BusinessMirror December 25, 2014

three-time rotary club of manila journalism awardee 2006, 2010, 2012

U.N. Media Award 2008

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A broader look at today’s business

n

Tuesday, Thursday,November December18, 25,2014 2014Vol. Vol.1010No. No.4077

ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY, PHL’S TOP EXPORTER, BECOMING LESS DEPENDENT ON IMPORTED COMPONENTS

Seipi: Declining imports good sign

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By Catherine N. Pillas

lectronics imports continue to drop, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (Seipi) reported on Tuesday, a trend seen by industry players as a sign of the country’s diminishing dependence on imported materials.

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Christmas roast Roast-pig shops in La Loma, Quezon City, like the one in the picture, are again experiencing robust sales of lechon, considered the main dish in almost all Filipino feasts, this holiday season. NONOY LACZA

According to Seipi, from January to October, imports of electronics declined by 9.36 percent to $11.85 billion from $13.08 billion during the same period last year, as the total Philippine imports increased from $51.373 billion to $53.420 billion.

Dan C. Lachica, president of Seipi, credits this to the drop in imports of nine electronics products, including components/devices (semiconductors), down 11 percent; electronic data processing (EDP), down 9 percent; office equipment, down 1 percent; telecommunication, down 3 percent; communications/radar, down 4 percent; control/ instrumentation, down 7 percent; and medical/industrial instrumentation, down 3 percent.

Only the automotive segment saw a staggering growth in the electronics industry, at 63 percent.

Lachica noted that the declining import figures should be seen as “a good sign that our dependence on imports is getting lower, while the value added is getting greater.”

Continued on A2

JAPAN SET TO REAPPOINT ABE AS PRIME MINISTER 20 DAYS

health&fitness

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apan was preparing on Wednesday to name Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to his next term in office, following his victory in a December 14 snap election that could give him another four years to pursue his agenda of restoring Japan’s economic and security stature.

Abe’s Cabinet disbanded early in the day as a ritual first step. The parliament was to convene in the afternoon to elect Abe as prime minister. Abe is due to then appoint a new Cabinet.

Japanese media reported that the Cabinet ministers will remain the same apart from the defense minister, Akinori Eto. Many of the ministers were appointed in a reshuffle in early September.

Eto was one of several Cabinet ministers whose political-funding reports were questioned by opposition lawmakers during the recent parliamentary session. Two resigned from their Cabinet posts but were reelected, anyway. The questions over political Continued on A2

PESO exchange rates n US 44.6520

‘Disasters, Russian crisis threats to 2015 growth’

By Cai U. Ordinario

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xtreme weather events and the possible spread of the effects of the financial crisis are among the risks to Philippine economic growth next year.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said extreme weather events, which include drought, typhoons and earthquakes, could affect key sectors like agriculture and agribusiness.

He added that the Russian financial crisis can only affect the Philippines if the crisis spreads to the international community, similar to what happened in the United States financial crisis in 2009.

“Needless to say, the government contin-

ues to be vigilant on the possible risks that the country might face,” Balisacan said.

“The government will also continue its governance-reform program and ensure that the gains will be sustained even beyond the term of President Aquino,” he added. Balisacan said that, apart from these efforts, the risks may also be countered by certain sectors in the economy that may drive economic growth next year.

He added that these sectors include manufacturing, construction and logistics. Balisacan also said the Information Technology-Business Process Outsourcing industry is also expected to continue to be strong next year.

The National Economic and Develop-

ment Authority chief also said tourism is expected to “pick up in a big way” because of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting happening in the Philippines next year.

Balisacan said this will be supported by the favorable sentiments of the international community on the Philippine economy.

These sectors will also be the key drivers to prolonged, sustainable and inclusive economic growth. This growth will be the key to lifting millions of Filipinos out of poverty, he added.

“We need to be mindful that there are no quick fixes for long-standing problems; they require long-lasting solutions. The See “threats,” A8

n japan 0.3719 n UK 69.5901 n HK 5.7573 n CHINA 7.1769 n singapore 33.8735 n australia 36.3616 n EU 54.5960 n SAUDI arabia 11.8958 Source: BSP (23 December 2014)

News BusinessMirror

Thursday, December 25, 2014

A2

Seipi: Declining imports good sign

On a month-on-month comparison, the drop is at 19 percent, as September figures showed electronic imports totaled $1.37 billion as opposed to $ 1.11 billion in October.

According to the Seipi statement, the drop can be attributed to the decrease in the following segments in particular: components/devices (semiconductors) control and instrumentation, and medical/industrial instrumentation, which fell by 28 percent, 15 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

The top import markets are China (13.8 percent), Japan (13.4 percent), the US (12.9 percent), Singapore (12 percent) and Taiwan Continued from A1

Oil. . . Continued from A8

Financial Services Group. “Growth should remain good next year, with lower gasoline prices a big plus for consumers.” Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said he now expects healthy consumer spending to fuel economic growth of 2.6 percent in the current October-toDecember period. And Guatieri foresees solid growth of 3.1 percent next year. That would be the best performance since the economy grew 3.3 percent in 2005, two years before the Great Recession began.

Since the recession officially ended in June 2009, the economy has struggled to regain full health. Five years of growth have averaged an anemic 2.2 percent.

Tuesday’s figures are sure to be closely studied by the Fed. Last week. the Fed ended a policy meeting by saying it would be “patient” in deciding when to raise rates because the economy wasn’t yet fully healthy. Many investors concluded that no rate hike was likely before mid-2015 at the earliest, and they drove stocks to record highs.

Unexpectedly strong expansion, though, could escalate pressure on the Fed to raise rates, even though inflation remains well below its 2-

(11.5 percent), Germany (9.5 percent), Hong Kong (7.5 percent), Korea (6.7 percent), Thailand (4.1 percent) and Malaysia (4 percent).

The electronics industry is the country’s largest importer with a share of 25 percent, followed by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials at 16 percent According to National and Economic Development Authority Director General Arsenio M. Balisacan, in terms of imports, other countries in Asia experienced a decline, such as Hong Kong (-1.2 percent), Taiwan (-1.4 percent), Indonesia (-2.2 percent), Republic of Korea (-3 percent), Thailand (-4.9 percent), Japan (-6.7 percent) and Singapore (-7.5 percent).

percent target. One reason the Fed has kept its benchmark short-term rate near zero since 2008 has been to try to lift inflation from excessively low levels.

The government’s figures on Tuesday showed that the inflation gauge the Fed most closely watches has risen just 1.2 percent over the past 12 months. Partly as a result, few analysts think Tuesday’s figures will prompt the Fed to raise rates in early 2015. “We don’t see the Fed moving before June,” said Dough Handler, chief economist at IHS Global Insight.

And when the Fed does begin raising rates, Handler and others think the increases will be gradual and have only a slight effect on growth.

Also on Tuesday the University of Michigan said its index of consumer sentiment found that U.S. consumers were more optimistic about the economy than at any other point in the past eight years, buoyed by more jobs and falling gas prices.

Two other reports Tuesday were more cautionary: The government said sales of new homes fell in November, evidence that job gains have yet to boost the housing sector. And it said factory orders for long-lasting manufactured goods slumped last month. Bloomberg News, AP

Japan set to reappoint Abe as prime minister Continued from A1

finance pulled Abe’s popularity ratings lower and were likely a factor in his decision to call for the snap election.

Analysts said Eto’s handling of the questions was seen as too weak, and that Abe planned to appoint a stronger figure to help handle anticipated fierce questioning over defense-related issues in the next year’s parliamentary debate.

Local media said Gen Nakatani was viewed as the likely replacement for Eto. Nakatani served as defense minister under former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and supports a stronger role for Japan’s military, which is constrained by the country’s commitment to pacifism under the constitution drafted by the American occupation forces following Japan’s defeat in

Continued from A8

Southwest serving passengers to and from the Cavite side.

Last week two parties submitted bids for the P2.5-billion ITS Southwest Terminal deal, while the P4-billion South Terminal contract is currently under procurement.

Since the infrastructure program’s inception in 2010, the government has awarded eight contracts so far, involving: n P1.96-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway project bagged by Ayala Corp. in 2011; n P16.42-billion first phase of the PPP School Infrastructure Program (PSIP),

DECEMBER 25, 2014 | THURSDAY

Tail-end of a cold front is the extended part of the boundary, which happens when the cold air and warm air meet. This may bring rainfall and cloudiness over affected areas. It is felt at the northern hemisphere winter season.

DIFFUSED TAIL-END OF A COLD FRONT AFFECTING SOUTHERN LUZON. NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING NORTHERN AND CENTRAL LUZON.

Northeast Monsoon locally known as “Amihan”.

It affects the eastern portions of the country.

It is cold and dry; characterized by widespread cloudiness with rains and showers.

DEC 26 FRIDAY

DEC 27

SATURDAY

24 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

TUGUEGARAO

19 – 28°C

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DEC 28 SUNDAY

BAGUIO TUGUEGARAO CITY 20 – 27°C

SBMA/ CLARK

BAGUIO CITY 15 – 24°C SBMA/CLARK 24 – 31°C TAGAYTAY CITY 20 – 29°C

TAGAYTAY

22 – 31°C

14 – 24°C

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PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 25 – 32°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 25 – 32°C

TACLOBAN CITY 24 – 32°C

METRO CEBU 24 – 33°C

ZAMBOANGA CITY 24 – 35°C

PUERTO PRINCESA

ILOILO/ BACOLOD CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 25 – 32°C METRO DAVAO 25 – 33°C

23 – 28°C

23 – 38°C

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

25 – 32°C

FRIDAY

24 – 33°C

CELEBES SEA

SUNDAY

25 – 33°C

20 – 28°C

TACLOBAN

24 – 32°C

24 – 31°C

23 – 31°C

21 – 30°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

24 – 32°C

24 –33°C

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METRO DAVAO

24 – 32°C

25 – 33°C

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25 – 34°C

15 – 24°C

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ZAMBOANGA

24 – 33°C

25 – 34°C

SUNRISE

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

6:18 AM

5:34 PM

8:55 PM

8:54 AM

22 – 29°C

22 – 27°C

NEW MOON HALF MOON

25 – 31°C

25 – 32°C

LOW TIDEMANILA HIGH TIDE SOUTH HARBOR

DEC 29

7:35 AM

-0. 26METER 2:31 AM 9:36 AM Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and/or thunderstorms

Light rains

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www.panahon.tv

SABAH

DEC 28

24 – 32°C

Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms.

25 – 32°C

DEC 27

SATURDAY

25 – 33°C

DEC 22 26 – 32°C

DEC 26

24 – 32°C

LEGAZPI CITY 23 – 29°C

LEGAZPI

also last year. n P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System contract awarded to the AF Consortium of Ayala and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) last January; n P17.5-billion Mactan Cebu International Airport New Passenger Terminal project bagged in April by Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR Infrastructures Ltd.; and n P64.9-billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite Extension deal awarded in September to Light Rail Manila Consortium of Ayala and MPIC. The administration aims to sign at least 15 contracts by the time President Aquino steps down from office in 2016.

METRO CEBU

(AS OF DECEMBER 24, 5:00 AM)

LAOAG CITY 22 – 31°C

money into stock investments is driving share prices higher.

Since Abe must call the next election by December 2018, he could have another four years to deliver on pledges to open markets and streamline regulations that have hindered Japan’s competitiveness. So far, Japan’s powerful bureaucracy and its rural and commercial sectors have resisted major changes, foiling earlier reform efforts.

But, perhaps, the biggest challenge is in getting private industry to significantly raise wages while they are still struggling to contain costs to compete with other big export economies.

The meager increases in the past two years have not kept pace with inflation, hobbling a recovery in consumer demand needed to put growth on a sustainable path. AP

which went in 2012 to the consortium formed by Megawide Construction Corp. and Citicore Holdings Investment Inc., as well as the BF Corp.-Riverbanks Development Corp. Consortium; n P15.68-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport expressway, given to San Miguel Corp. unit Vertex Tollways Development Inc. in 2013; and n P3.86-billion PSIP Phase II contract, partially awarded last year to Megawide and the BSP & Co. Inc.-Vicente T. Lao Construction consortium; n P5.69-billion Modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center project that went to the Megawide-World Citi Inc. consortium

METRO MANILA

LAOAG

METRO MANILA 24 – 32°C

World War II. Abe favors revising the constitution as part of his effort to fortify Japan’s military.

Despite a record low turnout, the election’s outcome was seen as a public endorsement of Abe’s policies. But it also raises expectations for him to more aggressively tackle politically tough reforms for reviving the economy, two years after he first took office.

The economy fell into recession last year following a sales tax hike in April to 8 percent from 5 percent, prompting Abe to put off until 2017 a tax hike planned for October 2015.

Meanwhile, the central bank has stepped up its purchases of assets, pumping up to ¥80 trillion ($663 billion) a year into the economy to help drive prices higher and spur faster growth.

A recent decision to shift more public pension

DOTC adds VMMC lot in ITS North possible sites

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

TODAY’S WEATHER

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@PanahonTV

2:24 PM

0.30 METER

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rainshowers

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News

BusinessMirror Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Thursday, December 25, 2014 A3

Paje seeks ban on firecrackers

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By Jonathan L. Mayuga

NVIRONMENT Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje said local governments should consider a ban on the use of firecrackers in their respective localities to prevent air pollution.

Paje issued the call during a media briefing on Monday during which he underscored the danger posed by exploding firecrackers.

He said at least six cities and one town have already banned the use of firecrackers during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

These include the town of Pateros in Metro Manila and the cities

of Muntinlupa, Baguio, Olongapo, Davao, Kidapawan and Zamboanga.

Davao City was the first to impose a total ban on firecrackers.

He said the no firecracker policy of these local governments is worth emulating as it keeps residents safe from harm caused by the annual revelry.

“These local governments provide a model worth emulating by others.

Feasting and merrymaking should not be at the cost of poor air quality and declining public health,” Paje said.

“We hope other local governments, especially those in urban areas like Metro Manila, would come up with similar ordinances, so that their constituents can wake up to a new year that is filled with hope, not smog from exploding firecrackers that are dangerous to our health.”

Paje warned that firecrackers create unnecessary toxic air pollution that can cause serious health and environmental risks.

It can be recalled that in January 2014, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources reported that the level of particulate matter 10 microns and below (or PM10) reached 1,437 micrograms per normal cubic meter (ug/Ncm), which is almost 10 times above the guideline value of

PM10 at 150 ug/Ncm. Smoke from firecrackers contains sulphur compounds and heavy metals that could enter the body’s airways and aggravate the condition of people suffering from respiratory ailments such as asthma. As for the environment, firecrackers can lead to nutrient depletion in the soil and increased acidity in water bodies, thereby affecting biodiversity.

Instead of using firecrackers, Paje urged the public to make noise with whistles, rattles, car horns, bells and other harmless devices to ring in the New Year.

He also reiterated his earlier proposal for local governments to designate common areas where people can collectively set off firework displays for a limited time to ensure safety, reduce air pollution, and make cleanup easier afterward.

DOH program frees 114 indigents from hospital-bill woes in General Santos

By Manuel T. Cayon Mindanao Bureau Chief

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AVAO CITY—Indigent patients at the city-managed hospital in General Santos City were discharged on Tuesday without paying their hospital bills after availing of the amnesty program of the Department of Health (DOH).

The General Santos City Hospital sent home 114 patients who were not enrolled in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and who were incapable of paying their bills.

Among them was the wife of Regie Teves, 29, of Barangay Tambler, who had a caesarean section for their first child. “Our bill is only around P5,000 but we cannot pay it because we are poor,” Teves said. “This is the greatest Christmas gift for me.”

The DOH created the Medical Assistance Program, an amnesty program that provides funds to city and town hospitals to help patients who are not enrolled in PhilHealth.

In General Santos City, the DOH entered into a partnership with the city government, which spent more than P1 million to shoulder the bills of indigent patients.

Personnel from the City Social Welfare and Development Office were assigned to screen the patients to determineiftheywerequalifiedornottoavail of the amnesty program. If qualified, the entire bill of the patient would be shouldered by the city hospital through the allocated funds of the DOH.

By Lenie Lectura

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HE National Power Corp. (Napocor) is soliciting bids for next year’s supply and delivery of oil-based fuel for its Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) power plants.

The Napocor-SPUG is mandated by law to undertake the electrification of areas not connected to the main transmission grid, also referred to as missionary areas.

The state firm, in a published bid invite, said it is setting aside a budget of P1.71 billion as payment under the contract for the supply and delivery of fuel and diesel oil for the period covering January to December 2015.

It said that Western Mindanao would need 24,871 liters of diesel which could cost P972,998,286.

Luzon would need 13,432 liters of fuel oil that will cost P441,531,920, while Mindanao would need 8,917 liters of fuel with a corresponding amount of P294,302,019.

In all, the Napocor is earmarking P1,708,832,225 for the 47,220 liters of fuel that it needs next year.

The bidding, which will be conducted through an open competitive bid procedure, is set on January 19 next year. A pre-bid conference is scheduled on January 7, 2015.

“Bids must be delivered to the venue on or before the submission schedule and must be accompanied by a bid security. Late bids will not be accepted,” Napocor said.

Interested bidders, said the Napocor, should have completed within the last three years a contract similar to the project. Only Filipino firms can submit a bid proposal.

A complete set of bidding documents are sold for P75,000 each.

“Napocor continues to commit to its mission of lighting up the islands through missionary power, by making sure that SPUG operations are reliable and efficient. We are not only aiming for brownout-free services. We are also looking at extending the service hours in our missionary areas to better serve the communities and attract economic activity that would spur further growth,” Napocor President Gladys Sta. Rita said

Lawmaker proposes creation of Office of Natl Food Security

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Fish tales

A boy is awed at the sight of assorted fish swimming freely in a huge aquarium inside the Ocean Park in Manila. Most Filipino families spend a big part of the Christmas holidays in parks, amusement centers and malls. Roy Domingo

General Santos Mayor Ronnel Rivera earlier ordered the administrators of the city hospital to accept even those who are not city residents. “In this way we can help these needy people who are currently confined in our

‘Unruly’ passenger delays commercial flight at Cebu airport

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Napocor opens bidding for SPUG’s fuel-supply requirement for 2015

MANILA-bound passenger at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) threatened to break the airplane’s window, forcing the airplane’s pilot to delay its flight and return to the terminal to have the unruly passenger deplaned.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) identified the passenger as Kenny Barrosa, 31, of Liloan, Cebu.

Barrosa complained of difficulty in breathing, while Seair Flight SRQ 711 was already taxiing toward takeoff, said Caap MCIA Officer in Charge Nicolas Jumapao Jr. in his report.

The crew reported that although Barrosa looked fine, they told him that the airplane is postponing the flight and that he would be given medical assistance.

Barrosa reportedly got angry and dashed to the front of aircraft, trying to open the door.

“He was cursing and so the pilot had to call the airport’s security for assistance,” Jumapao said.

Alarmed, the pilot, whose identity was not provided by the Caap, radioed the airport’s security for assistance. Jumapao reported that while being deplaned, Barrosa wet his pants and ran toward the terminal building.

The airport security men gave chase and arrested the fleeing Barrosa near Gate 3, where he was bodily searched. The police did not find any weapon in Barrosa’s person.

He was taken to police headquarters for questioning. Recto Mercene

hospital. But more than that, we are also slowly decongesting the number of our patients.”

Gabrielle Fernandez, assistant head of the city hospital, said they hoped that the DOH would give more

funds to the city next year “so that we can continue this program.”

“If we can submit a fully liquidated and detailed report to the DOH national office, then we can ask for more funds for our amnesty program,” Fernandez said.

N a bid to expand the food-sufficiency program of the government in the depressed areas of the country, a lawmaker has filed a bill creating the Office of National Food Security.

House Bill 5210, filed by Liberal Party Rep. Winston Castelo of Quezon City, chairman of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development, has earmarked P20 billion for the creation of the Office of the National Food Security which will come from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

In filing the bill, Castelo said there is a need for comprehensive government policies to address hunger and malnutrition in rural areas.

Citing recent studies, Castelo said there are about 9.3 million poor Filipino families and 7.36 million children below the age of 5 who are considered malnourished.

Earlier, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) released its latest survey in the third quarter of 2014 showing that there are 12.1 million poor Filipino families.

According to Castelo the SWS poll also found out that 55 percent of the their respondents considered themselves poor which is three points higher than the 52-percent average in the last quarter of 2013.

“In order to achieve lasting and sufficiency program, there should be government office that would exclusively zero in on food security and tasked to guarantee food security in the country,” Castelo said. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

BFAR moves to boost oyster and mussel production

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AGUPAN CITY—A national program and study to enhance the production of oysters and mussels will be launched by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) next year in a bid to make the Philippines self-sufficient and even export these kinds of shellfishes abroad.

BFAR Director Asis Perez tapped the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Research and Development Center (NIFTDC) based in Dagupan City to spearhead this initiative using the book on oyster and mussel culture developed here in 1985 and published in 1991 by the erstwhile Seafarming Research and Development Department (SRDD) of the Philippine Human Resource and Development Center.

The SRDD is the forerunner of the present NIFTDC, a research center of the BFAR in Barangay Binloc, Dagupan City.

Dr. Westly Rosario, NIFTDC chief, said that the program, which will take two years to implement, will not only train technicians who will be deployed in various parts of the country to transfer technology on how to grow oysters and mussels in the coastal areas but will also review coastal areas earlier pinpointed as conducive for the growing of oysters and mussels.

He said that at present, the growing of oysters and mussels in the country is treated as a backyard-type industry except for a lone mussel commercial farm in Cavite but whose production was affected due to the continuing depreciation of the quality of water in that area.

Rosario said the objective is to organize cooperatives of backyard-shellfish growers so that together, they can meet the volume of products demanded by exporters.

Asked if intensified oyster and mussel culture is feasible in areas whose coastal water was affected by red tide such as in Western Pangasinan, Rosario said these areas must just have to live with it (red tide) and will refrain from harvesting shellfishes when a red tide alert is up.

This, Rosario said, was also the same recommendation given by scientists in an international forum he attended in Taiwan where he presented in a paper the problem posed by red ride during hot weather condition in some coastal areas in the Philippines.

He said a training program for technicians and farmers will also teach them how to detect through visual examination if the coastal water was already affected by red tide without them submitting the water and shellfish samples for laboratory analysis, which often takes sometime.

Rosario said there is a big demand for shellfishes, particularly mussels, abroad, especially in China where some of its people consider the green mussels as medicinal and aphrodisiac, equivalent to Viagra.

China does not grow mussels as the quality of water there is not so good and their

coastal areas being busy for navigation, Rosario added.

In the export market, a kilo of dried green mussels costs P4,000, same as the price of one kilo of dried sea cucumber now being exported by the country abroad.

At the same time, Rosario traced the continuing episodes of red tide in western Pangasinan to the fish cages teeming along the Caquipotan channel between Bolinao and the island town of Anda.

Red tide, caused by algal bloom, was first felt in Bolinao and Anda towns in 2001. Seven years after, it was felt in Wawa, Bani, and after another six years in the city of Alaminos.

Luckily, red tide has not reached the

coastal area in Daupan which produces oyster in its rivers.

The red tide toxin cannot be removed anymore in those areas earlier affected, but there is a way to prevent the occurrence of red tide episodes too often which is to reduce the number of fish cages in the area to ensure the flush out of an overload of nutrients coming from fish feeds being thrown to fishes in captivity to the sea.

It is the nutrients from the feeds that cause the organism to bloom during hot weather and when the water is much salty, said Rosario, adding that it is the fish farmers of Bolinao and Anda who can best solve their own problem posed by red tide by reducing their fish cages. PNA

News

A4 Thursday, December 25, 2014 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

China moving to derail delivery of guided Lawmaker pushes for modernization missile corvette to PHL military, AFP says

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By Rene Acosta

hina has been exerting efforts to derail the ongoing move of the Philippine military to beep up its capabilities by talking to South Korea against Seoul’s plan of donating a decommissioned guided missile corvette to Manila.

However, China’s overture was reportedly junked by South Korea, which decided to stick to its plan of turning over a retired Po Hangclass corvette to the Armed Forces of the Philippines scheduled possibly early next year.

“China is pressuring South Korea against the delivery of the corvette, but South Korea said we

have committed [for its delivery],” said military spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla Jr. The corvette, once delivered, should provide additional muscle to the military, which is currently facing an aggressive China in the West Philippine Sea for Beijing’s overlapping maritime claims.

The donation of the corvette that

had been used by the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) was announced in June this year by Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario, who even said they were expecting for its delivery later this year.

Del Rosario’s announcement followed an earlier statement by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin that South Korea is turning over a landing craft utility and 16 rubber boats to the military.

Gazmin issued the statement following his visit to South Korea, where he met with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwang-jin.

The Po Hang-class corvette is a 1,240-ton ship that can carry a crew of 95 and has an effective patrolling range of 4,000 nautical miles. It has a maximum speed of 32 knots.

For its armament, the corvette has six 324-mm Mk 32 antisubmarine torpedo tubes and one or two 76 mm Oto Melara antisurface and

antiaircraft. It also has the ability to launch surface-to-surface missiles.

South Korea is currently working for the delivery of a squadron of FA-5O lead, in fighter aircraft, two of which are being expected to be turned over to the military late next year.

Padilla said the country’s key military allies led by the United States are keen on helping the military achieve the credible defense posture that it was working on through its modernization program.

He said the US has agreed to further increase next year and up to 2016 the military assistance that it gave to the Armed Forces this year.

Japan is also working to chip in to the program by committing to help the military in capability development, particularly in the areas of maritime security and maritimedomain awareness.

Unidentified gunmen abduct Compostela Valley jail warden

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our still-unidentified armed men snatched on Tuesday the provincial jail warden of Compostela Valley while he was attending to his car-wash business, police said.

Jose Mervin Coquilla was abducted by the suspects at around 8:10 p.m. in Barangay Santo Niño, Panabo City, according to Supt. Antonio Rivera, spokesman for the Southern Mindanao regional police.

Rivera said that at the time of the kidnapping, the jail warden was attending to his car-wash business located adjacent to his house.

He said the victim was loaded onto a Nissan Navarra pickup, with plate number KGK-131, by his kidnappers and later sped away.

A team of policemen was conducting operations to possibly locate the kidnappers and rescue Coquilla.

Compostela is a known stronghold of the New People’s Army, which declared earlier an interrupted ceasefire with the government in order to allow Filipinos to celebrate Christmas and the New Year holidays.

The cease-fire was in response to the one-month suspensions of offensive military operations and offensive police operations that were declared by the government against the rebels.

The truce took effect on December 19.

Rivera could not say whether the abduction of Coquilla was the handiwork of the guerrillas. Rene Acosta

Playing with the big cat A boy bonds with a Bengal tiger, an endangered big cat species, at

the Malabon Zoo. There are only 2,300 Bengal tigers left in the world, and the Malabon Zoo management has pledged to help protect them from total extinction. Kevin dela Cruz

of public transport

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

A

party-list lawmaker has recently filed a measure seeking to modernize the country’s public-transport system.

House Bill 5302, or “An act modernizing the public land transportation industry and creating for this purpose the Land Transportation Franchising Commission, appropriating funds therefore and for other purposes,” authored by Angkla Partylist Rep. Jesulito A. Manalo, seeks to provide a modern and efficient publictransport system in the Philippines.

In filing the bill, Manalo said that, if the Philippines intends to be at par in development with its Asian neighbors, the government should modernize the country’s public-transport system.

Manalo, citing development experts, and even ordinary citizens who are mostly victims of transport inefficiencies, said public-transportation service is relevant and vital in all aspects of societal growth.

“Public-transportation service affects land use and development blueprints, creates jobs and triggers economic growth. All of these are important when considering the benefits of public transportation to the Philippine society,” the author added.

In the ordinary setting, Manalo said the transportation of goods, services and the riding Filipino public, whether by taxicab, jeepney, truck, bus or train, must be of such quality that it can serve as the backbone of economic progress.

Manalo recalled that, in 1987, thenPresident Corazon Aquino, through Executive Order (EO) 202, created the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) with the primary objective of providing world-class land transportation services that would contribute to the overall development of the country, improvement of the socioeconomic status of all stakeholders, and promote the welfare of the general public.

“Today more than a quarter of a century has passed and our public-

land transportation industry is still lagging behind our Asian neighbors,” Manalo said.

Currently, the lawmaker noted, “It is the riding public that continues to carry the burden of an inefficient transportation system, making it difficult for them to go to school, go to work and move around to achieve maximum potential.”

“There is an urgent need to revisit EO 202, as well as pertinent provisions of related statutes to achieve the goal that brought the law to its existence,” he added, expressing confidence that the Committees on Government Reorganization and Transportation would jointly endorse his bill’s passage.

Manalo said there is a pressing need to review the current administrative body, the LTFRB and amend its composition, adding that the expansion of the agency is necessary to include several departments of the government that have impact on the public-land transportation system, which is of national importance. “Transportation policies, programs and projects that are responsive to an investment-led and demanddriven industry can be best achieved by increasing the representation of the private sector and technical experts in public services,” he said.

“There is a notable absence from the private sector and technical experts, yet they represent a substantial portion of the population that are affected by the actions of the LTFRB,” Manalo added.

Moreover, the author said the Philippine Congress, the branch of the government allowed to grant franchises, should now exercise its oversight functions in the issuance and revocation of franchises to ensure that the administrative body adheres to its mandate.

"As the country gears to more economic success, it is imperative that both the public and private sector work hand in hand in improving public transportation. Diverse representation can help better understand the needs of all sectors involved, especially the riding public," he added.

Pro-Aquino legislator says LRT 1 and 2, MRT 3 fare hike ‘will eventually redound to the common good’

A

N administration lawmaker on Wednesday defended the approved fare increase in the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2, and the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT 3).

National Unity Party Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. of Cavite said that, while it might not sit well with the riding public, “the decision will eventually redound to the common good.”

“It’s a question of political will. The government is doing what it believes is right. It made an unpopular decision for the common good,” he said.

Barzaga, a lawyer, said the Aquino administration has shown courage in pushing for the fare hike, which translates to more funds for social services.

“It’s a bitter pill to take. True courage is when you are criticized even before you start, but you start anyway,” added the senior legislator.

On Monday several lawmakers,

which include Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Sherwin T. Gatchalian of Valenzuela, Party-list Rep. Terry L. Ridon of Kabataan and Sen. Grace Poe-Llamanzares, raised their opposition to the anticipated fare increase in LRT Lines 1 and 2 and the MRT 3, which, the transportation department said, will be implemented on January 4.

The lawmakers said the government should solve first the frequent breakdowns due to mismanagement before the implementation of the fare increases ranging from 50 percent to 87 percent.

Moreover, the fare increase, Barzaga said, is being done “in the spirit of justice and fairness” since citizens from Visayas and Mindanao also contribute to the subsidized operations of the train systems.

The government is paying P25 for

every LRT passenger and P45 for every MRT passenger.

The Department of Transportation and Communications has said the long overdue fare increase will finally be implemented on January 4, 2015.

The base fare for the LRT lines 1 and 2 and the MRT will be P11 and an additional P1 will be charged for every kilometer from the station of origin.

This means that a single journey ticket from Baclaran station to Roosevelt station will cost P30 from the present fare of P20.

Passengers, who use stored-value tickets for end-to-end trips on the LRT 1 and 2 will get a P1 discount.

For MRT 3 single journey and storedvalue tickets from Taft station to North Avenue station, or vice versa, the journey will cost P28 from the current P15.

Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

DPWH, NCCA to strengthen partnership to protect heritage sites

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

T

he Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will have to conduct studies together with the National Commission of Culture and Arts (NCCA) before approving projects that may affect historical sites or structures.

This was the latest instruction of Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson following the cultural commission’s reiteration of the public’s compliance to Republic Act 10066, or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009.

The law states that the DPWH shall collaborate with the NCCA in the implementation of programs or projects, specifically major infrastructure projects that would have an impact on heritage structures.

Singson said the department’s policy is also in response to several calls from groups and individuals opposing public works that may affect historical sites.

“To ensure proper protection of historical sites and prevent delays and revision of vital projects during construction, all DPWH offices are

directed to closely coordinate with NCCA during the conduct of feasibility studies for the design and improvement of projects,” the Cabinet official said.

The public works chief said that, while the government aims to provide infrastructure development across the country, the “preservation of historical sites and structures is a national concern as they serve to preserve our country’s rich culture.”

“The relics of the past are national treasures which must be preserved, restored and enhanced for the benefit of future generations,” he added.

News BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Thursday, December 25, 2014 A5

BIR chief orders cigarette makers to pay higher ‘sin’ tax

By David Cagahastian

I

NTERNAL Revenue Commissioner Kim JacintoHenares has ordered cigarette companies to pay the increased excise-tax rates on every pack of cigarettes based on the number of revenue stamps in their possession as of December 31.

Henares issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 89-2014, mandating cigarette companies to compute the additional taxes due on cigarette withdrawals, based on the number of revenue stamps in their possession by the said date, in view of the mandated increase in excise-tax rates on cigarettes effective January 1, 2015.

“In light of the impending increase of excise-tax rates on cigarettes effective January 1, 2015, there is an immediate need to determine the differential increase between the new tax rates and the current tax rates on both locally manufactured low-priced and highpriced brands of cigarettes, which were actually paid under Revenue

Regulations 7-2014, as amended, requiring the prior payment of excise taxes due thereon on purchases of internal-revenue stamps,” RMC 89-2014 said.

“Accordingly, all local manufacturers of cigarettes shall compute and pay the differential increase between the new tax rates and the current tax rates, according to the tax classification of their cigarette products, based on the number of internal-revenue stamps, whether actually affixed to the packs of cigarettes, being held in their possession as of December 31, 2014,” the circular said.

Payments on the additional excise taxes due, based on the number of revenue stamps in the possession of the cigarette companies, shall be due not later than the last working day of December, which is December 29.

According to the Sin-Tax Reform Act of 2012, cigarette packs with a net retail price of P11.50 and below shall be imposed a P21-excise tax per

pack, while cigarette packs with a net retail price of more than P11.50 will be imposed a P28-excise tax per pack, starting January 1, 2015.

Henares also ordered the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to validate the additional excise-tax payments by conducting a physical inventory of all revenue stamps in the possession of all manufacturers as of December 31.

The new revenue stamps were launched earlier this year as the Internal Revenue Stamps Integrated System project. This sought to enable the BIR to more effectively monitor the removal of cigarette packs from the warehouses of manufacturers and ensure that they have paid the correct taxes on such cigarette packs that are removed into the market.

According to BIR’s figures, excise taxes on tobacco products collected from January to September amounted to P64.96 billion, or 90.17 percent above the actual collection target in excise taxes for the period.

Del Monte to use proceeds of rights issue to pay its $165-M BPI debt

By VG Cabuag

T

HE Campos-led Del Monte Pacific Ltd. said it will use proceeds of its rights issuance to pay off its debt from the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI).

The company said it plans to raise $180 million from the Philippines and Singapore by selling up to 641.9 million shares. Its board will mandate how many shares it will sell to the public that will be priced at a discount of between 20 percent and 25 percent.

Shares of Del Monte were down on Tuesday’s trade at P14.96 apiece.

The company appointed DBS Bank as lead manager and underwriter for the Singapore rights issue and BPI Capital Corp. for the Philippine issuance.

“The company intends to utilize the net proceeds of the rights issue to repay the bridging facility of $165 million from the Bank of the Philippine Islands that the company had obtained to partially finance the acquisition of the consumer food business completed on February 19.

The rights issue will allow the company to de-leverage and strengthen its balance sheet,” Del Monte said.

A rights issuance gives current shareholders to purchase additional shares from the company in proportion to their existing holdings, within a fixed time period.

At the moment, NutriAsia Pacific Ltd. holds some 66.76 percent of Del Monte, or an aggregate interest of 869.31 million shares, Lee Foundation owns some 7.71 percent and Lee Pineapple Co. Ltd. owns 8.21 percent.

NutriAsia has signified it will subscribe for its pro-rata entitlements for the rights issue.

The company said it will submit an application for the said offering to the stock-exchange authorities in Singapore and in the Philip-

By Genivi Factao

U

BS Securities Pte. Ltd. sees peso weakness in 2014, on higher US dollar rates and a stronger US dollar.

UBS analyst Edward Teather said many Asian central banks, including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, buy US dollars (to increase their foreign reserves) when their currencies are under pressure to appreciate.

The purchase of more foreign reserves causes the domestic money supply to expand, which then must be sterilized usually with central bank debt or by adjusting reserve requirement ratios on deposits.

UBS said the process flows in the other direction when currencies are under pressure to depreciate.

The US dollar appreciated on bets of interest-rate hikes next year.

“We foresee peso weakness in 2014 in the face of higher US dollar rates and a stronger US dollar,” he said.

Having appreciated in two years prior to 2013, UBS said the peso underperformed the baht and ringgit in 2013, suffering more than those economies from the incremental tightening of global monetary conditions and an increase in the supply of pesos at home.

“Counter to our expectations, the peso showed stability in 2014; benefiting from a credit-rating upgrade by Standard & Poor’s and low US rates,” UBS said.

Obviously exchange rates affect inflation and trade.

“One of the reasons to look at exchange rates in Asia is because most central banks like ‘to lean against the

wind’ and in doing so, affect domestic liquidity conditions,” UBS said.

Meanwhile, BPI Asset Management said peso weakened against the US dollar as fears over the health of the Russian economy and the Federal Reserve’s (the Fed’s) hawkish statement improved appetite for the dollar.

BPI Asset Management said the Fed statements have only reaffirmed views of more divergent monetary policies next year.

“Notwithstanding the weak global economic outlook and the impact of low oil prices on inflation, the Fed remains on track to begin hiking interest rates in 2015,” BPI said.

Investors found some relief after Fed Chairman Janet Yellen hinted that the liftoff in the next two quarters is very unlikely.

“With the conclusion of the twoday Federal Open Market Committee meeting last week, financial markets will take guidance from the continued volatility in oil prices and from developments in Russia.

“The failure of the Russian central bank to contain the ruble’s depreciation, despite the significant interestrate hike that will put their economy at risk, has sparked concerns of a possible contagion in the emergingmarkets space,” BPI said.

“This new development has prompted foreign-fund managers to reassess their strategy as they position for 2015. For the rest of the year, we expect muted volumes as fund managers take a defensive stance in light of these recent developments,” it said, adding that “the events overseas will continue to dictate the direction of the local currency.”

P32-M rice-processing facility starts operation in S. Cotabato

By Manuel T. Cayon

Mindanao Bureau Chief

D

24 hours at your service

morning to continue selling fuel to motorists.

pines and also with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Del Monte earlier said it turned in a profit of a mere $200,000 for its fiscal second quarter ending October from last year’s $8.9 million in income, mostly as a result of its huge acquisition cost of US firm Del Monte Foods.

Revenues ballooned to $548 million, 80 percent of which already came in from the US firm, from last year’s $136.3 million.

Stripping out the income of USbased Del Monte Foods, its revenues

A Shell gas station along Quezon Avenue in Quezon City remains open in the wee hours of the KEVIN DELA CRUZ

for the period would have been only at $128.5 million, or less than the previous year, while net profit would have been at $10.4 million.

Americas now consists of 80 percent of Del Monte’s turnover, followed by 19 percent from Asia Pacific and only 1 percent from Europe after the lower sales of pineapple-juice concentrate due to the intentional shifting out of unbranded juice.

The company said it will continue to shore up cash to pay up its huge

RCBC prepares for more capital buffer

T

UBS foresees peso weakness vs dollar

HE Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) said the recent equity raising has prepared the bank with the more stringent rules that require additional capital buffers under Basel 3.

RCBC President and CEO Lorenzo V. Tan said the recent capital raising bolstered its capital adequacy position.

He said the strategic partnership with the Taiwanese financial company Cathay Life Insurance Co. Ltd. has prepared the bank for Basel 3 compliance.

“We raised our capital last year. This is our second round of capital raising. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas [BSP] will require additional capital buffers: The too-big-to-fail buffers,” he told the BusinessMirror. “So the minimum Tier-1 capital today is 8.5 percent. The too-big-to-fail buffers

will require another 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent.”

RCBC inked an agreement with Cathay Life to acquire a 20-percent ownership of the bank. “We’re adequately capitalized up to 2017. This money coming in will keep us in a competitive position up to 2017,” he said.

Cathay Life subscribed to 124.24 million new shares, 119.03 million shares from selling shareholder Hexagon Investments BV and 36.72 million shares from another selling shareholder International Finance Corp. Cathay Life’s total investment amounted to P7.95 billion.

He said having raised the money they need, they no longer worry about overseas events like what’s happening in Russia. “At least, you can sleep well. You already raised the money,” he said. Genevi Factao

debts, which by April next year, would have been reduced to about $1.25 billion to $1.3 billion in net debt from October’s $2 billion.

“We are committed to significant ly deleverage DMPL’s balance sheet by reducing debt in the next quarter through an international perpetual preference share offering followed by a rights issue which are expected to raise $515 million,” said Joselito Campos Jr., the company’s CEO and managing director.

AVAO CITY—South Cotabato now has one of the biggest rice-processing complexes in Mindanao, with its biomass-fed milling facility able to mill 1.5 million tons of rice per hour.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) called its newest center, the Rice Processing Complex (RPC) III, in Santo Niño town of South Cotabato, to strategically serve the Cotabato provinces that have taken the textbook credit as the rice bowl of the country.

DA Soccsksargen Regional Executive Director Amalia JayagDatukan said the new rice-processing center in Barangay Ambalgan “provides the postharvest needs of 5,000 farmers cultivating 10,000 hectares of rice lands of Santo Niño town and nearby municipalities.”

The DA spent P23.725 million for the construction of grain-processing and storage facilities; P6 million for capital operations; P1.5 million for capability-building; and P1 million for administrative and management requisites.

The complex consists of two biomass-fed mechanical dryer, a modern rice mill and a storage facility.

The rice-processing facility can mill 1.5 tons of palay per hour, and

each of its mechanical dryers can accommodate 600 sacks of palay in an eight-hour operation.

Big rice traders and planters have already patronized the center, according to the information office of the Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Division of the DA in Soccsksargen region.

Rice farmer and buy-and-sell operator Liwayway Andigan said she chose to deliver her palay to RPC III “ because of its high milling-recovery rate of up to 65 percent.”

Firmus Farm Service Cooperative (FFSC) Chairman Jaime Junsay corroborated Andigan’s point, saying “there are instances that the milling-recovery rate using RPC III has reached 72 percent.”

FFSC is a farmer cooperative based in Koronadal City which manages the operations of the facility along with the local government unit of Santo Niño, National Food Authority and DA regional office in Soccsksargen.

Andigan said the mechanicaldrying facilities were the advantage of RPC III. “I noticed that the milled rice is clearly white and has lighter spots.

This facility is very efficient and really meets our milling requirements,” she said.

Archbishop calls on Christians to ‘reach out to others in charity’

C

ATHOLIC Bishops’ Conference of t he Ph i l ippi nes (C BCP) President and Lingayen, Dagupan A rchbishop Socrates Villegas on Wednesday stressed that “more than the season’s trimmings, the gifts and parties, Christmas calls us to cross over to where God wants us to be, where our brothers and sisters are.”

Villegas said Christmas is “reaching out to others in charity.”

“From where we are at present, we also need to cross many more rivers, many more seas, many more mountains. We also need to cross over and find each

one, showing everyone that we are all brothers and sisters,” Villegas said in a recent video message posted on the CBCP web site.

Explaining the meaning of “pasko” or “pesach,” Villegas said it means “passover” or to “cross over”.

“The meaning of Christmas is God has crossed over. The challenge of Christmas is that we, too, cross over,” he said.

Villegas, who is part of the Central Committee for Papal Visit 2015, also delved on the amazing reality of Christ’s incarnation.

“From heaven, God crossed over to

where we are. God has crossed over to our side and lived among us, and became like us and ate our food and walked on our earth. That is how much God loves us,” he said.

Making a similar plea to Catholics as Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle did with his request to the clergy to share their Noche Buena dinner with poor families, Villegas asked the faithful to “make a meaningful Christmas, by crossing over, by reaching out.” “[A] reaching hand is also a sharing hand, and a sharing hand is the hand of Jesus for us,” Tagle said. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Opinion BusinessMirror

A6 Thursday, December 25, 2014

Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

editorial

As Christmas dawns

W

HAT is this day—this Christmas—that dawns with a chorus of joy? What river of love and magic speeds the message from that moment of wonder in Bethlehem across the cold darkness of centuries long forgotten? How does it warm us this morning as we awaken in a world that the Wise Men could scarcely imagine to a radiance that, once each year, makes it all just a little bit better?

As a people, we know this day—this Christmas—that dawns with a chorus of joy. And as one people, almost as one world, we now join in the celebration on the birthday of the Babe with the fervent hope that the elusive gift of peace will not slip from our grasp. We do not doubt that the day’s promise is ours, whether we accept the Messenger as our Prince of Peace or merely find solace and rare hope in the sure rising on one blessed day of a tide of essential goodness, a promise of the perfectibility of our most imperfect world.

This should not dilute, but strengthen, the miracle for Christians. For this day, this Christmas, belongs to us all as it dawns with a chorus of joy. Sing out the praises of Christmas, sing them in shouts and whispers. Praise the innocence of children as they stand awed before the tree, rubbing sleep and amazement from wide eyes. Praise the capacity of parents, their own innocence scraped raw by the rough edges of life, to recapture it fleetingly in this instant of observed enchantment. Praise the tolerance of grandparents for all the childish excesses in grandchildren that they scolded their own kids for each Christmas morn.

And don’t try too hard to sort out whether it’s smoke from a lighted candle or tender nostalgia that tears the occasional eye in this reliving of family traditions. Christmas tears are to cherish, not to analyze.

Christmas tears are to be shed, too, for those beyond the hearth. Let us open our hearts and cry for the pain of the lonely, the unloved, the deserted and the desolate; for the hungry, the homeless, the ill-clothed and the unprotected; for the uncared-for aged, the mentally and the physically ill, the addicts and alcoholics; for the victims, the abused children and adults, the battered, the helpless, the casualties of war and other crimes. Let us cry for them and for untold others.

But let us also remember that, in our sadness for the pain of others, is a redemption of the spirit, the Christmas joy of sharing our humanity. In our passion for the righting of all wrongs, we are but living our inheritance, the command of all religions and most philosophies in every time and place that we love one another. We are our brothers’ and our sisters’ keepers.

Renewed in that simple knowledge, that easy act of faith in our own humanness, let us set aside the sadness, but not our deepest caring, and rejoice in the accumulated sights and sounds of the season that fill us this Christmas Day: the bells ringing; the brassy caroling of a Salvation Army band; the radio marathons of Christmas tunes; the stores bathing shoppers in inspiration.

And forgive the merchants their commerce as you recall small noses pressed against the windowpanes of happiness, bright eyes drinking in the stuff of dreams that only children know.

Curse the crass corruption of the season? Not with an honest heart, if you have ever known a child, or been a child. Exorcise the greed, if you will. It belongs to a grown-up world. But leave a time, this special time, for the dreams of children.

For our love of peace, for our love of each other and especially for our love of the children and our belief in their need to dream, we welcome, yes, praise, this day, this Christmas, that dawns with a chorus of joy. Chicago Tribune/TNS editorial

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Christmas: It’s different in the Philippines John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

T

HE celebration of Christmas in the Philippines is one of the many things that help define this country, its culture and its people. This is from an article on CNN.com: “Where would you find the most Christmas spirit in the world? The Southeast Asian [archipelago] has the world’s longest festive season.”

This is old news to Filipinos, who are fully aware that other Christmas-celebrating nations talk about our long Christmas season with a touch of sarcasm and a bit of disrespect. But that does not matter, because we do not take it seriously.

We even joke about who hears the first Christmas song played in the malls in September.

There are many traditions involved in the celebration, from hanging the parol (Christmas lantern) to serving Noche Buena food.

Ignored in all those articles about our Christmas festivities that were published by the foreign media are the genuine expressions of charity that Filipinos show to the less fortunate in order for them to enjoy the holidays, too. In our parish, more than a hundred families

were given Noche Buena food baskets donated by the parishioners.

Sure, the cynics are going to ridicule these efforts as little in the bigger picture, but these are important to the people who received those food baskets. As Taylor Swift says in her song “Shake It Off”, haters gonna hate, anyway.

Visiting the Star City amusement park, which stands next to the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Pasay City, has almost become a Christmas tradition for many people in Metro Manila. I remember taking my eldest son, then 3 years old, to Star City when it first opened in 1991. There was not much in the park then. The highlight was probably a small-sized replica of the Manila galleon that you could get on board and see what the ships

looked like back then. The replica was built as a fundraising effort for a group that wanted to build a life-sized galleon and sail to Mexico once again.

A few days ago, we went back to Star City after not visiting it for several years. Many of the rides there are now high-tech, with lasers and the like, but one of the park’s most popular and enduring attractions remains the same: Snow World. It was a great experience 20 years ago, and it still is today. Watching my youngest son experience the same excitement over his ears burning and lips getting numb from the extreme cold as his older brother did so many years ago—it does not get much better than that.

At 7:30 p.m. another Filipino Christmas tradition took place inside Star City. Across from the food kiosks and near the “P25 for three minutes” electric-massage chairs, with the sound of the Grand Carousel in the background, more than a hundred people gathered to hear the anticipated Simbang Gabi (Night Mass). The scent from the incense burning in the censer provided an interesting contrast to the smell of the cheese popcorn nearby.

While the local Catholic Church does not encourage the celebration of Mass in shopping malls and the like, many Filipino Catholics feel

comfortable stopping what they are doing to hear Mass in the same way that followers of Islam perform their salah.

In the West, images of Santa Claus are as common as the Nativity scene, or crèche, if not more. Not so in the Philippines. Perhaps, Filipinos are too grounded in reality to believe in magical gift-giving.

Christmas in the Philippines is different from everywhere else, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

There are many other things that are different about this nation, society, culture and, yes, economy.

No doubt, you are getting bored with me pointing out the positive things about our economy and financial system that are different from the rest or the world. I promise that I will take a break with that— at least, until 2015.

In the meantime, enjoy your holiday and have a Merry Christmas. Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you this past year.

Send me an e-mail at mangun@ gmail.com. Visit my website at www. mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter at @mangunonmarkets.

PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

What the US should learn from Russia’s collapse

By Miriam Pemberton Inter Press Service

W

ASHINGTON, D.C.—After months of whispered warnings, Russia’s economic troubles made global headlines when its currency collapsed halfway through December. Amid the tumbling price of oil, the ruble has fallen to record lows, bringing the country to its most serious economic crisis since the late 1990s.

Topping most lists of reasons for the collapse is Russia’s failure to diversify its economy. At least, some of the flaws in its strategy of putting all those eggs in that one oil-and-gas basket are now in full view.

Once upon a time, Russia did actually try some diversification, back before the oil and gas “solution” came to seem like such a good idea. It was during those tumultuous years when history was pushing the Soviet Union into its grave. Central planners began scrambling to convert portions of the vast state enterprise of military production—the enterprise that had so bankrupted the empire—to produce the consumer goods that Soviet citizens had long gone without.

One day the managers of a Soviet tank plant, for example, received a directive to convert their production lines to produce shoes. The timetable was: Do it today. They didn’t succeed.

Economic development experts agree that the time to diversify is not after an economic shock, but before it. Scrambling is no way to manage a transition to new economic activity. Since the bloodless end to the Cold War was foreseen by almost nobody, significant planning for an economic transition in advance wasn’t really in the cards.

But now, in the United States, at least, it is. Currently the country is in the first stage of a modest defense downsizing. We’re about

a third of the way through the 10year framework of defense cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011.

Assuming the US Congress doesn’t scale back this plan or even dismantle it altogether, the resulting downsizing will still be the shallowest in US history. It’s a downsizing of the post-9/11 surge, during which Pentagon spending nearly doubled. So the cuts will still leave a US military budget higher, adjusting for inflation, than it was during nearly every year of the Cold War—back when we had an actual adversary, the aforementioned Soviet Union, that was trying to match us dollar for military dollar.

Now, no such adversary exists.

Thinking of China? Not even close: The US spends about six times as much on its military as Beijing.

Even so, the US defense industry’s modest contraction is being felt in communities across the country.

By the end of the 10-year cuts, many more communities will be affected.

This is the time for those communities that are dependent on Pentagon

contracts to work on strategies to reduce this vulnerability, to get ahead of the curve.

There is actually Pentagon money available for this purpose.

Its Office of Economic Adjustment exists to give planning grants and technical assistance to communities recognizing the need to diversify.

As we in the US struggle to understand what’s going on in Russia and how to respond to it, at least one thing is clear: Moscow’s failure to move beyond economic structures dominated by first military production, and now by fossil fuels, can serve as a cautionary tale and call to action.

Diversified economies are stronger. They take time and planning.

Wait to diversify until the bottom falls out of your existing economic base, and your chances for a smooth transition decline precipitously.

Turning an economy based on making tanks into one that makes shoes can’t be done in a day.

Miriam Pemberton directs the Peace Economy Transitions Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Asia’s biggest losers in 2014 The new family in God’s grace Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

William Pesek

A

BLOOMBERG VIEW

fter shares in BYD, a Chinese car company backed by his Berkshire Hathaway, crashed without explanation earlier this month, Warren Buffett had reason to recall his famous adage about swimming naked when the tide rolls out. If it’s any consolation, the “Sage of Omaha” had plenty of company in Asia in 2014. As the year draws to a close, it’s time to name and shame the companies, politicians and corporate emperors caught out looking distinctly undressed. Herewith, my second annual Naked Awards: Leung Chun-ying: Hong Kong’s chief executive may have won points with authorities in Beijing for staring down the monthslong Occupy Central protests, but among his own people, his credibility is in tatters. The wildly unpopular and tin-eared leader wasn’t helped by his daughter’s juvenile Facebook posts poking fun at the city’s poor. But his own comments about the dangers of allowing less well-off Hong Kong citizens to choose their own leader will rankle far longer.

Sony: Already adrift, the Japanese corporate icon ignominiously caved in to Kim Jong Un in history’s most bizarre hacking scandal.

Imagine if the next world war was fought over Seth Rogen and James Franco! Three years after PlayStation accounts were hacked, Sony’s cyber defenses look about as resilient as the company’s pipeline of innovative products.

Thailand’s junta: A lesson generals never seem to learn: When you topple a government, it’s best to have a plan. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha seems to be making things up as he goes along, spending more energy on suppressing protests—including the three-fingered salute from The Hunger Games—than on laying the groundwork for new elections. The junta claims it wants to bring happiness back to the Thai people. They should start with a credible plan to revive the stagnating economy.

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ): The DPJ was roundly criticized for complaining that it wasn’t ready when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called a snap election this month. With approval ratings for Abe’s Cabinet plummeting, the opposition party should have cleaned up at the polls; instead, even DPJ President Banri Kaieda lost his parliament seat. A question for the next DPJ leader: Why are you here?

Uber: Two weeks after an alleged rape prompted India’s home ministry to advise a ban on the chauffeured-car service, it’s fighting to stay on the road in Taiwan.

CEO Travis Kalanick had a rough year in Asia, where regulators in

Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are probing Uber’s legality.

What’s more, Japan’s Softbank this month invested $250 million in Southeast Asia rival GrabTaxi.

The road ahead in the world’s biggest growth market is not going to be smooth.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries: In the space of 12 months, the oil producers’ club went from world-feared cartel to a ragtag collection of squabbling also-rans. Expect more infighting as Chinese demand for fossil fuels continues to wane, and America continues to wean itself off dependence on foreign oil by exploiting its shale-gas reserves.

Malaysian Air: One can have nothing but sympathy for the carrier after it tragically lost a plane in July to a missile attack over Ukraine. But its earlier misplacing of a Boeing 777 raised legitimate questions about the stateowned airline’s crisis-management capabilities.

The disappearance of Flight MH370 in March with 239 people onboard didn’t just serve up the biggest aviation mystery since Amelia Earhart; it exposed an insular, one-party government as unready for global prime time.

Australia’s economy: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott made this list last year for his ill-timed fiscal austerity push. In 2014 his resource-addicted economy paid the price as the long-feared Chinese slowdown began to bite.

Australia has had to trim its 2015 iron ore price estimate by 33 percent (on top of this year’s 49percent plu nge). Aust ra l ia ns are feeling awfully exposed to a sputtering mainland economy, which is doing its own share of skinny-dipping.

Indeed, leaders of Asia’s three biggest economies are all, at least, flirting with inclusion on this list, as well. Abe, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi still have a chance next year to show that their pledges of shock therapy can put their nations on a path to stable and sustainable growth. But it’s time to put some clothes on.

Alálaong Bagá

T

HE blessing and joy of family life is based on walking in the ways of the Lord (Psalm 128:1–2, 3, 4–5). The piety of the Holy Family—Jesus, Mary and Joseph—and the spiritual receptivity of Simeon and Anna come from fidelity to God’s ways and from hearts that know the fear of the Lord (Luke 2:22–40).

Blessed are you who walk in the ways of God LIKE a written piece of wisdom, Psalm 128 instructs, rather than praises or pleads to God. It begins with a beatitude: Happy are all who fear the Lord and follow His ways.

Fear of the Lord is a trait of the righteous person. It is not an abstract attitude, but involves concrete fidelity to the ways of the Lord. It denotes tremendous awe at the marvels and power of God, which moves one to live in accordance with His will. It is not terror at being mistreated, but uncertainty about oneself should he be remiss in fulfilling the obligations due to the proper relationship with the Almighty.

The blessings promised begin with the good fortune of enjoying the fruit of one’s labor, and not somebody else eating the fruit of what one has planted (cf. Isaiah 65:21–23). In other words, no enemy shall have your grain for food or drink your wine (cf. Isaiah 62:8–9). God’s favor

will also be experienced in having a large and extended family: the wife, like a fruitful vine; and sons, like olive saplings. A large family is a sign of fertility and prosperity, providing companionship through life, partnership in work and protection in a hostile environment. These will be your blessings if you fear the Lord.

May God bless you from Zion, His dwelling place, and may you share in Jerusalem’s prosperity all the days of your life.

Observant of the laws of the Lord

THE narration of Jesus’ presentation at the Temple highlights the piety of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as a family.

Five times it is stated that the parents of Jesus were complying with the prescriptions of the law. They, who conformed to the Roman emperor’s decree that all shall be included in a census, now comply even more faithfully to the law’s requirements of purification (Leviticus 12:1–8) and redemption of the first-born

Keep Christ in Christmas

By Ed Darling

The Duncan Banner, Okla. (TNS)

Y

OU know the old story as “One Solitary Life”, but it could easily have been altered to fit more modern times.

It was if He had been born in Empire, Velma or Bray or some other small community near a larger one.

And it didn’t take long to see that He was different.

Though He wasn’t the subject of a television documentary, a national magazine spread, Internet chatter or a newspaper feature story, He attracted attention because of His unusual ability to understand the sacred and time-honored teachings of events surrounding His life at a time when other youngsters His age were fishing, hunting or developing their athletic or musical skills.

Later, as He became older, He did learn a trade, working with cypress logs as a carpenter until the age of 30, when He changed professions to become, of all things, an evangelist, moving from one small place to another, sharing His principles of life and speaking with whoever would listen.

He never had an office, a secretary or a computer. He never ran a business, owned a car, balanced a budget,

joined a club, wore stylish clothes, played a video game or danced at a party. He was never elected or appointed to public office. He never married or had a family.

There is no record that shows He ever had a real home or that He ever wrote a book. And certainly, He never had a radio or television, much less an iPad, iPhone or Kindle.

His journeys weren’t meticulously planned by a travel agent or through a website and they probably never took Him more than a couple hundred miles from the barn or cave where He was born.

By today’s standards, He may have been a failure, the owner of no material thing, the possessor of no lofty title. In fact, He challenged authority and was perceived to be highly radical and out of step with what was then the norm.

Yet, the message He shared, the example He lived and the hope He

(Exodus 13:2, 12). The power of life that characterizes blood was thought of as sacred and, therefore, belonging to God. Coming into contact with blood necessitates that the person or the object concerned be purified.

Mary’s purification is narrated in connection with Jesus’ presentation. The other ritual requirement concerns the first-born male child, who opened his mother’s womb and should be consecrated to the Lord. He is believed as belonging to God, so he can only be reclaimed or redeemed by offering, in sacrifice, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, for ordinary and poorer families. In “buying” back the Child Jesus, Joseph and Mary acknowledged the initial claim of God to their firstborn.

A double paradox: In giving birth to Jesus, Mary needed to be cleansed, and Jesus needed to be redeemed.

Open to God

THE recognition of the Child Jesus

by Simeon and Anna exemplifies how divine revelation does not automatically go with official status.

These two were not officials of religion, but their genuine devotion and piety made them more open to God and His ways than those of the privileged group who did not recognize Jesus. Like the prophets of old, Simeon is said three times to have the Holy Spirit leading him. Seeing the Child Jesus being brought to the temple by Joseph and Mary, the righteous man realized that here was the glory of Israel and the light to the world that he had been

offered created a tranquil peace for those who flocked to see Him, to hear His words and to share His beliefs.

More than 20 centuries have passed since His brief, but remarkable visit. And the pace of life has quickened, exploding almost daily in speed and complexity far greater than any of us can understand.

Since His walk among us, dozens of kings, dictators, presidents and politicians have tried to rule parts of the world. Wars have been fought, won and lost. Men have walked on the moon. Lives have been lengthened because of medical advances.

Communication has diminished the size of our world. And technology has changed virtually every facet of our everyday existence.

But nothing has affected this world as much as that one humble, giving life.

We celebrate His birthday on Thursday.

Hopefully, while lights glisten on trees that will soon be bare of beautifully wrapped presents, while children play with their speedy little cars and their impeccably dressed little dolls, while moms and dads help activate their iPhones, iPads and other electronic gadgets, while less glamorous items, like sweaters,

A7

waiting for. He also received the insight of the opposition to Jesus that would arise, like a sword that would pierce Mary’s own heart.

Anna, an old and widowed prophetess who, with her life of penance and prayer, had been waiting in the Temple for the redemption of Israel, saw the Child Jesus and recognized the fulfilment of her dream. She gave thanks to God, and spoke to all who cared about the Child. These two pictures of ancient Israel in need of and longing for redemption had the blessing and the joy of welcoming the Promised One. Alálaong bagá, as Psalm 128 affirms, those who fear the Lord and walk in His ways enjoy divine blessings. A righteous person with a mind and heart open to God’s ways is promised a fruitful family life, a measure of divine grace. And the individual’s good fortune becomes a sharing in, while redounding to, the good fortune of the nation. Such a relationship with God and its joy is what the coming of Jesus illustrates: first of all, to Mary and Joseph, whose fidelity and communion with God are absolute; and then to Simeon and Anna, who represent the people who are blessed with the fulfilling joy of welcoming their Redeemer—all in God’s new household, husband and wife, parents and children, brother and sister.

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.

shirts and socks, gather in underappreciated piles next to discarded ribbons, paper and bows, we’ll all find time to pause, to savor the delight of gifts given and received, the ambience of fulfilled anticipation and the pleasure of being with loved ones who gather for no reason other than being together.

And to think about Him. Maybe we’ll also find time to understand the exuberant spirit of the season can and should spill over into the coming year, that it can be translated through individuals into determination, patience, tolerance and the subordination of ego needed to resolve divisions that occasionally split or separate us.

And, perhaps, each of us who has experienced the joy of the day and the pleasantries preparing for it will retain a sense of kindness and understanding that will heighten the love of family members for one another, make existing friendships stronger, create new relationships and foster a deepened sense of true community.

The exchanging of gifts is near, but Christmas need not be over. The most precious gifts of all and the blessings that accompany them can be shared all year long.

Amid climate change, what’s more important: Protecting money or people?

By James K. Boyce Los Angeles Times (TNS)

A

T the latest round of international climate talks in Lima, Peru, this month, melting glaciers in the Andes and recent droughts provided a fitting backdrop for the negotiators’ recognition that it is too late to prevent climate change, no matter how fast we ultimately act to limit it. They now confront an issue that many had hoped to avoid: adaptation.

Adapting to climate change will carry a high price tag. Sea walls are needed to protect coastal areas against floods, such as those in the New York area when Superstorm Sandy struck in 2012. We need earlywarning and evacuation systems to protect against human tragedies, such as those caused by Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) in the Philippines in 2013 and by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.

Cooling centers and emergency services must be created to cope with heat waves, such as the one

that killed 70,000 in Europe in 2003. Water projects are needed to protect farmers and herders from extreme droughts, such as the one that gripped the Horn of Africa in 2011. Large-scale replanting of forests with new species will be needed to keep pace as temperature gradients shift toward the poles.

Because adaptation won’t come cheap, we must decide which investments are worth the cost.

A thought experiment illustrates the choices we face. Imagine that, without major new investments in adaptation, climate change will

cause world incomes to fall in the next two decades by 25 percent across the board, with everyone’s income going down, from the poorest farm worker in Bangladesh to the wealthiest real-estate baron in Manhattan. Adaptation can cushion some, but not all of these losses. What should be our priority: reduce losses for the farm worker or the baron?

For the farm worker, and a billion others in the world who live on about $1 a day, this 25-percent income loss will be a disaster or, perhaps, the difference between life and death. Yet, in dollars, the loss is just 25 cents a day.

For the land baron and other “1-percenters” in the United States with average incomes of about $2,000 a day, the 25-percent income loss would be a matter of regret, not survival. He’ll find a way to get by on $1,500 a day.

In human terms, the baron’s loss pales in comparison to that of the

The “economic logic” of the Summers memo—later said to have been penned tonguein-cheek to provoke debate, which it certainly did—rests on a doctrine of “efficiency” that counts all dollars equally.

Whether it goes to a starving child or a millionaire, a dollar is a dollar. The task of economists, in this view, is to maximize the size of the total dollar pie. How it’s sliced is not their problem.

farm worker. But in dollar terms, it’s 2,000 times larger.

Conventional economic models would prescribe spending more to protect the barons than the farm workers of the world. The rationale was set forth with brutal clarity in a memorandum leaked in 1992 that was signed by Lawrence Summers, then-chief economist of

the World Bank. The memo asked whether the bank should encourage more migration of dirty industries to developing countries and concluded that “the economic logic of dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest-wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that.”

Climate change is just a new kind of toxic waste.

The “economic logic” of the Summers memo—later said to have been penned tongue-in-cheek to provoke debate, which it certainly did—rests on a doctrine of “efficiency” that counts all dollars equally. Whether it goes to a starving child or a millionaire, a dollar is a dollar. The task of economists, in this view, is to maximize the size of the total dollar pie.

How it’s sliced is not their problem.

A different way to set adaptation priorities is to count each person equally, not each dollar. This approach rests on the ethical principle that a healthy environment is a human right, not a commodity to

be distributed on the basis of purchasing power, or a privilege to be distributed on the basis of political power.

This equity principle is widely embraced around the world, from the affirmation in the US Declaration of Independence that people have an inalienable right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” to the guarantee in the South African Constitution that everyone has the right “to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being.” It puts safeguarding the lives of the poor ahead of safeguarding the property of the rich.

In the years ahead, climate change will confront the world with hard choices: Whether to protect as many dollars as possible, or to protect as many people as we can.

James K. Boyce is a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and a member of the Scholars Strategy Network.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Thursday, December 25, 2014

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Moody’s cites ‘persistent weaknesses’ hurting PHL T M

By Bianca Cuaresma

oody’s Investors Service warned anew of so-called institutional challenges the country must effectively address to ensure continued economic expansion and ascent up the preferred investment ladder.

In a credit analysis released on Wednesday following the country’s recent upgrade, Moody’s said while their outlook indicates there will be continued positive economic growth and fiscal strengthening in the next year or two, such will be balanced by “persistent weaknesses” in the country’s credit profile.

The weaknesses the $270-billion economy faces include continued subpar government revenue; rather high foreign currency-denominated debt; and the country’s low per-capita gross domestic product (GDP), which is a measure of the country’s level of prosperity relative to its peers. The World Bank previously reported per-capita GDP amounting to $1,581.01 as of latest, or 13 percent of the global average.

“In particular, the government’s rev-

enue—as measured against GDP—is low, and debt affordability remains weak when compared to investment grade peers; although both ratios have improved in recent years,” Moody’s especially noted. Likewise, the amount of loans the country takes from foreign sources makes the country vulnerable to sharp foreign-currency fluctuations.

“The relatively high proportion of government debt denominated in foreign currency renders the Philippines susceptible to currency risks, although this has also improved recently,” Moody’s said. At one point, the country’s foreign debt totaled $61.7 billion sometime in 2011, and stood lowest at only $20.89 billion in 1981.

“In addition, the country’s GDP per capita

is among the lowest for investment-grade countries,” the credit watcher also said. “Policy-makers may also face the challenge of sustaining the positive trajectory of institutional quality through the political cycle,” it added.

The government also cited that the government’s slower public spending as weighing on overall GDP in 2014. The disbursement of public funds and its salutary impact on the broad economy slowed sharply in the third quarter this year to only P170.6 billion versus P221.7 billion three months earlier. The deceleration is feared to impact on local output, which could prove lower than expected to more or less 6.2 percent this year versus growth goal averaging at least 7 percent.

The international credit watcher recently upgraded the country to “Baa2” just this month on the back of the Philippines’s ongoing debt reduction; improvements in fiscal management; continued favorable prospects for strong economic growth; and limited vulnerabilities to the global risks affecting emerging markets.

Moody’s, in announcing the Philippines’s credit-rating upgrade earlier, said the ongoing debt reduction, the improvements in fiscal management, continued favorable prospects for strong economic growth, and limited vulnerability to the common risks currently affecting emerging markets were key ingre-

dients to the upgrade.

“The first driver of the upgrade is the decline in the Philippines’s debt burden, which has coincided with structural improvements in fiscal management. Administrative reforms in the key revenue-collecting agencies—most recently in the Bureau of Customs—have led to revenue growth in excess of nominal GDP growth for a fourth consecutive year,” Moody’s said.

“At the same time, budget transparency has been enhanced, in part by a mix of courtmandated reforms and procedural changes, although these developments have temporarily weighed on public spending…coupled with relatively robust economic growth, the Philippines’s fiscal performance has led to the convergence of general government debt as a share of GDP to the corresponding peer medians,” the international credit watcher added.

Moody’s also said the ongoing recovery of the US, still the country’s largest source of foreign currency earnings, should prove supportive of the household consumption.

“The third driver of the rating upgrade reflects the Philippines’s resilience to global pressures currently faced by a number of emerging market rating peers. This resilience limits the possibility that improvements in fiscal or economic performance would be significantly undermined,” Moody’s added.

Pasay RTC junks DOJ motion on Sobrepeña case

By Joel R. San Juan

T

HE Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Pasay City has affirmed its earlier decision dismissing the P1.1-billion estafa complaint filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bases Conversion and Development Authorit y (BCDA) against Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco) Chairman Robert L. Sobrepeña.

In a seven-page order issued by RTC Branch 119 in Pasay City by Presiding Jugde Pedro de Leon Gutierrez, the trial court trashed the motion for reconsideration filed by the DOJ and BCDA Chairman Arnel D. Casanova seeking the reversal of its September 3 ruling.

The trial court held in the said ruling that the BCDA failed to establish probable cause to warrant Sobrepeña’s prosecution for estafa.

Casanova accused Sobrepeña of falsely representing to the BCDA that CJHDevco is incapable of paying rents due Camp John Hay. The RTC in Pasay did not give credence to the BCDA’s claim that CJHDevco deliberately chose not to perform its rental obligations to the BCDA, despite knowledge of such and in spite of the existence of retained earnings and other revenues.

In affirming its September 3 decision, the RTC in Pasay City stressed that it is not precluded from reexamining the prosecutor’s findings of probable cause.

“For the same reason, the court has not acted beyond its authority or stepped out of bounds, as the private complainant claimed, when it ruled out the prosecutor’s findings of probable cause,” Gutierrez said.

The RTC also did not give credence to the argument of the BCDA that it should order the prosecution to present additional evidence, instead of dismissing the case outright.

It pointed out that the court is mandated to require the presentation of additional evidence if it entertains doubt as to the existence of probable cause.

“But in case the court is of the opinion that, based on the evidence, probable cause was unmistakably not established, as is the

case here, then the court is duty-bound to dismiss the criminal charge against the accused,” it ruled.

The trial court also noted that the BCDA agreed to restructure under memorandum of agreements the debts under the lease agreement, thus, Sobrepeña cannot be held liable for CJHDevCo’s failure to pay those rentals.

It noted that Section 21, Article III of the Constitution states that “no person shall be imprisoned for debt.”

Likewise, the trial court said the DOJ made a “palpable error” of selective prosecution when it filed the case against Sobrepeña without including all the members of the board of directors of CJHDevco.

DOTC adds VMMC lot in ITS North possible sites

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

he Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is in talks with the management of Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) for the acquisition of a portion of the hospital’s land that could serve as the site of the multibillionpeso intermodal-transport terminal for the northern corridor of Metro Manila.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said he has met with the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), which manages the hospital for military veterans in Quezon City, to negotiate for the location of the Integrated Transport System (ITS) North Terminal Project.

“It is not yet final; but we are seriously targeting the VMMC. We’ve talked to the PVAO, and it seems that they are interested because they want to improve the hospital and replicate it in the Visayas and Mindanao,” he said in an interview. “At least from both sides, we have mutual interest.”

Earlier, Transportation Undersecretary for Planning Rene K. Limcaoco said his agency is looking at three options for the location of the intermodal-transport system project, namely, the former Philippine National Railway Station in Caloocan, a site in the University of the Philippines and the seedling bank on Quezon Avenue. The military-run hospital is the latest addition to the government’s list of possible location for the intermodal facility, a decision which should have been finalized in June this year.

The transportation department has three key considerations in choosing the best location for the infrastructure: cost, time of travel and passenger convenience.

Transportation Spokesman Michael Arthur C. Sagcal said once a location for the project has been chosen, the agency will then endorse the deal to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board, which is chaired by President Aqunio.

The P7.7-billion ITS Project envisages the establishment of three mass-transportation intermodal terminals at the outskirts of Metro Manila—one in the North of Edsa, serving passengers to and from Northern Luzon; one in the South serving passengers to and from the Laguna and Batangas side and one in the Continued on A2

OIL TRADES NEAR $57/BARREL AFTER REBOUND

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rude traded near $57 a barrel in New York after rebounding, as economic growth surged at the fastest pace in more than a decade in the United States, the world’s biggest oil user.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures slid 42 cents, trimming Tuesday’s $1.86 gain. Gross domestic product grew at a 5-percent annual rate from July through September, the biggest increase since 2003, according to revised figures from the Commerce Department.

US crude stockpiles probably shrank by 2.5 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before a government report due on Wednesday.

Oil is heading for the biggest annual decline since 2008 amid a glut of supply exacerbated by the US pumping at the highest level in more than three decades and members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) resisting supply cuts to defend market share. Iraq, the Opec’s second-biggest producer, approved a smaller-than-expected spending plan for 2015 after the price slump.

WTI for February delivery was at $56.70 a

Threats. . . Continued from A1 challenges we face are complex and, thus, require a high degree of cooperation and coordination within the government and among development partners, private sector and citizens,” Balisacan said. Balisacan earlier told reporters that fourth-quarter growth would be better than the country’s third-quarter economic performance. He added that the

barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 0.7 percent at 10:33 a.m. in Sydney. The contract gained 3.4 percent to $57.12 on Tuesday, the highest close since December 12. The volume of all futures traded was about 78 percent below the 100-day average. Prices have decreased 42 percent this year.

Brent for February settlement gained $1.58, or 2.6 percent, to $61.69 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange on Tuesday. The European benchmark crude ended the session at a premium of $4.57 to WTI. The economic strength could also shape the Federal Reserve’s timetable for raising interest rates from record lows.

The government’s third and final estimate of growth for the July-to-September period was the strongest for any quarter in 11 years. The result cheered investors. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day up about 64 points to 18,024, the first time it’s surpassed 18,000.

In its report on Tuesday, the government sharply upgraded third-quarter growth from

economy needs to grow by 6.6 percent in the last quarter to attain a full-year growth of at least 6 percent this year.

However, the economy needs to grow by 8.2 percent in the October-to-December period in 2014 to attain the lower end of the 6.5-percent to 7.5-percent growth target this year.

Balisacan added that another growth driver

its previous 3.9-percent estimate. Much of the increase came from consumer spending on health care and business spending on structures and software.

The economy has been benefiting from sinking energy prices, which have helped keep overall inflation ultra-low. Gas prices have fallen for 88 straight days, according to AAA, the longest consecutive decline on record. Cheaper gas has acted like a tax cut to free up money for Americans to spend on other items, including cars, clothes and appliances.

Last quarter’s growth was the fastest since summer 2003, and it followed a 4.6-percent annual rate in the April-to-June quarter. The government separately reported on Tuesday that in November, consumer spending rose the most in three months and income by the most in five months. Both figures brightened hopes for the 2015 economy.

“After four years of rocky recovery, the US economy is now hitting its stride with a notable acceleration in growth,” said Gus Faucher, senior economist at PNC See “Oil,” A2

in the last three months of 2014 is tourism. He said the country will likely achieve its 6.8-million tourism arrival target this year.

Apart from this, the Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan ensured that construction and rehabilitation in the Yolanda corridor, particularly in the last quarter of 2014, will also provide a boost to growth.