Winning praise from President-elect Donald J. Trump for being a “great man of industry”, Japanese tech billionaire Masayoshi Son promised to invest $50 billion in new start-ups in the United States, committing to creating 50,000 new jobs. AP
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“It’s a testament to the strength of our alliance and the character of the Japanese people that a mere 75 years after Pearl Harbor, my friend and counterpart, Minister Inada, and I can stand next to each other proudly and discuss how our two countries can strengthen the security of this region together.”—Defense Secretary Ash Carter AP
“It was very bad, the tremors felt even stronger than the 2004 earthquake.”—Musman Aziz, a Meureudu resident. “I was so scared the tsunami was coming.” See story below. AP
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$100-B exports target getting more elusive T n
By Catherine N. Pillas
@c_pillas29
HE private organization Export Development Council (EDC) had been forced anew to scale down expectations of growth for the sector, this time projecting export receipts to finally breach the $100-billion mark by 2019.
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TERRADO: “If we manage to grow at 7 percent in 2018 onward, we can reach the $100 billion in 2019.”
This new round of forecast downgrade was due to sluggish global trade coupled with domestic constraints to diversification of Philippine exports. See “Exports,” A2
inside
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Tourism chief steers PHL to compete with best in Asia ‘Venceremos’
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Teddy Locsin Jr. A boy sits on the rubble of a building that collapsed after an earthquake, as he takes shelter from the sun in Pidie Jaya, Aceh province, Indonesia, on Wednesday. A strong undersea earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Aceh province, killing a number of people and causing dozens of buildings to collapse. AP/Heri Juanda
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Frantic rescue after quake kills dozens in Indonesia A
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strong undersea earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Aceh province early on Wednesday, killing at least 54 people and sparking a frantic rescue effort in the rubble of dozens of collapsed and damaged buildings. Maj. Gen. Tatang Sulaiman, chief of the army in Aceh province, said 52 people have died in Pidie Jaya, the district closest to the epicenter. Another two people died in neighboring Bireuen district. The rescue effort, involving hundreds of villagers, soldiers and
PESO exchange rates n US 49.6100
the police, is concentrated on Meureudu, a severely affected town in Pidie Jaya district. Excavators were trying to remove debris from shop houses and other buildings where people were believed buried. National Disaster Mitigation Agency Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a news conference that the death toll could increase. An agency document said 273 people were injured and about a quarter of them seriously. Some 245 buildings were ser iously See “Quake,” A2
54
The death toll in the Aceh earthquake as of press time on Wednesday
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free fire
HE Associated Press reports, and I quote almost verbatim its moving account. As dawn was breaking over his beloved land, a wooden box containing Fidel Castro’s ashes was placed by his brother Raul in a hole on the side of a granite boulder. The hole was covered by a plaque with one word on it, FIDEL. The boulder lies across from the grave of Jose Marti, Cuba’s Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio rolled up in one. It is alongside a memorial to the rebel soldiers killed in the attack that Castro led on the Moncada barracks, thereby detonating the Cuban and the human revolution that shook the world— and morally remade mankind. Continued on A11
n japan 0.4352 n UK 62.8856 n HK 6.3967 n CHINA 7.2087 n singapore 34.9342 n australia 36.9843 n EU 53.1968 n SAUDI arabia 13.2311
Source: BSP (7 December 2016 )
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A2 Thursday, December 8, 2016
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CA confirms 4 Cabinet officials, 4 envoys
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By Butch Fernandez
@butchfBM
he Commission on Appointments (CA), set to adjourn next week, fast-tracked on Wednesday the confirmation of four ranking Cabinet officials and four new ambassadors nominated for various postings by the Duterte administration.
Exports. . .
Continued from A1
According to the executive summary of the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP), the growth rate for total exports is seen at zero percent to 3 percent this year, or a range of $86.9 billion to $89.5 billion, and 3 percent to 5 percent for 2017, or from $91.9 billion to $93.7 billion. The EDC earlier set a more optimistic expectation of P92.1 billion in export revenues by end-2016 and $99 billion to $104 billion in 2017. According to Philippine Exporters Confederation President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr., the dismal exports performance for the 17 months preceding the third quarter has affected targets. “You have to remember this $100 billion is already a downgrade from the P120 billion before. We are not as optimistic, so we’re setting our sights to P100 billion. I can
see it at 2018, but that’s a fighting target,” Ortiz-Luis Jr. clarified at the sidelines of the National Export Congress, where the PEDP summary was previewed. Ortiz-Luis represents the private sector in the EDC, which is the public-private body that charts the policy direction and growth targets of the export sector. In the previous administration, the EDC members, both in the government and in the private sector, were ambitiously forecasting exports to hit $120 billion by 2016. This was subsequently downgraded to $100 billion by 2016. This goal was moved to end-2017 and now further stretched to 2019. “The global trade must improve. Economies around the world are concerned about the prolonged sluggish trade. If we manage to grow at 7 percent in 2018 onward, we can reach the $100 billion in 2019,” Trade Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado noted. “But If we stay within the
Senators a nd Representatives sitting in the CA gave their collective nod on the Palace nominations of Nationa l Economic and Development Authority Director-General Ernesto M. Pernia, Communications Secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima, Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo and Science Fortunato T. de la Peña. Also confirmed without delay were new Philippine ambassadors, namely: ■ Uriel Norman Robles Garibay
3-percent to 5-percent growth range in the same period, maybe that $100 billion will be achieved by 2020, then the $120-billion mark by 2022,” she added. Aside from the slowdown in global trade growth already noted by the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the Philippines’s dilemma of export diversification has affected growth. The top 10 Philippine merchandise exports already accounts for twothirds of total goods shipments. For the services exports, the picture is pretty much the same—the information technology-business process management industry takes up 80 percent to 85 percent of total services exports. These numbers signal an overreliance on too few goods and a handful of services for exports. The PEDP 2017-2019 containing final targets and the EDC’s package of strategies are seen to be released by the first quarter of 2017.
to the Republic of Kenya, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Burundi, Union of Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of the Congo, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Rwanda, Republic of Seychelles, Federa l Republic of Soma lia, United Republic of Tanzania, Republic of Uganda and Republic of South Sudan, and as permanent representative to the United Nations Environmental Programme a nd Un ite d Nat ion s Hu m a n
Quake. . .
Continued from A1
d, amaged or destroyed, mostly in Pidie Jaya, including 14 mosques and the remainder largely dwellings and shop houses. Roads also cracked and power poles toppled over. Aiyub Abbas, the chief of Pidie Jaya district, which is located 18 kilometers (11 miles) southwest of the epicenter, said there is urgent need for excavation equipment to move heavy debris and emergency supplies. TV footage showed rescue personnel taking bodies in black bags away from the rubble. The US Geological Survey said the shallow 6.5-magnitude earthquake that struck at 5:03 a.m. (2203 GMT, Tuesday) was centered about 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Reuleut, a town in northern Aceh, at a depth of 17 kilometers (11 miles). It did not generate a tsunami.
Settlements Programme; C. Laurel V as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Japan; ■ Shirley Ho-Vicario as ambassador extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Benin, Burkina Faso, the Republic of Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of Cote D’lvoire or Ivory Coast, the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, the
Gabonese Republic, the Islamic Republic of Gambia, the Republic of Ghana, the Republic of Guinea, the Republic of Liberia, the Republic of Senegal, the Republic of Sierra Leone and the Togolese Republic; and, ■ Jose Santiago Sta. Romana as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the People’s Republic of China, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Mongolia.
For Acehnese, the quake was a terrifying reminder of their region’s vulnerability to natural disasters. More than 100,000 died in Aceh after the December 26, 2004, earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami. “It was very bad, the tremors felt even stronger than 2004 earthquake,” said Musman Aziz, a Meureudu resident. “I was so scared the tsunami was coming.” In the capital Jakarta, President Joko “Jokow i ” W idodo said he has ordered all government agencies to take part in the rescue efforts. Seaside resident Fitri Abidin in Pidie Jaya said she fled with her husband and wailing children to a nearby hill after the quake jolted the family awake early in the morning. They stayed there for several hours unti l author ities reassured them there was no tsunami risk. “It terrified me. I was having difficulty breathing or
walking,” Abidin said. She said her husband grabbed hold of her and carried her out of the house. The family’s house didn’t collapse but the homes of some neighbors d id a nd A bid in is afraid three friends were buried in building collapses. In Pidie Jaya’s neighboring district of Bireuen, a teacher at an Islamic building school died after being hit by falling debris, said health worker Achmad Taufiq. R e s i d e nt s o f t h e n e a r b y town of Lhokseumawe ran out of their houses in panic during the quake and many people fled to higher ground. The world’s largest archipelago, Indonesia is prone to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. The 2004 quake and tsunami killed a total of 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Aceh. AP
■ Jose
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A4 Thursday, December 8, 2016 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon
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Hike in generation charge raises Meralco power rate in Dec
H
By Lenie Lectura
@llectura
igher generation charge led to an increase in power rates for Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) consumers this month. The utility firm said on Wednesday that after four straight months of reduction totaling P0.35, there is a slight increase in the rate for a typical household this December of P0.1011 per kilowatt hour (kW h). This brings December
₧8.36 per kWh The electricity consumption rate for December
power rates to P8.36 per kWh. Meralco said the overall rate is still lower by P0.25 per kWh, compared to December 2015’s P8.61 per kWh. For household with monthly consumption of 200 kWh, this translates to an increase of around P20 in the total electricity bill; P30 for those with a monthly consumption of 300kWh; P40 for 400 kWh; and P50 for 500 kWh. Meralco said there was an increase in the generation charge, which is P0.0915 per kWh higher than last month’s P3.8436 per kWh. At P3.9351 per kWh, the generation charge is P0.1948 per
kWh lower compared to December 2015’s P4.1299 per kWh. The increase resulted mainly from a significant weakening of the peso against the US dollar. From a level of 46.580 per dollar in August, the peso depreciated to 48.405 per dollar in October, and further to 49.73 per dollar in November. Partly because of this, the cost of power from the Independent Power Producers (IPPs), whose billings are around 96-percent dollar-denominated, increased by P0.2615 per kWh. The increase is also due to lower dispatch this month with the scheduled maintenance of Santa Rita Module 30
during the whole supply month. The share of the IPPs to Meralco’s total requirements for November was at 36.4 percent. Cost of power sourced from plants under the Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) also increased by P0.2214 per kWh mainly due to higher fuel cost and the weakening of the peso against US dollar. PSA billings are likewise affected by peso depreciation, as around two-thirds of their costs are dollardenominated. The share of PSAs stood at 40.8 percent. On t he ot her ha nd, overall charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM)
decreased by P0.3734 per kWh, which partly mitigated the higher charges from the IPPs and PSAs. Spot prices have remained low in November because of lower demand and fewer outages compared to last month. The share of WESM purchases to Meralco’s total requirements went up from 20.1 percent to 22.5 percent. Meralco also noted an increase in the transmission charge of residential customers by P0.0031 per kWh, mainly due to the slight increase in the ancillary service charges. Taxes and other charges also increased by a combined amount of around P0.0065 per kWh.
Value of construction projects down 3.8% despite boom–PSA By Cai U. Ordinario
@cuo_bm
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Biz innovation Healthcare Information Management Association of the Philippines President Cristina G. Coronel (third from left)
answers queries during the first panel discussion covering the promotion of inclusive business through innovation during the National Export Congress 2016 at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Pasay City. The panelists also include QBO Innovation Hub Head Rene Meily (second from left) and Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña (right) and moderated by Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau Assistant Director Agnes Legaspi (left). ALYSAS ALEN
espite the strong growth in construction projects, the total value of construction declined 3.8 percent in the third quarter, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). In its preliminary findings, PSA total construction value declined to only P77.2 billion in the third quarter of 2016, from P80.2 billion in 2015. “The decreases in the construction value of duplex/ quadruplex [-49.8 percent] and residential condominiums [-33.2 percent] pulled down the total value of residential constructions,” PSA said. Total value of residential constructions estimated at P39.7 billion dropped by 3.6 percent, from P41.1 billion recorded during the same quarter of 2015.
Duterte names officer linked to Burgos disappearance to highest military post
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@reneacostaBM
RESIDENT Duterte has appointed Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año as Armed Forces chief of staff.
Año was the Army commander until his latest appointment. Año, member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1983, succeeded his academy classmate, former Gen. Ricardo Visaya. Some years back, Año, together with two other Army officers, was linked to the disappeance of Central Luzon activist Jonas Burgos, the son of press-freedom icon Jose Burgos. As a result, the confirmation of his promotion to brigadier general was held in abeyance for a while by the Commission on Appointments. He still has a pending case at the Court of Appeals in connection with the Burgos disappeance. At the Armed Forces, Año’s appointment was welcomed. “The Commander in Chief is results-driven, therefore, he needs a senior officer like him, one who
ranking third in the number of constructions, remained highest with construction value estimated at P20.2 billion, or 26.1 percent of the total. This was followed by Calabarzon and Central Visayas with respective shares of P13.4 billion (17.3 percent) and P9 billion (11.7 percent). The total construction projects in the third quarter reached 35,684, based on the approved building permits. This represented a growth of 18.4 percent, from 30,126 in the same period in 2015. Residential constructions grew 19.2 percent to 26,896 in the third quarter, from 22,562 in the same period of 2015. Nonresidential constructions reached 4,641 projects in the third quarter of 2016, a 27.3-percent growth from 3,647 in the same period in 2015.
The Nation
Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo
By Rene Acosta
Similarly, construction value of nonresidential buildings amounting to P31.8 billion posted a 7.1-percent drop, compared with P34.3 billion registered during the third quarter of 2015. This was mainly due to the decrease (-24.1 percent) in the construction value of commercial buildings. On the other hand, addition to existing structures valued at P1.1 billion grew 22.4 percent, compared with P0.9 billion recorded in 2015. Alteration and repair of existing structures estimated at P4.6 billion rose 17.9 percent, from P3.9 billion recorded during the same period in 2015. In terms of value of construction, the share of the top 3 regions amounting to P42.6 billion comprised more than half (55.1 percent) of the total. The National Capital Region,
can work and match his demand for outcomes and that is Año,” a senior officer said. Until last week, the former Army chief was trailing the Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command chief, Lt. Gen. Leonardo Guerrero, in the race for the post of chief of staff. The two were earlier reported as the two closest candidates for the position. While Guerrero is younger, being a member of the PMA Class of 1984, his advantage over Año is that he was in the right position or “in the President’s kitchen,” as the Eastern Mindanao Command is headquartered at Camp Panacan in Davao City, Duterte’s home city. But an officer said Duterte choose to ignore this fact as he trained his eyes on qualifications and merits in designating Visaya’s successor, apparently learning a lesson from
AÑO
Visaya’s appointment. While the President fully entrusted the campaign against terrorism on Visaya, who was ordered to finish off the Abu Sayyaf “to the last man,” the group’s kidnapping activities increased. “In designating General Año as chief of staff over Guerrero, the Commander in Chief delivered the message that he wanted the best man for the job, and for meritocracy to be the yardstick in the selection process for positions from now on,” said another officer.
It was under Guerrero’s watch that the Davao City bombing in September happened. The bombing that was blamed on the Maute Group killed 15 people and wounded at least 70 others. It was the Army under Año that bagged the suspects. “The selection of General Año deviates from the usual practice even during the term of former President [Benigno S.] Aquino III, wherein the appointments were based on your closeness with the President or [Defense] Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, like in the case of former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hernando Iriberri,” the officer added. In appointing Año as the chief of staff, the Commander in Chief wanted somebody to take his campaign against terrorism in Mindanao to produce results, another officer said. Duterte said last week the terrorism problem in Mindanao may even intensify and the government will have to deal with it up to two or even three years. Año will be succeeded by Lt. Gen. Glorioso Miranda as Army chief.
Razon Group wants to save Manila’s oldest sports complex By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
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HE Razon Group is offering to help save the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex (RMSC) in Malate, Manila. Instead of transferring the RMSC to a different location, the Razon Group, headed by businessman Enrique Razon, is offering to revitalize the sports complex through a preservation and urban renewal project to bring back its old glory. Built in 1934, the RMSC was destroyed during World War II. It was reconstructed in 1953 and renovated in 2011. Since then, the RMSC has not undergone any structural and facilities improvements or upgrading, rendering it virtually unsuitable and unsafe not only for training athletes, but especially for holding not only local, but also international games. Rizal Memorial is managed by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), the property where it stands is owned by the City of Manila. The city has had no income from RMSC for years now, leaving the city with no funds to modernize the complex’s facilities. The PSC has been considering transferring the RMSC to a different location, possibly Clark Field
in Pampanga, in order to build the Philippine Olympic Village. This new sports complex is envisioned to be a larger and more modern sports complex complete with training facilities for national athletes, as well as facilities to host large sports meets. This is expected to happen when funding for the relocation is complete. For some time now, the Razon Group has been been offering to redevelop and revitalize the RMSC through a preservation and urban renewal project. Fully cognizant that Rizal Memorial is a sports landmark and of the close association that Filipinos have for sports, the Razon Group, plans to maintain, as well as fortify the RMSC façade. Within the façade and walls will rise contemporary buildings that will house modern offices and commercial areas run by smart technologies, replete with modern amenities and green open spaces. A sports museum will also be built. The business areas are expected to compensate for the expensive and meticulous process of restoring and preserving the RMSC façade. With this urban renewal, Manila is expected to quickly catch up with other cities in the National Capital Region that have quickly grown and modernized.
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TheBroa Tourism chief steers PHL to
Business
A6 Thursday, December 8, 2016
By Roger Pe | Special to the BusinessMirror
W
HEN asked on how the Philippines is preparing for its 6th, 7th or 8th million foreign visitor, Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo gave a visionary answer: “I want to compete with Bangkok and the best of Asia.”
“I want to ta ke the Philip pi nes to where it h a s never been,” Teo said in a news conference and thanksg iv ing dinner for a l l tour ism suppor ters in Reg ion 9 in Zamboanga Cit y over the weekend. She said people shou ld see the big picture and not ta ke tour ism on a piecemea l or permil lion basis. In order to be competitive, she wants the Philippines to be ready, regardless of the number, and that means meeting global standards and continuously improving our tourism product. Thailand and Malaysia are currently locked in the battle for No. 1 ranking in tourist arr iva l among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (A sean). Meanwhi le, China is way, way ahead of the pack, taking the world ’s No. 2 position behind France.
MasterCard ranking
ACCOR DING to MasterCard ’s 2015 Asia-Pacific Destinations Index, Thailand dominated as the most popular regional travel destination last year, with three of its cities making the top 10. Bangkok was the most popular city by arrivals, total nights stayed and total amount spent, based on findings sourced primarily from national tourism boards. The survey was based on 167 destinations from 22 countries across the Asia Pacific. It also represents 90.1 percent of all international overnight arrivals in the region, according to MasterCard. The Thai capital saw 21.9 million international overnight visitors in 2015, a 28.6-percent increase from the previous year. China, on the other hand, is the top travel destination in Asia for world’s tourists, according to the latest figures published by the World Bank. Eighty-three million tourists visited China in 2014, making the country the first among 10 most visited countries in Asia. Since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, tourism has become a national priority in China and the countr y acknowledges its importance as a driving force for economic development. The World Bank ranked Malaysia as second-most visited country in Asia, with 29,437,000 tourists. “Malaysia has identified tourism as a key growth area to transform the country into a high-income nation by targeting of 36 million tourist arrivals in 2020,” it said. Thailand is ranked third destination with almost the same figure as that of Malaysia, generating around $31.2 billion in 2014. South Korea is fourth, with 14 million; Japan is fifth, with 13 million; Singapore is sixth, with 11 million; Indonesia is seventh, with 9 million; and Vietnam, eigtht, with 7,874,000.
Spread the good news
TOURISM now is like a Facebook relationship, according to Teo: “It has become complicated. “And the world instantaneous-
ly knows an experience, good or bad. That impacts any place in the world,” she said. “We should all be purveyors of good news about our country’s tourism attractions.” Teo said tourism has also become a channel for peace and removing barriers that set people and countries apart. “We should remove all these barriers.” Born in Kidapawan, Cotabato, the pride of Mindanao knows what she is talking about. After all, she spent most of her professional life in the country’s tourism industry—first, as a stewardess of Filipinas Orient Airways, Philippine Airlines’s main competitor a couple of years back, and Air Niugini, (Papua New Guinea’s national airline), and second, as a travel operator herself. As president and CEO of her own company (Mt. Apo Travel and Tours Inc.), Teo pioneered in promoting Davao City as a leading tourist attraction, eventually becoming president of the Davao Association of Tour Operators (Dato) and the Davao Travel Agencies Association (DTAA). An achievement-laden career followed this alumna of Saint Theresa’s College Quezon City. Teo also became president of the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (Naitas), the biggest travel agency organization in the Philippines with more than 400 members and 13 chapters. The Business Administration degree-holder also became chairman of the Network of Independent Travel AgenciesDavao and second vice president of the National Association of Travel Agents. Teo was the brains behind the Naitas Travel and Trade Show, still considered today as the Philippines’s liveliest travel, tourism technology and trade fair. She also participated in various tourism conferences abroad, like the Corporate Travel World Asia Pacific in Bangkok, Internationale Tourismusborse in Berlin and the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (Bimp-Eaga) Trade Tourism and Investment Forum in Malaysia.
Zamboanga as home
TEO flew to Zamboanga to personally show to everyone that “Asia’s Latin City” is safe just like any peace-loving city in the world. More than that, she pitched for Zamboanga and encouraged people to dwell on its beauty and undiscovered places rather than talk about things that will not enhance our country’s tourism growth. She, likewise, mentioned Zamboanga’s historic and culturally rich Spanish and American heritage that should never be forgotten by new generation of Filipinos, a cultural heirloom that is heartening just as it is enriching. She called Zamboanga “my home” (she lived in the city for over five years) and was happy to announce that the Department of Tourism (DOT), in cooperation with the Tourism Infrastructure
Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo
and Enterprise Zone Authority, will help improve one of its star attractions, the Santa Cruz Island. “Tourism facilities will have to be upgraded here to make them attractive and on a par with more developed tourist destinations,” she said. “Part of scaling up is improving these facilities to ensure that tourism activities are also managed sustainably.”
Santa Cruz Island
SANTA Cruz Island is a Zamboanga gem, just a 20-minute native speedboat ride from the city proper. The island boasts of a long stretch of white beach, sprinkled by nature with red grains of sand. The beach appears pink under the glistening sun, a natural phenomenon and reputedly one of only three of its kind in the world. Nature lovers would definitely love the island’s raw beauty. On a boat trip around the island ’s vast mangrove forests, one would see century-old trees, covering a beautiful lagoon that is home to migratory birds, teeming marine life and edible lato seaweeds that carpet the seabed. One should look under when paddling a boat snaking through the winding brackish water vegetation. See those little creatures escorting your fluvial trip? They are thousands and thousands of stingless jellyfish, as if saying, “Bienvenido de Zamboanga, buen dia.” (Chavacano for “Welcome to Zamboanga and have a nice day”). How is Teo tackling threats to tourism, especially modern-day hazards, like security? She emphasized that even the world’s most visited city, Paris, has encountered real threats, but one thing is sure—the government is very much aware of it and is working for peace. She reiterated that the Philippines “should be promoted properly.” “We should do it aggressively in order to increase our country’s tourist number at a faster rate.”
Blooming Zamboanga
ONE could see that urban developments are sprouting beautifully around the City of Flowers, adding colors to the city’s “Zamboanga Hermosa” brand name. The new ones are a joy to see—clean, better designed and with emphasis on the aesthetics. It is also heritage-conscious, notably, when you stroll back in time along historic Calle Madrid, now Valderosa Street. Assistant Tourism Secretary
Frederick M. Alegre amplified Teo’s sentiments. “The best way to neutralize negative stories is to positivize.” “Why would the best people in the country’s tourism industry want to promote Zamboanga? Because of many wrong perceptions,” he said. “There are many good stories about Zamboanga than bad stories,” Alegre said. “We should be focusing on them rather than trying to bring them back.” For one, he mentioned the spirit of the Filipino, which is also the spirit of the Zamboangueños. “ That spirit makes us different compared to other Asians. We are one of the world ’s friendliest and welcoming people. We are the most hospitable, even smiling during difficult times,” Alegre said. “That spirit we hope to capture when we launch the new Philippine tourism campaign in the coming Miss Universe beauty pageant.” At the center of it all will be the Filipino, Alegre added. “It will not be biased to a particular destination but will sell the whole Philippines with an emotional hug.” When asked if the Level 3 alert will affect tourism traffic, Alegre took it as a very positive sign for the tourism industry. “It means tourists are secured and peace and order is in place,” he said. “Then, we have nothing to fear.” At the Region 9 Stakeholder’s Meeting and Forum, Alegre made an impassioned appeal: “We are all stakeholders of this country. We have a stake in promoting it, including those that are not too familiar. We are all ambassadors of the Philippines. We all have to work together.” Alegre noted that, while Thailand is a borderless country, like Malaysia, Vietnam and, in a way, Singapore, (tourists can easily pass through in and out by land), 99 percent of tourists come to the Philippines by air. “It poses a great challenge to us, but then again, we need to positivize. All it takes is to promote strategically, aggressively and put in the best advertising—more good stories about the Philippines,” he said.
Rich history
ZAMBOANGA was a settlement est a bl i she d b y t he Suba non ethnic group before the Spanish came, documents from the Zamboanga DOT Tourism Office said. The peninsula that it be longed to w a s a l so t he
This undated photo shows vinta boats moored on the beach of Santa Cruz Island, which is famed for its pink sand.
This December 3 photo shows the picturesque Taluksangay mosque, one of the many dotting Asia’s Latin city.
homeland of the ancestors of the Yakans, the Balangguinguis and the Sama-Badjaos. The Tausogs from Sulu and islands further south started migrating to Zamboanga at the beginning of the 13th century. They became the dominant ethnic group after they were Islamized in the 14th century. The name Zamboanga came
from two theories. The Spanish pronunciation and spelling of the word Sinama (“mooring place”) and what etymologists say it came from the word samboangan (from the word jambangan, a metaphor for a “place of f lowers” that also means a melting pot for all ethnic Malay groups). Spanish explorers arrived in Zamboanga in 1569 after discovering
aderLook
sMirror
www.businessmirror.com.ph | Thursday, December 8, 2016
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o compete with best in Asia Things to see and enjoy in Zamboanga
n Fort Pilar. Founded in 1635 as a
garrison during the Spanish era, Fort Pilar now serves as a shrine and an important historical landmark in Zamboanga City. Fort Pilar houses a branch of the National Museum that represents the bygone era of Zamboanga as a Spanish City.
n Pasonanca Park. A botanical
park built in 1912 by the order of Mindanao Gov. John J. Pershing and completed under the administration of Gov. Frank W. Carpenter.
n Zamboanga City Hall. A
100-year-old seat of government built in 1905 by the Federal Government of the United States for the then American governors.
This December 4 photo shows (from right) Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo, Department of Tourism (DOT) Assistant Secretary Frederick B. Alegre and DOT Director for Media and Public Affairs Tina Loyola walking during a visit to Zamboanga. Teo said she plans to upgrade facilities in Santa Cruz Island to attract more tourists.
to most of Europe, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
American rule
AFTER Spain ceded the Philippines to the US in 1898, Americans started arriving in Zamboanga, the local DOT office said. It found a Republic of Zamboanga established by General Vicente Alvarez in 1899. It was a shortlived government, however, and dissolved in 1903 as authorized by Gov. William Howard Taft, leading to the creation of Moro province (whole of Mindanao, except Palawan and eastern portion of the northwest peninsula of the island). Zamboanga hosted a number of American regional governors during this period, including the famous General John Pershing. By 1913, Pershing advised that the Moro Province needed to transition to civil government (until 1911, every district governor and secretary had been a military officer). On July 23, 1914, the Moro province was officially replaced by an agency named Department of Mindanao and Sulu. It was dissolved in 1920 and Zamboanga became an independent province, and the town center inaugurated as a city in 1936.
Tourism ambassadors
This December 3 photo shows the picturesque Taluksangay mosque, one of the many dotting Asia’s Latin city.
the archipelago in 1521. It served as a military outpost against foreign invaders and Moro pirates. Latin American armies from Peru and Mexico, as well as recruited troops from Pampanga, Bohol, Cebu and Iloilo protected the area. Upon the declaration of King Philip IV of Spain, Zamboanga rose as the main headquarters of Spain in Mindanao on June 23, 1635, subsequently emerging as one of the Philippines’s main trading ports to most of Europe, Southeast Asia and Latin America
for centuries. A f te r t h at , more Spa n i sh troops came, headed by a governor general from Spain, and built the first Zamboanga fortress (now called Fort Pilar). The fortress witnessed a number of battles between Moros and Spanish soldiers while Spain ruled the region from 16th to 18th centuries. W hen the Chinese Koxinga army threatened to invade the Philippines in 1662, Spain was forced to temporarily abandon
Zamboanga, withdrew its soldiers and retreated to Manila. A s the reg ion was being drawn to Catholicism, Muslims kept its struggle against Spanish colonizers. More foreign invaders, likewise, came, a British naval squadron among them. It raided the settlement in 1798 but was driven off by Zamboanga’s strong army resistance. By 1831, Zamboanga was an established por t and became an important center for direct communication and trading hub
ZAMBOANGA has a vibrant local tourism industry. Zamboangeños’ innate welcoming nature can be felt the moment one steps into the city. Tourism foot soldiers abound, proud about their history, culture, food, people, natural beauty and many more. No one can be as passionate as Errold Bayona, our tourist guide, who, at some point in our trip, literally walked us through fascinating places in the city. There is no day that Bayona does not enrich visitors with knowledge about Zamboanga and Mindanao. Seeing visitors enjoy a wonderful Zamboanga experience already makes his day. The founding president of the Associacion del Guia Turistico del Zamboanga (AGTZ, or Association of Tour Guides of Zamboanga) faced a tough and lonely challenge when he was starting to make a name in Zamboanga’s tourism firmament. “I want to help change the outside world ’s perception of Zamboanga. I don’t want my children to entertain negative thoughts about my city,” Bayona said. “There’s no reason to fear because my home is just as safe as the safest place in the world.” No wonder he has received a number
of token of appreciation, among them from Zamboanga’s provincial governments (Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay). Being a wide reader, Bayona once found himself looking at the Philippine map and asked, “Where am I and how will I impact and inspire my young generation?” He found Zamboanga and told himself: “Information is vital to education, and education is the answer to ignorance.” Bayona hated everything that was not being taught in school. He was young, ambitious and, at the same time, called himself, a patriot. He often asked himself, “How can I make this work?” In wanting to make a difference and for people to have a better perception of Zamboanga, he found his calling. He found tourism. “I write my citizenship in every document as a Filipino. Though I sometimes feel otherwise, it does not stop me from believing that I am,” Bayona said. “I was born a Filipino and, in my own little way, as long as I live and as much as I can, I will pursue that path to be a Filipino, and make Zamboanga part of me. Tourism is my key to that.”
Spanish speakers
PEOPLE of Zamboanga speak Chavacano, a language that is 70-percent Spanish and 30-percent Ilonggo, Cebuano and Tagalog. The only Spanish-based creole language in Asia, it is one of the oldest creole languages in the world. Chavacano is based on Mexican, Spanish and Portuguese languages. Most words are common with those spoken in Andalucia, Spain, but there are many words borrowed from Nahuati, a language native to Central Mexico. A lthough the vocabular y is largely Mexican, its grammar is mostly based on other Philippine lang uages. Chavacano is also spoken in the town of S e mp or n a , e a ste r n co a st of Sabah, Malaysia, not surprising because it is close to Sulu and Zamboanga Peninsula.
Ateneo de Zamboanga University
T HE sc hool bega n in 1912 a s E s c u e l a C at o l i c a , a p a r o c h i a l school r un by Spanish Jesui t s . I t e x p a n d e d i n 1 9 16 a n d bec a me Ateneo Element a r y School and renamed Ateneo de Za mboa nga when its high sc hool opened in 1928. T he f irst high-sc hool st udents graduated from Ateneo in 1932, among them Rosel ler T. Lim, who wou ld become the f irst Za mboa ng ueño senator
n Cawa-Cawa Boulevard.
A scenic place to visit, early in the morning for a quick walk or jog, also a wonderful place to drop by for watching a glorious sunset. n Santa Cruz Islands. Known for
its pink sand beaches. Its adjacent little sister island has a typical white beach. There is a diving site and a lagoon full of thousands and thousand of jellyfish and crunchy agar-agar lato (edible sea weed).
n Zamboanga Golf Course and Beach. Oldest Golf Course in
the Philippines, designed during the American rule.
n Old Normal School
Building. Built during the American era, now known as the Western Mindanao State University (WMSU), also houses a museum.
n Serenity Falls. Located at the
foot of EcoZone’s south entrance, very invigorating and worth the trip.
n La Vista del Mar. A beach resort with a restaurant that serves fresh seafood that includes the “Curacha”, has a beautiful view of the sea and is the home of the Honorary Consulate of Spain SOURCE: Zamboanga Department of Tourism
of the Philippines. It was officia l ly declared a universit y on Aug ust 20, 2001, and granted autonomous status.
Pacman as tourism ambassador
ME A N W HILE, t he DOT welcomed the offer of Sen. Manny Pacquiao as Philippine tourism ambassador to help boost international visitor arrivals in the countr y. “Pacquiao is a living hero who has earned the world ’s admiration and given honor to the country,” Teo said. “He personifies the Filipino’s resiliency and our people’s genuine hospitality.” She lauded Pacquiao and encouraged every Filipino, especially the youth, to emulate the boxing icon’s sense of volunteerism in promoting our world-class destinations. “This is a great Christmas gift to the DOT, especially as preparations are now in full swing for the country’s hosting of the Miss Universe pageant,” Teo said. The DOT head said she foresees a knockout win with Pacquiao and Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach leading as Philippine tourism ambassadors to the world. “We can probably triple our visitor arrivals,” Teo exclaimed. Pacquiao, among other lawmakers, reportedly noted that the DOT has had a significantly low budget for tourism promotion compared to neighboring countries, like Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and even Vietnam.
A8
Thursday, December 8, 2016
briefs
Chinese ship pulls out of MH370 search, leaving lone ship
CANBERRA, Australia—The seabed search for the missing Malaysian airliner has been left to a single ship, with a Chinese vessel heading home to Shanghai, officials said on Wednesday. A Dutch sur vey ship Fugro Equator will finish the search of the southern Indian Ocean for Ma l aysi a A i rl i nes F l ight 370 alone after resupplying at the southwest Australian port of Fremantle, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which coordinates the search, said in a statement. The Chinese ship Dong Hai Jiu 101 had finished searching the 120,000 -square-kilometer expanse last weekend and was headed back to Fremantle to drop off equipment before returning to its home port of Shanghai, the statement said. AP
7 dead in latest China mine blast; 60 miners killed in week
BEIJING —Seven coa l miners are dead and another four still missing after a gas explosion in a central province in the latest deadly accident to strike China’s mining industry, authorities said on Wednesday. Rescuers were still tr ying to reach miners trapped underground after the Monday night blast in Hubei province, according to a statement from the local propaganda department. Rescue workers are pumping air into the mine shaft to aid the rescue effort. Five miners were able to escape immediately after the blast. It was the third major mining accident in one week, causing a total of 60 deaths. AP
Hundreds protest white nationalist’s speech at Texas A&M campus
COLLEGE STAT ION, Te x as— Hundreds of people protested a white nationalist’s speaking engagement at the Texas A&M University campus. Several groups protested outside of the student center on Tuesday night during and before the appearance by Richard Spencer, who leads a white nationalist organization. Some silently held placards while others loudly chanted slogans. A&M police say two nonstudents were arrested but gave no details. Hundreds gathered at nearby Kyle Field to hear music and speeches highlighting diversity and unity as a counter to Spencer. Meanwhile, about 400 people filled a student center ballroom— some listening to Spencer, others jeering him. Those attending the speech had to walk a gantlet of chanting protesters while leaving the hall. A&M officials say they didn’t schedule the speech by Spencer, who was invited to speak by a former student who reserved campus space available to the public. AP
Georgia executes 9th inmate this year, the most in U.S.
JACKSON, Georgia—With the execution on Tuesday of a man convicted of killing his father-inlaw, Georgia has put to death nine inmates this year—more than any other state. William Sallie’s time of death was 10:05 p.m., after an injection of compounded barbiturate pentobarbital at the state prison in Jackson, Warden Eric Sellers told witnesses. Sallie, 50, was convicted of murder in the March 1990 shooting death of John Lee Moore in rural south Georgia. When asked if he wanted to make a final statement, Sallie lifted his head to face the witnesses. “I just want to say I’m very, very sorry for my crimes. I really am sorry,” he said, adding that he had prayed about it many times. “I’m just very sorry for everything. I do ask for forgiveness.” He accepted the offer of a prayer. AP
The World BusinessMirror
Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph
Trump tweets: ‘Cancel order’ for Boeing Air Force One
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resident-elect Donald J. Trump said the latest Air Force One order should be canceled because of “ridiculous” costs at Boeing Co., taking aim at plans to replace jets that are among the most visible symbols of the American presidency.
“Boeing is building a brand-new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion,” Trump said on Tuesday on Twitter. “Cancel order!” Boeing is the latest major company to be singled out by Trump, who last week announced a deal with United Technologies Corp. to keep a US factory open instead of moving production to Mexico. The president-elect, who turned jobs and trade into defining issues of his campaign, tweeted about Boeing days after CEO Dennis Muilenburg called on him and Congress to ensure that US companies have the tools to compete in a global economy. Boeing, the largest US exporter, fell 0.1 percent to $151.98 at 3:21 p.m. in New York. The company’s planes have been used to ferry presidents since 1943, when Franklin D. Roosevelt rode a Boeing 314 flying boat across the Atlantic for a wartime meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. “We are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of this complex military aircraft that serves the unique requirements of the President of the United States,” Boeing Spokesman Todd Blecher said in an e-mail. “We look forward to working with the US Air Force on subsequent phases of the program allowing us to deliver the best plane for the president at the best value for the American taxpayer.”
Pentagon budget
The Pentagon already is budgeting $3.2 billion for research and development, military construction and acquisition of two of the Air Force One planes through fiscal 2021, said Kevin Brancato, the lead government contracts analyst for Bloomberg Government. More money is anticipated in the two years after that. Boeing 747-8 planes average about $225 million each, he said, which means most of the expenses will go to outfitting the planes for presidential use. The Air Force and Boeing are still conducting work to reduce the program’s technical risks before the company is awarded an advanced development contract, Captain Michael Hertzog, a spokesman for the
$4B The estimated cost of a brand-new 747 Air Force One for future presidents Boeing is building
service branch, said in an e-mail. Budgeted spending can be expected “to change as the program matures with the completion of the risk reduction activities,” he said. “This is what an Air Force One costs,” Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst at Teal Group, said of Trump’s tweet. “There have been no cost overruns. The ability to fly the president during a war is fundamentally expensive.”
Aircraft capabilities
The Air Force expects the planes to have the range to fly between continents and to have comparable interiors to the current 747 aircraft, whose features include work and sleeping quarters for the president and first family. Beyond such amenities, the planes must be outfitted for highly advanced, secure communications and classified defensive capabilities that make them flying fortresses. President George W. Bush stayed airborne for much of the first few hours after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The new planes will also be equipped for midair refueling. “This is madness,” Aboulafia said of Trump’s tweet. “I think about the complications, for example, if the president and his staff had to run the nation on 9/11 and afterward without an Air Force One and my mind is kind of scrambled on that.”
Aging fleet
The Pentagon is looking to replace its aging fleet of Boeing 747-200 aircraft, which were built in the 1980s and will reach the planned 30-year service life in 2017. Officials have said the next Air Force One 747-8 jets are
President Barrack Obama and Rep. Kathy Castor, Democrat-Florida, departs Air Force One upon their arrival at Tampa International Airport on Tuesday in Tampa, Florida. Obama is in Tampa to visit Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base. AP/Steve Nesius
estimated to begin operations in fiscal year 2023. There’s no clear alternative to Chicago-based Boeing to build a new Air Force One, especially not for a president who wants to buy US products. The only other option for a four-engine plane the Air Force is seeking would come from Europe’s Airbus Group SE, which said in 2013 that it wouldn’t make a proposal. The Air Force said last year that it was giving Boeing the contract without competition because its plane is the only one manufactured in the US “that when fully missionized meets the necessary critically important capabilities” that a president needs. But the service also said it would encourage other companies to bid for the special equipment needed to convert the aircraft for presidential use. “The plane is totally out of control,” Trump said in a brief appearance in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday. “I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money.” Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he counted himself among those who think there are too many bells and whistles on Air Force One. “I think it ought to be reviewed,” he told reporters at the Capitol. “I think it’s a legitimate concern.”
Marine One
The dispute is reminiscent of the controversy over the Pentagon’s efforts to develop a replacement for the helicopters used to ferry the president and executive branch officials, known as Marine One when the president is on board. A program managed by Lockheed Martin Corp. to build as many as 28 helicopters was canceled in 2009 after about $3.1 billion was
spent and the planned $6.1-billion project soared to a projected $13 billion. In 2009 President Barack Obama cited it as “an example of the procurement process gone amok.” In 2014 the Pentagon tried again, awarding an initial $1.24-billion contract to a team led by Sikorsky Aircraft. Since then, Lockheed acquired Sikorsky. So it’s back in charge of the helicopter project.
Stock sales
Trump transition Spokesman Jason Miller said he couldn’t answer whether the president-elect or his top advisers had been in contact with Boeing or the Pentagon. Details about Trump’s goal, whether to scrap the plane or renegotiate the cost, will emerge after he’s sworn in next month, he said. “ T his rea lly speaks to the president-elect’s focus on keeping costs down across the board,” Miller told reporters on a conference call. The $4-billion price tag “is a very big number.” Trump previously held stock in Boeing but sold all his equity holdings in companies in June, Miller said.
Boeing focus
On Sunday discussing the deal with the Carrier unit of United Technologies to keep some jobs in the US, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on ABC’s This Week that Trump would decide whether to intervene with specific companies “on a day-by-day basis.” Tuesday’s tweet wasn’t the first time Trump has mentioned Boeing. At a February rally in South Carolina, where the company makes the 787 Dreamliner, he said Boeing “is building massive plants in China.” To bolster its standing in the Asian nation, Boeing recently announced plans to open a plant there to install seats on single-aisle 737 jetliners being delivered to Chinese airlines. Bloomberg News
Merkel backs German full-veil ban, reaches out to critics
C
hancellor Angela Merkel called for a ban on full-face veils and said she’ll protect Germany against future refugee waves, reaching out to critics of her liberal migration policy as she asked a convention of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to back her bid for a fourth term. CDU delegates erupted in applause and cheers after Merkel gave her strongest backing yet to a ban on clothing, such as the burqa worn by Muslim women. Even so, delegates reelected Merkel as party chairman with the lowest support of her 11 years as chancellor, with 89.5 percent voting in favor compared with 96.7 percent two years ago. “We show our faces,” Merkel, 62, said in an 80-minute convention speech in the western city of Essen on Tuesday. “Full-face covering is not appropriate with us—it should be banned.” She also said the mass influx of asylum-seekers, such as the estimated 890,000 who entered the country in 2015,
“should never be repeated.” After more than a year in which the chancellor has faced unprecedented criticism for her open-borders position on refugees, Merkel told delegates she thought hard about whether to run again and it wasn’t “a trivial decision”. Looking ahead to federal elections due next fall, she positioned herself and her party as pillars of stability in a region buffeted by a rise in populist movements aiming to displace established parties. At the same time, she said she wants Germany to be a tolerant, diverse country that’s open to the world, including the global economy, and compassionate toward people truly in need of shelter.
Global uncertainties
“The world hasn’t become stronger in 2016, but weaker and less certain,” Merkel said. Among those targeted for criticism by the chancellor were financial markets and
“big corporations” that seek to minimize their taxes, whose practices she said breed cynicism and have “nothing to do with a social market economy.” “Every financial center, every financial product must be subject to regulation,” Merkel said. A group of CDU officials last summer put pressure on Merkel to adopt language calling for a ban on veils that cover a woman’s face and body. After a debate in the party about the legal feasibility of a ban, a compromise called for bans in certain public places. Merkel’s stance “was something our delegates wanted to hear,” Jens Spahn, a deputy finance minister and member of the CDU’s national leadership, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “It was very clear that we don’t want full veils here in Germany.” Merkel’s speech put her publicly in line with the full party leadership’s draft resolution for the convention, which says:
“We reject full covering. We want to ban it using all legal possibilities, just as we do for under-age marriage.”
Poll lead
While the CDU leads in all national polls, Merkel is facing some of the strongest headwinds of her chancellorship as she seeks a fourth term. Her only lower score as party chairwoman was 88.4 percent in 2004 when she was opposition leader. Among the obstacles ahead is meshing her refugee policy with calls by the Christian Social Union (CSU), the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, for a cap on migration. “We will fight for Angela Merkel to have a strong majority” in next year’s election, Manfred Weber, a CSU member who heads the Christian Democrat bloc in the European Parliament, said in an interview. “It was normal that we have sometimes different opinions.” Bloomberg News
Japanese mogul pledges $50-B US investment
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A S H I N G TO N —Af te r m e e t i n g with Donald J. Trump on Tuesday, Japanese tech billionaire Masayoshi Son said he would invest $50 billion in new start-ups in the United States, committing to creating 50,000 new jobs over an unspecified time period. Son is the founder and chief executive of SoftBank, one of Japan’s largest technology outfits, which owns the US mobile carrier Sprint. Sprint shares initially spiked after the announcement. Son left Trump Tower after being escorted down the elevator by the president-elect, who touted the pledge before waiting investors. “We are going to invest $50 billion in the US and commit to create 50,000 new jobs,” Son told reporters. “We [will] invest into the new start-up companies in the United States.” The announcement is the latest instance in which Trump appears to be conducting economic policy via ad-hoc deal-making—sometimes taking credit whether he deserves it. Last week the president-elect spoke at the Carrier furnace plant in Indianapolis after the company announced plans to keep 800 jobs at the plant instead of outsourcing them to Mexico. Trump quickly claimed he had saved those positions, even though the company is still shifting more than 1,000 jobs from that factory and another Indiana plant to Mexico. Similarly, the week after the election Trump tweeted that he had dissuaded Ford Motor Co. from moving a Kentucky factory to Mexico. The claim was a stretch; Ford had no plans to move the plant and had already agreed to keep producing one specific model there, although it did back away from a plan to shift production of the Lincoln MKC, a small SUV, from Louisville to Cuautitlan, Mexico. Trump quickly took credit for Son’s commitment on Tuesday, writing on Twitter: “Masa said he would never do this had we [Trump] not won the election!” “I just came to celebrate his new job,” Son said. “Because he said he would do a lot of deregulation, I said, ‘This is great, the US will become great again.’” Trump plans to meet with leading tech executives next week, a group that will include venture capitalist Peter Thiel—one of Trump’s few supporters in Silicon Valley—and Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins. The job commitments that Trump claims to have produced are symbolically resonant. Still, the economy has generated 2.25 million new jobs in the past 12 months and many economists say that accelerating this pace may be difficult in the long run because of the aging US population. F i n a n c i a l d e t a i l s a b o u t S o n ’s commitment and its timeframe remain u n c l e a r. T- M o b i l e d i d n o t a n s w e r e-mailed questions. Sprint Spokesman D a v e To v a r r e f e r r e d q u e s t i o n s t o Softbank. Foxconn, a tech manufacturer that makes iPhones for Apple in China, also did not answer questions. Its logo was next to Softbank’s on a piece of paper Son carried. Sprint has struggled since its 2013 acquisition by Softbank. The carrier’s attempt to join with rival T-Mobile failed in 2014 after regulators objected to combining two of the four largest mobile telecom companies in the United States. T-Mobile has surpassed Sprint to become the No. 3 carrier, while Sprint has struggled with cost cuts and layoffs. (AT&T and Verizon are the largest wireless carriers.) Analysts have predicted, however, that a Trump-led Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission would be more likely to allow telecom mergers, including a deal bet ween Sprint and T-Mobile. T-Mobile has 50,000 employees and a stock-market value of $46 billion—but the similarities between those numbers and Son’s commitment could just be a coincidence. In October SoftBank announced that it would establish a $25-billion fund for technology investments that could grow to $100 billion. SoftBank said it signed an agreement with a fund run by the government of Saudi Arabia and other investors. Softbank Spokesman Matthew Nicholson declined to comment on whether this fund would provide the money for the US investments. AP
Asean
BusinessMirror
www.businessmirror.com.ph
Philippines: Part of international economic integration Asean-EU Perspective
HENRY J. SCHUMACHER
T
he Philippines’s extensive economic integration at a regional and global level has been an important factor in the country’s economic revival over the past years. As one of 10 members of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), which was launched on the December 31, 2015, the country stands to benefit from access to a single market of over 600 million consumers and an increasingly integrated regional economy, including the free movement of skilled workers and products. The Philippines is also party to a number of agreements that aim to support AEC realization, including the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement, the Asean Framework Agreement on Services and the Asean Comprehensive Investment Agreement. By April 2016, the Philippines had achieved a 92.1-percent implementation rate of commitments under AEC, which translates to 466 of 506 commitments in absolute terms. While the Philippines has much to gain, AEC also puts pressure on the country to become an integral part of the regional value chain, rather than losing out to more well-established and productive hubs in the group, especially in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors. A possible brain drain of skilled workers due to the comparatively higher skill level of the Philippine work force compared to other countries in Asean has also featured high on the list of priorities in discussions on the possible disadvantages of AEC membership. Despite these concerns, membership in the AEC offers a unique opportunity for the Philippines to increase its competitiveness at a global level and market itself as the gateway to Asean for foreign investors. It also represents an opportunity for the Philippines to increase its share of foreign direct investment (FDI) coming into the region. Although levels of FDI have grown in the past years, the Philippines continues to account for a disproportionately small percentage of total FDI flowing into the region. Specifically, in 2015 net FDI inflows to the Philippines reached $5.7 billion, equivalent to 5.8 percent of GDP and just 4.8 percent of net FDI inflows to the region. Collectively, the European Union member-states were the largest source of incoming FDI to the Philippines in 2015. Other top countries of origin for FDI inflows in 2015 were the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, the United Kingdom and Singapore. The sectors that received the biggest proportion of FDI were manufacturing, financial services and insurance, real estate, wholesale and retail trade and construction activities. The low numbers of foreign investment inflow show that there a more aggressive drive to improve the country’s attractiveness as an investment destination is still needed, including the liberalization of key economic sectors. Nonetheless, it is also acknowledged that there have been noteworthy efforts in the past years by the government to improve the country’s competitiveness. The Department of Trade and Industry has put in place a Comprehensive National Industrial Strategy and 30 industry road maps, including the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS). The CARS was signed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Aquino on May 29, 2015, and set out parameters for the subsidization of manufacturing of up to three vehicle models with the objective to attract new investment in the automotive manufacturing sector. The Philippines’s international economic integration is greatly benefited by its participation in bilateral and international initiatives. In addition to its membership in Asean, and subsequently in the AEC, the Philippines is highly integrated at a regional and global level through membership in international organizations and partnerships, such as the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, World Customs Organization, World Bank, Group of 77, Group of 24 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), which it hosted in 2015. The hosting of Apec was largely hailed as a success and did much for the Philippines in terms of bringing the opportunities it offers to the forefront of global interest. Apec also marked the launch of important initiatives for the Philippine economic fabric, and most especially for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), such as the Boracay Action Agenda for MSMEs. In line with its membership in international bodies, the Philippines has largely committed to using international standards and practices. However, there still remain areas, especially at an implementation and enforcement level, where further improvements are needed to meet the country’s international commitments and facilitate trade and market access. The Philippines’s global economic integration is further strengthened through its free-trade agreement (FTA) with third countries. The Philippines has an FTA with Japan, the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement and also concluded an FTA with the European Free Trade Association group of countries earlier this year. The Philippines is also party to the Asean FTA, the Asean-AustraliaNew Zealand FTA, the Asean-China FTA, the Asean-India FTA, the Asean-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and the Asean-Korea FTA. The Philippines is not one of the 12 countries to initially form part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership although it is considering accession at a later stage. It is also part of the negotiations for a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Asean-Hong Kong FTA. Most important for European business, it is currently in the process of negotiations for an EU-Philippines FTA, after scoping was concluded at the end of 2015, and the first round of negotiations took place in May 2016; the second round will hopefully commence soon.
Editor: Max V. de Leon • Thursday, December 8, 2016 A9
Bank of Thailand preparing for Trump-led trade slump
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hailand’s central bank is keeping enough ammunition in store to respond to a downturn in world trade amid a wave of antiglobalization sentiment that’s swept from the UK to the US.
With global risks rather than domestic ones dominating policymakers’ attention, Bank of Thailand Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob said the monetary authority is ready to take action if there’s a significant threat to the economy’s recovery. Growth of 3.2-percent forecast for this year—an estimate that will come up for revision at a policy meeting in two weeks time—is already well below the 4.5- percent pace it has the potential to expand at, Veerathai said in an interview. “The current policy stance is accommodative in the current situation,” Veerathai, 46, said at his offices in Bangkok on Tuesday. “The Monetary Policy Committee has said publicly all along that we are ready to take additional easing if and when we see that there is a major risk to the Thai economy” and policy-makers “stand ready to deploy more monetary-policy easing in that scenario.” The possibility of a global downturn led by a slump in trade is among the biggest external threats for an open economy like Thailand’s. It’s already one of the slowest growing nations in Southeast Asia because of weak exports, depressed privatesector investment and sluggish consumer spending in the face of a yearlong mourning period for the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The Bank of Thailand has kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.5 percent for a dozen meetings, despite headline inflation remaining persistently below the target range of 1 percent to 4 percent. With the impact of low oil prices falling out of the calculation, inflation is set to return to the target band next year, Veerathai said.
pledged to scrap a US-led trade deal that would’ve benefited Asian nations and increase import tariffs on China, an outcome that could slow growth and start a potential trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. “The consequences of Brexit on the global economy are yet to be realized,” Veerathai said. “The new president-elect Trump’s international trade policy, that could have implications for an open economy like Thailand.” China’s transition from a mainly export-led economy to a consumption-based one “could have an adverse impact also, ” he said. “If there are any major adverse incidents occurring, the policy space will help us get through that,” the governor said. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. expects the central bank to lower borrowing costs in the first half of 2017, while Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. sees no change through the whole of next year.
Trump’s international trade policy, that could have implications for an open economy like Thailand.” —Veerathai
Veerathai, who got his PhD from Harvard University at the age of 24, was previously an economist at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, held an executive position at Siam Commercial Bank Pcl. in Bangkok and was vice president of The Stock Exchange of Thailand. His five-year term as governor of the central bank began in October 2015, a year before the king’s death. Bhumibol was seen as a pillar of stability in a country that’s still run by a military junta following a 2014 coup.
Thailand referendum
The timeline for a return to democracy in Thailand remains unclear, one possible reason some investors have stayed on the sidelines. Foreign investors pulled about $2.1 billion from Thai government bonds and
$1.5 billion from the nation’s stock market so far this quarter. “The referendum of the new charter that was well approved, I think that put a foundation for the path to return to democracy,” Veerathai said. “For investors that have invested in Thailand for quite some time, I think they quite understand the political risks involved and how to manage them.” The baht has dropped 1.8 percent against the dollar in the past month as investors raised their bets on higher US interest rates following Trump’s victory. The currency is still 1.3 percent stronger against the dollar this year. Veerathai said the baht has relatively strong buffers, including a current-account surplus that’s close to 10 percent of GDP and foreign-currency reserves that are three times more than the country’s short-term external debt. Nonresidents hold about 8 percent of Thai bonds, while in neighboring countries the proportion is closer to 30 percent, he said. “We do intervene if and when we see a need to intervene to ensure that the movement in the exchange rate would not have an adverse impact on the economic recovery,” he said. “We have a floating exchange rate regime. We would come in to intervene if the volatility has been excessive or the baht is moving out of sync with our major trading partners.” Bloomberg News
‘Policy space’
Donald J. Trump’s victory in the US and the UK’s decision to leave the European Union have added to global uncertainty. Trump has
Asia’s newest tiger economy fears Fed-induced currency slide
M
yanmar’s central bank is braced for a deeper slide in the nation’s currency and has little scope to tackle the decline after the kyat fell the most in Southeast Asia, according to one of the monetary authority’s top officials. The kyat has weakened about 10 percent against the dollar in the past six months, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The drop could deepen if the US Federal Reserve increases interest rates this month as expected, said U Win Thaw, the director general of the foreign-exchange management department in the Central Bank of Myanmar. “There’s no way for the central bank to intervene in the market,” he said in an interview by phone from his office in Yangon. “The depreciating kyat impacts on the economic stability of the country. Compared with other currencies, our drop is very rough at the moment.” The currency weakness has sparked a debate in Myanmar about whether officials should seek ways to stem the drop or let market forces find an equilibrium in an economy set for the world’s second-fastest expansion in 2016. Depreciation stokes inflation by
8.1%
The IMF growth forecast for Myanmar this year, second fastest in the world after Iraq raising the cost of imports, such as oil, while boosting the outlook for exports ranging from natural gas to minerals. Currency swings can also make it harder for businesses to plan investment. A period of global dollar strength and Myanmar’s trade deficit are among the reasons for the kyat’s swoon, U Win Thaw said in the interview on November 30. “If there are restrictions on some import items, the trade balance will be even,” he said, adding officials should scrutinize the purchase of luxury items such as foreign cars. “If the demand is reduced, there will be some stability.”
A lack of cooperation between ministries in the $65-billion economy makes it harder to frame a policy to respond to the kyat’s weakness, U Win Thaw said. The Southeast Asian nation’s central bank has about $5 billion of foreign reserves, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated in September last year. Myanmar moved to a managed float in 2012 to simplify the nation’s currency market and encourage investment. The slide in the kyat since early June is among the worst in developing nations. In contrast, the currency was Asia’s top performer during the first half on optimism about the transition to democracy under de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi after a prolonged period of military rule. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party in November last year won the country’s first open elections since 1990. The government is trying to liberalize the economy and pursuing reforms such as deepening the bond market. The US eased sanctions on Myanmar after the elections in 2015, opening up untapped opportunities for foreign companies in a nation of 54 million people. Challenges include shifting regulations and an underdeveloped financial system. Transparent government policies, a
stable electricity supply, better transport infrastructure, financial-sector reform and the promotion of fair competition are among the things companies are looking for, according to a survey of business confidence in Myanmar by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants GmbH. The finance ministry and central bank set up a committee in October to scrutinize exchange-rate volatility, the Myanmar Times reported. That was probably because of the pressure officials are under from some quarters of the business community, said Sean Turnell, an associate professor in the economics department at Macquarie University in Sydney and a special adviser to Myanmar’s government. “A floating currency is exactly what Myanmar needs,” he said, adding an inflation rate of about 9 percent is another factor weighing on the kyat. The IMF forecasts about 8.1-percent growth in the economy this year, the fastest in the world after Iraq. The volatility in the kyat threatens to make it harder to repeat the performance in 2017. “There’ll be an impact on the Myanmar currency if the US increases interest rates in December,” U Win Thaw said. “The kyat will depreciate again if they do.” Bloomberg News
A10 Thursday, December 8, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso
Opinion BusinessMirror
editorial
A toast to responsible members of Congress
T
he power of Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the legislative process. That power to initiate inquiries in aid of legislation is broad. And our solons in both houses of Congress are fully aware of this. But, broad as their power of inquiry is, they should remember it is not unlimited. The honorable members of Congress have no general authority to expose in their hearings the private affairs of individuals without justification in terms of the functions of the Legislative branch of government.
Conceding that the recent congressional investigations might be useful in enacting laws, the questions, statements and actuations of some congressmen and senators give rise to more than a suspicion that the primary goal of these committee hearings is lustful exposure rather than getting useful information. Solons in the vogue for telenovelas, for example, gave more time to questions with sexual undertones meant to humiliate and shame somebody in public. And committee members would burst out laughing when the witness responds with lurid details about his private affairs. Sadly, nobody even bothered to listen to the embattled lady’s reaction. Calling the House justice committee hearing a spectacle full of lies, she said “no woman deserves to be betrayed, to be treated with so much disrespect and without dignity, before the public eye, by any man she is with or had a relationship with.” A wise man profoundly described the drama that unfolded at the recent House justice committee hearing: “Instead of proving that the lady has committed an atrocious fraud, the solons succeeded in telling the public, on national TV, that the fraud she is accused of is atrocious.” In other words, what the solons have elicited from their star witness can’t stand scrutiny in a court of law. Congress should avoid slandering a person with the intention of destroying public confidence in that person in its committee hearings. Unfortunately, the honorable members of the House of Representatives and the Senate have shown on national TV that their investigations, in aid of legislation, are way far too different from anything resembling responsible leadership. Needless to say, responsible solons have the ability to transform and enrich the lives and living standards of Filipinos by the quality of laws they pass. How we wish they would focus on the job they were mandated to do. “All Congresses and Parliaments have a kindly feeling for idiots, and a compassion for them, on account of personal experience and heredity,” wrote an American writer named Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain. He is the same man who claimed that “fleas can be taught nearly anything that a congressman knows.” His observation among American congressmen during his time may prove still universally valid today based on the recent actuations of some of our honorable lawmakers. There’s a general consent that people get the kind of leaders they deserve. But how can Filipinos protect a revered institution like Congress from itself when its own members are the ones pulling the wagon down the road to ignominy. We know there are members of Congress who collectively embody the principle of parliamentary accountability. These are the people who can carry with them the spirit of fairness in all the things they do. May their tribe increase. Since 2005
The bubble they missed John Mangun
OUTSIDE THE BOX
I
t has been three years since the “King of the Bubble Boys” made his armchair trip around the world predicting the collapse of economies from the Philippines to Turkey. As several of us in the Philippines responded, it was not going to happen, and, of course, all the economies he mentioned, including Malaysia, are astonishingly still alive. The problem with his inaccurate analysis was that comparing the Dutch Tulip Bubble of 1637 to current economic conditions is about the same as comparing the Dutch Empire then—when they ruled northern Taiwan—to the geopolitics of today. The reason nobody seems to get it right is the inseparable relationship of politics and economics. Actually, one person did get it right; Bill Clinton advisor and political strategist James Carville. One of his three points for the 1992 US presidential campaign was “The economy, stupid”, beside “Change vs. more of the
same”. It is interesting that nothing has changed in 24 years, and expect it to be the same 24 years from now. My rantings about the existence of cycles began with a relatively insignificant luncheon meeting about something that I have no remembrance of. However, a snippet of conversation with the man sitting across the table has been with me for almost two decades. Dr. Sixto K. Roxas needs no introduction for those who know his history as a pioneering development economist, as well as a banker. Sufficient to say that the strength of the
The question of heroism
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Part One
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ome millennials (those reaching adulthood around the year 2000) revered the late Sen. Begnigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. as a national hero and hated the late strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos as a villain who, they said, should not have been buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Actually, the question of whether to treat former Senator Aquino a national hero came in November 1983, barely three months after he was assassinated when the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Prize that year, however, went to social activist Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu, of South Africa, for his relentless campaign against apartheid. Then on August 18, 1984, 59 of the 183 elected Assemblymen in the Batasang Pambansa (Parliament) recommended Ninoy to become officially a national hero. Fortunately, for the future, most of the legislators were either sober or were still adjusting to their seats three months after the elections. “Had they mindlessly certified him a national hero,” said historians Salvador Escalante and J. Augustius Y. De La Paz of the Truth and Justice
Foundation, “the precedent would have made it a lot easier for people to qualify for the same honor—if they had the lineage, the ambition, the cunning, the breaks, the stagecraft, the ego and, of course, some talent. They could get away with a crime or two, with dalliances, with heresy, and still get to become heroes.” Ninoy was devastatingly irresistible. Many found it effortless to empathize and identify with him, for he was a mirror of what they wanted to be but could not become: casual but powerful, brimming with confidence, more than capable of speaking his mind, and yes, seemingly untouchable. Biographers Dr. Jose Y. Dalisay Jr. and Arnold Molina Azurin explained: “He was a master showman, imbued with dramatic flair, keen to the power of the headline and an expert in the use of media for political positioning.” That was his magic: the publicity,
Philippine banking sector, of which I have written of innumerable times, is in part a result of Dr. Roxas’s wisdom and work. One thought from Dr. Roxas stayed with me: Every three years the Philippines has a minor event and every six years there is a major event. The research on the subject of hundreds of different cycles is vast. Some require putting the “square peg in the round hole”. Some cycles theories require perfect hindsight and are worthless for looking in the future. However, I have written that what we find is an accurate cycle that shifts between the “public” and the “private” sectors. Simply put, during the public time of the cycle, people trust everything. During the private time, people basically trust nothing and both apply primarily to the strongest force in organized society—government. While governments believe they control economies, in fact, the people do. It is just that the people give up control for a while until things become dismal and then they take control back. That is what has been happening. As I previously wrote, the US presidential election pitted two of the most unqualified candidates in
the posturing, the grandstanding. In more modern terms, a hologram, a three-dimensional projection of the Overwhelming Ego. The consensus is that all that he accomplished in life on the political stage paled in comparison with his afterlife—which leads one to conclude that he didn’t achieve much in life after all. Former Assemblyman and Sen. Francisco S. Tatad laconically noted, “Aquino achieved in death what he failed to achieve in life.” A man who accomplished relatively little in life, beyond political entertainment, was glorified so hugely. He was celebrated for the goods he promised, even if he had failed to actually deliver them. He was hailed as a symbol of the resistance to the Marcos regime, even if, at the end, he had secretly explored collaboration with that regime, for the sake of peace and power. Escalante and de La paz said he was the personification of the universal promissory note. They said many others opposed the Marcos regime, sacrificed more, talked less, posed less and got less media mileage than Ninoy did. There lay the difference: in the bombast, the posing and the publicity. Ninoy, given his glibness, affinity with the press and stagecraft, was in a class all by himself. “A bag of hot air, presenting himself as the wind of freedom succeeded in hypnotizing legions into holding him aloft as their messiah. Many among these people, unwilling to admit to gullibility—with some of them profiting handsomely from professing faith in Ninoy—remain
history and that fact is not confined to the US. As a result, the world is experiencing a major amount of postelections political chaos. The “bubble” that the experts were worried about was not economic. It was political. Next year will continue this period of “Political Hell” as trust in government continues to evaporate. Then will come the economic chaos. But don’t think of it as a bubble bursting; it is evolution. Darwin’s finches are a group of about 14 species of birds living on the Galapagos Islands. They are all similar, except for body size and the shape of their beaks. The beaks adaptively evolved to allow the birds to feed on what food was available in their particular area from hard nuts to soft fruit and wiggling insects. “Government” designed a “New World Order” beak shape that didn’t work. The birds had to take back control in order to thrive and prosper. That is what “The People” are doing now. E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stockmarket information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.
impervious to emerging facts that tend to lessen his stature. But the ranks of the bigots are thinning through attrition and time, as the truth assaults their defenses,” the historians said.
The issue of heroism
The issue of heroism is addressed by the book An Undivine Comedy: Ninoy & Cory Aquino as Saints & Heroes? and The Trial of Ninoy Aquino, extracted from Book Two of Lost In Time: The Reestablished Communist Party of the Philippines from Birth to Obsolescence. These books established that, first, it is premature, and objectionable, to dub Ninoy a national hero. Second, if there ever was lack of due process in his trial for subversion, murder and illegal possession of firearms, he had mostly himself to blame for spurning the generous opportunities given him to defend himself; further, he knew the charges to be factual, and freely admitted having illegally possessed firearms and having given aid and comfort to communist insurgents. Until his return to the Philippines in 1983, one of the lesser-known segments of Ninoy’s life was his exile in America. His worshippers were of the belief that he came home to “restore democracy” regardless of the risks entailed. Or was it to rebuild his political base, and for the prospect of power? To be continued To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@ gmail.com
Opinion BusinessMirror
opinion@businessmirror.com.ph
On the wings of progress Full of grace Ariel F. Nepomuceno
Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.
DECISION TIME
Alálaong Bagá
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ever more to being the worst airport in the world! This appears to be the new rallying call of our government in the light of the marked improvement in the ranking of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) on the list of the latest 2016 survey conducted by the travel web site “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports.” From occupying the fourth place in the same survey in 2014, the Naia failed to capture a spot in the top 10. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia landed first; then Juba, Sudan; Port Harcourt, Nigeria; Tashkent, Uzbekistan; and Santorini, Greece, got the second to fifth slots. The survey used five standards for evaluation: Services and facilities, food options, immigrationsecurity, customer service and cleanliness. The top 10 received negative commentaries, such as dirty toilets, overcrowding, long lines, poor ventilation and air conditioning, lack of chairs, rude and impolite airport and government personnel and most troubling are extortion activities performed by the latter.
Efforts to improve
The positive results came in the midst of efforts put in by the past and current administration in beginning the P1.3-billion rehabilitation and makeover of Naia Terminal 1, which began way back
matter of reputation, image and a demonstration of our capability to promote ease of business in the Philippines. Imagine a visitor at your doorstep who expects to be given a warm welcome but would end up hesitant to enter because of an unsafe doorstep, a door about to fall apart and a rude, frowning helper who does not seem to want him to enter. There is also a likelihood that this very same visitor will recount his terrible experience to other potential visitors who may now decide not to push through with the visit. This situation is clearly analogous to our tourist or investor who will experience real trauma if our airports are not well maintained and efficiently run. An airport is a reflection of how a country is run by
Why all this preoccupation with airports? One could posit that our airport problems should be tackled just as a subset of the general issues we have in the transport sector. The answer lies in the fact that the air transport business, together with airport operations, provide massive economic and social benefits that cannot be taken for granted or disregarded.
A
S the principal patroness of the Philippines, Mary’s Immaculate Conception is aptly celebrated as a holy day of Eucharistic joy. Our thanksgiving to God for gifting us with her faith and love is inspired by the Annunciation account of Saint Luke (1:26-38), where Mary is portrayed as the woman divinely chosen to be filled with grace as the mother of the Savior.
Hail, full of grace The angel addressed Mary by her name according to God’s saving plan: “Full of Grace”. That is what she is by her Creator’s will; that is what she should be known by in all the world; that is what she celebrates in joy forever before the throne of God. God has given her the fullness of grace; nothing in her is not touched by God’s grace; not a moment of her existence is devoid of God’s gratuitous love; all in her and she all in all is radiant with the divine holiness. She is perfectly God’s work, God’s perfect work: “The Lord is with her.” This is the fact of divine goodness to her, the all-pervading mystery of communion with the Almighty bestowed
on her, the radical and total presence of the Transcendental to her being. “You have found favor with God”—Mary personally and in her entire existence is a revelation of God’s graciousness, and she is the primordial consciousness of divine mercy to humanity bounded only by eternity. And that in connection to and because of the fact that God chose her to be the mother of His Son Jesus Christ the Savior of creation trapped in sin. “You will bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus”— which means “God saves”. The creation of old is to be redeemed and perfected in salvation; the Creator in love is the Savior in mercy. In Jesus Christ we are blessed “with every
‘Venceremos’ Teddy Locsin Jr.
Free fire Continued from A1
in 2014. The Naia Terminal 1 has been given this budget to institute retrofitting and other engineering/structural works. On the other hand, the rehabilitation of Naia Terminal 3 has already been accomplished using about $42 million in funds, which facilitated the transfer of most of the foreign airline companies there. As such, overcrowding and queueing in Terminal 1 have been relatively addressed. New Transportation head Arthur P. Tugade’s first quick hits were cleaner toilets by tapping the local airlines to maintain the facilities, faster Wi-fi, and ensuring that all government bodies involved in managing and supervising the different activities of the airports are talking and coordinating their initiatives. Meanwhile, airport manager Eddie Monreal took care of taxi services for pickup of passengers and changing the rules of the game in addressing the much-talked-about tanim bala incidents. Instead of wasting administrative and enforcement time on prosecuting and penalizing offenders, the bullets are now seized and passengers are permitted to leave the airport, subject to careful documentation and recording. On the other hand, strict implementation of flight schedules and prevention of flights “outside of their supposed time slots” have resulted to reduction in the number of delayed flights. General sentiments about airport administration have improved considerably.
Correct premium due
Why all this preoccupation with airports? One could posit that our airport problems should be tackled just as a subset of the general issues we have in the transport sector. The answer lies in the fact that the air-transport business, together with airport operations, provides massive economic and social benefits that cannot be taken for granted or disregarded. Firstly, passengers’—particularly tourists and investors—first point of interphase with the country is its airports. It is the gateway to opportunity for all of us. It is a
the government and its bureaucracy. Consequently, many opportunities for economic and social development may be missed.
Moving forward and up
There is no doubt that good airport management and efficient air-transport operations contribute to economic progress. Through our airports, millions of passengers are transferred annually, goods and freight are moved, more tourist arrivals stirring more commercial activities, hundreds of jobs created directly or indirectly, be it at the level of new businesses or those driven by the aviation industry, such as air-traffic regulation and control, maintenance and fuelling of aircraft, airline operations, information-technology infrastructure and passenger services, such as baggage handling, retail and food facilities. In the area of social benefits, living standards are uplifted, work-life balance, cultural and educational awareness of people are enhanced because of travel and socio-historical exposure. Furthermore, positive relationships are fostered because families and friends have the opportunity to link up due to quick air travel, social integration facilitated, global bonds solidified and jurisdictional barriers or obstacles removed. The baby steps taken by the Department of Transportation, together with the Manila International Airport Authority, should be sustained by long-term planning, opening up new airports away from the heart of Manila and building the supporting transportation systems, like railways to connect main city airport locations to new regional destinations. Public and private partnerships in this sphere should be taken very seriously so expertise, funding, technical knowledge and best practices are shared to the utmost benefit of the ordinary Filipino. We can fly our way to prosperity. From possibility to reality. For comments and suggestions arielnepo.businessmirror@gmail.com
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he public, which lined the route of the funeral cortege, was excluded from the ceremony. Only family, the politburo and heads of Latin American leftist governments—from Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Brazil—were allowed to be present. The decision to keep the burial private came after Raul Castro announced that Cuba is prohibiting the naming of streets and monuments after his brother. It will not allow the erection of statues in his honor. This was Fidel’s dying wish, to avoid
encouraging a cult of personality. Next week the Cuban Congress will make that prohibition law. In all of Cuba the only icons are those of slain revolutionary fighters, Camilo Cienfuegos and the god of freedom, Ernesto “Che” Guevara,
Thursday, December 8, 2016 A11
Mary belonged to God; she is absolutely God’s. In her response to God’s initiative and plan, she understood herself as a servant of the Almighty: she is there for Him listening to His every word and doing His every command. If others won’t listen to His words, she will; if others won’t carry out His commandments, she will. spiritual blessing in the heavens, as He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before Him” (Ephesians 1:3-4). Mary is uniquely and the very first to be blessed in Jesus Christ with the plenitude of grace; she is the Creator’s/Savior’s work of gracious love.
I am the servant of the Lord
Mary belonged to God; she is absolutely God’s. In her response to God’s initiative and plan, she understood herself as a servant of the Almighty: she is there for Him listening to His every word and doing His every command. If others won’t listen to His words, she will; if others won’t carry out His commandments, she will. “Let everything be done to me according to your word”, in imitation of Jesus, as a disciple of Jesus, whose
whose photo after he was killed and laid upon a stone slab by CIA operatives is the very image of Jesus. “All of us,” said Juan Antonio Gonzales, a 70-year-old retired economist, “would like to put Fidel’s name on everything; but in the end, Fidel is all of Cuba.” Son of a gun. The Cuban revolution has been a class act from start to the very end, and beyond. Venceremos! And while my friend on these pages observes rightly that for a revolution that claimed to have brought freedom and justice to Cuba, over a million Cubans fled the island after it; not least for the hardships of a trade embargo imposed by a vengeful United States. Among those who fled were thousands of common criminals that Castro sprung from jail and put on boats for Miami to answer his American critics. Raffy Alunan would threaten
Proving VAT zero-rated sale of services Fermo B. Avila II
Tax law for business
S
ervices performed in the Philippines by a value-added tax (VAT)-registered domestic corporation to a nonresident foreign corporation can be subject to VAT at a rate of zero percent. As these services yield a zero output VAT liability, the input VAT, which are attributable to such services, incurred by the domestic corporation can be the subject of a claim for tax credit or refund. And in claiming a tax credit or refund, the domestic corporation must prove, among others, that the sale of services is VAT zero-rated. To prove that the supply of services is subject to VAT at a rate of zero percent, the Supreme Court held in the case of Commissioner of Internal Revenue (CIR) v. Burmeister and Wain Scandinavian, GR 153205, January 22, 2007: n The services must be other than processing, manufacturing or repacking of goods; n The payment for such services must be in acceptable foreign currency accounted for in accordance with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas rules and regulations; and, n The recipient of such services must be doing business outside the Philippines. The landmark cases of CIR v. Burmeister and CIR v. American Express International Inc. (GR 152609, June 29, 2005), conversely, are scant of enumerations of evidence that may
prove compliance with the foregoing requisites. However, in the recent case of General Motors Automobiles Philippines Inc. v. CIR, CTA Case 8976, December 2, 2016, the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) held that the first requisite can be complied by presenting the service agreements between the domestic corporation and the nonresident foreign corporation, which reflects the nature of the services to be rendered by the domestic corporation. With regard to the second requisite, the domestic corporation must present the Funds Transfer Credit Advice and Certificate of Inward Remittances issued by the bank which facilitated the payment, and the VAT zero-rated official receipts. Corollary to this requisite, the VAT official receipts must comply
With regard to the second requisite, the domestic corporation must present the Funds Transfer Credit Advice and Certificate of Inward Remittances issued by the bank which facilitated the payment, and the VAT zero-rated official receipts. Corollary to this requisite, the VAT official receipts must comply with the invoicing and accounting requirements for VAT-registered persons, otherwise, the amounts reflected in the noncompliant VAT official receipts shall be deemed as not supported by VAT zero-rated official receipts, and shall be denied zero-rating.
with the invoicing and accounting requirements for VAT-registered persons, otherwise, the amounts reflected in the noncompliant VAT official receipts shall be deemed as not supported by VAT zero-rated official receipts, and shall be denied zero-rating. Anent the third requisite, the CTA appreciated the following documentary evidences to prove that the recipient of the services is doing business outside the Philippines: (a) the certification of nonregistration of company issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); (b) the consularized certificate of residence of the nonresident
sole purpose is to do the will of the Father who sent Him. Jesus and Mary in God’s plan of salvation are partners together in doing God’s will for the good of all humankind. God did not have to ask them “Where are you?” or “Why did you do such a thing?” as God asked Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:9.13). The Son-Mother tandem, like a new Adam and a new Eve, manifest to us the original image of man in the heart of God: sinless, full of grace, in total communion with Him. For the Incarnation of the Son and Mary’s Immaculate Conception in their intimate unity are God’s victory and wondrous deeds (Psalm 98:1-2), the beginning of the new creation singing a new song. Alálaong bagá, the celebration of the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is our joy-filled witnessing to God’s awesome grace more powerful than sin. Mary Immaculate is the sign of our hope: we are predestined to the glory of God’s gracious love and mercy. Mary, Full of Grace, invites us to be like her as a servant of the Lord, doing God’s will and bringing Jesus Christ into the world. Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, 5 to 6 a.m. on dwIZ 882, or by audio-streaming on www.dwiz882.com.
the same thing to answer American critics of Duterte’s remorseless antidrug campaign—the US should give refuge to every drug dealer and user who might be wasted. Every revolution is fought by two sides, winners and losers; those in the right and those in the wrong— and those who regret having been in the right because it didn’t turn out as congenial nor even as kind as they had thought. So Loyalist Americans, but Americans nonetheless, were persecuted and fled the United States for Canada and the UK after losing the fight against American independence. Had they prevailed, the world would still see a monarch of the English-speaking peoples— rigorously trained to constitutional self-discipline and parliamentary wisdom and restraint—rather than Donald Trump. So, it is still, Venceremos!
foreign corporation authenticated by the Philippine Embassy, or the original certificate of fesidence issued by the appropriate department of the foreign government; and (c) the consularized certificate of registration/incorporation/formation of the nonresident foreign corporation authenticated by the Philippine Embassy. It is worth noting, however, that despite the fact that the official receipts were not issued in the name of the nonresident foreign corporation, the CTA held that the third requisite was complied with, after it considered the testimony of the finance manager of the domestic corporation, who manifested that the official receipts were all named and addressed to the “Customer Care and Aftersales” Division of the nonresident foreign corporation. The second division noted that, even though the internal reports and billing statements pertain to Customer Care and Aftersales, the financial entity indicated in all the reports is the nonresident foreign entity. The author is a legal assistant of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a memberfirm of World Tax Services (WTS) Global. The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at fermo.avila@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 403-2001 local 340.
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Montano’s TPB appointment questioned By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
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@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror
OURISM Industry stakeholders are questioning the appointment of actor Cesar Montano as COO of the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), the marketing arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT).
This developed as Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo admitted to members of the Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday that Montano was not her personal choice, confirming BusinessMirror’s published report on his appointment to said post. (See “Cesar Montano to head TPB,” in the BusinessMirror, December 5, 2016.) “I have to be frank with everybody…I had another choice. In fact, I already submitted the name…. I cannot do anything about it since [his appointment] is already there,” she told the CA’s committee on economic and tourism development. Sources earlier intimated to this paper that lawyer Falconi Millar was Teo’s nominee for COO of TPB. Millar was legal counsel of the National A s so c i at ion of I nde p e nde nt Travel Agencies, which Teo had headed prior to her appointment to the DOT. Montano, who made three unsuccessful tries for elective office, the latest of which was as partylist representative in the May elections, personally campaigned for the election of Duterte as Philippine president. Former Tourism Secretary Narzalina Lim was one of the industry stakeholders who issued a strongly worded statement against Montano’s appointment to the TPB. “I don’t think an actor is qualified to
head such an important agency. I question not just his qualifications—for obviously this appointment was made for political reasons—but the manner by which he was appointed.” She stressed that the Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) “is supposed to submit names of the most qualified candidates. This just shows how [President] Duterte has continuously destroyed government institutions, which we have tried to build up and strengthen since Ferdinand Marcos destroyed them all during martial law.” Lim, now president of Asia Pacific Projects Inc., a tourism and hospitality consulting company, emphasized: “If the TPB Boa rd succ u mbs to pressu re from Malacañang when it meets on December 15, then we might as well kiss the whole tourism industry good-bye.” Montano is expected to attend the TPB Board meeting which has, on its agenda, his appointment as COO. Based on Republic Act 9353 (Tourism Act of 2009), the TPB Board has to elect the COO from a list of qualified nominees. He will also be introduced to other TPB officials and staff. Jose Mari Del Rosario, president and CEO of Microtel Inns & Suites (Pilipinas) Inc. and Microtel Development Corp., was just as explicit in his reaction to Montano’s appointment. “Aside
Urban-poor week President Duterte (center) places his hand on his chest as the Philippine national anthem is played during the start of the Urban Poor Solidarity Week event in Mandaluyong City on Wednesday. AP/Aaron Favila
from being an actor, I don’t know what his professional background is. It doesn’t look like he meets the requirements for the TPB COO as specified in the Tourism Act of 2009.” He underscored that the job is “a promotions effort for the country’s tourism industry that requires a pro with solid and experienced marketing discipline; and must be a strategic thinker. We don’t have time for OJTs [on-the-job trainees]
Takenaka loses SC case on tax refund By Joel R. San Juan
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@jrsanjuan1573
HE Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday denied the petition filed by Takenaka Corp., a Japanese subcontractor hired to construct the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3, for refund of excess input value-added tax (VAT) amounting to P143.9 million in 2002. In an eight-page ruling penned by Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin, the SC’s First Division affirmed the decision issued by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) on March 29, 2010, denying Takenaka’s tax-refund claim. While it correctly dismissed Takenaka’s petition based on the merit, the High Tribunal said the CTA could have denied the petition outright for lack of jurisdiction. It explained that Takenaka timely filed its claim on April 11, 2003, within the two-year prescriptive period after the close of the taxable quarter when the zero-rated sales were made. On the other hand, the respondent Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) had 120 days, or until August 9, 2003, to decide the petitioner’s claim. Considering that the BIR did not act on Takenaka’s claim on or before August 9, 2003, the company had until September 8, 2003, the last day of the 30-day period, to file its judicial claim. The SC noted that Takenaka brought its petition for review before the CTA only on March 10, 2004, or 184 days after the last day of filing. “Clearly, the petitioner belatedly brought its judicial claim for refund, and the CTA did
not acquire jurisdiction over the petitioner’s appeal,” the SC said. “Accordingly, the CTA should have denied petitioner’s claim for tax refund or credit for lack of jurisdiction,” it added. Setting aside the technicality issue, the SC said the CTA did not err in denying the claim for refund of Takenaka on the ground that the petitioner had not established its zero-rated sales of services to Philippine Air Terminal Co. Inc. through the presentation of official receipts. The court noted that Takenaka submitted only sales invoices instead of official receipts, which are requirements for tax-refund claims. It explained that a VAT invoice is the seller’s best proof of the sale of goods or services to the buyer, while a VAT receipt is the buyer’s best evidence of the payment of goods or services received from the seller. “A VAT invoice and a VAT receipt should not be confused and made to refer to one and the same thing. Certainly, neither does the law intend the two to be used alternatively,” the SC said. “The Court concurs with the conclusion of the CTA En Banc, therefore, that “[w]ithout proper VAT official receipts issued to its clients, the payments received by respondent Takenaka for providing services to Peza [Philippine Economic Zone Authority]registered entities cannot qualify for VAT zero-rating. Hence, it cannot claim such sales as zero-rated VAT not subject to output tax,” the SC pointed out. Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Francis Jardeleza.
to handle such a critical job.” For her part, Aileen Clemente, president of Rajah Travel Corp., expressed hope that “whatever position needs to be filled, I hope that the powers-that-be can be more sensitive to the stakeholders and ensure the qualifications of those to be appointed. Not only are our businesses affected, but more so, the employees’ livelihood is at stake. That is why this is a serious responsibility.”
She also noted: “The concept of tourism does not seem clear to a lot of people since they only appreciate what is visual to them, when, in fact, it is a lot of planning and strategies and can become the top industry given its multiplier effect. There are several countries that truly prioritize tourism and ensure the long-term strategies for this and consistently prepare for its impacts on the economy, the social benefits, the environment,
among others.” Clemente, who is also president of the Asean Tourism Association and TCP executive vice president, added: “If the impression of tourism is merely artificial and merely short term and shallow promotion, then the industry will go nowhere. The mind-set of institutionalizing policies and implementing processes are just as key. This is why the leaders in the public sector need to be qualified.”
‘Violence committed on Pinoy kids prevalent’ By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco
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Correspondent
HE Council for the Welfare of Children, supported by United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and partners in the private sector, has revealed the results of the first-ever National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children (NBS-VAC) that details the high incidence and various forms of violence committed against Filipino children. The event also identified priority action plans and calls for concerted efforts among all sectors for a coordinated advocacy and stronger response to VAC. “We at the Department of Social Welfare and Development call on our units to take a more proactive role when it comes to reporting cases of child abuse. More important, we want to promote a mind-set among Filipinos that child abuse is wrong and should not be allowed in a society that claims to have respect for children’s rights,” Social Welfare Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo said. Taguiwalo also called on the delegation to make use of the results of the NBS-VAC as basis for enhancing legislation, policies, programs and interventions for children; and enhancing the capacity of all service providers in order to prevent and respond to violence against children in the Philippines. The study was conducted in 2015 nationwide, among almost 4,000 child respondents from across all sectors and socioeconomic backgrounds aged 13 to 24. Some highlights of the NBS-VAC are as follows: ■ Total prevalence of all forms of
violence against children is at 80 percent; with boys at 81.5 percent and girls 78.4 percent. ■ One in three children experiences physical violence, with more than half of this happening at home. ■ Most common cases of violence at home are corporal punishment committed by parents and siblings. ■ Three in five children experience psychological violence; in the form of verbal abuse, threats or neglect. ■ One in five children below age 18 have experienced sexual violence while growing up. ■ Common perpetrators of sexual violence are brothers or cousins. Among males who experienced sexual violence, frequent perpetrators are cousins, fathers and brothers. ■ Nearly half of children experience violence online, whether sexual violence or cyber-bullying. “It is of deep concern that so many forms of violence pervade and harm the lives of Filipino children across all settings, committed by people they trust. The evidence demonstrates the need for expressed high-level government commitment and partner support to implement the National Plan of Action to respond to and prevent VAC,” Unicef Philippines representative Lotta Sylwander said. Sylwander also cited the Philippine government’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in which VAC is a worldwide priority agenda to “end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence and torture against children [SDG 16.2].” At the launch of the results of the survey, the key findings of the study
were presented, along with a systematic literature review of local and international sources. It also highlighted the presentation of the results of the Fourth Philippine National Children’s Consultation in May, which CWC and Unicef hosted, in which over 200 child representatives from across the country discussed their opinions and experiences on VAC at a community level. Keynote speakers have also spoken about how the study’s results can drive policy reforms and improve national child-protection mechanisms; enable stronger cooperation between government and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners as program implementors; and share best practices from across the region. Both Taguiwalo and Sylwander urged the delegates to continue raising awareness among the broader public to elevate the discussion and highlight personal accountability among families and adult caregivers to uphold the rights and welfare of children. They joined CWC Executive Director Patricia Luna in gathering the speakers and delegates from Philippine government agencies; including Education Undersecretary Albert Muyot, National Youth Commission Chairman Cariza Seguerra and Senior Supt. Liborio Carabbacan of the National Police’s Women’s and Children’s Desk; Susan Bisell of the Global Partnership to End VAC; Bernadette Madrid of the Child Protection Network; and heads of other NGOs, faith-based organizations, academe, children representatives, media partners and other children’s advocates.