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Friday, January 19, 2018 Vol. 13 No. 100

Govt to spend ₧4.82T for 4,095 infra projects

By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

he National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) on Thursday said the national government will spend P4.82 trillion for 4,095 infrastructure projects, which are expected to create 6.27 million jobs, until 2022.

Recto reminds House: Can’t do Cha-cha alone By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

enate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto reminded their counterparts in the House of Representatives against pushing plans for congressmen to convene as a constituent assembly (Con-ass) without the Senate, and pass Charter changes (Cha-cha) by themselves. “It takes two to Cha-cha,” Recto said on Thursday. In a statement, the Senate leader likened the House scheme to “a boxer going up the boxing ring for a full 12 rounds with no opponent and then triumphantly declaring yourself a winner by unanimous decision.” Recto added that the threefourths vote required for a Con-ass

Labor groups hope Duterte’s new EO will ban all forms of contractualization

to amend the Constitution covers both the Senate and the House of Representatives. “ T he t h re e - fou r t h vot i n g formula, to be exercised by one chamber a lone, is the w rong calculus,” said Recto, pointing out that the Constitution itself “speaks of a bicameral legislature.” Moreover, the senator asserts that if the two chambers of Congress are needed to pass a bill changing the name of a barangay, “then how can one house arrogate upon itself the far more important job of changing the basic law of the land?” Recto, “other than a dubious recourse that violates the Charter itself,” suggested there are other ways of amending the 1987 Constitution.

he country’s largest labor groups are hoping that a new executive order (EO) set to be signed by President Duterte this month will finally prohibit all forms of contractualization, as what they sought in their draft EO that was submitted to Malacañang last year. “The EO must end abusive contractualization, reverse the epidemic of contractual work, bring about inspections and punishment of workplace violators and ensure regularization of millions of workers,” Party-list Rep. Raymond T. Mendoza of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said. Mendoza issued the statement

Continued on A2

See “Labor groups,” A2

PESO exchange rates n US 50.6500

By Samuel P. Medenilla

sam_medenilla

In a presentation at the First Global Infrastructure Forum (GIF), Neda Undersecretary Rolando G. Tungpalan pegged the total budgetary requirement for infrastructure Continued on A2

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₧1.28T and ₧1T The cost of infrastructure projects that will be funded via PPP and ODA, respectively, up to 2022

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he impact of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law is beginning to dawn on the working class and consumers. Workers from both the public and private sectors are now receiving more money for their wages, as the nontaxable individual income has been raised to P250,000. Continued on A10

‘Current policies burdensome to small data-service providers’ By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

he rapid migration to the digital age should prompt the government to come up with policies that will empower small data-service providers, as this could help solve issues on Internet speed and access throughout the Philippines, an expert said. “It is time to refocus policy to empower the smaller, non-telco players, in this age of data services. For one, I think policy reforms should do away with regulatory requirements—such as congressional franchise and the National Telecommunications Commission’s provisional authority—that might unnecessarily

SANTOS: “Unfortunately, current policies are telcocentric. In many cases, only a telco can build and operate a network.”

burden market players,” Mary Grace Mira nd i l l a- Sa ntos, a n independent researcher in the information and communications technology space, told the BusinessMirror. Under current laws, the provision of public telecommunications services— including fixed and mobile services—is subject to franchise and licensing requirements.

A company is required to get a franchise from Congress and licenses from the telco regulator, which requires potential players to prove their legal, technical and financial capabilities before being issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity. Likewise, potential players are required to comply with the national restriction on foreign ownership, a mandate that only allows foreign investors a mere 40-percent stake in certain industries. Second, the state must allow data-service providers to build and operate their own network, Santos, who is also the convener of rights group Better Broadband Alliance, said. See “Current policies,” A2

n japan 0.4558 n UK 70.1806 n HK 6.4789 n CHINA 7.8728 n singapore 38.2813 n australia 40.4845 n EU 61.8690 n SAUDI arabia 13.5059

Source: BSP (18 January 2018 )

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A2 Friday, January 19, 2018

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Govt to spend ₧4.82T for 4,095 infra projects Continued from A1

projects under the Public Investment Program at P7.74 trillion. Of this amount, Tungpalan said 64 percent, or P4.97 trillion, will be channeled to transportation projects. Social infrastructure projects, he said, will require P1.1 trillion. “Of the P7.74 trillion, the bulk of the projects will be financed by the national government at P4.82 trillion, which covers 4,095 projects, and P1.28 trillion will be funded via public-private partnerships covering 39 projects,” Tungpalan said. A total of 68 projects to be funded by the Official Development Assistance (ODA) will require P1 trillion. Other projects costing P626.78 billion will be funded through private investments, corporate funds of state-owned firms and internally generated funds of financial institutions. The source of funding for around 61 projects worth P5.54 billion has yet to be determined by the government. Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno assured that the government has sufficient funds for its infrastructure push. Diokno earlier said government spending for infrastructure would reach as much as 7.3 percent of the country’s GDP by 2022. The government’s budget of P1.15 trillion for infrastructure this year is equivalent to 6.3 percent of GDP. This will steadily increase to 6.8 percent in 2019, and to 6.9 percent in 2020 and 2021. “We recognize that infrastructure

Current policies. . . Continued from A1

“Internet works differently from basic telecom services. It thrives on decentralization and distribution. We can have several networks all over the country—unlike the vertically integrated, nationwide networks that current telcos have —where smaller data providers operate in different segments or just one segment of the network, such as international connectivity, backbone, middle mile, last mile,” she explained. Third, data-service providers should be allowed to provide connectivity using different kinds of technology, wired or wireless. “Unfortunately current policies are telcocentric. In many cases, only a telco can build and operate a network,” she lamented. Hence, potential broadband players are limited in what they can do. “So you have

Labor groups. . . following the announcement of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Wednesday that the new EO approved by labor and employer’s groups is expected to be signed by Duterte before the end of

a situation where you’re not allowed to lay fiber or connect two premises a few meters away through wireless means if you’re not a telco,” Santos said. “This situation stifles both innovation and competition.” Talks on the potential entry of another player in the Philippine telco sector have become much louder, after President Duterte announced that he has asked China Telecom to enter the telco market. Today, there are only two telco players in the Philippines: PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. Experts and government officials have long pushed for the entry of new players in the telco market, as this would force the existing vendors to provide better and more affordable mobile services to their customers. To do this, experts argue that the government should start the refarming and reallocating mobile radio frequencies to allow a new player to thrive. Data from the regulator showed that

Continued from A1

the month during his meeting with labor leaders. In a phone interview, Labor Undersecretary Joel B. Maglunsod said they already invited at least 25 labor leaders to participate in the

EASTERLIES AFFECTING EASTERN SECTION OF THE COUNTRY as of 5:00 pm - January 18, 2018

existing telcos hold majority of the said real estate to date. PLDT holds 400 megahertz (MHz) of the total holdings, while Globe has rights to 325 MHz. What remains for budding telecom players is a mere 140 MHz of frequencies in the 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2500 MHz and 3500 MHz spectra. Spectrum is the real estate on which telecommu n ic at ion operators develop their respective network to deliver services to customers. The amount of spectrum assigned to a telco has an impact on the cost to build capacity, overall network performance, ability to offer new multimedia services and general customer experience of wireless services. Executives of the two telcos have long argued that they have been using the frequencies allocated to them extensively and actively—even the new ones that they bought from San Miguel Corp. in 2016.

meeting with Duterte. This was confirmed by Associated Labor Union-TUCP Spokesman Alan Tanjusay, who said their association will be among the groups that will send a representative to the said dialogue. “However, the invitation still has no specified date,” Tanjusay said.

The DOLE earlier said the current draft of the new EO will still allow the practice of contractualization, but prohibit labor-only contracting and subcontracting. Mendoza, who is also a member of the labor coalition Nagkaisa, maintained that allowing contractualization is a violation of the campaign promise made by Duterte to eliminate the controversial work scheme. “We in TUCP and the Nagkaisa labor coalition request that both Malacañang and the DOLE listen carefully to workers so that the EO to be signed by President Duterte faithfully reflects his oft-repeated campaign promise to free millions of Filipino workers from the bondage of oppressive and unjust short-term work,” Mendoza said. Tanjusay said they already requested for a copy of the EO on contractualization to check if it is consistent with their draft, which they submitted to the Office of the President last year. The new EO was supposed to augment or replace DOLE’s Department Order 174, which was implemented last year. I t wa s o p p o s e d by l a b o r groups for still allowing the practice of contractualization, but subject to more regulation. Tanjusay said they plan to contest the content of the EO if it will still allow contractualization.

development is one of the requisites of real change and, accordingly, this is one of the top priorities of the Duterte administration,” Diokno said. “Our 2018 national budget brings flesh and bone to the President’s promise of real change. It is a budget that reforms and transforms. A budget for the people and by the people. Our every allocation for infrastructure is proof that we mean what we say, that we are serious in achieving the promise of the President to bring growth and development throughout the whole country,” he added. The entire public investment thrust of the government can create as much as 6.27 million jobs from its various public infrastructure investments between this year and 2022. Tungpalan said the government aims to create the most jobs at 1.71 million in 2022, when most of its projects are already being implemented. The Neda estimated that the government’s infrastructure spending will create 823,700 jobs this year; some 1.12 million jobs in 2019; 1.23 million in 2020; and 1.4 million in 2021. As of January, projects approved by the Neda Board under the Duterte administration amounted to P1.2 trillion, covering 29 infrastructure projects. Of the amount, 87.9 percent, or P1.06 trillion, will be financed by the ODA, while the 94.84 percent, or P1.14 trillion, are for the transport sector.

Recto reminds House: Can’t do Cha-cha alone Continued from A1

This developed as Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III affirmed that senators and congressmen must first forge a consensus on how their two chambers would vote before the lawmakers can start the process of amending the Constitution. “The two chambers of Congress—the Senate and House of Representatives— must agree whether to vote jointly or separately, otherwise they could not proceed to amend the 1987 Constitution,” Pimentel said. “We have to follow the same procedure to have proposed amendments to the Constitution. If we don’t, we can’t propose amendments. Interviewed after a Senate hearing on Charter-change issues, Pimentel points out that, “if the Cha-cha is a dance, the two partners must dance the same dance. If they’re dancing different dances, then we don’t have a Cha-cha.” Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson Sr. early this week filed a resolution calling on the Senate to convene as a Con-ass and vote on Charter amendments separate from the House of Representatives. The House earlier voted to adopt a resolution to convene the Con-ass and vote jointly with the Senate in passing Charter amendments. But Pimentel opted to await transmittal to the Senate of the House approved resolution before deciding on their next move. “Let us wait until we get a copy of whatever the House passed before we act

Intl tourists. . . Continued from A12

Based on current trends, economic prospects and the outlook by the UNWTO Panel of Experts, the organization estimates international tourist arrivals worldwide to grow between 4 percent and 5 percent in 2018. This is slightly above the 3.8-percent average earlier projected by the organization from 2010 to 2020. Europe and the Americas are both expected to grow by 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent, Asia and the Pacific by 5 percent to 6 percent, Africa by 5 percent to 7 percent, and the Middle East by 4 percent to 6 percent. Per the data collected, international tourist arrivals in Europe reached 671 million in 2017, a remarkable 8-percent increase following a comparatively weaker 2016. Growth was driven by the extraordinary results in Southern and Mediterranean Europe (+13 percent). Western Europe (+7 percent), Northern Europe and Central and Eastern Europe (both +5 percent) also recorded robust growth. Asia and the Pacific recorded 324 million international

on it,” Pimentel said, adding: “They will communicate it to the Senate officially and formally.” Pimentel recalled that the senators, during their closed-door caucus on Tuesday, reached a unanimous consensus that the Senate should vote separately from the House when adopting Charter changes to be submitted for ratification in a national referendum. “All senators believe that voting should be separately.” At the same time, Sen. Grace Poe proposed that lawmakers first ascertain what they aim to achieve in pushing plans to tinker with the Charter. “Before we amend our Constitution, we need to determine what it is we want to achieve,” Poe said, adding that “federalism is not a magic pill to address all of our country’s problems.” For instance, Poe points out that, if lawmakers want to strengthen local autonomy, some issues are better addressed by amending the Local Government Code. “We need stronger institutions, not strongmen. We should enact the Freedom of information and anti-dynasty bills in order to ensure meaningful participation of people in government, with or without Federalism,” she added. The senator also suggested that a review of the economic provisions of the Constitution is needed to encourage more investments to achieve economic growth but added, “This can also be done in the meantime by amending the Public Services Act.” tourist arrivals in 2017, an increase of 6 percent. Arrivals in South Asia grew 10 percent; in Southeast Asia, 8 percent; and in Oceania, 7 percent. Arrivals in Northeast Asia increased by 3 percent. The Americas welcomed 3 percent more international tourist arrivals last year, reaching 207 million, with most destinations enjoying positive results. South America (+7 percent) led growth, followed by Central America and the Caribbean (both +4 percent), with the Caribbean showing clear signs of recovery in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria. In North America (+2 percent), robust results in Mexico and Canada contrasted with a decrease in the United States, the region’s largest destination. Arrivals growth in Africa was pegged at 8 percent, reaching a record 62 million international tourists. North Africa enjoyed a strong recovery, with arrivals growing by 13 percent, while in Sub-Saharan Africa, arrivals increased by 5 percent. Last, about 58 million international tourists arrived in the Middle East in 2017, an increase of 5 percent, on sustained growth in some destinations and a strong recovery in others.

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Dela Rosa reshuffles 12 key PNP officials By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

ational Police Chief Director General Ronald M. dela Rosa reassigned on Thursday, 12 senior police officials to their new posts in the continuing movement of key personnel in the police organization. D e l a R os a re a s s i g ne d D i rector Noli Ta liño as chief of the Specia l Action Force (SA F) f rom his post as d irector of the PNP Directorate for Human Resources, Doctr ine and Development (DHR DD). Taliño was the deputy chief of the SAF when the Mamasapano Massacre transpired in 2015, which resulted in the killing of 44 police commandos. The killing, borne out of the police operations that bagged Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, resulted in the relief of then-SAF Director Getulio Napeñas, prompting Taliño to assume the post. Director Cedrick Train, who was previously assigned with the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations-Western Mindanao (Dipo-WM), succeeded Taliño at the DHRDD. From the Directorate for Police

Community Relations, Director Noel Constantino was assigned at the Dipo-WM. On the other hand, Director Eduardo Garado will replace Constantino at the Directorate for Pilice Community Relations (DPCR) from Dipo-Southern Luzon. His post will be taken over by Director Benjamin Lusad, who was from SAF. C h i e f S u p t . E l m o S a r o n a from Cordil lera police was assig ned to the Directorate for I nvest i g at ion a nd Dete c t ive Management, whose chief, Director Aug usto Marquez, re tired on Tuesday. From t he PNP-Hea lt h Ser v ice, C h ief Supt. Edwa rd C a r ra n za was reassig ned to Cor dillera police, while Chief Supt. Em m a nue l L ic up f rom the Directorate for Operations (DO) w i l l be reassig ned to Re g ion 4B pol ice, whose head , Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor, w il l t ra nsfer to DO. Chief Supt. Robert Quenery from Region 2 police will be reassigned to Region 7, whose current head, Chief Supt. Jose Mario Espino, will be transferred to Region 10, while Chief Supt. Timoteo Pacleb from Region 10 police will take over the post in Region 2.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Friday, January 19, 2018 A3

Lawmaker proposes ‘lifetime’ number for cell-phone owners

By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

he Senate is working on early passage of a law allowing cellular telephone owners to retain their cell-phone numbers “for life.”

Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs, has sponsored Senate Bill 1636 embodying the proposed Lifetime Cellphone Number Act, paving the way for plenary deliberation and early approval of the proposal.

Gatchalian said its enactment into law will give telco subscribers the “power to keep their cell-phone numbers for life, even if they change service providers or switch from postpaid to prepaid subscription, and vice versa.” The lawmaker noted that under

the current system, telco subscribers are reluctant to switch away from underperforming service providers “because it would be inconvenient for them to change their mobile numbers. Similarly, they fear that they might lose their important contacts in the process.” Moving to address their concerns, Gatchalian authored the remedial legislation seeking to “correct this anti-consumer status quo,” adding that the bill would “remove the shackles that hinder users from leaving their service providers and transfer to providers that offer the best customer service, the best network, and the best quality of service.”

Gatchalian said that, in anticipation of the expected entry of new telco players, a cell-phone number should become an extension of every subscriber’s “digital identity,” so that consumer loyalty will not be determined by the fear of losing their numbers, but through the dynamism of competition among players. He s a id S e n ate Bi l l 16 36 was “culled from the technical concept of Mobile Number Portability, where one’s cell-phone number is ‘portable’ in order to give him/her the freedom to choose the provider that can give the best value without losing the cell-phone number.”

Ex-Navy chief Mercado says no hard feelings over relief

espite his unceremonious relief as Philippine Navy flag officer-in-command last month, Vice Adm. Ronald Joseph Mercado said he harbors no bitterness toward Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana. “You know I’m a military officer, I obey orders, I know the secretary of national defense, he has some

justification for doing it, so I respect…[his decision],” he added in an interview on Wednesday. The former Navy chief added that he understands such a decision, as he has done it many times during his time as a leader of various naval units. Lorenzana relieved Mercado f rom his post as Nav y chief

last December 18, citing loss of tr ust and confidence on the integr it y and leadership of the nava l officer. This stemmed from the alleged fixation of the former on one company to supply the combat management system of the Frigate Acquisition Project (FAP), a contract won by South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai

Heavy Industries. At the moment, Mercado is now assig ned to the Office of the Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines, on specia l duties. Earlier, the ex-Navy chief cleared Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go of alleged intervention on the P18-billion FAP. PNA

Economy

A4 Friday, January 19, 2018 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

Ledac measure for DHUD creation endorsed for House plenary approval By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@joveemarie

Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) priority measure for the creation of the proposed Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHUD) is now inching its way to become a law with the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development’s endorsement for plenary approval. Committee Chairman and Rep. Alfredo Benitez of the Third District of Negros Occidental said House Bill (HB) 6775, would address the worsening housing problem in the country. The Lower House has started on Wednesday night the plenary debates for HB 6775 that consolidated five legislative proposals for the creation of the DHUD. “What we have on the floor is the best version of the bill on the department’s creation since it was filed in 1989, [or] almost three decades ago,” Benitez said, adding the lower chamber is eyeing to pass the measure before its break in March. Under HB 6775, the agency will not only provide for housing, but will also “focus on building communities and habitats in both rural and urban areas.” “It will not only deal with the physical element of housing, but, likewise, provide the necessary link to community services and components, such as education, health, culture, welfare, recreation, food

and nutrition,” he added. Moreover, Benitez said, the new housing department will be created through the consolidation of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB). According to the legislator, the department shall act as the primary national government entity responsible in the management of housing, human settlement and urban development. Benitez added the agency shall be the sole and main planning and policy-making, regulatory, program coordination, and performance monitoring entity for all housing, human settlement and urban development concerns, primarily focusing on the access to and the affordability of basic human needs. The lawmaker said the new department shall develop and adopt a national strategy to immediately address the provision of adequate and affordable housing to all Filipinos, and shall ensure alignment

of all the policies, programs and projects of all its attached agencies to facilitate the achievement of this objective. Like other government agencies, the bill said the agency shall be composed of the Office of the Secretary, undersecretaries and assistant secretaries. The measure also said that the functions of the HLURB shall be transferred to the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC) that will be created under this act. The National Housing Authority, Home Guaranty Corp., National Home Mortgage Finance Corp., Home Development Mutual Fund, Social Housing Finance Corp., and Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC) are also to be attached to the housing department for policy and program coordination, monitoring and evaluation. These agencies shall also continue to function according to existing laws and their respective charters. Earlier, Benitez said the housing needs of Filipinos could balloon to 6.8 million before President Duterte’s term ends in 2022.

He added there will be an estimated 774,441 housing needs in 2018; 788,773 in 2019; 803,405 in 2020; 818,363 in 2021 and 833,619 in 2022. Benitez said at least 1 million units should be constructed every year to address these backlogs. According to Benitez, the bill has been part of Congress’s legislative dockets since the 8th Congress up to the 17th Congress and authored by nearly 200 solons. He added the current Republic Act 7279, or the Urban Development Housing Act, has apparently overlooked the enormous demands in the housing sector. “Neither did Executive Order 9, which created a coordinating body for shelter agencies of the government, addressed the housing backlog that stood at 3 million in 1992,” he said. “It must be admitted, with much regret, that the government has failed to solve the shelter problem. Proof of this, is the fact that we still grapple with the same problem today, as some 6 million housing needs stare us in the face,” Benitez added.

What we have on the floor is the best version of the bill on the department’s creation since it was filed in 1989, [or] almost three decades ago. It will not only deal with the physical element of housing, but, likewise, provide the necessary link to community services and components, such as education, health, culture, welfare, recreation, food and nutrition.”—Benitez

Japan seeks deeper ties with PHL

apanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has emphasized his continuing respect and support to President Duterte and to the Philippines-Japan strategic partnership, particularly in the field of security and infrastructure development. Abe conveyed his message to the Filipino leader through his Special Advisor for Foreign Affairs Katsuyuki Kawai, who paid a courtesy call on President Duterte at the Malacañan Palace on Wednesday. Presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque Jr. said on Thursday that Kawai stressed the importance placed by Tokyo on expanding and deepening further its relations with Manila. Roque added Kawai also conveyed support to ongoing programs of the Duterte administration, particularly on counterterrorism, the “Build, Build, Build” program and Marawi rebuilding. “He stressed further the value of strategic partnership of Japan and the Philippines, and in pursuing shared goals for the region,” Roque said. In response, Roque added the President had reaffirmed the need to further deepen and expand the PhilippinesJapan cooperation on fields of mutual importance. Roque said Duterte emphasized the significance of working together with Japan to advance security and development in the region. The President also thanked Japan for its support for the security and development agenda of the Philippine government. In October last year Duterte visited Japan, where he met Abe and Japanese Emperor Akihito. PNA

Fishy tale A vendor at the dried-fish section of the Nepa Q-Mart in Quezon City conducts an inventory of her dried-fish stocks, amid reports of price spike of fresh fish in local markets. The price of dried fish, though, remains stable as of this writing. Nonoy Lacza

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Industry gross revenue jumped 8.6% in Q3 2017 By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

he country’s gross revenue of industries grew by 8.6 percent in the third quarter of 2017, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Data from the latest Quarterly Economic Indices of the Philippines showed the growth was largely due to finances, private services and trade. Finance posted the fastest growth with 12.6 percent. This was followed by private services with 9.4 percent, and trade with 8.9 percent. “Gross revenue refers to the value of receipts from the shipment of goods produced, resale of goods and services rendered,” the PSA said. In the third quarter, the PSA also reported that the Total Employment Index grew by 1.5 percent, with all industries posting growth during the period. The growth was largely due to real estate and transportation and communication, which posted growth rates of 3.1 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Data showed employment in

other sectors like trade grew 2.5 percent; private services, 2.1 percent; manufacturing, 1.1 percent; electricity and water, 1 percent; finance, 0.8 percent; and mining and quarrying, 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, in terms of compensation, the PSA said it expanded by 7.4 percent, the same level in 2016. Industries contributing to the growth were real estate with 14.9 percent; manufactur ing w ith 11.3 percent; and transportation and communication with 8.8 percent. Data also showed compensation in mining and quarrying grew 6.5 percent; private services, 5.8 percent; and trade, 4.3 percent. However, electricity and water declined by 1.9 percent. This brought the Total Compensation per Employee Index to increase 5.8 percent. This growth was led by real estate with 11.4 percent; manufacturing with 10.1 percent; and mining and quarrying with 6.4 percent; electricity and water, however, contracted by 2.8 percent.

Study affirms edge of contractual employees over new job applicants By Samuel Medenilla @sam_medenilla

on t rac t ual workers are more likely to beat a new applicant for a regular position in their company if they possess the essential skills and attitude, according to a new study from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). In its 26-page report on Company Best Practices on Regularization of Workers in Contracting Arrangements, the DOLE’s Institute of Labor Studies (ILS) identified the qualifications sought by each industry in regularizing their contractual employees. The ILS study covered 15 companies in industries listed with high incidence of contractualization— manufacturing; wholesale and retail; and hotel and restaurants. In the manufacturing sector, the foremost consideration for the regularization involves the familiarity of a contractual worker on the existing operations of a company. “It was deduced that in this kind of industry, ‘quality’ is more important than ‘quantity.’ Hence, there are tasks/functions that required a longer period of training for an employee to be adept and efficient in discharging such tasks/ functions, and for this reason respondent manufacturing firms provided technical trainings to agency-hired workers,” Ivan Villena, an ILS researcher and writer of the new report, said. For the wholesale and retail industry, a contractual worker’s exposure in the work culture in a company is given premium for their regularization. “Wholesale and retail establishments employee’s work attitude

is taken with great consideration when regularizing an employee,” Villena added. Meanwhile, hotels and restaurants are more likely to regularize a contractual employee if it will translate to a higher profit. “ Worth mentioning among the practices is one respondentHRM [human resource manager] who conducted a feasibility study on how much savings the hotel will incur if they employ regular workers instead of agency-hired workers,” Villena said. Regardless of industry, Villena added most of the companies in the study said they no longer require their regularized employees to undergo a probationary period. He noted the employers benefited from the arrangement through the better performance from their employees, while the regularized workers got additional benefits, including medical coverage and paid leaves. ILS conducted the study amid the DOLE’s ongoing campaign to restrict contractual employment in the country. Villena said the best practices they have identified in their study will help the DOLE encourage more employers to regularize their agency-hired workers. He added this could be achieved by mainstreaming these best practices for regularization of contractual workers and giving recognition to companies that practice it. T he DOLE is t a rget ing to regularize 300,000 contractual workers this year. It was able to regularize over 125,000 contractual workers since President Duterte started his term. Of this figure, 8,697 were voluntarily regularized by their employers.

Diokno clarifies statement on teachers’ pay-increase issue

udget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno on Wednesday said he was not opposed to any increase in public-school teachers’ pay, but clarified that this matter should be done only after a careful study, and the last tranche of state workers’ pay increase by 2019. This, after a teachers’ group hit the budget secretary for discounting the doubling of public school teachers’ salaries, which Presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque Jr. indicated as a possibility after President Duterte’s decision on policemen’s pay hike. At a news briefing, Diokno said doubling the pay of public-school teachers

requires the government to produce about P343.7 billion this year alone, which account for around 2 percent of gross domestic product. The contribution to GDP of the required amount will increase the projected budget deficit level this year to 5 percent of GDP, which is way above the 3-percent ceiling set by economic managers. “This may put at risk the excellent international financing standing the Duterte administration has build over the past 18 months,” he said. Diokno, thus, cautioned people against questioning his statement on the proposed

pay hike for educators from the public sector. “I understand the crucial role teachers have in nation-building, and I do believe they should be rewarded accordingly,” he said, citing that he himself has been an educator for several years. Diokno also pointed out that sans the new increase, teachers, along with other workers in the public sector, are scheduled to have the third and fourth tranche of pay hike this and next year under the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) III. Under this scheme, a Teacher 1 will receive a total compensation of P316,506 this year and P324,556 next year.

For this year, their monthly compensation amounts to P20,179, while it will be raised to P20,754 next year. Aside from the monthly salary, educators who hold a Teacher 1 position will receive midyear and year-end bonuses amounting to one-month salary, P24,000 Personal Economic Relief A llowance, P5,000 Performance Enhancement Incentive bonus, and P5,000 cash gift. Diokno said the first package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law was a plus for workers in general, since it exempted workers’ first P250,000 annual income from income tax. PNA

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Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Friday, January 19, 2018

Livestock output hit 5.09 MMT in 2017

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

ivestock production expanded by 2.7 percent to 5.09 million metric tons (MMT) in 2017, from the previous year’s 4.95 MMT, on the back of higher hog and poultry output, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Data available at Countrystat, the PSA’s Web-based system for national food and agricultural statistical information, showed that hog output last year accounted for the bulk of the total livestock production at 44.45 percent. Hog output in 2017 reached a record-high of 2.265 MMT, 1.52 percent higher than the 2.231 MMT recorded in 2016, according to the PSA data. Pork Producers Federation of

the Philippines Inc. (ProPork) President Edwin G. Chen told the BusinessMirror that higher demand for pork due to the increase in the purchasing power of Filipinos drove hog production last year. “Also, imported pork was more expensive in the first half of 2017,” Chen added. This year, Chen said hog production would continue to grow and expand by 2 percent. “With

the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN), exempting from tax those earning P250,000 and below would mean more disposal income.” “Not only TRAIN, but also the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program of the Duterte administration means the government would pump more money into public infrastructure projects,” he added. PSA data also showed chicken production last year, which accounted for 34.28 percent of total livestock output, expanded by 4.24 percent to 1.745 MMT, from 1.674 MMT recorded in 2016. “This is a bit unexpected. We were thinking that consumers got scared of the bird-flu outbreak, but apparently it was just a temporary dip. It turns out the poultry industry weathered it,” Roehlano M. Briones, senior research fellow at Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), told the BusinessMirror. “Because there was a disruption in inventory, it is possible that poultry growers are motivated to fill up the [losses],” Briones added.

Farmers risk lashes as 4-year civil war decimates South Sudan’s breadbasket

South Sudanese SPLA soldiers are pictured in Pageri in Eastern Equatoria. Samir Bol/AFP via Getty Images/Bloomberg

ach time Patrick Okello goes to tend his crops, he has to tell the soldiers or face 50 lashes with a whip when he returns. They’re “always watching and very suspicious,” said the 43-yearold who grows cassava and corn on the outskirts of Pajok, his hometown in South Sudan’s Greater Equatoria region. This vast and now sparsely populated southern territory has become a major theater in the four-year civil war, with government forces accused of killing villagers, burning their homes and stealing food as they pursue rebels. The army denies the charges. Maintaining his farm isn’t just about Okello’s survival. Equatoria was once South Sudan’s breadbasket, producing the corn, sorghum and vegetables that fed the nation, including the oil-rich north where famine hit last year. Since fighting spread to Equatoria in mid-2016, output has collapsed, adding to what charity Oxfam International says is the likelihood of the country’s worst-ever hunger this year. The conflict that began in December 2013 has claimed tens of thousands of lives. “Fighting and insecurity in Greater Equatoria means that food production is dropping every year,” said Ranjan Poudyal, Oxfam’s South Sudan director. “Farmers who have managed to stay are only able to cultivate land around their homesteads for fear

that lands further afield are too great a risk.” That contributed to unprecedented hunger even during the recent harvest season, normally the most plentiful period.

Ghost towns

Former residents describe many of Equatoria’s settlements as ghost towns, with buildings stripped of their iron roofing, doors and windows by looters; all that remain of some villages are burnt ruins. Civilians have fled to neighboring Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, raising the number crossing borders to escape South Sudan’s war to 2 million and exacerbating what the United Nations last March called the world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis. Aid groups have appealed for $1.72 billion to fund operations countrywide this year. An estimated 5.1 million people—almost half the population—are expected to face acute food shortages in the first quarter as insecurity limits access to farms and markets. In Equatoria, as elsewhere, noncombatants are bearing the brunt of the violence. Government forces routinely respond to rebel ambushes with “unlawful reprisals against civilians who live in rebel areas and share t hei r et h n ic it y,” New Yorkbased Human R ights Watch said last August. It reported a “climate of fear” and tactics, including arbitrary arrests, torture and restricting movement

between towns and villages.

Food as weapon

Amnesty International last July said both government forces and rebels have used hunger as a weapon of war in Equatoria, cutting supplies, looting from markets and homes and targeting civilians for perceived allegiances. The war may not end anytime soon. East African nations last December convened new talks between President Salva Kiir’s government, the main rebel group led by his former deputy, Riek Machar and several other armed factions, including from Equatoria. A previous peace deal led to a transitional government in 2016 that quickly collapsed, spurring greater violence. A cease-fire that began last December 24 was broken just hours later, and fighting has continued across the country. Joseph Nangi, a 36-year-old father of four, is trying to ward off hunger in Yambio, the capital of one of Equatoria’s nine states. Yet he’s sheltering just a halfday’s walk from his crops, which he had to abandon when fighting engulfed his village in December 2016. More than 1.9 million people are internally displaced, according to the UN. Speaking by phone, he described the risk of being killed or abducted if he returns. “Our crops are being eaten by wild animals and looted by armed men,” he said. Bloomberg News

He noted that chicken egg production was not greatly affected by the bird-flu outbreak as it grew by 6.64 percent year-on-year in 2017. Data from the PSA showed poultry egg output last year reached 492,410 MT, from the previous year’s 416,720 MT. The PIDS senior research fellow said he sees the poultry and hog sector sustaining its growth in the coming years due to the increasing demand of Filipinos for protein. “This will be a continuing trend.

We have seen in several years there’s already a cheaper option, that’s why consumers are shifting to chicken. Generally, meat consumption is really increasing,” Briones said. “Also, fish is becoming scarcer and would become more expensive over time, while chicken would remain affordable. We expect that year after year, demand would continue to rise due to the increase in population,” he added. Among all the livestock sectors,

the dairy industry posted the highest increase in terms of output last year, registering an annual production growth of 7.56 percent. Production of dairy in 2017 reached 22,760 MT, higher than the 21,160 MT recorded in 2016. “This could be attributed to rising income. As income goes up, there is less demand for the powdered variety or the canned variety of milk as consumers tend to shift to fresh milk,” Briones said.

Local poultry market more attractive for Cargill–official C

argill Phi lippines Inc. (Cargill) said on Thursday it would rather focus on the domestic poultry sector than ship chicken overseas as the Philippine market offers better growth prospects. “There is potential in the domestic market if you think about it. The export market, is it necessary for us? Not at all,” Cargill President Philip G. Soliven told reporters in a news briefing in Makati City on Thursday. “The market here in the Philippines is attractive and big. Domestic investment is as good as export,” Soliven added. Last year Cargill Joy Poultry Meats Production Inc., a joint venture between Cargill and Jollibee Foods Corp., inaugurated the coun-

try’s largest poultry-processing plant in Batangas. It has an annual capacity of 45 million chickens. “If we decide to undertake another investment in the poultry sector...it would be for the domestic market first, and then we’ll see if there is potential in exports,” he said. Soliven added they are currently studying a “broad spectrum” of potential areas in the country for their next investment. The company is set to make an investment decision this year. “The decision to go with one would likely result in a production facility, but we haven’t quite completed the decision process yet on where the specific investment [would be],” he said. “Opportunity exists today; you

don’t want to spend too much time waiting to make a decision. We will make an investment decision this year, but whether it would be bigger than last year, we don’t know yet,” Soliven added. Furthermore, the Cargill chief also disclosed that the company is looking to invest in the VisayasMindanao area despite security concerns. “We are aware of security concerns, we don’t ignore them. But for agriculture, Mindanao is an important region,” Soliven said the company’s growth averaged 11 percent in the past 10 years. He added that the firm’s consolidated sales in fiscal year 2016-2017, which ended on May 31, 2017, reached P27 billion. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

FAO, solons launch parliamentary alliance for food security in PHL

he Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the government launched on Wednesday a “parliamentary alliance” that seeks to ensure food security and nutrition in the Philippines. Dubbed as the FAO Legislative Advisory Group-Philippines (FLAGPH), the alliance is initially composed of 10 legislators from both houses of Congress. It will tackle national food security and nutrition issues by taking the necessary legislative actions that would impact on agriculture, fisheries, forestry and environment and natural resource sectors. The FAO said in a statement that the Philippines continues to face challenges in addressing food insecurity and malnutrition, with 1.3 million families, or 8.3 million Filipinos, unable to meet their basic food needs in 2015, according to a report by the Philippine Statistics Authority. Moreover, despite the country’s economic growth in recent years, poverty incidence remains high at an estimated 21.6 percent of the population. Farmers and fishermen consistently rank among the poorest. Incidence of malnutrition, especially in children 0 to 5 years old, remains prevalent in the most impoverished regions of the country, including Mindanao. “Legislators are crucial in creat-

ing an environment that enables the poor and marginalized to have a better chance of improving their quality of life and contributing to the country’s food security and sustainable growth,” said FAO Representative in the Philippines José Luis Fernández. “But for them to enact responsive, well-informed and evidencebased laws, it is essential that they have access to timely and sound technical advice and information. FLAG-PH is intended to serve as a platform for sharing expertise, experiences and global good practices,” Fernandez added. The FAO said the advisory group will initiate discussions and deliberations on proposed and pending measures on agriculture, food security and nutrition. They will also have opportunities to meet with their counterparts in other Asian countries and exchange experiences and good practices. They will also hold consultations with provincial and municipal governments, local legislative councils, farmers, fishermen, indigenous groups and civil society organizations. F L AG - PH w i l l a l so work with other stakeholders from the government and private sectors, such as local provincial and municipal govern-

ments, Climate Change Commission, farmers, fishermen, food manufacturers, traders/retailers and consumer groups. The launch of FLAG-PH is a pilot initiative by FAO in the Philippines under a larger effort to build a Parliamentary Alliance in the Asia-Pacific region. At the global level, the FAO Parliamentary Alliance started in 2009, recognizing the need for reinforcing constitutional and legislative provisions to ensure that everyone has a right to adequate, safe, sufficient and nutritious food and to freedom from hunger. Since the establishment of the Parliamentary Front against Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean, the FAO said four framework laws have been produced and more than 20 laws relating to food and nutrition security have been enacted.

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Friday, January 19, 2018

UK airlines risk losing rights in EU as Brexit talks resume

he European Union (EU) may attempt to strip British airlines of some flying rights after Brexit, with officials in Brussels warning that United Kingdom-based carriers could see their ability to compete across the bloc impeded. A meeting of the European Commission and diplomats from the remaining 27 EU countries has taken the first steps in sketching out the European Union’s negotiating position on post-Brexit aviation links with Britain. I f t h i s b e c ome s t he E U ’s stance going into the next phase of the talks, it would be another indication of the tough line being put for ward by the bloc, following last week ’s strengthening of the proposed language on the transition period. The discussions on Tuesday came a day before technical talks between British and EU officials resumed on Wednesday for the first time since an interim divorce agreement was reached more than a month ago. T he EU-UK session repre sents the beg inning of what w il l be at least nine months of w rangling aimed at ag reeing on a transition ar rangement and the out lines of the f uture trading relationship bet ween Britain and the European Union. Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc means that there would technically be no agreement to enable planes to fly between the UK and the EU. Unlike when it comes to the trade in goods, there is no fall-back option of World Trade Organization rules when it comes to aviation,

the European Commission said in a presentation to the diplomats, according to information published on its web site on Wednesday. UK-based airlines currently benefit from all nine air “freedoms” accorded to members of the European Union, the most generous of which allows the right to fly solely within a foreign country. It’s this freedom that allows,

for example, EasyJet to operate between the French cities of Nice and Paris.

Court of Justice

In Tuesday’s meeting, the commission signaled that the UK’s refusal to sign up to European Court of Justice jurisdiction, and other obligations under EU law, risked it having the same relationship in aviation as the European Union now has with the United States and Canada, a person familiar with the discussions said. This would give UK-based airlines only the third and fourth and potentially fifth “freedoms,” which would permit flights between the UK and EU countries, but not the right to offer domestic flights within an European Union nation or to fly between two EU states. The aviation relationship would

probably remain as it is now when the UK is in the yet-to-be agreed transition period between its departure from the bloc in March 2019 and 2021, although the UK would lose its seat in the European Aviation Safety Agency except in exceptional circumstances. A ll 27 remaining memberstates still need to agree on a common negotiating position on aviation and then start discussions on the issue with the UK, which is likely to push for a more liberal agreement. In the meetings between the UK and the EU on Wednesday, officials discussed issues left over from the negotiations that ended last December over the UK’s divorce from the bloc, including the difficulty posed in keeping a soft Irish border, as well as on the extent to which the European Court of Justice will be involved in enforcing the final agreement. Bloomberg News

Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union means there would technically be no agreement to enable planes to fly between the United Kingdom and the EU. Bloomberg

Thailand boosts natl minimum wage for the first time since 2013

hailand said it will raise its minimum wage nationwide for the first time in five years, as the country’s military government tries to tackle lingering income inequality. The wage will climb from April by 5 baht (16 cents) to 22 baht per day, depending on location, Jarin Chakkaphark, permanent secretary for labor, said in a briefing late on Wednesday in Bangkok. The revised daily wage that range from 308 baht to 330 baht is about 2 percent to 7 percent higher than current levels. “ Wa ges h ave to r i se w it h economic conditions—the cost of living and economic growth in each province,” Jarin said. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-

Ocha’s administration earlier this week approved a 150 billion baht ($4.7 billion) supplementar y budget, partly to fund poverty-alleviation initiatives. The steps to help people on low incomes come ahead of possible elections in November, amid speculation about whether selfprofessed soldier-turned-politician Prayuth will attempt to garner enough support to emerge as premier after the polls. The planned wage hike will be put to Cabinet soon, and officials will seek flexibility on the stipulations for provinces in the government’s f lagship $47-billion Eastern Economic Corridor development project, according to Jarin.

Inflation

The wage hike will likely have a limited impact on inflation, Kampon Adireksombat, chief economist at Kasikorn Securities Pcl. in Bangkok, said in a note ahead of the announcement. T he boost is sma l ler than increases of 39 percent in 2012 and 22 percent in 2013, K ampon said, adding the sectors at greatest r isk of higher costs include agr icu lture, constr uction, hotels and restaurants, wholesa le and retail trade and manufactur ing. T he Bank of T hailand has struggled to achieve its inf lation target of 1 percent to 4 percent. The monetar y authority expects to achieve the goal

in 2018, predicting an average rate of 1.1 percent. Inflation is set to accelerate this year, driven by better domestic demand, higher energy prices and costlier food, Tim Leelahaphan, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Bangkok, said in a note on Thursday. The minimum wage was increased for 2017 but the step didn’t apply to the whole country. Inequality continues to pose major challenges in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy and pockets of poverty persist in the northeast, north and deep south, according to the World Bank. Thailand has been run by a military administration since a coup in 2014. Bloomberg News

Science panel backs lower drunken-driving threshold

A SHINGTON—Most women would need to draw the line at two drinks, and men at two or three if states follow a blueprint by a prestigious scientific panel for eliminating the “entirely preventable” 10,000 a lcoholimpaired driving deaths in the United States each year. The US government-commissioned report by a panel of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine made multiple recommendations, including significantly lowering drunken driving thresholds. It c a l l s f o r l o w e r i n g t h e blo o d - a lcohol conce nt r at ion threshold from 0.08 to 0.05. A ll states have 0.08 thresholds. A Utah law passed last year that lowers the state’s threshold to

0.05 doesn’t go into effect until December 30, 2017. The amount of alcohol required to reach 0.05 would depend on several factors, including the person’s size and whether the person has recently eaten. The report cites studies indicating most women over 120 pounds would reach 0.05 after two drinks. Men weighing up to about 160 pounds would likely reach the lower threshold at two, and those over 180 pounds at three. The panel, in its 489-page report, also recommended that states significantly increase alcohol ta xes and make alcohol less conveniently available, including reducing the hours and days alcohol is sold in stores, bars and restaurants. Research suggests a doubling

of alcohol taxes could lead to an 11-percent reduction in traffic crash deaths, the report said. It also calls for cracking down on sales to people under 21 or who are already intoxicated to discourage binge drinking, and putting limits on alcohol marketing while funding anti-alcohol campaigns similar to those against smoking. All the proposals are likely to draw fierce opposition from the alcohol and restaurant industries. The American Beverage Institute took out full-page newspaper ads opposing Utah’s new law that featured a fake mugshot under a large headline reading, “Utah: Come for vacation, leave on probation.” The recommendation in the academies’ report for lowering

t he blo o d - a lcohol t h re shold wou ld “ do nothing to deter” repeat offenders and dr ivers with high blood-alcohol levels, who represent the “vast majority” of alcohol-impaired driving deaths, the Distilled Spirits Council said in a statement. The council said it also doesn’t support the report’s recommendations for “tax increases and advertising bans, which will have little or no impact on traffic safety.” The report points out that “alcohol-impaired driving remains the deadliest and costliest danger on US roads,” accounting for 28 percent of traffic deaths. Each day, 29 people in the United States die in alcohol-related crashes, and many more are injured. Forty percent of those killed are people other than the drunken driver. AP

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WH official: Trump’s views on immigration have evolved

A S H I N G T O N —T h e White House chief of staff said President Donald J. Trump’s views on immigration are evolving—giving some people hope for a compromise while perplexing others. John Kelly’s comments come amid a shaky effort to craft an accord protecting hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation—a push the White House and Republicans say they would back if it’s coupled with tough border security measures and other restrictions. Kelly made the remarks on Wednesday at a closed-door meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, participants say, and he made similar remarks later on Fox News Channel. Kelly said on Fox that he told the caucus that “they all say things during the course of campaigns that may or may not be fully informed.” He said Trump has “very definitely changed his attitude” toward protecting the young immigrants, “and even the wall, once we briefed him.” “So he has evolved in the way he’s looked at things,” Kelly said. “Campaign to governing are two different things and this president has been very, very flexible in terms of what is within the realms of the possible.” Kelly’s comments were noteworthy because they openly acknowledged the difference between campaign promises and governing, and even suggested that Trump needed to be educated on the subject. They also come as lawmakers struggle to reach a bipartisan deal protecting “Dreamers”— a rou nd 8 0 0,0 0 0 people who ar r ived in the United States illegally as children and could be deported without legal protections. Part of negotiators’ problem has been uncertainty over what Trump would accept. “He’s not yet indicated what measure he’s willing to sign,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McCon ne l l , R e publ ic a n-K entucky, told reporters on Wednesday. “As soon as we figure out what he is for, then I will be convinced that we would not just be spinning our wheels going to this issue on the floor.”

Some lawmakers who met with Kelly on Wednesday recalled his remarks differently. “ He s pec i f ic a l ly sa id t h at there’s some areas of the border that didn’t needs the wall, and that the president didn’t know that when he was making his campaign promises,” Rep. Ruben Gallego, Democrat-Arizona, said in a brief interview. Another lawmaker, Rep. Luis, Gutier rez, Democrat-I l linois, said Kelly told them that “there were statements made about the wall that were not informed statements. In other words, I’ve informed the president of what it takes to build a wall, so here’s how we’re going to do it. That’s what I understood, and all of that was helpful.” Many Democrats have said that without an immigration deal in sight, they’ll vote against a Republican bill preventing a weekend government shutdown. Congressional passage must come by Friday to prevent an election-year shuttering of federal agencies that could be damaging to both parties. During his presidential campaign, Trump made it a mantra to promise to build a “beautiful” wall that would be paid for by Mexico. Since then, White House officials have repeatedly said it doesn’t have to be a concrete wall from coast to coast but could include large stretches of fencing, technology or other systems. Trump also now wants Congress to provide taxpayer money to finance it. One White House official said on Wednesday that Kelly’s suggestion that Trump’s positions had evolved was inartful, and maintained Trump is still committed to his immigration priorities. Tr u m p e n d e d t h e l e g a l sh ield s on Drea mers l ast yea r and gave Congress until March to renew t hem. Last week he rejected a compromise by three Democratic and three Republican senators to restore those protections, a deal that included money to begin building the wall and other security steps. Trump’s rejection angered the bargainers, and partisan feelings worsened after participants in a White House meeting last week said Trump had referred to African nations as “shitholes.” AP

He has evolved in the way he’s looked at things. Campaign to governing are two different things and this president has been very, very flexible in terms of what is within the realms of the possible.”—Kelly

Trump unveils ‘fake news awards’

resident Donald J. Trump announced the recipients of his so-called Fake News Awards, on Wednesday, his latest attack on the press that has drawn objections from within his own party. In a tweet, announcing “And the FAKE NEWS winners are...“Trump directed readers to the GOP.com web site, which is run by the Republican National Committee. The New York Times, the Washington Post, ABC News and CNN were among the “winners” cited by Trump. Trump, who has singled out individual reporters by name-calling for them to be fired over minor mistakes, also posted a tweet saying that he respected some reporters. “Despite some very corrupt and dishonest media coverage, there are many great reporters I respect and lots of GOOD NEWS for the American people to be proud of!”Trump wrote a few minutes after posting the initial tweet about the awards. Trump’s announcement came as two senators from his own party excoriated him for his incessant attacks on the free press. Trump is emboldening authoritarian

leaders around the world by dismissing media coverage of his administration as “fake news,” Arizona Republican Jeff Flake said in a Senate floor speech on Wednesday. “It is past time to stop excusing or ignoring or, worse, endorsing these attacks on the truth,” Flake said. The president’s tweet in February 2017 that news outlets are “the enemy of the American people” uses words “infamously spoken by Joseph Stalin to describe his enemies,” said the senator, who has been a vocal critic of the president in recent months. Trump said in a January 7 Twitter message he planned to give out awards on Wednesday to media outlets he claims are “the most corrupt & biased.” In a Washington Post opinion article, Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, said Trump’s attacks on the news media is harming press freedom around the world. “Whether Trump knows it or not, these efforts are being closely watched by foreign leaders who are already using his words as cover as they silence and shutter one of the key pillars of democracy,” McCain wrote. Bloomberg News

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USDA: Trump sees Nafta benefits as talks heat up

resident Donald J. Trump has come to see that the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) has some benefits to the United States, particularly for farming, even as he stays firm in his demand for a new deal, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said. Trump “probably left the campaign trail literally believing that Nafta had not been good for any sector of the economy,” Perdue said in an interview at his office on Wednesday in Washington. But “I think that he has now come to realize that agriculture has been benefited by a Nafta agreement.” Talks to revamp Nafta will continue in Canada this month, with the deal’s fate unclear. Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan each said last week that they’d rather renegotiate than walk away from the pact with Canada and Mexico altogether, though Trump reiterated his threat to pull out. Canadian officials said last week that they believe the odds are rising that Trump will give notice of a Nafta withdrawal. The president’s more nuanced view on trade shouldn’t be confused with a softer approach to the negotiations, Perdue said. Even still, the agriculture secretary’s comments may offer some hope for agribusiness lobbyists and other Nafta supporters who warn that scrapping the accord will bring painful economic costs.

Perdue, considered one of the more trade-friendly administration officials, said he is speaking at least weekly with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who is the lead Nafta negotiator, and other White House staff.

Canada breakthrough

Talks are making progress, and Canada, in particular, is learning not to underestimate the president, Perdue said. “I think we’ve had some movement from the Mexicans,” he added. “Canada, I think, has been more reticent in that regard but will come around, as well. I think, at one point, they thought that the lobbyists and others would just overwhelm President Trump into thinking Nafta was just great, and we shouldn’t do anything.” The US list of demands for negotiating Nafta includes a proposal for Canada to dismantle its dairysector system of quotas and tariffs, known as supply management. Canada has “come to realize now that President Trump is very serious about free trade and fair trade,” he said. “They’re coming to the point where they know they’re going to need to address some of these issues that are on the table.” Trump was on the verge of exiting Nafta last year, but changed his mind after seeing a map that illustrated areas of the US agriculture heartland that are reliant on the deal. Bloomberg News

Friday, January 19, 2018

China heads for first full-year gdp acceleration since 2010

hina’s economy is poised for its first full-year acceleration since 2010, the year its GDP surpassed Japan’s to become the world’s second-largest. Data due on Thursday at 3 p.m. in Beijing would show the economy expanded by 6.8 percent in 2017 from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg’s survey. Other estimates show: Fourthquarter growth ticked down to 6.7 percent year-on-year from 6.8 percent in the prior three months; retail sales increased 10.2 percent last December from a year earlier, the same pace as the prior month; industrial production rose 6.1 percent, also unchanged from November; and fixed-asset investment climbed 7.1 percent for the year, the slowest pace since 1999 Economists, whose growth estimates weren’t optimistic enough before three of the last four quarterly releases, may have yet another surprise in store, according to

hints from one high-level source. Premier Li Keqiang said earlier this month that the 2017 expansion was about 6.9 percent, citing better-than-expected exports, fiscal revenue, household income and corporate profits. Fan Hengshan, deputy secretary-general of National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning body, said the economy grew 6.9 percent last year, according to a report on Thursday by Hexun.com, a financial news and information portal, citing his comments at a forum.

“The Chinese economy seems to have ended 2017 on a stronger footing than we initially expected,” Yao Wei, chief China economist at Societe Generale SA in Paris, wrote in a note this month. “This momentum, especially the part fueled by external demand, may carry on well into the new year.” In housing, data released on Thursday show prices rose in the most cities in six months, even as the government prolonged its campaign to curb speculation. New-home prices, excluding gover nment-subsidized housing, last December rose in 57 of 70 cities tracked by the government, compared with 50 last November, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The median full-year economic growth estimate in Bloomberg’s survey ticked up steadily last year, rising by 0.1 percentage point in each of the final three quarters from 6.5 percent in the first. Quarterly growth is projected to decelerate slightly, though two of 49 economists project acceleration from the third-quarter pace. “A small upside surprise is a distinct possibility, and would show strong momentum into 2018,” Tom Orlik, chief Asia economist

at Bloomberg Economics in Beijing, wrote in a note, referring to the quarterly reading. “Relative to expectations of a more marked slowdown over the course of 2017, China outperformed.” Projections for this year’s expansion have been rising too, and are now at 6.4 percent. However, expectations for less-rapid growth in the future are clear: Economists see 6.2-percent growth in 2019. Still, years after China surpassed Japan as the secondlargest economy, it ’s getting closer to knocking the United States from its perch at the top and is also playing a crucial role as a driver of global expansion. The International Monetary Fund says China contributes more than a third of world growth on a purchasing power parity basis. As Beijing prepares for three years of “critical battles” against debt, smog and poverty, the rest of the world may be poised to benefit from greater stability in the biggest trading nation as it balances those objectives with ample expansion. Global growth will accelerate to 3.7 percent this year for the best performance since 2011, according to Bloomberg surveys. Bloomberg News

Friday, January 19, 2018

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Pope to Mapuches, Chile govt: Unite

EMUCO, Chile—Pope Francis took the Chilean state and the country’s largest indigenous group to task on Wednesday over their failure to forge a truly unified nation, saying the government must do more than just negotiate “elegant” agreements and radical Mapuche factions must stop violence. Francis’s pointed homily in the heart of Chile’s restive Araucania region came hours after two more churches and three helicopters were torched—attacks blamed on Mapuche radical groups demanding the return of ancestral lands and the release of Mapuche prisoners. No arrests have been made. The outdoor Mass at the Maquehue Air Base was steeped in symbolism because of its own history: The land was taken from the Mapuche in the early 20th century, and the location was also used as a detention and torture facility in the early years of Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship. Leading some 150,000 people in a moment of silent prayer, Francis said the fertile green fields and snow-capped mountains of the Mapuche heartland in Chile’s southern Araucania region were both blessed by God and cursed by man, the site of “grave human rights violations” during the 19731990 dictatorship. “We offer this Mass for all those who suffered and died, and for those who daily bear the burden of those many injustices,” he said. Francis also referred to the recent violence that has flared in Araucania, Chile’s poorest region, and beyond. No one has claimed

150K The number of people who attended the outdoor Mass at the Maquehue Air Base in Chile that was celebrated by Pope Francis

responsibility for the 11 firebombs that have damaged, or in some cases, burned churches to the ground in several parts of Chile in recent days. Investigators have found pamphlets promoting the Mapuche cause at some of the torched churches and by the helicopters set ablaze overnight. The A rgentine Jesuit pope took radical factions to task, saying violence wasn’t the answer to their grievances. “You cannot assert yourselves by destroying others, because this only leads to more violence and division,” he admonished in his homily. “Violence begets violence, destruction increases fragmentation and separation.

Pope Francis greets Mapuches in the offertory of a Mass at the Maquehue Air Base, in Temuco, Chile, on Wednesday. Francis is urging the Mapuche people to reject violence in pushing their cause. AP/Alessandra Tarantino

Violence eventually makes a most just cause into a lie.” At the same time, he demanded the government not just negotiate elegant agreements with indigenous peoples, but actually implement them. He called such accords that yield nothing a form of violence “because it frustrates hope.” After the Mass, Francisca Linconao, a Mapuche leader who has been implicated in the burning deaths of a couple in 2013, tried to approach Francis as he passed in his popemobile, but police kept her away. She said she wanted to give him an open letter asking him to intervene in the long-standing conflict and proclaiming her innocence. “The pope could speak, could

mediate in Araucania region about the situation of the Mapuche who are being incarcerated,” Linconao told The Associated Press (AP). The Argentine pope is particularly attuned to indigenous issues and their campaigns for recognition of their land, culture and traditions. He hopes to use his weeklong trip to Chile and Peru to put the issue on the global agenda and set the stage for a church meeting next year on the Amazon and native peoples who live there. The Mass was replete with Mapuc he c u lt u ra l references and symbolism, with traditional music and prayers sprinkled throughout. The pope uttered Mapuche greetings throughout his homily.

13 siblings held captive were likely coerced to remain quiet

O S A NGE L E S —W he n a 17-yea r- old g irl ju mped out a w indow f rom t he house where her parents allegedly starved and tortured their 13 children, she broke a silence that had likely lasted years. It’s not clear why the teenager waited so long to act, but psychiatrists say such behavior is not uncommon even in cases of extreme deprivation. Most people would recognize milder forms of the same inaction that is a coping mechanism, whether it’s failing to speak out against off-color jokes, enduring sexual harassment or staying in an awful marriage, Dr. Bruce Perry said. “ T his happens a l l the time. T he number of indiv iduals who wou ld i m me d i at e l y re s p ond to an oppor tunit y where they cou ld get away is ver y sma l l compa red to t he nu mber of people who wou ld have t hat para lysis and insecur it y and conf usion about what to do,” said Per r y, a psychiatr ist and senior fellow at The ChildTrauma Academy in Houston. T he v u l nerable g irl m ight have been sha med, beaten or t hreatened w it h v iolence a nd on ly a f ter m a ny m issed op por t u nit ies d id she probably work up t he cou rage to act, Per r y sa id. “It’s pretty remarkable that she’d do that,” he said. “ The power that must have been exerted to keep an entire family like that for so long must have been pretty sophisticated.” Dav id Tur pin, 56, and his wife, Louise Tur pin, 49, were arrested last Sunday after authorities found the malnourished children in their home

in suburban Perris, 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles. They were jailed on $9 million bail each and are expected to appear on Thursday in Riverside County Superior Court on charges that could include torture and child endangerment, authorities said. Investigators at the home on Wednesday removed dozens of boxes, what appeared to be two safes and pieces of a bed frame. Some siblings were shackled to furniture in the foul-smelling four-bedroom home that looked perfectly normal from the outside. The couples’ children—ages 2 to 29 —were so em ac i ated the older ones still looked like children. Authorities thought the 17-year-old daughter who called 911 was only 10 when they found her. Until the girl fled with photographic evidence, it appears no one, neither neighbors nor public officials, knew anything about what was happening inside. The Turpins have lived in two Riverside County communities since moving to California in 2011, and police said they were never called to either home, nor were any reports fielded by childprotective services. In Hill County, Texas, where they lived previously, the sheriff ’s office received a call from a neighbor complaining that a pig belonging to the Turpins escaped from a pen and ate 55 pounds of his dog food. In another report, David Turpin said that the family’s dog had bitten their 4-year-old daughter on the face. He told police he took the girl to a hospital for stitches and the dog to a veterinarian to

be put down, according to records obtained by The Associated Press (AP). It’s not clear what motivated the Turpins to live a secluded life with their large brood or what went on in the house. Parents convicted in similar cases exerted control over their children through intimidation, psychological and physical coercion, and frequently possessed their own belief system. “They develop a kind of cultish doomsday type of religion where the father becomes this mythical leader and the mother and children’s duty is to serve the father,” attorney Ambrosio Rodriguez said. Rod r ig uez was a long time R iverside Cou nt y prosec utor who sent Jessica Banks, a pastor and mother, to pr ison for life for beating, star v ing and dr ug g ing her five adopted daughters, who were kept locked in her garage. The Turpin children appeared to be cut off from the outside world, despite taking trips to Disneyland and Las Vegas, where the parents renewed wedding vows in a service presided over by an Elvis impersonator. “ T he y we re n’t a l lo we d to watch TV. They weren’t allowed to have friends over—the normal things that kids do,” the children’s aunt, Teresa Robinette, told NBC’s Today show. Individuals held under such cond it ion s of te n b e come so physica l ly and emotiona l ly weak “that they are unable to free themselves, even if an opportunity arises,” said Dr. Allen Keller, who runs the BellevueNYU Center for Survivors of Torture in New York. “ The abuser

has basica lly taken complete control of them. It is a state of severe helplessness.” Many victims of abuse suffer from severe depression, anxiety, nightmares and are easily startled in public. The children were educated in the home. No state agency regulates or oversees private schools in California, but they are subject to an annual inspection by the state or local fire marshal. The city could find no records of fire inspections, Perris Assistant City Clerk Judy Haughney said in response to a public records request by AP. City Fire Marshal Dave Martinez did not return repeated phone messages seeking comment. Home schooling can further isolate children, denying them social interactions with peers who aren’t their siblings, and also giving the parents the ability to teach whatever they want. Perry, who led a team of therapists that inter viewed most of the surviving children from the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Te x as, sa id t hat one 5 -yearold could recite whole books of the Bible but could not identif y circles and squares. Other groups have succeeded in keeping their behavior secret by enlisting older children in the rearing and indoctrinating of the younger ones. If older siblings participated in the abuse, they would be less likely to call police. “I’ve seen this movie before,” Rodriguez said. “It’s going to get more creepy and make our skin crawl. And at the end of it, we’re all going to be asking the same question: ‘How did this happen in front of us and no one noticed?’” AP

The world’s first Latin American pope knows well the conflictridden modern history of his home continent: He was a young Jesuit superior during neighboring Argentina’s “Dirty War,” when thousands of suspected leftists were killed, imprisoned or disappeared at the hands of the military junta. In Chile the government estimates 3,095 people were killed, including about 1,200 who were forcibly disappeared. Some of them washed ashore along the river that runs through Maquehue, said Patricia Aravena, a 44-year-old secretary who said she grew up hearing stories from her parents and grandparents of the atrocities committed at the base. “My father-in-law told us that

in 1973 the militar y entered the air base with trucks full of people, and then left with them empty,” she told AP. “They would also hear shooting and would go to see bodies that were left on the riverbanks.” Francis’s gesture of celebrating Mass on the site of some of the military’s worst atrocities recalled Saint John Paul II’s famous 1987 visit to Chile during the waning years of the Pinochet regime. In one of the most poignant moments of that trip, the Polish pope delivered a speech to young people gathered in Santiago’s national stadium, which had been used as a detention and torture center. With the wounds of the regime still fresh, John Paul urged Chile’s youth to look forward with hope, even from a place of “pain and suffering.” Francis repeated those words on Wednesday in his Mass, which began w ith Mapuche natives performing a traditional horn and drum ceremony at the altar as Francis and other priests looked on. A f ter t he ser v ice, Fra nc is had lunch with eight Mapuche, breaking bread over a sumptuous meal of mushroom ragout, octopus carpaccio, crab claws, osso buco with saffron rice and vegetables and f lan. They were joined by a woman the Vatican described as a “victim of rural violence,” as well as a descendant of the German-Swiss colonizers who clashed for centuries with the Mapuche. Francis had raised the plight of the indigenous in his first speech on Tuesday to government authorities, urging Chileans to listen to ind igenous peoples who are “often forgotten, whose rights and culture need to be protected lest that part of this nation’s identity and richness be lost.” AP

Haitians face hurdles after delays in status renewal

OSTON—Thousands of Haitian immigrants living in the United States legally will face employment and travel hurdles because President Donald J. Trump’s administration delayed the process of reregistering those with temporary protected status, Haitian community leaders and immigrant activists say. US Citizenship and Immigration Services will release details on Thursday about the next steps for the 60,000 Haitians with the special status, an agency spokesman told The Associated Press. But the information come s t o o l at e t o he lp t he t hou s a nd s of H a it i a n s w ho hold immigration document s t h at show t hei r lega l a nd w or k s t at u s e x p i r i n g o n M o n d a y, s a i d i m m i g ra nt s a nd advoc ates, some of whom wondered—in l i g ht of t he pre s id e nt ’s re cent rem a rk s about H a it i— i f t h e b u r e au c r at i c s l o w d o w n w a s d e l i b e r at e. “They told me that if I don’t bring the work papers, they will send me home because it is the law. You have to have work papers. I am under pressure,” said Edelyne Jean, a 35-year-old nursing assistant in Coral Springs, Florida, who supports four younger siblings still in Haiti. “ They say that if I don’t bring anything new by January 22 or the 23rd at the most, I am jobless.” Haitian workers like Jean will be left at the mercy of

employers, who could simply choose to let them go or hire someone else rather than wait for a process that could take months, says Rev. Dieufort Fleurissaint, chairman of Haitian Americans United, a Boston-based community group. “ They’re putting a lot of people in a very, very difficult situation,” he said of federal officials. “Employers are not going to take time to understand this. People will be in limbo come on Monday.” H a i t i a n s w e r e g r a nt e d temporary protected status to live and work in the US af ter a devastating ear t hquake struck their Caribbean homeland in 2010. The status has been renewed a number of times over the past seven years, to the chagrin of critics who say the humanitarian measure was never meant to allow immigrants to establish roots in the US. The Trump administration announced last November that Haitians living under the temporary status would have until July 2019 to get their affairs in order and return home. The problem is that, officials haven’t told people with that status how to go about renewing it. Other groups eligible for similar status have received more lead time to reregister; the administration a n nou nced e x tensions for Nicaraguans and Hondurans last month and has already issued renewal guidelines for them. AP

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Editor: Jun B. Vallecera • Friday, January 19, 2018 A9

‘Taking over military pension very prohibitive’

rom the original estimate of P7 trillion, the cost of taking over the military pension system by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has gone up to as high as P9 trillion, according to latest numbers crunching by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

But as stratospheric as that number might be, neither the DBM nor the GSIS has the slightest idea for now on how to craft a military pension system that is self-sustaining and not taken out of the pockets of taxpayers.

Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno on Thursday bared optimism that such a mechanism hopefully could be crafted by midyear, when government planners finally come up with a plan add ressi ng t he ba l loon i ng pension

cost of military personnel. “Maybe around midyear. But we still don’t know the modality yet,” Diokno told financial reporters at the sidelines of an infrastructure forum on Thursday. The budget chief added that should the GSIS take on the challenge of managing the pension system of the Armed Forces, the government would have to infuse funds to the agency to make the deal more attractive. “We are still studying several options but a combination, probably using GSIS as the base. But if we want to convince the GSIS to take on the challenge, we have to give something,” he said. Just last year budget officials and the Department of Finance (DOF) began addressing the necessity of a sustainable retirement system for mili-

tary personnel. One proposal was to incorporate such an entity with the GSIS and do away with subsidies from the government. In February last year Diokno categorically said addressing the cost of military pension through the annual budget was not sustainable. He also said the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council last January agreed to a review of the pension system for military personnel and policemen. To correct the deeply flawed pension system of military personnel, budget officials said a seed fund equivalent to P5.57 trillion is required. Without so-called indexation and active personnel contributions to the seed fund, the cost was lower at only P2.03 trillion, based on the latest actuarial study

conducted by the GSIS. Without a self-sustaining military pension system, the cost of extending pension benefits to the uniformed services will have to be taken out of the annual budget of the military. Such a cost had been estimated at 50 percent to 60 percent of their annual budget. Extending subsidy to the military is also very expensive for taxpayers, as the cost amounts to some P90 billion a year. The GSIS has thus far refused to take on the challenge of providing pension benefits to those who bled for the country and have willingly put themselves in harm’s way so that the rest of us can live in peace. The GSIS has said it will help craft a pension system that is not funded by taxpayers’ money. Rea Cu

Planbank opens in San Pablo City Closure orders, US rate adjustment

lanbank Rural Bank of Canlubang Planters Inc., the largest rural bank in Laguna provi nce, ce lebrates tod ay t he opening of its newly relocated branch in San Pablo City. Located at 65 Rizal Avenue, San Pablo City, the branch was formerly situated in Poblacion, Calamba City. Top Planbank officials, namely, Dominga Rufina S. Cabangon Chua, president; Dominga Michaela S. Cabangon Chua, vice president for Corporate Support Services; Justice Harriet O. Dimetriu, chairman of the board of directors; and Leonora B. Zafra, treasurer, welcomed guests, led by San Pablo City Mayor Loreto Amante and Vice Mayor Angie Yang. The event is highlighted by a thanksgiving Mass to be celebrated by Rev. Fr. Reynaldo Reloj at 10 a.m., followed by the opening ceremonies. A member of the ALC Group, and a conglomerate named after the initials of its founder, Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, Planbank currently has 15 branches: 11 in Laguna, two in Batangas province and two in Bulacan. Planbank specializes in serving businessmen, community entrepreneurs and

those who are part of the agricultural industry. Its loan products include real-estate mortgage, salary loan, back-to-back loan, microfinance loan, SSS pension and auto loans. It also has a unique offering of the low-interest jewelry loan where customers get loans in exchange for jewelry pieces as collateral. Planbank was a family-owned bank incorporated in 1952 by sugar planters who were members of the Banco Rural de Ca-Ba-Lag, a cooperative operating and serving the needs of sugar planters from the provinces of Cavite, Batangas and Laguna. The bank was acquired in October 2013 by the ALC Group, which opened Planbank Santo Tomas branch in Batangas province on June 27, 2014, as the first under its leadership. Among the member-companies of the ALC Group of Companies are Fortune Insurance Group, Eternal Group, publicly listed Citystate Savings Bank, Citystate Properties and Management Corp., other financial-services companies and the Aliw Media Group that includes CNN Philippines, the BusinessMirror, Pilipino Mirror, Philippines Graphic, Aliw Broadcasting Corp. and other media entities.

helped push hot money out in 2017

oured investor sentiment driven by apprehension over a series of closure orders for mining firms and intimations of interest-rate adjustments in the US Federal Reserve System on the fears of foreign fund managers who in 2017 took out their money on net basis in the Philippines and brought them elsewhere, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Thursday. Last year’s net outflow of foreign capital, more known as “hot” or speculative money, however, could have been worse were it not for mitigating events that helped keep the flight of foreign funds as little as possible, the BSP said. Last year’s capital flight, the BSP said, amounted to only $205 million and the result of gross inflows reaching $16.062 billion and gross outflows of $16.267 billion. This developed even though foreign funds flowed inward on net basis in November and December last year. T his contrasted against portfolio fund net inflows in 2016 aggregating $404 million. On a quarterly basis, the largest

Tech-savvy accountants–a rising need

here is no other way to go but digitalization, which is different from digitization. But digital transformation should never take place if the purpose is just for change’s sake. I am pretty sure most companies prepare for a progressive digital transformation to improve business and not just chasing technology. In my opinion, accountants are not endangered by technology. In fact, they are now needed more than ever before. From being just “ bean counters” in the past, their roles are evolv ing into more sophisticated functions aside from being “strategists.” But this is only possible if they are willing to develop their skillsets from manual to automated, for instance, or from obsolete process f lows to workf low software, from paper to digitization, etc. Accountants should look for opportunities where they can add value to a digital change, with the confidence that the insights they provide are vital and maybe difficult to be replaced by mere machines. In fact, their work becomes easier with technology. There is now an improved transparency and compliance with regulatory agencies’ requirements has never been more efficient with man-hours of work reduced. That is, if they know how to maximize technology to their advantage, rather than see it as a threat to their work. The change in the organization to complete digitalization, however, should be a gradual process, not an abrupt one. You are inviting disaster by completely changing immediately, rather than having a progressive change. Besides, it is no joke in terms of financial investment on technology.

FINEX free enterprise Wilma C. Inventor-Miranda With the popularity and the effectiveness of cloud computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, robotics, process automation in transforming significantly the work in an organization and bringing productivity to a level far higher than it has ever been imagined before, this is the chance for the accountant to really stand out with the use of the right combination of skills. He should not merely rely on past knowledge and experiences, but should learn more outside of his comfort zone. He does not need to possess technology skills like a chief digital officer or like an information technology head, but an adequate knowledge of technology tools and applications where he can provide analysis and insights is enough to make him an indispensable part of the organization or an indispensable professional to his clients. The accountant should not wait for the company to provide him the training, but seek out seminars and training that can develop his skills in technology. The insights and experiences that an accountant has in the financial and accounting world can best combine if he is going to improve his knowledge and skills in technology. This applies to all accountants, whether as a CFO or head of the ac-

counting department, a CPA in public practice or even as a CEO. Cloud computing, for instance, is driving down the cost of finance and accounting tasks, while, at the same time, providing big data for analysis purposes. If the accountant should champion the conversion to cloud computing, it is necessary that he himself is adept on its use and its benefits. If necessary, he should spend time outside of work hours to learn more about this so that he himself can train his people. The IT person’s knowledge is limited to technicalities in computer and its tools, applications and software. But given the right training and experience in technology, an accountant’s knowledge in accounting and audit combined with adequate knowledge in information technology can make him the superstar in the firm and, if he is a CPA in public practice, an indispensable external auditor or consultant to a client. If they do not shape up to learn more about technology, they better ship out because they will be left behind in the bandwagon of digital transformation. Consequently, accountants who do not shape up will ultimately become endangered species in the financial and accounting world. Wilma Miranda is the manag ing partner of Inventor, Miranda & Associates, CPAs; board of director member of KPS Outsourcing Inc.; and treasurer of Negros Outsourcing Services Inc. and Finex Media Affairs Committee adviser. The views expressed herein do not necessarily ref lect the opinion of these institutions.

inflows were noted in the second quarter at $4.8 billion, representing 30 percent of the total for the year. “This may be attributed to positive investor sentiment arising from the World Bank’s view that the Philippines will continue to be a top performer in the region, and the conflict resolution in Marawi City,” the BSP said. “These were further supported by accelerated net foreign buying, as well as the approval by Congress of the first phase of

the tax-reform package,” the BSP added. Aggregate outflows stood at $16.3 billion, resulting to $205 million net outflows during the year. “While net outflows were noted starting in the first quarter of the year attributable to international and domestic developments—such as the interest-rate increases in the United States, and the closure order for several mining companies in the country—the figure has subsequently declined as investors reacted positively to the various developments in the country, including the approval of the first phase of the tax-reform program of the government,” the BSP said. Data show hot money last December stood as a net inflow of $456.9 million— the largest monthly inflow in 2017. The BSP said the United Kingdom, the US, Singapore, Luxembourg and Malaysia were the top 5 investor countries during the year, with combined share to total of 74.8 percent. The United States continued to be the main destination of outflows, receiving 80.2 percent of total. Bianca Cuaresma

Case clippings

By Justice S J Ranada Jr. SERIOUS ILLEGAL DETENTION–deprivation of liberty Intent to detain or restrain the victim’s movement is tantamount to illegal detention. There is no need to show that accused forcefully transported, locked up or restrained the victim and her companions. The essence of serious illegal detention is the actual deprivation of the victim’s liberty, coupled with indubitable proof of intent of the accused to effect such deprivation—it is enough that the victim is restrained from going home. People v. Ali 06 Dec. 2017

GR 222965 Martires, J

A10 Friday, January 19, 2018 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

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editorial

Bitcoin bloodbath

E have been told for the past year that cryptocurrencies were ushering in a revolution of the financial markets and with money as we have always known it. Apparently, as with all revolutions, there are winners and losers, as well as collateral damage of innocents. The foremost of these currencies—Bitcoin—reached a trading day high of $19,788 as priced on the largest trading exchange Bitfinex on December 17, 2017. Since then the trading price has been around $13,000 to $15,000 per Bitcoin. A few days ago the price crashed below $10,000, falling over 35 percent in one day. Others of the cryptocurrencies were down as much as 50 percent. The attraction of investing in these “cryptos” has been promoted as being digital as opposed to physical, a decentralized currency free from national currency-exchange disadvantages, and that the transactions would be done peer-to-peer without government regulation and interference. Lurking behind the concept and trading of Bitcoin and the others was the attraction that profits would be tax-free and money could be secretly moved across borders. However, for all these features and “benefits,” there is never a free lunch. The digital world through the Internet has been an incredible technology breakthrough and an equally amazing social advance. But it has also come with a price. We have seen major incidents of both identity and financial theft that has affected ordinary people. The blockchain technology behind the cryptos was alleged to be safe and impenetrable. But hundreds of millions of dollars have been stolen in the last few years from trusting and unsuspecting investors. The decentralization that was a major feature has also been proven to be false. While there are countless web sites to transact the buying and selling of Bitcoin, it has come to be concentrated to a few exchanges and is not peer-to-peer but through a “middleman.” The transaction costs have become very high, and the spread between the buying and selling price would make a normal money changer both envious and blush with embarrassment. One such exchange in the Philippines has been quoting a 20-percent difference between the buy and sell price. It is true that these digital currencies are virtually free from government interference and regulation. As a result, there is no control on who does what and little recourse if things go bad. One recent coin offering resulted in $400 million of investor losses when the creators failed to deliver on their promises. This past week a major crypto-cash exchange, BitConnect, simply shut down. The Internet is filled with gruesome stories of people losing life savings and more when the price went to nothing and they could not sell on the way down. And there is not any government agency that is going to step in. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has been warning that there is high risk in the cryptocurrency market, but many people have ignored those warnings to their regret. While there undoubtedly is a future for digital currencies, that future will not come easily. For the time being, it is “buyer beware.” The government will not protect you. And, as with all speculative investments, never put in more than you can afford to lose. Since 2005

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A federal Comelec for a federal Philippines James Jimenez

spox

hen it rains, it pours. From not having any idea what the proposed changes to the 1987 Constitution would be, we are now deluged by at least three separate versions of the planned amendments. With so many proposals to wade through and study thoroughly, it’s a wonder that anyone still thinks that the best time for a plebiscite is in May 2018. Of course, if Congress—that is to say both the House of Representatives and the Senate—decrees that such a plebiscite take place in May anyway, it’s difficult to imagine the Commission on Elections (Comelec) shirking its responsibility. However, that would be like fitting a square peg in a round hole—it can be made to work, sure, but it’ll be a terrible fit. Which is a shame, because some proposals—particularly those dealing with suffrage and the Comelec—are not bad at all. Perhaps, the most mainstream of all the proposals I’ve read so far is the removal of the Comelec’s quasi-judicial function. In a culture where more is typically considered better, this idea may seem radical —at some point, some will even say that it’s “a slap on the face” for the Comelec. But it isn’t though. In fact, it makes perfect sense and it has been proposed many times

before, sometimes even by people who went on to become Comelec commissioners themselves. In contrast, the most objectionable proposal I’ve come across (with regard to the Comelec anyway) is the move to do away with a national (or federal) level Comelec, while having each region (or state) establish its own electoral management body (EMB). All elections would

Without a federal Comelec, the state-level EMBs will be particularly vulnerable to hijacking by the local power structures, which are preeminent during the period of federation. This will perpetuate an imbalance of political power within the state, and might, very conceivably, predispose to electoral fraud. At the very least, this state of affairs will provide a fertile breeding ground for distrust in the electoral system. And, with lines of accountability practically nonexistent in the absence of a higher authority (i.e., a federal Comelec), fostering public confidence that the elections are not, in some way, rigged by the incumbent powers becomes very difficult.

then be administered at the local or state level. The problem with this idea is that, without a federal Comelec, the state-level EMBs will be particularly vulnerable to hijacking by the local power structures, which are preeminent during the period of federation. This will perpetuate an imbalance of political power within the state, and might, very conceivably, predispose to electoral fraud. At the very least, this state of

affairs will provide a fertile breeding ground for distrust in the electoral system. And, with lines of accountability practically nonexistent in the absence of a higher authority (i.e., a federal Comelec), fostering public confidence that the elections are not, in some way, rigged by the incumbent powers becomes very difficult. On a more technical level, having no federal Comelec to prescribe performance benchmarks, ensure uniform technical proficiency and enforce technolog y standards across the federated states will inevitably lead to wildly varying levels of election-management quality from state to state. Again, this will only make it that much easier for local power structures to co-opt the electoral system in their own backyard, while effectively holding the Federal Parliament (whatever we end up calling it) hostage to potentially dynastic interests. In the final analysis, and regardless of the move to federalism, there must remain a strong and independent national-level Comelec to which, and from which, the lines of accountability must be clearly and definitively drawn, and to act as a professional hub that sets standards for electoral management.

Boon and bane source of funds for TRAIN Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza Continued from A1

ut, while the take-home pay of Filipinos got a big boost under TRAIN, Filipino consumers, however, will have to pay more taxes for fuel, sugar-sweetened beverages, automobiles, tobacco products and even cosmetic procedures, among others. Signed into law by President Duterte on December 19, 2017, TRAIN is projected to raise the much-needed funds for the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program. The President’s flagship program under his 10-point socioeconomic agenda, or the “Dutertenomics,” the Build, Build, Build

program is designed to reduce the country’s poverty, from 21.6 percent in 2015 to 13 percent to 15 percent by 2022. The early indications of the President’s Dutertenomics show signs of good years ahead. Thanks to Duterte’s commitment and determination to rid the government of corruption and smuggling.

Having been in the antismuggling and anti-illicit trade campaign for years, these being the principal advocacies of FPI, we have already identified the modus operandi of smugglers and illicit traders to cheat the government of its muchneeded taxes. From outright smuggling to technical smuggling through undervaluation, misdeclaration and misclassification, including the noncompliance to mandatory standard requirements, we have the antidote to all these problems.

More funds lost to illicit trade

And, talking of poverty alleviation in the country, the President can even do more for the Filipinos if the hundreds of billions in lost government revenues due to illicit trade are collected. In a Multi-Industry Illicit Trade Research conducted by the Center for Research and Communication

of the University of Asia and the Pacific, as commissioned by the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) through its Fight Illicit Trade (Fight IT) campaign, which I chair, the study showed that the total value of goods smuggled into the country or traded illegally in the following industry sectors—petroleum, steel, resins, wood, cigarettes, sugar, palm oil and automotive batteries—from 2011 to 2015 reached P904 billion. The amount includes the multiplier effect of such illegal trade practices like the reduction in the production volume of local manufacturers because of unfair competition from cheaper but, in many instances, not standard compliant smuggled goods, and disenfranchisement in the labor force. Topping the list of the most illegally traded goods are petroleum products at P608 billion, followed by steel at P106.1 billion, wood at P42.6 billion, cigarettes at P30.9 billion, resins at P34.4 billion, palm See “Arranza,” A11

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Servant leadership encompasses all aspects of our life Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

S we are living in the time where businesses are continuously growing, it is undeniable that new challenges and priorities have redefined the business world of today. Proven importance of human resources, social and environmental concerns led business companies to take leadership and corporate social responsibility increasingly seriously. This has taken many forms or approaches: company donations to charity, socially and environmentally responsible business practices and services, ethically produced products, philanthropy, corporate foundations, and company-organized volunteer activities.

Many companies nowadays have discovered that corporate profit/ success, business ethics and social welfare are interdependent, and business profitability can go with betterment of society and environment. His Holiness, Pope Francis, declared that, “Business is a noble vocation… directed to producing wealth and improving the world.” One leadership paradigm that has been developed and practiced by organizations to be effective is servant leadership. In 1970 Robert Greenleaf, in his essay “The Servant as Leader,” wrote that servant leadership begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then the desire to lead follows. Business leaders find out that by ensuring the needs of stakeholders first—the customers, subordinate employees, investors and the least in society— a multiplier of goodwill, intrinsic motivation and high per formance are generated. It becomes a relationship, a way of life. Although Greenleaf gave this new concept its name and later, many authors wrote about this kind of leadership, the Scripture so plainly and succinctly describes it in Mark 10:45: “I came not to be served but to serve.” Servant leadership in this context goes beyond the initial secular treatise of Greenleaf but puts Jesus Christ as our role model, as the ultimate epitome of an authentic servant leader. This applies to everyone, not only Christians, but to all sectors of our society, whatever our religious faith may be. This kind of servant leadership encompasses all aspects of our life, family, work or business,

Arranza. . .

continued from A10

oil at P9.8 billion, sugar at P9.3 billion and automotive battery at P0.75 billion. And the study covered only eight industry sectors. Had it covered more industries, the value of goods smuggled or illegally traded in the country might have even reached trillions of pesos from 2011 to 2015. How much taxes could have been generated to raise more funds for Duetrete’s “Build, Build, Build” program had the revenue potential of these illegal transactions been harnessed?

Enhance revenue-collection efforts

Having been in the antismuggling and anti-illicit trade campaign for years, these being the principal advocacies of FPI, we have already identified the modus operandi of smugglers and illicit traders to cheat the government of its much-needed taxes. From outright smuggling to technical smuggling through undervaluation, misdeclaration and misclassification, including the noncompliance to mandatory standard requirements, we have the antidote to all these problems. And as the directly affected sector of the country’s problem on smuggling and illicit trade, the Federation

Many companies nowadays have discovered that corporate profit/ success, business ethics and social welfare are interdependent, and business profitability can go with betterment of society and environment. His Holiness, Pope Francis, declared that, “Business is a noble vocation...directed to producing wealth and improving the world.” church and society as a whole. This goes far beyond corporate social responsibility as practiced today, but becomes our true way of life whoever or wherever we are. Serviam’s goal and purpose in organizing these conferences on servant leadership is to heighten society’s awareness of how this leadership can impact on various sectors of our society, all for the common good. The Servant Leadership in Business Conference will be held on January 31 at the Makati Shangri-La, Manila in Makati City. To know more about the conference, you may call Conference Secretariat (02) 7227691, or 0927-1527938, or at serviamSLC@gmail.com. Online registration is also available at http:// serviamccc.org/servant-leadership-inbusiness-2018. To know more about Caritas Manila, visit www.caritasmanila.org.ph. For your donations, call our DonorCare lines 563-9311, 564-0205, 0999-7943455, 0905-4285001 and 0929-8343857. Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 846 in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph. For comments, e-mail veritas846pr@gmail.com.

of Philippine Industries will continue to aggressively pursue its campaign against such illegal practices, if only to protect the interest of local manufacturers, protect consumers from the risks of buying substandard and/ or uncertified goods and, most of all, to help raise more revenues for the government. Harnessing the revenue potential of these illegal transactions, I believe, is a good source of additional funds for Duterte’s Build, Build, Build program, and a win- win solution to the government’s perennial problem on smuggling and illicit trade for several reasons. First, this will deter smugglers from continuing their illegal activities, if every time they smuggle goods into the country, their shipment will be alerted and/or seized. Second, consumers will be protected from the risks of buying substandard and/or uncertified goods. And, most important, the government would be able to generate more revenues for its projects without putting additional tax burden on the Filipinos. This solution, indeed, would be a boon to the government, Filipino consumers and local industry, but a bane to smugglers and illicit traders. For my next column, I will discuss the issues on squatting and how it threatens the rights of legitimate landowners, and its environmental impact on the community, among many others.

Friday, January 19, 2018 A11

Nationalism rears its ugly head Tito Genova Valiente

annotations

should have said a kind of pseudo, limited, distorted sense of nationalism rears its ugly head. I refer to that sense of being Filipino that manifests itself in a propaganda fashion, the kind of thinking that gives rise to individuals who believe they should be angry at others who do not share their own thoughts about who they are. This is the flag-waving kind, the sort of celebrating over the ashes of those they need to repudiate in order that they could feel important. If I sound like I am talking about the wars of civilizations, it is because I need to elevate this debate away from the muck of what happened over free television. The event is called Pilipinas Got Talent, actually a franchise that appears in other nations. The idea is that countries and other ethnic groups do possess talent. We have it here because we want to share in this family. The competition of nations paying tribute to what jurors and, later, audiences, think what talent is all about. That talent, we have to underscore, is supposedly “Filipino.” Together with many Filipinos, I feel talent takes a long time to discover and discern. One acrobatic stunt, one glorious song, does not a nation make. But that is not what’s on the mind of an action star who accosted two talents because they could not speak straight Tagalog. Since when has speaking English been a crime in this country? Since when has it become that offensive that a network would allow its, well, “talent” to create a scene as if he was the God Almighty about to hurl a lightning against a mortal who was there, eager to show his talent, except that his language was not the language this action star felt was the only language in that arena. I should not really take these events seriously. But I speak to the management of networks that allow these acts. Darling, it is entertainment. Do not bring this sudden,

righteous rightist attitude to take over what promises to be fun and frothy and light. This is the problem with a nation that sends its workers abroad and finish that migration with the claim, we are “world-class.” A singer makes good in West End and we claim we are the best in Asia. Other Asian countries with talents as big as Lang Lang and Sumi Jo do not scream each day they are worldclass. But we do. We have surpluses in songs that declare ourselves as Filipinos and proud to be so. It is because we do not really know what

we are and whether we should be proud of it. In the 1980s, at the height of the Japayuki phenomenon—of women who were bound for Japan for that is the meaning of the term—Filipino talent managers told young Filipinas to be proud as hostesses and bar girls in Japan. They were the most popular because they were the cheapest. We send cheap labor abroad. It is not merely an individual choice. We push our men and women to leave the country. We create incentives that enable them to travel faster to their place of work where some of them will be abused, or killed. Then we declare them as heroes. Some of these migrant Filipinos marry into the country of their employment. They produce children who are half-Filipino and half of a particular ethnicity. When that intermarriage produces achievers, we readily claim them as Filipino—onehalf, one-fourth Filipino. It does not matter if they do not speak any of the Filipino languages. Pathetic. Some of these children grow up and feel the desire to join talent shows, a desire that is fueled by many factors, one of them the allure of celebrity. There is noth-

China’s real offshore disaster Adam Minter

BLOOMBERG

ast Sunday’s sinking of an Iranian oil tanker 180 miles off the coast of Shanghai certainly looks like an environmental disaster. Depending on how many of the ship’s 1 million barrels of condensate were released into the ocean and not burned off, the accident could end up being one of the biggest oil spills in half a century. The irony? Even that wouldn’t represent the biggest disaster to befall the area. The fact is, thanks to massive overfishing in China’s territorial waters, there isn’t much marine life left to kill in the disaster zone. According to He Pemin of Shanghai Ocean University, those waters have been so denuded over the last three decades that fishermen “normally bypass the area and go further afield for a bigger catch.” It’s a dark twist to an accident that has the potential to send oil drifting to the California coast. And it should encourage the Chinese government to rethink how it manages its marine environment. The need is urgent: China’s hunger for seafood is fast outstripping its domestic resources. Consequences already loom, including food inflation, a depleted environment for the hundreds of millions of Chinese who live along the coast, and rising international tensions. Chinese fishermen traditionally concentrated on inland and coastal waters. But as the economy opened up in the late 1970s and private fishing fleets grew in size, those areas

were quickly fished out. Seeing the industry as a jobs creator, local officials were loath to restrain it. The national government didn’t do much better. Instead of crafting policies to sustain inshore fishing (by controlling catches and combating massive coastal pollution, for starters), authorities offered subsidies and technical support to help fishermen venture further offshore into the East China Sea. (The money also supported other “blue economy” industries, such as shipbuilding and offshore drilling.) In 1985 just 10 percent of China’s catch was netted in those far-flung fishing grounds; by 2000, it was 35 percent. The shift was driven by a massive jump in China’s seafood consumption as its population has become more affluent. Growth has averaged 7.9 percent annually since the late 1970s. Chinese seafood consumption increased 50 percent in just the last decade, to 62 million tons annually. That accounts for nearly two-thirds of global growth. China’s wild catch from its terri-

China’s wild catch from its territorial waters is now around 13 million tons, up from around 3 million tons in the mid-1970s. Even China’s Ministry of Agriculture says that’s roughly 25 percent more than what’s sustainable. And it’s still not enough: China’s gone from being a seafood exporter to a seafood importer because of burgeoning demand. torial waters is now around 13 million tons, up from around 3 million tons in the mid-1970s. Even China’s Ministry of Agriculture says that’s roughly 25 percent more than what’s sustainable. And it’s still not enough: China’s gone from being a seafood exporter to a seafood importer because of burgeoning demand. In the East China Sea, once one of the world’s richest fisheries, the toll has been extreme. As far back as 2006, environmental officials declared that 81 percent of the area was badly polluted. Catches—and fishing employment—were badly down. In 2016 China’s Ministry of Agriculture declared that there were “no fish” left at all. Though an exaggeration, there’s some truth to the statement: Recent studies have shown that massive overfishing has so depleted large predatory fish that small fish and invertebrates—many of which are inedible for humans—are all that’s left to catch. As a result, China’s fishing fleet is venturing further from home than ever, infringing on others’ traditional fishing grounds and inflaming international tensions.

ing wrong with that. When the offsprings take on the features of an American or European, then we see them as beautiful. Armed with the lilt of English, the person wins a beauty pageant. Some of them join a talent show and they are punished for not speaking Tagalog. Nationalism is tricky. It is even trickier when a territory and its occupants do not really see what makes them as a nation. And so we hold on the tenuous twig of language, a language that is even questioned by those whose mother tongue is something else. When other nations make fun of us as a country of people with rotting teeth and dirty cities, we want to go to war. But each day, our jokes about Indians, Chinese, Japanese and other ethnic groups really point to us as a nation of bigots, racists and artists with a sense of art as limited as a TV screen. It is more fun in the Philippines? Try, it is more vicious in the Philippines. That will work. As for the Philippines having talent, let us leave that to comedians and action stars to vociferously and with arrogance deride and decide.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com.

To its credit, the Chinese government recognizes the problem and has undertaken several initiatives to slow the damage. Since 1995, it’s implemented seasonal moratoriums in key fisheries to help stocks recover. It’s established more than 250 loosely managed marine-protected areas (MPAs), where species are theoretically protected from fishing, and rolled back some fuel subsidies for fishing fleets. Such measures have been limited in their effectiveness, however—as moratoriums end, fishermen rush in to make up for lost time—and they’re unlikely to resuscitate the East China Sea or any other Chinese fishery. Instead, China needs to implement structural changes in the ways that it monitors and regulates fisheries. First, China needs to establish a transparent public process for collecting and sharing data on fisheries; one doesn’t currently exist, which makes informed fisheries management nearly impossible. Second, scientists must have equal standing with policy-makers when catch limits and other such decisions are made. For too long, economics and politics have dominated the opaque process. Finally, China’s government needs to expand its MPAs and centralize control over them. Currently, self-interested (or uninterested) local governments are in charge of enforcement, with predictable results. It’ll take decades to restore the East China Sea to its once fruitful past. But the alternative—a body of water so badly damaged that a major oil spill might not degrade it significantly—is hardly a future that China should accept.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Friday, January 19, 2018

Gas stations that used TRAIN to hike prices of old stock face closure

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

he government has, so far, identified at least 20 gasoline stations that likely took advantage of the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act in January by selling old inventories at prices reflecting the impact of the new tax law, the Department of Energy (DOE) said.

Energ y Assistant Secretar y Leonido Pulido III said the agency was able to validate that “there were 20-plus retail stations that jacked up their prices from January 8 to 12.” He, however, did not identify the oil firms whose dealers received show-cause letters from the DOE. The agency has given

them until January 22 to respond why they should not be sanctioned. Violators, Pulido added, would lose their certificates of compliance and business permits. The DOE will conduct a random inspection of all 6,800 gasoline stations to verify whether the excise tax under the TRAIN Act is being properly im-

6,800 The estimated number of gasoline stations in the country that will be randomly inspected by the DOE

posed. It has told oil companies to submit a daily summary of stock withdrawals starting January 1, 2018, until the depletion of the declared inventory as of end-2017. Based on January 15 DOE data, there are 245 Petron stations of the 1,845 total Petron stations that already implemented the oil excise tax starting from January 8 to 12; 408 of the 1,119 total stations for Shell from January 5 to 11; and 178 of the total 834 stations for Caltex. Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi also called a meeting with distribution utilities to discuss the effective and appropriate implementation of the power-related provisions of

Republic Act 10963, or the TRAIN. Specifically, the major items that were discussed are the adjustments due to (a) the value-added tax on the transmission sector; (b) the VAT on the Cooperative Development Authority-registered electric cooperatives; and (c) the excise tax on coal and diesel that are used to fuel power plants. “We will look into coal contracts and scrutinize provisions as to whether there is a provision on pass-on excise tax,” Cusi said. He added the meeting would examine the submissions of coalfired power plants to the Electric Power Industry Management Bureau. “Corollary, the DOE has directed all distribution utilities to require from their power suppliers the basis of any additional charges that may emanate from the Train law. This includes the explanation on the implementation of excise taxes vis-a-vis the minimum inventory requirement for both coal stocks and diesel stocks,” Cusi pointed out.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

INTL TOURISTS REACHED 1.32B IN 2017 ON GLOBAL ECONOMIC UPsWING By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

N spite of rising security and safety risks, people the world over are still traveling beyond their borders. International tourist arrivals grew by 7 percent to 1.32 billion in 2017, according to the latest United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Tourism Barometer. This strong momentum is projected to remain through 2018, growing between 4 percent and 5 percent, the organization said. “International travel continues to grow strongly, consolidating the tourism sector as a key driver in economic development,” UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said. “As the third export sector in the world, tourism is essential for job creation and the prosperity of communities around the world. Yet, as we continue to grow, we must work closer together to ensure this growth benefits every member of every host community, and is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals,” he added. The UNWTO estimated that overnight visitors worldwide rose by 7 percent last year, which is well above the sustained and consistent

trend of 4 percent or higher growth since 2010. This is also the strongest result in seven years. The growth in international tourists was led by Mediterranean destinations, with Europe recording an 8.4-percent increase to 671.1 million in 2017. International arrivals in Africa rebounded, recording a 7.8-percent growth to 62.1 million. Arrivals in Asia and the Pacific increased by 5.8 percent to 323.7 million; the Middle East, up 4.8 percent to 58.3 million; and the Americas, up 2.9 percent to 206.6 million. The UNWTO said 2017 was“characterized by sustained growth in many destinations and a firm recovery in those that suffered decreases in previous years. Results were partly shaped by the global economic upswing and the robust outbound demand from many traditional and emerging source markets, particularly a rebound in tourism spending from Brazil and the Russian Federation after a few years of declines.” The organization added this strong performance in international tourism would continue this year. But the pace of this growth would be steady and more sustainable, after eight years of continued expansion following the global economic crisis in 2009. See “Intl tourists,” A2