; and, in the end, possibly deprive our children of nature’s resources that could sustain life.” The Green Sona symposium is held yearly since 2007, but this year’s theme is “Our Land, Our Life”, which focuses on land issues like forests, plantation crops, climate change, etc. Fr. Pete Montallana of the Save Sierra Madre Network revealed that our “virgin forests are now down to only 3 percent of their original state, which is alarming being among the world’s top in biodiversity in indigenous and endemic species of plants, animals and insects, with many becoming endangered. Apparently, we can say jestingly that ‘illegal logging’ proliferated because (‘kasi laging illegal’) everything was ‘always illegal’. n Why forest for the poorest bonds? A Forest for the Poorest bond is logical, strategic and can generate mass participation. For one, it is has a specific purpose—to help wipe out poverty in the countryside, where two-thirds of those living below poverty line reside. Second, it can fund massive tree planting accompanied by upland agriculture and fruit orchards to pursue further upstream processing industries, like fruit juices, puree, jams, etc. Third, investing in projects that generate higher value-added earnings will have a bigger impact because of its higher multiplier effects. More so because this will create solid physical wealth, better than the P65 billion a year Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, formerly Conditional Cash Transfer, which are “doleouts” spent on consumptive, not productive, expenditures. n Lesser costs for a cause. Last, if the government keeps on borrowing yearly anyway, why not borrow from the public as direct stakeholders, including the 12 million migrants and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) abroad. For a cause, it is easier to sell these Forest for the Poorest bonds even at low rates, as people will support meaningful social-impact projects. After all, they are earning negligible bank-savings rates of less than 0.2 percent per annum, much lower than inflation rates. n Become bettor and better? Perhaps, we can revive concepts behind the “Biglang Bahay” and “Premyo Savings” bonds during the Marcos regime, which generated billions with their reward incentives that capitalized on people’s penchant for gambling (i.e., lotto, sweepstakes, race-track betting, masiao, online gambling, cockfighting, etc.) but transformed them into productive savings. Huge OFW remittances, for one, could be discouraged from senseless gambling and consumptive spending

sprees to more meaningful investments, like our Forest for the Poorest bonds that can come in multiple values like P1,000, P2,000, P5,000, P10,000, P20,000, etc., and attract both high-end investors and the hoi polloi or masses. Perhaps, for every so much worth of bonds, a raffle with rewards is granted. This will encourage savings and investing while turning them into better bettors for a cause and simultaneously reverse the aversion toward countryside investing. n Agri-Agra loan compliance. Banks are mandated by law to lend 25 percent of their loans for agriculture and agrarian projects, but, finding this risky, they convinced the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to allow them an escape clause to invest in safe treasury bills as a form of compliance. T-Bill investments only help shore up deficits of government and not geared at value-added production. Banks are awash with funds largely kept in vaults or in money investments, which only bolster financial growth of the economy but can actually mean stagnation in the real physical economy. Domestic-savings rate in 2015 was 30.3 percent of gross national income, but gross capital formation rate was only 19.8 percent, which means surplus savings are held unproductively by banks, which could have been invested in rural investments, infrastructure and industries that create real jobs. Worse, credit to rural areas is shrinking further, reinforcing agricultural stagnation as more small banks are closing down, while commercial banks continue to shy away from rural lending. But the Forest for the Poorest bonds can reverse this anomaly and allow banks to comply truly with Agri-Agra loan, while still investing in this government-guaranteed bonds. The 25 percent Agri-Agra can amount to maybe close to P1 trillion in funds for the countryside. The fund can be run by a People’s Public-Private Partnership Program for transparency and can be run by Regina Paz L. Lopez. n Dams you must, damned if you don’t. Another proposal worth exploring is the building of hundreds of thousands of small catch basins or mini dams on mountain slopes to harness rain water, effectively rebuilding watersheds that could provide irrigation for the tree planting and agro-forestry through contour farming and be the most effective climate-adaptation strategy to prevent soil erosion, downstream flooding and droughts. The same mini dams can be stocked with fish and be a source of potable water with technological treatment. They can be built in a pick-and-shovel construction frenzy that can generate millions of jobs, similar to what US President Franklin D. Roosevelt did during the 1930’s Great Depression, when he created 4 million jobs in a month’s time, equivalent to over 10 million today, says a book by Nick Taylor entitled When FDR put the Nation to Work. These mini dams to retain water are vital, otherwise these projects get damned with high failure rates.

E-mail: mikealunan@yahoo.com

Asean at 50 Edgardo J. Angara

he Asean has evolved slowly but surely into one of the most dynamic regional blocs in its five decades of existence. Some even consider the Asean the most successful supranational grouping in the world today. It comprised 10 countries with total population of 650 million, the world’s third-largest labor force and an economy poised to become the world’s fifth-largest by 2020.

When the five founding members—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand—signed the Bangkok Declaration in 1967, their avowed objective was to ward off the threat of foreign interference looming heavily over the region during the Cold War. A recent South China Morning Post article said, this act changed the region “from a battlefield into a marketplace”. As Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam became members through the years, the Asean helped maintain peace and stability. That enabled the region to grow into an attractive investment

destination through a process that reached a milestone with the formal integration of the Asean Economic Community at the end of 2015. The ongoing maritime disputes, intensified by China’s island-building activities and militarization of the South China Sea, pose among the most disturbing and disruptive challenges to the Asean’s development in the coming years. Not all members are party to the disputes, but the Asean’s core emphasis on consensus building and cooperation makes it difficult for the bloc to take a decisive stance, beyond calling for a toothless Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

Wednesday, August 16, 2017 A11

“[The] Asean will never face a Brexit. Its fundamental promise to its members is that it does not challenge their sovereignty. Its Jakartabased secretariat is the opposite of the bureaucratic Babylons of the European Union, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization or the UN and its many offshoots. It has a staff of 300, compared to 100 times that in EU headquarters in Brussels.” Several pundits argue such a decision-making process is a weakness in the Asean. But as Edith Terry, an adjunct professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, recently tried to explain, such a “lowest-common-denominator approach” is in fact why the Asean “holds up well amid disappointment with the Bretton Woods institutions”. In the South China Morning Post, Terry declared: “[The] Asean will never face a Brexit. Its fundamental promise to its members is that it does not challenge their sovereignty. Its Jakarta-based secretariat is the opposite of the bureaucratic Babylons of the European Union [EU], the World Bank, the International

Protecting slogans and taglines Josephine Rima-Santiago

Intellectual Property Matters

RGANIZATIONS undertake branding campaigns to achieve certain goals, depending on their motivation. Some do it to increase revenue, some to reinforce their brand anew, some to provide a fresher look and feel to their old brand through rebranding, some to captivate a wider audience, and many more others. For a government office, an objective could be the promotion of some programs or projects.

With all these in mind, let me give you a few practical tips from an intellectual-property (IP) perspective so that you may give yourself an additional layer of protection before you launch any campaign publicly.

Republic Act 8293, or the IP Code, is silent on whether or not slogans, taglines, catchwords, catchphrases, mottoes or short advertising expressions as such are protected by copyright. The Supreme Court of the US, however, has already answered this question: Their copyright law does not provide copyright protection to slogans, taglines, etc. As we accord persuasive value to jurisprudence from the US, it is likely that Philippine courts will take guidance from this. It is not the end, though. In my opinion, however, if any of these is presented in an artistic and original manner, the artistic expression of such slogan may be copyright

protected. The IP Code, unfortunately, prohibits copyright in the work of the government except by assignment or bequest. What is the strategy, then, for the government acquiring copyright? There are two ways. One, get the work done by an employee who does not do such work as part of his regularly prescribed duties. Two, commission the work. In both cases, let them assign the entire copyright to the work to the office or government. Copyright in the Philippines does not need any formal registration in order to vest upon a work. Nevertheless, consider depositing the work with the National Library directly or via the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, for the issuance of a Certificate of Registration and Deposit, which serves as prima facie proof of ownership.

Trademark/service mark

CAN slogans and the like be protected under the law on trademarks? It

Copyright in the Philippines does not need any formal registration in order to vest upon a work. Nevertheless, consider depositing the work with the National Library directly or via the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, for the issuance of a Certificate of Registration and Deposit, which serves as prima facie proof of ownership. depends. To qualify, a slogan must be distinctive. To be distinctive, a slogan must be something that sets it apart from others that, whenever it is mentioned, it is associated with the source of such slogan. A nondistinctive slogan may still be trademark-protected if it has developed secondary meaning over the years (ex., “Sarap to the bones.”) in a way that the slogan is associated with a product or service of the source. If it does not, it cannot be protected as a trademark. Moreover, a slogan that is merely informational cannot be protected as a trademark. The main function of a trademark is to serve as a source identifier. It should be able to distinguish the goods and services of one enterprise from that of another. As applied in this case, slogans and taglines that function as trademarks should be able to identify the source of such slogans. Thus, we have slogans, like “We find ways”, “Serbisyong totoo” and “Nakasisiguro, gamot ay laging bago”, that are protected as trademarks.

Monetary Fund [IMF], the World Trade Organization or the UN and its many offshoots. It has a staff of 300, compared to 100 times that in EU headquarters in Brussels.” Terry highlighted the fact that unlike the World Bank, IMF or the UN, the Asean does not have an equity structure that gives richer members more say but, instead, calibrates its dues to the paying capacity of its poorest members. By giving even the most hard-up members an equal say, the Asean is able to fully leverage its economic, cultural and political diversity. The flip side of the above argument is that the requirement for unanimity among the 10 membercountries opens a ready window of opportunity for interference by big outside powers. Exactly nullifying the noninterference objective of the Asean Charter. The Asean will try to achieve a level of economic and political integration probably similar to that of the EU. But that’s not necessarily the ideal. By charting a path different from the EU yet acceptable to all of its members, its longevity and relevance appear to be sustainable. E-mail: angara.ed@gmail.com, Facebook and Twitter: @edangara

When opting to file a trademark, take into consideration factors such as the duration of the use of the slogan. For long use, registering for trademark would be advisable; short use may be impractical. It should also be used in the course of trade or business. Another factor to take note is the geographical scope of the use. Is it domestic or is it international in scope? If the latter, consider protecting your slogan in those countries, too. In line with this, it may interest you to know that the Philippines is a signatory to the Madrid Protocol. It is a treaty that enables a trademark filer to file a single application and pay one set of fees to apply for protection in up to 115 countries. It is the most cost-effective way of filing trademarks in many countries. Remember, however, that the grant of a trademark application in the Philippines takes anywhere on the average between four to six months (without opposition). Take this into account when you are preparing for the launch of your slogan, particularly if it is to be used in a campaign. Campaigns entail branding, and branding involves IP. Bear in mind that IP, when utilized well, can provide more value to any field of human activity. Used improperly and half-wittedly, however, may cost one much more than money. Josephine Rima-Santiago, Ll. M., is currently the director general of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines. She has had more than 20 years of extensive experience in IP as a public servant, educator, practitioner and researcher. E-mail: jrsantiago@columnist.com

Good schools and great teachers produce best students By Corazon A. Llapitan

eaching is a noble profession that requires time and dedication from our mostly overworked teachers. But having good teachers alone, especially in our public schools, is not enough to bring out the best in our children. Students must be provided with ideal environments conducive to learning, where they can focus on their lessons without distractions. This is one way we can give them a solid academic foundation, where students can develop a strong desire to learn. On top of this, public schools must also have the right curriculum for a particular level of learners. Public schools must employ the best teaching strategy that can create a positive school experience for every student, turning them into

confident and lifelong achievers. In the 21st century, our millennial students live in an interconnected virtual world through Facebook and other popular social-media sites. As such, to keep pace with them and to better understand millennial students, our educators must also adapt to the fast-changing world of technology as it applies to education. Knowing the power of imparting knowledge in the virtual world would allow them to guide their students better and help them realize their dreams. Great teachers remain intellectually alive and open to change grounded in theory, research and practice. These teachers, they say, can readily adjust to the needs of their students. That is why a continuing education program designed for mentors is a must, especially in our public schools. Continuing education can take the

form of seminars, lectures about the latest in teaching techniques and other enrichment activities aimed at making our educators on a par with other teachers in schools abroad. Great teachers must also establish close and personal interaction with parents. This way, they can inform them about their children’s progress in school. By working with parents or guardians, teachers can help identify areas that need improvement for individual students. This way, they can motivate them to study harder. To be effective in their job, educators must have a clear plan and objective throughout the school year. They should take time to reflect on their methods, their delivery, and the way they connect with their students. Reflection is necessary to uncover students’ weaknesses so they can be strengthened.

Greatness in teaching requires consistently outstanding performance over the years. That does not mean that the teacher never has a bad day, or even a bad week. In fact, great teachers also experience difficulties. But what separates them from most everyone is that they never give up. They strive harder, struggle after struggle. That’s how they become better teachers. To produce world-class students and graduates, educators, parents and, more important, the government must work together to provide the best education all Filipino children deserve. After all, it is our responsibility to ensure that our children get the best learning experience they deserve. The author is School Principal II at the Claveria School of Arts and Trade in Claveria, Cagayan.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Wednesday, August 16, 2017

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Remittances growth beat govt target in Jan-June, BSP says

oney sent home by Filipino migrant workers continued to recover in June, pushing remittances growth higher than official government target in the first six months, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Tuesday. Data from the Central Bank showed cash remittances to the country saw a 5.7-percent growth in June this year from its previous year’s volume, hitting $2.47 billion for the month alone.

The growth during the month was an acceleration from the 5.5-percent increase seen in the previous month and the 4.8-percent hike in June last year. It was also the third-fastest growth pace

$13.81B The total remittances in the first six months of the year, up 4.7 percent

in the first half of the year, following March’s 10.7 percent and January’s 8.6 percent. The higher remittances in June came as both land-based and seabased workers sent more money back home during the month. Landbased workers sent $1.9 billion during the month, up 3.8 percent. Sea-based workers, meanwhile, also posted a significant growth rate for the month, albeit coming

from a lower base, at 13.3 percent to hit $500 million. Remittances to the Philippines helped fuel domestic consumption—one of the pillars of the economy’s resilient growth in recent years. Cash sent by Fi lipino workers abroad a lso provide support to the country’s external position. The BSP said the continued increase in remittances in June was supported by stable demand for skilled Filipino workers abroad, citing data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, which indicated a 50-percent hike in the number of Filipino workers deployed in the first half of the year. T he development in Ju ne brought the total remittance level

of the Philippines to $13.81 billion in the first six months of the year, growing by 4.7 percent from the same six-month period last year. The government set its projection of remittance growth for the year at 4 percent, to hit $28 billion by 2017’s end. The BSP said 80 percent of the total cash remittances in the first half of the year came from the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom, Qatar, Kuwait, Germany and Hong Kong. The BSP earlier said it is banking on strong remittance inflows, as well as tourist receipts and business-process outsourcing revenues, to drive the recovery of the country’s balance-of-payments position for the year. Bianca Cuaresma

RECORD NEW OFFICE SPACE CREATED IN Q2 BUT SUPPLY STILL OUTPACED BY DEMAND

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

record number of new office space was completed in many parts of the business districts in Metro Manila during the second quarter of the year but strong demand held office vacancies to just around 4.2 percent, exceeding the initial estimates of real-estate service firm KMC Savills Inc. According to its research, some 264,300 square meters (sq m) of office space were created during April to June. Half of this space came from Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig, while vacancies in other submarkets, such as Quezon City, remained high. Vacancies were relatively stable for other places, such as Alabang, Ortigas Center and Bay Area. “However, we have observed declining rental growth in a number of submarkets, indicating significant supply pressure,” Michael McCullough, the company’s managing director, said. “Keeping rents affordable during this massive inflow of completions should sustain the take-up velocity in Metro Manila.” According to KMC Savills’s research, there’s still demand from renters— mainly business-process outsourcing firms—around Metro Manila as the number of buildings under construction is likely to keep up. “In Makati vacancies climbed to 3.1 percent from 1 percent, especially with the addition of the Insular Life Makati building. The research said, Continued on A2

KMC Savills Managing Director Michael McCullough briefs the media on the current Metro Manila office market during a discussion at a hotel in Taguig City. According to McCullough, demand for office space in Metro Manila keeps vacancy rates low, amid the recent entry and the anticipated supply of new office space. ALYSA SALEN

Highest single-day death toll in drugs war logged in Bulacan

imultaneous antidrug operations in a northern province have left 21 alleged drug offenders dead, the police said on Tuesday. They called it the highest death toll in a single day since President

Duterte launched his “war on drugs” in July last year. S/Supt. Romeo M. Caramat Jr. said operations in various parts of Bulacan province in the past 24 hours left 21 dead and 64 others arrested. The police said the sus-

pects had offered armed resistance against arresting officers. Caramat added the police seized 21 firearms and more than 100 grams of methamphetamine, more popularly known in the Philippines as shabu, worth P500,000 ($9,800).

Cash and assorted drug paraphernalia were also recovered. Police records show that, since the crackdown started, 3,264 alleged drug offenders have been killed in gun battles with law enforcers. More than 2,000 others died

in drug-related homicides, including attacks by motorcycle-riding masked gunmen and other assaults. Human-rights groups report a higher toll and demand an independent investigation into Duterte’s possible role in the violence. AP

‘China’s intellectual-property theft must stop’ to excuse mercantilist behavior, including industrial espionage, as a passing phase, and to justify inaction as necessary to secure Chinese cooperation on other, supposedly more important, issues. Chinese companies, with the encouragement of official Chinese policy and often the active participation of government personnel, have been pillaging the intellectual property of American companies. A l l together, intellectual-property theft costs America up to $600 billion a year, the greatest transfer of wealth in history. China accounts for most of that loss. Intellectual-property theft covers a wide spectrum: counterfeiting American fashion designs, pirating movies and video games, patent infringement and stealing propri-

etary technology and software. This assault saps economic growth, costs Americans jobs, weakens our military capability and undercuts a key American competitive advantageinnovation. Chinese companies have stolen trade secrets from virtually ever y sector of the American economy: automobiles, auto tires, aviation, chemicals, consumer electronics, electronic trading, industrial software, biotech and pharmaceuticals. Last year US Steel accused Chinese hackers of stealing trade secrets related to the production of lightweight steel, then turning them over to Chinese steel makers. Perh aps most concer n i ng , China has targeted the American defense industrial base. Chinese spies have gone after private de-

fense contractors and subcontractors, national laboratories, public research universities, think tanks and the American government itself. Chinese agents have gone after the United States’s most significant weapons, such as the F-35 Lightning, the Aegis Combat System and the Patriot missile system; illegally exported unmanned underwater vehicles and thermalimaging cameras; and stolen documents related to the B-52 bomber, the Delta IV rocket, the F-15 fighter and even the Space Shuttle. Trump’s action on Monday acknowledges the broad scope of the challenge. Central to Chinese cybersecurity law is the “secure and controllable” standard, which, in the name of protecting software and data, forces companies operating in China to disclose critical

intellectual property to the government and requires that they store data locally. Even before this Chinese legislation, some three-quarters of Chinese imported software was pirated. Now, despite the law, American companies may be even more vulnerable. For decades, successive American administrations have concluded that some level of exposure to China’s depredations against our intellectual property is simply the cost of doing business with the world’s now second-largest economy. This is not acceptable. Although China is an important trading partner with the US, it is imperative to establish a fair and level trading environment. Driving down intellectual-property theft by China and other countries is vital for America’s economic

DepEd to hire more teachers, build more classrooms By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

ducation Secretary Leonor M. Briones on Tuesday said a big chunk of the P612.12-billion proposed budget for 2018 will go to the construction and maintenance of school facilities as part of its goal of providing quality education. Briones also said the Department of Education (DepEd) has vowed to spend its budget to ensure that education is provided in an environment that is “inclusive and nurturing” for learners, teachers and other school personnel. “Education must continue in an inclusive and nurturing environment. Amid and despite circumstances that render this impossible, we must be able to deliver quality education, especially when confronted with natural calamities or man-made disasters,” she said. Currently, the DepEd serves around 27 million learners and anticipates almost 1.3 million senior high school (SHS) completers by the end of school year (SY) 2017-2018. With a sustained growth in the national budget, from the approved P567.1 billion in 2017 to the proposed P612.12billion National Expenditure Program (NEP) in 2018 (with Retirement and Life Insurance Premiums, or RLIP), the DepEd has set its sights on achieving the targets for basic education under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP). The proposed 2018 budget would be used to expand the coverage of inclusive education programs and strengthening of partnerships and linkages; improvement of basic input rations, especially for Kindergarten to Grade 3; provision of basic resources to support the curriculum needs; and support rationalization plan. A total of P126.03 billion was alloted for provision and maintenance of basic education facilities; P39.3 billion for government assistance and subsidies; P22.96 billion for operations of school; and P8.65 billion for the DepEd computerization program. The DepEd will also spend P7.8 billion for the learning tools and equipment; P5.3 billion for school-based feeding program; P3.78 billion for human-resource development for personnel in schools and learning centers for nonbased personnel; P2.99 billion for learning and instructional materials; and the remaining amount is for Flexible Learning Option, Madrasah Education Program and Indigenous People Education Program. The budget will continue to provide basic education resources to support the K to 12 Program and will be used to hire 81,100 teachers; 38.9 million total learning materials; construction of 46,998 new classrooms; 81,201 sets of school seats; electrification of 2,398 on-grid schools; construction of 24,076 workshops and laboratories; 22,046 ICT packages; 1,365 schools to receive Technical Vocational tools and equipment; 3,183 sets of science and math equipment packages; and 2.5 million learner-beneficiaries of the school-based feeding program. The proposed budget is expected to benefit 1,077,230 learners and 35,945 teachers under the Education Service Contracting; 78,250 students under the Voucher Program for Non-DepEd Public SHS and SUC/LUC; 1,577,722 students under the Voucher Program for Private SHS; and 115,996 students under the Joint Delivery Voucher for SHS.

Continued from a1

well-being and national security. We urge American companies, as well as our allies abroad, who share these interests, to work with the administration through this process. There is intellectual-property protection on the books in China, and some American companies have been successful bringing cases in Chinese courts. The time may come when China applies the same efforts to protecting intellectual property that it now does to stealing it. However, for now, the US and other developed countries must look to their own laws and actions to protect their companies from loss and ruin. Trump’s action on Monday is a major step in the right direction. If the investigation proves extensive Chinese government support for intellectual-property theft, it

could trigger retaliatory action by the American government, based on the Economic Espionage Act, Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the National Defense Authorization Act. The government should lead in this effort, but it can’t go it alone. A broad, sustained campaign bringing together the government, the private sector and our allies is the only way to halt this hemorrhaging of America’s economic life blood. New York Times News Service

The author, Dennis C. Blair, is a former director of national intelligence and a former commander in chief of the United States Pacific Command. Keith Alexander is a former commander of the United States Cyber Command and a former director of the National Security Agency.