Businessmirror july 05, 2016 by BusinessMirror

DUTERTE ADMIN REFOCUSING DEFENSE, SECURITY PRIORITIES

National Security Adviser Ret. Gen. Hermogenes C. Esperon Jr. (center) fields questions from reporters and editors of the Aliw Media Group at a forum held at the BusinessMirror office in Makati City. Facilitating the forum are Pilipino Mirror President and Publisher D. Edgard A. Cabangon (left), and BusinessMirror Publisher T. Anthony C. Cabangon. ALYSA SALEN

media partner of the year

HE assumption into power of President Duterte has redrawn and drastically altered the country’s defense and national security priorities by totally shifting the military’s campaign to the anticriminality drive, with particular focus on the local terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), and putting territorial defense as a secondary goal. Continued on A4

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Tuesday, July 5, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 269

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LOPEZ TO PLACE MINING, COAL-FIRED POWER PROJECTS UNDER STRICT SCRUTINY

‘Coal, mining firms to go through eye of a needle’ By Jonathan Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

hen it comes to mining and coal-fired power projects, the directive of President Duterte to speed up the release of business licenses and permits will not apply. INSIDE

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Full automation seen to end queues at government oFFices

symantec Finds malicious aPPlication on google Play

YMANTEC Corp. said it has discovered an application on Google Play that steals photos and videos from the popular socialmedia app Viber. “[T he] Beaver Gang Counter masquerades as a score-keeping app for a popular card game but secretly searches for media files related to the Viber app and sends them to a remote server,” the company said in a statement. “When we reverse-engineered the app, we identified malicious activity.” Google’s local representatives have not replied to request for comments by the BusinessMirror. According to Symantec, the app is equipped with code that enables it to search directories that Viber uses to store images and videos.

Story & photo by Oliver Samson | Correspondent

HE full computerization, automation and integration of government agencies will eliminate the long lines of people transacting at government offices, a cyber-security specialist said.

Angel Redoble, Philippine Institute of Cyber Security Professionals (PICSPro) president, stated it’s high time to start this, as the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) begins to perform its functions. “Doing away with long lines of people at government agencies requires not only full computerization and full automation, but also full integration,” Redoble said. If the agencies are fully integrated, one will not need to go to government offices one after another to transact business, Redoble said. A citizen can print his or her own birth certificate at home with encrypted code for authentication purposes, he said as example. Isaac Sabas, CEO of homegrow n Pandora Security Labs Inc., expressed support to

Redoble’s proposal. “I agree, as computerizing and automating transactions will benefit citizens, as well as government employees,” he said. “It will streamline the process, and the integrity of which will be monitored.” Automation will also curb corruption in government agencies, as the integration will entail an inevitable transparency, Redoble said. Automation should also connect private companies to the information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, particularly to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Commission on Audit, he added. “If you are fully computerized, fully automated and the agencies fully integrated, corruption will be greatly addressed,” Redoble said. “You remove the opportunity to

this June 29 photo shows angel redoble, president of the Philippine institute of cyber security Professionals, in an interview in manila.

commit graft and corruption, because the system will not allow you to do so.” Su s t a i n i n g t he e c o no m i c growth also “requires the government agencies, from top to bottom, to adopt full computerization, automation and integration,” he added. “The ICT master plan that will be created by the DICT must be aligned with the national economic-development plan.” Redoble believes small and medium enterprises in the provinces can compete with the big enterprises in major cities if the ICT infrastructure is in place and strong nationwide. An effective cybersecurity measure, however,

“After the media is collected, it is sent to a remote web server.” According to Symantec, Viber d at a stole n b y t he m a lw a re “could be used for a number of nefarious pur poses, such as identity theft, blackmail, fraud or pornography.” Symantec said it alerted Google to this issue. The app and developer were removed from Google Play. “As more and more of our work and personal lives move onto our smartphones, we’re seeing the emergence of new and greater risks to consumers,” Symantec said. “With increasing sophistication, malware authors are taking advantage of the wealth of personal information” in handheld devices. Oliver Samson

Facebook accounts inFected–kasPersky

should safeguard the ICT infrastructure from threats that may arise from inside and outside the country, Redoble said. “Cyber security will ensure the sustainability of the economy through ICT,” he said. “If the government will focus on ICT, it should also focus on cyber security.” Proper guidelines are required to secure an integrated computerization and automation of the government agencies, Sabas said. It must be clear what definite processes a particular agency must perform and how to hold it accountable, he added. “From there, we can discuss the different technologies needed,” Sabas said.

M A L IC IOUS s of t w a re (malware) conned some 10,000 Facebook users across the world into infecting their own devices, according to Kaspersky Lab ZAO. The Facebook users’ devices were compromised after “receiving a message from a friend claiming to have mentioned them on Facebook,” the cyber-security firm said on July 1. Once the devices were infected, they were used to commandeer Facebook accounts in transmitting the infection to other targets “through the victim’s own Facebook friends and to enable other malicious activities.” Thousands of clueless users from different parts of the globe got a message a Facebook friend notifying them that they were mentioned in a comment between the period of June 24 and 27, Kaspersky Lab said. The message was actually the square one to compromising the account, letting loose a two-stage attack. “The first stage downloaded a Trojan onto the user’s computer that installed, among other things, a malicious Chrome browser extension,” Kaspersky Lab said. “This enabled the second stage, the takeover of the victim’s Facebook account when they logged back into Facebook through the compromised browser.”

Responsible means no one is adversely affected; no one suffers.” —Lopez

Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez told the BusinessMirror that to protect the country’s rich biodiversity from destructive Continued on A4

BMReports

FULL AUTOMATION SEEN TO END QUEUES AT GOVT OFFICES

Users of Windows-based devices were at the “greatest risk.” Users of Windows OS phones, on the other hand, “could possibly have been at some risk.” Android and iOS mobile devices were resistant to the attack, Kaspersky said. The malware “used libraries which were not compatible with these operating systems.” Once the account was compromised, the attacker could alter the user’s privacy settings and extract data, spreading infections by way of the victim’s Facebook friends and conduct other malicious activities, according to Kaspersky Lab. Facebook was able to manage the malware, saying it has detected no further attacks, the Russian cyber-security firm noted. Google also eliminated “at least one of the culprit extensions from the Chrome Web Store.” “Two aspects of this attack stand out,” Kaspersky Lab Senior Security Researcher Ido Naor was quoted in a statement as saying. “First, the delivery of the malware was extremely efficient, reaching thousands of users in only 48 hours. Second, the response from consumers and the media was almost as fast.” The countries that sustained the most number of infections were Brazil (37 percent); Poland (8 percent); Peru (7 percent); and Tunisia (6 percent).

Digital technology and the new agriculture

HE Philippines had the seventh-highest number of detected mobile malicious software (malware) infections in the world during the first quarter of the year, Kaspersky Lab ZAO said. No less than 15.7 percent, or about two in every 10 Kaspersky lab security-software users in the country, encountered mobile threats from January to March, the Russian cyber-security firm said in a June 27 statement. “With 119 million Filipino mobile-phone subscribers, it is not surprising that the Philippines is now among the top 10 most attacked countries with mobile malware among 213 nations included in Kaspersky Security Network,” Anthony Chua, a Kaspersky Lab Southeast Asia executive for the Philippines and Singapore, was quoted in the statement as saying. Chua pointed out that the primary objective of cyber criminals is to “earn and, with millions of active smartphone users in the country, the Philippines is like an overflowing pot of gold.” “We are pushing these numbers to encourage awareness and

DIGITAL LIFE

airbus taPs inmarsat sb-s For cockPit communication

OBILE satellite commu nicat ions prov ider Inmarsat Plc. announced on June 30 its SwiftBroadband-Safet y (SB -S) service has been selected by Airbus as a cockpit-communications solution for the A320 and A330 aircraft families. “In a landmark agreement, SB-S will feature in the popul a r A i rbu s A 320 si ngle -a isle and A330 wide-body families,” Inmarsat said in a statement.

not to cast fear,” Chua explained. He urged Filipinos to “protect your mobile devices not because of dread for the cyber criminals’ stealthy attacks” China, the largest country in the world in terms of population, was detected to have the highest number of mobile malware infections during the first quarter, Kaspersky Lab said. The other countries with the highest number of mobile malware infection in the first quarter included Bangladesh (28 percent); Uzbekistan (21 percent); Algeria (17.6 percent); Nigeria (17.4 percent, India (17 percent); Indonesia (15.6 percent); Ukraine (15 percent) and Malaysia (14 percent). Taiwan (2.9 percent); Austra lia (2.7 percent); and Japan (0.9 percent); encountered the least number of mobile malware infections in the f irst quar ter, K aspersk y Lab said. According to K aspersk y, Adware contr ibuted 42.7 percent of the tota l mobile infection in the f irst quar ter—MS Trojan, 20.5 percent, Trojan spy ware, 10 percent and R isk Tool soft ware, 7.4 percent. Oliver Samson

“ The advanced Internet Protocol [IP]-based broadband communications platform will be available with equipment from Cobham’s Aviator S series, as selected by A irbus, to deliver ne x t- generat ion ser v ices for the global aviation industr y.” According to Inmarsat, SB-S “will mark a paradigm shift in aviation safety and efficiency.” “Using Inmarsat’s global Lband satellite network, it delivers much faster data and voice

communications due to its unprecedented speed and capacity, which are several orders of magnitude greater than cockpit-communications systems in the market today,” the company said. “These advanced capabilities will transform the quality and security of cockpit communication and information shared between pilots, air-traffic controllers and airlines.” Inmarsat believes other airlines will also benefit from a myriad of new

digital applications never before available, including continual positional awareness for f light tracking, f light data streaming (also known as “Black Box in the Cloud”) and electronic flight bag applications for pilots, such as graphical weather for improved situational awareness. T he inclusion of the A320 family will also position SB-S as an advanced Light Cockpit Satcom solution on single-aisle A irbus aircraft, Inmarsat said.

MILLENnIAL RETURNS TO LAND THAT NURTURED HER IDEALISM news@businessmirror.com.ph

The Millennials BusinessMirror

Millennial returns to land that nurtured her idealism By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

HILE she did not belong to an organization of clenched-fist members during her student days in Diliman, Bing Salandanan has the zeal and passion of a people’s scholar, more popularly known as Iskolar ng Bayan. In a recent interview with the BusinessMirror, the sociable Salandanan says she was already a permanent resident and gainfully employed in Australia when she decided to come back to the Philippines in 2005. If asked, a lot of Filipinos would really get surprised why the graduate of cell biology wanted to come back to a country that many think is ungovernable and a failed state. Being a permanent resident of Australia since she was 12 years old, Salandanan was already quite familiar with the laidback lifestyle in the Land Down Under. Her parents have processed her papers when they decided to settle in Australia for good. After graduating from the University of the Philippines (UP) in 2000, Salandanan followed her parent’s wishes and joined them in Australia. With her solid educational background, she worked for an export company and a laboratory handling sensitive materials. Nevertheless, she felt there was something big missing in her life despite living in a First World country that has an efficient transportation system, higher standards of living and cleaner environment, among others. “While I was living in Australia,

I was looking for something that I could not find there,” says the witty and articulate executive. She said her UP education is to blame for developing a strong sense of idealism. Being a product of the State University, Salandanan explains the university’s thrust of academic excellence and making a difference inspired her to go back. UP was responsible for inculcating in her the value of serving the society in her capacity. “I think the call for being makabayan [nationalist] is so strong that I wanted to come back. UP inculcated in me the value of serving the country by sharing your talent and commitment to the Filipino people,” Salandanan said. “After thinking it over several times, I believe the Philippines is still the best for me.” Things were falling in the right places for Salandanan when she returned to the country. She was hired at once by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Philippines Inc., where she works as group product manager. “I am very fortunate to work with GSK because this is a company that shares my passion and advocacy,” she told the BusinessMirror. “I started as a medical representative for two years. With my science

salandanan

background, I also worked with the medical affairs section.” Originally, Salandanan planned to proceed to the college of medicine in UP to become a doctor. But the plan did not push through as the family migrated to Australia. Nonetheless, she said she will pursue that plan in Australia. However, the UP spirit of giving back to the country proved to be a stronger force for Salandanan. Salandanan read a lot of geeky stuff as part of her road map to become a doctor. To prepare for her dream, she developed a voracious appetite for reading several topics. “I read more than usual,” she said. “I did not have an external influence to pressure me.”

Salandanan describes her life in UP as fun-filled and enjoyed every bit of her campus life. She adds her grandfather always advised her to shun campus politics to ensure she would not be converted to activism. Even though an unica hija, Salandanan said she did grow up as a spoiled child but an independent individual. She compares her situation to being pushed to the wall and having to rely on herself to wheather the challenges. She feels blessed because of the various opportunities she had that an ordinary child cannot have. “I understand my parent’s decision to bring me to Australia,” she said. “They wanted me to have a good life.”

Host saM sHows paRtyIng also about HavIng a HeaRt By Maxene Mamba

MILLENNIALS UNIVERSE

HE wore a tan like a jaguar and had the slinky appeal of a feline. She was also a lady boss who knew her way around crew and businessmen alike. That is why it was much of a surprise to hear that Samantha Carbonell was donating some of the proceeds of the event of the season, titled Genesis, to our feeding program. She was talking a mile a minute, painting a picture of what a vision she had dreamed up. A night of decadent fun, sprinkled with white and gold, as fitting for the Greek-themed pool party. I just nodded in agreement as she weaved each element in: the fly-in DJ, the select crowd, nothing-but-the-best arrangements, caterers, butlers and the talents she would bring in. Rachel Lobangco’s poi dance had to be there, of course, so with Red Carpet’s resident talent James and the trifecta of DJ hotness; Mia, Sanya and Ornussa. The days leading to the event were buzzing with excitement: Who will be in Manila? Who is flying in to Fairways tower? Who are you going with and what were you going to wear? It was like high-school prom all over again. But the euphoria was coming from well-seasoned party-goers that frequent Ibiza and the Pool Palace like it was their backyard. Sure, there were other events but this was Red Carpet—and this pool party only happens once a year. Surely “everyone who was some-

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

NDIAN RIVER COUNTY—Until a few years ago, county road-and-bridge improvements were limited to improving safety for drivers. But now, with bicycling growing in popularity among baby boomers and millennials as a popular alternative means of transportation, county Metropolitan Planning Organization officials (MPO) are looking to add safer bike lanes and wider shoulders along county roads. It’s working with local bicycling groups such as Vero Cycling—which began about four years ago with a handful of members and since has grown to about 250 people—to meet the needs of bicycle commuters and those looking for recreation and exercise, said Indian River County MPO Director Phil Matson. Still, the county has a lot of improvements to make, bicyclists say. “[Bicyclists] don’t feel safe,” said Hugh Aaron, president of Bike Walk Indian River County, a nonprofit bicycling-advocacy group. “In general, the roads in Indian River County are not particularly safe for riding a bicycle.” Bike-friendly roads are essential for the newest bicyclist group—those who bike to work or shopping, said bicyclist Tad Diesel. They are an essential part of the economy, he said. “Without their bikes, they don’t have jobs. They don’t have transportation, and so their access to the economy is taken away,” he said. It’s this group that Bike Walk Indian River County advocates for when talking with county engineers about the need for bike lanes, Diesel said. Engineers do appreciate the economic benefits of infrastructure that provides people with a safe way to work compared to pacifying those looking for a better recreational ride, he said. Ten years ago, when people dis-

cussed road issues, few cared about bicyclists or bike lanes, Matson said. With the community’s changing concerns, however, the county is changing as well, he said. The MPO created a bicycle advisory committee and now designs bike lanes as part of most new road projects and works with developers to ensure new communities have sidewalks and bike paths, he said. The county has adopted a “complete streets” policy, which requires every road-improvement project to have adequate space for vehicles, pedestrians and bike riders, ideally with a buffered bike lane or at least a wide shoulder to accommodate bicyclists, Matson said. An example is the $1.2-million 45th Street beautification project in Gifford that includes widening the road and adding sidewalks, designated bike paths and landscaping, he said. The League of American Bicyclists last year designated Indian River a Bronze Bicycle-Friendly Community for its efforts in education, advocacy, infrastructure, planning and enforcement. But more needs to be done, bicyclists said. Indian River County got adequate grades on its infrastructure and road quality, but only because state- and Vero Beach-maintained roads are superior to those maintained by the county, according to Aaron. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is committed to the concept of “complete streets,” he said. FDOT, for example, is planning a buffered bike lane on 17th Street from US 1 to the Alma Lee Loy Bridge. Infrastructure improvements will come slowly, Matson said, because of the lack of property to widen the road. Adding bike lanes is easy if the county owns the adjacent property, Matson said. It becomes more difficult for roads that were built to be narrow, he said. TNS

THE MILLEnNIALS

tHIs June 19 photo shows samantha Carbonell taking a selfie with guests at the genesis party, the proceeds of which she donated to worthy causes. Maxene MaMba

body” would be there. Surely it would be a night to remember. So it was. This time with the likes of La Isla and Lumiere Spa heading the huge conglomeration of companies, events productions and model agencies that brought in their time, talent and je ne sais quoi to the mix. The sponsors brought class and style, and a truckload of international models to the mix. Cheeky expats and privileged princesses were the milieu. They came, they saw the digs and they conquered. Let’s just let what happened in Gen-

esis, stay in Genesis. (To be seen in truckloads of big hashtags and anonymous tabloid scoops later on). Let’s just call it a night inundated with music, laughter, naughtiness and wet models. However, this year, Samantha, or Sam, as I call her: made sure that all the decadent partying—like whipped cream on ice cream—served up something substantial. She not only donated to our feeding program called “This is Love,” but also gave money to Barrio Bayabas, Doña Remedios Trinidad, Angat, Bulacan, for the completion and maintenance of the town chapel. She also gave some of the proceeds of the event to the bereaved

family of Ronel Olano, a cherished events worker who passed away. Suffice to say, I was proud that such a woman of the world had decided to give a little bit of her hard-earned cash to her personal causes. It also served as a vindication and an inspiration that, no matter what work you have, no matter how crazy, sexy, fun your world is, you can always make a way to give, to care and to make a difference in other people’s lives. The party may have been a success, just like each of the six past years it has been running, but this year, thanks to Sam, it has allowed the participants to contribute to many noble causes.

NEAR FLAWLESS

By Psyche Roxas-Mendoza

@PsycheRoxas Exclusive to the BusinessMirror

Sports BusinessMirror

| Tuesday, July 5, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

THIS time, 6-foot-10 John Isner comes up short. AP

SAME SITUATION, DIFFERENT RESULT

NEAR

SERENA WILLIAMS (left) is now 300-42 after her victory over Annika Beck—a .877 winning percentage, and will go for No. 301 right away. AP

FLAWLESS Looking much more ready for Week 2 at Wimbledon than she did in her previous outing, Serena Williams joined Martina Navratilova as the only women with 300 victories at major tournaments in the Open era by overwhelming Annika Beck, 6-3, 6-0, in 51 minutes to get to the fourth round.

By Howard Fendrich The Associated Press

ONDON—Serena Williams has won so many Grand Slam matches that she’s lost count. Then again, as she noted on Sunday, it’s her losses that get a lot more attention nowadays. Looking much more ready for Week 2 at Wimbledon than she did in her previous outing, Williams joined Martina Navratilova as the only women with 300 victories at major tournaments in the Open era by overwhelming Annika Beck, 6-3, 6-0, in 51 minutes to get to the fourth round. “Every time I step out on the court, if I don’t win, it’s major national news,” Williams said a day after her counterpart in the men’s draw, No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic, was ousted. “But if I do win, it’s just like a small tag in the corner.” Pushed to three sets her last time out, Williams was about as dominant as can be against her 43rd-ranked German opponent. Nearly perfect, even. Williams won the last 17 points she served. She won 24 of the last 28 points overall. She accumulated 25 winners to two for Beck. Afterward, the six-time Wimbledon champion was asked whether she knew she had reached a milestone by getting her 300th Grand Slam match win, breaking a tie with Chris Evert for second place behind Navratilova’s total of 306. “No. Was it? Cool. Oh, nice,” the 34-year-old American said with a laugh. “I had no idea. That’s awesome, right? That’s good, right?” She’s now 300-42, a .877 winning percentage, and will go for No. 301 right away: All 16 men’s and women’s fourthround matches are scheduled for Monday, when Williams faces two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. Yes, thanks to sun on Sunday, the tournament is all caught up after persistent rain left a backlog of matches. This was only the fourth time since The Championships, as they’re called around these parts, began 139 years ago that matches were played on the middle Sunday. On the other three occasions—1991, 1997, 2004— fans lined up overnight to buy tickets that normally are so difficult, and expensive, to come by, creating a loud festival of flag-waving, face-painted folks thrilled to be on-site for once. This time, seats could only be purchased online, and there was a far-less-vibrant vibe than in the past on what was known as “People’s Sunday.” “I thought it would feel really different,” Williams said, asked to compare this day with an average one at the grass-

court Grand Slam, “but it didn’t feel really different.” If anything, this middle Sunday was oddly subdued. Silent, even. Arenas were filled with rows and rows of unclaimed green chairs. Spectators applauded politely, if at all. Walkways around the grounds were easy to traverse. “Strange feeling, a little bit,” said No. 7 Richard Gasquet, who helped give France four men in the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the first time since 1929, “because...I don’t see many people around.” His next opponent is another member of that rare quartet, No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who erased a two-set deficit, then saved a match point, en route to edging No. 18 John Isner of the United States 19-17 in a fifth set that lasted more than two hours all by itself. “It’s good to be alive,” said Tsonga, now 6-0 in fivesetters at the All England Club. They played three sets before being halted because of darkness on Saturday night and finished on Sunday. In other men’s matches, No. 32 Lucas Pouille of France got past 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-1; 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych defeated 19-year-old Alexander Zverev, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1; No. 15 Nick Kyrgios eliminated No. 22 Feliciano Lopez, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4 to set up a showdown against his pal Andy Murray, who is seeded No. 2 and won the 2013 title; and Jiri Vesely defeated No. 31 Joao Sousa, 6-2, 6-2, 7-5. The 13th-seeded Kuznetsova advanced with a 6-7 (1), 6-2, 8-6 victory over No. 18 Sloane Stephens. Other women’s winners included No. 21 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova. The woman who ended Williams’s bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam in the US Open semifinals last September, Roberta Vinci, failed to put up much of a challenge in a 6-3, 6-4 loss to No. 27 CoCo Vandeweghe. Vandeweghe won 24 of 28 first-serve points and 14 of 17 points when she went to the net, improving to 11-1 on grass this season. “Past month or almost two months,” said Vandeweghe, a 2015 Wimbledon quarterfinalist, “I’ve been doing a good job of rising to the occasion.”

ONDON—This super-sized fifth set at Wimbledon finished 19-17, not 70-68, and it did not end well for John Isner. The 6-foot-10 American, who won the longest match in tennis history at the All England Club in 2010, found himself locked in another marathon against another Frenchman at the same site. This time, Isner came up short. No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga saved a match point and eventually edged the 18th-seeded Isner, 6-7 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 19-17, over nearly four-and-a-half hours in a thirdrounder that ended on Sunday. The final set alone lasted two hours and eight minutes. Play was suspended because of darkness after three sets on Saturday at Court No. 2 (only Centre Court has artificial lights). “To be honest, I was a little tired, for some reason,” said Isner, who leaned over with hands on knees at one point. “I didn’t think I would be.” Inevitably, a reporter brought up the match Isner is best-known for, his first-round victory against Nicolas Mahut in 2010 that stretched for more than 11 hours over three days and concluded with a fifth set that lasted 102 more games than Sunday’s. “I know the match could go a long way,” Isner said, then rolled his eyes while continuing, “but I wasn’t thinking about what happened six years ago.” At his news conference, Tsonga was asked whether Isner-Mahut popped into his mind at all. That drew a hearty chuckle from Tsonga, a two-time semifinalist at Wimbledon and the runner-up at the 2008 Australian Open. “A little bit,” Tsonga replied. “Once,” he added, “I said, ‘Maybe it’s going to be long, like [for] Nicolas.’” Isner and Tsonga are equipped with difficult-to-deal-with serves—both regularly reached 130 miles per hour (210 kilometers per hour) on Sunday—and they combined for 59 aces, 38 by the American. But here was the key: Tsonga converted three of six break points, all over the closing two sets, while Isner was only one for four in the match. One of his break points came while ahead 16-15, and so it was also a match point. But Tsonga cast that aside with a big serve-forehand combination. On the first point of that game, Isner’s left foot slid out from under him and he fell at the baseline. He winced and stepped gingerly between points, but afterward insisted it was not a big deal, saying: “Oh, I was fine. Hurt for like five seconds. No, it feels fine. It’s not an issue at all.” Perhaps. But not much later, Tsonga earned the only break of the last set to go ahead 18-17, then served it out. That made him 15-7 in five-setters for his career, including 6-0 at Wimbledon. This was also the fourth time he’s come back to win after dropping the opening two sets of a match. Tsonga will need to head right back out on court on Monday to face No. 7 Richard Gasquet for a quarterfinal berth. They join the unseeded Mahut, who plays Sam Querrey of the US on Monday, and No. 32 Lucas Pouille, who faces Bernard Tomic of Australia, to give France four men in the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the first time since 1929. Isner, meanwhile, dropped to 6-15 in contests that go the full five sets, and he reiterated his stance that all Grand Slam tournaments should use a tiebreaker to settle a fifth set. Currently, only the US Open does that, while Wimbledon, the French Open and Australian Open make players continue until one winds up with two more games than the other. “But I can’t do anything about it,” he said. “It’s fine.” AP

Sports

E now have a president who speaks plainly and, therefore, to the point; so much so that he is really pissed that we still don’t get him.

Before saying good-bye to Davao, on his way to his inauguration as “mayor” of the Republic, President Rodrigo R. Duterte repeated what he’s been saying all along: “I am gonna kill you if you hurt my people, if you hurt my country. I am talking to you drug pushers, drug users, to violent criminals in general and in particular, and to the police who protect them all.” Like the Silang, Cavite, police, which protected the murderer of a retired US serviceman during a home invasion. (By the way, the US Embassy has done nothing about it. I would have called Washington for a drone strike from a facility in Nevada). The Silang police told the surviving victims to investigate the crime themselves, to find the evidence and to file the case against the killer they were protecting, and who they let go. Amazing. I am calling on Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, who is the opposite of fatso. Continued on A12

In our survey, you’ve got 58 percent of individuals (who) said they would prefer a business-casual dress code or a casual dress code. If you have more than half the work force wanting a certain dress code, you, as the employer, have to be aware that you may need to be more adaptable to that. And that includes all employees—millennials, gen-Xers and baby boomers. It’s about being competitive in today’s tight labor market. The demand we see for college graduates continues to get greater and greater each year. And those employees, or potential employees, are pushing the casual trend? It’s an employee’s market. People wearing suits and more formal attire seem to return in tougher economic times. More casual dress codes seem to be the trend when economic times are good and it’s an employee-driven market. That’s my personal observation of the last 17 years of staffing. Why is that? If there are more jobs than there are people, what are you as an employer doing to attract talent to your company? You do the things employees want: They want money and they want perks, such as a more casual dress code. Right now, companies are having to be competitive for talent. How well do employees understand the difference between business casual and just plain casual? I don’t think inherently they understand it very well. So companies need to be specific with their dress codes. They need to be more specific about what is unacceptable versus what is acceptable. You’re going to have individuals who push the envelope. But you’re also going to have—especially with millennials—you have a generation of workers who don’t know. So it’s up to the employers to educate their employees as to what their interpretation is of business casual or casual. Does a lot of this depend on whether the employee has to meet with clients? Absolutely. If you’re in a role that’s client-facing, your dress code standards may be higher. With that being said, you still have companies that want to look appealing to prospective employees and also make their clients comfortable with you. Are there any geographic differences in all this? Geography plays a big part of it. Business casual in Los Angeles means you’re going to see a gentleman in slacks and buttonedup shirt. In New York, you’re going to see a gentleman in slacks with a buttoned-up shirt and a sport coat. Los Angeles Times/TNS

Teddy Locsin Jr.

@butchfBM

Why office dress codes keep getting more casual OS ANGELES—If you work in an office, what did you wear today? Chances are your outfit was considerably more casual than it was a few years ago. Office dress codes keep getting more relaxed, spurred in part by the influx of millennials in the work force. “Dressing up for work continues to go out of style,” according to a survey released by OfficeTeam, an arm of the office-staffing firm Robert Half International Inc. Half of the senior managers interviewed in the survey said their workers wear less formal clothing than they did five years ago, and 47 percent said their employees dressed “too casually.” The survey also showed that 32 percent of managers said their workers showed “too much skin.” Another sign of the times: Banking giant JP Morgan Chase & Co. now lets workers wear business-casual clothing most of the time instead of the once de rigueur suits, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month. Brandi Britton is OfficeTeam’s district president in Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Times asked her to explain the changing etiquette in office dress. Here’s an edited excerpt: What’s behind the trend toward more casual work attire? You’ve got a highly competitive job market right now, and companies are having to be more creative about how they attract people. One way is not just offering good compensation, but other perks, and employees today see dressing less formally as a perk. Most people you interview will tell you they will wear a suit, but that isn’t their preferential dress code. So employers are willing to grant their wish? A: First, employers are having to be more appealing to the current work force. Second, you think about how many millennials are in the work force today—it’s over 60 percent—and one of the very appealing things to a millennial is a casual dress code. Third, even in client-facing roles, where in years past, you wore a suit, some of those jobs are tending to also become more casual because the clients themselves you might be visiting are uncomfortable when—quote— the suits show up. We typically wear suits quite a bit, and when we visit some of our clients and show up in our suits, they think they’re being audited or the FBI is raiding them. Were older employees pushing for more casual office wear before the millennials arrived? The millennials are certainly playing a large role in it, but it’s still coming from management, who also tend to appreciate a less formal dress code.

Free Fire

By Butch Fernandez

Millennials, baby boomers’ bicycle use prompts Indian River County bike program

To the point

Duterte OK with full foreign ownership of firms, not lands

Phl 7th most attacked in mobile devices in q1

this photo, courtesy of inmarsat Plc., shows an airbus a319 aircraft (foreground) with the radome installation completed for inmarsat’s gX aviation service.

@reneacostaBM

BusinessMirror

United nations

2015 environmental Media Award leadership award 2008

By Rene Acosta

Second of three parts

ER home is in the heart of Central Mindanao—in Tacurong City, the only city in the province of Sultan Kudarat; at the crossroads of the highways leading to Davao, General Santos and Cotabato. Life here is dependent on agriculture; on simple, staple crops like rice and corn. Its major industry is rice milling.

PESO exchange rates n US 46.9680

A computer and a one-of-a-kind web site causes a reversal of fortune for a young girl in a farming community in the heart of Central Mindanao. As the daughter of rice farmers earning P500 a month, Prettybai D. Anok had no chance of going to senior high school (SHS) after she failed to qualify in the voucher program of the Department of Education (DepEd).

The voucher program, as explained in the DepEd web site, provides a subsidy that enables Grade 10 (junior high school) completers like Anok to claim a “discount” or a deduction from the cost of tuition Continued on A2

resident Duterte and his Partido Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP)-Laban partymates, who are set to take control of the Senate and the House leadership, are backing moves to relax constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership of business enterprises to attract more investors here—but not real properties. Incoming Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III disclosed on Monday that Mr. Duterte is expected to endorse for consideration by members of a proposed Constitutional convention (Con-con) the adoption of remedial measures that will boost the new administration’s reform agenda for the next six years. Pimentel confirmed the Duterte administration would also ask Concon delegates to pass amendments on existing rules covering foreign investors doing business here, but quickly clarified this should not include land ownership. “OK, let me be clear about the foreign ownership,” Pimentel told reporters in an ambush interview,

“It’s the relaxation of the nationalization requirement in certain business [es].” He said Congress is likely to favor a consensus that foreign investors looking to put up businesses here should not be restricted. “If we can, let’s not tie that to the Constitution anymore. Let’s pass that to the legislature so that there is flexibility,” Pimentel said, pointing out that “the legislators can adjust the percentage of national interest in the different industries and business.” But Pimentel made it clear that the PDP-Laban position is that relaxation of rules covering foreign investors should not include allowing land ownership. “We will not agree to foreign ownership of land,” PImentel said. “So, that is in the rules now, and the position of the PDP-Laban and President Duterte [is that] even if we amend the Constitution, we want the rule to remain.” The 1987 Constitution limits foreign ownership in certain industries to 40 percent. Experts said this effectively discouraged the entry of more foreign investments into the Philippines.

n japan 0.4578 n UK 62.2373 n HK 6.0545 n CHINA 7.0549 n singapore 34.8997 n australia 34.9724 n EU 52.2989 n SAUDI arabia 12.5248

Source: BSP (4 July 2016 )

BMReports BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, July 5, 2016

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Digital technology and the new agriculture Continued from A1

and other fees that may be required in SHS. It took a computer and a web site to reverse Anok’s fortune. A s nar rated by Jay Tor res Solitana, high-school engagement officer of Edukasyon.ph: “She searched for scholarships using our web site and was able to see the options for Megaworld Foundation. She is now enrolled as an Accountancy-Business and Management student in Tacurong National High School.” A grateful Anok sends a thank you message to Solitana: “Maraming salamat sa Edukasyon.ph dahil nakahanap ako ng scholarship na makakatulong sakin para makapagenroll ako ngayong taon. Nakatulong din ng malaki sa akin ’yung mga impormasyon na nakita ko sa web site para mapili ko ’yung track na kukuhanin ko. [Thank you to Edukasyon.ph because I was able to get a scholarship that would allow me to enroll this year. The information in their web site also helped a lot in helping me pick an education track].”

Digital distance

MORE than 1,300 kilometers separate Tacurong City from Manila, the country’s seat of power. Going by the Pan-Philippine Highway, land travel would translate to about 34 hours. Upon arrival, a student from Tacurong will have to knock on the doors of public and private learning institutions to scout for a scholarship or some form of financial support to the needy high-school students desiring to go to college.

Virtual travel via the Internet has cut the time for searching, but one still has to go through the web sites of corporations, nonprofit institutions, colleges and universities to apply and, if fortunate, win a scholarship. In the portal of Edukasyon.ph, a student searching for scholarships will find at any given time more than 2,800 scholarships from different organizations across the archipelago and from the organization’s partner countries abroad. You can either search for the scholarships available at the school you are applying to, or for those available within the career you are considering.

Agri-fisheries

OTHER than lists of available scholarships, Edukasyon.ph also offers advice to students on the course that are most suited to them. This is done by way of tracks that range from four -year college courses to technical-vocational courses. In the tech-voc course, there is the Agri-Fisheries-Arts strand. It focuses on agricultural farming, livestock raising and fundamentals of fisheries. “It prepares the students to take part in attaining food security and sustainable economy,” Edukasyon. ph staff said. SHS graduates who opt for the Agri-Fisheries-Arts strand are informed by Edukasyon.ph of the jobs available for them once they finish the course. A graduate can work as a horticulturist, farmer, canning worker, butcher, or animal husbandry expert.

The Edukasyon.ph team with Lites Villoria (left) and Henry Motte-Muñoz

Edukasyon.ph also points agrifishery high-chool students to the possible businesses they can engage in once they complete their senior year. The options include fishpond owner/operator, rice thresher owner and small-scale food processing. Should they want to pursue a four-year college course, the choices open to them are BS Fisheries, BS Agricultural Engineering, BS Agriculture in Animal Science, BS Agriculture in Crop Science Education and BS Veterinary Medicine. Upon g radu at ion f rom a four-year college course, the new professionals would work as researchers, agriculturists, animal husbandry experts and crop researchers.

Interactive

AS explained in the terms and conditions of the portal: Edukasyon.ph does not only provide relevant and useful information

on scholarships, schools, training institutions and courses. It also offers ideas that will keep students informed, educated, and entertained. “The founding concept of Edukasyon.ph is to give Filipino students all the information they need in order to choose the right program and school for them,” Edukasyon. ph CEO Lites Villoria said. Villoria added that two years ago, Edukasyon.ph was looking at giving students all the information they need to make sound educational decisions that will lead to their chosen career. However, Edukasyon.ph saw that this was not enough. “While giving them a plethora of choices is good, without curated, targeted and professional advice, there’s a very high likelihood that we may lose them,” Villoria said. “Edukasyon.ph has seen that, as an education online platform, it is actually in the best position to help

solve the labor mismatch by giving students a comprehensive looks at where the choices they make now will lead them.” This is why Edukasyon.ph, according to Villoria, has exerted majority of its efforts to shed light on all the issues hounding SHS. While a number of groups have openly criticized K to 12 specifically SHS, Edukasyon.ph talked about how SHS can truly help students find their niche in this ever evolving world. The Edukasyon.ph web site, if you scroll down its “Find your Senior High School now!” will lead you to a listing of schools that have signed up with Edukasyon. ph. These include schools like the Philippine Women’s University, Lyceum of the Philippines in Manila, Saint Paul University in Dumaguete, University of the Cordilleras, Our Lady of Guadalupe Colleges, AMA University, Saint Scholastica’s College, Ateneo de Davao University, Cagayan de Oro College, Republican College, Saint Mary of the Woods School in Makati City, MFI Pasig, Ateneo de Manila University, Miriam College, De La Salle Health and Science Institute—more than 6,000 institutions to date. As you browse further, the site will inform you of their data resources. For example, if you are browsing for scholarships, their web site will tell you “We found 577 schools that offers scholarships.” And you can filter your search by clicking on the boxes that say “full tuition,” “partial tuition” and “allowances.” There are also a “quick apply” and a “quick chat” boxes.

Origins

Edukasyon.ph is the brainchild of French-Filipino Henry MotteMuñoz. Narrates Villoria: “The idea of Edukasyon.ph sprung when its Founder Motte-Muñoz spent his summer internship here in the country at the Ayala Group of Companies.” “His cousin, who was about to enter college, asked for his advice on how to choose a university,” Villoria said. “During the conversation, he learned that his cousin was only choosing between University of the Philippines, Ateneo and La Salle, and the preference was not largely because of the school’s performance in certain programs but because these are popular schools.” Villoria said that was the time he learned that the options for Filipino students to pursue higher education in the country is very narrowed. “He learned there was no official ranking of schools,” Villoria said. “School choice is very metrocentric, which obviously does not represent the pluralized reality of education providers.” Villoria explained that Henry then saw that, while incoming college students from Section (SEC) A and B will most likely pursue college, “the lack of accessible information on schools and scholarships will definitely leave our youth from SEC C, D and E behind.” “Edukasyon.ph did not spring from a vision of a one big problem and one possible alone, it is a fruition of the needs of those who have the least and a fulfillment of those who want to do more for the country, especially in education reform.” To be continued

BMReports BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Infra backlog pulls down PHL in global Internet speed rank By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

HILE the average Internet speed in the Philippines improved by almost a quarter in the first three months of 2016, the backlog in infrastructure still pulled down its global ranking by nine notches. The only way, then, for the Philippines to be on a par with its peers— at least in the Asean—is for both the government and telecommunications sector players to invest in adequate telco infrastructure vis-a-vis an opening up of the market to new carriers, an expert said. Data from Akamai Technologies showed Filipinos enjoyed an average speed of 3.5 megabytes per second (Mbps) in the first quarter of 2016. This is a 24-percent improvement against its average Internet speed of 2.8 Mbps the year prior. But despite this development, the Philippines still trailed behind its neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region. The country is tied with India at the 14th place in the region, while ranking 113th globally, data by the Massachusetts, US-based content delivery network player revealed. Developed countries, such as South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan, claimed the top spot in the Asia Pacific region. Singapore, on the other hand, claimed the first place in the speed race in the Asean, Akamai said, which measures the quality of Internet speed around the globe. Telecommunications companies in the Philippines—Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc.—have promised better Internet services toward the end of the year, thanks to their

recent acquisition of the telco assets of San Miguel Corp. The transaction freed up the coveted 700-megahertz (MHz) frequency band that, according to the players, is the key to improve the current state of the Internet in the Philippines. Winthrop Yu, who chairs the Internet Society of the Philippines, however, believes otherwise. The only way to improve the dismal state of the Internet in the country is for telcos and the government to invest in network infrastructure. “Clearly, more investment in infrastructure is needed,” he told the BusinessMirror. “The question is who will be doing the investment.” There are two ways to tackle this initiative. One is for the companies to heavily invest in all areas in the Philippine archipelago while the government focuses on regulation and the streamlining of process. This will place ordinary consumers at the mercy of the duopoly. “The sweet spot is probably somewhere between those two extremes,” Yu said. Such a sweet spot means that the carriers will focus on commercial markets or areas with dense data requirements, while the government invests in missionary routes. There are about 15,000 cell sites spread across the Philippine archipelago. This is relatively fewer than

its peers in Asia. Likewise, the government must also ensure that competition in the sector is healthy, Yu said. What needs to be done is for the market to be opened up to new players, and to do this, a level-playing field must be ensured, he added. “We need more new market entrants or players—whether foreign or local.” Supposedly, one foreign entrant is Australia’s largest telco Telstra Corp. Ltd. However, its entry was thwarted when the Smart and Globe contested the legitimacy of San Miguel’s telco business. Telstra and San Miguel were supposed to launch within the year Bell Telecommunications Philippines Inc. A few months later, the two telco titans acquired San Miguel’s telco assets for P70 billion. This, according to Yu, should be taken with skepticism. He said the Philippine Competition Commission needs to determine soon whether the takeover of Vega Telecom Inc., Bow Arken Holdings Co. Inc. and Brightshare Holdings Corp. will be beneficial to the whole sector. “The question that the commission will have to determine is how the Vega takeover affects the entry of new players,” Yu said. In a letter to the competition council, Yu’s camp said the San Miguel buyout is invalid when viewed in a technical point of view—the very reason that the two telcos cited when they launched the takeover. “It is clear that many other [telecommunications] operators worldwide do much more service using [fewer] spectrum,” he said in the letter a copy of which was given to the BusinessMirror. “And many have done so even without the use of the 700-MHz band.” He cited Thailand as an example. “Thailand provides three times the average Philippine Internet speed, and speeds in densely-packed Central Europe are even faster,” Yu said. “Clearly, the 700 MHz band is

neither necessary nor sufficient for providing good Internet connectivity.” He also pointed out that spectrum—as the telcos and the regulator have previously mentioned—is not a scarce resource. Yu explained that spectrum is scarce in the sense that it is finite. But any actual scarcity or spectrum constraints will depend on geographical location and density. “Obviously, highly dense concentrations would be much more constrained in this respect, compared to the Philippines—spread-out as it is over 7,000 islands, sitting-out in the West Philippine Sea,” he said. “Yet, these countries do very well, indeed, and provide better service with what they have.” He claimed that the two telcos have “more than sufficient spectrum” to provide better Internet services. Before the acquisition of the telco business of San Miguel, which used to hold 345 MHz across different bands, PLDT Inc. held 290 MHz and Globe, 210 MHz. After the transaction, the pair returned 20 MHz of the 700-Mhz band, 15 MHz of the 2500- to 2700 MHz band, 40 MHz of the 3400- to 3500-MHz band, and 10 MHz of the 800-MHz band to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to ensure that “a third player can still operate” in the near future. The remainder was divided equally, giving PLDT 420 MHz in total spectrum holdings and Globe, 340 MHz. “Many [telcommunications] operators around the world deliver much faster and better quality Internet by making efficient use of spectrum allocations that are less than those held by our incumbents, even before their take-over of the San Miguel frequencies,” Yu said. The competition council has sought for the review of the deal. The two telco giants opposed such an action, saying that the deal is “perfectly legal” based on existing rules during the transaction period.

ROLL BACK

A gasoline attendant holds on to a gasoline nozzle after filling up a vehicle in a gas station in Makati. Two oil companies announced a price cut in petroleum products effective on July 5 by P0.60 per liter for gasoline and P0.20 for kerosene. No price changes will be applied for diesel, the companies said. NONIE REYES

Palace prepares EO as Duterte seeks legislated FOI law By David Cagahastian

davecaga

RESIDENT Duterte will still push for a legislated Freedom of Information (FOI) law, even as Malacañang prepares the executive order (EO) to enforce the right of citizens to information on government transactions. Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abel-

la said on Monday a legislated FOI law is in keeping with Mr. Duterte’s avowed policy of transparency in government. “He is giving much importance on transparency because that’s his style of governance,” Abella said in a news conference. “He wants that government work [be] very transparent to the people.” To give substance to this policy of transparency right away, Abella said the

EO, which would enforce the right to information, would be released this week, as promised by Mr. Duterte last month after winning the May elections. The EO is meant to enforce the right of the citizens to information immediately while the bills regarding the FOI remain pending in Congress. During the past six years of the Aquino administration, the various bills on the FOI

were not passed by the Liberal Party-led Congress, despite former President Aquino’s promise to enact a FOI law during his term. Abella said Mr. Duterte’s policy of transparency does not conflict with his pronouncement to limit interaction with the media. He said Mr. Duterte wants to focus on government work without being hampered by having to answer to “little noises.”

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Mindanao infra projects need billion-peso funding By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

INDANAO needs over P87.75 billion until 2030 to finance various infrastructure projects to address poverty and inequality, according to the Bangsamoro Development Plan (BDP) 2. Details based on the BDP 2, obtained by BusinessMirror, showed the plan will finance 72 projects for agriculture, environment, transportation and other similar development areas. However, only 50 projects have available cost estimates. The cost for the other 22 projects is still being estimated. The most expensive project for Mindanao is the P13.68 billion worth Laborbased road rehabilitation and maintenance technology for farm-to-market roads (FMRs). The project will be implemented in all five provinces of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in cooperation with the local government units (LGUs), barangays, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and communities. “[The project aims] to rehabilitate farm-to-market roads as part of effort to build the entire Bangsamoro road net and/or to provide temporary jobs to the communities and combatants during the transition period,” the document stated. Other big-ticket infrastructure projects are the P10.67 billion worth Corridor Link Roads Improvement Projects (for mainland provinces) and P9.10 billionworth Corridor Link Roads Improvement Projects (for Island Provinces). The roads improvement for mainland provinces will be undertaken in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-ARMM and lgus. Most of the works involved upgrading of existing gravel road into paved surface. Road-surface upgrading in the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao involves 93.2 km of road and new road construction

involves 162.1 km of road. The roads improvement plan for island provinces will be undertaken by DPWH-ARMM in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. Most of the works involved the upgrading of existing gravel road into paved surface. Road-surface upgrading in the provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi is about 316.2 km. The BDP 2 or Mindanao’s mediumterm development plan, crafted by Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), in cooperation with the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA), aims to see faster industry growth by 2022. The BDP 2’s projections aim to grow Mindanao-based industries by 20.7 percent annually to contribute some P24.939 billion to Mindanao’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP). Once implemented, the BDP 2 aims to grow the GRDP of Mindanao by 7.4 percent annually. This translates to a GRDP of P191.836 billion by 2022. Other sectors, such as services, are projected to grow 11.5 percent annually until 2022. This will translate to a contribution of P80.571 billion to Mindanao’s GRDP. Agriculture is expected to post an annual growth of 3 percent and contribute a total of P86.326 billion in 2022. The medium-term plan will also increase labor productivity by 3.1 percent and add as many as 1.778 million jobs annually. Labor productivity will increase the fastest in services at 3 percent annually, while industry will post a growth of 2.5 percent every year. Agriculture is expected to post a growth of 2 percent annually. Majority of the jobs that will be created through the plan will be in agriculture and services. Jica estimates that jobs in agriculture will reach 917,000 a year, while in services, 731,000 a year. Industry will see an addition of 131,000 jobs per year. This, Jica estimates, will increase percapita GRDP of Bangsamoro to P47,685 in 2022, which is equivalent to 72 percent of the per-capita GDP in 2012.

Energy chief vows to make power rates more affordable By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

NERGY Secretary Afonso G. Cusi said he would form a focus group to zero in on issues related to providing affordable and reliable power rates, particularly in far-flung areas and, hopefully, be able to resolve this during his first 100 days in office. The members of this focus group have yet to be named, he said. Cusi expects “immediate results” nonetheless. During a news conference after the turnover ceremony on Monday morning, Cusi said he “will be busy” during the first 100 days. His priorities include the speedy delivery of cheap and reliable electricity to consumers, particularly those in the provinces. “I am putting special focus to make it happen,” Cusi said. One possible solution, he said, is to provide subsidy. “I am really looking into this.” The Philippines remains among countries with the most expensive electricity prices in Asia. Based on a May 2013 “Global Benchmark Study of Residential Electricity Tariffs” by the Lantau Group, Manila has the third most expensive electricity prices. According to the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the latest overall average electricity rate in its franchise areas is P7.58 per kilowatt hour. Cusi said he is aware that in other countries, other governments subsidize electricity, while the Philippine government imposes many kinds of taxes. “Others, they are receiving subsidy. That is one concern that we like to address. This requires a lot of studies,” the new Department of Energy (DOE) chief said. A newbie in the energy sector, Cusi said he “need not be an energy man to be a leader” in order to accomplish his tasks as energy secretary. “In management, everything is the same. It’s the subject that differs. In leading the DOE, I am looking from the prospective of the consumers.” Cusi is a former Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager. He also served as chief of the Philippine Ports Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines during the Arroyo administration. He also said that there would be a re-

view on current policies involving energy mix, feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme and renewable energy (RE). The DOE earlier issued a fuel-mix policy stating the country should source 30 percent of its energy requirements from coal, 30 percent from RE and another 30 percent from natural gas. The remaining 10 percent will come from oil-based power plants. “I am asking ‘What’s the rationale?’ Why not 40-40-20? I’d like to understand the rationale behind,” he said, adding that the DOE should determine the right mix to balance the utilization of RE versus fossil fuels. He said he is aware of the stand of the Climate Commission against coalpower plants and that of the newly appointed Department on Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Gina Lopez. “We can’t afford not to have coal. If coal is not the solution, what is the alternative? We have to find a balance. If it’s RE, why not? But we have to be realistic,” Cusi said. “We will discuss that. We have to help one another find the solution.” On concern related to the FiT rate for solar power projects, Cusi said many solarpower providers, whose projects did not make it to the second round of FiT rate, are asking for a meeting with him. “How are we going to handle this? What are the options? Maybe competitive bidding or bilateral contracts with distribution utilities or through the open market, we don’t know. We have to study that.” He said DOE officials have 10 days to closely study this before Cusi can attend to the concerns of the solar-power providers. “Can solar be feasible without FiT?” he said. “It requires a deeper study and understanding.” On reliability of the power plants, many of which are on unscheduled shutdown from time to time, Cusi said there is a need to revisit the service contracts of the plant operators to determine their compliance. The DOE chief also said there had been initial discussions with the World Bank to fund a study on a plan to convert the Bataan nuclear power plant into a receiving and distribution facility for liquefied natural gas.

A4 Tuesday, July 5, 2016

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DUTERTE ADMIN REFOCUSING DEFENSE, SECURITY PRIORITIES Continued from A1

The decision to acquire helicopters, rather than state-of-the-art fighter jets, and patrol craft, instead of frigates to initialize a blue water navy, has abruptly halted the Armed Forces’ efforts to modernize, which was ardently pursued by the previous administration. However, in the words of National Security Adviser Hermogenes C. Esperon Jr., the morph in the military’s procurement program, which comes by way of purchasing smaller ticket items instead of bigger ones, would put impetus to the war against the ASG and other local threat groups, which President Duterte wanted neutralized the soonest possible time. “What will you do with fighter jets?” said Esperon, a former Armed Forces chief of staff, as he justified the shift in the procurement program through the acquisition of helicopters and patrols craft, both of which are scaled-down assets, but which are much-needed in the intensified campaign against the ASG by providing close air support to soldiers and sea interdiction capability. The sense of urgency to finish off the ASG problem once and for all as part of the overall efforts against criminality was repeatedly parroted not only by President Duterte, but even by other key security officials, including Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana and the Armed Forces chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Ricardo R. Visaya. In fact, President Duterte even invited the New People’s Army to join the anti-criminality drive, by running after drug lords and members of illegal-drug syndicates and handing them down its revolutionary justice, an offer that was accepted by the rebels through their political arm, the Communist Party of the Philippines. On the other hand, Lorenzana spelled out the two most important initiatives of the defense department under him, and these are for the military to focus on the operations against the ASG in Mindanao and support the National Police in the anticriminality campaign, even lending soldiers for the drive if they are needed. For some soldiers, however, the drastic shift indicates a lack of strategic foresight, a misreading—if not a deliberate omission—of the overall national security problem, since a territorial threat by way of the West Philippines Sea (WPS) through China also challenges the country. It also comes at a time while the Armed Forces is still initializing its capability-upgrade program and was barely spinning out from the

offensive but “truthful” tag as the “laggard and least developed fighting force” in the region because of lack of equipment. Indeed, change is coming as the administration’s slogan says, and it is coming in the form of a completely revised focus for the defense and military establishments: from China to the ASG; from the WPS to Mindanao, particularly the island provinces of Sulu and Basilan; from modern jet fighters to helicopters and from the much-needed bigger maritime vessels to patrol craft. Summing it up: from the priority objective of territorial defense by the Aquino administration, given the maritime dispute with Beijing, the drive has been reverted by the new administration to the old posture of internal defense or more appropriately, the counterinsurgency operations, which is the usual exercise for soldiers. “It is backsliding, returning and solely refocusing us to the old [Abu Sayyaf war], a campaign which we never abandoned in the first place and still fighting and working hard to win, while leaving the current problem, which is the WPS, that aims to dismember the country. The issue runs deep with patriotism,” said a senior military official. “It is really hard to comprehend the national security direction and defense policies of the new leadership at this stage,” he added. “It totally changes everything, altered overnight.” Esperon, however, said the Duterte administration is not totally changing the national security objectives and even the military’s previous efforts to modernize, but it was merely reorienting the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of their key mission and focus areas according to needs. The national security adviser, who inspected troops in Basilan for more than a dozen times when he was the Army commander, emphasized the overwhelming need to end the menace of terrorism by the ASG by all means, and this includes mobilizing and training every available asset of the government against the group. This is obviously one of the reasons the military is going for a scaleddown procurement in the form of smaller war machines. But, then again, both the international security operations and territorial defense could go hand in hand, since fighting or dealing with multiple fronts is supposed to be the expertise of the military. From the administration of President Corazon C. Aquino up to

the time of Fidel V. Ramos and even Joseph E. Estrada, the military attempted to steer toward modernization amid the threats posed by Moro separatism, a Maoist-inspired insurgency and an ASG-instigated terrorism. However, it was only during the term of the previous administration that the upgrading of the Armed Forces was jump-started, even against the backdrop of an ongoing internal security operations, boosted by China’s de-facto control of the Scarborough Shoal, its unchallenged patrols in the WPS and its occupation and development of reefs into military bases. China is also looking forward to marching deeper into Luzon by eyeing to develop the Scarborough

Shoal. In his message before he left the defense department, then-Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin said the soldiers have been equipped with at least P65.9 billion worth of newly acquired various types of “flying, floating and moving air, sea and land assets; armaments and equipment” to boost their operational readiness and defense capabilities. It was Gazmin who coined the term “all air with no force” for the Air Force before the capability upgrade program was pursued. Despite the China threat factor, a socialist-centrist Duterte refuses to continue the big-ticket acquisition of his predecessor, sticking to his priorities of smaller assets for internal security operations, which, incidentally, was followed by a statement of

appeasement from Beijing offering to connect Luzon with Mindanao by way of a railway system. In his first policy speech after he was elected, the Commander in Chief said he would not go to war with China over the Scarborough Shoal even if the country wins its case before the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration. Duterte’s statement over the dispute, an issue that is also a matter of concern for the Asean and the country’s key regional allies, could also be the other reason the procurement program and the whole defense initiatives were being realigned, with the ASG and the anticriminality campaign as the focus areas. This would leave a gaping hole in the area of territorial defense, which will leave no one to patch, not even the United States and Japan and Australia, which are considered the country’s closest allies against Beijing’s “creeping invasion” and militarization of the WPS, part of which they also considered as part of international waters that is the South China Sea. As for China, it is early to tell how President Duterte’s statement would sit with its policy or even with its aggressive move in the territory that it disputes against the country. But Esperon said the Duterte administration is not afraid of “what is going to happen,” even in the event that the UN court will issue its ruling against China, not with too many scenarios, which even include the “dropping of a bomb.” “No one is going to do that,” he said, although adding that there is, of course, a readied course of action. Esperon said it is a common knowledge that the occupation and

development of the reefs in the West Philippine Sea was China’s long-drawn plan and the fact the country has a “weak Navy” failed to prevent it. Not since 10 People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-Navy) ships and six Chinese Coast Guard vessels were spotted more than a week ago at the Scarborough Shoal, the biggest presence of Chinese military ships so far in the area. This is the reason, he said, the country is harnessing multilateral actions. At this stage, pursuing the modernization program in full will not work, Esperon hinted. Instead, the acquisition should be geared toward the ASG and other domestic threats, although the administration is hoping to seal peace with the Moros and Communist guerillas. “What will it give us?” Esperon said of the squadron of FA-50s that are awaiting delivery from South Korea. “Whom are you fighting? China already has bases [in the West Philippine Sea]. Where is your base, Clark?” Esperon said the military was supposed to have been modernized or at least upgraded several years back, had the billions of tax money allotted for it was spent for its purpose. The Aquino administration may have given the Duterte administration a lame, but maybe even a real, excuse why it was opting out of the territorial mission and refocusing it to the anticriminality campaign, which is the primary mission of the police, since it has failed to stop the ASG and even other threat groups. In fact, under the Aquino administration, the ASG became bolder and further cemented its status as a terrorist group through its snatching of foreign captives and the successive beheadings of two Canadians in March and June this year. In November last year the terrorist group also beheaded Malaysian Bernard Then while world leaders, including the prime minister of Malaysia, were in the country attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. The ASG has also already perfected the art of abducting foreign sailors while they are transiting within and even outside the country’s waters, with Malaysians and Indonesians as its favorite victims. By its acts, the group already transcended its classification as a domestic terrorist group, especially that Indonesia has already stopped the sailing of coal into the country, which, according to Esperon, justified all the more the refocused operations against the ASG.

‘Coal, mining firms to go through eye of a needle’ Continued from A1

development projects, her department would place under strict scrutiny and extensive consultation all mining and coal-fired power investments. For instance, she said biodiversity experts that were not consulted before would have to be part of assessment of environmental impact of projects. “From now on, we are going to change all that.” An environmental advocate, Lopez said biodiversity conservation would be among her priorities as the country’s chief steward of the environment and natural resources. “I have absolute passion for biodiversity, because iyan ang kayamanan natin [because it’s part of our national wealth]. We are the No. 1 endemic country per unit per area in the planet. This means the flora and fauna is exclusive to us. So why destroy it?” she stressed. “Biodiversity is very important to me. That is our wealth.” A known antimining advocate, Lopez is also expected to give proponents of coal-fired power-plant

projects a hard time, consistent with the ongoing review of the country’s energy-mix policy being spearheaded by the Climate Change Commission (CCC). She said mining and coal investments are both environmentally destructive projects, which need to be strictly regulated. Lopez said renewable energy, such as solar projects, would be prioritized under her watch, adding that the cost of constructing solar plants is now cheaper than coal. While mining is destructive to forests, coal, she said, causes pollution. Renewable-energy sources, on the other hand, are more environment-friendly and sustainable. “These are my commitments. When we audit, one, the main discerning thing on what we will do is the people’s welfare. If mining adversely affects residents of the mining site, that is not responsible mining. Responsible means no one is adversely affected; no one suffers. Fishermen, farmers, communities should not become ill,” she said. She reiterated President Duterte’s pronouncement and warning to

large-scale mining companies to shape up, saying she will not hesitate to stop mining once the people and environment are threatened. “We have laws. I will enforce those laws,” she said, citing an administrative order issued by her predecessor last year requiring all mining companies to secure an International Organization for Standarization 14001. The deadline under Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Administrative Order 2015-07 signed by former Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje lapsed on June 30. She noted that only about 30 percent of the mining companies have complied with the requirement. Failure to comply with the order may spell the suspension of mining operation or cancellation of mining contracts. Lopez, however, assured that there will be no rash decisions that may result in loss of jobs in mining. “Even if we suspend or close the mine site, I will make sure that the people working there will have work to go to,” she said. L opez a l so vowed to help

mining companies become more environment-friendly by introducing mining technologies that will have minimum impact on the environment. In a separate interview, Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim of the DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) pitched the call for a stronger biodiversity-conservation policy in mining. She suggested that mining companies start integrating biodiversity conservation in their environmental programs. Mining companies are required by the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 to implement a social development management program. Some companies engage communities in treeplanting activities. Mining companies are also required by law to rehabilitate mined-out areas; but trees planted are sometimes fast-growing trees or high-value crops, such as cacao and coffee. Lim cautioned that in rehabilitating degraded forest such as mining areas, native trees that used to grow in the area should be replanted.

Lim said biodiversity conservation should also be integrated in premining activities by requiring mining companies to come up with an inventory of plant and animal species that thrive in areas targeted for mining. While it is mandated to conserve biodiversity, the DENR-BMB has no part in evaluating the potential impact on biodiversity of major development projects such as mining. The DENR-BMB is also not being consulted when mining companies conduct plant-rehabilitation activities. While saying rehabilitation efforts can make mined-out areas productive again, theoretically, whatever biodiversity is lost in an area may no longer be restored or brought back, especially if the species are site-endemic, underscoring again the importance of establishing baseline data before any activity that will disturb or destroy the ecosystem. She said the Philippines is rich in plant species with a lot of potential pharmaceutical or medicinal value. “Once these are lost, we also lose

the opportunity of benefiting from these plant species,” she said. She said there are also plant species that grow only in a particular area because of the soil nutrient or microbes in the soil. “Once these soil are disturbed, we may not be able to grow back or restore these species,” she said. According to Lim, some site-endemic species happen to thrive in mineralized areas or areas targeted by mining companies. The DENR-BMB, she said, is willing to help mining companies plan rehabilitation activities to restore local vegetation that will bring back the biodiversity that was lost because of mining activities. However, she said, to better plan biodiversity conservation or restoration activities, there should be a baseline data to start with. “So we really need to have a baseline data so that we will know what are the species we need to plant to restore biodiversity,” she said. “If they want to effectively restore, we need to know first what we stand to lose. We can provide them technical support and expertise on that.”

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AseanTuesday BusinessMirror

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Tuesday, July 5, 2016 A5

Indonesia’s Lembong sees Brexit vote as a wake-up call for Asean 1B baht

Thai Wacoal expanding reach in Southeast Asia

wo Saha Group subsidiaries, Thai Wacoal Plc. and President Bakery Plc., have announced a combined 2.4-billion-baht investment to expand domestically and in Asean this year. Thai Wacoal, the maker of Wacoal lingerie, is spending 900 million baht, the biggest outlay in its 46year history. Boondee Amnuayskul, the company’s chief executive, said Thai Wacoal recently set up a joint venture, called G Tech Material, to handle raw materials for lingerie. Wacoal Corp. of Japan and its two partners together hold a 60-percent stake in G Tech Material, with Saha Pathana Interholding Plc. and Thai Wacoal owning 19 percent each, and Boonsithi Chokwatana, chairman of Saha Group, holding 2 percent. “With the move, we will become the world’s largest raw-material supplier for Wacoal lingerie in the future,” Boondee said. “With this, our sales will grow by 10-fold from 4 billion baht last year.” Thai Wacoal makes 20 million pieces of lingerie a year to serve the domestic market and exports to the rest of Asia, as well as the US. Thai-made lingerie will be exported to Europe in the near future when Wacoal Corp. can make its presence in that market. Thai Wacoal is also building a lingerie factory in Myanmar, which is due to start production in September. The output from the Myanmar facility will serve the Thai market and be exported worldwide in the long term. Meanwhile, Petcharat Anantawichai, director and senior manager of accounting and finance at President Bakery Plc., said the company is interested in setting up a factory in an Asean country to increase its export sales, which currently account for only 1 percent of total sales. Vietnam and Cambodia are two potential choices. If the plan is finalized, the company will spend about 1 billion baht on the new Asean factory. In the second half of this year, the company will spend about 1.5 billion baht to install new machines at its factory in Bangkok’s Bang Chan district to expand production. Its revenue will grow by 9 percent, from 7 billion baht last year. Teerada Ambhanwong, managing director of O.C.C. Plc., the cosmetics marketing arm of Saha Group, yesterday set up a joint venture called

The amount of planned investment of Thai Wacoal in its proposed new Asean factory

Mayflower Saha Thailand with 10 million baht in registered capital to operate an integrated tourism business in Thailand. Mayflower Travel Group, a leading travel service operator in Malaysia with 56 years of experience, holds a 49-percent stake in the joint venture and 51 percent belongs to Saha Group. Initially, the new company will provide corporate travel, airline and hotel reservations for individuals and organizations and will later expand to provide other services. “It’s the first time Saha Group has expanded into the tourism business,” Teerada said, adding that the company expects 66 million baht in revenue in the first year of operation. Meanwhile, the government is considering imposing another measure to encourage large corporations to lend a hand to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong says. The measure would allow the big players to request tax deductions on expenses for helping SMEs. “The measure will be considered by policy-makers in the next few weeks,” Apisak said on Friday at the MAI Forum 2016 hosted by the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI). An assisting company can claim its expenses for helping SMEs and request a tax deduction of one or two times higher than normally expensed items, he said. Examples of items that can be booked as expenses are providing advice on how to improve accounting standards, supporting SMEs with computer software and programs, or being a loan guarantor. Previous government measures to help SMEs cost 350 billion baht. These measures included loan guarantees, soft loans and special privileges for new entrepreneurs. The government is focused on developing and assisting SMEs, as there are up to 2 million operators in the segment. MCT

he United Kingdom vote to leave the European Union (EU) should be a wake-up call for the Asean to make trade agreements more in touch with the needs of working people and not projects of the elites, Indonesia’s Trade Minister Thomas Lembong said.

Having already lifted tariff barriers, with nontariff barriers inside the 10-nation bloc set to be removed by 2025, Lembong, a former investment banker, urged regional leaders to spend more time and energy with the public. “I worry that within Asean, there is a similar danger that Asean becomes a project of the elites, and we don’t spend enough time, money and effort socializing it to the people,” Lembong said in a text message. “Philosophically, Brexit should be a wake-up call to us, trade ministers, to make economic-community agreements, trade agreements and regulations more explicitly pro-people, and rely less on so-called trickledown to eventually take care of the working classes and the vulnerable,” Lembong said. Often criticized for being too slow to integrate, consistently missing deadlines and dithering on removing costly logistics barriers, Asean has long suffered in comparison to the EU. Yet, the adoption of a less stringent timetable for integration, and avoiding decisions on thorny issues, such as allowing the free movement of people, could actually help maintain Asean unity.

No rush

Asean’s Director of Community Affairs Lee Yoong Yoong said that with the broader impact of Brexit still an unknown, the British vote reinforced the fact that Asean should keep the speed of integration moving at its own pace. “We do our integration at our own pace, at our own speed. We do not worry what the West or the Europeans tell us to do,” Lee said in an interview. “One of the lessons drawn from

Brexit should be a wakeup call to us, trade ministers, to make economic-community agreements, trade agreements and regulations more explicitly pro-people, and rely less on socalled trickle-down to eventually take care of the working classes and the vulnerable.” —Lembong Brexit, not just from an Asean angle, is that you can’t ignore the sentiment on the ground,” Lee said. “This is why Asean has always focused on how with this approach, this exercise, we can benefit the people. We want to form a community first, we want to make sure that everybody is progressing at the same time.” With Asean representing 630 million people living in an economy with a GDP of $2.5 trillion, and annual trade rising 10 percent last year to $2.28 trillion, including trade valued at $228 billion with the EU, Lee said Brexit would affect future

LEMBONG

free-trade negotiations between Asean and the EU. “We have to negotiate some of the FTA with the UK by themselves, because they are no longer part of the EU,” Lee said. “Asean has expressed the intention to resume talks for Asean-EU FTA before Brexit. With Brexit happening, we want to see what would happen in Europe first before our policy-makers can adopt the next step.”

Significant risk

Yet, there is still the significant risk of a negative Brexit impact for Asean, said Bilahari Kausikan, a Singaporean ambassador-at-large, who says that integration is always easier in good times than bad. “In so far as Brexit makes the world economic environment more uncertain and difficult, it will indirectly impact on Asean’s integration efforts by making the political conditions for integration more difficult,” Bilahari said. Adding that Asean always strove to have good relations with the EU and wished it well, Bilahari said he saw the EU more as a “source of negative examples” than a model. “Only the EU deluded itself that it was a model. We have always thought that the EU model was unrealistic,

indeed utopian,” he added.

Integration hurdles

China’s expansion into the South China Sea has also emerged as a major hurdle to further Asean integration. “This surprise outcome [in the British referendum] is such an eye-opening development for all of us in Asean that we cannot assume regional cooperation will continue to progress in a positive linear upward trend,” Termsak Chalermpalanupap, a researcher at the National University of Singapore’s Centre for International Law who recently retired after 20 years of service at the Asean secretariat, said in an e-mail. Established in 1967, the Asean secretariat in Jakarta is today staffed by only 300 people, compared to the nearly 33,000 employees working for the European Commission in Brussels. “Over the years, the EU has deteriorated from an idealistic grand European design for peace and prosperity into a more or less intractable, unaccountable bureaucratic mess with internal dictatorial tendency,” said Ei Sun Oh, a senior analyst with Singapore’s Institute of Defence & Strategic Studies. Bloomberg News

Asean still divided on South China Sea dispute as tribunal decision nears

ive judges of a United Nations tribunal will deliver on July 12 their landmark ruling on South China Sea disputes—and Beijing is already dismissing a potentially unfavorable outcome. The Permanent Court of Arbitration will decide on a 2013 case filed by the Philippines, which asked the court to declare China’s territorial claims that encompass most of the South China Sea invalid because they infringe upon the country’s own 200mile exclusive economic zone. The Philippines turned to the tribunal after China effectively seized control of Scarborough Shoal, a tiny uninhabited reef off Luzon Island, following a tense standoff with Philippine vessels. Since then, China has built eight artificial islands on top of land features, most of which are normally submerged at low tide, and constructed airfields and military installations. C h inese Foreig n Minist r y Spokesman Hong Lei said that the tribunal was “established on the basis of illegal conduct and claims of the Philippines,” and has no jurisdiction over the case. The United States called on China and rival claimants to avoid provocations and exercise restraint, and use diplomacy.

New phl leader tackles China

Philippine President Rodrigo R.

Duterte took oath as diplomats and officials looked for clues on how he intends to deal with China after the UN tribunal’s ruling. Some hints came on his first day in office. During a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Foreign Secretary Perfecto R. Yasay Jr. said he was not in favor of issuing a strong statement if the tribunal rules in the Philippines’s favor. He said China could potentially “dig in and put us to a test.” If that happens, he said, “there is no point for us to yell.” China sees an opening in Duterte and wants to settle the issue with the Philippines directly, without outside arbitration. Duterte’s predecessor Benigno S. Aquino III angered Beijing when he initiated the arbitration and invited large numbers of US forces back to the Philippines. According to a Philippine official, the Chinese ambassador has worked hard to repair damaged relations with Manila and told Filipino diplomats Beijing would extend an invitation to the new president to visit China within the next six months. Duterte himself said he wants to open direct talks with China. He said he asked US Ambassador Philip Goldberg whether Washington will support the Philippines in case of a possible confrontation with China. Duterte suggested that a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the allies does not automatically oblige

foreign ministers to avoid offending China, which hosted the meeting. Initially, all the Asean foreign ministers agreed on the text of the joint statement expressing concern that the South China Sea disputes eroded trust and increased tensions and could undermine peace and security.

US beefing up forces in the Pacific

In this May 1 photo, an illuminated globe shows the South China Sea at a museum in Pathumthani, Thailand. AP

Washington to immediately help the Philippines. He said he asked Goldberg in a recent meeting, “Are you with us or are you not with us?” adding that Goldberg responded, “Only if you are attacked.” In Washington, the State Department said the US-Philippine alliance is “ironclad” and the US would stand by its treaty commitments.

Asean remains split Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, a China ally, spoke against the Permanent Court of Arbitration, further dividing the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Speaking during the ruling party’s anniversary, Hun Sen said he was against “any declaration by Asean to support the decision of the Perma-

nent Court of Arbitration in relation to the South China Sea disputes.” “Efforts by some countries outside the region to mobilize forces against China would bring negative impacts on Asean and peace in the region,” he was quoted as saying. Last month Cambodia and other pro-China Asean members Lao PDR and Myanmar withdrew their support for a tough statement by Asean

With an eye toward the South China Sea, US forces are planning to deploy a second Navy-Marine amphibious group in the region beginning in 2019. According to Lt. Gen. John Wissler, commander of Marine Corps Forces Command, the presence of the second Amphibious Ready Group in the southern Pacific—in addition to Japan-based forces in the East China Sea—would allow multiple 90-day patrols covering the entire Asia-Pacific region. China has accused Washington of turning the South China Sea into a powder keg and says the US should stay out.

Last word

“The Unclos [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea] gives us the exclusive right over 200 [nautical miles]. If I go there using that privilege of mine, would that be an attack against China or an offense against China?” President Duterte said. AP

A6 Tuesday, July 5, 2016

The World BusinessMirror

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Republicans need unifying Amid election chaos Aussie leader convention, chairman says urged to resign

ASHINGTON—As the head of a party turned upside down by its nominating fight, Reince Priebus says Republicans need, “more than ever,” to have a unifying convention this month. “Given the drama that we’ve had…I think now, more than ever, the role of the convention to assist in the unification of the party is going to be extremely important,” Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in an interview. No convention in the past few decades has generated the kind of uncertainty this one has, because of an unconventional and polarizing nominee, lingering resistance to Donald Trump within the party, the decision of some party figures to stay home, the decision of some corporate sponsors to stay away and the possibility of unruly protests in the streets. Priebus declined to talk in detail about the convention program and planning, which is not yet final at this late date. But he discounted forecasts of upheaval in Cleveland. “There is not going to be any chaos at the convention. I mean, we have incredible security,” Priebus said. On the political side, “the delegates aren’t interested in chaos. Having arguments over platform and rules is not chaos. It’s what parties do.” Priebus said the party was making progress toward unity, but “the more bruises that people take in during the primary process, the

longer it takes to heal.” Asked about the continued refusal of some in the GOP to back Trump, he said, “I think any time Republicans take a position against a presumptive nominee, they’re simply aiding and abetting the opponent.” That is a different view than the one voiced by his friend and fellow Wisconsinite, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has endorsed Trump but has also declined to criticize GOP colleagues in the House who have refused to do so. “I wouldn’t tell a person to do something that they believe violates their conscience,” Ryan said in an interview last month. “I’m not going to hold an individual person’s decision against them.” Priebus said, “It’s going to take some people longer than others” to support the GOP nominee. “I’m fine with that as long as in the end they come together and realize that another four years of [President Barack] Obama through Hillary Clinton is not a good future for our country.” Priebus said the goals of the four-day convention that starts on July 18 are to “unify the party, tell the story of Donald Trump and make sure that we take action that strengthens the party for years to come.”

The program will resemble in many ways those in the past, he said, but with an “infusion” of Trump’s own approach and vision of what a party convention should look like. “It’s going to be probably a happy medium between the two…the traditions of what people expect, and also some of things that Donald Trump wants to see happen,” he said. Despite the fact that most polls show Trump trailing Clinton, Priebus said he was not worried about Trump’s standing at this point in the race, and that “we’re exactly where we need to be.” “Analyzing the outcome of November in June is a fool’s errand,” Priebus said. “I wouldn’t be doing this job if I wasn’t optimistic. I am optimistic. I think Hillary Clinton’s going to lose and the Republicans are going to win.”

Six-point-star tweet

Meanwhile, a campaign imbroglio over another Donald Trump tweet—this one invoking imagery said by his detractors to be anti-Semitic—made its way onto one of the Sunday network news shows. Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, Trump’s recently fired campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, disputed any anti-Semitic connotation. He attributed the criticism to “political correctness run amok.” At issue was a tweet from Trump on Saturday that depicted a photo of Hillary Clinton, superimposed over $100 bills, with a six-pointed red star bordering these words: “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” The same image had been posted anonymously earlier on a message board that features a litany of falsehoods, crude insults and anti-Jewish hatred. Mic.com first reported on the message board post. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, deleted

$100

The bills where a photo of Hillary Clinton was superimposed with a sixpointed red star bordering these words: “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!”

his tweet a couple of hours later without explanation and replaced it with an image that swapped the star for a simple circle. He had come under swift criticism from, among others, Erick Erikson, a conservative Atlanta radio host and blogger who memorably disinvited Trump from a Republican event last August. “A Star of David, a pile of cash, and suggestions of corruption. Donald Trump again plays to the white supremacists,” Erickson tweeted on Friday. Asked for comment by CNN, Lewandowski said that Trump’s original message was “a simple tweet,” adding: “You can read into things that are not there. This is a simple star.… It’s the same star that sheriff’s departments across the country use all over the place to represent law enforcement.” Lewandowski, who departed Trump’s campaign on June 20 and is now a paid commentator for CNN, also chided news organizations while further defending his former boss. “That’s the mainstream media trying to attack Donald Trump for something that really isn’t there,” Lewandowski said. “They put up a new tweet with a circle. The message is the same.… The message is that Hillary Clinton is corrupt.” TNS

Economic crisis bares hunger in Venezuela

Pedro Hernandez (left) and his friend Luis Daza pick up tomatoes from the trash area of the Coche public market in Caracas, Venezuela. At Coche, even once middle-class Venezuelans made desperate by the country’s economic collapse have taken to sifting through the trash to resell or feed themselves on discarded fruits and vegetables. AP/Fernando Llano

ARACAS, Venezuela—Kelly Vega says she lost 30 pounds in three months as she focused on feeding her 6-year-old daughter rather than herself. “We are eating two meals a day. If we eat breakfast, there’s no lunch. If we have lunch, there’s no dinner,” she said. This socialist country is suffering from severe food shortages that are making it hard to get enough to eat, even though Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world. Government officials blame the shortfalls on right-wing business owners hoarding products to sow chaos, while their detractors say it’s the re-

sult of chronic economic mismanagement. At the same time, food production and imports are down and inflation is high. Some Venezuelans who had given up produce as an unaffordable luxury are now turning to urban farming to get vegetables back into their diets. With the help of a governmentsponsored urban-farming campaign, the head of the newly created Ministry of Urban Agriculture, Lorena Freitez, hopes home gardens will make up 20 percent of the food supply by 2019. “Urban agriculture will cushion the effects of the shortages. Cities will not be so dependent on imports, and we

will make great strides in food sovereignty,” she said. Now, amid the narrow roads and crumbling shacks of one of South America’s largest slums, a careful look yields something unexpected: a carefully tended tomato plant and a bush of basil leaves. The family members growing the plants hope that in a few months, they’ll be eating vegetables again. A team of researchers from three leading local universities found that 12 percent of the people in Caracas skip meals. Researchers say that is a sharp increase from a few years ago, when the price of oil had not yet crashed, and many

Venezuelans still found it consistently easy to get the food they needed. “The thing is, Venezuelans aren’t used to this,” said Central University professor Marianella Herrera. Francisco Salazar, head of a community council that works in Caracas slums, says he and his neighbors are growing beets, black beans, lettuce and dozens of other vegetables in a large community garden. But he worries it won’t be enough. “We don’t have flour, we don’t have pasta, we don’t have rice,” he said. “What we have is a Band-Aid that’s not going to really solve the problem.” AP

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Australian opposition leader Bill Shorten react at the end of a leaders debate hosted by Facebook Australia and News.com.au in Sydney on June 17. Lukas Coch/Pool Photo via AP

YDNEY—With Australia’s government in chaos, amid a dramatic national election that failed to deliver an immediate winner, the country’s opposition leader called on Monday for the prime minister to resign, dubbing him “the David Cameron of the southern hemisphere.” The dig by opposition leader Bill Shorten comes as the country faces up to a month of uncertainty, while officials scramble to count the millions of mail-in and remaining ballots that will determine who, if anyone, won Saturday’s knife-edge election. With about a quarter of the votes left to be tallied, neither Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s conservative Liberal Party-led coalition nor Shorten’s center-left Labor Party had secured the required 76 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives to form a government—raising the prospect of a dreaded hung parliament. “Mr. Turnbull clearly doesn’t know what he is doing. Quite frankly, I think he should quit,” Shorten told reporters. “He has taken this nation to an election on the basis of stability. He has delivered instability.... The bloke is not up to the job.” Shorten mocked Turnbull for assuring voters that sticking with the coalition was the safer, steadier choice, amid the global chaos prompted by Britain’s decision to exit the European Union and British Prime Minister David Cameron’s subsequent resignation. “Mr. Turnbull tried to capitalize on the Brexit vote and say therefore, because of what happened in England, you had to vote for him in Australia,” Shorten said. “He Brexited himself. This guy is like the David Cameron of the southern hemisphere.” Turnbull was facing fierce criticism from all sides on Monday for his decision to call a rare early election. Most analysts had predicted the race would be tight, but few had anticipated it would be this close: Labor and the Liberals were in a virtual tie, raising the possibility that neither will end up with enough seats to form a majority government, resulting in a hung parliament. That would force the Liberals and Labor to try to strike alliances with independent and minor party lawmakers in a bid to form a minority government. If no alliance can be forged, the government could end up calling yet another election—a possibility sure to frustrate politically weary Australians who have endured five changes of prime ministers in as many years. Turnbull, who is pinning his hopes on mail-in and early ballots that traditionally favor the conservatives, said he remained quietly

confident of an eventual victory, and his coalition could indeed still win by a slim margin. But the strong comeback by the Labor Party had many questioning whether Turnbull could hang onto his job, even if his party is reelected. Mobbed by reporters outside his Sydney home on Monday morning, Turnbull ignored a question about whether he was still confident of his leadership, telling journalists simply that “the counting continues.” As of Monday, Australian Broadcasting Corp. election analysts—considered among the most reliable—were predicting that Labor and the coalition were tied at 67 seats each and minor parties were leading in five seats. Another 11 seats were in doubt. Counting by the Australian Electoral Commission was on hold until Tuesday, with Turnbull warning that the ultimate result may not be known until the end of the week. The electoral commission said it may take up to a month. With the possibility of a hung parliament looming, Turnbull and Shorten both said they had contacted the five independent lawmakers who could make up a minority government, if needed. Two of those—Tasmania state independent Andrew Wilkie and Victoria state independent Cathy McGowan—said on Monday they had yet to commit to either party. Independent Senator Nick Xenophon said he had spoken with both leaders, describing the phone calls as simple, “G’day, let’s keep in touch and see where the dust settles” conversations. “I still think it’s likely that Malcolm Turnbull might just get across the line with a one-seat majority,” Xenophon told Melbourne radio station 3AW. Shorten declined to elaborate on what any Labor deals with the independents might involve, but vowed to work with all lawmakers in a bid to restore order to the fractured parliament. “We will work with the Liberals, we will work with the crossbenchers and the minor parties because this country, and this parliament, is too important to fall foul of needless partisanship,” he said. “But we won’t compromise our principles.” The lack of certainty wrought by the election continues an incredibly volatile period in Australian politics, with Monday’s front page headline in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph aptly blaring “CHAOS REIGNS.” The election result comes as frustrated Australians have watched as internal party squabbling and fears over flagging poll ratings have prompted both Labor and the Liberals to oust a series of leaders in rapid-fire succession in recent years. AP

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Tuesday, July 5, 2016

France eyes pressuring Britain over migrants

ARIS—Concern about immigration and a wish for stricter border controls were important factors in Britain’s vote to leave the European Union (EU) last week.

But the mayor of Calais in northern France hopes the neighbor’s decision to quit the bloc can have a reverse effect and eventually help unravel a deal that has kept migrants attempting to reach Britain trapped on the French side of the English Channel. The French-British bilateral Touquet Treaty was signed in 2003 with the aim to stop migrants from crossing the channel. It effectively moved Britain’s southern border to northern France, allowing British police, customs officials and their sniffer dogs to operate around Calais. Bilateral deals aren’t legally affected by a British exit from the EU and French leaders haven’t shown any appetite to undo the Touquet Treaty for now, but Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart hopes they can use the June 23 referendum result to gradually start chipping away at the deal and squeeze more concessions out of Britain in its hour of vulnerability. Because of the agreement, Calais’s economy and image have suffered, Bouchart said. A fortress-like defense system has been mounted against the thousands of migrants, from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea and elsewhere, living in dire conditions in a Calais slum camp and nearby towns as they try to hop into freight trucks headed to Britain, via the Channel Tunnel or the huge ferry port. High barbed wire fences stretch along the urban landscape, trees and bushes have been razed to eliminate hiding spots and flashing police

$111M

The amount France pressured Britain to give in order to help secure Calais and house some migrants

lights illuminate the night sky. “We can’t take it anymore. We don’t want it anymore. We’re sick of it,” Bouchart said on Wednesday after she and other regional officials met with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to discuss the next steps after Britain’s EU vote. Cazeneuve noted that chucking the treaty would require a two-year notice and would further worsen the humanitarian situation in Calais. He said it would encourage smugglers attracted by easier passage across the channel, risk an increase in deaths of migrants trying to cross and add an extra burden on the hundreds of French police posted around Calais. However, he suggested the referendum result could help France put more pressure on Britain to help out. “We’ve already increased cooperation in a tough dialogue and the choice of the British on June 23 must make us become still tougher,” Cazeneuve said without elaborating. He said he was seeking a meeting this fall to discuss the issue with regional officials and his British counterpart, Theresa May— a contender to become new prime

A migrant makes a phone call from the outskirts of the migrant camp outside Calais, France, on February 22. Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart shares the dream of thousands of migrants massed in her city on the English Channel—she wants them to leave for Britain. But undoing a French-British treaty that keeps them trapped on the French side of the border is a pipe dream. AP/Jerome Delay

minister after David Cameron’s resignation. Britain has never been part of Europe’s travel-free Schengen zone, and has tried to protect its borders from illegal immigration via other EU states. Amid an exceptional migrant influx since 2014, France pressured Britain into pumping more than €100 million ($111 million) into helping secure Calais and house some migrants. Numerous adjustments have been made to the Touquet Treaty, and France may now push for more. “We want some arm wrestling

around a table with the new British government that will replace Cameron’s team in the fall,” said Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart, who is also vice president of the northern region. She wants “to clarify the Touquet accords...we want at least fairness, sharing, a refugee camp opened in Britain. We want the British government to assume its responsibility.” President Francois Hollande has said it “makes no sense” to put the agreement in doubt under the pre text that Britain has voted to leave the EU, instead suggesting finding

ways to “improve the situation.” But even if Hollande’s government doesn’t pull out of the border treaty, an eventual successor could. The Socialist is in political difficulty ahead of presidential elections next year and some leading conservative candidates are already complaining about France’s role as a depot for migrants. Popular far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is actively campaigning to leave the EU, the euro currency and the borderless Schengen zone. One potential conservative can-

didate, former Prime Minister Alain Juppe, said this week it’s “obviously necessary” to reconsider the treaty. “It was true before Brexit,” he said on BFM-TV. “It is even truer today.” Fear alone should be enough to prompt the French state to rethink the Touquet Treaty, suggested Xavier Bertrand, conservative president of the northern region. Small militia-like groups have already attacked migrants in recent months, and “we don’t want one day to have clashes between Calaisians and migrants,” he said. “It’s that we want to avoid.” AP

Water shortages threat to Modi’s ‘Make in India’ Russian oil exports set for record

n a steamy May morning in Ballari, a former British military outpost in southern India, the handful of workers still employed at Bachal Lal Varma’s jeans-washing factory sit on the dusty street outside with nothing to do. Though their shift began more than an hour ago, they can’t start work until a water tanker shows up. A well that normally supplies Varma’s business is almost parched, making it necessary for him to spend 5,000 rupees ($74) a day—more than three times his daily profit—to buy water and stay open. “I will try to continue as long as I have the courage,” Varma said. As he waits for monsoon rains to replenish groundwater, he holds out hope that Karnataka’s state government will soon provide a direct water supply to his factory. The distress among Ballari’s small garment-makers signals a long-term threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans to turn India into the world’s next big manufacturing powerhouse. Competition for water is only set to grow in the next few decades, increasing costs and risks for companies looking to heed Modi’s call to “Make in India.”

Higher risk

India is home to nearly a sixth of the world’s population but gets only 4 percent of the Earth’s fresh water. Already more than half of Asia’s third-biggest economy faces high water stress. By 2030, demand is expected to outstrip supply by about 50 percent, according to the Water Resources Group. The dearth of water may deter companies from setting up production facilities in India, according to Anette Andersson, a Stockholm-based fund manager at SEB Investment Management AB who manages $366 million in assets. “If nothing else, the risk premium has to be higher,” she said. Modi’s government recognizes the problem. Last year the federal government required all companies that use groundwater to obtain permission for the first time. In April Environment Minister Prakesh Javadekar said India would aim to reduce industrial water

Jean factory in India Bloomberg News usage by half in the next five years using the latest technology to reuse, recover and recycle water.

Wasting water

Yet so far, it’s hard to see anything changing. The reasons for this are fairly simple: Water costs next to nothing and enforcement is weak. “Because you get it for almost free you tend to misuse it,” said Damandeep Singh, director at CDP India, which says it holds the world’s largest database of corporaterelated water information using disclosures from companies such as Coca-Cola Co., Ford Motor Co. and Nestle SA. “Appropriate pricing of water is possibly the best way to ensure it is used judiciously.” In India water is cheap mainly for political reasons. Politicians don’t want to irk either voters or businesses who contribute to election campaigns. While individual factories have taken initiatives to save water, not much is happening on the ground, according to Shekhar Chandra, deputy director of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, which calls itself the nation’s largest business group. Part of the reason, he said, is “a huge gap as compared to international standards.”

Industry targeted

“There’s a lot of scope for improvement and the industry is already working on

that,” he said. “From a regulatory side, things have not been tied in to an extent that all industries come on board.” In times of shortages, factories are often the first to get hit. Although industry accounts for only 8 percent of India’s water use, authorities are reluctant to cut the more than 80-percent that goes to irrigation and domestic use. One of the worst droughts in decades this year prompted Maharashtra state to cut water supply to industry by as much as 50 percent. Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. shut a crude unit in southern India, and NTPC Ltd. closed down a thermal plant in the eastern part of the country. While all companies are now required to get approval for water use, local pollution control boards usually only take action against them if villagers complain. In a high-profile case in 2014 Coca-Cola Co. scrapped plans for a $24 million factory due to permit delays after farmers protested.

Sustainability efforts

Coca-Cola has a sustainability page on its India website to show its efforts on water replenishment, reduction and recycling. Kamlesh Kumar Sharma, a Coca-Cola spokesman, declined to comment further. Representatives of Ford and Nestle didn’t respond to e-mails seeking comment. Hindustan Unilever Ltd., India’s larg-

est consumer-goods maker and a unit of Unilever Plc., started a foundation in 2010 to promote water conservation. It has helped conserve 200 billion liters of water so far, according to the company. “Given the magnitude of the problem, the emphasis must be on sustainable and scalable solutions,” Hindustan Unilever said in an e-mailed response to questions. In Ballari, which sits between Goa and Chennai in India’s south, villagers once stitched uniforms for soldiers of the colonial British Indian Army. Some 3,000 textile companies now employ about a fifth of the district’s workforce, mainly to make low-cost jeans that are exported to the US, Middle East, Australia and Europe.

ussian crude exports are on track to set a record this year, which is intensifying competition in Europe as Iran boosts shipments to the region. Exports rose 4.9 percent to 5.55 million barrels a day in the first half of the year from the same period in 2015. Russia’s output in June climbed 1.14 percent from a year earlier to 10.843 million barrels a day, with increases every month since July 2014, according to data from the Energy Ministry. “If production remains steady, then it will likely be a record year for exports,” said Christopher Haines, head of oil and gas at BMI Research. “This should mean competition is strong, especially with Iran sending more oil into southern Europe.” Russia, the world’s biggest energy exporter, signaled in April it would boost oil production and shipments after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries failed to adopt a plan to ease a supply glut, in part because Iran didn’t want to participate. The Persian Gulf nation has moved quickly to increase output and regain customers in Europe after sanctions on its exports were lifted in January. Russian Urals crude, which is similar to Iran’s flagship blend, was the main beneficiary when Iran was barred from selling oil in Europe in 2012 because of its nuclear program. Since sanctions were lifted, Iranian exports have doubled to about 2.1 million barrels a day, with shipments to

Europe of 445,000 barrels a day in May, compared with about 600,000 prior to the imposition of sanctions in mid-2012. “As far as market share wars, everyone’s aware of the efforts Middle Eastern producers are putting into expanding their presence in the markets where they haven’t typically operated, such as Eastern and Central European refineries,” said Artem Konchin, an oil analyst at Otkritie Financial Corp. “The same can be said about Russia’s drive to gain a bigger footprint in Asia.” Russia is now on track to surpass Energy Minister Alexander Novak’s recent estimate of 252 million tons (5.05 million barrels a day) of exports and forecasts of as much as 255 million tons Novak’s first deputy Aleksey Teksler made in April. Shipments reached a record of 253.9 million tons in 2007, according to Energy Ministry data. Tax incentives have encouraged producers to increase crude output and upgrade refineries. Fuel oil production has been declining since the beginning of the year on the back of higher export duties, falling to 4.29 million tons in May compared with almost 6.1 million tons in January, according to the energy ministry’s website. Lower profitability in domestic refining has freed up more crude for export, Ildar Davletshin, an oil analyst at Renaissance Capital, said by e-mail. Bloomberg News

Next generation

Varma and other business owners are banking on a new pipeline under construction that will bring more water from a river 10 miles away, eliminating the need to pay for private water tankers. Even so, the shortages are another reason that the sons and daughters of garment makers in Ballari want to leave the industry, said Hare Ram, a father of three who owns Sony Jeans Washers and Readymade Garments, one of the city’s oldest units. “I’m not able to scale up my business because of lack of resources,” Ram said. “How can you make in India if there is no water?” Bloomberg News

Russian oil drilling and pumping operations at Russian Tatneft OAO oilfield in Almetyevsk City in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. It is the sixth-largest oil company in Russia. Bloomberg News

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Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Suicide bomber hits Area near U.S. Consulate in Saudi Arabia

UBAI, United Arab Emirates—A suicide bomber carried out an attack early on Monday near a US diplomatic site in the western Saudi city of Jiddah, according to the Interior Ministry. The ministry said the attacker detonated his suicide vest when security guards approached him near the parking lot of a hospital. The attacker died and two security men were wounded with minor injuries, according to the ministry statement, which was published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Some cars in the parking lot were damaged. Interior Ministry Spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki was quoted in the statement as saying the attacker caught the attention of the security guards, who noticed he was acting suspiciously at an intersection on the corner of the heavily fortified US Consulate in Jiddah, located by the Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital. Most of the consulate’s staff had reportedly moved offices to a new location. The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed there were no casualties or injuries among the consular staff. The embassy said it remains in contact with Saudi authorities as they investigate the attack. No one immediately claimed responsibility for attack. The Interior Ministry did not specify if it there were indications the bomber intended to target the US diplomatic compound, saying an investigation was under way to determine his identity. A 2004 al-Qaeda-linked militant attack on the US Consulate in Jiddah killed five locally hired consular employees and four gunmen. The three-hour battle on the compound came amid a wave of al-Qaeda attacks targeting Westerners and Saudi security posts. More recent, Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State (IS) group attacks that have killed dozens of people. The extremist Sunni group views the Western-allied Saudi monarchy and government as heretics. Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. In June the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks had taken place in the kingdom in the last two years. Local affiliates of the IS group have targeted minority Shiites and security officials. Monday’s attack comes just days before the end of the holy month of Ramadan, during which observant Muslims fast daily from dawn to dusk. The US Embassy regularly issues advisory messages for US citizens in Saudi Arabia. In a message issued on Sunday and another one issued after the attack on Monday, the embassy urged Americans to “remain aware of their surroundings, and take extra precautions when traveling throughout the country.” It also advised citizens to “carefully consider the risks of traveling to Saudi Arabia.” AP

Deadliest terror attack in Iraq in a year

Attack kills 142 in Baghdad

Iraqi firefighters and civilians carry bodies of victims killed in a car bomb at a commercial area in Karada neighborhood, Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday. Bombs went off early on Sunday in two crowded commercial areas in Baghdad. AP/Khalid Mohammed

AGHDAD—A devastating truck bombing on a bustling commercial street in downtown Baghdad killed 142 people early on Sunday, brutally underscoring the Islamic State (IS) group’s ability to strike the capital despite a string of battlefield losses elsewhere in the country.

It was the deadliest terror attack in Iraq in a year and one of the worst single bombings in more than a decade of war and insurgency, and it fueled anger toward Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. When al-Abadi visited the site of the suicide blast in the city’s Karada district, a furious mob surrounded his convoy, yelling expletives, hurling rocks and shoes and calling him a “thief.” Many Iraqis blame their political leadership for lapses in security in Baghdad that have allowed large amounts of explosives to make their way past multiple checkpoints and into neighborhoods packed with civilians. Karada, a mostly Shiite section, is lined with clothing and jewelry stores, restaurants and cafés. The blast struck during the holy month of Ramadan, with the streets and sidewalks filled with young people and families after they had broken their daylight fast. Eleven people were missing and 187 were wounded, authorities said. Many of the victims were women and children who were inside a multistory shopping and amusement mall. Dozens burned to death or suf-

focated, a police officer said. IS swiftly claimed responsibility in a statement posted online, saying the organization had targeted Shiites. The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of the statement, but it was posted on a militant web site commonly used by the extremists. A second bombing early on Sunday on another busy commercial street in a Shiite-dominated neighborhood, this one in east Baghdad, killed five people and wounded 16, authorities said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Hospital and police officials provided the death tolls and spoke on condition of anonymity. Iraqi forces, supported by US-led coalition air strikes, have secured a string of victories against IS over the past year and a half, retaking the cities of Tikrit, Ramadi and Fallujah, which was declared fully liberated from the extremist group just over a week ago. But IS has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to carry out largescale operations in territory removed from the frontline fighting. Iraqi officials have repeatedly linked the operation to retake Fal-

lujah to improving security in and around Baghdad, citing the large numbers of bomb factories uncovered in Fallujah, less than an hour drive west of the capital. However, within Baghdad, security forces that screen for explosives at the ubiquitous checkpoints in and around the city often rely on electronic wands that have been repeatedly discredited. And security across the capital is fragmented. Baghdad is handled by an array of armed groups that are allied with the government but also loyal to political parties or militias and often do not coordinate or share information. By early Sunday evening, the crowd at the Karada site had grown, but the yelling had largely ceased. Exhausted family members sat on sidewalks silently awaiting news of missing loved ones as others began to hang freshly printed death notices for the police officers and shop owners killed. Young people lit candles on street corners. Karim Sami, a 35-year-old street vendor in Karada, was just leaving work when the blast shook the ground beneath him. He said he saw a fireball rise from the blast site and immediately began trying to call his family and friends, but none of his calls went through. Hours later he discovered one of his friends had been killed, one was wounded and another was missing. “We are in a state of war,” Sami said, but “the security can’t focus on the war [against IS] and forget Baghdad.” It was the deadliest bombing in Iraq since July 2015, when a truck bombing in eastern Diyala province killed at least 115 people. While the US-led coalition conducts police training in Iraq as part of the battle against IS, the vast majority of resources go toward fighting the extremist group on the frontlines.

187

The number of people who were wounded in the suicide bombing

US Army Col. Christopher Garver said that, while the coalition and Iraq are concerned about the Islamic State’s insurgent abilities, the current anti-IS effort “is more of a conventional fight.” Before announcing the operation to retake Fallujah in late May, al-Abadi faced growing unrest sparked in part by anger at the state of security in the capital. In one month Baghdad’s highly fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and diplomatic missions, was stormed twice by antigovernment protesters. Al-Abadi issued a statement on Sunday condemning the attack and describing the loss of life as a “painful tragedy” that “robbed Iraqis of the delight of their victories against the reprehensible [IS group] in Fallujah.” “These attacks only strengthen our resolve to support Iraqi security forces as they continue to take back territory from ISIL [Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant], just as we continue to intensify our efforts to root out ISIL’s terrorist network and leaders,” White House National Security Council Spokesman Ned Price said in a statement, referring to IS by an alternative acronym. At the height of the extremist group’s power in 2014, IS had driven the government from control across nearly one-third of Iraqi territory. Now the militants are estimated to control only 14 percent, according to the prime minister’s office. AP

After the defeat of Islamic State, sectarian tensions rise in Iraq’s Fallujah

ALLUJAH, Iraq—A highway overpass in Fallujah is plastered with Shiite banners, graffiti and posters of militia leaders, a virtual shrine to victory over the Islamic State (IS) group in this majority Sunni Muslim city. The fight to wrest Fallujah from IS control appears to have inflicted considerably less damage to the city’s infrastructure than past battles. But scenes like this have the potential to undermine the military’s success and hamper the broader fight against IS by

reigniting the sectarian tensions that helped fuel the militant group’s rise in Iraq. Fallujah, 65 kilometers west of Baghdad, was declared liberated from IS over a week ago. It has mostly been calm since, unlike other parts of Iraq. On Sunday, a devastating truck bombing on a bustling commercial street in downtown Baghdad killed 115 people, brutally underscoring IS’s ability to strike the Iraqi capital despite battlefield losses elsewhere.

Once a town made wealthy by trade and industry, after the US-led invasion of Iraq Fallujah became the epicenter of an insurgency against US forces and the militant opposition to the Shiite-dominated central government. While it was under IS control, Iraqi officials repeatedly pointed to Fallujah as a source of the car bombs and other explosives used to attack Baghdad and other areas from the front-line fight. On June 25, Iraqi forces retook the city,

which had been held by IS since 2014. In a bid to reduce sectarian conflict and prevent abuses, Iraq’s military said the governmentsanctioned Shiite militias participating in the fight would not enter the center of Fallujah. But days later, Shiite militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashed, were seen walking openly in the streets. The special-forces commander overseeing the Fallujah operation, Lt. Gen. Abdul Wahab al-Saadi, declined to comment on these sightings. But he said the symbolic

value of the city for both Iraqis and IS militants made the liberation of Fallujah an especially sensitive operation. The highway overpass, in particular, has become emblematic of Fallujah’s bloody sectarian battles. A year ago, it was the scene of the brutal killing of an Iraqi soldier by IS. Images released by the militants show Mustafa a-Athari, a Shiite from Sadr City, being paraded through town before he was hanged from the overpass as crowds of residents cheered. AP

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4 Palestinians wounded in clash with Israeli troops

AMALLAH, West Bank—Four Palestinian youths were wounded in clashes early on Monday with Israeli forces who were demolishing the West Bank homes of two assailants’ families, a Palestinian health official said. One of the four was seriously wounded, Ramallah hospital director Ahmad Bitawi said. The Israeli military said troops were in the Qalandiya refugee camp demolishing the homes of the families of two Palestinians who stabbed and killed an Israeli near Jerusalem’s Old City last December. During the December attack, the assailants were shot and killed by Israeli guards, and a second Israeli died after apparently being shot mistakenly by the police in the confusion. During Monday’s demolitions, riots erupted and Palestinian demonstrators opened fire on soldiers, the army said. Soldiers tried to disperse the crowd using “riot dispersal means” and then opened fire toward the “main instigators,” the army said in a statement. The clash came after a few days of increased violence. On Friday a Palestinian gunman ambushed a family traveling in a car in the southern West Bank, killing an Israeli man and wounding his wife and two teenage children. The day before, a Palestinian teen stabbed a 13-year-old Israeli-American girl to death as she slept in her bedroom in a West Bank settlement. The attacks prompted Israel to send hundreds of troops to the area and impose a closure on the Hebron district, where many of the recent attacks have originated. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Israel will reduce the amount of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians each month, saying it would offset money Palestinian officials give to families of attackers. Over the past nine months, Palestinians have carried out dozens of stabbings, shootings and attacks using cars against civilians and security forces, killing 34 Israelis and two Americans visiting Israel. During the same period, Israeli troops, as well as some armed civilians, have killed about 200 Palestinians—most of them said by Israel to be attackers. Israel says the violence is fueled by a Palestinian campaign of incitement, and a glorification of attacks by Palestinians on social media. Palestinians say the violence stems from frustration at nearly five decades of Israeli rule in territory they claim for a state. AP

Bangladesh mourns dead in hostage crisis

HAKA, Bangladesh—Bangladesh’s prime minister visited a stadium on Monday where the bodies of three of the 20 victims were taken after a weekend attack in the capital, while security officials questioned some of those who had been rescued as they searched for information on the possible masterminds. An official involved in the investigation said authorities were still holding five of the 13 people rescued on Saturday morning when commandos stormed the restaurant in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone, killing six of the attackers and capturing one. Those detained include a Canadian citizen of Bangladeshi origin, as well as a Bangladesh-born British citizen, he said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to the media about the ongoing probe. He would give no other details of their identities, but said authorities were looking into their backgrounds and questioning their family and friends as well. The attack—the worst convulsion of violence yet in the recent wave of deadly attacks to hit Bangladesh—has stunned the traditionally moderate Muslim nation and raised global concerns about whether it can cope with the increasingly strident Islamist militants. That the attackers targeted a popular restaurant in the heart of the diplomatic quarter of Bangladesh’s capital signaled a shift in militant tactics. Previously, most attacks were carried out by gangs of young men wielding cleavers and machetes and hacking into their victims before fleeing. AP

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Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Jordan eager to reach nuke deal with US

MMAN, Jordan—Jordan is eager to reach a nuclear cooperation deal with the United States after a long impasse over uranium enrichment, and both sides appear ready to compromise, the kingdom’s nuclear chief said.

An agreement would give Jordan access to US technology, including small modular reactors that could fit well into the country’s fledgling nuclear energy program, said Khaled Toukan, chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission. For now, the centerpiece of Jordan’s program is a $10-billion deal with Russia for two larger nuclearpower reactors, to be built by 2025. Toukan acknowledged in an in-

terview that financing isn’t locked in yet and that Jordan is still looking for a third partner. The probability of the two reactors being built is “70 [percent] to 75 [percent]...it is not 90 percent,” he told The Associated Press on Sunday in his office on the edge of the capital of Amman. He said some large firms approached by Jordan expressed interest and that he believes the problem can be solved.

Even if the Russia deal fell through, “we will still pursue nuclear, but maybe not the big reactor, maybe we will have these small modular reactors,” he said. In any scenario, an agreement with the United States could be key. “It is important for us to have the US on board,” Toukan said. “Even if we build the Russian reactors, you might have small modular reactors for water desalination in the future.” Jordan launched its nuclear program almost a decade ago to address the country’s worsening energy woes. Jordan has to import fossil fuels for 98 percent of its electricity, demand keeps rising and the country buckles under growing debt from energy imports. Jordan needs a mix of alternatives, including nuclear energy, said Toukan. Domestic critics say Jordan rushed into a risky program it cannot afford at the expense of developing solar and wind energy, and that Toukan’s commission lacks trans-

$10B

The value of the current centerpiece program of Jordan, a deal with Russia for two larger nuclear-power reactors to be built by 2025

parency and oversight. Toukan ignored warnings by experts voicing safety concerns, said Saed Dababneh, a former vice chairman of Jordan’s nuclear regulatory commission. “There is now, in my view, only one way...to prove that our concerns are justified, that is for a disaster to happen,” Dababneh wrote in response to a request for comment. US-based expert Chen Kane said nuclear energy may not be the right

fit. “I think nuclear energy is a way too expensive, risky and unpredictable option” for Jordan, said Kane, director of the Middle East program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Toukan said Jordan has submitted to stringent international oversight, including a review by a highlevel International Advisory Group. In its report, to be published later this month, the panel said Jordan is on a “well-planned path” to acquiring nuclear energy, including training local scientists at a domestic research reactor. The panel said Jordan could do more to bring the public on board and should get more international experts involved. Financing of the two power reactors appears “somewhat nebulous” and the 2025 deadline for completing two reactors is “overly optimistic,” the report said. Meanwhile, revived nuclear talks with the US could open the door to alternatives, such as the smaller reactors.

Talks stalled after Jordan refused to drop the right to pursue future uranium-enrichment capabilities, which can have peaceful and military uses. As part of nonproliferation efforts, the US insisted that Jordan forego that right, as the United Arab Emirates previously did in a deal with Washington. Jordan, which has some uranium deposits, said it should not be asked to close the door to future enrichment for peaceful purposes. Toukan suggested that there is room for compromise. “We are trying to find an intelligent way in the middle to more or less give the US assurance about nonproliferation, safeguards and so on, but, at the same time, not relinquishing rights under international treaties,” he said. The US Embassy in Jordan said it hopes a deal can be reached that reflects the US-Jordan partnership and a “shared commitment to nuclear nonproliferation, safety and security.” AP

Ambition, backstabbing, betrayal Fireworks, franks, festivities: Americans mark July 4th How a Tory leader is elected

he United Kingdom’s rejection of the European Union (EU) has thrown the country’s two biggest parties into open warfare. Among the political casualties were Prime Minister David Cameron and the man many thought would succeed him, Boris Johnson. The Conservative Party is now electing a new leader and prime minister. He or she will have to take some of the most difficult decisions faced by any premier since World War II. Here is a guide to the leadership contest:

Who is running to be Conservative leader?

Fireworks shoot from the Hatch Shell during rehearsal for the annual Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on the Esplanade in Boston on Sunday. AP/Michael Dwyer

EW YORK—From fireworks soaring above the Washington Monument to hot dogs being downed in New York City’s famed frank-eating contest, Americans aren’t shy about celebrating their nation’s birthday. Many places are rolling out longestablished Independence Day traditions on Monday (even if some of those traditions aren’t as longestablished as they sound). Some communities are trying new things to mark the holiday, even as others are paring back. Some Fourth of July highlights from around the country:

In the nation’s birthplace, a parade and a parkway party

In Philadelphia—where the founding fathers approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776—the national birthday party runs all day. It kicks off at 10 a.m. with a reading of the document and an event honoring everyday heroes, with celebrity guest Leslie Odom Jr., a Philadelphia native who plays Aaron Burr in the Broadway musical Hamilton. Then comes the holiday parade, which includes Miss America 2016 Betty Cantrell. Next up is a five-hour party with free entertainment on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The celebration continues with a five-hour concert with performers, including Odom

and singer-songwriter Leon Bridges. Fireworks close out the day.

A final White House 4th of July for Obama

It’s the last Fourth of July at the White House for President Barack Obama and his family, and they’re having some people over: military families and two of the president’s favorite performers, singer-songwriter Janelle Monae and rapper Kendrick Lamar. The Democratic president and his wife Michelle invite military families each year for a barbecue, concert and view of the fireworks on the National Mall. This year they’ll also hear Lamar—Obama said his favorite song of 2015 was the rapper’s “How Much a Dollar Cost”—and Monae, who was a guest at a White House state dinner in May.

New York: Franks and fireworks

American as apple pie? Fuhgeddaboudit. The frankfurter rules the Fourth in New York City, where the annual Nathan’s Famous hotdog eating contest marks its centennial this year—well, not really. Nathan’s itself dates to 1916, but showmen behind the hot-dog competition have acknowledged they made up a long-told story about the contest beginning that year, too. It actually started in the 1970s. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut set the

world record in 2013, when he polished off 69 dogs in 10 minutes. His run of eight straight victories ended last year when he lost the Mustard Yellow International Belt to Matt “The Megatoad” Stonie. They and others will face off on the Coney Island boardwalk, with the chowdown showdown televised on ESPN3. Later on Monday, Macy’s is promising its biggest Fourth of July fireworks display since the millennium show of 2000. The show over the East River features more than 56,000 pyrotechnic shells, 22 different hues and the New York debut of “pyro-writing” in the sky, all synchronized to patriotic tunes performed by the United States Air Force Band. The fireworks are televised on NBC, along with performances by country singer Kenny Chesney, pop band 5 Seconds of Summer, pop singer Meghan Trainor and others.

fireworks finale to Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.”

Boston’s blowout

July fourth, California-style

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to line the banks of Boston’s Charles River to watch the fireworks there, with millions more across the country watching live on CBS. The celebration features pop stars Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato, country group Little Big Town and, as always, the Boston Pops Orchestra, which drives home the climactic

Connecticut city’s new celebration

New Haven’s newly renovated Q Bridge will be illuminated in red, white and blue at night, becoming Connecticut’s first bridge to feature commemorative lighting. The lights are capable of projecting 6 miles in a clear night sky over what’s formally called the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge. It’s among the most heavily traveled segments of the northeast corridor between New York and Boston. Meanwhile, the state capital of Hartford canceled its July Fourth festival and fireworks show, which is billed as Connecticut’s largest Independence Day celebration, though usually held a week after the holiday. The mayors of Hartford and neighboring East Hartford said they couldn’t justify the roughly $100,000 expense while facing painful spending cuts. There’s a something-for-everyone approach to fireworks in Los Angeles, where displays are planned at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Hollywood Bowl, Grand Park near City Hall and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, among other places around the massive Metro area. San Francisco holds a large fireworks display over the San Francisco Bay. AP

There are five names on the ballot and any of them could drop out at any time. The deadline to come forward elapsed last Thursday so there won’t be any new names cropping up. Three backed “Brexit,” or Britain exit from the EU, and two backed “Remain.” All of them say that the referendum result needs to be respected. Home Secretary Theresa May is the favorite and one of the most closely watched of the early battle will be to see how she fares against Justice Secretary Michael Gove, who faces accusations of having betrayed Cameron and Johnson to get to this point. May’s weakness is that she backed the Remain campaign, albeit somewhat reluctantly. A front-runner hasn’t won the Tory leadership election since Anthony Eden in 1955, so expect the unexpected. Energy Minister and prominent Brexiteer, Andrea Leadsom, may yet ride the storm and emerge triumphant.

When does the voting begin?

The contest begins in earnest on Tuesday. Conservative lawmakers will cast their votes in a secret ballot and the candidate with the least support will be discarded. Others might feel compelled to drop out. There will be further rounds of voting until only two candidates are left—and a lot behind-the-scenes bartering and maneuvering can happen in 48 hours.

How long can this drag on?

Not indefinitely. Voting will take place twice a week—every Thursday and Tuesday. When the field is down to two, the final choice goes to party members eligible to vote in a postal ballot. The result will be announced on September 9.

Britain is in crisis. Do we have to wait until September?

Not necessarily. If May—or another candidate—emerges from the first phase of voting with the overwhelming support of lawmakers, the other candidates might all choose to drop out. That would remove the need to go to the party members. Under this scenario, there could be a new prime minister in the next two weeks.

What tactical voting might we see?

One approach could see a candidate try to knock out a feared rival by urging his or her supporters to back someone else in

the first round. May is probably the only one with enough support at this point who could afford to try to take out Gove or Leadsom. However, such wheeling and dealing can backfire. Kenneth Clarke, one of the UK’s most pro-EU politicians, tried this tactic and lost in 1997.

Can I vote?

Not unless you joined the Conservative Party more than three months ago. Tories looked on with some amusement last year as thousands of left-wing activists paid €3 ($4) to sign up as Labour supporters so they could vote in the party’s last leadership election. Committed socialist Jeremy Corbyn won and the party has been gripped by turmoil ever since.

What does the typical Conservative member look like?

Membership of the Conservative Party stands at 150,000—almost 120,000 less than Labour—and near historic lows. Back in 1953, the party reported 2.8 million members. Among registered backers, there is a predominance of males, retirees and the managerial middle class, studies show. The average Tory voter tends to be older, from a more privileged background and more educated.

Will Cameron’s replacement also be PM?

Yes. It is a feature of Britain’s parliamentary democracy that the prime minister is the leader of the party that can command a majority in the House of Commons, the UK Parliament’s lower house. The Conservatives have 330 lawmakers in the 650-seat lower chamber. Once a victor emerges, he or she will be invited to visit the Queen and form a government.

How nasty can this get?

It’s no coincidence that the original “House of Cards” was a British series, broadcast on the BBC in 1990. In a sign of how bitter things have become, Rachel Johnson, Boris’s sister, described Gove as a “political psychopath” in a column for the Mail on Sunday after torpedoing her brother’s ambitions. Even the ‘Iron Lady’ was not spared. Margaret Thatcher’s downfall after an 11-year rule was devastatingly swift and sudden—and incidentally was also due to a bitter split about Britain’s future in Europe.

Why are they called Tories?

The word “Tory” has had various meanings through British history. It derives from a Gaelic word meaning “outlaw” or “thief” and was originally used to describe Irish rebels who opposed Oliver Cromwell’s conquest of Ireland in the 17th century. It evolved into a general term to describe strong supporters of the monarchy, including during the American Revolution. It has commonly been used to describe the Conservative Party since 1832. Bloomberg News

A10 Tuesday, July 5, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

The Philippine flag and the yellow ribbon

nbeknown to most, the symbol of the “yellow ribbon” has been around for about 400 years since the English civil war. The antiCatholic Puritans formed an army to overthrow the king and establish a parliamentary government and wore yellow ribbons onto the battlefield. Since then, it has been used as a symbol of protest against injustice or anger over a particular situation from the sinking of a river cruise ship— Dongfang zhi Xing—in China to suicide awareness in New Zealand. Often, the yellow ribbon was used by women to show loyalty to husbands and sweethearts away at war. The song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ’Round the Ole Oak Tree” became a global hit in 1973, and 10 years later supporters of Benigno S. Aquino Jr. tied yellow ribbons along the streets of Metro Manila to welcome him home. The color yellow was a symbol of the anti-Marcos movement and became associated with the Aquino family and by extension, the Liberal Party. Pictures of President Duterte and former President Benigno S. Aquino III standing side by side on the day of the President’s recent inauguration showed Mr. Duterte with a Philippine flag pin on his barong while Aquino sported the yellow ribbon. We can certainly appreciate the significance of this symbol in Philippine history. It is both a reminder of what happened in the past and a sort of memorial to those times and the people that shaped those events. In July 2014, though, then-President Aquino asked the people to wear yellow ribbons if they still supported him amid his falling approval ratings. Henri Tajfel was a British social psychologist and a prisoner of war fighting the Germans as a member of the French army during World War II. His research centered on how ordinary people could adopt extreme prejudices as happened in Nazi Germany. It has since become known as “in-group favoritism” or “in-group–out-group bias.” Taking a number of strangers and separating them into two groups with different colored shirts created prejudices and favoritism. Through a series of scenarios, group members behaved viciously toward the out-group when competing for limited resources. In-group members rated each other more positively on looks, intelligence and skills than members of the out-group. When members of the two groups were mixed with new different colored shirts, the original favoritism and bias still remained even when the two new groups had to compete. If you have ever watched the television series Survivor, you have seen this in-group–out-group bias happen. While we should not forget the past, it is time to put the colors away. It is time to unite under one flag and discuss issues with only one goal—a better Philippines or a better life for all Filipinos.

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Dominguez and Tetangco: Best men at the helm Manny B. Villar

THE Entrepreneur

hile the world’s biggest economies are still trying to recover and stabilize following the 2015-2016 turmoil led by the stock-market slump in China last year, the prospects for the Philippine economy continue to shine. Thus, it may be said the entry of the new economic team in the Duterte administration could not have come at a better time. I want to mention, in particular, the two men at the helm—newly appointed Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez and second-termer Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. They are both men of integrity, experience and skill. Dominguez is a successful businessman and former CEO of national flag carrier Philippine Airlines. One of the first appointees to the Duterte Cabinet, he also served as agriculture secretary during President Corazon C. Aquino’s time. Tetangco, a career officer at the BSP, was first appointed governor in July 2005 under the administration of President Gloria MacapagalArroyo. Prior to the end of his six-

Buying for the future John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

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year term, he was reappointed to an unprecedented second term by President Benigno S. Aquino III. Thus, Tetangco, who has received global awards as best central banker, will remain BSP governor and head of the Monetary Board until July 2017. With Tetangco and Dominguez at the helm, our economic team will be very stable. I think they can very well provide effective guidance on the country’s economic future. The Philippines is facing persistent problems that prevent economic gains from reaching the majority of Filipinos, or slowing down growth, such as inadequate infrastructure and lack of quality employment. But the brightening prospects should help the economic team succeed in pushing the economy forward at a faster pace. Early last month, the World Bank predicted the Philippines would

aybe you also can remember the joke that was going around back in the “good old days,” that the Philippines could only go up because it couldn’t go any lower. That was a relatively long time ago, but in truth, the concept has not changed much. While the economy has been stronger for most of the 21st century, many situations are almost the same as 15 years ago; some are better and some are worse.

Politicians and people in the Philippines talk about corruption, perhaps, as much as they comment about the weather. Which president’s inaugural speech or State of the Nation Address has not brought up the subject? The go-to source on this issue is Transparency International, which publishes its Corruption Perceptions Index every year. In the year 2000 the Philippines ranked number 70 on the global list. On the Corruption Perceptions Index 2015 the Philippine ranking had dropped to number 95, and this was near the end of an administra-

tion that made fighting corruption its centerpiece. It was not necessarily that the Philippines’s score had gotten any worse. It was that many other nations had gotten better. The Fraser Institute is a Canadian public policy think tank that publishes its annual Economic Freedom of the World index. While the short-term correlation between less government economic control and economic growth is weak, the longer term shows richer countries are more economically free from government interference. In 1980 the Philippines ranked

With Tetangco and Dominguez at the helm, our economic team will be very stable. I think they can very well provide effective guidance on the country’s economic future.

outperform its peers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) this year, despite a weak global economy. In its June 2016 Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank maintains its forecast of a 6.4-percent growth for the Philippines in terms of GDP for this year, and 6.2 percent in 2017 and 2018. The Philippines, according to the international lender, is benefiting from its diversified export markets, low global commodity (like oil) prices and strong domestic demand. During the first quarter of 2015, the Philippine economy grew by 6.9 percent, the fastest among 11 selected Asian economies, including powerhouse China (6.7 percent), Vietnam (5.5 percent), Indonesia (4.9 percent) and Malaysia (4.2 percent). The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said the robust performance in the first quarter increased the chances of achieving the official GDP growth target of 6.8 percent to 7.8 percent for 2016, compared to the disappointing

When we buy something, we buy with positive expectations for the future. We pay more for a pair of shoes that we believe will last and look good down the road. The same is true for a car, a house, or the stock market. at 53 on the Economic Freedom of the World index. This improved to 45 in 2000, but since that time the nation’s ranking has dropped to 67. Again, this is not because the Philippines’s raw score is that bad but other countries have improved more than we have. The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business survey has seen the Philippines go up and down. This issue also has been a priority for some years. In 2007 the Philippines ranked at 113, falling to 148 in 2012. Fortunately, the 2016 ranking places the Philippines at 95. When we buy something, we buy with positive expectations for the future. We pay more for a pair of shoes that we believe will last and look good down the road. The same is true for a car, a house, or the stock market. We constantly talk about “stock

5.9-percent growth posted in 2015. The country’s strengths—remittances from overseas Filipinos, the business-process outsourcing industry, low interest rates, stable financial system and strong domestic market—continue to drive the economy, as well as attract investments. Net foreign direct investments (FDI) breached the $1-billion mark to reach $1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2016, up by 52.1 percent from $850 million in the same period in 2015, according to a BSP report. A separate report showed cash remittances from overseas Filipinos coursed through banks totalled $6.6 billion in the first quarter of 2016, up 4.4 percent compared to the same period last year. The Philippine banking system, which has survived several global financial crises since the 2007 financial meltdown in the United States, remains sound and fundamentally strong. The BSP made this assessment based on the local banks’ capitalization, asset quality and the steady growth of assets, deposits and loans. With the brightening prospects of the economy and its resilience to global shocks, it seems there is no way to go but forward and up. For businessmen, this is the time to take the ride—or be left behind. For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail. com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

price valuations” in comparison to other countries. But the important question is how much more are the general economic conditions going to improve in other places as opposed to the Philippines? In some respects, the Philippines can’t go any lower and can go way up. When the newly inaugurated president says in his first public speech, “I direct all department secretaries and heads of agencies to reduce requirements and the processing time of all applications” that is potentially a big positive economic change. When President Duterte goes on to say, “I order all department secretaries and heads of agencies to refrain from changing and bending the rules of government contracts,” how much better could that be for business? The stock market All-Share index is up 22 percent since the end of February and reached an historic high last month, not on what is happening today but because of buying for the future. E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stockmarket information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

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Responsible mining is doable

Faith and trust in government

Ernesto M. Hilario

ABOUT TOWN

hat happens when someone who has made no secret of her dislike for mining is put in charge of the government department that is supposed to promote, as well as regulate, mining? For one thing, the appointment of Regina Paz L. Lopez as secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) by President Duterte sent mining shares in the stock market into a tailspin for two days before recovering. Big mining companies lost over P25 billion, combined as a result of the market turmoil triggered by Lopez’s DENR appointment. The two-day Philippine Stock Exchange fall meant a stock value loss of P11 billion for Semirara Mining and Power Corp., P10 billion for Philex Mining and P4 billion for Nickel Asia. The Social Security System reportedly lost P2 billion because it owns 21 percent, or a fifth, of Philex. In contrast, at least two energyrelated companies of the Lopezes posted a P17-billion increase in stock value on news of her DENR appointment, with First Gen Corp. (FGEN) gaining P9 billion and Energy Development Corp. (EDC) earning P8 billion at the local bourse. Mining stocks managed to bounce back, however, after Presidential Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella assured the public that the Duterte administration was only against irresponsible and illegal mining, and is “committed to promote a dynamic economy, including responsible mining.” “The fact that she accepted it, it means that she will advocate the position of the President,” he added. “The President is not anti-mining,” Abella pointed out. “He actually supports each and every venture that contributes to the health of the Philippine economy.” Amid the negative reception of investors to Lopez’s appointment, Abella stressed that “responsible mining plays a key role in the Philippines,” and that “the Duterte administration is committed to promoting a robust and dynamic economy with every sector contributing to its growth.” In other words, responsible mining would be upheld by the Duterte administration, with the mining sector applying the rigid standards in minerals extraction practiced in developed countries, like Australia and Canada. Apart from taking an antimining stand, Lopez has also inveighed against coal-fired power plants, even as her family controls companies that directly compete with energy firms providing coal power. Among the Lopezes’ business interests are EDC, which owns geothermal-, wind- and solar-power facilities; FGEN, which owns naturalgas plants; First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH), which controls FGEN; and Lopez Holdings Inc., the parent company of FPH. FGEN is the largest vertically integrated power- generation company in the country through FPH, and EDC is the world’s largest integrated geothermal-plant producer.

L opez’s bi a s aga i nst m i n i ng imperils an estimated $17 billion in capital investments by mining firms in Mindanao alone. This figure does not include the multibillion-peso investments in coal-fired power plants that are similarly endangered, along with the collateral businesses dependent on these industries that employ thousands of workers in the South. President Duterte has em-phasized that his administration wants to achieve inclusive growth by dispersing businesses and promoting growth away from the cities toward the countryside. But if Lopez insists on her crusade against mining and coal-fired power plants, she could well be the single biggest obstacle to the Duterte administration’s push for accelerated countryside development. The mining sector, meanwhile, remains confident that President Duterte would support responsible mining. “President Duterte has made clear his policy in support of responsible mining. All our mining operations are ISO-compliant for environmental managements systems and are world class,” said Gerard Brimo, the president of Nickel Asia. For his part, Jose Bayani Baylon, Nickel Asia’s vice president for corporate communications, said Lopez can channel her “passion” to fight illegal and irresponsible mining. The Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association said it expects Lopez to be fair in her decisions concerning the mining industry. After all, responsible mining firms are strictly regulated by the government, while irresponsible miners, especially the small-scale ones, use illegal and destructive practices. Responsible mining is the key to fuel inclusive growth, particularly in the countryside. Big mining firms undergo a tedious and complicated process of securing approvals and permits from the government to create jobs, and pay not only among the highest taxes, but also royalties, regulatory fees, contributions and mandatory community expenditures. They also have to spend more to build schools and training centers, hospitals and clinics, housing, roads, drainage and street lighting; conduct livelihood workshops; and implement other projects as part of their corporate social responsibility programs. As a case on point, Benguet Corp. allocated P162 million for a health-care facility in the province of Rizal. Atlas Mining, through its subsidiary Carmen Copper Corp., built a birthing center in Toledo City in Cebu, and implemented various projects that provide access to betterhealthservicesandfacilities,quality education, improved infrastructure and enterprise development.

E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com.

Edgardo J. Angara

BusinessMirror Chairman of the Board and Ombudsman

Second of three parts

ne time when he was constructing a building, he did not want to borrow so he offered his lot for sale at P5,000 per square meter. He said that, if you are going to put up a business and had to borrow, be sure it should earn for the amortizations and interests. Otherwise, don’t. The buyer bargained for P4,500. He got irked, knowing his price was reasonable. So he took a loan. After three years, he was able to pay the loan on the construction of the building, which was by then completed. The price of the lot he offered for sale at P 5,000 was sold at P80,000 per square meter!

I told him, “If you are looking for a miracle, don’t look elsewhere, your own life is a miracle. “Why such luck? Why so much blessings?” One reason, I surmise, was his great love for his mother. When his mother was sick, he offered his own life before Jesus, the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, for his mother so that she might live. Though she finally died on December 4, 1962, his faith in God never wavered. He kept on going to Quiapo Church every Friday to the day he died on a Friday. Great was his love for mother that he named many of his buildings after her. Many of his children have the initial “D”. All that he wanted is simply to be remembered as a son who loves his mother dearly. To be an inspiration for all children to love their parents. Another reason maybe for his blessings is his charities. Unheralded. He lived by his saying, “spread the

he central theme of President Duterte’s inaugural speech is how to restore and fortify the people’s faith and trust in the government.

The widespread problems of corruption, criminality in the streets, and rampant sale of illegal drugs are mere symptoms of a virulent social disease—the erosion of faith and trust in the government

and its key institutions. It’s a virus that “dampens the human spirit” and “cuts into the moral fiber of Philippine society.” It has become a serious grievance issue. As suggested by the first

The insurgency situation Cecilio T. Arillo

database

n the 16 months that the late President Corazon C. Aquino ran the government as a dictator, after abolishing the 1973 Constitution and wrecked the entire Marcos bureaucracy, she arbitrarily freed the Communists from prison, including members of the Communist Party of the Philippines’s (CPP) Central Committee and their social-democrat allies, declared a total cease-fire and held peace talks with them.

Among them were Jose Maria C. Sison, CPP chairman, and Dante Buscayno, New People’s Army (NPA) commander, who were placed, respectively, in the custody of the late Joker P. Arroyo, President Aquino’s first executive secretary, and Doña Aurora Aquino, the then-president’s mother-in-law. Sison subsequently escaped to Eastern Europe and then settled in Utrecht, Netherlands, on a passport issued by the Aquino administration, where he relentlessly directed the armed and political struggle against the Philippine government with other members of the CPP Central Committee, who later joined him there. Sison and the key CPP members were convicted by the courts for waging an insurgency war for more than two decades. Their socialist democratic allies were, likewise, imprisoned for exploding bombs and burning shopping malls and hotels that killed innocent people, including American nationals. Worse, the Aquino administration, after issuing Proclamation 2, which granted general amnesty to Communist rebels and their socialist democrat allies (Left of center), employed many of them in her administration, compromised national security and triggered a spate of rebellion in the police and military organizations. Hundreds of these Leftist allies later went back to the hills and elsewhere, and resumed fighting the government.

Paean to Ambassador ALC By Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.)

Tuesday, July 5, 2016 A11

sunshine.” On weekends his office would look like an asilo. Old folks from Namayan, Madaluyong, his place of origin and where he grew up in poverty, would get their “share of sunshine.” One time our parish priest approached me for a sponsorhip of pews (which I mistook for “fuse”). So I readily had him meet with theAmbassador. When they were talking, it was only then that I realized that the priest was asking for donation for pews or church seats. Amba just asked how much? When the priest finally caught up with his breath, he said P700,000. Amba immediately wrote a check. As I was escorting the priest out he said, “Kamuntik na akong himatayin. Ganyan pala ang kaibigan ninyo, nagbibigay agad.” The ancient bells in the Basilica of Taal have not been heard for decades. Through the millions of donations of Amba, those bells are once again

Some infiltrated not only the trade unions but also the schools, the churches, the media and other sectors of society. When Ferdinand Marcos fell from power, the NPA, the guerrilla arm of the CPP, had 16,500 regulars. And none of them could operate at will in Metro Manila. By 1988, it had an ar med strength of 25,200, including 2,500 operating in Metro Manila. Worse, 20 percent of the country’s 42,000 barangays or villages were under CPP-NPA’s influence. Ironically, this was the same year that President Aquino announced in her second State of the Nation Address that “the insurgency was broken.” Between 1988 and early 1992, 78 policemen and military men were systematically assassinated by the NPAs in Metro Manila alone. Only Juan Ponce Enrile Sr. and the reformist officers questioned President Aquino’s unilateral release from prison of the Communists and their allies at the height of the Edsa euphoria. Enrile told President Aquino and her Executive Secretary Arroyo that releasing the Leftists from prison without first requiring them to renounce their own constitution, give up armed struggle and pledge allegiance to the flag would be a dangerous move. Then Army colonel and now Sen. Gregorio B. Honasan, then head of the Reform the Armed Forces

ringing. Humbly he said: “I don’t claim to be a saint. I am a big sinner. But I want to serve my church. I don’t say no if it is for the church.” He has thousands of scholars, including children of his employees and others. Lately, he donated the pope mobiles, including the one he delivered to the Vatican. Another virtue of Amba is his gratitude. One time, he asked me to give attention to a case before my court. Just that. He did not say which party he was interested in. He would tell me that he is not my friend if he asks me something that would compromise me. After I rendered a decision, he told me that the party who won was from whom he borrowed at interest whenever he fell short of capital in his pawnshop. When that man died, he gave his own mausoleum and gave sustenance to the old man’s widow until she also passed away. Of friends, he was tenacious. His

Philippine Trust Index (PTI) of Eon Stakeholders Relations, in the four times the PTI was released since 2011, the government consistently rated among the least trusted institutions in Philippine society. The phenomenon, of course, is not unique here. It appears like a global trend. Erosion of trust in the government and public institutions is behind many of the political upheavals seen all over the world today—including the ascent of Donald Trump in the United States. Established governments are replaced by voters with outsiders. Perhaps, the election of President Duterte is also an example. Despite key reforms and gains made under President Benigno S. Aquino III

When Marcos fell from power, the NPA, the guerrilla arm of the CPP, had 16,500 regulars. And none of them could operate at will in Metro Manila. By 1988, it had an armed strength of 25,200, including 2,500 operating in Metro Manila. Movement, known today as Revolutionary Alliance of the Masses (R AM), said President Aquino merely ignored Enrile’s advice. “Worse,” Honasan said, “Mrs. Aquino was supposed to provide the leadership and a clear direction to the armed services in fighting the Communists, but she chose, instead, to stay in the middle (centrist) and treated the insurgency problem as if it was the sole concern of the individual soldiers.” Recalling that incident, Honasan said: “When President Aquino ordered the military to deliver a string of victories against the communists, I didn’t know whether I should laugh or curse her because she gave us the impression that she was not really serious at all. “For how can we deliver a string of victories when she was sleeping with the Communists and, at the same time, treating the military as her enemies?” Honasan said.

The crime situation

Because of irresolute prevention and a tenuous criminal justice system, drug trafficking, drug abuse, kidnapping and rape reached an alarming situation and had drawn so much fear and apprehension during the Aquino administration. Records at the Supreme Court and the Department of Justice revealed that by October 10, 1998, five years after the reimposition of the death penalty, various trial courts have meted out a total of 748 death penalties, including 422 for rapists. Of the 422 rapists, 153 (mostly drug addicts) picked their own daughters.

media people should know who his friends are. One time, his powerful and popular radio program was attacking a personality. He told them that the subject of their tirade is his friend. When they persisted, he removed them all. He told me that if you are afraid of your subordinates, you don’t deserve to be the boss. To him, no one is indispensable. In my case, he worked hard to get my promotion to the Court of Appeals (CA). He got my appointment signed. But the CA was not for me. It was he who was so devastated and on the verge of tears. Though he did not enjoy traveling, he knew that I do. He traveled abroad many times. One time, when we were abroad, he was fuming mad because no one was answering the phone in his office. I reminded him that it was past midnightin the Philippines. He chuckled and went back to his favorite

and his consistently high approval ratings, very little was achieved toward restoring faith and trust in the government as a whole. Unlike traditional inaugurals, President Duterte did not get into the details of his broad policy goals. What he did, though, was to order all department secretaries and heads of agencies to reduce the processing time of all the people’s applications or requests with them—in short, unburden the ordinary Filipino of an unhelpful, sometimes oppressive, bureaucracy. That could very well be the first decisive step to restoring the people’s faith and trust in their government.

E-mail: angara.ed@gmail.com.

In 1972, when Marcos declared martial law, and up to the time he was deposed in 1986, there were only 20,000 or more users of different kinds of prohibited and regulated drugs. In President Aquino’s time, specifically in early 1987—when methamphetamine hydrochloride, or shabu, known also as the poor man’s Cocaine or Ice in the United States, was introduced in the Philippines by foreign gangsters, mostly Chinese—the number of drug users reached 480,000 and many policemen, according to the late Sen. Ernesto Herrera, were getting involved in drug-related activities. In 1972 Marcos enacted Republic Act 6425, or the Dangerous Drugs Act, subsequently resulting to the discovery by the military of a heroin laboratory and the arrest of Lim Seng, a drug trafficker and manufacturer, who was executed in public by firing squad. Since 1972, the law went through four amendments (in 1972, 1980, 1982 and in 1993) to eradicate the scourge of shabu and other dangerous substances introduced into the market by traffickers and manufacturers. Although the amended law was envisioned to be an effective tool against drug traffickers, manufacturers and users, the government lost its focus to stifle the problem by putting more premium on the quantity of drugs seized rather than on the criminal act and intent of the drug traffickers, or both. What really compounded the situation was the abolition of the death penalty, which started in the Aquino administration and then implemented by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the misplaced reaction and outcry of some condescending politicians, churchmen and cause-oriented groups. Retrospectively, this is what President Duterte faces today and, so far, he has taken the right direction and needs the full support of the citizenry. To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@ gmail.com.

pastime—drinking. He would tell me that he loves to drink. But I would tell him that his drinks do not love him. Even as a friend, I did not overlook his failings. Who does not have one? And I would tell him. He did not try to justify himself. But it seems that for his every fault he had a virtue to compensate. He may never be thebest of husbands, but certainly no child can ever have a better father than him. He may have a foul mouth, but his heart is sincere. He may overlook many things but he never forgets to help those in need. Even when hewanted revenge on the one he once loved who did him so much troubles, hurt and shame, yet he found forgiveness to that person. And so I am not surprised that he was showered with so many blessings. To be concluded

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Infra projects may take time to evaluate—Pernia

By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

he National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said reducing the time needed to approve and implement projects by half can significantly contribute to the Duterte administration’s goal of cutting red tape. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director General Ernesto M. Pernia told reporters on Monday, however, the reduction in the time needed to evaluate and implement projects must be done without compromising the quality of these undertakings. “[Cut by half the time needed to approve projects?] If possible. To the extent feasible without sacrificing the soundness and integrity of the projects. That’s important. That’s the objective,” Pernia said. Pernia added that cutting red tape will be at the heart of the discussions during today’s (Tuesday)

meeting of the Development Budget Coordination Committee. He stressed that cutting red tape is crucial for infrastructure projects, since these projects usually take long periods of time to implement. Pernia said energy projects, such as coal-fired power plants, take one to three years to undertake. Other projects, like roads and airports, also take years to complete. “We hope to be able to enjoy the outcomes of these projects even during our term in the next six years, because many of these projects, especially infrastructure

projects, take time. The gestation period is pretty long,” Pernia said. Pernia earlier told the BusinessMirror that Neda is eyeing the review of the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) in a bid to fast track approval for implementationready projects. He echoed the President’s call to cut red tape in government agencies. Pernia said the Neda’s response would be to do the same, including the review of the ICC process, which evaluates and approves big-ticket government projects. Per nia, however, said any changes in the ICC process will have to be consulted with other Cabinet members. Efforts to fast track projects augurs well with the Duterte administration’s aim of increasing infrastructure spending to at least 5 percent of the GDP. Other priorities of Neda in the first 100 days is to craft the Duterte administrations Philippine Development Plan (PDP) or the administration’s socioeconomic blueprint for the next six years. Pernia said the Neda should be able to complete a draft of the PDP in 100 days or less. This will enable the

PALACE REORGANIZES ANTIPOVERTY CLUSTER TO ENHANCE SYNERGY P

resident Duterte on Monday issued Executive Order (EO) 1 reorganizing several agencies that deal with poverty under the office of the Cabinet secretary. This makes the government’s program against poverty properly coordinated. Under EO 1, the following agencies were put under the supervision of Cabinet Secretary Leoncio B. Evasco Jr.: Cooperative Development Authority; Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council; National Anti-Poverty Commission; National Commission on Indigenous Peoples; National Commission on Muslim Filipinos; National Food Authority; National Youth Commission; Presidential Action Center; Philippine Commission on Women; Philippine Coconut Authority; Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor, and; Technical Education Skills Development Authority. Mr. Duterte directed the Cabinet secretary and the said agencies to evaluate the existing povertyreduction programs and formulate a more responsive set of programs to complement the existing ones. “They shall develop specific programs and projects that seek to reduce poverty, improve the lives of the most vulnerable sectors of

We hope to be able to enjoy the outcomes of these projects even during our term in the next six years because many of these projects, especially infrastructure projects, take time. The gestation period is pretty long.”—Pernia

government to present the complete PDP by December 2016. The ICC is one of the seven interagency committees that advise the Neda Board, the highest policymaking body of Neda. The Neda is the ICC secretariat and the Neda director general is the committee’s cochairman. The approval process of the ICC has been revised recently, particularly the process of evaluating public-private partnership (PPP) projects. A policy circular issued in March obtained by the BusinessMirror, showed that the PPP Governing Board is mulling over to extend the project evaluation process of the ICC Technical Working Group to 15 working days from the initial 10 days. This policy circular amended the 2014 memorandum circular issued to then PPP Center Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao, former Neda Director General Arsenio M. Balisacan. The 2014 memorandum circular stated that project appraisal for PPPs will no longer go through the ICC Technical Board but through a technical working group, which will evaluate PPPs in 10 working days. However, it can be noted that, since the 2014 memorandum circular, several PPP projects have suffered delays and underwent rebidding. These projects include the Light Railway Transit Line 1 South Extension and, more recently, the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike Project. Both were initially approved by the ICC and Neda Board in 2014. Other PPPs that have encountered problems recently are the Davao Sasa Port project and the Cavite-Laguna Expressway, which were also approved in 2014.

society; promote social education of the people to allow them to participate in effecting real change by keeping watch of the affairs of the government; and listen to people’s feedback,” the EO said. “They shall conduct consultations with LGUs [local government units] for the proper allocation of resources and program implementation and recommend courses of action for the government to adopt to achieve a sustainable system of meeting the needs of the people, while ensuring resiliency for vulnerable communities,” it added. The new EO also consolidated the functions of the Office of the Appointments Secretary and the Presidential Management Staff under the Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go, who shall exercise oversight functions over the said offices. An Events Management Cluster was also created to ensure collaboration among the following agencies in preparing and managing presidential engagements: Presidential Management Staff; Presidential Security Group; Office of the Chief Presidential Protocol; Media Accreditation and Relations Office, and Radio-Television Malacañang.

David Cagahastian

Emerging equities advance anew on inflows after Brexit

merging-market stocks, ,headed for their best five-day gain since March on speculation investors pulling money from Europe after last month’s Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, will buy developing-nation equities. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index last week erased losses incurred after Britain voted to leave the European Union in a June 23 referendum, and has climbed to its highest level in more than three weeks. Nine of 10 industry groups advanced on Monday, with raw-material stocks rallying the most. A gauge of currencies held a four-day advance, while South Korea’s won fell on speculation the central bank will intervene to curb its recent gains. Equity benchmarks rose across Asia amid expectations that central banks in Europe and Asia will add to monetary stimulus to counter any contagion from Brexit, while bets that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates this year have evaporated. Global funds have poured about $760 million into emerging stocks so far this month, as futures traders project the Fed will probably stay on hold through 2017. “We advise our clients to begin accumulating stocks now, as the concern about Brexit has already faded and most investors view its impact on emerging markets will be much less than those in Britain and Europe,”

To the point That said, whoever wants to write for, or write to, Duterte had better learn the rules of short and clear messaging, because the man will listen only to someone who talks like him. The original Mad Man, David Ogilvy, the greatest public-relations man, has good advice on how to do that—with a little help from me. You see, he wrote, “the better you write, the higher you go in [the President’s] esteem, because people who think well, write well. Woolly-minded people write wooly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches. Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn it. Here are 10 hints. ■ Read books on good writing. There are a few classics. Read your favorite one three times. ■ Write the way you talk, or should talk, which is to say naturally.

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said Jitra Amornthum, the head of research at Finansia Syrus Securities Pcl. in Bangkok. “Emerging markets may also begin to attract some funds that will probably continue to move out Europe. And there are expectations of more monetary stimulus from most central banks.” The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.5 percent to 843.41, the highest since June 9, as of 12:28 p.m. in Hong Kong. It has climbed 6.1 percent in five days, the most since the period ended on March 7, and is up 6.2 percent this year. The gauge trades at 12.1 times the 12-month projected earning of its members, compared with a multiple of 15.8 for the MSCI World Index that is almost flat in 2016. The Shanghai Composite Index led gains in Asia with a 1.8-percent jump, set for its biggest since May 31, with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. contributing the most to Monday’s advance. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland shares traded in Hong Kong rose for a third day, climbing 1.3 percent, headed for its highest close since June 10. India’s benchmark rose 0.7 percent, while equity gauges in Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia gained at least 0.5 percent each. Bloomberg News

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And I would add, speak to the point. Do not beat around the bush. Beating around the bush, as the expression goes, is another way of saying you’re masturbating. ■ Use short words, like “kill,” short sentences, like “I will kill you;” and short paragraphs, like “I will kill you. Go on doing what you are doing and see if I am not serious.” These examples are not David’s but mine. ■ Never use jargon words and expressions like “reconceptualize,” “securitize,” “You are my bosses” or “paradigm shift.” They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass, who never read the context in which such words and expressions first appeared. Although “You are my bosses” is risibly original. ■ Never write more than two pages on any subject, even an inaugural speech. I wrote Cory Aquino’s inaugural speech on the spot on one

side of one napkin at Club Filipino. ■ Check your quotations. I would add, but paraphrase if you are a writing genius to adapt it to your purposes without twisting it entirely out of its proper context. You may, thereby, probably improve the original. ■ Never send a letter or memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning, and then edit it—or throw it away. ■ If it is that important, get a colleague to improve it. ■ Before sending your letter or memo, make sure what you want the recipient to do is crystal clear. And, ■ If you want action, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want, face to face; especially if it is a good thing but extrajudicial. Signed, David and myself. There you go.