Businessmirror december 26, 2016

Christmas eve mass Pope Francis (background, center) celebrates the Christmas Eve Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday. AP

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Transportation department making up for ‘negligence’ of past administration

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

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@lorenzmarasigan

ELL-BENT on addressing the dire need for reform in the transportation sector, President Duterte rose to power with a battle cry: Build as many infrastructure as possible and ensure that it will continue on even after his presidency.

Duterte’s appointed transportation chief, Arthur P. Tugade, shares the same view as the President, he needs to start constructing infrastructure or else, this so-called infrastructure crisis will take more decades to resolve.

During his first six months in office, Tugade was able to address certain backlogs and ease congest ion i n cer t a i n c hoke points, no matter the lack in facilities needed to ensure that his

programs will be sustainable.

In the course of his initial stay at the transportation agency, Tugade has implemented measures to ease congestion in all fronts—be it rails, seaports, airports, and roads.

His recipe in addressing issues is simple: To solve problems the easiest, fastest and most beneficial way possible.

“We are trying to look into three years, five years and 30 years from Continued on A2

Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade acknowledges the audience’s applause following confirmation of his appointment by the powerful Commission on Appointments at the Senate. Roy Domingo

By Cai U. Ordinario

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@cuo_bm

HRISTMAS decoration in the country is marked by Filipinized Western staples— Styrofoam Jack, synthetic pine trees and plastic snowflakes.

And just like the Christmas song, Filipinos also dream of a “White Christmas” even if it’s impossible. The holidays are certainly bizarre in a tropical country.

But when it comes to the holidays and food, you can always bet on the Filipino to have his own staples. Some may be “borrowed” from colonizers but, through the passing of time and traditions, they have slowly become authentic Filipino fare.

These days, no Christmas celebration is complete without queso de bola, ham and fruit cocktail. While Filipinos do not traditionally roast a turkey for the holidays, you can al-

ways bet that no Christmas spread is without chicken—whether roasted, fried, or drowning in ginger flavored soup, more famously known as tinola. wThe Christmas song says it all: Kay sigla ng gabi, Ang lahat ay kay saya Nagluto ang Ate ng manok na tinola Sa bahay ng Kuya ay mayroong litsonan pa Ang lahat ay may handang iba’t-iba.

Tayo na, giliw, magsalo na tayo Mayroon na tayong tinapay at keso.

‘Di ba Noche Buena sa gabing ito At bukas ay araw ng Pasko!

While this song remains true for some families, the changing times has forced Filipinos to

PESO exchange rates n US 49.9750

also change their Noche Buena menu. Some have exchanged chicken for sumptuous glazed ham and chose to forego the lechon.

With this, the BusinessMirror has put together a Noche Buena Index that tells all of us how much Christmas in the Philippines costs these days.

While this year’s list is only based on the Department of Trade and Industry’s Suggested Retail Prices (SRPs) in the past five years, it already tells consumers and manufacturers alike that the increase in the prices for seasonal items has been generally benign.

Roehlano Briones, a Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) research fellow, told the BusinessMirror that prices of seasonal items, such as those on the Noche Buena menu, are dependent on the supply of these items.

“It just so happens that some items have See “Noche Buena,” A2

file photo

‘Noche Buena’fare still affordable for many families

n japan 0.4251 n UK 61.4043 n HK 6.4380 n CHINA 7.1968 n singapore 34.4441 n australia 36.0270 n EU 52.1539 n SAUDI arabia 13.3267

Source: BSP (23 December 2016 )

News BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, December 26, 2016

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Transportation department making up for ‘negligence’ of past administration Continued from A1

now, and lay the ground work. So that what we are headed to will not be as chaotic as situation right now,” Transportation Spokesman Cherie Mercado-Santos said.

Reduction of red tape BEING a businessman himself, Tugade sought for the reduction of red tape and the eradication of corruption in the agency.

This has led to multiple improvements in the sector in just six months.

Application for drivers’ license at the Land Transportation Office has been reduced from five hours to three-and-a-half hours. Franchise verification at the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, likewise, sped up from three days to merely two hours.

The issuance of Seaman’s Book at the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) now runs at four hours from eight, and permit to operate ancillary services at the Philippine Ports Authority can now be secured in just half a day from a week.

Improved air connectivity, punctuality

IN the aviation sector, the transportation department has forced airlines to comply with their schedules. Tugade has implemented a policy which requires a carrier to depart from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) on its designated slot, else it will have to queue up as the last airline to fly during a short window period.

With this, on-time arrivals of flights improved from 41 percent to 71 percent, data from the Manila International Airport Authority showed.

The Duterte administration has also fixed the Instrument Landing System (ILS) in Naia Runway 2/4, allowing for better precision landing and fewer diverted flights. It was not operational for roughly two years.

Some private aircraft were also moved to Clark Field to limit the number of planes in the airport complex in Manila. The initial plan was to move them to Sangley Point in Cavite, but the airport there needed immediate rehabilitation, hence, the most

plausible way to do is to move them to a functional airport.

A rule on tarmac delays and flight diversions were also instituted by the Civil Aeronautics Board. Now, airlines are required to deplane passengers after two hours of tarmac delay.

It also added new seats at Naia Terminal 3; deployed high-speed wireless Internet access at major transport hubs, including airports; opened a well-wisher’s area in Naia Terminal; allowed regular taxicabs to pick up passengers from the airpots; and partnered with airline companies to better manage the toilets at the complex.

Close coordination, stricter rule implementation

THE transportation department also aims to unify all cities in Metro Manila to address the almost-round-the-clock bottleneck on major streets and secondary routes.

Tugade initiated dialogs with city mayors and traffic managers, and agreed to the integration of a single enforcement system under on chain of command: the Interagency Council on Traffic.

So far, the traffic council agreed on the enforcement of an extended number coding hours and the removal of window hours in all radial and circumferential roads in Metro Manila.

It has also developed uniform traffic fines and penalties, while deploying local enforcers to do the task.

Latest data from the agency showed that it has issued 202,938 traffic citation tickets all over the country, where 31,388 were from Metro Manila. It has, likewise, towed 6,883 illegally parked vehicles, impounded 401 colorum vehicles and cleared 5,738 illegal vendors.

To mitigate last year’s “worst traffic on Earth,” the agency also opened up government properties, such as Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo and the Veterans Memorial Medical Center compound, both in Quezon City, to help decongest traffic on major roads.

The Duterte administration was also successful in deploying more premium airport shuttle buses and in adding more point-to-point bus services.

Archipelagic nature

LIKEWISE, the agency started on improving the maritime sector in the Philippines, starting with the revival of the Pasig River Ferry. Ports in the Visayas and Mindanao, particularly Iloilo and General Santos, are now being modernized and are set for completion soon.

The port regulator has also signed several agreements for the development of ports in the Philippines. One such agreement was signed with publicly listed company International Container Terminal Services Inc. just recently. It has also completed the survey of existing roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) facilities in the Philippines, determining needed improvements to accommodate new generation vessels.

The Road Roll-on Roll-off Transport System (RRTS) is a network of terminals linked by Ro-Ro vessels from Batangas port and on any point of Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. It is designed to improve and promote the interisland sea transportation in the country.

The four highways under the RRTS are the Western Nautical Highway, t he Central Nautical Highway, the Pan Philippine Highway and the Eastern Nautical Highway.

Marina said the Western Nautical and Pan Philippine highways are the two most successful routes under the said transport system.

There are 19 operators of Ro-Ro services in the Western Nautical Highway, with 48 ships plying the following routes: Batangas City to Calapan, Oriental Mindoro (17), Roxas, Oriental Mindoro, to Caticlan, Malay, Aklan (seven), Dumanggas, Iloilo to Bacolod, Negros Occidental (17) and Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, to Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte (seven).

The Pan Philippine Highway, on the other hand, has eight operators with 17 ships on the following routes: Matnog, Sorsogon, to Allen, Northern Samar (12), and Liloan, Southern Leyte, to Lipata, Surigao del Norte (five).

For the Central Nautical Highway, 15 operators offer services with 23 vessels.

The routes are as follows: Cawayan, Mas-

bate, to Bogo, Cebu (one); Cebu City to Tubigon, Bohol (15); Jagna, Bohol, to Balbagon, Mambajao, Camiguin (one); and Benoni, Mahinog, Camiguin, to Balingoan, Misamis Oriental (six).

The Eastern Nautical Highway of the RRTS is the most unsuccessful or unproductive route because to date, no ship is operating there since certain portions of the Eastern Nautical Highway overlap with the Central Nautical and Pan Philippine Highway, particularly those in Masbate and Surigao City.

Currently, there are 27 seaports in the Philippines—operated by both the government and the private sector.

The development of such, according to Transportation Undersecretary Felipe A. Judan, will help the Philippines be connected to the rest of the Asean.

More trains, less headways

RAIL transport has also improved during the first six months of the Duterte administration. The Metro Rail Transit (MRT), in particular, now hits, on certain days, 22 operating trains per hour, at an average speed of 50 kilometers per hour (kph) from 40 kph.

With the added capacity comes the lesser headway. On the average, waiting for the next train to come is roughly four minutes nowadays. Last year it operated with just 13 trains per hour.

The transportation department has also started the procurement of an onboard signalling system for the new Chinese trains.

Aside from all these, the transport agency was able to augment the capacity of the Philippine National Railways (PNR). From only five trains in June, the system now runs with seven trains a day.

A pilot program for the reintroduction of the morning and night services to Calamba, Laguna, was also implemented.

Future proofing

“IN the history of infrastructure, we are a laggard. We also have a history of projects not finished. So our vision is to finish what we have started,” Mercado said.

She added: “We are working on our infrastructure projects, and we are planning on the bigger scale to decongest and promote interconnectivity for the whole country.”

First on the list is to build railways.

This program involves billions of pesos in investments stretched beyond the term of the newly elected president.

This includes the construction of the East-West Line, which will run from Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City to Quezon Boulevard in Quiapo, Manila; a railway that will run from the City of Malolos in Bulacan to Clark Field in Pampanga, another one from Solis, Tondo, Manila, to Los Baños City in Laguna, and the Mindanao Railway, among others.

In Mindanao alone, there are about 1,533 kilometers worth of rails that need to be developed. The dream for Mindanao is to have a railway line that will run from Cagayan de Oro to Davao City.

It will be done in three phases—divided into so-called corridors. Corridor 1 will be from Cagayan de Oro to Butuan. The second corridor will run from Butuan to Davao City.

While the third corridor will be the loop to Cagayan de Oro from Davao.

Next is to build new airports and modernize existing ones.

The government is entertaining proposals from the private sector —there are two to date—for the construction of a Naia replacement, while bidding out several projects for regional air hubs.

Santos said the government is also planning to modernize Clark to accommodate flights of full-service airlines, like Philippine Airlines, while constructing a railway that will connect Metro Manila to the area.

Interisland connectivity via Philippine waters will also be promoted next year. The vision is to upgrade and expand the existing ferry routes in the coming months.

“A lot of the ideas and projects that are going to be rolled out are not unique and are not new. A lot of them are from our past administrations,” she admitted. “What we are doing is to push ourselves to work to get things done.”

‘Noche Buena’. . .

Continued from A1

high inventory relative to demand so prices may be low against some benchmark,” Briones said.

Setting SRPs are based on the DTI’s market studies, as well as results of consultations and discussions with manufacturers. These are created to serve as guide for consumers and ensure that the prices charged by retailers are affordable.

Based on the data obtained by the BusinessMirror, a Filipino family of limited means, assuming that the cost of the items they buy follow the DTI’s SRPs and they buy only one item each on the list of seasonal items, would require a budget of P500 to P600 every year. This, unfortunately, is significantly higher than the minimum wage set in various regions nationwide. This is even higher than the minimum wage for nonagricultural workers in Metro Manila at P491 per day.

If they have some more resources, some Filipino families could spend more than P2,500 if they are keen on buying certain brands that are more expensive and bigger quantities of certain items.

It is worth noting that this is around four times the minimum of expense of families with limited means. This is also not a surprise, since those who have higher incomes can spend more without breaking the bank.

Based on the 2015 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), when it comes to food expenses, the bottom 30 percent spend 59.7 percent of their income on food while the upper 70 percent only spend 38.8 percent. The national average spending on food—which is considered the top expense nationwide—takes up about 41.9 percent of total income.

Ultimately, the most expensive food item in the Noche Buena feast is ham and queso de bola. Ham can be bought for a minimum of 500 grams to a per kilo basis, while queso de bola is sold with a minimum weight of 300 grams to around 750 grams each.

Among the least expensive items on the menu are tomato sauce and spaghetti sauce, the cheapest of which can be bought for less than P20.

“I don’t think tingi matters because price data uses standard weights. Inflation also doesn’t matter for individual prices,” Briones said.

The holidays is really a special time for Filipinos. It is the time when family members from all over the country and the world come home to be with family and friends.

While many will argue that Christmas has become commercialized and, therefore, costs an arm and a leg to celebrate, the intangible value of the season has no monetary equivalent.

The price that Filipinos pay is largely made on food, which is the center of Christmas celebrations in the country. This is a small price to pay to spend time with those who matter most.

The World BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Saudi Arabia govt eyeing to sell 49% of Aramco

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audi Arabia is planning to sell almost half of Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world’s largest oil company, al-Eqtisadiah reported.

A 49-percent stake will be sold within 10 years, according to the Riyadh-based newspaper, which cites an unidentified senior government official. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in April an initial public offering (IPO) is planned for 2018, or even a year earlier, with the country planning to sell less than 5 percent.

Saudi Arabia, under pressure from lower crude prices, has been planning the share sale as part of an effort to generate revenue and reform its economy. The government hopes to raise about $100 billion from the IPO of its flagship asset.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will use the proceeds, and eventually control more than $2 trillion and help wean the kingdom off oil.

“Going from 5 percent to 49 percent is a huge jump, but if you do it gradually over 10 years and in small chunks it is possible,” John Sfakianakis, head of economics research at the Gulf Research Center in Riyadh, said by phone on Saturday. “The Saudis are looking at their sources of revenue beyond 10 years and they are asking what should we do more to diversify our nonoil income.”

Oil reliance

The Saudi government relies heavily on oil sales for revenue, and its finances have taken a blow since prices started tumbling in 2014.

Total projected revenue this year, at 528 billion riyals ($141 billion), is less than half what it collected in 2013, when oil was trading above $100 and made up 90 percent of revenue. Brent crude, the global benchmark, closed on Friday at $55.16 a barrel.

Taking a company as large as Aramco to the market may pose

challenges for Saudi Arabia. Selling any part of Saudi Aramco to the public will require “full audits and a large amount of transparency,” Paul Sullivan, a professor of security studies at Georgetown University in Washington, said by e-mail on Saturday. “They would need to audit for the valuation of tangible and intangible assets, such a human capital, pipelines, refineries, information systems, management quality and good will. Getting such data for an IPO audit will be a massive undertaking.”

Money from a 49-percent stake sale will be used by the Public Investment Fund on local and international projects, according to Eqtisadiah.

The fund will play a major role in Saudi Arabia’s new economy, being big enough to buy Apple Inc., Google parent Alphebet Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

‘Strategic shareholders’

“TO buy more shares in Aramco, investors need to see how the first tranche of 5 percent performs,” Mohamed Ramady, London-based independent analyst, said by phone on Saturday. “The government needs to look at many options for selling more shares, including bringing in strategic shareholders and other international oil companies who will be interested in having a stake in Saudi Arabia’s gigantic oil reserves.”

Saudi Aramco is planning to report its quarterly results starting next year, CEO Amin Nasser said in November. The initial sale will involve all of the company, not just the refining business, he said in October.

“If I were in Chinese leadership, I would want to buy Saudi Aramco,” Georgetown Prof. Sullivan said.

“What a great way to lock in oil contracts from a massive source of energy for an energy importdependent country.” Bloomberg News

Trump says he will dissolve foundation amid investigation

Trump AP

By Vivian Salama The Associated Press

W

E S T PA L M BEAC H , Florida—President-elect Donald J. Trump said on Saturday he will dissolve his charitable foundation amid efforts to eliminate any conflicts of interest before he takes office next month.

The revelation comes as the New York attorney general’s office investigates the foundation following media reports that foundation spending went to benefit Trump’s campaign.

Trump said in a news statement that he has directed his counsel to take the necessary steps to implement the dissolution of the Donald J. Trump Foundation, saying that it operated “at essentially no cost for decades, with 100 percent of the money going to charity.”

“The foundation has done enormous good works over the years in contributing millions of dollars to countless worthy groups, including supporting veterans, law-enforcement officers and children,” he said.

“I will be devoting so much time

and energy to the presidency and solving the many problems facing our country and the world. I don’t want to allow good work to be associated with a possible conflict of interest,” Trump added.

Trump said he will pursue philanthropic efforts in other ways, but didn’t elaborated on how he’d do so.

The Democratic National Committee criticized Trump for what it called “a wilted fig leaf to cover up his remaining conflicts of interest and his pitiful record of charitable giving.”

The statement from party Spokesman Eric Walker also took a jab at the president-elect over his controversial business holdings: “Shuttering a charity is no substitute for divesting from his for-profit business and putting the assets in a blind trust—the only way to guarantee separation between the Trump administration and the Trump business.”

A 2015 tax return posted on the nonprofit monitoring website GuideStar shows the Donald J. Trump Foundation acknowledged that it used money or assets in violation of IRS regulations—not only during 2015, but in prior years.

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • Monday, December 26, 2016 A3

Oil closes at 17-month high in NY as investors weigh Opec cuts, glut

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rude closed at a 17-month high in New York as investors weighed Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’s (Opec) production cuts against signs of greater exports from Libya and a US stockpile glut.

Futures were little changed, capping a 2.2-percent gain this week.

Libya’s biggest oil terminal loaded its first cargo in about two years, after reopening two of its biggest oil fields following years of conflict. US stockpiles expanded by 2.26 million barrels last week, keeping inventories at the highest seasonal level in more than three decades, according to government data on Wednesday.

Oil has rallied since the Opec agreed last month to curb production for the first time in eight years.

The deal was bolstered by a pledge from 11 non-Opec nations, including Russia and Mexico, to also trim supply. Iraq is fully committed to the Opec accord, Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said on Thursday in Cairo at a meeting of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting

2.26M barrels The increase of US crude stockpiles last week, keeping inventories at the highest seasonal level in more than three decades Countries, known as Oapec.

“There’s some preholiday consolidation going on,” Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York, said by telephone.

“We’re going to be paying attention to headlines, especially those that indicate compliance with the Opec production cuts and those about the recent rise in Libyan oil output.”

West Texas Intermediate (WTI)

for February delivery rose 7 cents to settle at least $53.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

It was the highest close since July 14, 2015. Total volume traded was about 64 percent below the 100-day average at 2:54 p.m.

Brent for February settlement rose 11 cents to $55.16 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices are down 0.1 percent for the week. The global benchmark crude closed at a $2.14 premium to WTI.

Libyan rebound

Libya pumped just under 600,000 barrels a day last month, Bloomberg estimates show. That’s less than half of the 1.6 million before the 2011 uprising that halted production and closed ports. It’s targeting output of 900,000 barrels a day by the start of 2017 and about 1.2 million barrels by the end of next year, according to National Oil Corp.

Chairman Mustafa Sanalla.

“The Libyan loading puts some weight on the market,” said Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in New York, in a telephone interview.

“It was probably seen as a good time to get rid of some length before the three-day weekend.”

US crude stockpiles expanded to

485.4 million barrels last week, the highest seasonal level since the Energy Information Administration began compiling weekly data in 1982.

The drill rig count has climbed the past seven weeks to the highest level since January, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. “There’s so many wildcards around both the supply and demand side that you have to be cautious,” Christian Schulz, director of European research at Citigroup Global Markets Ltd., said in a Bloomberg television interview. Prices will “generally rise as demand and supply globally come a bit more into balance.”

Oil-market news

Russia may gain about $41 billion as its deal with Opec to cut crude output boosts budget revenues and the earnings of oil producers, Vladimir Putin said at his annual press conference in Moscow on Friday. Oil prices are set to recover next year as Opec cuts output, said Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said. Billionaire Kjell Inge Rokke’s Aker BP Plc. and two private equity-backed companies are in talks to buy stakes in oil fields off Norway from Exxon Mobil Corp. that are valued at about $1 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said. Bloomberg News

Thousands of faithful celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem

By Isma’Il Kushkush The Associated Press

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ETHLEHEM, West Bank— Thousands of pilgrims and tourists from around the world together with local Christians gathered in the biblical town of Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus, with spirits lifted by a slowdown in recent violence and cool, clear weather.

Security was tight in Bethlehem after recent deadly attacks on Christian targets in neighboring Egypt and Jordan by Islamic extremists.

Yet the faithful braved the chilly weather outside the town’s Manger Square as traditional Christmas songs like “Jingle Bells” played in Arabic over loudspeakers and scout groups paraded with bagpipes and sang carols. Elated tourists and local Christians alike wandered around the square illuminated by festive red and golden lights and a large Christmas tree, visiting souvenir shops and restaurants.

Adding to the holiday spirit for the Palestinians, locals celebrated a key diplomatic victory at the United Nations the day before, where the Security Council passed a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Sharolyn Knight, a 28-year-old teacher from Georgia, said she was in Bethlehem for the first time and experiencing mixed emotions. ”It’s been sobering and humbling because it's a place with a lot of heavy stuff, religious and historical. At the same time, disillusioning because there is so much strife in the place where Jesus was born.”

She said she would come back again, maybe next time with her kids.

“It’s very unique, I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Rodrigo Reis, 23, who came from Louisville, Kentucky, “It’s very meaningful, its Christmas time, where everything started.”

Christian clergymen welcomed the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land inside the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus Christ, as Christians worldwide begin to prepare to celebrate Christmas this year.

The Rev. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate, is the temporary chief clergyman to the local Catholic

Palestinians watch a performance by Christian scouts at Manger Square, outside the Church of the Nativity, built atop the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank City of Bethlehem on Saturday. AP

population. He traveled from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on Saturday in a traditional procession. Later, he was to celebrate Midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity, built at the grotto revered as Jesus’ birthplace.

“I wish this joyous atmosphere of Christmas will continue in the year and not just for a few days and I hope the coming year will bring a little more serenity and peaceful relations in our country.

We need it,” he said.

“I am happy that the war, at least the military war, in Aleppo is finished and that for the first time in Aleppo the Christians can celebrate without fear the Christmas season. I wish that they can now reconstruct, rebuild the city, not only the infrastructure but also the common relations that was a tradition over there,” he told The Associated Press.

The Syrian government assumed full control of Aleppo earlier this month when rebels, including some Islamic militants,

agreed to withdraw from their last remaining enclave after more than four years of heavy fighting over the country’s largest city.

Christmas festivities brought a boost of holiday cheer to Christians in the Holy Land, who make up just a small percentage of the population. The region has which has experienced a wave of IsraeliPalestinian bloodshed that erupted over a year ago. The violence has tapered off in recent months, but has not halted completely.

Rula Maaya, the Palestinian minister of tourism, said all the hotels in Bethlehem were fully booked.

“Bethlehem is celebrating today, we are receiving tourists from all over the world,” Maaya said.

“All people over the world are looking at Bethlehem so we hope more and more tourists will come during the year and that next year we will celebrate Christmas without occupation.”

Maaya spoke a day after the UN

Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Julie Suhain, 20, from Ramallah said she was delighted with the UNSC resolution.

“It’s like getting a Christmas gift,” she said. “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

Despite the Christmas cheer, Mideast politics loom large in the background—the concrete barrier that surrounds parts of Bethlehem is just one hulking reminder. It was built by Israel last decade during the second Intifada, or uprising, when Palestinian suicide bombers attacked buses and cafés.

Israeli says the barrier is meant to keep out Palestinian attackers, but because it dips inside the West Bank, Palestinians see it as a land grab that also stunts their economy.

Security was tight in Bethlehem after recent attacks on Christian targets in Egypt and elsewhere in the region by Islamic extremists.

A4 Monday, December 26, 2016

The World BusinessMirror

Israel promises retribution for ‘biased’ UN resolution

IN this photo provided by the United Nations, members of the United Nations Security Council vote at the UN headquarters on Friday in favor of condemning Israel for its practice of establishing settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. In a striking rupture with past practice, the US allowed the vote, not exercising its veto. AP

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N a furious riposte a day after the United Nations Security Council’s adoption of a resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday pledged to exact a “political and economic price” from countries who acted against Israel.

Netanyahu also announced that he would halt his country’s contributions to several UN institutions, as well as reevaluate the presence of the body’s representatives in Israel.

In a televised address at a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony honoring wounded soldiers and the victims of terrorism, Netanyahu excoriated the Obama administration for not vetoing the Security Council’s measure. He said he would work with the incoming administration of President-elect

Donald J. Trump to rescind it.

Describing the resolution passed on Friday as “distorted”, “delusional” and “absurd”, Netanyahu said it was “part of the swan song of the old world that is biased against Israel.”

“But, my friends, we are entering a new era,” he added.

Netanyahu, who is expecting the incoming Trump administration to be more forgiving of Israel’s settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and in East Jerusalem, accused the Obama administration of carrying out a “disgraceful

anti-Israel maneuver.”

Netanyahu has already recalled Israel’s ambassadors from New Zealand and Senegal, two of the four countries that sponsored the resolution and pushed it through, and has ordered Israeli aid to Senegal be halted. There was also a report that Netanyahu had canceled a visit to Israel by the prime minister of Ukraine, because of that country’s vote in favor of the resolution.

Netanyahu also said he had instructed the Foreign Ministry to reevaluate all of Israel’s relationships with the UN , a body that Israel has long viewed as biased against it, and said he was stopping 30 million shekels—about $7.8 million—in funding to five UN institutions that are “particularly hostile to Israel.”

There is no consensus in Israel

about settlement projects, and domestic critics of Netanyahu saw the resolution as a severe blow to his recent claims about Israel’s improved standing in the world.

But Netanyahu tried to appeal to Israeli emotions by emphasizing that the resolution made no distinction between Jerusalem and the West Bank—considering the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City and the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray, as occupied territory. Israel seized the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including the Old City, in the ArabIsraeli war of 1967.

Ehud Barak, a former Israeli prime minister and defense minister, said it was Netanyahu who had failed to make any distinction between building in East Jerusalem and the settlement blocs close to the 1967 lines, which Israel expects to be able to keep under any peace agreement with the Palestinians.

“The principal enemy of the settlement blocs and the Jerusalem neighborhoods is Netanyahu himself,” Barak, an increasingly vocal critic of Netanyahu, said on Israeli television on Saturday night.

Isaac Herzog, the leader of the center-left Zionist Union and head of the parliamentary opposition, said in a Facebook post, “The man who just a month ago told us that the world worships him, declared war this evening on the world, on the United States, on Europe, and is trying to calm us with conceit.”

Naftali Bennett, the education minister and leader of the right-wing, pro-settlement Jewish Home party in Netanyahu’s coalition, goaded Netanyahu to respond with more drastic measures, such as annexing parts of the West Bank to Israel.

“The time has come to transition from withdrawals to sovereignty,” he said. NYTNS

The principal enemy of the settlement blocs and the Jerusalem neighborhoods is Netanyahu himself.”—Barak

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Russia grounds its newest airliner over safety concern

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OSCOW—Russian aviation authorities have grounded the country’s fleet of its newest model of civilian airliner, the Sukhoi Superjet 100.

Metal fatigue, a problem usually associated with older airplanes, was discovered in the tail section of a new Sukhoi plane, the Russian regulator Rosaviatsia said on Friday.

The grounding was the latest setback for the Russian jet. The plane model is important as a test of whether Russia’s military aerospace prowess can translate into a successful civilian product. The manufacturer, Sukhoi, is best known as the maker of military jets flying over Syria.

Most other Russian-made civilian jets, once a workhorse fleet of wide- and narrow-body planes, are flown only by regional airlines, and the aging planes are plagued by safety problems.

After the latest announcement, the Russian national airline Aeroflot, a major Sukhoi customer, on Saturday canceled 21 flights scheduled on domestic routes during the holiday season.

Rosaviatsia ordered the planes grounded pending inspections after a regional carrier, IrAero, reported finding metal fatigue in a component

in the tail wings of one plane, according to Regnum, a non-governmental Russian news agency.

The agency grounded the fleet to determine whether similar problems were appearing in other planes, most of which have been flying for only a few years.

Sukhoi said in a statement it was conducting inspections of the entire fleet “to support airworthiness of the civilian Sukhoi planes.” The defect “of one element of the tail portion” could not cause a crash, but “all the same airlines must check this model of aircraft,” the company said.

Aeroflot said in a statement flights on Sukhoi jets had been canceled for “technical reasons.”

Although Aeroflot is Russia’s flag carrier, it has been a reluctant customer of Russia’s domestic airplane manufacturers, instead flying mostly Boeing and Airbus planes.

But the company has come under political pressure to support domestic manufacturers.

As of March, Aeroflot had 29 Sukhoi planes. Aeroflot has also ordered 50 planes of a new midrange Russian model still under development, the Irkut MS-21, which is made by United Aircraft Corp., also a Russian company. NYTNS

Erdogan eyeing to join forces with Trump against IS in Syria

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urkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to seek the support of the incoming Donald J. Trump administration for joint action against Islamic State in the Syrian city of Raqqa.

Turkish troops are close to capturing the Islamic State-stronghold of al-Bab in northwest Syria and could move via the town of Manbij toward the group’s de-facto capital in Raqqa, Erdogan said in a televised speech in Istanbul on Saturday.

Erdogan reiterated his country’s readiness to extend its fight against the jihadist group in Raqqa if President-elect Trump agrees to prevent Kurdish forces from participating in such an operation. Turkey is concerned the Kurds’ territorial gains in Syria could lead to a new state within the country, in turn, provoking separatist Kurdish aspirations at home. Kurds have established control over much of Syria’s north

during five years of civil war, and in doing so, emerged as a favored US fighting force in the ground war against Islamic State.

“We will not allow the formation of a new state in northern Syria,” Erdogan said as he vowed to retake the Syrian town of Manbij, which was seized by Kurdish forces from Islamic State. “After Manbij, Raqqa is next if we can join hands with the US.” Turkey launched an incursion into Syria in August to fight Islamic State and the Kurdish forces of PYD/YPG, regarded by Turkey as terrorists for their links to the PKK, whose fight for autonomy in Turkey’s southeast has killed nearly 40,000 people, cost hundreds of billions of dollars, and undermined Turkish aspirations to join the European Union.

“We will declare a safe zone cleared from terrorism in northern Syria,” Erdogan said. Bloomberg News

nigeria’s buhari says boko haram crushed, forced out of last enclave

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AGOS—The Boko Haram extremist group has finally been crushed—driven from its last forest enclave with fighters on the run and no place to hide, Nigeria’s president declared on Saturday.

His victorious statement came as the Islamic State group, with which one faction of Boko Haram is allied, claimed a successful attack on an army barracks in northeast Nigeria’s Yobe state “killed and wounded many.” The communique on social media said the attack took place on Thursday, the same day President Muhammadu Buhari said troops defeated Boko Haram in its Sambisa Forest stronghold in neighboring Borno state.

It was an indicator that despite Buhari’s announcement, Nigeria is unlikely to see an end soon to the deadly suicide bombings, village attacks and assaults on remote military outposts in northeastern Nigeria carried out by the country’s homegrown Islamic extremist group.

Already, there are reports that the insurgents have been regrouping in Taraba and Bauchi states, south of their northeastern stronghold in Borno state, and taking advantage of a decades-old conflict in central Nigeria between mainly Muslim nomadic cattle herders and sedentary Christian farmers.

In a news statement, Buhari commended Nigerian troops for “finally entering and crushing the remnants of the Boko Haram insurgents at Camp Zero,” which is deep within the heart of Sambisa Forest.

He announced the “long-awaited and most gratifying news of the final crushing of Boko Haram terrorists in their last enclave” and declared “the terrorists are on the run, and no longer have a place to hide.”

The Sambisa Forest was where Boko Haram was believed to be holding some of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in April 2014 from a school in the town of Chibok—a mass abduction that brought the Islamic extremists world attention and sparked an international social-media campaign #BringBackOurGirls.

“Further efforts should be intensified to locate and free our remaining Chibok girls still in captivity. May God be with them,” Buhari said.

Nigerian troops have freed thousands of Boko Haram captives this year, but none of the Chibok girls among 276 seized from a government boarding school.

Dozens of girls escaped within hours of their abduction. In October, 21 Chibok girls were freed through negotiations between the

Nigerian soldiers man a checkpoint in Gwoza, Nigeria. The Boko Haram extremist group has finally been crushed —driven from its last forest enclave with fighters on the run and no place to hide, Nigeria’s president declared on Saturday. AP

government and Boko Haram, brokered by the Swiss government and the International Red Cross. In May one Chibok girl escaped on her own. Some 197 remain missing.

The freed girls have indicated that several others have died in captivity from things like malaria and a snake bite.

Boko Haram’s seven-year Islamic uprising has killed more than 20,000 people, spread across Nigeria’s borders, driven some 2.3 million people from their homes and created a massive humanitarian crisis. The UN has warned that 5.1 million people are in danger of starving in northeast Nigeria, including in areas too dangerous to reach because of Boko Haram ambushes. AP

news@businessmirror.com.ph

briefs china’s 1st aircraft carrier heads for western pacific

BEIJING—China’s first aircraft carrier has set off for the Western Pacific for an open-sea training exercise, the Defense Ministry said.

State media said it is the first time that the Liaoning, which was commissioned by the Chinese navy in 2012, has headed to “distant sea waters.”

The Western Pacific region stretches from China to New Zealand and encompasses countries in the Pacific, Oceania and parts of Asia. The statement said a navy formation, including the Liaoning, set off on Saturday for training “in distant sea waters,” without giving details, as part of an annual training plan.

China’s military recently carried out its first live-fire exercise using the Liaoning and fighters in the Bohai Sea in eastern China and, on Friday, the military announced it had carried out a series of fighter launch, recovery and air combat exercises slightly farther afield in the Yellow Sea. On Saturday morning the Liaoning carried out training in the East China Sea, according to footage shown on state broadcaster China Central Television. A separate statement from the Defense Ministry said several carrier-based fighter jets and helicopters took off one after another and returned after completing an air tactical confrontation and air refueling exercise. AP

russian military plane with 91 aboard missing over black sea MOSCOW—A Russian Tu-154 aircraft with 91 people aboard disappeared on Sunday over the Black Sea shortly after takeoff from the resort town of Sochi on its way to a Russian base in Syria, the Defense ministry said.

The ministry said the plane was carrying the famous Alexandrov military band for a concert at the Russian air base in Syria.

The ministry said in a news statement the plane was carrying 83 passengers and eight crew when it dropped off radar early on Sunday. It said emergency services are searching for the plane.

The Tu-154 is a Soviet-designed three-engine airliner. AP

The World BusinessMirror

Monday, December 26, 2016 A5

Probers seek supply network for slain Berlin attacker M ILAN—Investigators on Saturday worked to determine if the Berlin Christmas market attacker got any logistical support to cross at least two European borders and evade capture for days before being killed in a police shootout in a Milan suburb.

Tunisian fugitive Anis Amri’s finger pr ints and wa l let were found in a truck that plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday night, killing 12 people and injuring 56 others. Despite an intense, Europe-wide manhunt, Amri fled across Germany, into France and then into Italy, traveling at least part of the way by train, before being shot early on Friday in a routine police stop outside a deserted train station.

The Islamic State (IS) group has claimed responsibility for the Berlin attack, but so far, little is known about any support network backing up the 24-year-old fugitive.

Italian investigators were working to see if the Tunisian had any connections in the Milan area. Italy was his port of entry into Europe in 2011 and he spent more than three years in Italian jails on Sicily. But an antiterrorism official said there was no evidence that he had ever been in or around Milan before Friday’s shootout.

In Tunisia the Interior Ministry announced the arrest on Friday of Amri’s nephew and two others suspected of belonging to the same extremist network.

The ministry said in a news statement that Amri, through an alias, had sent his 18-year-old

nephew Fedi some money through the post office to join him in Europe and join the Abou Walaa network. Amir claimed to be the network’s emir.

The ministry said the nephew told them he was in contact with Amri via Telegram’s encrypted communications to avoid detection. He said Amri had recruited him to jihad and asked him to pledge allegiance to IS, which he did and sent it to Amri via Telegram.

T he Tu n isi a n prosec utor ’s office ordered all three held in pretrial detention pending further investigation.

In Spain the police were investigating whether Amri was in contact with a possible extremist there, on a tip from German authorities.

“We are studying all possible connections [between Amri] and our country, above all with one specific person,” Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido told Spanish radio.

Italy has found itself at the center of the Berlin attack investigation after the dramatic shootout early on Friday that ended the manhunt. The deserted train station and the late hour prompted Italian officers to check the North African man’s identity, officials said. Instead of pulling out an

The body of Anis Amri lies on the pavement in the outskirts of Milan after a shootout with the Italian Police, early on Friday. German officials issued a Europe-wide wanted notice for Amri on Wednesday, after he was identified as the key suspect in the truck attack that killed 12 people and injured 56 others. The 24-year-old Tunisian was shot dead early on Friday by the police conducting a routine stop in Milan after he opened fire on them. AP

We are studying all possible connections [between Amri] and our country, above all with one specific person.”—Zoido identity card, Amri produced a loaded .22 caliber gun, shooting a senior officer in the shoulder before a rookie officer killed him with a single shot.

Amri had arrived in the southern island of Lampedusa illegally in 2011, claiming to be a minor, and quickly landed in jail after setting fire to a migrant center. After

he was freed, efforts to deport him failed for bureaucratic reasons.

He reached Germany, where aut ho r it i e s w e r e c o n c e r ne d enough to put him under covert surveillance for six months earlier this year, ending the operation in September. His request for asylum was refused by Germany in the summer, but the paperwork

from Tunisia needed to deport him was delayed for months.

Investigators are looking into why Amri returned to Italy this week as he sought to elude the police and whether he had any jihadi contacts in the country.

Authorities were also investigating the apparent coincidence that the truck from a Polish shipping company used in the Berlin attack had been loaded with machinery in the neighboring Milan suburb of Cinisello Balsamo three days before the attack.

Milan Police Chief Antonio de Iesu acknowledged the connection was “suggestive”. AP

In Pearl Harbor visit, a symbol of reconciliation in Japan

THIS file photo shows US President Barack Obama (right) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, as Obama became the first sitting US president to visit the site of the world’s first atomic bomb attack. Abe said on Monday he will visit Pearl Harbor with Obama at the end of this month, becoming the first leader of his country to go to the USS Arizona Memorial in the harbor in Hawaii that Japan attacked in 1941, propelling the United States into World War II. Atomic Bomb Dome is seen in the background. AP

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OKYO—As recently as five years ago, a Japanese prime minister was in Hawaii for an economic summit meeting, but pointedly stayed away from Pearl Harbor.

In the coming week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will fly to Hawaii for the express purpose of visiting the site of the surprise attack on a US naval base 75 years ago that killed 2,400 Americans and drew the country into World War II. It is a sign of how far public opinion in Japan has moved that Abe can make the trip to the memorial, accompanied

by President Barack Obama, to offer condolences to the victims.

For decades, Japan has struggled to reckon with its wartime history, and

the Pearl Harbor attack has been cast as a tragic but inevitable response to a US-led oil embargo that would have devastated the Japanese empire.

Because of domestic political opposition, it has been all but impossible for Japanese leaders to visit Pearl Harbor until now. In 1994, when Emperor Akihito tried to visit the memorial, atop the remains of the USS Arizona—the US battleship on which the worst losses occurred—protests from Japan’s nationalist right wing prompted him to alter his plans.

But after Abe, who is a conservative politician with strong ties to nationalist groups, announced his plans this month, the reception in Japan was largely positive.

Even the far-right Sankei newspaper—though grumbling that Abe should first revisit Yasukuni, a shrine in Tokyo where war criminals are buried—described Abe’s trip to Hawaii as “an opportunity to refresh a commitment to deepen the US-Japan friendship and contribute peace to the world through a tranquil ceremony.”

Some Japanese news media suggested that the Pearl Harbor trip could even lift Abe’s approval ratings and give him the confidence to call an election in January.

The Japanese public is also aware of the importance of a symbolic visit to Pearl Harbor at a time of uncertainty in its country’s relationship with the United States.

Although the premier’s visit to Pearl Harbor was in the planning stages even before the US presidential election, Donald J. Trump’s win scared Japanese leaders because he had spent time on the campaign trail castigating Japan for not paying enough for its own defense. And when Obama made a visit to Hiroshima in May, Trump posted on Twitter: “Does President Obama ever discuss the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor while he’s in Japan? Thousands of American lives lost.”

Abe is technically not the first sitting prime minister to visit the Pearl Harbor memorial (Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida apparently visited the memorial during a stop in Hawaii in 1951), but he will be the first to participate in a public ceremony there.

No apology expected

HE is not expected to apologize for the attacks, much as Obama did not

apologize for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Instead, Abe will most likely repeat the repentance and condolences he offered in April 2015 when he addressed Congress.

Although it was 75 years in the making, Abe’s trip to Pearl Harbor is in some ways the easiest gesture of reconciliation that Japan could make as it confronts its wartime past.

Asia has long been plagued by an inability among the war’s combatants to move beyond its events and enmities. South Korea and China remain angered by what they see as Japanese efforts to ignore or sugarcoat atrocities. By contrast, the relationship between Japan and the United States long ago overcame such difficulties.

“I think that’s because the United States was a good winner and Japan was a good loser,” said Tamaki Tsukada, a spokesman at the Japanese Embassy in Washington.

“The United States was magnanimous after defeating Japan. It did not impose harsh terms. If anything, the US provided very generous support, humanitarian and economic.” The Japanese accepted the US postwar occupation peacefully.

Even in the United States, where “Remember Pearl Harbor” was once a rallying cry, the sense of outrage about what was viewed as a sneaky and disreputable attack has largely dissipated, said Daniel Martinez, chief historian at the Pearl Harbor memorial. Part of that is time, and also sympathetic popular culture portrayals of Japanese attackers in movies, like Tora! Tora! Tora! and Pearl Harbor, Martinez said. NYTS

A6

Monday, December 26, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

What will ‘not’ happen in 2017

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BOUT this time every year, we anxiously anticipate the lists of what will happen in the next 12 months. It is an opportunity for experts from every imaginable field—economics, politics, sports and showbiz—to share their predictive wisdom.

Of course, it is particularly entertaining and maybe even educational to look back at predictions gone wrong. The New York Times newspaper, with its 165-year attitude of “We’re smarter than you” concluded in 1936 that “A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere.”

We could excuse them for being so wrong because how could anyone predict future technology?

Except in his 1903 novel The Machine Stops, Edward Morgan Forrester talks of a world where people only communicate using digital screens and general knowledge is shared with everyone through a digital system that links everyone together. We now call that the Internet.

Instant messaging, blogging and status updates were described in 1835 in the novel by Vladimir Odoevsky called Year 4338. He just underestimated how quickly humans could technologically evolve.

Variety Magazine forecast that “Rock-and-Roll music will be gone by June” as it looked to the coming year 1955. More recent, after writing the first Harry Potter book, JK Rowling was told by a publisher: “Children just aren’t interested in witches and wizards anymore.”

The greatest prediction losers in 2016 were those who incorrectly called the outcome of the “Brexit” vote in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union and the presidential election of Donald J. Trump. But the prognosticators weren’t really wrong. It is just humans are so erratic.

But if you are going to make predictions in whatever field and are wrong, you can always respond with “Oops. My bad” and move on. They rarely follow with “I am glad I was wrong.” We, therefore, will try to predict the “things that will not happen in 2017” with the hope we are proven wrong.

‘Government agencies and departments will not strive to work together for the common good’

PRESIDENT Duterte is sometimes portrayed like Star Wars’s character Emperor Palpatine, directing his government with an iron hand as his minions do his bidding. Perhaps, unfortunately, that is not the case.

Checks and balances between branches and even between agencies and regulators are critical to a free government. But we know that in the Philippines, many are operated like personal kingdoms doing what is best for the agency and not for the country. We do not think this is going to change much for the better in 2017.

‘Comprehensive tax reform will not be passed’

TAX reform is a monumental task, balancing public versus private fiscal needs. Balancing—or maybe fighting “special interests”—is even harder.

Most people define tax reform as “Much higher taxes of the other guy; for me, zero taxes sounds good.” One problem is the tax laws and regulations are much like a four-story house in an “informal settlement” built over several generations. Both were made up as we went along. Nobody wants to tear either one down and start fresh and clean.

There are definitely other events that will not occur in 2017, but these are just two that we do not want to happen. However, it is impossible to avoid wanting to predict the future and be accurate.

Time to polish the crystal ball.

On the ₧3.35-T budget allocation for 2017 Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

J

UST this December 22, President Duterte ratified the General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2017. The preparation of the national budget was an effort among the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, Rep. Karlo Alexei B. Nograles, Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III and Sen. Loren B. Legarda.

According to DBM’s report, the P3.35-trillion People’s Budget is “anchored in the 10-point socioeconomic agenda of the President, and embodies the pro-people, pro-investment, pro-growth and pro-development thrust of the government.”

Education is at the forefront, with the Department of Education (DepEd) being given the biggest allocation among all of the executive departments. The DepEd gets P544.1 billion; the State Universi-

ties and Colleges (SUCs) will receive P58.72 billion; and the Commission on Higher Education gets P18.7 billion. The latter includes the new free-tuition budget that will pay for the 2017 tuition fees of all those enrolled in SUCs. The Department of Social Welfare and Development will be able to continue its Conditional CashTransfer Program and monthly rice subsidy for poor families, given a budget of P128.3 billion this coming year. Everyone knows this

Christmas tidings from Santa BOA

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program is able to reach many of the poor families in the country, but it is imperative that guidelines are set so that dependency can be curbed and the ground is set for true initiative and hard work, as far as beneficiaries are concerned.

The people’s health is also given priority through the Department of Health’s P96.3-billion budget.

The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. will be operating next year with P53.22 billion for its universal health-care program.

The local governments will be given additional transfers, such as the Local Government Support Fund, on top of its P486.9-billion internal-revenue allotment.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government is being given P148 billion to be able to assist in the government’s war on drugs, provide new jail facilities and increase prisoners’ allowances.

The Department of National Defense is being given P137.2 billion for territorial defense, the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program, and various programs to promote national

I

T is the day after Christmas…and Santa Claus still has some Christmas good tidings and gifts for the accountants in the Philippines. These gifts are the good news from the Board of Accountancy (BOA) on important concerns of all accountancy stakeholders.

The BOA will be releasing soon the procedures to streamline the procedures for the common transactions that accountants have with the BOA. These include the accreditation of the Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) of the various sectors and the Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

On the accreditation, currently the CPAs from the public practice, academe and commerce and industry are required to be accredited with the BOA before they can practice their profession. This process is oftentimes tedious and lengthy. The BOA has been keen on putting in place measures that will streamline and speed up the procedures despite the bureaucratic environment in the government.

The recommendations of the BOA to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) include reduction of the documents required for submission by the CPA applying for accreditation and reducing the number of signatories in the PRC for the approval of the accreditation. The visitation process of the principal office of the CPAs applying for accreditation in public practice will also be streamlined. With these

recommendations in place, the process and time for completing the accreditation will definitely be simplified and fast-tracked. Also, instead of having two different dates for the renewal of the professional license and the accreditation, one uniform date of the birth month will soon be prescribed for both transactions. This will minimize the number of times that CPAs will be transacting with the PRC. The BOA also is developing information- technology (IT) solutions that will allow the online transaction and tracking of the accreditation applications. With this system in place, the applicants for accreditation will be able to easily monitor the progress of processing of their papers and can interact and transact with the PRC and BOA without the need to go to the far-away office in Manila.

Finally, the BOA will be releasing next month the rules that will allow the CPAs in public practice, whose pending applications still have not been approved, to be granted provisional accreditation that will permit them to proceed with their practice, including the signing of auditors’ opinion and

compilation services reports. Of course, those CPAs in commerce and industry are already enjoying this treatment since they can sign the Certificate of Compilation Services in the preparation even if their application for accreditation is still pending pursuant to BOA Resolution 68-2016. For this, the CPA should just indicate in the certificate that will be signed the notation “CPA accreditation filed on [date], still in process.” To accommodate the requests of many CPAs in commerce and industry, the BOA will also be extending the December 31, 2016, deadline for them to file their applications with the PRC. Our external auditors will also be pleased that in 2017 they will be receiving the financial statements from their clients not later than two months from the end of their client’s accounting period pursuant to BOA Resolution 68-2016. With this, the auditors will now have ample time to complete their audit.

On the CPD, new requirements are now required. These are contained in Republic Act 10912, PRC Resolution 2016-990 and BOA Resolution 3582016. The important changes in these measures are the mandatory presentation of completion of CPD requirements prior to the renewal of the professional license and the increase to 80 CPD units that must be completed by CPAs over three years in 2017. The CPD unit requirement will be gradually increased to 100 units in 2018 and 120 units in 2019. The BOA commits to streamline the implementation of these requirements so as not to unduly cause inconvenience on the CPAs. This includes the encouraging of CPD providers to offer online courses that will allow the CPA to take the CPD in the convenience of his

security and stability.

We’re all hoping the Duterte administration will focus on real solutions for one of the most perennial problems of the country: traffic. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) received increases in their budgets this year, relative to last year’s budgets. The DPWH will be getting P454.7 billion (an 18.3-percent increase), while the DOTr will receive P53.3 billion (a 25-percent increase). There is an additional P850-billion allotment for the “construction of roads, school buildings, hospitals, transport infrastructure and other public works.”

On the agriculture sector, the government is helping farmers through the allocation of P38.4 billion to the National Irrigation Authority. The Department of Agriculture will get P45.2 billion, while the Department of Agrarian Reform will receive P9.8 billion. There is also a P1.3-million crop insurance for farmers and fishermen “to minimize damage from typhoons and other natural calamities.”

office or residence without the need to go to a seminar venue. Tracking of the CPD units earned will also be facilitated via the IT tracking system that the BOA will soon roll out.

Accountants also have the chance to get actual gifts from Santa BOA. The BOA will be giving “I am an Accountant” novelty items to lucky CPAs who participate in the 2016 sectoral surveys. There are three different online surveys for CPAs in public practice (PP), accounting education (AE), and commerce and industry (CI). These surveys pertain to issues in the three accountancy sectors, which the BOA would like to get feedback on. The links for the three surveys are: AE-https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ CPASurveyAE “_blank” https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CPASurveyAE PP-https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ CPASurveyPP “_blank” https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CPASurveyPP CI-https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ CPASurveyCI “_blank” https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CPASurveyCI With all of these in place or soon forthcoming, it is truly a Merry Christmas and an Expanding Horizon New Year from Santa BOA.

Chairman Joel L. Tan-Torres is the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy.

He is a Certified Public Accountant who placed No. 1 in the May 1979 CPA Board Examinations. He is concurrently a tax partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co., CPAs. He was the former Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue from 2009 to 2010.

This column accepts contributions from accountants, especially articles that are of interest to the accountancy profession, in particular, and to the business community, in general. These can be e-mailed to boa.secretariat.@gmail.com.

Sports BusinessMirror

Editor: Jun Lomibao | mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Monday, December 26, 2016 A7

ALYSSA BRINGS

ALYSSA VALDEZ’S spiking prowess and defensive skills earns her the nod of Thailand coaches.

ACT TO THAILAND

By Lance Agcaoili

signs Philippine star Alyssa Valdez,” 3BB Nakornonnt announced in its official socialmedia page on Christmas eve.

Valdez played all of her five years of eligibility at Ateneo and became the face of Philippine volleyball for much of her collegiate career. She played for the national team in last year’s Singapore Southeast Asian Games and has recorded impressive performances in the Shakey’s V-League.

3BB Head Coach Acting Sub. Lt. Thanakit Inleang, known as Coach M in Thailand, was convinced with Valdez’s attacking and defensive skills, prompting him to sign the 23-year-old wing spiker from Batangas.

“It’s pretty safe to say most of the Thai volleyball fans know her,” the team’s official statement said.

A

LYSSA VALDEZ is bringing her act to Asian powerhouse Thailand after the former Ateneo de Manila star was invited to play as an import in the ongoing 2017 Women’s Volleyball Thailand League.

Valdez, a two-time University Athletic Association of the Philippines Most Valuable Player, appeared mum on the invitation until the team that has signed her up, 3BB Nakornonnt, announced her recruitment in its official facebook account.

“3BB Nakornonnt is set to fight even harder in 2017’s Volleyball Thailand League as the team officially

The Thai tournament resumes on January 7, but the team did not say when Valdez would start playing.

3BB Nakornonnt is currently No. 4 with a 3-2 win-lost record. It plays winless KingBangkok (0-3) at the resumption of the tournament.

The Thai league is now on its 12th season and has an eight-team roster with Bangkok Glass as the reigning champion—it holds a 4-1 card. The tournament ends in March.

Supreme Chonburi E. Tech leads the league with a 6-0 record, followed by Nakhon Ratchasima The Mall (5-1). The other competing teams are Khonkaen Star (2-3), Thai-Denmark Nongrua (0-6) and Rangsit University (0-6).

Valdez is also expected to see action for 3BB Nakornonnt in the Thai-Denmark Super League in April, where, interestingly, the Philippine Superliga will be fielding a team. Valdez has never played in the Superliga.

Valdez will reunite with Bureau of Customs imports Som Kuthaisong and Nic Jaisaen, who saw action in the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Reinforced Conference.

The former skipper of the U23 National Team will also be teaming up with Thai national opposite hitter Kokram Pimpichaya and Tichaya Boonlert, one of the imports of F2 Logistics Manila in the International Volleyball Federation Women’s Club World Championship Manila hosted in August.

Valdez could not be reached for comment on Christmas Day.

K

IM MANGROBANG finished third at the Dakhla Sprint Triathlon Africa Cup in Morocco recently, achieving a podium finish for the second time at the Women Elite level.

With this finish, Mangrobang jumped 48 spots in the International Triathlon Union World ranking to 154th. This race is part of her preparation for the 2017 Southeast Asian Games and eventual participation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Mangrobang came out of the swim in second place with the lead pack of four, which included Jenny Manners (Great Britain), Alessia Orta (Italy) and Greta Santosi (Hungary). This lead group worked hard to widen their lead going into the run.

A strong finish, however, by France’s Emmie Charayron saw her catching Santosi, Orla and, eventually, Mangrobang.

Manners hung on to win in one hour, five minutes and 56 seconds, followed by Charayron (1:06:28) and Mangrobang (1:06:41), who held off Orla, Sena Takahasi (Japan) and Santosi.

“Kim is progressing well and this is a good step toward qualifying for the 2020 Olympics,” said a happy Coach Sergio Santos, training director of the Desmor High Performance Camp, where the Philippine elite athletes have been training since 2014.

Mangrobang’s campaign is supported by the Triathlon Association of the Philippines, the Philippine Sports Commission and San Miguel Corp.

Claire Adorna, 2015 SEA Games women’s gold medalist, is also currently in Desmor and so is Nikko Huelgas, also the men’s gold medalist in the Singapore SEA Games, and Edward Macalalad.

John Chicano and Kim Kilgroe, on the other hand, attended Brett Sutton’s HP Camps throughout. Attendance at these training camps is in preparation for the 2017 SEA Games in Malaysia.

KIM MANGROBANG is in hot pursuit of a slot to Malaysia and Tokyo.

MANGROBANG FINISHES THIRD IN MOROCCO

Age-group net circuit winds up in Cainta M

THAI’S CHAMP Thailand’s Saranporn Langkulgasettrin is doused with water by her fellow players and supporters after she won the $80,000 International Container Terminal Services Inc. Philippines Ladies Masters crown at the Alabang Country Club last Friday. She beat Korean Lee Jeong-Hwa by three strokes despite a closing 73. ALYSA SALEN

ORE than 200 entries gear up for another spirited battle for top honors in various divisions as the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age-group tennis circuit winds up its 2016 season today (Monday) at the Brookside Hills Tennis Club in Cainta, Rizal.

Mikaela Vicencio and Cenon Gonzales Jr. head the centerpiece 18-under cast that features the country’s leading junior players who remain in shape during the holiday season to vie for honors and ranking points in the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.

“We commend our age-groupers for their effort to stay in top shape all year, which only inspires us to continue providing them tournaments week-in, weekout throughout the year,” said Bobby Castro, president and CEO of Palawan Pawnshop, the chief backer of the country’s premier age-grouper, which also features a number of Open tournaments.

Joining Vicencio in the roster are Bettina Bautista, Jhastine Ballado and Lila Salvacion, while out to crowd Gonzales in the boys’ side of the five-day, tournament sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association and backed

by Asiatraders Corp., exclusive distributor of Slazenger, are Kurt Molina, Klyde Lagarde and Wilfred Bentillo.

Vicencio is also entered in the 16-under class as second seed with Miles Vitaliano as the top-ranked player, and Blanche Lagrisola, Ballado, Gab Zoleta and Patricia Lim also tipped to contend for the crown.

Zoleta, on the other hand, topbills the 14-under division that also lured Justine Maneja, Kryshana Brazal and Kaye Emana with Brazal and Emana heading the 12-under class, which also includes Ella Emana and Melody Dizon.

Lagarde, meanwhile, banners the boys’ 16-under division along with No. 2 Wilfred Bentillo, third seed Athan Arejola, No. 4 Angelo Aparte and Kurt Molina, as fifth seed, while Miguel Vicencio gains the top seeding in the 14-under group that also includes Jose Martin Buenaventura, Ross Perpetua, Daniel Estanislao III and Lajon Gonzaga.

Gonzaga, meanwhile, is the player to beat in the 12-under class along with Thomas Bernardo, Kidlat Estogero and Darwin Cosca, while a fierce battle is seen in the 10-unisex side, headed by Joshua Diva, Mica Emana, Darwin Cosca and Estogero.

Ray Roquero raymundo.roquero@yahoo.com

THE SCORECARD

Vision to preserve Rizal Memorial OVER the past few days an online petition, “Save Rizal Memorial Sports Complex,” has been gathering slow fire among conservationists, sports fans and plain history buffs.

Even in straightforward prose, the petition makes us see its logic and feel its heart bleed for this cultural treasure. Though antiquated and unstately, Rizal Memorial can still beguile many, as our world champion Manny Pacquiao will eternally proclaim, having once nestled in its bosom.

The old stadium and coliseum are “architectural and historical gems” done in the Art Deco style by its famous architect, Juan Arellano.

But it seems the petition is a defeated rear-guard action.

Property developers, like SM Prime Holdings have come forward with plans that would mindlessly invade, mangle and wreck this sacred ground of heart-tugging triumphs and tearful gold-medal ceremonies of Filipino athletes.

Over its history, amid the cycles of war and rebirth and decay, it has been graced by the great and the phenomenal in sports and in music. In the 1930s, the first home run out of the ballpark was hit by Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees, followed by the legendary swatter also in pinstripe uniform, Babe Ruth.

Then followed the Yankees invasion in 1955 topped by Hall of Fame-bound legends in Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra and the first sportsman I recognized who wore the Number 7 on his back, the great slugger Mickey Mantle.

In 1966 the songs of the Beatles had two soldout concerts at the stadium, and in 1989 the tennis behemoths of my youth, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, brought the intensity of their Wimbledon rivalry to the turf of Rizal’s tennis courts.

What other old venue in Southeast Asia has a comparable historical glitter?

But the mall-building spree that has overrun the metropolis since the 1990s maddeningly marches on, crowding out the last few remaining public places of the metropolis.

Unplanned development, many will argue, is erasing the last vestiges of playgrounds and leisure parks that were meant for early-morning walks and late-afternoon runs and chess and dama games by citizens.

We have become a metropolis of malls and traffic; a city without passion and compassion; a once elegant capital without its soul and legacy.

The malls—an icon of progress but also of limitless encroachment into our public space—have wantonly replaced the long-held memory of community and a sense of belonging to a particular place—and attachment to a treasured time.

Walk into a mall and you live for the moment, dazzled and beguiled. Walk through a public park and you can still feel the sun and wind in your face, smell the scent of grass. Rizal Memorial is the closest place we have for enjoying this experience.

It has not outlived its purpose. This is the stand of the Heritage Conservation Society (HCS), which has taken the lead in this effort because of the National Historical Institute’s near-criminal neglect of its duty to try to preserve cultural treasure.

“Proposals to develop the property must include keeping all the public open spaces, especially the football and baseball fields,” the HCS says in a statement.

Will someone, also big-moneyed but with a fine appreciation of our history and legacy, come forward with a plan to preserve Rizal Memorial?

If the march of modernity cannot be stopped, at least someone, a Filipino at heart, must be noble in spirit enough to try to stop a precious part of our cultural legacy from disappearing forever.

Last heard indicated that the man with that vision is Enrique Razon Jr., the man who owns International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI). Razon can count numbers in seven figures and above. Now he is showing us we can count on him to see things differently from other property developers.

In his preservation plan is a proposal to “maintain and fortify the RMSC façade.” Reassuringly, the plan will not convert it into mall but it will “redevelop” RMSC. Someone in his camp told me that redesigning old Rizal would entail turning it into an enclave for “modern offices and commercial areas in contemporary buildings.”

The redevelopment would ensure “green open spaces” that would coexist with modern amenities run by smart technologies.

Razon is convincingly saying that the past and present can, and in this instance should, coexist. No need to tear down the old to make way for the new.

This is redevelopment not based on greed, which is now despicably the norm in property development, but on heart, which is a welcome rarity.

I would like to see something else preserved and decreed not to be torn down ever, the baseball stadium’s vintage scoreboard. A throwback to old Rizal’s glorious history, it is manually operated, and sitting on top of it is an analog clock.

You see, it is the only one of its kind that is left among the major sports venues in Asia.

ExecutiveViews BusinessMirror

Editor: Max V. de Leon | Monday, December 26, 2016 A8

Discovering What Pepsi is About: Performance with Purpose

PEPSI volunteers build some solarpowered LED light bulbs using reused Pepsi bottles, with the help of 2015 Miss Earth Angelia Ong.

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By Vernon Velasco

HINK Pepsi and you also think of other companies in the beverage space, outdoing each other for the ‘share of throat’. But this should not just be the only top of mind when one thinks of Pepsi, at least as what can be gleaned from Pepsi Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI) President Furqan Ahmed Syed.

More than the cola wars, Pepsi is about something else, especially for a leader whose vision is to diversify, spur innovation and create impact by doing business that is inextricably hinged on performance with purpose; and more than just being a company that sees business potential and headroom for growth to win the ever-competitive and fast-evolving food and beverage landscape.

But, really, how does one lead in this era of constant change? Syed sees it as a question that encompasses not just people at the helm of PCPPI, but all organizations the world over.

What he sees is a certain level of uncertainty and volatility, which corporations of the future would have to embrace—instead of resist—as a reality, and see what adjustments they need to make in the future.

PCPPI responds to that by evolving its products into a next-generation portfolio, and entering product categories that, may likely become categories of the future. PCPPI has a competitive advantage of having an already diverse portfolio of food and beverage products, which have become household names in their own right, just like the company’s flagship drink Pepsi. Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Lipton Ice tea, Cheetos, Lays, Quaker Good Start and Lets Be Coffee—the list goes on as PCPPI continues to innovate, and plan ahead to secure its sustainable growth in the coming years.

“Our job is to provide consumers with a diverse portfolio of products to choose from,” Syed said. “Ultimately the consumers are the ones who decide what and how much they want to consume...and our endeavour is to provide them with exciting choices.”

Recently, International Association of Business Communicators feted Syed as one of the awardees at CEO Excel Awards not just for his maverick approach to business and his penchant for innovation and disruption, but for steering his organization toward a corporate progress pivoted on nation-building, which aligns with what Pepsi stands for.

“I’ve been with the Pepsi system for over 15 years and I show up to work every day as if it’s my first day of the job,” Syed relates. “I see my personal values to be very close to Pepsi values because Pepsi is not just about delivering business results; there’s so much more to it as a business organization.”

More than anything, Pepsi believes that business success is equated to how much it has contributed to the world, which means its business goals and purpose goals are in line with improving many aspects of the communities that it operates in. According to Syed, it is performance with purpose, something that’s taken very seriously instead of being a mere add-on.

Epitomizing this is PCPPI’s signature corporate social responsibility agenda “Tayo Na” (Talino, Asenso, Yaman and Oras), an encompassing program that delves into different platforms to exact change in areas of health, livelihood, environment and volunteerism.

As PCPPI is a food and beverage company, the “Talino” arm works with primary schools (where kids underperform because of underlying poor nutrition) to provide children nutrition solutions to help them gain weight which has been found to have a strong correlation with the performance of those children in school. As a result of this program over 90% children gain weight and are able to improve their performance in school.

“Asenso,” meanwhile, creates multi-faceted livelihood for people, providing Filipinos direct employment opportunities in PCPPI’s business associates and partners. PCPPI has two major shareholders: PepsiCo and Lotte Corp., large international companies that, through their

elaborate portfolios of food and beverages, epitomize global expertise and best practices to support these entrepeneurs.

Pepsi is a great believer in Filipino ingenuity and talent. Add all of its portfolios and global expertise to the brew and the combination is one of the hallmarks of its success in the Philippines.

“There are certain exemplary traits Filipino talent has, which makes one so much more passionate to do business in the Philippines. I always tell our associates that, amongst all the markets that I (have) visited or worked in, the Philippines ranks number one in Passion,” Syed said. “Everything they do, they do it with a lot of pride, which always adds to what you can deliver. Business performance is so much about how motivated and energized your people are to be part of the mission.”

On the top of it all, Pepsi works with small and medium enterprises and independent entrepreneurs whom it helps set up distribution businesses and leverages on sari-sari stores, an integral part of Filipino community, with Liquid Refreshment beverages contributing over 30 percent of their income.

Pepsi also have initiatives on water conservation. With its “Yaman” mantra, it constantly works on reducing water consumption within its own facilities by improving its efficiency in usage. To date, Pepsi has reduced its water consumption by 25 percent in the last two years.

“Oras” stands for Pepsi’s time for volunteerism, which it channels to various areas.

Pepsi, through its winning Liter of Light project, worked in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan and continues to illuminate houses that do not have access to power. Thus far, Pepsi has already lit up close to 100,000 houses, installing batteryoperated solar LED-lights, encased in reused Pepsi bottles for added durability.

“That is what makes me really proud that I work for a company that is not just about business, but also about something else,” Syed said, “a company that is about a strong Purpose, and that is in line with my personal ambitions.”