Businessmirror january 23, 2017

UPSTAGING TRUMP A crowd listens to speakers at a rally near City Hall, San Francisco, California, before a women’s march during the first full day of Donald J. Trump’s presidency on January 21. AP

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Monday, January 23, 2017 Vol. 12 No. 103

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an Miguel Corp. (SMC) has called on the government to take advantage of the glut in power supply by overhauling the country’s old power plants.

T he food-a nd-beverage g i a nt, which also has interest in the power business, said the oversupply of power is “imminent”.

“Oversupply is everywhere, and in the next five years or so, the glut in supply will be tremendous,” SMC President

and CEO Ramon S. Ang said.

“We overbuilt,” he said, referring to the numerous power plants being constructed and will be put up across the country. “But if we overbuild, then we have the time to repair old plants. If I were the government, I would shut down

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SMC to govt: Rehabilitate power plants immediately

By Lenie Lectura

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CUSI: “We want the poorest of the poor to benefit and promote industries in Mindanao.”

Agus right away and repair it while there is oversupply.”

Ang was referring to state-owned Agus-Pulangi hydropower complexes in Mindanao. The Agus complex has 727-megawatt (MW) installed capacity; while Pulangui has a 255-MW capacity, but both facilities already Continued on A2

BMReports

Congress can help tech firms lure investors

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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@joveemarie

he vice chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations is urging Congress to initiate policy reforms governing the fast-evolving and highly lucrative digital economy.

Nacionalista Party Rep. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte Jr. of the Second District of Camarines Sur said new legislation is needed to encourage the flow of venture capital to Filipino technology entrepreneurs who need $4 billion in start-up funding in the next 10 years to benefit from the global online commerce.

Villafuerte said the country’s digital economy is primarily fueled by online shopping and travel spending, but, sadly, it lacks the investments needed to spur the growth of local start-ups.

See “Congress,” A2

CHINA INVESTIGATES FORMER LOCAL PARTY BOSS FOR BRIBERY

PHL basks in limelight as host to Miss U B

By Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez Special to the BusinessMirror

F

Part One

ROM signature walks to a false announcement leading to a dramatic win, the Philippines has a knack for stealing the thunder in beauty competitions. This year’s Miss Universe, billed as the most prestigious beauty contest in the world, is slated to wow the international entertainment scene, with the Philippines as its stage, on January 30.

Reigning queen Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach’s iconic victory set the momentum for this year’s tilt among 86 entrants, each national titleholders in their own right. With much gusto, she actively campaigned for the event to be held in the country.

Paula M. Shugart, president of the official organizer and producer Miss Universe Organization (MUO), expressed similar sentiments. “For years, I’ve talked about, someday, having the pageant here. I do know that with Pia right now, the entire worldwide focus is on the Philippines. I think it’s a great opportunity. I would love to be able to

make it work,” she said in an interview last year with ABS-CBN.

Road to conquering the universe THE country is no stranger to hosting the beauty contest garnering “lots of aggressive stage presence,” as pageant coach Jeff Lee told The Washington Post.

In 1974 then-First Lady Imelda Marcos’s vision of a world-class arts and culture facility—and the eventual venue of that year’s Miss Universe—was realized in the Folk Arts Theater that was built in a record 77 days. The second hosting event was in 1994, when the country was already enjoying democracy and a much better economy.

The Philippines also has its fair share of titleholders: Gloria Diaz won the crown in 1969 and Margarita Moran in 1973. (These fair ladies also backed Wurtzbach’s desire to have Miss Universe enter the country’s soil once more, a battle that has received initial opposition from the government.)

Miss Universe’s roots can be traced

PESO exchange rates n US 49.9530

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach (third from left) shares the stage with two other Filipinos to ever win the prestigious crown—Gloria Diaz (left) and Margarita Moran (right)—during a pre-event for the pageant that would be held for the third time in the Philippines on January 30. Nonie Reyes

back to a local “bathing beauty” competition by Catalina Swimwear in Long Beach, California, in 1952. The first woman to be crowned Miss Universe was Armi Kuusela of Finland, who was allowed to keep the title when she mar-

ried, shortly after the coronation.

Ever since its inception, Miss Universe Inc.—later renamed Miss Universe Organization and relocated from Los Angeles to New York—organized and

EIJING—China’s top prosecutor’s office said on Sunday it is conducting a bribery investigation into a high-ranking official who was the mayor of a port city at the time of a warehouse explosion that killed 173 people.

The two-sentence announcement about Huang Xingguo by the national prosecutor’s office made no mention of the explosion in a warehouse in Tianjin, a city of 15 million people east of Beijing. But other officials have been punished on charges they took bribes to ignore safety violations that led to the blast, one of China’s deadliest workplace accidents.

Investigators found the warehouse held illegal stores of the combustible fertilizer ammonium nitrate, which caught fire and caused a series of blasts.

At a public meeting last year, Huang, who was the city’s interim Communist Party chief and mayor, expressed “deep compunction” about the explosion.

State media reported last September that he had been removed from his positions. He was expelled from the ruling party this month.

The country’s Central Committee for Discipline Inspection said Huang had “severely violated political discipline,” according to the official Xinhua News Agency. It said he took “huge bribes of property and money” and used his position to improperly benefit his son and others. Most of the people killed in the explosion were firefighters and the police who weren’t told ammonium nitrate was in the building.

The accident drew international attention to China’s workplace safety problems and endemic corruption. Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched a signature national anticorruption campaign snaring officials and party cadres at all levels.

The head of a logistics company linked to the blast was given a suspended death sentence and lesser penalties were imposed on 48 other government officials and company employees. And the former head of China’s national safety regulator, the State Administration of Work Safety, was charged last year with taking bribes and embezzlement. AP

Continued on A2

n japan 0.4352 n UK 61.6020 n HK 6.4398 n CHINA 7.2659 n singapore 35.0449 n australia 37.7545 n EU 53.2549 n SAUDI arabia 13.3237

Source: BSP (20 January 2017 )

A2 Monday, January 23, 2017

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PHL basks in limelight as host to Miss U Continued from A1

conducted the pageant participated by aspiring beauty queens from all over the world.

The franchise for the pageant, however, has moved from one owner to another.

Pacific Knitting Mills, manufacturer of Catalina Swimwear, cosponsored both Miss Universe and Miss USA. Soon, the company and its subsidiaries were bought

by Kayser-Roth Corp., an intimate apparel and hosiery subsidiary of Golden Lady, and then subsequently by American conglomerate Gulf and Western Industries.

In 1996 and 21 years before he became the 45th US president, Donald J. Trump bought the operating company and struck a deal with the National Broadcasting Co. (NBC) in 2003 for the television rights of the Miss Universe pageant.

NBC canceled the partnership after Trump’s politically charged

Congress. . .

Continued from A1

“We can tap both foreign and local sources of funding, but they would be wary about investing in our start-ups if we do not have a concrete set of rules and the incentives that would encourage them to park their money here, instead of, say, Singapore or Indonesia,” Villafuerte said.

The lawmaker, citing a joint study done by Google and Temasek, said in the next decade the Philippines’s start-up entrepreneurs need at least $4 billion, which is roughly equivalent to P195 billion, to allow the country’s digital economy to hit $19 billion, or about P930 billion by 2025.

“We cannot cash-in on the new frontier of digital economy, which offers unparalleled business opportunities for Pinoy start-ups, if we do not put in place the necessary regulatory reforms to help them tap the billions

comments in 2015. Eventually, Trump bought NBC’s share and later sold the entire company to WME/IMG who now owns the Miss Universe franchise.

More than just beauty

ON its 65th year now, Miss Universe continues to enjoy widespread support and acceptance, particularly in the Asian region. However, the beauty tilt is not just all about glitz and glamor. Despite challenges and contentions, Miss Universe continues to tout its motto: “Confidently beautiful.”

“Research has shown the No. 1 obstacle for women to overcome in reaching their potential in any endeavor is a lack of self-confidence.

In doing so our contestants and titleholders have the opportunity to grow as women and be confident in any goal they choose to pursue,” MUO writes on its official web site.

This motto, which also serves as the event’s vision, hinges on a platof dollars and pesos in funding available from foreign and local sources,” Villafuerte said.

He said the Google-Temasek study also showed that some $200 billion in digital opportunity is available in Southeast Asia alone by 2025, of which the Philippines’s share is about $19 billion in 10 years’ time.

“This $19-billion share is more than 10 times the current value of $1.7 billion,” he said, quoting the joint study.

Citing a separate study, the legislator said that, in terms of electronic commerce, the Philippines, and the countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean-6), account for under 1 percent of the total global online retail market out of the sales projected to top $1 trillion this year.

The study showed that retail e-commerce is projected to expand to nearly $2.7 trillion in 2020, with the Asean-6 tapping only a small percentage of this

form “run by women for women” by providing the female gender a sense of inclusion and acceptance while celebrating diversity.

Miss Universe also takes a stand on HIV/AIDS by raising awareness and encouraging people to get tested. As such, reigning Wurtzbach has been on different programs and platforms to promote this program. She had also been engaged in fighting for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) rights despite large opposition from the ruling conservative.

“I am Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach from a highly conservative Catholic country but I am not afraid,” she captioned a rainbowcolored flag, an icon symbolizing the LGBT pride movement. She has also worked with New York’s Apicha Community Health Center to champion this advocacy.

Despite meeting demands to support Miss Universe’s initiatives in the global scene, Wurtzbach’s

market even if they account for 3 percent to 4 percent of the global GDP and around 8 percent of the world’s population. “This is very unfortunate because e-commerce could be a very powerful instrument in helping our SMEs [small and micro enterprises] thrive not only here, but in the global market, as well,” Villafuerte said.

HB 2882

Meanwhile, Villafuerte urged Congress to help these SMEs and start-ups to break into the lucrative e-commerce market by prioritizing the approval of his bill that aims to provide tax incentives, streamlined business procedures and easier immigration to help startup entrepreneurs and their investors flourish in the country. “[The proposal] adopts the best practices in start-up communities and tailors them to fit the Philippine startup ecosystem,” he said.

Under House Bill (HB) 2882, registered start-up enterprises should first apply for a Startup Pilipinas

infrequent social-media posts garnered a number of netizens criticizing her “lack of effort,” to which she responded on her social accounts.

“Nag-model nang nag-model, wala man lang post about humanitarian mission [She keeps on modeling, but she doesn’t post anything about her humanitarian mission],” one commenter said.

“Bukas nasa UN ako. Ikaw? [I’m at UN (United Nations) tomorrow.

What about you]?” she replied.

APPARENTLY, Wurtzbach and her attendance as ambassadress to humanitarian missions are not the only ones to get opposition. Even this year’s staging of the Miss Universe in the country was initially met with various hindrances— from the government’s lack of interest in funding the beauty pageant to the President’s vehement disagreement on Steve Harvey’s hosting.

Arguing that the taxpayers’

money is not to be spent for the hosting of such event, Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea previously signed Memorandum Circular 13 instructing all government offices and related institutions to extend support “as the circumstances and exigencies may require” without the need to shell out even a single peso. Plus, any extended help should not disrupt any work. Medialdea, however, noted that hosting the pageant in the country would bring “international prestige, publicity, good will and economic benefit.”

Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo believes the same, thus prompting her to back the side in favor of pushing through the hosting despite reports that it was at the brink of not happening.

“Honestly, I have to tell you frankly...it was called off. But then when it was called off, the group of LCS went to the States and worked on it,” she said in an ­A BS-CBN video.

Certificate with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to avail themselves of the series of incentives outlined in the measure. A counterpart bill has been filed by Sen. Paolo Benigno A. Aquino IV in the Senate.

Start-ups cover enterprises operating for no longer than 60 months and whose core business function involves product, process or business model innovations with a gross annual revenue not exceeding P250 million, Villafuerte said.

He said start-ups covered by his bill should also ensure that their product, process or business is their primary source of revenue; they are not mere end-users of the innovative product, process or business model; and the cost of their enterprise for research and development is at least 15 percent of total operational cost, or is a licensee or owner of a patent or registered software.

HB 2882 states that holders of start-up certificates shall be exempted from the following: 1) income tax

arising from the operation of the enterprise; 2) value-added tax for the sale and lease of goods, properties or services arising in the course of trade of the enterprise or percentage tax; 3) creditable withholding tax on income; and 4) expanded withholding tax on income payment.

Start-up certificate holders are also exempted from fees and charges levied by the Intellectual Property Office for services, the bill said.

Under certain conditions, certificate holders are also exempted from paying the capital gains tax and tax on the importation of capital equipment.

The bill also protects them from the infringement of their registered patents, trademarks and other proprietary rights, and gives them the option to declare accelerated depreciation on fixed assets before the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

HB 2882 also tasks the Bureau of Immigration to promulgate the necessary rules in providing start-up visas for foreign investors and employees.

Struggles in hosting Miss U

Along with Wurtzbach, Teo convinced President Duterte that the expenses for the upcoming beauty tilt would be shouldered by private sectors who would coordinate with the department.

Teo estimated the total expenses to be $12 million.

As for Steve Harvey, he would be staying for a good four more years in the Miss Universe hosting industry, as he had previously signed a five-year contract, despite the President’s vocal disapproval. This translates to his shot at redemption after erroneously announcing Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as the victor of the Miss Universe 2015. The crown has already been set in the overjoyed candidate and was basking in the limelight when Harvey burst out from the crowd to apologize, causing a massive uproar that had wide-reaching aftermaths in the online world.

To be continued With reports from Luigie P. Hadap

SMC to govt: Rehabilitate power plants immediately Continued from A1

have derated generation.

The power facility is owned by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), the agency tasked to manage stateowned power assets and is operated by state-run National Power Corp. (Napocor).

Ang said Agus’s capacity has deteriorated to less than 50 percent.

The government has plans of privatizing the said facility.

PSALM, according to its Officer in Charge Lourdes A lzona, is mulling over a number of options.

These are “outright sale, privatization of the service component, or corporatization.”

Alzona said Agus-Pulangi could be placed under a new governmentrun corporate entity—the proposed Mindanao Power Corp.

The government is targeting to privatize the power facility within the year.

To boost the development of poor provinces in southern Philippines, Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said has directed PSALM to study the reallocation of the power facility’s output to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) locations in Mindanao.

“I have written a letter to PSALM to study allocating the output of Agus-Pulangi to the poorest of the poor, that means to say the ARMM region and the Lanao area and Maguindanao, so that we can help in the development of the area,” Cusi said.

“And the rest will be directed to Peza, so that we can encourage investments in Mindanao and make the region more competitive,” he added.

Electricity from the said power asset is being sold to various electric cooperatives (ECs).

“The contracts [with ECs] have expired. All ECs wanted to get longer contract, but what I said, at most we can give them one year to make adjustments,” Cusi said.

If implemented, the privatization of Agus-Pulangi would be delayed.

“Let’s not mix objective and direction. Redirecting the allocation of Agus-Pulangi has nothing to do with privatization. It’s just that we want the poorest of the poor to benefit and promote industries in the region,” Cusi said.

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Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Monday, January 23, 2017 A3

Govt, NDF sign supplemental guidelines for full operation of joint monitoring panel

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By Lilian C. Mellejor | Philippines News Agency

HE government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) signed on Saturday the supplemental guidelines for the full operation of the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) during the third round of talks in Rome, Italy.

The signing of the supplemental guidelines by Government Panel Chairman Silvestre A. Bello III and NDF Chairman Fidel V. Agcaoili is a significant move under the administration of President Duterte, after the first draft crafted in 2004 was not signed when the peace negotiations bogged down in 2011.

The supplemental guidelines is a set of mechanisms on how to address complaints of violation by the government forces and the armed wing of the NDF, the New People’s Army (NPA).

The supplemental guidelines was

issued pursuant to the Operational Guidelines for the JMC issued on February 14, 2004, in Oslo, Norway, by the government and NDF peace negotiators.

Bello said the signing of the supplemental guidelines is not only an affirmation to international human-rights law of the Duterte administration but also a concrete dividend of the third round of talks.

Bello said this also bodes well to the possible signing of the bilateral ceasefire agreement set to benefit more the people living in conflict-affected areas.

“This should be taken as an incen-

tive for us to work harder in the remaining days of this round of talks, especially on our efforts to put in place a joint cease-fire agreement—a peace dividend that our people have been waiting for,” he said in his statement.

Bello said the adoption of the guidelines is a realization of CARHRIHL, which is one of the four substantive agenda of the negotiations that will comprise the final peace agreement. The other three remaining substantive agenda are socieconomic reforms, political and constitutional reforms, and end of hostilities and disposition of forces.

He said the full operation of the JMC, with its supplemental guidelines in place, should not be difficult under the government’s legal regime that includes new and bold laws and statutes upholding human rights and international humanitarian laws, such as the law against enforced disappearance, antitorture act, International Humanitarian Law, Human Security Act, Writ of Amparo and Writ of Kalikasan, among others.

Agcaoili welcomed the signing and thanked the government saying that it would advance the ongoing peace negotiations.

Agcaoili said the supplemental guidelines will govern operations of the JMC and the Joint Secretariat.

The supplemental guidelines include provisions on how to file and deal with complaints and details the roles of the receivers of the complaints, the joint secretariat and third-party facilitator.

Under the guidelines, complaints for alleged violations of the specific provisions of the CARHRIHL may be filed either in person, through e-mail, web site, fax, post or courier to the nominated section in the Joint Secretariat, who shall immediately forward the same to the cochairmen of the JMC for proper disposition.

A complainant could be the victim of the alleged violation of the CARHRIHL, a relative of the victim, a duly-authorized representative, or any person, organization or entity with direct, substantial or sufficient interest in the subject of the complaint, such as human-rights groups, peace advocacy groups, church members, media or anyone capable of filing the complaint on behalf of the victim or relative of the victim.

The cochairmen of the respective monitoring committees will undertake an inquiry of initial facts for purposes of determining its sufficiency as a complaint that may warrant further action or investigation. The filing, pendency, dismissal, termination or withdrawal of a complaint or other communication

before other fora shall not preclude the filing of a similar complaint before the JMC. The complainants will be also be notified of the status and action on their complaints.

The complaints, evidence and supporting documents shall be subject to review and evaluation by the respective nominated sections to determine whether the alleged violations are within the coverage of the CARHRIHL and the complaints are valid in form and contain sufficient data or information to allow further investigation either separately or jointly by the respective monitoring committees.

If the complaint and other pieces of evidence warrant further investigation, the JMC, by consensus, may decide to conduct a joint fact-finding of a complaint, issue or specific incident with the possible participation of independent international observers.

Incidents or issues of urgent import or significance arising from a complaint, or from submitted documents and information not yet the subject of a complaint, may be brought to the attention of the cochairman of the concerned party for corresponding action or immediate response.

The supplemental guidelines also underscore protection for the victims, witnesses and complainants as their safety and security are the

primordial consideration in the handling and treatment of cases.

“These supplemental guidelines affirm the principles of truth, justice, equity, transparency and accountability in addressing the issues of violations of human rights; and international humanitarian law,” the guideline states.

The identity and other relevant information of victims, witnesses and complainants especially children and minors, will be kept confidential upon their request or whenever necessary to secure their protection.

Meanwhile, the Royal Norwegian Government would serve as third-party facilitator providing advice, opinions and suggestions to the two monitoring committees of the JMC, to receive updates on the progress of the work from the JMC, to extend assistance to facilitate the work of the JMC and its Joint Secretariat, to provide support for the work of the JMC and the general implementation of the CARHRIHL. The members of the GRP monitoring committee, composed of lawyer Efren Moncupa, Undersecretary Antonio Kho, Col. Facundo Palafox and Hernani Braganza as panel supervisor, while for the NDF side were Coni K. Ledesma and Concha Araneta, and Benito Tiamzon as supervising panel member, also signed the supplemental guidelines as witnesses. With Marvyn Benaning

Economy

A4 Monday, January 23, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

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‘Regulation of manufacturing chemicals hurts MSMEs’

PSA to spend ₧173.2M for 2 industry surveys

By Cai U. Ordinario @cuo_bm

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Photo shows capiz products from RL Handicrafts based in Cavite. Department of Science and Technology

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icro, small and mediumsized enterprises (MSMEs), particularly handicraft entrepreneurs, are appealing to the government to immediately remove from the list of regulated chemicals two commonly used substances in their industry, saying their business survival is at stake.

In e-mails, Floro Salinas, proprietor of FNDG Shells and Handicrafts based in Batangas, sought the help of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) in asking the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Philippine National Police (PNP) to deregulate the use of muriatic acid.

He also urged the PNP to delist hydrogen peroxide, which is a substance not regulated by PDEA. “These two chemicals are most commonly used by our small handicraft business owners and should be available at most convenient markets as it was before for them to continue their way of living and for the handicraft industry to survive,” he wrote Ma. Flordeliza C. Leong,

Philexport assistant vice president for advocacy and communications.

At the same time, he said an added burden has come up with the new set of requirements for registering or renewing a business permit that is now imposed by local government units. “[Small handicraft makers] have been having too much problem with our production using hydrogen peroxide. Our suppliers informed us that to purchase even a liter of hydrogen peroxide requires PNP permit,” Salinas said.

He said that, with government control over these chemicals, some retailers have simply stopped selling because “they do not care to apply for the PNP permit.”

As a result, small handicraft suppliers have had to turn down job orders involving these chemicals.

Salinas said he has to cease production of capiz products because of the supply problem.

“This year, our product development does not include capiz and other bleached items using hydrogen peroxide,” he said.

Most handicraft suppliers are forced to get their supply of hydrogen peroxide from the black market, which charges as much as 200 percent more, he continued.

“For the small handicraft industry, this deregulation is oppression, a sabotage against our small legal ways of earning a living. We understand the problem that our PNP is facing, but we are not convinced and cannot accept that we are part of the solution they [are thinking of in order] to solve their problem.”

Another manufacturer of handicrafts and bags is seeking clarity from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on allowance limits for hydrogen peroxide and sulfur powder, which are used as bleaching agents in handicrafts.

The export manager explained that calls to chemical-supply stores that they used to buy these from said their permits were still pending.

Last June the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) on controlled chemicals was signed by the

PNP chief. The IRR reduced from the original 101 to just 32 the list of regulated chemicals, after PNP consultations with MSMEs and other stakeholders.

However, hydrogen peroxide, a chemical regularly used in manufacturing, was not among those delisted, and is still considered among the high-risk controlled chemicals. The government a few years ago began a clampdown on dangerous chemicals in the wake of increasing terrorist attacks.

On the new requirements of local government units, meanwhile, Salinas described the current business requirement to get a clearance from the Laguna Lake Development Authority as “too hard to process” for small entrepreneurs.

Moreover, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’s certificate of noncoverage can be done online, “but most small or starters do not have access/knowledge to online facilities,” he said.

And “the technical description is too complicated for simple business owners to accomplish,” while the requirement for a blueprint of the floor plan of the facility to be signed by the city engineer was not doable as MSMEs do business in their backyards or makeshift workshops.

Salinas appealed to the government to simplify business require-

ments to support MSME development. “Doing business is one noble thing a citizen can do and I just feel the burden that our micro and small entrepreneurs have to pass before going into business.”

Philexport News & Features

[Small handicraft makers] have been having too much problem with our production using hydrogen peroxide.

Our suppliers informed us that to purchase even a liter of hydrogen peroxide requires PNP permit.”

—Salinas

he Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said it will spend P173.2 million to conduct two surveys on business and industry this year.

The PSA will spend P159.7 million for the Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (ASPBI) and P13.5 million for the Quarterly Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (QSPBI).

“Starting April 17, the survey questionnaires of the 2016 ASPBI will be distributed to 30,000 establishments nationwide, while for the 2017 QSPBI, a total of 10,000 establishments will be covered,” the PSA said.

The 2016 ASPBI aims to provide planners and policymakers in the government, as well as the private sector, with information on the levels and structure of economic activities.

The 2017 QSPBI, meanwhile, collects data on employment, compensation, value of production, total revenue, and total inventory of goods and capacity utilization by industry groups, which serve as inputs in the estimation of the quarterly national accounts.

The PSA said the QSPBI results are scheduled to be released 45 days after the reference quarter (preliminary; in the form of posting sheets).

The final results of the quarterly survey are being used as inputs to the National Accounts of the Philippines (NAP).

Also, the manuscript for publication of the 2016 ASPBI will be prepared between January 2018 and March 2019.

The PSA renewed the clearances of conduct of ASPBI and QSPBI through the Statistical Survey Review and Clearance System (SSRCS) in December 2016.

Based on the 2014 ASPBI, total employment grew by 3.8 percent to 4.12 million in 2014, from 3.97 million in 2013.

Among the sectors, manufacturing recorded the highest number of workers at 1.03 million, accounting for 25 percent of the total employment.

The Administrative and Support Service sector ranked second with 803,363 workers, or 19.5 percent share to total employment.

The Wholesale and Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles sector ranked third with 461,194 workers, or 11.2 percent share of the total.

DTI advances PHL trade interest in Davos meet Electric co-ops get ₧2.43-billion loan from NEA

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he annual meeting of business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF), held in Davos, gave the country an opportunity to advance its trade and investment interests, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

At the sidelines of the meet, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said he met with his counterparts, including Indonesian Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita, Swiss Trade Minister Schneider Ammann, Canadian Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne, and European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström.

In particular, discussions with the EU centered on the special trade scheme, the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP)Plus and the second round of negotiations for a free-trade agreement (FTA).

The second round of FTA negotiations between the two countries is slated for March, with observers noting that recent “hot-button issues”, such as the reinstatement of the death penalty and reports of extrajudicial killings are slowing down the process.

The DTI chief also met with the trade ministers of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which has an existing FTA with the Philippines.

Lopez said the Philippines also leveraged its participation in the WEF to highlight the country’s sanguine economic outlook under the new administration.

In the High Level Session on International Trade and Investment, Lopez heralded the country’s growth story and performance, the business policies and investment opportunities under the new Duterte leadership. Catherine N. Pillas

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

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he National Electrification Administration (NEA) has extended P2.43 billion worth of loans to 56 electric cooperatives (ECs) last year.

The amount, which was spent for various rural electrification projects, exceeded the agency’s target of P1.7 billion.

This amount includes the P603-million calamity loans availed of by 15 ECs for the rehabilitation of their distribution lines damaged by typhoons Lawin, Ferdie, Karen, Yolanda, Lando and Nona.

“Our priority is to ensure that people in the typhoon-affected areas be served with electricity on schedule. The DOE [Department of Energy], in coordination with NEA, has organized and mobilized person-

CUSI: “Our priority is to ensure that people in the typhoon-affected areas be served with electricity on schedule. The DOE, in coordination with NEA, has organized and mobilized personnel to rehabilitate distribution lines and fast track power restoration through the Task Force Kapatid operations to work double-time, especially in hard-hit areas.”

nel to rehabilitate distribution lines and fast track power restoration through the Task Force Kapatid operations to work double-time, especially in hard-hit areas,” Energy Secretary and NEA Board Chairman Alfonso G. Cusi said.

Calamity loans offered by NEA is nor-

mally processed within six days with 3.25percent interest per annum, and a repayment period of 10 years but not to exceed the remaining franchise life of the EC. ECs that will avail of the loan service are given a grace period of maximum of one year. The amount of loan will depend on the evaluated cost of the rehabilitation and restoration project and subject to the availability of funds “NEA always pursues the causes of the ECs, as well as its member-consumer-owners. The agency is constantly innovating and has been realigning its programs with the present administration’s policy directions to better address the needs and protect the welfare and rights of the consumers, much more the poorest of poor,” NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong said.

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Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, January 23, 2017

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H1 rice output seen hitting 8.54 MMT Agri trade deficit nearly doubled in 2015–PSA

By Cai U. Ordinario @cuo_bm

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FILE PHOTO

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

addy-rice production in the first half of the year could reach 8.54 million metric tons (MMT), 11.68 percent higher than the 7.65 MMT recorded a year ago, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In the latest “Rice and Corn Situation Outlook,” the PSA said favorable weather would boost unmilled rice output in the Januaryto-June period.

“Based on standing crop and planting intentions of 2.08 million hectares, the January to June 2017 probable production may reach 8.54 million MT, 11.68 percent higher than the previous year’s output of 7.65-million MT,” the PSA said.

“Harvest area may expand by 7.62 percent, from 1.93 million hectares in 2016. Moreover, yield may escalate to 4.11 MT per hectare from the

previous year’s level at 3.96 MT per hectare, or by 3.77 percent,” it added.

Based on standing crop, the PSA said output in the January-to-March period could go up by 15.22 percent to 4.53 MMT, from 3.93 MMT last year on the back of the expansion in harvest area and yield per hectare.

“Probable increments in production are foreseen in all regions except Calabarzon [Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon]. These may be attributed to the increase in harvest area and better yield due to adequate supply of water during plant growth and more farmers used high-yielding

variety seeds,” the PSA report read.

Based on farmers’ planting intentions, production in the April-toJune period could grow by 7.94 percent to 4.01 MMT, from 3.71 MMT recorded a year ago.

Despite the expansion in harvest area, the PSA said yield may drop to 4.36 MT per hectare compared to 4.38 MT per hectare recorded in the second quarter of 2016.

“Probable increases in harvest area are expected in the Visayas and Mindanao regions after drought or dry spell the previous year,” it said.

“Most of the farmers’ foresee good weather that may result to more plantings during this cropping period,” the PSA added.

Rice output in 2016 settled at 17.63 MMT, 2.88 percent lower than the 18.15 MMT recorded in 2015, the PSA said. The PSA attributed the output drop to the reduction in harvest area and yield caused by the typhoons that hit the country in the last quarter of 2016.

The PSA said favorable weather would aso allow the country’s corn output to expand in the first semester of the year. Production could grow by 29.92 percent to 3.67 MMT, from

Govt vows to fast track completion of irrigation project in Pangasinan

By Orly Guirao Correspondent

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osales, Pangasinan—The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said it has set guidelines to ensure the immediate completion of an irrigation facility, which has been stalled for two years during the previous administration.

The agency attached to the Office of the President said it expects the Agno River Irrigation Extension Project (Aricep) to be completed next year. Aricep will irrigate 12,000 hectares more farmlands in six eastern towns of the province.

Aricep Project Manager Engr. Ceferino Sta. Ana said NIA administrator Peter Lavinia has allowed the bidding for the three main siphons of the facility to be done in the agency’s regional office. The central office of the NIA had previously failed to award the contracts.

“Awarding the contracts soonest is necessary as installation of pipelines in the siphon system, before the rainy season starts,” Sta. Ana said.

Some P181 million has been allotted last year for the siphon works and another P900 million will be released this year for the construction of the unfinished 12-kilometer main canal. It connects the east gate of the 65-hectare reservoir to the river systems of Ambayuan, Dipalo and Viray in the towns of San Nicolas, San Quintin,

Natividad and Balungao.

The pond’s west gate was opened two years ago, irrigating 12,500 hectares of farmlands in San Manuel, Asingan, Tayug, Santa Maria, Urdaneta, Rosales, Villasis, Alcala and Santa Barbara.

According to Sta. Ana, P1.1 billion was released in the first quarter of 2016 and a contract to work on the main canal was awarded to Northern Builders. But, the supposed failure of the contractor “to move a single pile of earth” delayed the project.

To make up for lost time, the NIA regional office, which was authorized to bid out projects at maximum cost of P50 million, segmented the 12km main canal stretch and engaged the services of 12 local contractors.

“The scheme would not only speed up works but would also provide opportunities to local contractors,” Sta. Ana said.

“We’re now at 50 percent of the works and we hope to complete the job by March, this year,” he added.

Despite this, Sta. Ana noted that the whole Aricep package is still behind schedule.

“We still have to construct or rehabilitate some 242-kms. of lateral canals, including main farm ditches,” he said, adding that the only way to finish these, he said, “is to go by Administrator Lavinia’s directive: to bid and award the contracts to local firms.”

2.83 MMT posted a year ago.

Production in the January to March period could go up by nearly a quarter or 24.98 percent to 2.4 MMT, from the 1.92 MMT recorded last year. The PSA attributed this to the probable expansion in harvest area and the increase in yield.

“Probable increases in production are anticipated in all regions except in Central Luzon, Mimaropa, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula and Caraga,” the PSA report read.

Based on farmers’ planting intention, corn output in the second quarter of the year could go up by 40.32 percent to 1.278 MMT, from 911,000 MT recorded a year ago.

“Bulk of this output will come from Cagayan Valley and Soccsksargen,” the report read.

“All regions may increase in harvest area since farmers are optimistic on sufficient rainfall during planting period, except in Calabarzon and Bicol. In Northern Mindanao some tobacco areas may be planted with corn during this period,” it added.

Corn production in 2016 reached 7.22 MMT, 3.99 percent lower than the 7.52 MMT recorded in 2015 due to decline in harvest area and yield.

he Philippines remained a major net-food importer as the country’s agricultural deficit nearly doubled in 2015, according to the latest report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Dat a relea sed by t he PSA showed the country’s agriculture trade deficit increased by 86.83 percent to $6.167 billion in 2015, from $3.301 billion recorded in 2014.

The PSA said the widening trade deficit was largely due to the 21.6-percent contraction in receipts from farm exports. “Total export receipts for all commodities went down by 5.3 percent in 2015.

Agricultural exports also followed this trend, decreasing by 21.6 percent, from $6.578 billion in 2014 to $5.157 billion in 2015.”

Data also showed that the share of agricultural exports to total exports fell by 10.6 percent in 2014 to 8.8 percent in 2015.

Further, there was a 14.6-percent increase in agriculture imports to $11.324 billion in 2015, from $9.879 billion in 2014.

The share of agricultural imports to total imports expanded by 15.2 percent in 2015, faster than the 14.4 percent posted in 2014.

The countr y’s trade deficit was largest in Asean at $2.86 billion in 2015. This represented a 43.63-percent hike, from the $2-billion deficit recorded in 2014.

The country’s trade deficit with the United States more than doubled in 2015 at $1.03 billion. This represented an increase of 104.51 percent, from the $502.6-million trade gap in 2014.

“Among the major trading partners, Japan recorded a trade surplus at $478.890 million in 2015.

This declined by 41 percent, from

$812.28-million trade surplus in 2014,” the PSA said.

PSA d ata showed t hat receipts from the country’s food and live animals exports in 2015 were the highest at $3.22 billion. But the figure was 24.9 percent lower than the $4.28 billion recorded in 2014.

The country’s top exports were coconut oil and fresh bananas, accounting for 21.9 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively, of total agriculture exports in 2015.

Revenues from coconut exports declined by 6.2 percent to $1.129 billion in 2015, from $1.203 billion in 2014. Exports of coconut oil to the US reached $534.68 million.

Earnings from shipments of fresh bananas declined by 41.8 percent to $657.87 million in 2015, from $1.13 billion posted the previous year.

“Total fresh banana exports to Japan accounted for 42.1 percent of the total banana export, or amounting to $277.27 million in 2015,” the PSA said.

PSA data also showed that the country’s purchases of food and live animals from abroad reached $8.413 billion in 2015, 15.1 percent higher than the $7.307 billion recorded in 2014.

The Philippines’s top farm imports were wheat (including spelt) and meslin with a share of 11.7 percent total value of agricultural imports.

Imports of these products grew by 28 percent to $1.319 billion in 2015, from $1.03 billion in 2014.

Inward shipments of this product came mostly from the US. The PSA said the total agricultural exports and imports included in the report were generated from all final tables of the monthly Merchandise Export Performance and consolidated monthly External Trade Performances for the country in 2015.

Many farmers still need training after Lake Erie algae

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OLEDO, Ohio—Ohio’s agriculture leaders say thousands of farmers have completed training that will be required for putting fertilizer on fields, but many more face a September 2016 deadline to finish the program aimed at combating the toxic algae fouling Lake Erie.

The first of its kind requirement is one of several steps Ohio has taken to reduce the farm runoff that feeds algae in the state’s lakes and rivers.

State lawmakers put the measure in place in 2014, just months before algae in Lake Erie contaminated the drinking water for more than 400,000 people in northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan.

They gave farmers three years to be certified for commercial fertilizer use on more than 50 acres of farmland. So far, about 12,000 farmers and workers who apply commercial fertilizer—mainly phosphorus and nitrogen—have been certified, said Dave Daniels, director of the state’s agriculture department.

An estimated 6,000 to 10,000, he said, still need to finish the three-hour course—how many exactly is difficult to pin down because some farmers hire contractors to apply their fertilizer.

This undated file photo shows liquid manure sprayed over a field to fertilize crops on a farm in Union County, Ohio. As of early-2017, about 12,000 farmers and fertilizer applicators have completed Ohio’s three-hour training program that soon will be required to use commercial fertilizer. Jeff Hinckley/The Columbus Dispatch via AP,

Ohio State University Extension says it will offer about 200 training sessions this year in nearly every county.

Daniels, who attended one of the first sessions a few years ago, said he found almost no one wanted to be there.

But surveys of participants show

that almost all say they learned something that will help them save money and improve the environment, he said.

Research has shown that about one-third of farmland doesn’t need additional fertilizer and that farmers could save thousands if they realized this, Daniels said. AP

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The World BusinessMirror

Monday, January 23, 2017 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

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Trump bristles over inaugural crowd counts

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ANGLEY, Virginia—On his first full day in office, President Donald J. Trump on Saturday berated the media over its coverage of his inauguration, and turned a bridgebuilding first visit to Central Intelligence Agency headquarters into an airing of grievances about “dishonest” journalists. But it was Trump who spread inaccuracies about the size of the crowds at his swearing in.

Standing in front of a memorial for fallen CIA agents, Trump assured intelligence officials, “I am so behind you.” He made no mention of his repeated criticism of the intelligence agencies following the election, including his public challenges of their high-confidence assessment that Russia meddled in the White House race to help him win.

“There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and CIA than Donald Trump,” he said, blaming any suggestion of a “feud” on the media.

Trump’s decision to travel to CIA headquarters so quickly after taking office was seen as an attempt at a fresh start with the intelligence agencies he will now rely on for guidance as he makes weighty national security decisions. Following his private meeting with top CIA leaders, Trump said the US had been “restrained” in its efforts to combat terrorism, calling the threat “a level of evil we haven’t seen.”

But in unscripted, stream-ofconsciousness remarks, Trump appeared more focused on settling

scores with the media.

He defensively touted the crowd size for his swearing-in ceremony, wrongly claiming that the throngs on the National Mall stretched “all the way back to the Washington Monument.” Photos and video clearly showed the crowd stopping well short of the landmark.

Trump’s visit took place as throngs of women, many of them wearing bright pink, pointy-eared hats, descended on the nation’s capital and other cities around the world for marches organized to push back against the new president. Hundreds of protesters lined the motorcade route as Trump sped back to the White House, many screaming and chanting at the president.

The Washington rally alone attracted more than 500,000 people by the unofficial estimate of city officials. It appeared to be more people than attended Trump’s inauguration on Friday, but there were no comparable numbers. The city did not release an estimate for the inauguration. The National Park Service does not provide crowd counts.

During his remarks at the CIA, the president claimed the inaugural crowds topped 1 million people, offering no evidence.

Suggestions that weak enthusiasm accompanied his inauguration

clearly irked the new president.

Shortly after his remarks, he dispatched his press secretary, Sean Spicer, to the White House briefing room to aggressively reinforce the message.

“There’s been a lot of talk in the media about holding Donald Trump accountable. And I’m here to tell you that it goes two ways. We’re going to hold the press accountable, as well,” Spicer said in his first on-camera appearance at the White House.

Trump, and later Spicer, also slammed a Time magazine reporter for incorrectly reporting on Friday that Trump had moved a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. out of the Oval Office.

But Trump followed with a misstatement of his own, saying the reporter had not corrected the mistake. In fact, the item was quickly retracted.

High-level CI A brass stood largely silent during Trump’s remarks, though some of the roughly 400 other officers in attendance cheered on the president during his remarks. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, slammed Trump for using his CIA visit to squabble over media coverage.

“He will need to do more than use the agency memorial as a backdrop if he wants to earn the respect of the men and women who provide

Search intensifies for 23 missing in Italian avalanche

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ARINDOL A, Italy—The strain showed on Fabio Salzetta’s face.

The maintenance worker at the luxury Hotel Rigopiano, who escaped being buried under the deadly avalanche because he had gone to check the boiler, told Italian media on Saturday that he called for hours to find survivors, but no one responded. The scene, he said, “felt like it was a dream. It was a nightmare.”

One of the people buried inside, and among the 23 still missing, is his sister.

His voice shaking, he said he last saw her in the kitchen.

Five people have been confirmed killed, including two hotel waiters, while nine, including four children who had been on family vacations, have been pulled alive from the reinforced concrete structure buried beneath as many as 8 meters of snow last Wednesday.

Doctors at the hospital in Pescara said one of the adults underwent surgery for a crushed arm, and was in fair condition, but that all of the other patients were doing well. The children were being moved from intensive care to the pediatric ward.

Buoyed by the rescues on Friday, more than two days after the disaster, search crews were intensifying their round-the-clock operation, fighting against the clock and deteriorating weather conditions, including fresh snowfall and freezing temperatures.

“The research is difficult also because

the site is in a precarious equilibrium, that’s why the interventions are made very carefully and why we cannot intervene with big machineries risking to modify a very vulnerable situation,” said Titti Postiglione of Italy’s civil protection agency.

Instead, workers pushed ahead using saws, shovels and gloved hands, listening for any sounds that might suggest more survivors.

Dozens of friends and family members kept vigil at the hospital, some growing frustrated at the lack of news.

In one family, elation that 9-year-old Edoardo Di Carlo had survived in good condition was tempered by news that his mother, Nadia Aconcciamessa, a nurse in the nearby town of Penne, was among the dead. The toll also includes two waiters at the hotel, Gabriele di Angelo and Alessandro Giancaterino.

Postiglioni said the high number of people still missing was giving impetus to the search. They include Di Carlo’s father and the parents of 6-year-old Samuel Di Michelangelo.

The search included sending sound-sensitive instruments down into snow-crusted debris. Rescuers passed crates full of chunks of hardened snow and ice to colleagues as they tried to penetrate deeper into the wreckage, creating the rough equivalent of elevator shafts to allow searchers to descend into the smashed hotel.

Searchers also used devices that could pick up any electronic waves emitted by cell phones of the missing, said Walter Milan, a spokesman for the alpine rescuers.

That voices haven’t been heard lately doesn’t mean no one is still alive, he said, explaining “we know that thick walls and snow isolates” possible voices.

Because of the continued avalanche risk, escape routes were planned for rescue crews and each participant was equipped with a tracking device in case they were buried under the snow.

Snowfall higher than 3 meters (10 feet) thwarted the arrival of heavy equipment like cranes, said rescue spokesman Marco Bini, leaving the searchers to often rely on their hands or simple snow shovels to make progress.

Salzetta has been spending time at the hotel rescue operation, advising crews on the hotel’s layout and guests’ possible locations. Talking to reporters as he left the area, he recalled that the guests had gathered to go home, some shaken by the four quakes that day, but their departure was stymied by heavy snowfall that had made the road out impassable.

“In the end, they were calm. No one imagined that something like this could happen, after all the earthquakes that there have been,” Salzetta said.

The last thing he remembers of that night: “The snow. Everything snow.” AP

president and his wife, Melania, and Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, sat in a front pew at Washington National Cathedral for the morning service.

The interfaith service is a tradition for new presidents and is hosted by the Episcopal parish. But the decision to hold a prayer session for Trump sparked debate among Episcopalians opposed to his policies.

Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington wrote in a blog post that while she shared “a sense of outrage at some of the president-elect’s words and actions,” she felt an obligation to welcome all people without qualification, especially those who disagree and need to find a way to work together.

Trump arrived at the cathedral mid-morning. The service included readings and prayers from Protestant, Jewish, Sikh, Mormon, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Baha’i, Episcopal, Hindu and Native American leaders. But the program was remarkable for the large number of evangelicals participating, including two former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest evangelical denomination. Several speakers had served as Trump advisers and supporters who spoke at the Republican National Convention. AP

European nationalists flaunt strength, buoyed by Trump win

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One of the three children that were rescued from the avalanche-hit Rigopiano Hotel is transported to a hospital in Pescara on January 20. Doctors at the hospital in Pescara said the children were being moved from intensive care to the pediatric ward. AP

the best intelligence in the world,” Schiff said.

Former CIA Director John Brennan went further. His former aide Nick Shapiro released a statement saying “Brennan is deeply saddened and angered at Donald Trump’s despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIA’s Memorial Wall of Agency heroes. Brennan says that Trump should be ashamed of himself.”

The inaugural celebrations have been shadowed by reports that the CIA and other federal agencies are investigating Russian interference in the presidential election on behalf of Trump. McClatchy reported that the investigation included whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided Trump. The New York Times said agencies were examining intercepted communications and financial transactions between Russian officials and Trump’s associates.

FBI Director James Comey has declined to confirm or describe the nature of the government’s investigation, both during a congressional hearing and in closed-door meetings with members of Congress.

Saturday marked the end of three days of inaugural celebrations, with Trump and his family attending a national prayer service traditionally held for the new president. The

OBLENZ, Germany—European nationalist leaders came together on Saturday in a show of strength at the start of a year of big election tests, celebrating Donald J. Trump’s inauguration as US president and declaring themselves a realistic alternative to the continent’s governments.

Right-wing populist leaders from France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and elsewhere strode confidently into the Koblenz congress hall on the banks of the Rhine River ahead of a flag-waving escort, setting the tone for a gathering whose mood was buoyed

by Trump’s swearing-in. The European parties hope for similar success in tapping antiestablishment and protectionist sentiment in elections this year.

“I believe we are witnessing historic times,” Dutch anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders told reporters. “The world is changing. America is changing. Europe is changing. And the people start getting in charge again.”

Wilders, speaking in English, declared that “the genie will not go back into the bottle again, whether you like it or not.”

The Netherlands will provide the next major test for populist parties’ support. Wilders’ Party of Freedom could win the largest percentage of votes in the March 15 Dutch parliamentary election, even though it is shunned by other parties and unlikely to get a share of power.

Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Front, is among the top contenders in France’s April-May presidential vote. In September Frauke Petry’s four-year-old Alternative for Germany party hopes to enter the German parliament in a national election, riding sentiment against German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s welcoming policy toward refugees. Other German parties say they won’t work with the antiimmigrant group.

Those at the Koblenz conference on Saturday are part of the Europe of Nations and Freedom group in the European Parliament, which was launched in 2015. The gathering also featured Matteo Salvini of Italy’s antimigrant Northern League and Harald Vilimsky, the general secretary of Austria’s right-wing Freedom Party, which last year narrowly failed to win the country’s presidency.

Trump “is a winner, we are winners: Frauke Petry, Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders, all of us here are winners,” Vilimsky told an audience of around 1,000.

Speakers also denounced “political Islam” and Europe’s common currency, the euro, which Salvini labeled “a failed, criminal experiment.”

Le Pen reveled in Trump taking power in the US, months after Britain voted to leave the 28-nation European Union in a referendum that she hopes to emulate. “[The year] 2016 was the year when the Anglo-Saxon world woke up. And 2017, I am sure, will be the year of the awakening of the

people of continental Europe,” she said.

She denounced the EU as “a force of sterilization” and assailed Merkel—whose name was booed loudly—for allowing in large numbers of asylum-seekers last year.

Le Pen praised Trump for what she said was a clear position on Europe: “He will not support a system of oppression of the people.”

“We are experiencing the end of one world and the birth of another,” she said. “We are experiencing the return of nation states.”

Petry said “just as Donald Trump in America shows the way out of a dead end, with new prospects—including for [resolving] international conflicts—we want to do that in the coming months and years for Europe.”

The leaders sought to portray their focus on nationalist priorities that don’t necessarily converge as a virtue rather than a weakness. Le Pen lauded “the coherence that we have, above and beyond our differences, which we like.”

“By definition, each of us wants to be the master at home. We want our people to be masters at home, so we don’t want to align ourselves on a single policy for everyone,” she said. “That is exactly what unites us—that is why we are fighting against a European Union that wants to squash us, that wants to eat us all in the same sauce.”

Le Pen added that Trump was elected on the back of many of the ideas the European nationalists hold dear, pointing to “common accents” with what they have long said in his inauguration speech on Friday.

“We have fought, at first separately in each of our countries and now united, together, a whole series of great values: the nation, control of our borders, the defense of our people, patriotism, sovereignty, the defense of our national identities,” she said.

Despite the talk of unity, there is unease among some in the Alternative for Germany party about aligning with Le Pen’s National Front due to her protectionist economic policies, Joerg Meuthen, the AfD’s coleader, told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland newspaper group.

Some 5,000 demonstrators gathered outside the congress center in Koblenz, singing the European anthem “Ode to Joy”.

Elsewhere in Koblenz, demonstrators from the global Avaaz activist group placed statues of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Josef Stalin, among others, in front of a landmark statue of German Kaiser Wilhelm.

Avaaz organizer Pascal Vollenweider said the statues of the dictators were meant to send a “strong message” to the nationalist politicians’ meeting that “global citizens are rejecting their old dangerous ideas.”

“They are not fascists in jackboots, it’s a different type of fascism, of course. But if you look at the ideas...it’s very dangerous, and we have to face it,” he said. AP

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Libya’s neighbors demand natl dialogue to end crisis

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AIRO—Representatives of Libya’s neighbors meeting in Cairo on Saturday warned the North African nation’s main rival factions against seeking to settle their differences through military force, as Egypt announced that efforts were under way to bring their leaders together to chart a “joint vision” for the country.

The representatives came from Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Chad, Niger and Tunisia. Also attending was United Nations envoy to Libya Martin Kobler.

“A comprehensive political dialogue between all Libya parties is the only way out of this crisis,” said a final communiqué after the meeting, saying the delegates “decisively reject” a military solution to the Libyan crisis, a thinly veiled reference to past clashes between

forces backing the factions.

Libya has plunged into chaos and lawlessness since the ouster and later killing of Muammar Gadhafi in a 2011 uprising and subsequent civil war, with two rival administrations operating in the east and west of the vast, oil-rich nation. Also operating in Libya is an array of militant Islamic groups, including a local affiliate of the extremist Islamic State (IS).

The communique said participants in the Cairo meeting commended recent defeats of the militants in the coastal cities of Sirte and Benghazi, but that they remained concerned over their continuing presence elsewhere in the vast country.

Saturday’s meeting followed air strikes earlier this week by US Air Force B-2 bombers that targeted a pair of IS military camps southwest of Sirte, killing more than 80 fighters in an unusual mission that may have marked the final demonstration of military force of now-former President Barack Obama’s global counterterrorism campaign. The air strikes were coordinated with the UN-backed government headquartered in Tripoli, the Libyan capital.

Addressing a news conference after the meeting, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said work was underway to bring the leaders of Libya’s main factions— The Tripoli government, parliament in the eastern city of Tobruk and the leader of the “national army”—to meet.

He, however, gave no specifics, only saying the proposed gathering

would aim to “bolster trust, understanding and search for a joint vision.” Shukri also repeated calls on the international community to lift a ban on arms sales to Libya, saying the “national army” was a legitimate entity. “It’s inappropriate for this ban to stand and we continue to demand that it be rescinded.”

The Libyan army is led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, who is strongly backed by Egypt and is seen by some in Libya’s eastern region as the country’s best hope for defeating Islamic extremists.

The Cairo meeting also called on the international community to meet Libya’s humanitarian needs in 2017, citing shortages of medical supplies. It urged the international community to release frozen Libyan assets abroad as a way to ease the country’s financial crisis.

Shortages of basic goods and a cash crunch have brought daily hardships for Libyans, who now stand in line for hours for fuel, cash, bread and cooking gas. Banks are open to the public once a week, with a ceiling of less than $200 on withdrawals. AP

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Families lobby Malaysian minister to resume search for Flight MH370

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ANBERRA, Australia—Relatives of passengers and crew aboard the missing Malaysian airliner plan to present the Malaysian transport minister in Australia with letters urging that the search resume.

Sheryl Keen, a supporter of the international victims’ advocacy group Voice370, said on Sunday she plans to personally hand to Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai dozens of letters from relatives when Liow meets this week in the west coast city of Perth with his Australian counterpart Darren Chester.

Last week Malaysia, Australia and China announced that the deep sea search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had been suspended, perhaps forever, after a sonar scan of 120,000 square kilometers of the Indian Ocean west of Australia failed to find any trace of the Boeing 777 that vanished on March 8, 2014, with 239 people onboard after flying far off course during a trip from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.

Keen, who chairs her own support organization Aircrash Support Group of Australia, said she had yet to hear from the Malaysian Consulate in Perth whether she would be allowed a oneminute meeting with Liow on Sunday or Monday. “The general content is urging him to continue the search,” Keen said.

“I do believe some of them are quite heartfelt and others are quite brief.”

Chester said he would hold an informal meeting with Liow on Sunday. Both ministers will welcome the final search

ship Fugro Equator when it returns from the abandoned search area to Perth’s port at Fremantle on Monday.

“We will both be in Perth tomorrow to thank the crew of the Fugro Equator for their search efforts in trying conditions,” Chester said in a statement.

Voice370 wants the ministers to use the meeting to reconsider the suspension of the search. “A quick decision to extend the search would avoid the immediate demobilization of the equipment onboard the search vessel, Fugro Equator, and additional costs at a later date for mobilization of vessels,” Voice370 said in a statement.

But Chester said the decision to suspend the search “was not taken lightly.”

“I understand the disappointment and frustration felt by the families,” he said. “Not knowing the final resting place of their loved ones only adds to the tragedy of the situation.”

Voice370 has launched an online petition to increase public pressure on the governments to continue the search. Because the airliner was registered in Malaysia, the Malaysian government has a final say on the search’s future. Australia, Malaysia and China agree they won’t relaunch the search until they have credible evidence pointing to the plane’s exact location. Malaysia has offered a reward to any private company that found the plane’s fuselage. The government has not put a figure on that reward. Keen described that offer as “free-for-all treasure hunt.” AP

Crossing red lines: A nation-by-nation look at Asia’s figurative, literal ‘sacred cows’

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OW can you get under the skin of an Asian country?

Diplomatic body searches, bomber flights, shrine statues and even doormats have set governments on edge.

Here’s a nation-by-nation look at Asia’s figurative, and in one case literal, sacred cows:

South Korea

SOUTH Korea takes offense first, and most regularly, with Japan, largely over disputes stemming from Tokyo’s 35-year colonization of the Korean Peninsula in the early 20th century.

But President Donald J. Trump has proven surprisingly good at pushing buttons in Seoul in recent months.

During his campaign, Trump suggested that the United States would let South Korea defend itself from North Korean aggression if Seoul didn’t pay more for the stationing of 28,500 American troops in the country. He also described a 2012 bilateral free-trade agreement that was portrayed as a major landmark as killing American jobs.

Fewer, or no, US boots on the ground and calls for renegotiating the trade accord would raise serious questions for many in South Korea about the decadeslong military alliance between the countries that was forged in the bloodshed of the Korean War. And then there’s Seoul’s northern rival. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un staged two nuclear tests and a string of ballistic missile test firings last year. There’s always the fear a direct attack, like the deadly 2010 shelling of a South Korean island. Another attack will likely trigger retaliatory strikes by the South, which has grown tired of Pyongyang’s repeated provocations.

Japan regularly infuriates Seoul when senior politicians visit a shrine that honors war dead, including convicted criminals; when Tokyo renews claims to disputed islets; and when officials approve history textbooks that Seoul believes whitewash Japan’s wartime aggression.

India

INDIANS have long been known as a touchy bunch, so much so the makers of last year’s blockbuster sequel Independence Day 2 reportedly excluded all Indian

landmarks from the scenes of mayhem and devastation wrought by the movie’s invading aliens.

In some cases, Indians have been so easily offended that it’s taken everyone else by surprise, such as when a superbug discovered in New Delhi was named after the Indian capital, or when an Indian diplomat was subjected to a routine body search when arrested in 2013 for allegedly mistreating her Indian maid in New York City.

When the world was celebrating the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson particle, some Indians griped that all the credit was going to British physicist Peter Higgs, while the world was ignoring Indian scientist Satyendranath Bose whose work in the 1920s helped define the subatomic boson particle named after him.

In recent years, many in Hindudominated India have been perceived to be intolerant of criticism against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as their religion. Selfappointed “cow vigilantes” have attacked villagers suspected of killing cows, considered sacred in Hinduism and yet a vital source of income for many Muslims. When former President Barack Obama in 2015 urged greater tolerance and harmony in India’s multicultural society, he was widely derided for taking a shot at India’s dignity.

Last week Amazon.com Inc. pulled doormats depicting the Indian flag from its Canadian retail web site after the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj threatened to deny Indian visas to Amazon employees if the company did not apologize and withdraw the product.

Protests erupted a year ago after doormats depicting Hindu gods were sold online. There were also reports that India’s independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi was featured on flip-flops in what many Indians view as disrespectful.

British rock band Coldplay triggered anger with a music video on India that showed stereotypical images of the country with Hindu holy men, peacocks and colorful festivals. Critics argued that it ignored the vast changes in the country following the economic boom that has transformed the face of Indian cities and towns.

In 2008 Danny Boyle’s multiple-Oscar winning film, Slumdog

defining an extremely brutal chapter in the nation’s history.

Australia

AUSTRALIA’S hardline stance on asylum-seekers has frayed ties with its neighbor and close ally Indonesia, and drawn global condemnation from human-rights groups.

Under Australia’s policies, asylum-seekers from Asia, the Middle East and Africa who arrive by boat, usually from Indonesian ports, are sent to grim detention camps on remote Pacific island nations and are refused settlement in Australia.

Any boats intercepted at sea are turned back or sunk, with their passengers and crews sent to Indonesia in life boats. The turn-back policy has caused friction with Indonesia, which was especially rankled after reports emerged that the Australian navy paid people smugglers to return a boat of migrants to Indonesian waters.

Japan IN this December 18, 2013, file photo, supporters of right-wing Rashtrawadi Shivsena, or nationalist soldiers of Shiva, walk with a handcuffed person representing US President Barack Obama near the US Embassy to protest against the alleged mistreatment of New York-based Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, in New Delhi, India. The Indian diplomat said she faced repeated “handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches” following her arrest in New York City on visa fraud charges in a case that has infuriated the government in New Delhi. The sign at center reads, “If there is no respect for Indians in America then there will be no respect for Americans in India.” AP

Millionaire also faced similar criticism for its portrayal of poverty and corruption in India.

China

NO issue is perhaps more sensitive and important to China than the status of Taiwan and Trump thrust the issue into the spotlight weeks before his inauguration by taking a congratulatory phone call from the island’s president.

That led Beijing to reiterate the one-China principle that has underpinned China-US relations since they were normalized in 1979.

While China is keeping its powder dry for now, further moves to bestow legitimacy on the island’s government or offer it big arms packages and other forms of support would like draw a furious response.

China has also been irked over recent US comments on the South China Sea, particularly its building of man-made islands equipped with airstrips and military defenses.

Despite the construction, Beijing

intensely dislikes accusations of militarizing the sensitive region, which it claims virtually in its entirely. However, the issue appears significantly less volatile now than last summer, when China was incensed by an international arbitration ruling invalidating its maritime claims.

Economic concerns remain foremost for the leadership and officials have responded to complaints from Trump and others over alleged unfair trade practices by again arguing against restrictions on the export of sensitive US technologies, along with growing negative sentiment against Chinese investment in economies overseas that keep companies, such as communications giant Huawei out of the US market.And as always, China is prone to lash out against all criticism of its policies toward political dissidents and ethnic minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang.

North Korea

ALTHOUGH just about anything that the US does can be counted on

to push North Korea’s buttons—and be used by the regime to whip up popular anti-US sentiment—one thing the US has started doing with more regularity lately hit an especially sore nerve.

Because of the massive, widescale destruction caused by bombing during the Korean War, which essentially flattened the very vulnerable Pyongyang, flights by US long-range bombers, like the B-52, not only get the regime’s attention but do seem to cause genuine anger and anxiety.

Such flights have become a more common response following North Korean nuclear tests or other military activities seen by Washington as particularly provocative. They have the added benefit of reassuring American allies Japan and South Korea, but at the same time, underscore the vast gap in perceptions between the US, where the 1950-53 fighting on the Korean Peninsula is known as the “forgotten war”, and in North Korea, where it was a

A “comfort women” statue is currently the hottest button between Japan and South Korea.

The statue of an anonymous Asian-faced girl is supposed to represent all the women across Asia and from The Netherlands who were the victims of sexual abuses by Japanese wartime military. It is part of Seoul’s campaign to gain global sympathy for its suffering under the Japanese colonial rule, just as Japan has increasingly pushed back from its earlier recognition of responsibility.

Also reflecting Seoul’s deep-rooted colonial-era enmity is a statue of South Korean patriot Ahn JungGeun, who assassinated Japan’s former top official in Korea, Hirobumi Ito, in 1909.

Then there are islands. Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida described as “unacceptable” the use of the South Korean name for disputed islands in the official web site for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

The web site introduces the islets as Dokdo, while Japan refers to them as Takeshima. The web site also refers to the waters that Japan calls Sea of Japan under the South Korean name, East Sea. In China a memorial hall of Nanjing that highlights the 1937 massacre by Japanese troops is a thorny issue that still divides the view between the two sides. AP

Green Monday BusinessMirror

A8 Monday, January 23, 2017

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Interior pick disputes Trump, says climate change not a hoax

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A child plays with a ball next to a couple posing for a photographer in a park outside Bucharest, Romania, on November 9, 2013. Newlywed couples took advantage of the unusual warm weather for the month of November, with temperatures reaching 20 degree Celsius, for outdoor photo sessions. AP/Vadim Ghirda

Global warming could steal postcard-perfect weather days

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ASHINGTON—Global warming is going to steal away some of those postcard-perfect weather days in the future, according to a first-of-its-kind projection of nice weather.

On average, Earth will have 10 fewer days of mild and mostly dry weather by the end of the century, the researchers estimate.

Some places w ill get more days perfect for picnics or outdo or we dd i n g s, w h i le ot he r places will lose a lot. R io de Janeiro, Miami and much of Africa are big losers, while Europe and Seattle will gain nicer weather.

“It’s the type of weather where you can go outside and do something fun,” said study lead author Karin van der Wiel, a meteorology researcher at Princeton University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “It’s not too cold. It’s not too hot. It’s not too humid.”

For the past three decades, the world has averaged 74 mild days a year. But by 2035 that will shrink to 70 and then 64 by the last two decades of the centur y, according to the study published on Wednesday in the journal Climatic Change.

Mild weather was defined as

10 The estimated number of days of mild and mostly dry weather the Earth will have by the end of the century

between 68 degree Fahrenheit and 86˚Fahrenheit (18˚Celsius and 30˚F) with low humidity and no more than a trace of rain.

Any change depends on where you live and the time of year.

For example, on average, the US will lose nine mild summer days by the end of the century, although most is gained back with more mild

days in the winter, spring and fall.

T he repor t estimates t hat Washington, Chicago, New York and Dallas will lose two weeks of pleasant summer weather, but some is gained back.

On average, Washington loses 13 mild days; Atlanta, 12; Chicago, 9; Denver and New York, 6; and Dallas, 1.

The biggest losers will be the tropics and nearly all of Africa, eastern South America, South Asia and northern Australia.

Rio de Janeiro, on average, will see 40 mild days disappear. Miami will lose its only mild summer day and nearly a month of spring and fall mild days by 2100.

“The changes are more dramatic in parts of the developing world, where you have high concentrations of populations,” NOA A climate scientist and coauthor Sarah Kapnick said.

Other places, especially northern developed ones, will gain some of what the tropics lost.

England and northern Europe are big winners. Seattle should pick up nine mild days and Los Angeles, which already has a lot of nice weather, gets six extra by the end of the century.

The scientists didn’t specifically focus on whether the loss of mild days has already started globally, but they did see it happening in much of Africa and South America, Van der Wiel said.

Climate scientists usually focus

on extreme weather—record heat, tropical cyclones, droughts and floods—and how they could get worse as the world warms.

Kapnick said she wanted to look at nice weather because her friends kept asking her what day to choose for good wedding weather.

The team used a middle-ground scenario for global warming—not worst-case runaway carbon pollution and not dramatic cuts in emissions of heat-trapping gases—and ran different computer simulations to see what would happen.

It ’s not just fewer nice d ays to enjoy. Fewer m i ld d ays w i l l a lso har m agr icultura l product ion a nd a l low d isease - ca r r ying insects to t hr ive more in more pl aces, sa id Universit y of Georg i a meteorolog y Prof.

Ma rsha l l Shepherd.

Stanford University climate scientist Chris Field, who led an international study of extreme weather, questioned the pur pose of the study: “Extreme conditions are the shar p end of the climate stick. It is in the extremes when things break and damage occurs.”

National Center for Atmospheric Research scientist Gerald Meehl, who also studies extreme weather, said a decrease in mild weather might not quite have the economic and health costs but there are other factors, such as tourism “or simple human enjoyment.” AP

Advance computer software to boost CL forest, biodiversity protection

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ITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) office in Central Luzon received early this month computers from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Biodiversity and Watersheds Improved for Stronger Economy and Ecosystem Resilience (B+Wiser) Program to help boost and advance forest protection and biodiversity conservation in Central Luzon under the Lawin Forest and Biodiversity Protection System.

The Lawin Protection System is a strategy that seeks to conserve the forest and biodiversity with the involvement of the community. Using a mobile application, called cyber tracker, users may report real-time environmental abuses from the site.

The system engages four users: the patrollers, including the community, DENR forest rangers and forest guards of the local government; the data managers, including DENR forest technicians and geographic system (GIS) experts from the local government units (LGUs); the resource

managers or members of the protected-area management boards, as well as environment and natural resources officers of the LGUs; and environmental law enforcers, such as the police, the DENR and deputized enforcers.

Francisco Milla Jr., regional director of DENR in Central Luzon, said the computers are equipped with upgraded forest and biodiversity protection system, which is the Smart Connect software, which will be used in the roll-out of Lawin system in the region. “ This upgraded system will synchronize the data gathered from the field by forest protection officers—including threats, forest conditions and indicator species—and will be transmitted on the Web or Internet server and will be accessible to all levels of forest law-enforcement agents [i.e., national, regional, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office and Community Environment and Natural Resources Office] to ensure that the DENR can respond quickly to field reports of threat,” Milla said.

He said the system could collect data from the field and share in real time. It could

also manage and respond to real-time alerts and centrally manage Smart deployment at multiple sites, and could integrate Smart with other systems, he added.

Ricardo Calderon, director of DENR-Forest Management Bureau (FMB) said Central Luzon is one of the pilot regions for the field testing of Smart Connect for Lawin forest and biodiversity system. The other one is the Cagayan de Oro region.

“We are now moving to the next level. Our forest rangers and data managers are already trained in the Lawin forest and biodiversity protection system. At this stage, we are providing them advance technology as their weapon to better protect and safeguard our forest and biodiversity,” he said.

It will be recalled that last year more than 200 forest officers from the DENR Central Luzon had undergone skill-enhancement training on forest protection through the application of Lawin.

This is in addition to the 2,000 forest rangers that have been trained in Lawin last year covering 18 regions in the country,

which resulted in the patrolling of more than 6,500 kilometers of forest areas in 170 conservation sites.

Lawin is named after the Philipine hawk eagle, which combines sciencebased planning, low-cost, collaborative, user-friendly technology and indigenous knowledge to protect forest and wildlife.

It uses real-time and measurable data that allow environmental law-enforcement agencies to act quickly.

Smart Connect for Lawin system is being supervised by the B+Wiser and DENR-FMB with support from the USAID. The DENR records show that Central Luzon has 942,387 hectares of forestland, which is thickly covered with 589,489 hectares forests, or 62 percent forest cover.

Some important plants and animal species that can be found inside the forests include the smallest of the biggest flower, or rafflesia; the premium species of dipterocarpaceae family, Tapulao mice, largest flying fox, giant cloud rat and the endangered Philippine Eagle.

Catherine Joy L. Maglalang

onald J. Trump’s nominee to lead the Inter ior Depar tment broke with the president-elect’s portrayal of climate change as a hoax, arguing that he has seen tangible evidence the world is warming. “ T he climate is changi ng ; t h at ’s i nd isput able,” Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Republican from Montana, told the Senate Energ y and Natural Resources Committee.

Zinke, who grew up near Glacier National Park, said he had watched the retreat of ice there during his lifetime.

Humans have influenced the climate, Zinke said. But, he said, there is debate about “what that influence is, and what can we do about it?”

Zinke’s comments during a cordial confirmation hear ing on Tuesday come as Trump himself has distanced himself from his earlier tweets casting climate change as a hoax perpetrated by scientists and China.

The president-elect told The New York Times he had an open mind on the issue during an interview last November, and he has signaled he may not make good on his campaign pledge to rip up the landmark Paris accord in which nearly 200 countries agreed to cut carbon dioxide emissions.

Still, Trump’s transition teams are filled with activists who have argued that carbon dioxide is not affecting the Earth’s temperature and advocated against taking any actions to curb greenhouse gases.

Zinke appeared to support some steps to address climate change although it wasn’t clear what that would entail: “I don’t believe it’s a hoax. I believe we should be prudent,” he said.

During his hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday, Zinke repeatedly evoked the example of President Teddy Roosevelt, saying he wanted to make decisions that would preserve public lands for generations to come. Those lands “are America’s treasure,” with some best treated as pristine wilderness, while others can be mined or logged in accordance with “best practices, sustainable policies and objective science,” Zinke said.

In casting himself as “an unapologetic admirer” of Roosevelt, Zinke aligned himself with Trump, who has promised to honor the Republican conservationist’s legacy by protecting natural resources for generations to come.

Zinke espoused a balanced approach to public lands that he described as a destination for hiking and fishing as well as a source of timber and coal.

“I fully recognize and appreciate that there are lands that deserve special recognition and are better managed under the John Muir model of wilderness, where man has a light touch and is an observer,” Zinke said. Nevertheless, he said, “the preponderance of our federal holdings are better suited” for multiple uses.

All of the above

Zinke also endorsed an “allof-the-above” approach to energy, with fossil fuels and renewable electricity part of the nation’s energy mix. Though President Barack Obama’s administration used the motto, especially early in his tenure, the approach is anathema to environmentalists pushing to

keep oil, gas and coal undeveloped, locked underground.

A fifth-generation Montanan and for mer commander of the Nav y’s elite SE A L Team Si x, Zinke emphasized the importance of rebuilding tr ust w ith loca l c o m m u n it i e s a n d s t a t e s angr y with current federalmanagement policies.

He a lso pledged to pr ior it i z e some $1 2. 5 bi l l ion i n m a i nt e n a n c e n e e d s i n nat iona l park s, possibly by seeking funding as p a r t of a ny bro ad job s a nd i n f r a s t r u c t u r e b i l l .

Senators pressed Zinke, 55, to explain how he would handle a raft of thorny policy questions facing the agency, including whether he would rev iew Obama administration decisions blocking oi l - a nd - g a s d e ve lo pme nt in A lask a and A rctic waters north of the state. Oil industr y leaders hope the Trump administration will open up new coastal waters for drilling.

Permanent extension

In response, Zinke said periodic reviews of government policies are prudent. “I can guarantee you it is better to produce energy domestically under reasonable regulation than to watch it be produced overseas under no regulation,” he said.

Zinke promised to support a permanent extension of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which uses revenue from offshore oil-and-gas development to help states build outdoor recreational facilities and purchase new lands and waters for recreation. And he staked out a firm position opposing the sale or transfer of public land—casting some Westerners’ zeal to reclaim control as evidence of distrust and downright hatred of federal management policies.

An avid hunter and angler, Zinke just won his second term as Montana’s lone representative in the House of Representatives. Environmentalists have raised concerns about his nomination, describing fears that publicland management will tilt in favor of oil, natural gas and coal extraction over conservation. But outdoor enthusiasts say Zinke’s own appreciation for nature will inspire him to value recreation and protection of public lands.

Leasing moratorium

If confirmed, Zinke would face pressing policy questions about energy development on public lands. Zinke called the Obama administration’s coalleasing moratorium “an example of a one-size-fits-all,” but he signaled a rewrite of royalty rates might be necessary. “Taxpayers should get a fair value on coal, wind, all of the above,” he said.

Although it has garnered oil industry ire and a legal challenge, Zinke did not heap criticism on the Interior Department’s methane rule, a measure restricting the venting and flaring of natural gas from wells on public lands. Instead, he emphasized the waste when natural gas is released into the atmosphere or burned as an unwanted byproduct at oil wells.

“We’re venting a lot, and we’re wasting energy, and that is troubling me,” Zinke said. “Let’s build a system that recaptures what is being wasted.” Bloomberg News

Biodiversity Monday BusinessMirror

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Monday, January 23, 2017

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph

A9

World’s primates facing extinction crisis, report says

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ASHINGTON—Gorillas, monkeys, lemurs and other primates are in danger of becoming extinct, and scientists say it’s our fault that our closest living relatives are in trouble, a new international study warns.

About 60 percent of the more than 500 pr imate species are “now threatened w ith extinction” and 3 out of 4 pr imate species have shrinking populations, according to a study published in Wednesday’s jour na l Science Advances.

While scientists had tracked dwindling numbers of individuals and groups of primates in forests around the world, this is the first big-picture look.

The result was “a bigger wakeup call” than previously thought, said researcher Paul Garber of the University of Illinois.

“The outlook is not very good,” said Garber, who recently returned from the jungles of Brazil studying marmosets.

The decline has been blamed on human activities, including hunting, mining and oil drilling. Logging, ranching and farming have also destroyed precious habitat in Africa, Asia and South America.

Primates—which include apes, mon keys a nd hu m a ns—h ave forward-facing eyes and grasping ability that set them apart from other mammals. Scientists

study them to learn about human behavior and evolution.

Much of the problems faced by primates are recent. For example, the Grauer’s gorilla dropped from a population of 17,000 in 1995 to just about 3,800 now, mostly from bushmeat hunting and mineral mining, the study found.

There are only about 14,000 Sumatran orang utans left in the world. The Hainan gibbon in China is down to just 25 individuals, while 22 out of the 26 primate species in China are endangered, Garber said.

About 94 percent of the lemur species in the world are endangered, especially in Madagascar, which is one of hardest-hit places for primate population loss.

“We need to look at [population losses] almost as signals. They’re telling us something about our future,” Garber said. “This is a critical world problem.”

W h i l e t h e r e ’s h o p e t h a t some s pec ies c a n be protec t e d , m a ny w i l l d i s a p p e a r i n t he com i ng dec ades, s a id co aut hor E du a rd o Fe r n a nd e z D uque of Ya le Un iversit y.

Emory University primate expert Frans de Waal called the work “very detailed and timely and unfortunately correct.”

“Primate populations are clearly moving in the wrong direction,” said de Waal, who wasn’t part of the study. AP

A salmon is making its way up the salmon ladder at Nimbus Hatchery in Rancho Cordova, California. Hector Amexcua/The Sacramento Bee via AP

GOP targets Endangered Species Act for big changes

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Colo, the world’s first gorilla born in a zoo, sits inside her enclosure during her 60th birthday party at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Columbus, Ohio, on December 22, 2016. Colo, the oldest known gorilla in the US, died in her sleep less than a month after her 60th birthday. AP/Ty Wright

60-year-old gorilla, 1st to be born in a zoo, dies in Ohio

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OLUMBUS, Ohio—The world’s first gorilla born in a zoo, a female named Colo who became the oldest known living gorilla in the US, has died at age 60, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium said on Tuesday.

Colo died in her sleep overnight, less than a month after her birthday, the zoo announced. She surpassed the usual life expectancy of captive gorillas by two decades.

“Colo touched the hearts of generations of people who came to see her and those that cared for her over her long lifetime,” zoo president Tom Stalf said in a statement. “She was an ambassador for gorillas and inspired people to learn more about the critically endangered species and motivated them to protect gorillas in their native habitat.”

Colo had been on exhibit in view of visitors on Monday, when the zoo offered free admission for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Fond of baseball caps, the gorilla was seen in her enclosure toting around a yellow cap with a gorilla on it, given to her by the zoo team caring for her.

The zoo said the gorilla’s body will be cremated and the ashes will be buried at an undisclosed location at the zoo.

Colo was born at the zoo on December 22, 1956. She eventually became a mother of three, grandmother of 16, great-grandmother of 12 and great-great-grandmother of three.

Hundreds of people had gathered at the zoo last month to see Colo for her birthday, when the zoo decorated her enclosure with multicolored construction paper chains and

cakes of squash and beet and cornbread with mashed potato parsley frosting.

Zoo officials said a postmor tem examination was planned to determine Colo’s cause of death. The median life expectancy for female gorillas in human care is 37.5 years.

Veterinarians recently removed a malignant tumor from Colo, but the zoo had said she was doing well. The necropsy could help show whether the cancer contributed to her death, but the results aren’t anticipated for several weeks. Zoo officials said they also planned to take blood and tissue samples to assist with zoologists’ efforts to learn more about western lowland gorillas.

Colo is the second zoo gorilla to die in Ohio this month. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo said one of its two male western lowland gorillas, a 32-year-old named Bebac, died on January 6.

Zoo experts say animals in human care are living longer than ever as early diagnosis and improvements in medical care extend their lives. The oldest known living male gorilla, Ozzie, is 55 years old and lives at the Atlanta Zoo, which has a geriatric gorilla specialty.

Packy, an Asian elephant at the Oregon Zoo, is now 54 and the oldest male of his species in North America.

Nikko, a 33-year-old snow monkey at the Minnesota Zoo, is the oldest male snow monkey in North America. Zulie, a 30-yearold Black Howler monkey at the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is the oldest living female Howler monkey in captivity. AP

ILLINGS, Montana—In control of Congress and soon the White House, Republicans are readying plans to roll back the influence of the Endangered Species Act, one of the government’s most powerful conservation tools, after decades of complaints that it hinders drilling, logging and other activities.

Over the past eight years, GOP lawmakers sponsored dozens of measures aimed at curtailing the landmark law or putting species, such as gray wolves and sage grouse, out of its reach. Almost all were blocked by Democrats and the White House or lawsuits from environmentalists.

Now, with the ascension of President-elect Donald J. Trump, Republicans see an opportunity to advance broad changes to a law they contend has been exploited by wildlife advocates to block economic development.

“It has never been used for the rehabilitation of species. It’s been used for control of the land,” House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop said.

“We’ve missed the entire purpose of the Endangered Species Act. It has been hijacked.”

Bishop said he “would love to invalidate” the law and would need other lawmakers’ cooperation.

The 1973 act was ushered though Congress nearly unanimously, in part to stave off extinction of the national symbol, the bald eagle. Eagle populations have since rebounded, and the birds were taken off the threatened and endangered list in 2007. In the eagles’ place, another emblematic species—the wolf— has emerged as a prime example of what critics say is wrong with the current law: seemingly endless litigation that offers federal

1,600 The estimated number of plants and animals in the US that are shielded by the Endangered Species Act

protection for species long after government biologists conclude that they have recovered.

Wolf attacks on livestock have provoked hostility against the law, which keeps the animals offlimits to hunting in most states.

Other species have attracted similar ire—Canada lynx for halting logging projects, the lesser prairie chicken for impeding oil and gas development and salmon for blocking efforts to reallocate water in California.

Reforms proposed by Republicans include placing limits on lawsuits that have been used to maintain protections for some species and force decisions on others, as well as adopting a cap on how many species can be protected and giving states a greater say in the process.

Wildlife advocates are bracing for changes that could make it harder to add species to the protected list and to usher them through to recovery. Dozens are

due for decisions this year, including the Pacific walrus and the North American wolverine, two victims of potential habitat loss due to climate change.

“Any species that gets in the way of a congressional initiative or some kind of development will be clearly at risk,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president of Defenders of Wildlife and a former Fish and Wildlife Service director under President Bill Clinton. “The political lineup is as unfavorable to the Endangered Species Act as I can remember.”

More than 1,600 plants and animals in the US are now shielded by the law. Hundreds more are under consideration for protections.

Republicans complain that fewer than 70 have recovered and had protections lifted.

“That tension just continues to expand,” said Jason Shogren, professor of natural resource conservation at the University of Wyoming. “Like a pressure cooker, every now and then, you’ve got to let out some steam or it’s really going to blow.”

Con g re s s re conve ne d l a st week with two critics of the law holding key Senate leadership positions—Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso as the incoming chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski as chairman of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Spokesman Mike Danylak said Barrasso would seek to “strengthen and modernize” the management of endangered species but offered no specifics. Barrasso’s predecessor, Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, suggested in an interview that one species should be removed from the list every time another is added.

Another Republican, Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, said he wants to limit applications for protections to one species at a time.

In the House, Rep. Tom McClintock of California, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Federal Lands, said he wants to ease

logging restrictions in national forests to reduce tree density blamed for catastrophic wildfires.

Some Democrats, too, have been frustrated with the law: Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson and two other Democrats joined 11 Republicans last week on a bill to end protections for wolves in the Great Lakes and Wyoming.

Simply by striking a few key words from the law, it could be transformed from a tool to protect huge areas of habitat for imperiled species into little more than limits on hunting for protected animals, said J.B. Ruhl, a Vanderbilt University law professor considered a leading expert on the act.

Trump’s position is unclear. A strong advocate for energy development, he has lamented environmental policies he says hinder drilling. But his appointment of Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke as Interior secretary was seen by some conservationists as a signal that Trump will support protections for public lands to the benefit of fish and wildlife. The Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment. The incoming administration already has immigration, the health-care law repeal and infrastructure improvements atop its agenda.

If the administration or Congress wants to gut the law, “they certainly can do it,” Vermont Law School professor Patrick Parenteau said. “The real question with the Endangered Species Act is where does it rank?”

Advocates and senior Obama administration officials argue the law’s success is best measured by extinctions avoided—for 99 percent of protected species, including black-footed ferrets, whooping cranes, American crocodiles and hundreds of others. “There’s a lot of evidence that some species are conservation-reliant,” Ruhl said.

Political fights over certain species have dragged out for decades, he added, because recovering them from “the brink of extinction is a lot harder than we thought.” AP

A10 Monday, January 23, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Oxfam: Superrich causing poverty?

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S the global political and economic elite arrived for the World Economic forum, the Britishbased non-governmental organization Oxfam released a report titled “An economy for the 99 percent”. The essence is that eight men own the same wealth as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity.

This list includes men from upper-middle class families whose parents were attorneys, politicians and psychiatrists, like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Mark Zuckerberg. But Amazon Inc. founder Jeff Bezos’s mother gave birth as a teenager, was a single parent, and Bezos’s stepfather escaped from Cuba at 15 years old.

Spanish founder of Zara clothing, Amancio Ortega Gaona quit school at 14 to work as a shop hand for a local shirtmaker. Like Buffet, Mexican Carlos Slim Helú—whose companies account for 40 percent of the listings on the Mexican Stock Exchange—started trading shares as a teenager.

Oxfam would have us believe that these men are—using Oxfam’s description—the “fortunate few”. “It is obscene for so much wealth to be held in the hands of so few when one in 10 people survive on less than $2 a day. Our broken economies are funneling wealth to a rich elite at the expense of the poorest in society.”

In other words, if Gaona had just stayed in that shirt shop and not created Zara—currently employing over 90,000—there would be less poverty in the world. But here is another reality. If you have P2,500 in your pocket and do not have any debt, you also have more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of the world’s population.

Even as one child who goes to sleep hungry is a tragedy, there is also a broader reality. According to the World Bank, in 1990, at least 35 percent of the world lived in extreme poverty. In 2013 it is 10.7 percent.

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization data show global malnourishment has dropped from 18.6 percent to 10.8 percent. Infant mortality has decreased from 11.6 percent to 5.3 percent.

These same decreases in overall poverty and the results of being poor show up even in the poorest regions of the world, like sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

As one economist pointed out, “The Oxfam report, of course, ignores all of this. When the Oxfam report says that certain groups are ‘worse off’ what they really mean is that people in those demographic groups tend to be improving their situation more slowly than people in other groups.”

Oxfam’s solution: “Governments end the extreme concentration of wealth to end poverty. Governments should increase taxes on both wealth and high incomes.” Since 30 percent to 40 percent (2014) of Oxfam’s funding came from “national governments, the EU [European Union] and EU institutions, and the UN and UN institutions,” governments collecting more taxes might be beneficial to Oxfam also.

This list of the reasons for both local and global poverty is extensive, including war, corruption and inefficient use of resources. The premise of Robin Hood “robbing the rich and giving to the poor” is false. The mythical outlaw actually “robbed” the government of oppressive taxes and gave it back to working taxpayers.

Oxfam says that part of the poverty problem is that Mark Zuckerberg is “too rich”. Maybe part of the problem is that governments are too rich. But if governments had less money, maybe Oxfam would have less money also.

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RISING SUN

O

N Wednesday, January 25, we remember the birthday of Corazon “Cory” C. Aquino, the 11th president of the Philippines and the country’s first female president. I wish to pay tribute to her memory by writing about some of her contributions for her country and its people.

As the wife of former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., she stood by his side during his entire political career and showed fervent support, especially during Ninoy’s time in prison. She was instrumental in communicating Ninoy’s messages to the press when he could not keep public appearances.

After Ninoy’s assassination in 1983, the opposition to Marcos’s administration at the time rallied around Cory to run against Ferdinand E. Marcos for the highest post in the land. As she grieved over her husband’s death, she won the hearts

of the people because of her grace and strength. Slowly she rose to become a “national symbol of reform”.

She lost the elections but her supporters and even key people from the Marcos administration declared support for Cory. The people stood by her in a great act of solidarity, which we all remember now as the People Power Revolution. This forced Marcos and his family to seek exile in Hawaii, and Cory was sworn into office as the country’s president on February 25, 1986. Her rise to power toppled the 20-year regime of Marcos and restored democracy

in the country. In the same year, she was named Time magazine’s Woman of the Year.

Her regime was full of struggle, as she had to face numerous coup attempts. It was also a period that was filled with reforms—the economy was in ruins and the country was deep in debt. Poverty was one of the most pressing issues of the day.

Cory established the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) shortly after she took her oath. The commission was tasked to “investigate and recover the illgotten wealth [of] the previous regime.” She also abolished the 1973 Constitution, which was in effect during the martial rule. In its place she proclaimed the provisional Freedom Constitution and set up a commission that would write a new constitution, which was ratified in 1987.

Cory restored the bicameral Congress, which Marcos abolished.

The election to this new Congress was carried out, along with the promulgation of The Family Code of 1987 and the Administrative Code of 1987. When Marcos was in power, some of his supporters monopolized certain areas of the

Rural America went all in for a ‘City boy’

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By Justin Fox | Bloomberg View

AST Friday, a man who has spent most of his life in the very heart of the nation’s most populous and economically important metropolitan area was inaugurated as president in the very heart of its sixth-most populous and fifth-most economically important metro area.

T. Anthony C. Cabangon

Online Editor Social Media Editor

Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman President VP-Finance VP Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager

Remembering Tita Cory

Who put Donald J. Trump there?

People who don’t live anywhere near the heart of populous, economically important metropolitan areas.

That’s an oversimplification—as are all explanations of why people win elections. But it’s not the worst one, especially since it reflects a trend that’s playing out in other countries, too. Here’s Jonn Elledge, writing in the UK’s New Statesman: Across the Western world, cities are opting for progressive or establishment causes while the provinces vote for extremist or populist candidates. In Britain’s referendum on European Union membership last June, most cities were markedly more pro-European than their hinterlands. The far-right presidential candidate Norbert Hofer won majorities in the Austrian countryside while the pro-Green Alexander Van der Bellen triumphed in Vienna, Salzburg and Linz. And polls suggest that, should the Front National’s Marine Le Pen win in France, it will be thanks to la France profonde.

It’s not quite as simple as city versus country. Elledge points out struggling, smallish industrial cities lean extremist/populist, whileaffluent suburbs and college towns

lean progressive/establishment. He cites a University of Southampton scholar who favors the terms “cosmopolitan” versus “shrinking”. In the US, Mark Muro and Sifan Liu of the Brookings Institution figured out the counties that voted for Trump account for only 36 percent of US GDP, and described the electoral divide as “high-output America” versus “low-output America.”

Remember, these are descriptions of where voters live, not their personal attributes. November 8 exit polls indicated Trump voters were on the whole modestly higher output (that is, their incomes were higher) than Hillary Clinton voters. Still, cosmopolitan/shrinking and high output/low output inevitably do sound a bit like personal value judgments. Not quite “sophisticates” versus “rubes,” but getting there.

So…back to city versus country.

This divide has actually been apparent in American politics for quite a while now. Here’s somebody not known for breaking new ground in electoral-trends analysis (me) writing in Fortune in 2004: Since 1932, the nation has been governed by two durable, geographi-

cally diverse partisan majorities: The Democratic Roosevelt alliance of city-dwellers and Southerners, and the Republican Nixon-Reagan coalition of suburbanites and Southerners. Now, though, the dividing line between the two parties is this: The more rural your place of residence, the more likely you are to vote Republican. The more urban, the more likely you are to vote Democratic.

This new arrangement coexisted with some still-strong regional differences: In Southern metro areas, the Democrat/Republican dividing line was a lot closer to downtown than in the West and Northeast.

But the Trump-Clinton choice appears to have diminished those differences. For example, Gwinnett County, Georgia—home to a bunch of mostly affluent Atlanta suburbs—went from a George Bush landslide in 2004 to a solid Clinton victory in 2016.

Meanwhile, rural and exurban counties across the Midwest and even parts of the Northeast shifted strongly toward Trump.

City boy Trump was able to get this rural support mainly by harnessing discontent that is present almost everywhere but generally stronger the farther you get from a big, thriving metropolitan area.

There are lots of reasons for that discontent, but I can’t help but focus on the economics. And...they really don’t look good for rural and small-town America. All the trends that have been driving growth

economy. Cory changed this and tried her best to break the monopolies operating at that time. There were a few economic and agricultural reforms made, but some of her policies were criticized. The Aquino administration, however, was able to pay $4 billion of the country’s outstanding debts.

When her term drew to a close in 1992, she refused to seek reelection. She lived an active life after her presidency, taking part in many political and social issues in the country. A sad day came in March of 2008 when it was announced that she had cancer. She lost her battle with the illness on August 1, 2009, at the age of 76.

Thousands attended her wake and funeral, eliciting a global reaction, including statements from people like Hillary Clinton who had said that Cory was “admired by the world for her extraordinary courage.” Pope Benedict XVI praised her “courageous commitment to the freedom of the Filipino people, her firm rejection of violence and intolerance.” On her birthday, let us remember Cory, the “Mother of Philippine Democracy”.

toward metropolitan areas—and wealth toward the heart of those metropolitan areas—look set to continue. I’m coming around to the idea that those metropolitan areas don’t have to be gigantic, expensive and overcrowded ones along the coasts. But they do generally have to have at least 500,000 people and a state capital or a university (or both) to draw in more.

When Andrew Jackson—the historical president whose antiestablishment tone was probably most similar to Trump’s—stormed into office in 1829 on a huge wave of Western and Southern support, he was also riding a huge wave of Western and Southern economic growth that continued throughout his eight years in the White House. Trump more or less backed into office on a wave of support from areas that have been receding economically for years and will almost certainly continue to do so. Different federal policies on mining and oil and gas drilling may provide a boost to parts of the West and Appalachia, which isn’t nothing, but there doesn’t seem to be anything else on the horizon that will suddenly shift growth away from metropolitan America and back toward the hinterlands.

None of this is a political forecast.

Politics has a habit of surprising people (like me) who focus on demographic and economic trends. But demographic and economic trends also have a habit of thwarting the sometimes unrealistic yearnings of voters.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Trump turns a JFK phrase Task Force EAR formed against his message Joel L. Tan-Torres

DEBIT CREDIT

Noah Feldman

BLOOMBERG

America First. Saul Loeb/Getty Images

T

he crucial passage in President Donald J. Trump’s inaugural address on Friday tracked John F. Kennedy’s swearingin speech, with one huge difference: Trump’s America First message was 180-degrees away from Kennedy’s Cold War embrace of global leadership.

The combination of homage to Kennedy and subversion of his liberal internationalist vision tells you a lot about what Trump’s presidency is going to look like—much more than the populist rhetoric about giving America back to the people.

The key Kennedy allusion came in Trump’s issuance of a “new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first.” The setup of the new decree heard far and wide echoes Kennedy’s lines: “Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike.… ” Kennedy was introducing an argument about generational change—and a corresponding change in US-foreign policy. In his speech, the word going forth was that the generation that had fought World War II would now fight Soviet hegemony under the banner of global freedom. Kennedy thought global freedom served US interests. But that was neither his only goal nor his preferred message.

To the contrary, Kennedy used his inaugural address to tell the world that the US would help its friends to achieve freedom for themselves because it was an inherently valuable goal.

Trump’s picture is radically different.

In place of a “word”, he offered a “decree”.

That term, with its slightly autocratic air, is telling—almost as if the author wanted to choose language stronger than Kennedy’s neutral word. Trump’s decree flatly tells the world that the Cold War ideal of universal freedom is dead, assuming it was ever more than hypothetical in the first place.

This raises a fascinating question: Why would Trump actively want to tell nited States allies that he has no

interest in them, except insofar as they might be useful? Even if national selfinterest is an inevitable feature of international politics, it’s usually thought that nothing is to be gained by making self-interest implicit. One answer is that Trump isn’t really speaking to a foreign audience, only a domestic one. If this is true, he was borrowing Kennedy’s rhetoric of addressing the world merely to make his speech sound similar to the only very-well-known inaugural address of the modern era.

Kennedy’s speech is such a standard piece of American oratory that when you train the speech recognition software Dragon NaturallySpeaking, it gives you the option of reciting the address.

If you were writing your first inaugural address, whether you were Trump or his adviser Steve Bannon or some other speechwriter, you might very well be writing with Kennedy’s speech open on your desktop in another window.

The other possibility is that Trump knows the rest of the world is listening, maybe even more closely than Americans are. In this scenario, Trump intends to communicate a strikingly new foreign-policy vision. That vision is isolationism of a kind that has not been taken seriously in US foreign-policy circles since before World War II. It rejects the basic idea to which Kennedy gave voice, namely, that the US is the leader of the free world and will bear the burdens and responsibilities of leadership in exchange for its benefits.

On this view, Trump is arguing that the era of US leadership is over. Leaders necessarily must tell their followers that they are looking out for the followers’ interest. Trump knows this very well.

The first part of his speech was devoted to telling the American people that they were in charge, not the Washington elite.

J

ust as we use our ears in listening and being updated on developments on the ground, the Board of Accountancy (BOA) has formed Task Force EAR. EAR stands for Expanded Auditors’ Report, which our certified public accountant external auditors will be preparing and submitting to their clients during this financial statement (FS) preparation and tax filing period for businesses. The procedures for the preparation of the EAR have undergone major changes that will take effect for the audit reporting for FS ended as of December 15, 2015, and subsequent periods.

BOA recently implemented a number of major auditing standards and procedures pursuant to BOA Resolution 125-2016 dated May 23, 2016.

Among others, these include PSA 700 (Revised), Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements; PSA 701 (Revised), Communicating Key Audit Matters in the Independent Auditor’s Report; PSA 705 (Revised), Modifications to the Opinion in the Independent Auditor’s Report; PSA 706 (Revised), Emphasis of Matter Paragraphs and Other Matter Paragraphs in the Independent Auditor’s Report; PSA 720 (Revised), The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Other Information and, PSA 570 (Revised) Going Concern.

Task Force EAR was formed by

A

The critics are correct that Trump possesses troubling characteristics for a president. But the shortsighted response some have chosen—boycotting the inauguration and declaring him an “illegitimate” president —only weaken the foundation of democracy: the peaceful transition of power. That could have disastrous consequences down the road.

Regardless of Russian hacking, Trump won more electoral votes than Hillary Clinton in an election that was not corrupted by voter fraud.

His victory was legitimate, and those who deny it—including American

heroes like Rep. John Lewis—are the mirror image of the birthers who tried to delegitimize President Barack Obama.

Similarly, many Democrats who criticized Republicans for blocking Obama at every turn are now vowing to adopt the same approach with Trump. While turnabout is fair play, Democrats will only hurt the country, and their own cause, by refusing to cooperate with Trump on issues where common ground is possible, including infrastructure, the earned income-tax credit, child care and veterans’ health care. Protest and obstruction can be a useful part of

5. Address implementation and interpretation issues and prescribe resolutions to the BOA for their final action; 6. Monitor the awareness and implementation by online surveys; getting feedback from stakeholder groups during their events, etc.; 7. Handle other matters, including the revision of audit thresholds, the study of the integrated reporting and engagement with key stakeholders; and 8. Submit a final report to BOA

by May 30, 2017.

Representatives from the auditing firms and the sectoral organizations are members of Task Force EAR. I, as BOA chairman, is the chairman of the Task Force. The members of the Task Force EAR and their affiliations are: n Belinda Fernando—Reyes Tacandong & Co. n Rico Baluyut—R.G. Manabat & Co. n Lucy Chan—Sycip Gorres Velayo & Co. n Leonardo Cuaresma—Punongbayan & Araullo n Maria Cecilia Ortiz—Navarro Amper & Co. n Antonio Dayag—National Association of CPAs in Education n Ma rco Ng—PICPA QA R Committee n Karlo Tablizo—BOA consultant n Nhorie Paguio—Ramon F. Garcia & Co. n Mic hel le Guel a s — Sison

Why 2017 may be the best year ever Nicholas Kristof

new york times

T

here’s a broad consensus that the world is falling apart, with every headline reminding us that life is getting worse.

Except that it isn’t. In fact, by some important metrics, 2016 was the best year in the history of humanity. And 2017 will probably be better still.

How can this be? I’m as appalled as anyone by the election of Donald J. Trump, the bloodshed in Syria, and so on. But while I fear what Trump will do to America and the world, and I applaud those standing up to him, the Trump administration isn’t the most important thing going on. Here, take my quiz: On any given day, the number of people worldwide living in extreme poverty: A. Rises by 5,000, because of climate change, food shortages and endemic corruption.

B. Stays about the same.

C. Drops by 250,000.

Polls show that about nine out of 10 Americans believe that global poverty has worsened or stayed the same. But in fact, the correct answer is C. Every day, an average of about a quarter-million people worldwide graduate from extreme poverty, according to World Bank figures.

Trump is president. Now what?

S Donald J. Trump is sworn into office as the 45th president of the United States, both his toughest critics and strongest supporters need to take a deep breath and consider where they want to go from here.

BOA so that stakeholders, who will be affected by these standards and procedures, are aware of these and should be able to implement and adopt these properly.

This Task Force EAR shall be mandated to do the following to help in the dissemination of information and implementation of the new standards and procedures: 1. Establish a virtual “Help Desk” that will accept and respond to queries; 2. Maintain a web site that will provide information and links to established resources; 3. Conduct briefings to stakeholders; 4. Produce materials (flyers, video, etc.) for dissemination;

Monday, January 23, 2017 A11

a political strategy, but it should not be the primary one.

Trump’s supporters would do well to pause, too. For instance, many Republicans in Congress are rushing headlong into a half-baked agenda, starting with a quickie repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Some, like Sens.

Bob Corker and Rand Paul, have opposed repealing the law without having a replacement at the ready. More should join them.

Republicans have also expressed too little concern over Trump’s conflicts of interest, which have the potential to be a major distraction for the new president—or worse. The debate over whether Trump is violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution will almost certainly lead to a legal challenge. Calls for impeachment won’t be far behind. To avoid this, leaders in both parties should join

Or if you need more of a blast of good news, consider this: Just since 1990, more than 100 million children’s lives have been saved through vaccinations, breast-feeding promotion, diarrhea treatment and more. If just about the worst thing that can happen is for a parent to lose a child, that’s only half as likely today as in 1990.

When I began writing about global poverty in the early-1980s, more than 40 percent of all humans were living in extreme poverty. Now fewer than 10 percent are. By 2030, it looks as if just 3 percent or 4 percent will be. (Extreme poverty is defined as less than $1.90 per person per day, adjusted for inflation.)

For nearly all of human history, extreme poverty has been the default condition of our species, and now, on our watch, we are pretty much wiping it out.

That’s a stunning transformation that I believe is the most important thing happening in the world today—whatever the

together in pressing Trump to separate himself from his private interests. Trump was elected to drain the swamp. Voters should insist that he lead by example.

There’s a wider lesson, one applicable to all: Trump will probably continue to manufacture more political drama than is healthy for any republic. Rather than getting swept up in it, Americans—and the world—should view it with a discerning eye. The first step is to separate social-media musings from actual policy, and to judge the administration more by its actions than its words.

The days ahead will doubtless test the patience of many Americans. But, national unity must not be sacrificed by shortsighted political considerations. If inauguration day holds one truth, it’s this: The US is more durable than any one president. AP

news from Washington.

There will, of course, be continued poverty of a less extreme kind, smaller numbers of children will continue to die unnecessarily, and inequality remains immense. Oxfam calculated this month that just eight rich men own as much wealth as the poorest half of humanity.

Yet, global income inequality is actually declining. While income inequality has increased within the US, it has declined on a global level because China and India have lifted hundreds of millions from poverty. All this may seem distant or irrelevant at a time when many Americans are traumatized by Trump’s inauguration. But let me try to reassure you, along with myself.

On a recent trip to Madagascar to report on climate change, I was struck that several mothers I interviewed had never heard of Trump, or of Barack Obama, or even of the US. Their obsession was more desperate: keeping their children alive. And the astonishing thing was that those children, despite severe malnutrition, were all alive, because of improvements in aid and health care—reflecting trends that are grander than any one man. Some of the most remarkable progress has been over diseases that—thank God!—Americans very rarely encounter. Elephantiasis is a horrible, disfiguring, humiliating disease usually caused by a parasite, leading a person’s legs to expand hugely until they resemble an elephant’s. In men, the disease can make the scrotum swell to grotesque proportions, so that when they walk they must carry their scrotum on a

Corillo Parone & Co. n Ma. Lois Abad—Association of Certified Public Accountants in Public Practice n John Patrick Lim—Isla Lipana & Co. n Concordio Quisaot—BOA, vice chairman The Task Force had its organizational meeting on January 17.

To date, the Task Force EAR has prepared its work plan to attain its mandates and has issued several materials on the new audit reporting measures. These can be accessed on the various stakeholders’ web sites and Facebook accounts. The web site of the BOA has a section on these at http://boa.com.ph/expanded-auditorsreport-task-force-ear/.

Communication to the Task Force can be e-mailed to taskforceear@ gmail.com.

To t he many sta keholders of the accountancy profession, happy listening to these major developments.

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

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

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

homemade wheelbarrow. Yet, some 40 countries are now on track to eliminate elephantiasis. When you’ve seen the anguish caused by elephantiasis—or leprosy, or Guinea worm, or polio, or river blindness, or blinding trachoma—it’s impossible not to feel giddy at the gains registered against all of them. There’s similar progress in empowering women and in reducing illiteracy. Until the 1960s, a majority of humans had always been illiterate; now, 85 percent of adults are literate. And almost nothing makes more difference in a society than being able to read and write.

Michael Elliott, who died last year after leading the One Campaign, which battles poverty, used to say that we are living in an “age of miracles”. He was right, yet, the progress is still too slow, and a basic question is whether Trump will continue bipartisan US efforts to fight global poverty. A fourpage questionnaire from the Trump team to the State Department seems to suggest doubts about the value of humanitarian aid.

One reason for the Trump team’s skepticism may be the belief that global poverty is hopeless, that nothing makes a difference. So let’s keep perspective.

Yes, Trump may cause enormous damage to America and the world in the coming years, and by all means we should challenge him at every turn. But when the headlines make me sick, I soothe myself with the reflection that there are forces in the world that are larger than Trump, and that in the long history of humanity, this still will likely be the very best year yet.

Donald J. Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts, as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington, on January 20. AP

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Monday, January 23, 2017

www.businessmirror.com.ph

No consensus yet on tax-reform package–Angara

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By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

awmakers have yet to firm up a consensus on Malacañang’s comprehensive tax-reform package that seeks, among others, to broaden the value-added tax (VAT) base by removing VAT exemptions of senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs), and raise excise taxes on all petroleum products.

This was disclosed on Sunday

by Sen. Juan Edgardo M. Angara, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, tasked to review the Duterte administration’s tax-hike proposal submitted by the the Department of Finance (DOF).

“A bit early to really tell,” Angara told the BusinessMirror over the weekend when asked if their initial consultations with lawmakers and tax-hike proponents indicated support for swift approval of the Palace tax-reform scheme.

But Angara noted that Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III and other DOF officials have conveyed their readiness to back a Congressional amendment of the

tax-hike package that would allow senior citizens and PWDs to retain their VAT exemptions.

“The initial meeting still had the removal of seniors and PWDs exemptions being pushed by the DOF on the agenda,” the senator said, but quickly added: “Thankfully, they were receptive and dropped that from the proposed tax package.”

According to Angara, they also tackled proposals to hike excise taxes on automobiles and other revenue measures expected to be implemented, along with the staggered imposition of a P6 per-liter hike on oil-excise taxes, but the conferees agreed to further discuss other details of the tax-hike plan

at their next meeting.

“There were some discussions about fuel, automobile and VAT, but [we] need to thresh it out in greater detail,” Angara added.

‘Sin’ tax amendment

Members of the House of Representatives on Sunday asked the Senate to act on a proposed measure amending the Sin Tax Reform Act. Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza of Buhay, House senior deputy minority Leader, and Party-list Rep. Eugene Michael de Vera of ABS, said House Bill (HB) 4144, which was approved at the lower chamber last December, is now awaiting Senate action. The lawmakers said HB 4144 is needed to protect the country’s local tobacco industry.

“I am hoping that our good senators will also do their part to protect the local tobacco farmers from unfair business practice favoring multinational companies by immediately deliberating and approving the proposed amendments to the Sin Tax Reform Act,” Atienza said.

“Once upon a time, we were the No. 1 cigar manufacturer, but we killed our own cigar industry by a series of measures which ostensibly would have helped them, but otherwise killed. The cigar industry is now making a lot of money all over the world, but without the Philippine brands being able to compete,” he added.

For his part, de Vera, principal author of the bill, said the proposal will protect local tobacco farmers, especially from Northern Luzon, who would be displaced by the uniform excise-tax rate.

“If the law is not amended, this would not prevent consumers from buying high-priced cigarettes because the prize disparity between the high-priced and low-priced cigarettes would be minimal,” de Vera said. “With the uniform excise-tax rate, consumers would prefer to buy high-priced cigarettes because the price disparity between the highpriced cigarettes would be minimal,” he added.

Under the current “sin” tax law, a unitary tax of P30 will be imposed per cigarette pack regardless of the net retail price starting this year.

However, the proposed two-tier tax system seeks to impose a P32 tax per pack or tobacco products at or lower than P11.50 per-pack, and a higher P36 tax per pack for products exceeding P11.50.

Earlier, House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman and PDP-Laban Rep. Dakila Carlo E. Cua of Quirino, who sponsored the bill at the plenary, said the measure seeks to “further level the playing field in the cigarette industry and promote competition among players.”

Cua said the government could generate an additional P14 billion in the first year of its implementation.

OPEC, RUSSIA SAY OIL CUTS ARE DEEPER AND FASTER THAN EXPECTED T

he Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and Russia said they are ahead of schedule implementing their historic agreement to curb oil output and boost prices.

Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Kuwait have already made deeper cuts than required, while Russia has been able to reduce supply faster than expected, ministers from the countries said as they arrived in Vienna on Saturday. Producers have already removed 1.5 million barrels a day from the market, according to Saudi Minister of Energy and Industry Khalid Al-Falih.

“We are ahead of schedule and we will continue,” Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters in the Austrian capital on Saturday. “We are doing our best to maximize participation in the fulfillment of the agreement.”

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Algeria and Venezuela are meeting counterparts from non-Opec nations Russia and Oman to figure out ways to verify that the 24 signatories to December 10 accord are following through on their pledge to remove a combined 1.8 million barrels a day from the market for six months. They intend to prove the group is serious about finally eliminating a three-year crude oversupply and dispel skepticism stemming from previous unfulfilled promises. International oil prices rose to an 18-month high of more than $58 a barrel after the Opec and several nonmembers agreed on December 10 to end two years of unfettered production and instead cut output.

Crude has since slipped about 5 percent from that peak as traders await proof that they will follow through.

Ministers held an informal dinner on Saturday evening before gathering at OPEC headquarters for the first official meeting of the monitoring committee on Sunday morning. With January not yet complete, the committee will initially focus mostly on how compliance will be assessed rather than producing any new data, one person said. As outlined in Opec’s initial agreement, monthly production data known as “secondary sources” compiled by analysts in the group’s secretariat will be the principal tool for judging whether members are complying with the deal, three people said. Those figures don’t cover nonmembers such as Russia. Bloomberg News