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Monday, July 10, 2017 Vol. 12 No. 270

Chinese, Taiwanese lift 5-month tourist arrivals By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM

Special to the BusinessMirror

UBSTANTIAL increases in the number of Chinese and Taiwanese visitors to the Philippines helped power tourist arrivals in the country to reach some 2.9 million in the first five months of 2017.

TRUMP, ASIAN ALLIES SEEK COUNTER TO NORTH KOREAN ‘MENACE’ DURING G20 MEET

@rectomercene

NE can be found using Lek in Tirane, another in Lusaka using Kwacha. Indeed, Filipinos are everywhere: in almost all the 195 countries of the world. An estimated 10.24 million Filipinos are scattered across the globe, from Albania and Algeria (59,036) to Vanuatu (160) and Zambia. About 48 percent of them live permanently abroad, while 41 percent are temporary migrants. About 11 percent are irregular migrants. It is the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) who keeps track of them. The 10 top destinations in descending order are: the US (3,535,676); Japan (237,103); Australia (160,374); Taiwan (108,520); Canada (721,570); the UK (218,126); Germany (65,000); South Korea (63,000); Norway (18,000); and Sweden (13,000), the CFO said. It is said the Filipino diaspora started during the reign of the dictator, Ferdinand E. Marcos, when the country was hit by severe economic depression, lack of job opportunities and political oppression. Thousands of Filipinos desperately seeking better lives for themselves and their families

This July 7 photo shows a Filipina with a foreigner at a queue to the entrance of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 as they prepare to leave the country. Filipino spouses and other partners of foreign nationals comprise the clientele of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. NONIE REYES

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A MBURG, Ger ma ny— Wrapping up his second European tour, President Donald J. Trump searched for consensus with Asian allies last Saturday on how to counter the “menace” of North Korea after its test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. “Something has to be done about it,” Trump said, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a separate meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump said the two were tackling “the problem and menace of North Korea”. The White House said after the meeting with Abe that the US was “prepared to use the full range of capabilities” in defense of Japan. Trump and Abe committed, the White House said, “to redoubling their efforts to bring all nations together to show North Korea that there are consequences for its threatening and unlawful actions”. T he Trump administration

has tried to press Beijing to rein in North Korea, a major trading partner of China, and halt Kim Jong Un’s development of nuclear weapons before they can threaten US territory. Trump has voiced his frustration in recent days that China hasn’t done more, suggesting he may take steps of his own. But during his meeting, Trump told Xi, “I appreciate the things that you have done relative to the ver y substantial problem that we all face in North Korea.” Xi said during the meeting that “sensitive issues remain” in the China-US relationship and more work needed to be done. But he said he had built with Trump a “close contact”. Trump’s extensive slate of meetings with Abe, Xi, British Prime Minister Theresa May and others came on the final day of the annual Group of 20 (G20) summit, which has been marked by violent demonstrations See “Trump,” A2

PESO exchange rates n US 50.6350

2.9M

The total tourist arrivals in the Philippines from January to May Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) also showed the total visitor arrivals from January to May this year rose by 14.4 percent from the same period in 2016. For the second time, however, the DOT failed to report on the visitor Continued on A16

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Dissecting PPP contracts #3: Anticorruption warranty PPP Lead Alberto C. Agra

ne of the longest clauses in a publicprivate partnership (PPP) agreement, or any agreement for that matter, but oftentimes glossed over, is the one on Representations and Warranties. When a party represents, it makes a statement or asserts a fact. When a party warrants, it makes a promise and assures the other party that it will do or not do a certain act. So an “anticorruption warranty” is simply a promise not to engage in any dishonest or unethical behavior or an assurance to be honest and ethical. Continued on A15

Mega Manila gets almost half of govt flagship infrastructure projects–Neda By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

early half of the government’s flagship projects aimed at easing traffic and increasing transportation options will be rolled out in Mega Manila, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda). In its executive meeting with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the Neda said 35 out of the 75 flagship projects of the Duterte administration are dedicated to Mega Manila. The discussions on the flagship projects were conducted as part of the localization of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) in Metro Manila. “It is only timely that we are discussing the PDP—of which, infrastructure development is a key part—as this is the best solution to the heavy traffic that we are experiencing in Metro Manila,” MMDA

It is only timely that we are discussing the PDP—of which, infrastructure development is a key part—as this is the best solution to the heavy traffic that we are experiencing in Metro Manila.”—Lim

Chairman Danilo D. Lim said in a statement released by the Neda over the weekend. Of the 35 Mega Manila projects, around six have been approved by the Neda Board, the highest policy-making body of the Neda, which is chaired by the President. This includes the new configuration of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 North Extension Project, which will be designed to accommodate up to 1.28 million passengers a day. Also approved was a National Transport Policy that will synchronize decisions and

investments among all transportrelated agencies and between the national and local levels. Neda Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Rosemarie G. Edillon acknowledged the need for local government partners to achieve strategies in the PDP. “We hope to enlighten you to craft policies in your areas that will build a solid foundation for inclusive growth, a high trust society and a globally competitive economy,” Edillon said. She added that, fol low ing the adoption of Executive Order

27, the Neda is hopeful that the Metro Manila Council will be more determined to localize strategies set in the PDP. MMDA Director for Metropolitan Planning Josefina J. Faulan said the agency has an ongoing effort to craft the Regional Development Plan (RDP) for the National Capital Region (NCR). Aside from the PDP, Faulan said the RDP will be anchored on Greenprint 2030, MMDA’s own road map for urban development. “We have completed a first draft for NCR’s sectoral assessment that will go into the RDP. We are now conducting bilateral consultations with different sectors as we delve into crafting crucial strategies for developing the country’s capital, guided by the overall Philippine Development Plan,” she said. The executive briefing is part of the agency’s follow-up activities to the PDP launch to engage various sectors to support the PDP’s implementation.

n japan 0.4473 n UK 65.6888 n HK 6.4834 n CHINA 7.4425 n singapore 36.6389 n australia 38.4066 n EU 57.8454 n SAUDI arabia 13.5030

Source: BSP (7 July 2017 )

A2 Monday, July 10, 2017

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O’er hills and seas, Pinoys abroad under CFO watch Continued from A1

took risks and bravely went to strange lands and cultures taking on whatever jobs were available, according to Ted Laguatan, a San Francisco-based Filipino American lawyer. “After the downfall of the Marcos regime, the Philippine economy did not take off as expected,” Laguatan said. “Compared to its Asian neighbors’ robust economies, the Philippines continued to reel from the terrible legacy left by the dictator: massive institutionalized corruption, crony capitalism, bad or weak leadership and a host of other problems—preventing an industrybased economic takeoff.”

Diaspora

AMID low-rise homes in the vicinity of President Quirino Avenue and Osmeña Highway stands a modern building the CFO calls its headquarters. Despite its modernity, the building, whose entirety is being rented

Trump. . .

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by antiglobalization activists. Trump also had a brief, unscheduled meeting with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the situation in Syria. Abe, speaking through a translator, noted that the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region has become “increasingly severe” due to North Korea’s push to develop its ballistic missile and nuclear program. Abe said he wanted to “demonstrate the robust partnership, as well as the bonds” between Japan and the US on the issue. North Korea’s successful test launch of an ICBM was a milestone in its long-term effort to build a missile that could carry

or leased by the CFO, has practically no parking space except for five cars in the basement and 10 more near the entrance. This lack of parking space in a crowded building is the same state of affairs that characterizes the Aseana, under the Department of Foreign Affairs, where Philippines passport are issued. “Maybe because it is cheaper to rent,” the guard offered as an explanation. Most often, clients try their luck and park on the sidewalk, with the tow truck or car clamp not far from their minds. The CFO adopted the International Organization for Migration (IOM) definition of diaspora as members of ethnic and national communities who have left their countries or origin, but maintain links with their homeland. The CFO said there is a need to correct the misconception that all overseas Filipinos are migrant workers. This is not the case since about half of Filipinos residing overseas are actually permanent migrants or legal permanent residents or

a nuclear warhead to attack the United States. The issue was a frequent topic of discussion at the summit, and the White House said earlier that the US, South Korea and Japan were pressing for additional measures against North Korea to demonstrate the “serious consequences” for its latest provocations. The three nations have been calling for “early adoption” of a new UN Security Council resolution and additional sanctions to demonstrate to Pyongyang the consequences of its actions. Bringing China on board is a key part of the plan. The administration wants China to fully enforce international sanctions intended to starve Pyongyang of revenue for its nuclear and missile prog ra ms. But Tr u mp has been dissatisfied with China’s response.

immigrants in the countries where they live, or are spouses of foreign nationals residing abroad. Overseas Filipino workers, on the other hand, fall under the category of temporary migrants whose stay abroad is temporary owing to the employment-related nature of their stay. They are expected to return when their work contracts expire. The CFO said irregular migrants consist of those who are not properly documented or without valid residence or work permits or who may simply be overstaying workers, tourists, pilgrims, or visitors in a foreign country.

Appointee

FORMER CFO Secretary Imelda M. Nicolas has said her agency has more than lived up to its mandate. “Cognizant of the inherent capacity of our people as to shine, as well as survive, even in the most challenging times—we hope that by spreading the news about our diaspora’s potential, as well as their travails—the CFO has not only Earlier in the week, he vented on Twitter that trade between China and North Korea had grown nearly 40 percent at the start of 2017. “So much for China working with us— but we had to give it a try!” Trump officials said later that the president hadn’t given up on the relationship. Trade was also a key part of the discussions. The Trump administration is investigating the possibility of putting new barriers on steel imports based on national security considerations, a move that could target China, which has flooded international markets with cheap steel exports. “Many things have happened that have led to trade imbalances and we’re going to turn that around,” Trump said during the meeting with Xi. Trump added he wanted a new arrangement that is

lived up to its mandate but has elicited the support of and multiplied the stakeholders in this important work of changing the concept of migration into a positive instrument for global and national progress.” The CFO chairman is currently vacant but presently headed by its interim Officer in Charge Director Maria Regina Angela G. Galias. Galias has denied the BusinessMirror’s request for an interview twice. Galias has been with the CFO since its founding in 1980, which gave her 37 years of experience in this kind of specialized job. CFO insiders wish that President Duterte would appoint Galias as chairman instead of giving the post to a friend or kababayan. It would be Galias who would be the giving guidance to the would-be political appointee anyway, they said.

COINCIDENTALLY, when the CFO was founded in 1980, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported the billions of dollars that migrants transfer out of their host

countries through remittances “far exceeded the official development assistance [ODA] from donor states to qualifying countries.” Ivy D. Miravalles, officer in charge of the CFO Migrant Integration and Education Division, explained, “The CFO is not about looking after the welfare of OFWs. The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration [OWWA] and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency [POEA] are the agencies that take care of the OFWs’ welfare.” The CFO is a government agency under the Office of the President but with different clients. It was created under Republic Act 79, tasked to promote and uphold the interests, rights and welfare of overseas Filipinos, and strengthen their links with the Motherland. Its vision is to see a community of well-respected and proudly competitive Filipinos overseas who contribute significantly to the productivity and well-being of the countries where they reside or work while maintaining strong

THE CFO wants to be known as “the Philippines’s premier institution promoting policies, programs and projects with migration and development as framework, for the strengthening and empowering the community of Filipino overseas”. The expanded CFO clientele, according to documents, are the following: ■ Filipino permanent residents abroad; ■ Filipino who have been naturalized in other countries; ■ Filipino overseas who hold dual citizenship; ■ Filipino spouses and other partners of foreign nationals; ■ Descend ants of Fi lipino overseas; ■ Filipino youth overseas; ■ Exchange visitor program participants; ■ Filipino Au Pair; and ■ Migrant workers and their dependents abroad. To be continued

“equitable” and “reciprocal”. Meeting with May, the British leader, Trump pointed to their “special relationship,” and said the two countries were working on a trade agreement. May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump at the White House and he told her he would soon “be going to London” once details were worked out. Independent trade negotiations between the two countries are a possibility as Britain exits the European Union—a move Trump has supported. Earlier, Trump said Saturday he had a “tremendous meeting” with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, his first comments on the talks with the Russian leader. Trump raised the issue of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 elections and discussed plans for a cease-fire agreement in Syria.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last Friday Trump and Putin had a “robust and lengthy” discussion about Russian elect ion i nte r fe re nce but P ut i n denied any involvement. Putin, in a news conference last Saturday, offered his version of events and said he thought Trump believed his in-person denials of Russian meddling. White House officials traveling aboard Air Force One did not dispute that account. Tillerson, who took part in the meeting, said Trump had been “rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point?” In Washington House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi criticized Trump and called his response to the Russian threat “nonsensical and absurdly inadequate.” In a

written statement, she said reports of Trump’s meeting with the Russian leader “leave the American people asking why the president continues to fawn over Putin instead of standing up for the integrity of America’s democracy.” Trump also joined a women’s entrepreneurial finance event, a project spearheaded by his daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump. He lauded his daughter’s efforts to help female entrepreneurs, joking that “if she weren’t my daughter, it would be so much easier for her”. Trump returned to Washington last Saturday evening after the conclusion of the annual G20 meetings. He won’t be stateside for long: The president is scheduled to return to Europe next week to attend Bastille Day celebrations in Paris. AP

Motherland

political, economic and cultural ties with the Philippines.

A.k.a.

PHL. . .

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necessary condition in sustaining our growth trajectory,” Planta said. Under the planned P8.44 tr i l lion wor th Phi lippine Investment Program of the Duterte administration, the gover nment aims to rol l out 75 flagship projects. The Neda earlier said the list will include the 15 projects identified for Chinese financing during the Duterte administration. The projects are estimated to cost $6.96 billion. Three of these projects, the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project, New Centennial Water SourceKaliwa Dam Project and NorthSouth Railway Project (NSRP) will be funded this year. The three projects are estimated to cost $3.44 billion, or some P172.42 billion. The NSRP involves the construction of a 581-kilometer standard-gauge long-haul railway from Manila to Legazpi City in Albay province. The line will also have an extension to Matnog in Sorsogon. Apart from the NSRP, Chinese loans will fund the P18.724 billion worth New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and the P2.696-billion Chico River Pump Irrigation Project of the National Irrigation Administration. The Kaliwa Dam project involves the construction of a dam and conveyance tunnel to supply 600 million liters of raw water to Metro Manila and parts of Cavite and Rizal. The Chico River Pump Irrigation Project aims to irrigate 8,700 hectares and benefit some 4,350 farmers. It will serve 21 barangays in Tuao and Piat in Cagayan and Pinukpuk in Kalinga.

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Preliminary conference on Marcos poll protest vs VP Robredo set on July 11

he Supreme Court (SC) sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) will start the preliminary conference on the election protest of former Sen. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. against Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo on Tuesday. The PET set the preliminary conference after requiring both Marcos and Robredo to pay cash deposits of P66.02 million and P15.44 million for their respective protest and counterprotest. The preliminary conference was originally scheduled on June 21 but the tribunal decided to reschedule on July 11. Marcos is contesting the results of 36,465 clustered precincts in 30 provinces and cities all over the country, citing fraud under three main issues in his protest, namely the “flawed” Automated Election System (AES), the failure of elections in several provinces in Mindanao and the unauthorized introduction by Smartmatic’s Marlon Garcia of a new hash code (or a new script/program) into the transparency server on the day of the elections. Marcos earlier said he decided to file the electoral protest due to the series of frauds, anomalies and irregularities that marred the May 9 elections and that such activities made sure he would lose to Robredo, the vice presidential candidate of the administration’s Liberal Party. Robredo won the 2016 vice presidential race with 14,418,817 votes, or 263,473 more than Marcos, who got 14,155,344 votes. In his protest, Marcos contested the results in a total of 132,446 precincts in 39,221 clustered precincts covering 27 provinces and cities. Robredo filed her answer in August last year and also filed counterprotest and questioned the results in over 30,000 polling precincts in several provinces where Marcos won. She also sought the dismissal of the protest for lack of merit and jurisdiction of the PET. But the tribunal, in a ruling earlier this year, junked Robredo’s plea and proceeded with the case after finding of sufficiency in form and substance in the protest. On June 14 the PET granted the urgent motion filed by Marcos to designate at least three hearing officers who will assist the Tribunal during the preliminary conference on his election protest against Robredo. In a six-page resolution signed by Felipa B. Anama, Clerk of Tribunal, the PET appointed retired SC Associate Justice Jose C. Vitug as the chairman of the panel of commissioners. His members are lawyers Angelito C. Imperio and Irene Ragodon-Guevarra. “The commissioners shall decide unanimously to every extent possible, provided that in the event of failure to reach a unanimous decision, the majority decision shall prevail,” the PET resolution stated. The panel of commissioners, the PET said, shall assist in the reception of evidence pursuant to Rule 55 to 62 of the PET rules. Under the rules, the panel shall set the date for the reception of evi-

dence of all the parties involved in the protest and counterprotest. The same panel shall receive the affidavits of witnesses and hear their direct testimonies of witnesses, as well as their cross, redirect and recross examination. The hearing commissioners also has the authority to rule on the objects made in the course of the cross-examination subject to review by the PET. After the hearing, the commissioners shall submit all the evidence presented, as well as the transcripts of the proceedings before the PET. The PET said the chairman shall receive a compensation of P15,000 per day of hearing or service, while the members shall receive a P10,000 per day of hearing or service. Marcos, through his counsel George Erwin Garcia, said the designation of hearing officers will help the 15-member tribunal in ensure “an orderly, simplified and expeditious disposition” of his electoral protest, which raised three main issues. Garcia said it is most important that a hearing officer be assigned for each cause of action “so as not to muddle the proceedings”, as they intend to present a specific set of witnesses and documentary exhibits per cause of action. The former senator said his petition challenging Robredo’s win “involves not only the adjudication of the private interests of rival candidates, but also the paramount need of dispelling the uncertainty which beclouds the real choice of the electorate.” The first part of Marcos petition was about the AES. He said the vote-counting machines, which was one of the components of the automated system supplied by Smartmatic, have no “demonstrated capability” nor were they ever successfully used in a prior electoral exercise either in the Philippines or in any other country. The second part of his petition consists of the more “traditional" modes of cheating, like vote buying, preshading, intimidation and failure of elections, among others. He specifically asked for the reopening of ballot boxes in each of the 36,465 clustered precincts in Cebu, province of Leyte, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Masbate, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Bukidnon, Iloilo province, Bohol, Quezon Province, Batangas, Western Samar, Misamis Oriental, Camarines Sur, Second District of Northern Samar, Palawan, Sibugay, Misamis Occidental, Pangasinan, Isabela, Iloilo City, Bacolod City, Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City and Zamboanga City. Marcos is also asking the PET to annul the election results in Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Maguindanao where the ballots have been preshaded and recount of 22 provinces and five cities. The third part of the protest focused on the unauthorized introduction by Smartmatic’s Marlon Garcia of a new hash code (or a new script/ program) into the transparency server, as well as the effects brought about by the unauthorized change. Christopher Lloyd T. Caliwan/PNA

Monday, July 10, 2017 A3

Senate leaders inclined to support extension of martial law in Marawi

By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

he Senate is trying to firm up a possible consensus on how senators will vote if President Duterte asks for an extension of martial law in Marawi.

So far, only Sen. Richard J. Gordon gave a categorical “yes” to a possible extension of martial rule in Marawi. Senate Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III is inclined to support the move, while most senators remain undecided and would first want to hear the Executive’s basis for seeking an extension. “Malamang, we’ll support,”

Sotto told the BusinessMirror over the weekend. Other senators, however, said their vote to support or oppose extending martial law in Marawi will depend on whether the Duterte administration can sufficiently justify prolonging imposition of martial rule to crush Maute terrorists holding out in Marawi.

Sen. Francis G. Escudero said he, too, would vote for extension under two conditions. “Yes, if they show that, one, the problem is still subsisting and, two, martial law is still needed to address it,” Escudero said. Sen. Francis N. Pangilinan admitted he could not yet say how he will vote if Malacañang seeks an extension beyond July 22. “I will have to see the justification for an extension before I can say whether I will favor it,” Pangilinan said. Sen. Joel Villanueva said he is awaiting another briefing on the Marawi situation by Duterte administration officials before deciding to vote for martial-law extension. “Not automatic. We have to be briefed again,” Villanueva said in a text message to the BusinessMirror. “There are several elements that

have to be answered before martial law is extended beyond 60 days and the scope of its coverage.” Villanueva added senators are also keen to know “what martial law has accomplished relative to the problem of terrorism in Mindanao”. “What was its impact? Was it effective or not, and why is it necessary moving forward and what are the options if not martial law?” Villanueva asked. Sen. Juan Edgardo M. Angara said senators are still expecting to be updated by the Duterte administration’s defense and Armed Forces officials on the Marawi martial-law situation, as the lawmakers earlier “requested”. “We will ask for a briefing from the military, which is what we also requested after the initial proclamation [of martial law],” Angara added.

BCYF, Deloitte launch CSR Youth Awards 2017

he Benita & Catalino Yap Foundation (BCYF), in partnership with Deloitte Philippines, announced last Friday the opening of nominations for college students and young professionals who have contributed in changing Philippine society. Now on its third year, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Youth Awards 2017 aims to recognize college students and young professionals aged 18 to 39 who have initiated projects with a social impact. Nominations for the Youth Awards, which recognizes young leaders who exemplified citizenship, sustainability or social responsibility, will end on July 22. “We need to provide exemplars [or] people who can actually be role models for society. Exemplars [who are] possible to commit [and] to achieve social impact whether through volunteerism, through entrepreneurship, or innovative efforts to help society,” said Noreen Bautista, BCYF officer in charge for the Visayas. Nominees must hold a leadership position, led an activity for two years, with projects whose impact was validated by proofs. Judges will consider the continuity and viability of projects, net positive impact to the community, and replicability and willingness to share expertise and experience. Deloitte Managing Partner and CEO Eric Landicho cited the importance of advocating social responsibility to the youth, who account for more than 50 percent of the population. “We wanted to promote CSR as a lifestyle among our youth because we firmly believe that the future of our country rests with our youth. And if we really want to move this country forward from a sustainable business,

The Benita & Catalino Yap Foundation (BYCF), Navarro Amper & Co. and Deloitte Philippines officially launched last Friday the 2017 CSR Youth Awards, attended by Louie Amper (from left), risk advisory leader, Deloitte Philippines; Eric Landicho, managing partner & CEO, Deloitte Philippines; and Antonio Yap, founder and chairman, BCY Foundation. NONOY LACZA

we really need to invest in our youth,” he told the BusinessMirror. CSR is the involvement of companies in providing assistance to the members of society that need help in particular aspects, such as education, livelihood and health. BCYF developed personal CSR (CSR 3.0), which stands for citizenship, sustainability and social responsibility for individuals to embody and practice as a lifestyle for society. Clarissa Delgado, CEO of Teach for the Philippines and CSR Youth Awards 2015 winner, said it is the responsibility of those who are privileged to help others to find their own opportunities to help. “We are living in a country with a lot of inequality, so for those of us that have the better deal…it’s your responsibility, as well, to make sure that your kapwa Pilipino and those that don’t have that privilege somehow finish their schooling or get their opportunities themselves or else we

won’t go anywhere as a country,” she told the BusinessMirror. She also noted that most, if not all, millennials have CSR already in their consciousness. It is only a matter of how they will use it, together with their responsibility as privileged citizens, in helping those who are in need. “I don’t know if it’s a matter of instilling so much because I find that a lot of the millennials I work with are already looking to matter or to have a purpose in some way, so I don’t think that it’s ours to teach them that; I think they already have that,” she said. Landicho said, “More than the applause, more than the plaque, more than the prize that you get from being recognized, I believe that the sense of fulfillment in getting the award really…is an affirmation that what you are doing is correct and that you are making an impact to the wider communities.”

He also noted that their main purpose of having these awards is to create awareness and encourage others to do the same as what the nominees and winners are doing. “It’s more of the awareness that we are trying to create and with that awareness, that would be the beginning for them to encourage more people to do this kind of thing,” he said. Delgado said the CSR Youth Award helped in giving them the drive to continue with their advocacies and goals. BCYF was founded in 1993 and aims to advocate CSR 3.0 as a lifestyle for societal development. Navarro Amper & Co. is the local member-firm of Deloitte Southeast Asia Ltd., a member-firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. The awarding ceremony will be held on August 25 at Club Filipino in San Juan, Metro Manila. Mikaela Cecille S. Silverio and Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Malacañang welcomes election of Archbishop Valles as new CBCP president By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

alacañang welcomed last Sunday the election of Archbishop Romulo G. Valles of Davao as new head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), calling his ascension to the rank as “a new day of peace for a multicultural Philippines”. In a statement, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella said Valles’s ground experience of Mindanao will be crucial in government

efforts to rebuild the war-torn island, which is currently under martial law due to a conflict in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur. “Archbishop Valles has served Mindanao as a Catholic priest for four decades. His familiarity with Davao and Mindanao would augur well for the country as we promote inter faith dia log ues and intercultural understanding as part of our efforts to rebuild Marawi [City] and to transform Mindanao into a land of fulfillment,” Abella said.

Valles was elected CBCP president last Saturday and will succeed in December Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan who finished his second and final term. At 66, Valles will be the 20th leader of the 72-year-old collegial body of bishops. As president, he will take charge of 83 active bishops, five diocesan administrators and 43 honorary members of the CBCP from 86 ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Valles is considered to be one of

the few prelates who can reprimand President Duterte for his toughtalking rhetoric. Last December he scolded Duterte for excessive cursing, to which the Chief Executive vowed to pay P1,000 for every cuss word he would utter in public. The incoming CBCP president’s ties with Duterte is expected to weigh in on issues that divide the Church and the State, particularly the government’s war on drugs. In his speech last Saturday, Villegas reminded his fellow Church leaders to stand the barrage of

attacks thrown at the Catholic leadership by different institutions. “We have been cursed and ridiculed, but you, our shepherds, have chosen to fly high when the mockers of the Church chose to go low,” Villegas said. “I know that the values of an open hands, fortitude and listening will be the same pastoral tools that we will use to serve and guide the flock of God,” Villegas added. Duterte proved to be a challenge for the Catholic leadership, as the Chief Executive in public speeches

has lambasted the Church for its alleged hypocrisy. However, for Ma lacanang, Valles’s election as CBCP president is an opportunity to unite the Church and the State under two Davaobased leaders. “Our warm congratulations to Archbishop Valles as he leads the Catholic faithful in the country toward a deeper spiritual life and for the Church to have a more open dialogue and cooperation with the government, especially in working for the poor and the marginalized,” Abella said.

Economy

A4 Monday, July 10, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

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By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

HE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) is seeking regulatory approval to pass on to end users the stranded debt of the National Power Corp. (NPC) amounting to P3.7 billion through the universal charge (UC). PSALM, in a petition for the availment of NPC’s stranded contract costs (SCC) portion of the universal charge for 2016 filed before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), proposed to collect P0.0429 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for one year to mitigate the impact on consumers. “The calculated UC-SCC for the calendar year 2016 amounts to P3,686,192,736.05, which is equivalent to P0.0429 per kWh covering a one-year recovery period”, said PSALM, which is seeking a provisional authority (PA) from the ERC to charge and collect the computed UC-SCC, or such amount determined by the commission. It said the 2016 UC-stranded debt (UC-SD) adjustment was calculated based on the projected energy sales of 85,935 gigawatt-hours. “The UC-SCC rate for 2016 is derived by dividing the calculated 2016 SCC by one-year electricity sales forecast for 2018

based on the Power Development Plan 2015-2030.” As provided under Section 34 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, UC will be imposed on all electricity consumers to cover payment of NPC’s stranded debt and stranded contract costs. Stranded contract costs refer to the excess of NPC’s contracted cost of electricity with independent power producers (IPP) over the actual selling price of the output. Stranded debt refers to NPC’s unpaid obligations that were not liquidated by proceeds from the sale of its assets. The UC, which is a separate line item in consumers’ electric bills, has different subcomponents, depending on the utilization of the funds as specified in the UC collection. “As PSALM has vigorously pursued its mandate of privatizing the generation assets and the power facilities, revenues from the sale of

electricity of the remaining assets are not enough to cover its operations and provide funds for the payment of NPC debts and obligations,” the PSALM said. To address the funding gap, PSALM is forced to resort to temporary solution by borrowing that entails borrowing costs, which, in turn, will form part of the UC-SD, effectively increasing the UC burden of all electricity users. But if PSALM would be allowed to immediately recover the UC-SD under its petition through provisional approval, new loans and refinancing to service maturing debts and lease obligations would lessen. “PSALM seeks this Commission to grant the PA to enable PSALM to immediately recover SCC and accumulate sufficient funds to service loan obligations that were incurred for the eligible IPP contracts. Early SCC recovery will, likewise, translate to substantial savings on borrowing costs, as PSALM need not resort to refinancing to service the eligible IPP obligations and maturing debts,” it added. PSALM, the state agency tasked to privatize NPC’s power assets to help generate funds to pay off NPC’s debts, is authorized to impose UC from all end users to compensate for any remaining deficit. It is also mandated by law to calculate the amount of the stranded debts and stranded contract costs of NPC, which shall be the basis for the ERC in determining the universal charge.

FILE PHOTO

PSALM to recover ₧3.7B via universal charge

Phase 2 of Laguna Lake Highway project likely to start next year

UNDING for the second phase of the Laguna Lake Highway, which will connect Bicutan and Muntinlupa, is expected be determined and secured within the year, a Cabinet official said. Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said he is confident that the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) will approve the second phase of the project toward the end of 2017. The actual price of the project has yet to be determined, Villar said. The agency will construct a viaduct for this portion of the highway, in addition to the construction and

widening of two bridges covered by the project. Also known as the C-6 highway, this major thoroughfare will link areas surrounding the Laguna de Bay to Taytay, Rizal, and will run along the eastern side of Metro Manila. “It gives an alternative to Edsa, this will help in decongestion and will provide Taguig with a new growth corridor,” Villar said. With a go signal from the Neda, Villar said construction can start as soon as next year. Laguna Lake Highway is the first thoroughfare in the country that sports a pedestrian and bike lane, installments which the department

hopes will convert the area into a tourist attraction. The first phase of the project, spanning a total of 3.2 kilometers from Taytay to Bicutan, was opened last Friday to motorists. “This newly opened highway is part of a road network that we are building to ease congestion in this particular area and provide a barrier that would prevent backflow of water coming from the Laguna de Bay going to industrial and residential areas in Metro Manila,” the secretary said. The road has been accessible to light vehicles since 2000 but is being developed to boost commercial activity. Lorenz S. Marasigan

Advertising executive Lawmaker thumbs down wants AdBoard reactivated temporary storages for

N advertising executive has called on Congress to look into the controversy surrounding the aborted “Sights” campaign of the Department of Tourism (DOT) and study the reactivation of Advertising Board of the Philippines (AdBoard) to avert similar cases in the future. Former AdBoard Chairman Dan Villa cited the need to form a self-governing body in the advertising industry, like AdBoard, to enhance the cooperation between agencies and clients. The AdBoard was the governing body of the different sectors of the advertising industry before it was deactivated in 2014. AdBoard was composed of eight national organizations, which committed to uphold the progress of Philippine advertising through self-regulation. Being the umbrella organization of the advertising industry, its mission was to practice worldclass advertising along with advocating professional ethics through responsible and truthful advertising. Villa wants legislators to look deeper into the cancellation of the contract between the DOT and advertising agency McCann Worldwide Group. He said that with AdBoard now defunct, members of the House and the Senate should determine which agency should handle such cases. “What policies do we need to protect the ad industry? I think we need to have a Congressional or Senate investigation in aid of legislation,” Villa said. The new DOT ad controversy stemmed from its alleged similarity with the campaign approach of the South African material. Villa added that while the ad agency is the recommending party and creator of the ad material, the client, in this case the DOT, is the approving party. “It is inescapable that the client should have exercised due diligence by clearing it like an internal watchdog,” he said. He added the DOT should have at least confirmed the veracity and originality of the agency’s positioning and recommendations. “This puts us back to the importance of the Advertising Board of the Philippines—the functioning well-oiled machine with all of its parts synergistically functioning with nine memberassociations self-policing their own ranks in the practice of advertising. In fact, it is the only one of its kind in the world, envied and copied by other Asian and Western counterparts, Villa said. Villa added the AdBoard was recognized by all sectors of the advertising industry. “We can stop erring ads, put it off the air and out of space, until the ad contents are rectified, based on the Code of Ethics, we, the ad practitioners, have framed,” he said. “We even have the Trade and Practices Committee...if it [AdBoard] was still in place, this could have been settled fast,” Villa added, referring to the tourism campaign controversy. “Let us institutionalize AdBoard again,” he said.

abandoned cargoes By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@joveemarie

lawmaker and former chief of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) last Sunday questioned the establishment of temporary storages for overstaying and abandoned cargoes at the Port of Manila and Manila International Container Port. PDP-Laban Rep. Rozzano Rufino B. Biazon of Muntinlupa said the BOC should heed the instructions of President Duterte to ensure ease of doing business by adopting the “KISS”, or Keep It Short and Simple system. “This proposed Band-aid solution may create more problems in the long run,” Biazon said, in reaction to the draft Customs administrative order, which will implement Section 307 of Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA). Under Section 307 of the CMTA, subject to the rules and regulations to be issued by the secretary of finance, the Customs commissioner shall establish a system for temporary storage of imports prior to goods declaration in the case of abandoned or overstaying goods. The draft order, Biazon said, allows the bureau to impose rates for storage services in identified Customs facilities and warehouses (CFWs). The lawmaker said this plan has been widely criticized by various stakeholders who warned “it will only lead to higher prices of goods”. But in news reports, the BOC said provisions of the CMTA shall not in anyway result to higher prices of consumer goods for the reason that the temporary storage facility would cater only those imports prior to goods declaration in case of overstaying or abandoned goods. “This provision will provide convenience in trade and economic promotion due to systematic establishment of effective monitoring of [cargoes],” the BOC said. Biazon, however, said, “The planned transfer of overstaying and abandoned cargoes is just a temporary answer. A more appropriate solution should be formulated.” “The better thing to do is to look for a permanent solution, which is to fast-track the disposition of overstaying and abandoned goods,” he added.

The Regions BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Monday, July 10, 2017 A5

Subic fuel-storage firm doubles capacity to 5.2M barrels

By Henry Empeño | Correspondent

UBIC BAY FREEPORT—The Philippine Coastal Storage and Pipeline Corp. (PCSPC), operator of petroleum-storage facilities here and the Subic-Clark fuel pipeline, inaugurated last Friday three more fuel-storage tanks, effectively doubling the capacity of the former US military fuel depot here 24 years after its turnover to private management.

The new facilities unveiled at the firm’s Maritan Hill Tank Farm comprised three 180,000-barrel storage tanks and two tank-truck loading racks. These were formally turned over to PCSPC by the builder, Aboitiz Construction Group Inc. (Acgi), also last Friday. PCSPC Chairman Michael Rodriguez said the 540,000 barrels of additional storage capacity will increase the company’s total fuel storage to 5.2 million barrels, more than double the facility’s original capacity of 2.4 million barrels. The Subic facility handles various fuel products, like diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and oil. “This considerable increase in storage is in response to our custom-

Davao Light unveils 100-MVA Don Ramon substation

HE rapid growth of commercial and industrial loads in the northern sector of Davao City has drove to the development of Davao Light and Power Co. Inc.’s Don Ramon substation. The newly upgraded substation has an additional capacity of 100 megavolt ampere (MVA), making its overall capacity to 200 MVA. This newly commissioned capacity upgrade was inaugurated on July 5 in Barangay Bunawan, Davao City. This will serve the increasing demand of electricity in the northern part of Davao Light’s franchise. “Davao Light’s improved Don Ramon substation will not only provide additional capacity, but

it will also improve the reliability of the distribution system. Thus, improving the quality of service it will offer to our valued customers,” said Rodger S. Velasco, Davao Light EVP and COO. Present during the ceremony were National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) representatives, headed by engineers Cris Galarrita and Eliezer Bandala, together with Davao Light employees, composed of team leaders and team members. The ribbon-cutting followed, which was led by Davao Light EVP and COO Rodger S. Velasco, together with the other Davao Light executives, team leaders and the representatives from the NGCP. The event ended with a site tour around the newly upgraded substation.

er’s demand for quality and available fuel storage in Subic Bay, and we are pleased to be able to provide this new expansion to accommodate their needs,” Rodriguez said. The project also completes PCSPC’s commitment to the Subic B ay Met ropol it a n Aut hor it y (SBMA) to invest and build 1.8 million barrels of fuel tank storage at the Maritan tank farm. With our existing long-term lease agreement with the SBMA, PCSPC looks forward to being able to undertake further investment, as demand requires, in order to serve the increasing fuel needs of the Philippines now and in the future,” Rodriguez said, adding the operation of the new facilities also generated

21 additional jobs in the company, which now operates a 160-hectare facility here. Rodriguez, along with PCSPC President and CEO David Attewill and PCSPC Vice President for Facilities Management Milo Sesante, inaugurated the new facilities with SBMA Chairman Martin Diño and Ayta tribal leader Bonifacio Tolentino. SBMA Administrator Wilma Eisma, who also attended the ceremony, lauded the PCSPC for its new projects and thanked the Ambala Ayta tribe in Subic for letting the SBMA open up parts of its ancestral domain for development. PCSPC officials said the Subic fuel depot is now spread out at the

Boton and Maritan Hill areas and includes a marine terminal, fuelstorage-tank farms and tank-truck loading facilities. The facility was originally constructed in 1953 under the US Navy with 2.4 million barrels of capacity. At its heyday during the Vietnam War, the Subic facility under the former Naval Supply Depot (NSD) was said to handle the largest volume of fuel oil of any US naval facility in the world, processing about 4 million barrels of various fuels per month. The NSD also managed the 66-kilometer pipeline that supplied fuel products to the thenClark Air Force Base, now the Clark Freeport Zone. DAVAO LIGHT and Power Co.'s Project Management Team represented by Allan Christian Calag and Arnel Bersabe turn over the key of responsibility of operation to Zandro Chad Ramos (of System's Operation Department) and of Maintenance to Ledio Penafiel (of Substation Electrical Equipment Department). The turnover signified the transfer of duties and responsibilities of the newly inaugurated 100 MVA Don Ramon substation.

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

Monday, July 10, 2017 • Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

news@businessmirror.com.ph

DA to hike milk output via community farms By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

he Department of Agriculture (DA) wants to ramp up local milk production to meet at least 10 percent of annual domestic requirement by 2022 and reduce the country’s reliance on imports.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the DA is now crafting a five-year livestock and dairy road map that will increase the country’s cattle population to 5 million heads, from the current 2.5 million heads, by the time President Duterte steps down from office. “The long-neglected dairy and livestock sectors will receive a boost when the DA starts a five-year master plan to empower backyard hog raisers, increase the national cattle population and raise milk production from 1 percent to 10 percent of the national requirement starting 2018,” Piñol said in a Facebook post over the weekend. “The 5-Year Road Map for Livestock and Dairy, which is now being crafted by the DA, will bring together all of the agencies under the department and focus their resources on the declared targets,” he added. Under the road map, identified participating villages or towns will be designated as community multiplier farms, which will be owned and managed by a group of farmers,

according to Piñol. He said every community multiplier farm will have a minimum of 100 heifers and will serve as a breeding farm, a dairy-production area and a learning center. “I have asked technical people to design a shed that will utilize solar technology to provide power and water,” Piñol said. “Under the scheme, whatever earnings are made will be shared among the members of the community multiplier farms and the income could be generated from the sale of the calves and the milk production,” he added. To jump-start the program, the DA chief said the government will establish community multiplier farms in at least 1,000 communities by 2019, particularly in areas where forage and feed materials, such as sugarcane and corn, are abundant. “ That would mean 100,000 heifers, which, at an average birthing rate of 70 percent, would produce about 70,000 calves, which would also be ready for breeding by 2021,” Piñol said.

“The 70,000 heifers, which would produce calves, are estimated to produce an average of 5 liters of milk each every day for a national production of 350,000 liters,” he added. Piñol said the DA would set up an additional 1,000 community multiplier farms by 2020 and another 1,000 by 2021. “To ensure market for the milk production, the DA will collaborate with the departments of Health, Social Welfare and Development and Education to start a milk-feeding program,” he said. Piñol said the Brazilian government has pledged to support Manila’s goal of hiking cattle and dairy production. He said he met with his Brazilian counterparts in a bilateral meeting in Rome, Italy, on the sidelines of the 40th session of the United Nations’s Food and Agriculture Organization Conference last week. “Brazilian State Minister for Agriculture Blairo Borges, in a bilateral meeting with the Philippine delegation, said his country is willing to share outstanding breeds of cattle, especially the proven Girolando, which is a cross-breed of the Brazilian Gyr and Holstein and is ideal both for milk and meat production in tropical climates,” Piñol said. “Minister Borges also pledged technical support for the Philippine livestock program, including the development of forage.” This makes Brazil the fourth nation to manifest support for the country’s livestock and dairy program following New Zealand, Israel and Argentina, according to Piñol. He said the first batch

of Brazilian Girolandos will arrive in 2019 and will be kept in the community multiplier farms established by the DA. “The first batch of cattle from Brazil will be the ready-to-breed females or heifers and will be impregnated using fertilized embryos, which could come from Argentina and Brazil,” Piñol said. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the country’s cattle population, as of January 1, was pegged at 2.553 million heads, slightly lower than the 2.547 million heads recorded a year ago. Last year the country’s local milk production grew 3.78 percent to 21,160 metric tons (MT), from 20,390 MT recorded in 2015, according to the latest report of the National Dairy Administration (NDA). The NDA, an attached agency of the DA, attributed the expansion to the increase in the number of the milk-producing herd. Despite this, however, the share of local milk output to the country’s total supply shrank while that of imports went up. The Philippines bought a total of 65,600 MT of ready-to-drink liquid milk from abroad last year, 53.77 percent higher than the 42,660 MT imported in 2015. On an annual basis, government data showed that Philippine dairy imports expanded by 54 percent to 2.77 million MT in 2016. Dairy products are currently the Philippines’s third-largest agricultural import after wheat and soybean meal.

HARVEST FESTIVALS SM Foundation’s Farmers’ Training Program (Kabalikat sa

Kabuhayan [KSK]) has continually benefited the marginalized urban dwellers and small vegetable farmers in the rural areas. The program was launched in Pasig; San Jose del Monte, Bulacan; and Gapan, Nueva Ecija, one after the other. After a season-long training, the participants are now equipped with the techniques to improve the quality of their crops and increase their yield. A bountiful harvest was showcased by participants of the Urban Farmers’ Training Program in Pasig City as they completed their training recently. A harvest festival was held in Barangay Malinao by the trainees that included Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries. SM Foundation’s program partner in this endeavor was MacPlas Academy. In Barangay Kaypian, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, 200 participants to the KSK training program also held the harvest festival prior to the graduation ceremony, while in Barangay Pambuan, Gapan, Nueva Ecija, another harvest festival was mounted, and 172 participants finished the training. Among those present during the graduation were Chito Macapagal, head of SM Corporate Affairs and SM Foundation Trustee; SMFI AVP for Outreach and Livelihood Programs Cristie Angeles; Harbest Agribusiness Corp. President Toto Barcelona; SM City Cabanatuan Mall Manager Mark Herrera; and SM Cabanatuan Supermarket Store Manager Donna Mallari. SMFI Photo

Agriculture in the Philippines

Farm-gate price of palay up 4 percent in June–PSA M T he average farm-gate price of paddy rice in the fourth week of June reached P19.37 per kilogram, nearly 4 percent higher than the P18.63 per kg recorded a year ago, according to the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The PSA’s weekly report titled, “Updates on Palay, Rice and Corn Prices”, showed that this is the highest farm-gate price of palay recorded since the second week of November 2015’s level of P19.35 per kg. “The average farm-gate price of palay at P19.37 per kg went up this week by 0.50 percent, from previous week’s level of P19.28 per kg and by 3.97 percent from a year-ago quota-

tion of P18.63 per kg,” the report read. On an annual basis, the average price of regular-milled rice in the fourth week of June also went up, according to the PSA. “During the week, the average wholesale price of regular milled rice at P35.04 per kg posted an increase from a week-ago level by 0.19 percent and from previous year’s quotation by 1.51 percent,” the report added. “The average retail price of regular-milled rice at P37.70 per kg rose by 0.02 percent from previous week’s level. Relative to the same period in the previous year, it was also higher by 1.53 percent,” it read. On a yearly basis, increases were

also recorded in the average price of well-milled rice, both at the wholesale and retail levels. However, on a weekly basis, the average price of well-milled rice remained the same. “At the wholesale trade, the average price of well-milled rice remained at its previous week’s level of P38.79 per kg. Compared to the previous year’s price level of P38.39 per kg, it inched up by 1.05 percent,” the report added. “Similarly, the average retail price of well-milled rice at P41.81 per kg during the week was, the same level posted in the previous week. It was, however, higher by 0.65 percent, compared to a year-ago quotation of

P41.54 per kg,” it read. According to the same PSA report, the average farm-gate price of yellow corn skidded to its 24-week low since the start of the year. Yellow corn averaged P11.23 per kg, slightly lower than the P11.35 per kg recorded last week. The figure, however, is 13.78 percent lower than the P13.03 per kg posted in the same period last year. “The average farm-gate price of white corn grain at P13.74 per kg picked up by 0.12 percent from a week-ago level of P13.74/kg. On the other hand, it dropped by 8.14 percent relative to same period in the previous year,” the PSA said Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

US government agrees to help Maine wild blueberry industry

ORTLAND, Maine—The federal government is again trying to prop up the wild blueberry industry in Maine, where sagging prices jeopardize one of the state’s longeststanding agricultural industries. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved up to $10 million to purchase surplus Maine blueberries, the members of Maine’s congressional delegation said. Wild blueberries are one of the most important crops in Maine, but the industry is struggling with a steep decline in the prices paid to farmers. The industry is challenged by oversupply following years of big harvests and competition from Canada, where the dollar is weaker. “Maine wild blueberry growers are a resilient group, but global supply and pricing pressures are seriously impacting our business today,” said Roy Allen, a fourth-generation grower and processor in Ellsworth. The USDA’s purchase is the second of its kind in as many years. It allotted up to $13 million to buy surplus blueberries last year. The congressional delegation said last Thursday that the USDA’s purchase will hopefully help

In this July 27, 2012, file photo, cartons of wild blueberries are for sale at a roadside stand in Woolwich, Maine. AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

farmers by stabilizing prices. The delegation requested the USDA purchase berries earlier this year. The fruit will be distributed to charitable groups, like food banks. “This investment to alleviate the supply issue, combined with the industry’s efforts to boost demand, will help create new opportunities for wild blueberry growers and support a bright future for this unique Maine crop,” the delegation said in a statement. The USDA has said growers received 27 cents per pound for the blueberries last year, down 19 cents from 2015 and 33 cents from 2014. Wild blueberries are smaller than the more common cultivated blueberries. The vast majority of the crop is frozen. AP

ore and more people are writing about agriculture and making excellent recommendations what needs to be done to create change. The suggestions include land consolidation to move from subsistence farming to viable integrated farming sizes, agrito-food supply and value chains, easier access to know technology and finance; learning from our successful neighbors Thailand, Vietnam, etc. The Philippines needs an Agriculture Initiative, which seeks to bring together both private and public sectors, to work on market-based solutions to the development of inclusive and sustainable farming. “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) for infrastructure needs to be done for agriculture with the same kind of determination and funding. I suggest APP—agricultural productivity and profitability. The APP aim has to be to increase agricultural productivity and profitability. Increased agricultural productivity would necessitate improving the security of property rights by amending the antigrowth and development provisions in the comprehensive agrarian-reform law and removing the restrictions on sale and conveyance on agricultural land patents. In this context it is important to ask the question what increased productivity in agriculture will accomplish: there will be more investments in agriculture, farmers will get easier access to finance, there will be lower unemployment, and supply/value-chains can be created. As a consequence, some 20 million rural Filipinos can be lifted out of poverty. And the children of farmer will stop moving from rural areas to urban centers or become overseas Filipino workers. Farm consolidation is of importance. The best models of

Henry J. Schumacher

europe Beat Philippine cooperatives should be copies and cascaded. The adoption of advanced farming technologies can only be achieved by management systems that can focus on competitive land sizes, good research and development in coordination with existing research institutes in the country, supported by increased extension service to be provided by government. Archbishop Soc Villegas mentioned in a meeting some two years ago when we discussed poverty in the country, that “dignity comes with a job”. Here is the opportunity: if APP is properly implemented, millions can be given dignified lives. But let’s be clear also that these changes cannot create success overnight. My experience with the coffee investment in Camarines Norte clearly shows that the return on investment in agriculture and related activities, like expanding rice, growing vegetables, creating fish ponds etc., is not immediate. The return on BBB is also not immediate, so let’s be realistic about APP. But, APP has to happen. As Mike Alunan said in his column “On the Contrary” last Wednesday: “Despite decades now of agrarian reform, farmers now owning farms remain poor as land ownership does not guarantee better production and higher incomes.” Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno and Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol: the time for APP is now. Comments are welcome; contact me at Schumacher@mca.com.ph.

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The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • Monday, July 10, 2017 A7

Leaders pledge climate action–without Trump

AMBURG, Germany—World leaders struck a compromise last Saturday to move forward collectively on climate change—without the United States—declaring the Paris accord “irreversible” while acknowledging President Donald J. Trump’s decision to withdraw from the agreement.

In a final communiqué at the conclusion of the Group of 20 (G20) summit meeting in Hamburg, Germany, the nations took “note” of Trump’s decision to abandon the pact and “immediately cease” efforts to enact former President Barack Obama’s pledge of curbing greenhouse-gas emissions 26 percent to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. But the other 19 members of the group broke explicitly with Trump in their embrace of the international deal, signing off on a detailed policy blueprint outlining how their countries could meet their goals in the pact. The statement and the adoption of the G20 Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth ended three days of intense negotiations over how to characterize the world’s response to Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, and it came as this year’s meeting of major world economies here laid bare the stark divide between the US and the rest. “This is a clear indication that the US has isolated itself on climate change once again, and is falling back while all other major economies step up and compete in the clean energy marketplace created by the Paris Agreement estimated to be worth over $20 trillion,” said Andrew Light, a senior climate-change adviser at the State Department under Obama. Differences between the US and other nations on climate, trade and migration made for a tricky summit meeting, which unfolded amid large protests that sometimes turned violent, with several injured and demonstrators setting fire to cars and looting in the streets of the German city. “Nothing’s easy,” Trump said of the gathering last Saturday as he complimented its host, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who has toiled to bridge the gap between the US and other nations, for handling the challenge “so professionally”. Hours later, at the start of a high-stakes meeting with President Xi Jinping of China, Trump vowed to confront the threat posed by North Korea “one way or the other”, and said he appreciated the Chinese leader’s efforts to respond to Pyongyang’s latest provocations. “It may take longer than I’d like, it may take longer that you’d like, but there will be success in the end, one way or the other,” Trump said. “Something has to be done about it.” As he sought to build a consensus among Asian leaders about how best to deal with North Korea, Trump also held a separate meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. The two leaders were tackling “the problem and menace of North Korea”, Trump said. The wording on climate change in the communiqué represented a victory for Merkel, who played a major role in forging compromise language after France raised objections. In most other respects, though, the summit meeting had to be a bitter disappointment for the chancellor. When the meeting was first planned for Hamburg, Merkel’s birthplace, she would have reasonably expected Hillary Clinton, a likely political partner, to be the US president, and she had expected the event to be a strong part of her reelection campaign for a fourth term, with voting in September. But Trump tends to suck all the media air out of a room, even in Germany, where he is deeply unpopular. This summit meeting was always going to be primarily about Trump and his first meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. It has also been about efforts by most of the rest of the world to cajole the US president into softening his stances on global trade and the climate, with Merkel in a secondary role, trying to come up with compromises. Her standing has also suffered as Germans have been shocked by violent

protests by a small bloc of anarchists who saw the G20 as a perfect platform for their rejection of capitalism and order. The atmosphere around Hamburg has been that of an armed camp, hardly welcoming, with 20,000 police officers asking for further reinforcements to try to protect the various leaders. So far, 213 police officers have been injured 43 people have been arrested and 96 more detained. Merkel expressly backed the 100,000 or so peaceful demonstrators who massed here in recent days and were marching last Saturday. She may have been hoping to show authoritarian leaders like Putin and Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, how to tolerate protests in a democracy. If so, she and the security forces failed, losing control in parts of the city. Merkel was born in Hamburg in 1954, weeks before her parents moved east to communist Germany. This was always going to be risky for Merkel, and Trump’s presence only intensified what were widely anticipated to be widespread and sometimes violent protests against globalization, even though Trump is a sharp critic of globalization. Whether the criticism of holding the summit meeting here will hurt Merkel in the September elections is not clear. Her popular conservative finance minister, Wolfgang Schauble, appeared on national television last Friday strongly defending the decision. Only large cities like Hamburg, a picturesque Hanseatic port, have the infrastructure to host the thousands of leaders, delegates, journalists and lobbyists who gather at a G20 meeting, he said. And some diplomatic work was done at the meeting, even beyond Trump’s meetings and his hyperbolic praise—regardless of his private views—of every leader he meets, including Merkel. (“You have been amazing and you have done a fantastic job.”) Working overnight, diplomats first agreed on a common text on trade, with a nod toward Trump’s “America First” demands for restrictions on unfair trade, but they had great difficulty on climate, with the Americans demanding a reference to the use of fossil fuels. President Emmanuel Macron of France said he would continue to press Trump on climate and would hold a follow-up summit meeting in Paris in December to move the Paris deal forward. The trade section in the statement the aides thrashed out read: “We will keep markets open noting the importance of reciprocal and mutually advantageous trade and investment frameworks and the principle of nondiscrimination, and continue to fight protectionism, including all unfair trade practices and recognize the role of legitimate trade defense instruments in this regard.” In his meeting with China’s leader, Trump said “many things have happened that have led to trade imbalances” and that he wanted a new arrangement that is “equitable” and “reciprocal”. The climate section is more of a dodge. It takes note of the US decision to withdraw from the Paris accord and says the other countries regard the deal as “irreversible”. Yet it subtly left open the possibility that the US could someday come back into the pact, specifying that the country is putting the brakes on its “current” emissions pledge. It then nods toward fossil fuels, saying: “The United States of America states it will endeavor to work closely with other countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently.” Trump, who spent so much time with Putin last Friday that he delayed meeting the British prime minister, Theresa May, until Saturday, tried to fortify her delicate political fortunes. He said they had had “tremendous talks”

President Donald J. Trump walks off after being greeted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel after arriving at the Group of 20 Summit last Friday in Hamburg, Germany. Merkel is welcoming leaders of the Group of 20 global economic powers to a two-day summit in Hamburg. AP/Evan Vucci

on trade and were working on a “very powerful” trade deal for a post-Brexit Britain that could be completed “very, very quickly”. It is not clear what Trump meant, since the two sides cannot sign such an agreement until after Britain leaves the European Union, in March 2019 at the soonest. Trump, who returned to Washington last Saturday night, also confirmed that he would eventually make a state visit to Britain, but the dates continue to be unclear. Also last Saturday, US officials said Trump would order the State Department to redirect $50 million from its foreign-aid budget to a new international public-private partnership to aid midsize businesses run by women, a group his daughter Ivanka Trump helped create. The partnership aims to “help women in developing countries gain increased access to the finance, markets and networks necessary to start and grow a business”, a spokesman for Ivanka Trump said. The contribution comes as Donald Trump’s administration weighs a drastic scaling-back of foreign aid as part of his America First campaign pledge to target federal funding to create jobs at home. His budget, released in April but largely ignored on Capitol Hill, would include deep cuts to the US Agency for International Development, a major conduit for foreign assistance. New York Times News Service

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May is planning to reset vision for Brexit

.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is planning to relaunch her political mission to deliver Brexit and help ordinary working people, as she tries to put last month’s disastrous election result behind her, according to a senior government official. May is lining up significant interventions in the next week, including a major speech, setting out her commitment to social and economic reform that will make Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU) a success, the person said on condition of anonymity because the plans are not public. The reboot of May’s premiership comes after the electoral fiasco put her under intense scrutiny, with many in her own team convinced she must be replaced sooner or later. By losing the government’s majority, she’s reopened the debate over how Brexit should unfold, with some of her own most senior Conservative ministers now emboldened to disagree with her. May’s dismal performance also prompted a surge in support for her main rival, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, and sparked speculation about how long she can survive as prime minister. Tories are furious at how she squandered a 20-point lead with the latest YouGov poll showing Labour ahead by 8 percentage points. The official said the premier had ordered the fightback to try to regain the upper hand. At the Group of 20 summit of leaders, May insisted she would battle on and still be prime minister in a year’s time.

Be bold

Asked about her election failure, she told the BBC in Hamburg that “there’s two ways the government can react to that: We can be very timid and sit back or we can be bold and that’s what we are going to be.”

20 points The number of points the Conservatives lost, based on YouGov poll showing Labour ahead by 8 percentage points The problem is that voters still believe May’s “credibility is shot to pieces” and her “authority is draining away”, according to Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. “It’s doubtful she can restore either by some kind of relaunch—indeed, it could even make her look more desperate than she already is.” To add to her woes, the EU is doubling down on its hard-line stance toward Britain and there is deadlock over a deal to protect the rights of 4 million citizens as the titans of industry clamor for greater clarity on Brexit. May faces public calls from Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond for a Brexit deal that keeps Britain close to the EU market, warning “it would be madness” to reject trade ties. In Brussels, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, sent the message to forget her dream of a “frictionless” trade deal and that the road to divorce will be hard.

Secret plots

AT the same time, opposition politicians are plotting to rip up May’s

U.S. President Donald J. Trump (left) points toward Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) as Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May looks on at the start of the “retreat meeting” on the first day of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, on July 7. AP

draft law that will repeal the UK’s membership in the EU and set a new legal framework for the country after it withdraws from the bloc. That signature piece of legislation will hit Parliament next week. There is frustration among May’s close team inside her Downing Street office that the government has been on the back foot politically since the election, according to the official. This is partly because the government’s impartial civil servants have been too influential in recent weeks, and it is time for May to get political again, the official said. There are signs her government are seeking a fresh start. For

example, oft-neglected business leaders got some face time with Brexit Secretary David Davis at a lush countryside retreat. It was an outreach that was appreciated by HSBC Holdings Plc. Chairman Douglas Flint, who was among the VIP guests.

‘Highly welcome’

“It was a highly welcome and constructive engagement with government,” he said. “The disc ussions benef ited f rom t he broad range of interests participating and a very open framework, which encouraged ver y active dialogue around the key issues. It was very worthwhile. ” May is also under pressure to

show she cares about Britain’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens after a flat-footed response to the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed at least 80 people in a London apartment block last month. Corbyn’s populist—and electorally popular—anti-austerity agenda prompted some of May’s own party to demand a softening of her plans for fiscal restraint, alongside calls to increase the pay of fire-fighters, police, nurses and teachers. Next week May will cast herself once again as the reformer who wants to challenge social injustices and rebalance the economy in a way that responds to the call for radical change that she believes drove last year’s referendum vote for Brexit,

the official said. May acknowledges the election result wasn’t as good as she’d hoped but will insist that her mission for governing Britain in the interests of people who are not wealthy is as important and urgent as ever, the official said. Whether she can convince her own party to back her vision is another matter. “Most Tories were never really sold on her social and economic agenda even before her disastrous election campaign,” Bale said. “The idea that it’ll make Brexit work better seems a little far-fetched in view of the rather more immediate challenges posed by leaving the EU.” Bloomberg News

US jobs market under Trump looks a lot like Obama’s so far Abe may learn from Nordics on how to I tackle Japan’s woes

n spite of last Friday’s strong jobs report, there’s been no Trump bump in the labor market since the new president took office in January. In fact, the employment situation in the first six months of Donald J. Trump’s tenure looks a lot like the one that prevailed toward the end of Barack Obama’s. Payrolls are growing solidly and unemployment is falling, yet, wage gains remain lackluster. The numbers tell the tale. Employers have added an average of 180,000 workers per month to their payrolls in the first half of this year, in line with 2016’s 187,000 pace. Joblessness has fallen further, to 4.4 percent in June from 4.7 percent at the end of last year and 5 percent in December 2015. And average hourly earnings have risen at an average yearon-year pace of 2.6 percent, smack dab in line with 2016. “The labor market is continuing to chug along at a decent clip,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist for consulting firm IHS Inc. “There is very little, if any, Trump impact.”

Pence tweet

That didn’t stop administration officials from crowing about the latest jobs numbers, which showed payrolls rising 222,000 last month, the biggest increase since February. “Trump has been rolling back federal regulations and cutting red tape,” Vice President Mike Pence said in a Tweet that included a news report on the jobs numbers. “His agenda continues to strengthen our economy.” There has been a tick-up in jobs in

hinzo Abe may draw inspiration from his Nordic hosts to tackle three of his country’s biggest problems: chronically slow growth, an aging population and a stubbornly high gender gap (Spoiler alert: The solutions are closely related). The Japanese prime minister will be paying a visit to Sweden, Finland and Denmark after attending the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg. It’s unclear if any major business will be conducted (he’s just reached a major free-trade agreement with the European Union), but that doesn’t make the two-day visit less interesting.

Population growth

U.S. unemployment has fallen to 4.4 percent in June from 4.7 percent at the end of last year and 5 percent in December 2015. Bloomberg

coal mining—one of the industries that Trump has targeted for regulatory relief—yet, the gain has been minuscule, just over 2,000 since a low point in August of last year. Trump Spokesman Sean Spicer retweeted a newspaper article about a record 153,168,000 Americans working in June. One small problem: A new record is set virtually every month so long as GDP continues to grow.

General economy

Looking at the economy as a whole, the story is much the same as the jobs market. While Trump’s election did lead to a burst of consumer and business confidence, the increased optimism hasn’t translated into a marked increase in output. If growth clocks in at annualized 2.7 percent in the second quarter—as the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s data tracker now estimates—that

would bring the first half average to around 2 percent. That’s been about the pace since the recovery began in the middle of 2009—a performance that Trump frequently derided during the presidential campaign. “By and large, things are not dramatically different from what they were in 2016 and in 2015,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities. Bloomberg News

While in Stockholm, for instance, he may want to take a close look at how Sweden has successfully boosted short-term growth while also laying the groundwork for higher expansion rates in the future. The key is population growth. Sweden breached the landmark figure of 10 million inhabitants in January, with the total projected to reach 13 million in 2060, according to Statistics Sweden. Japan’s population, in contrast, is expected to drop. A young and growing population is key to maintaining a generous welfare state (the number of Swedes aged 65 and above will account for a quarter of the total

population by 2060). In Sweden’s case, it has also helped boost growth via extra investments, for instance, in housing. Sweden’s growth is fueled by two factors: Immigration (the country received one of the highest proportions of refugees per capita in Europe in 2015) and a birthrate that’s one of the highest in the continent.

Gender equality

One good way of boosting the birthrate in a mature economy is to empower women. On this front, the Nordics are the experts. Abe’s stop in Helsinki would be a good place from where to steal some ideas on how to reduce the gender gap: Finland ranks second in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index, while Japan is closer to the bottom (Finland 2, Sweden 4, Denmark 19, Japan 111). Of Finland, the WEF says it has “fully closed the gender gap” on education and health and is the global runner-up in terms of political empowerment. While in Copenhagen, Abe may want to reflect on the fact that Denmark is stuck at sub-2-percent growth rates for the foreseeable future. Two reasons are being put forward for that: A slowdown in its pursuit of full gender equality and a tightening of immigration laws that has left the country short of skilled workers. Bloomberg News

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Fed up with GOP bill

Obamacare’s loudest foes lower voices

embers of Congress returning home for the July 4 recess last week were met with rallies, sit-ins and Independence Day demonstrators, as activists on the left intensified their push to defeat Republican legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The groups on the right that once fueled the party’s anti-Obamacare fervor might as well have been on vacation. “Not too many are focused on health care currently,” said Levi Russell, a spokesman for Americans for Prosperity, a group founded and funded by the Koch brothers. Instead of health care, he said, the organization’s state chapters were holding town hall-style meetings about veterans’ concerns during recess week. Two ot he r m ajor g roups, FreedomWorks and the Tea Party Patriots, said they were planning rallies in August and September that would push for an overhaul of the tax code; Americans for Prosperity was already running ads toward that. The shift in priorities is remarkable. Since summer 2009, when Tea Party activists angrily confronted Democrats who were drafting the ACA, the Republican Party has been driven and defined by outrage over it. But now, with the Republican health-care legislation hanging in the balance, President Donald J. Trump and congressional leaders are getting little support from what were once the loudest antiObamacare voices. The lack of grass-roots enthusiasm will make it even harder for the party’s Senate leaders to line up

votes for their troubled bill when they return on Monday. Activists on the right said they felt betrayed by the Republicans they helped elect, who pledged that when they had a Republican president they would repeal the act “root and branch”, as Sen. Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, once declared. “This is not anywhere close to that, and I think it has left a number of conservative activists saying I’m not advocating for this,” said David Bozell, president of ForAmerica, an organization founded in 2010, the year the ACA was passed, to help spread conservative ideas on social media. These activists want the subsidies that help people buy insurance repealed, not just reduced. They want the Medicaid expansion eliminated, not slowed. “You’re not going to get a grassroots activist to spend their valuable time calling their senator because, ‘Well, this is better than nothing,’” Bozell said. Public opinion polls show support for repeal-and-replace slipping among the very groups that once demanded it. Support for the Republicans’ efforts among Trump supporters, while still a healthy 55 percent, dropped 14 percentage points since May, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll in

A car carrying Sen. Pat Toomey, who helped draft the Republican health-care bill, passes demonstrators in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on July 5. With Republican health-care legislation hanging in the balance, activists feeling betrayed by leaders they helped elect have turned their focus to other issues. Noah Scialom/The New York Times

14 pts

The percentage points drop in support among President Donald J. Trump’s supporters for the Republicans’ efforts to repeal-and-replace Obamacare mid-June. Among Republicans overall, support had dropped 11 points, to 56 percent. Just 8 percent of Republicans polled thought repeal should be the top priority of Congress and the president. While Republicans have become

more lukewarm on their party’s efforts, Democrats are more fiercely defending the ACA. Fifty-three percent of Democrats in the Kaiser poll had a “very favorable” view of the health-care law, while 21 percent of Republicans had the same view of their party’s plan to repeal it. In May 2010 two months after the law passed, 30 percent of Democrats had a very favorable view of it. Republicans were heatedly against it: 69 percent had a “very unfavorable view”. “There’s definitely an enthusiasm gap,” said Liz Hamel, director of public opinion and survey research for Kaiser, a nonpartisan research group. “It’s not that they’re not interested in repeal,” she added. “They just have other priorities.” In the June poll 74 percent of

Trump team met lawyer linked to Kremlin during campaign

wo weeks after Donald J. Trump clinched the Republican presidential nomination last year, his eldest son arranged a meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan with a Russian lawyer who has connections to the Kremlin, according to confidential government records described to The New York Times. The previously unreported meeting was also attended by Trump’s campaign chairman at the time, Paul Manafort, as well as the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to interviews and the documents, which were outlined by people familiar with them. While Trump has been dogged by revelations of undisclosed meetings between his associates and Russians, this episode at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, is the first confirmed private meeting between a Russian national and members of Trump’s inner circle during the campaign. It is also the first time that his son Donald Trump Jr. is known to have been involved in such a meeting. Representatives of Trump Jr. and Kushner confirmed the meeting after The Times approached them with information about it. In a statement, Trump Jr. described the meeting as primarily about an adoption program. The statement did not address whether the presidential campaign was discussed. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian hackers and propagandists worked to tip the election toward Trump, and a special prosecutor and congressional committees are investigating whether his campaign associates colluded with Russians. Trump has disputed that, but the investigation has cast

President-elect Donald J. Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower in New York, on January 11. Sam Hodgson/The New York Times

a shadow over his administration for months. Trump has also equivocated on whether the Russians were solely responsible for the hacking. But in Germany last Friday, meeting President Vladimir Putin for the first time as president, Trump questioned him about the hacking. The Russian leader denied meddling in the election. The Russian lawyer invited to the Trump Tower meeting, Natalia Veselnitskaya, is best known for mounting a multipronged attack against the Magnitsky Act, a US law that blacklists suspected Russian human-rights abusers. The law so enraged Putin that he retaliated by halting American adoptions of Russian children. The adoption impasse is a frequently used talking point for opponents of the Magnitsky Act. Veselnitskaya’s campaign against the law has also included attempts to discredit its namesake, Sergei L. Magnitsky, a lawyer and auditor who died in mysterious circumstances in a Russian prison in 2009 after exposing one of the biggest corruption

scandals during Putin’s rule. Veselnitskaya was formerly married to a former deputy transportation minister of the Moscow region, and her clients include state-owned businesses and a senior government official’s son, whose company was under investigation in the US at the time of the meeting. Her activities and associations had previously drawn the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a former senior law enforcement official. In his statement, Trump Jr. said: “It was a short introductory meeting. I asked Jared and Paul to stop by. We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up.” He added: “I was asked to attend the meeting by an acquaintance, but was not told the name of the person I would be meeting with beforehand.” Late last Saturday Mark Corallo,

a spokesman for the president’s lawyer, issued a statement implying that the meeting was a setup. Veselnitskaya and the translator who accompanied her to the meeting “misrepresented who they were”, it said. In an interview, Corallo explained that Veselnitskaya, in her anti-Magnitsky campaign, employs a private investigator whose firm, Fusion GPS, produced an intelligence dossier that contained unproven allegations against the president. The firm could not be reached for comment. Trump Jr. had denied participating in any campaign-related meetings with Russian nationals when he was interviewed by The Times in March. “Did I meet with people that were Russian? I’m sure, I’m sure I did,” he said. “But none that were set up. None that I can think of at the moment. And certainly none that I was representing the campaign in any way, shape or form.” Asked at that time whether he had ever discussed government policies related to Russia, the younger Trump replied, “A hundred percent no.” The Trump Tower meeting was not disclosed to government officials until recently, when Kushner, who is also a senior White House aide, filed a revised version of a form required to obtain a security clearance. The Times reported in April that he had failed to disclose any foreign contacts, including meetings with the Russian ambassador to the US and the head of a Russian state bank. Failure to report such contacts can result in a loss of access to classified information and even, if information is knowingly falsified or concealed, in imprisonment. New

York times News Service

Republicans said their families would be better off without the health-care law. But a majority expressed support for its major provisions: 59 percent want the federal government to continue prohibiting insurers from charging more to people with preexisting conditions; 52 percent said the federal government should continue to require insurance plans to cover a list of “essential health benefits”, like maternity care and treatment for drug abuse. Advertising, too, has been one-sided against the Republican legislation. Groups from Planned Parenthood to AARP have bought television and radio spots in states with wavering Republicans imploring them to vote against the plan. Groups on the right were mostly silent; FreedomWorks has

run digital ads in Tennessee alone, showing Sen. Bob Corker, who has criticized his fellow Republicans for proposing to eliminate the act’s 3.8-percent tax on investment income, cozying up to President Barack Obama. Like Republican lawmakers, some of the groups have found that fixing complex legislation is far more challenging than opposing it. “It’s easier to generate a crowd when you don’t have to be in on the sausage-making,” said Adam Brandon, president of FreedomWorks. “The Democrats, their strategy is outrage,” he said. “I get that strategy. I lived that strategy. It’s a unifying strategy to be outraged at the other guy. The hard part is when you get in and have to deliver.” Jenny Beth Martin, president and cofounder of the Tea Party Patriots, said the group’s e-mail blasts against Obamacare still trigger hundreds of responses from activists angry about it. The group helped make more than 100,000 phone calls over 48 hours when the House was voting on its bill in the beginning of May to repeal and replace. But, she added, “We’re not yet on the yes side with what the Senate is doing.” Grass-roots activists, like Pat Daugherty, who once marched on Washington against Obamacare, now sound as disgusted with Republicans in Congress as they were in the early days of the Tea Party, when they helped primary challenges against lawmakers they derided as “Republicans in Name Only”. “Every Republican in Congress ran on repealing Obamacare,” said Daugherty, a retired university administrator in Athens, Georgia. “Why do we suddenly have a hard time repealing Obamacare when Republicans are in the majority? “I know a lot of conservatives who are more upset with Republicans than with Democrats,” she added. New York Times News Service

Putin thinks Trump agreed with election hack denial

ussian President Vladimir Putin said he believes Donald J. Trump agrees with his denial that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election, which would put the US president at odds with the conclusion of multiple intelligence agencies. Putin and Trump met at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg last Friday for more than two hours. At a news conference last Saturday, Putin said Trump raised the issue of Russia interfering in the election many times, but that the Russian leader denied involvement by Moscow. He said he believed Trump accepted his arguments. “He asked many questions about that,” Putin said of Trump. “I answered those questions as best I could. I think he took note of that and agreed. In any case, it’s better to ask him how he reacted.” Earlier Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said reporters should “believe Lavrov” regarding differences in accounts of last Friday’s meeting given by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Trump, Putin, their top diplomats and translators were the only people present during the long-anticipated meeting. After the meeting, Lavrov briefed reporters and said that Trump agreed with Putin’s assurances that Russia hadn’t interfered in the election. “He accepts these statements,” Lavrov said of Trump—a contention that the White House denied vigorously.

Agencies’ conclusion

US intelligence agencies have concluded that the Russian government helped direct a sophisticated effort to tilt the 2016 presidential election in Trump’s favor. Trump has been reluctant to ac-

cept that conclusion. “It could very well have been Russia, but I think it could well have been other countries,” Trump said during a news conference in Warsaw last Thursday. “I think a lot of people interfere. I think it’s been happening for a long time.” The US agencies concluded that Russian hackers stole and released e-mails of officials in the Democratic National Committee with the intent to damage Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and help Trump. Since the election, there have been fresh reports of breaches or attempted breaches of other computer systems in the US, many of which are suspected to be tied to Russia. Putin last Saturday said the US and Russia could start restoring relations if contacts continue in the same way as last Friday’s conversation. He also denied that Russia would attempt to interfere in other elections around the world, including in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel is running for reelection in September.

‘Everyone knows’

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said Trump “knows” Russia interfered in the 2016 election, but didn’t respond directly on whether the president, in Friday’s meeting, accepted Putin’s assurances to the contrary. “President Trump still knows that they meddled. President Putin knows that they meddled, but he is never going to admit to it. And that’s all that happened,” Haley said in a taped interview for CBS’s Face the Nation scheduled to be broadcast last Sunday. The network provided a partial transcript of Haley’s comments. On whether Russia would face consequences for interfering, Haley said, “You’re going to have to ask the president.” Bloomberg News

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Putin’s endgame in Syria gains traction after deal with Trump

ussia is hoping that the “breakthrough” Syrian cease-fire deal it brokered last week will align the US with President Vladimir Putin’s plans for the war-torn country. Details of the agreement reached between Putin and President Donald J. Trump last Friday to create a socalled deescalation zone in southwestern Syria remain under negotiation. But skepticism abounds as to whether this plan to end a war that has claimed an estimated 470,000 lives can succeed where others failed. Yet something has changed, as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in his comments on the deal, which starts with a preliminary cease-fire in areas along the Jordanian border last Sunday. Describing the deal with the US as a breakthrough, Putin said in a news conference in Hamburg last Saturday the agreement should become a prototype for a series of zones across Syria that would be administered in coordination with the government in Damascus. “If we succeed in doing this, we will create an undoubtedly good base and the prerequisites for a political solution in Syria in general,” he said. Although Putin and all sides are formally committed to Syria’s territorial unity, the plan would temporarily lead to something akin to Germany after World War II, when the four allied powers divided the country into four administrative zones, according to Fyodor Lukyanov, who heads Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy. “This is the beginning of the soft-partition of Syria,” he said. “De-escalation is a euphemism for zones of responsibility, where the different sides will agree which power is responsible for which part of the country.” The outlines of the Russian proposal approved in Friday’s meeting between Trump and Putin were borrowed from ongoing talks to create deescalization areas in other parts of the country, between Iran, Russia

and Turkey, Lukyanov said. Taken together, the two sets of plans represent the Russian military’s strategy for exiting the conflict, Lukyanov added. They also show how the situation on the ground has transformed over the last year. Syria’s second city, Aleppo, fell back under regime control and the US-led campaign to drive Islamic State (IS) from its self-declared caliphate advanced dramatically. That has left the US with a decision to make on what to do once IS is defeated. It can wrestle with Iran, Russia and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for control of recaptured areas of Syria. Or it can declare mission accomplished, agree to oversee the security of zones near the borders with its core allies, Israel and Jordan, and leave most of Syria to Assad, said Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

Retaking Syria

Both Russian and US analysts on Syria believe last Friday’s decision indicates the latter. “Assad is going to retake most of Syria, and there is nothing the US can do about it,” Landis said. “There is a new security architecture being imposed in the Middle East and Iran is the beneficiary.” The US sees the deescalation proposals in much more modest terms, according to a senior State Department official, with the goal being to freeze the fighting and allow space for a political settlement. “There’s the sense that both parties feel like the other needs to be involved,” he said of the US and Russia. Tillerson said clearly in his remarks after the Trump-Putin meeting that the Syria deal was a starting point for a wider cooperation with

President Donald J. Trump speaks during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 Summit on July 7 in Hamburg, Germany. AP/Evan Vucci

Russia after IS’s defeat. The issue then, he said, would be to de-conflict other areas of the country. “By and large, our objectives are exactly the same. How we get there, we each have a view,” Tillerson said. “Maybe they’ve got the right approach and we’ve got the wrong approach.” He did not elaborate.

Fall apart

The agreement could fall apart quickly. The same array of forces who aren’t party to the deal—including Assad’s forces, Iranian-led militias and al-Qaeda-linked rebels—exist on the ground in Southern Syria as well in the North, where a ceasefire crafted by the Russians and the Americans last year collapsed within two weeks. In addition, so far the only monitors on offer to police the deescalation zone are Russian. How others might become involved and in what capacity is under negotiation, the State Department official said. The Russian view of how the zones will work is also minimalist and favorable to the Assad regime. Russia would provide a maximum of 1,000 military police to monitor

470,000

The estimated number of Syrians who were killed since the war started in 2011 the cease-fire, according to Elena Suponina, a Middle East expert at the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies, which advises the Kremlin. She said the deescalation zones had been under discussion for months, and timed for announcement by Trump and Putin at this week’s G20. They were not equivalent to the safe havens often discussed in the West, where one of the warring parties is forced to leave. Assad’s forces would not be excluded from the deescalation zones being discussed and would be allowed to conduct operations against “terrorists” she said. That is the description the Assad regime uses for all armed opposition.

Russian ambitions

Moreover, Suponina said, the

zones would be attempted only where the rebel opposition is “too weak to launch an offensive, but strong enough not to be wiped out.” Those low Russian ambitions may also fuel suspicion that they are offering only the semblance of a peace plan to placate the new US president and buy time to finish up the reconquest of Syria. “I have no doubt what the Russians want to do with all these zones is to try to solidify Assad’s position,” said Fred Hof, who served as special adviser for Syria’s transition during the Obama administration. “The key question here is what kind of influence is Russia willing to bring to bear on the regime and on the Iranians to keep them quiet?” Equally important will be the willingness of the new US administration to accept the emerging status quo in Syria that Russia is trying to solidify. “For Trump,” Lukyanov said, “it is at least possible now to say that the Russians respect us there, we are protecting our friends and interests, and ISIS [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] is being defeated.” Bloomberg News

Battered extremist ISIS returns focus to insurgency

EIRUT—Three years ago, a black-clad cleric named Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ascended a mosque pulpit in the Iraqi city of Mosul and addressed the world as leader of a new terrorist state. The announcement of the caliphate was a high point for the extremist fighters of the Islamic State (IS). Their exhibitionist violence and apocalyptic ideology helped them seize vast stretches of territory in Syria and Iraq, attract legions of foreign fighters and create an administration with bureaucrats, courts and oil wells. Now, their state is crumbling. In Syria US-backed militias have surrounded Raqqa, the group’s capital, and breached its historic walls. Across the border, Iraqi forces have seized the remains of the Mosul mosque where al-Baghdadi appeared and besieged the remaining jihadis in a shrinking number of city blocks. But the loss of its two largest cities will not spell a final defeat for the IS—also known as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Daesh—according to analysts and US and Middle Eastern officials. The group has already shifted back to its roots as an insurgent

force, but one that now has an international reach and an ideology that continues to motivate attackers around the world. “These are obviously major blows to ISIS because its state-building project is over, there is no more caliphate, and that will diminish support and recruits,” said Hassan Hassan, a senior fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy in Washington and a coauthor of a book on the group. “But ISIS today is an international organization. Its leadership and its ability to grow back are still there.” The IS has overshadowed its jihadi precursors like al-Qaeda by not just holding territory, but by running cities and their hinterlands for an extended period, winning the group credibility in the militant world and allowing it to build a complex organization. So even while its physical hold slips, its surviving cadres—middle managers, weapons technicians, propagandists and other operatives—will invest that experience in the group’s future operations. And even though its hold on crucial urban centers is being shaken, the IS is in no way homeless yet. In Iraq the group still controls Tal Afar, Hawija, other towns and much of Anbar province.

Fleeing Iraqi civilians walk past the heavily damaged al-Nuri mosque as Iraqi forces continue their advance against Islamic State militants in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq, on July 4. AP/Felipe Dana

In Syria most of its top operatives have fled Raqqa in the past six months for other towns still under ISIS control in the Euphrates River valley, according to US and Western military and counterterrorism officials who have received intelligence briefings. Many have relocated to Mayadeen, a town 110 miles southeast of Raqqa near oil facilities and with supply lines through the surrounding desert. They have taken with them the group’s most important recruiting, financing, propaganda and external operations functions, US officials said.

Other leaders have been spirited out of Raqqa by a trusted network of aides to a string of towns from Deir el-Zour to Abu Kamal. US Special Operations forces have targeted this area heavily with armed Reaper drones and attack planes, disrupting and damaging the IS’s leadership and ability to carry out plots. But the battle for Raqqa still could last many months. It is all a new chapter in the history of a group whose roots go back to the US’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. Fighting under various names and leaders, the Sunni militants who

would evolve into the IS killed many Iraqis and US troops before Sunni tribal fighters paid by the US decimated them, driving the survivors underground by the time the US withdrew from Iraq in 2011. But new conflicts provided new opportunities. After the outbreak of the civil war in Syria in 2011, the group dispatched operatives there to build the force that later seized the country’s east, including Raqqa, which became its administrative capital. Then it turned its sights back to Iraq, seizing Mosul in 2014, where al-Baghdadi made clear what distinguished his followers from al-Qaeda: They were not just insurgents, but also the founders of a state infused with extremist ideology. Now, senior US intelligence and counterterrorism officials say that more than 60,000 IS fighters have been killed since June 2014, including much of the group’s leadership, and that the group has lost about two-thirds of its peak territory. But those officials, including Lt. Gen. Michael K. Nagata, one of the Army’s top Special Operations officers, also acknowledged that the IS had retained much of its ability to inspire, enable and direct terrorist attacks. New York Times News Service

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Trump remains an unpredictable force for his allies

AMBURG, Germany—On President Donald Trump’s second trip abroad, there were fewer of the bull-in-a-diplomatic-China-shop moments that had solidified European leaders’ skepticism during his maiden overseas tour. Less public berating of allies, no pushing to the front of photo opportunities. But Trump still departed Europe last Saturday in the same position as he started: an unpredictable force on the world stage and an outlier among longtime American partners. For the president’s backers, his posture is the fulfillment of his campaign promise to bring more opaqueness to American foreign policy and challenge long-standing global agreements, even with the nation’s closest allies. But his detractors say he keeps sending the world dangerously mixed messages. “Our partners and our allies are all looking for meaning and intention in those words and will read into it what they want to, which may or may not be what Trump meant,” said Laura Rosenberger, a former foreign policy adviser to Hillary Clinton and a senior fellow with the German Marshall Fund. Trump’s message on Russia remains the most convoluted, despite his advisers’ efforts to put to rest questions about his views on Moscow’s election meddling, the president refused to publicly give the kind of condemnation that his staff said he delivered to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a private meeting last Friday. He let a challenge from Putin, who said Trump accepted his denial of Russian involvement in the 2016 election, go unanswered. Trump’s posture toward Putin has left allies both baffled and anxious, particularly against the backdrop of the investigations into whether his campaign coordinated with Russia during last year’s election. But increasingly, it’s Trump’s positions on climate and trade that have catapulted to the top of their list of concerns. The divide over climate was particularly glaring as the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Hamburg, Germany, drew to a close. The US was the only member country that did not sign a statement reaffirming the alliance’s support for international efforts to fight global warming. The statement called the Paris climate accord, which Trump withdrew from last month, an “irreversible” global agreement. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Trump’s refusal to sign on to the statement was “regrettable”. French President Emmanuel Macron, who will host Trump on a quick trip to Paris this week declared: “There are major differences, growing differences between major powers. There is the emergence of authoritarian regimes and even within the Western world there are major divisions, uncertainties, instabilities, that didn’t exist just a few short years ago.” But Trump and his allies appear to relish his volatility and isolation. Nile Gardiner, a foreign policy analyst for the conservative Heritage Foundation, which has close ties to the Trump White House, praised the president as “the most outspoken and unconventional US president of modern time” and said he is still managing to articulate a “coherent doctrine and vision”. Conservatives in the US were indeed buoyed by Trump’s speech in Warsaw, Poland, which marked perhaps his most comprehensive articulation of how he views America’s role in the world. He praised Polish resilience and called upon Western nations to jointly combat forces that threaten “to erase the bonds of culture, faith and tradition that make us who we are”. The conservative editorial page at The Wall Street Journal called the address “Trump’s defining speech”. AP

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Philippines a hub for Chinese biz to access EU, US markets

HINESE investors are urged to make the Philippines as their manufacturing hub for better access to markets of European Union (EU) and the US. During a China-Philippines Business Opportunities Matching Conference last Friday, Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo told the business delegation from Dezhou City of Shandong province the Philippines benefits from the preferential tariff systems from the EU and the US, which makes the country more competitive to export to these markets. Rodolfo said Chinese businesses can take advantage of better tariff in the Philippines in exporting to EU and the US than exporting from China. This is because a number of Chinese products are facing trade remedies in the EU, while the Trump administration is pursuing trade measure that would affect China and other countries which the US has $10-billion trade deficit. With the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus granted by the EU to the Philippines in 2014, some 6,274 products from the country can enter the EU market duty-free. For instance, bicycles, solar panels and leather goods made in the Philippines exported to the EU have zero tariff. However, the same products coming from China enter the EU market at most favored nation (MFN) rate of 14 percent for bicycles, 2.7 percent for solar panels and 2.5 percent for leather. But with the antidumping trade measure faced by China, the same products entering the EU will be slapped with higher tariffs at 48.5 percent for bicycles, 44.7 percent for solar panels and 58.9 percent for leather. Included in the list of countries which the US has trade deficit are Canada, China, India, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, as well as the EU. Also included in the list are Southeast Asian countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Rodolfo noted since the country is not targeted by the planned trade measures by the US government, the Philippines started to enjoy the expanded GSP on July 1. This is after the US Trade Representative (USTR) approved the Philippine government’s petition to expand the GSP extending the coverage to 23 new tariff lines, including travel goods such as apparels, bags, wallets, backpacks, luggage and sport and travel bags. This expands products made in the Philippines entering the US market duty-free up to 80 percent, from 70 percent. The trade official stressed that Chinese manufacturers exporting to US will be more competitive than making the products in other neighboring countries. “Because if you invest in the Philippines, you are not just investing to take advantage of the fastest growing economy in the world, but more importantly you are investing so that to take advantage of the other countries in which the Philippines is an integral part of,” Rodolfo said. PNA

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Monday, July 10, 2017 A11

Thai PM postpones US visit indefinitely

OSCOW—Thailand’s Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chano-cha postponed his visit to the US, previously scheduled for July 19, because both sides needed more time to consider the framework of discussion, local media reported last Sunday.

The visit was postponed indefinitely, but both sides confirmed that the visit would take place, Bangkok Post reported, citing government spokesman and the US embassy in Thailand. “We look forward to the prime minister’s visit to Washington. We continue to work closely with our Thai allies on finding a mutually agreeable date for the prime minister’s visit to the White House,” the embassy was quoted as saying. On Apr i l 30 US President Donald J. Trump held phone talks with Prayut, discussed bilateral

relations and invited him to visit the US. On June 27 it was reported that Thailand planned to resume the purchase of weapons and equipment from the US and intended to discuss military and technical cooperation during the upcoming visit of the prime minister to Washington. Military and technical cooperation between the US and Thailand was reduced and limited by Washington unilaterally after Thailand’s current government came into power following a May 22, 2014, military coup. The administration

of Barack Obama maintained cool relations with Thailand, one of the main allies of the US outside North Atlantic Treaty Organization, until the end of his term. New US President Donald J. Trump took a course to restore a closer relationship with Thailand. Thai army, aviation and navy use a lot of US equipment, purchased or received as a gift for a long period of friendship and alliance. This equipment needs spare parts, and this issue is planned to be raised during Prayut’s visit to the US. Sputnik/PNA

Is Indonesia’s ‘pious democracy’ safe from Islamic extremism?

N May the governor of Jakarta, Indonesia—a Christian—was convicted for blasphemy against religion and sentenced to two years in prison. The conviction has shocked observers around the globe. Since the country’s democratic transition in 1998, American politicians on both sides of the aisle, from Democrat Hillary Clinton to Trump’s Vice President Mike Pence, have praised Indonesia as a model Muslim-majority democracy. Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama was convicted based on comments he made on the campaign trail in September 2016. He had stated that Islamists who cited a Koran verse to support their view that Christians should not hold high office were being deceitful. An edited transcript of his speech, which made it appear as though Ahok was criticizing the Koran itself, was posted online. The video went viral. Islamist vigilante groups seized the moment to rally against the incumbent Christian governor and in support of Ahok’s opponents in the April 19 election. It was a winning strategy. They held the largest rally in Indonesian history “in defense of Islam”. Their movement propelled Ahok’s opponent into the governor’s mansion and Ahok into prison. Some observers saw Ahok’s 16-point defeat as a victory for Islamists, and a sign of the influence of an intolerant strain of Islam. Since Indonesia’s democratization in 1998, it has been widely seen as a model of religious tolerance and pluralism in the Muslim world. Is Indonesia’s tradition of religious tolerance a thing of the past? Will Indonesiabackslide into authoritarianism like its neighbors Thailand and the Philippines, or be taken over by Islamists like Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia? Or, might militant groups like the Islamic State (IS), which has already gained a foothold in the Philippines, make further inroads into Indonesia? Drawing on more than 24 months of field work in Indonesia, I tackled these questions in my book on Islam and tolerance in this massive Muslim-majority democracy.

Neither secular nor theocratic

INDONESIA is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, a democracy and the largest country in Southeast Asia. It faces many of the same problems as other developing countries, including weak infrastructure, low-quality education and high levels of corruption. Composed

person to have good values. These views shape public policies.

Moderates and militants

Media Nusantara Citra Group President and CEO Hary Tanoesoedibjo (left) arrives at the national police’s Criminal Investigation Agency in central Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 7. The police are questioning the Indonesian business partner of President Donald J. Trump over allegations he sent threatening text messages to a deputy attorney general. Since the country’s democratic transition in 1998, American politicians on both sides of the aisle, from Democrat Hillary Clinton to Trump’s Vice President Mike Pence, have praised Indonesia as a model Muslim-majority democracy. AP

of over 17,000 islands, Indonesia is also one of the world’s most diverse countries, which means that protecting minority groups is an especially important concern. Now, to be clear: in my view, Indonesia’s law prohibiting blasphemy or the defamation of religion is oppressive. It suppresses free speech and individual rights. It invites abuse and enforcement by vigilante groups. But that does not mean Indonesian democracy is destined to become a theocracy in which government policy is divinely inspired. It is one of a body of laws that, as my research revealed, have been on the books for decades. Contrary to what some observers have suggested, these laws are not a result of Islamic extremism from Saudi Arabia or IS. Instead, they reflect the views ofIslamic civil society organizations. These organizations run thousands of schools, health clinics and universities, and provide the backbone for the civil society that helps make democracy work. For example, the Indonesian government makes religious education

mandatory. Students can choose from Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Roman Catholicism or Protestant Christianity. All six religions are recognized and celebrated by the state. The Indonesian government obliges citizens to declare adherence to one of those recognized religions, restricts interfaith marriage and limits activities that it sees as interfering with communal rights, such as interfaith proselytizing (attempting to convert people) and blasphemy. Americans have a hard time understanding this nonsecular form of democracy. Based on our own Constitution, we tend to assume that democracy requires a secular state in order to protect religious minorities, who would suffocate under religious rule. But there are many examples of democracies that, like Indonesia, are neither fully secular nor theocratic. Take Greece, a consolidated democracy. The Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ plays a prominent role in Greek state ceremonies, the education system and even the con-

ferring of building permits. In fact, the salaries of clergy are paid by the state. According to the Greek Constitution, alterations or translations of the Bible from Greek are prohibited without permission from the church. And, although infrequent, blasphemy cases can be brought before civil and criminal courts. In India, another democracy, all religions are defined as equal, and major religious communities enjoy state patronage. Religious holidays from several religions are observed as public holidays. Religious affiliation is noted on birth certificates. The state subsidizes Hindu, Sikh and Muslim pilgrimages. And blasphemy is prohibited by the penal code. Greece, India and Indonesia are examples of democracies that are not quite secular. We might call them “pious democracies”. They promote religious values while trying to synthesize liberal individual rights and group rights. These states are not unusual. Globally, majorities in more than 20 countries say that belief in God is necessary for a

IN Indonesia the emergence of militant Islamists, like Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia and the Islamic State, has made it difficult for moderate Muslims to implement their vision for a pious democracy. The high profile of militants makes it difficult for the American public to understand the difference between militants and moderate Muslims. They are similar in that neither militants nor moderates want a secular state. But they are different in that moderates do not want to live in an Islamic state. Data from a global network of social scientists, the World Values Survey, show that in 2006 the overwhelming majority of Indonesians did not want a government in which religious leaders tell people how to vote. More recent data suggest not much has changed. A poll conducted in May 2017 shows most Indonesians oppose replacement of the constitution with a caliphate. More than 80 percent oppose IS, and less than 3 percent support the goals of IS, according to recent data from a research and consulting firm based in Jakarta. In other words, most Indonesians, a majority of whom are Muslim, do not want to live in a caliphate. But they do want mandatory religious education, leaders who believe in God and a society in which religion is valued by the state. As I discovered through hundreds of interviews, most Indonesian Muslims seek a state and society that promotes religious values and the rights of religious communities alongside individual rights and religious pluralism. As my interviewees explained, their goal is a society in which individuals, organizations and the state are partly responsible for one another’s moral condition. Putting that vision into practice is exceedingly difficult at a time when secularism is often equated with tolerance, and religion is synonymous with extremists like IS. Whether in India, Greece or Indonesia, group rights are challenging to enforce in a just manner—just look at Native American control over their land in the US. But, as India and Greece demonstrate, it is possible. And in that respect, Indonesian Muslims’ war against blasphemy and Ahok’s prosecution is simply another moment in a long struggle to develop a pious democracy while avoiding the templates of secularism or theocracy. AP

Thai police, conservationists: They made progress in ivory trade crackdown

ANGKOK—Efforts by Thailand’s government to curb sales of ivory have been successful, following criticism of widespread trafficking in the country, police and conservationists said. The police announced last Friday that since January officials have seized two elephant tusks and 422 tusk fragments in a single case, while in all of last year they seized 99 tusks and 22 fragments. Deputy Police Commissioner Gen.

Chalermkiat Sriworakhan said the drop in the number of cases showed that strict enforcement had deterred traffickers. “We have made serious efforts to block elephant ivory from being smuggled into the country and sent on to another country,” Chalermkiat said, referring to past smuggling schemes. Now, “if they do get in the country, we do not let them leave.” Thailand had been considered to have the largest unregulated ivory

market in the world before it introduced the Elephant Ivory Act in 2014 and 2015 to regulate the domestic ivory market and criminalize the sale of African elephant ivory. “We have been able to effectively arrest more and more suspects with tangible results,” Chalermkiat said. The wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC praised Thailand for a large drop in sales of ivory items. Its survey of Bangkok markets found a decline in the amount of ivory

openly for sale from a high of 7,421 items in 2014 to 283 products in June 2016. Measured over a slightly longer period of time, the drop was even more dramatic. In December 2013 the number of ivory items on sale was 14,512, according to earlier surveys by TRAFFIC. “Thailand’s legal reforms have paved the way for greater control of the domestic ivory market and it’s certainly something other countries in the region should

emulate, especially Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar,” Kanitha Krishnasamy, acting regional director for TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia, said in an e-mail last Friday. “Further to these efforts, it’s important also to test products in the market to ensure that no African elephant ivory is in the marketplace.” Poachers have killed tens of thousands of African elephants for their tusks to meet demand for ivory in Asia, putting the species at great risk.

Thailand became a major transit hub and destination for smuggled tusks, which are often carved into tourist trinkets and ornaments. The biggest demand comes from China. Krishnasamy said illegal online trade is another part of the problem affecting Thailand. “Monitoring and enforcement of trade taking place online is extremely crucial to make sure that ivory items not on sale in the physical market haven’t moved online,” she said. AP

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DENR mandates waste segregation in Boracay

By Jun N. Aguirre | Correspondent

ORACAY ISLAND—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has ordered the residents, hotel and restaurant owners in this resort island to practice waste segregation effective immediately.

Artemio Colacion, chief regional environment public information officer, orients a stakeholder in Boracay for a proper waste-segregation scheme. Jun N. Aguirre

DENR Regional Director Jim Sampulna said Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu has issued a directive to rid Boracay of garbage by July 17. “The DENR will be filing a case against the local government of [the municipality of] Malay and the members of the Sangguniang Bayan if the order was not properly acted upon. Tourists must also be warned against littering while in Boracay,” Sampulna told the BusinessMirror in an interview last week. In 2015 the local government of Malay failed to bid the hauling of the garbage from the Boracay Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Barangay Manoc Manoc, resulting in the piling up of garbage that were gathered at the MRF. Solid waste from households and business establishments are brought to the MRF for segregation and recycling. Those not fit for recycling are brought to the sanitary landfill. After Ciceron Cawaling was elected mayor of Malay in 2016 he ordered the hauling of garbage from the MRF and transferred to the sanitary landfill in Malay through a barge. With the coming weather disturbances, unavailable transportation and lack of manpower, the local government is having difficulty in cleaning up the garbage at the MRF. To date, around 20,000 kilograms to 30,000 kg of garbage are yet to be hauled. On July 3 the DENR, together with its attached agencies, the Env i ron ment a l M a n a gement Board, Mines and GeoSciences

Bureau, as well as the provincial offices of DENR on Panay Island, has started a monthlong houseto-house campaign for recycling. The first week of the campaign was held in the front beach, where hotels, restaurants and other businesses thrive. DENR personnel inspected the waste-management practices of each establishment. The stakeholders were also advised by a representative of the local government that by July 15 the ban in the use of plastics and Styrofoam materials will be implemented.

Belle Cabesa, representing the Waste Management Department of DENR’s Central Office, said the DENR will soon be sending equipment to Boracay to help in the recycling of garbage on the resort island. For his part, Cawaling said the local government has already come up with a 10-year waste-management plan to rid Boracay of garbage.

Environmental ‘martial law’

The Depar tment of Tour ism (DOT)-Western Visayas recommended to Cimatu to declare an environmental “martial law” on this resort island. Helen Catalbas, DOT regional director, said the proposed environmental martial law is meant to enforce that will ensure the sustainability of the resort island. Ivene Reyes of Aklan Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office said the DENR is awaiting full details from the DOT on how the proposed martial law would be implemented. “The DOT, however, is committed to withdraw its accreditation to hotels and restaurants that are not practicing proper segregation scheme,” he said. Reyes also revealed that the DENR would start this year a study on the carrying capacity of Boracay for tourists, infrastructures and residents. In the 1980s the DENR has undertaken a study on the carrying capacity of Boracay but the basis then was the amount of available water supply for residents and tourists.

“The DENR needs to update its data on Boracay,” Reyes said.

Environment summit

Maylynn Aguirre-Graf, the newly elected president of the Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI), said the business group is planning to organize an environment summit soon in order to address various issues. “The BFI has already conducted four meetings on the planned environment summit. In our recent meeting, we had invited Dr. Miguel Fortes to discuss with us his proposed environmental management plan for Boracay,” said Graf, who is also a councilor and the chairman of the committee on environment in the Sanguniang Bayan of Malay. Fortes serves as the project manager of the Coastal Ecosystems Conservation and Adaptive Management. He is also a professor of the University of the Philippines-Marine Science Institute. “Fortes has updated us on the environment master plan for Boracay. He submitted to the local government his report in 2015 but it was not implemented. During the proposed environment summit, the master plan will be presented to the stakeholders” to inform them of its content, Graf said. Graf has been pursuing an environment summit months prior to the 2016 election. She is also proposing a P25 additional environment fee for tourists, on top of the P75 environmental fee being charged to tourists visiting Boracay.

Haribon wins 2017 Energy Globe Award

aribon’s ROAD to 2020 forest restoration movement was awarded as the best environmental project in the Philippines by the Energy Globe during the recent celebration of World Environment Day. It bested more than 2,000 submissions from over 170 countries. The Rainforestation Organizations and Advocates (ROAD) to 2020 is an environmental conservation movement that aims to bring back the lost Philippine rainforests in the country by 2020. It unifies the efforts of different groups that use rainforestation, including local governments, nongovernmental organizations, people’s organizations, private organizations, schools and individuals. Rainforestation is a technology that uses native trees in forest restoration, which builds better resilience against climate change impacts. “Through the help of our partner communities, more than 600 hectares of native trees are steadfastly thriving and are now benefitting families and communities,” said Haribon’s ROAD to 2020 program coordinator Thaddeus Martinez. Martinez added that when in full growth, the replenished forests would provide these areas with cleaner air, water supply and protection from flashfloods. Haribon’s treeplanting activities have restored forests in

more than 26 municipalities and engaged over 14,000 volunteers. The environmental group has also conducted trainings that taught how to identify local tree species and has established local tree nurseries for over 50 species, including trees in danger of being lost to the world. “Our work continues as more needs to be done to regain the Philippine forests’ status in the early 1900s,” Martinez said. Hailed as one of today’s “most prestigious environmental prize” worldwide, the Energy Globe Award aims to recognize and raise awareness on sustainable solutions that tackle the pressing environmental problems that face the world today. Haribon’s winning project is automatically evaluated on the international level and awaits potential nomination for the Energy Globe World Award toward the end of the year. Energy Globe Award continues its global call for participation of efforts focusing on saving resources, improving air, soil, or water quality, increasing energy efficiency, using renewables and mitigating climate change effects. This campaign is approved by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Program.

Discovery sounds alarm on next pandemic with ‘Mosquito’ premiere

A technician operates a machine that recycles bottles, grinding them into pebble size that is used in making bricks and other products at Boracay Materials Recovery Facility in Barangay Manoc Manoc, Boracay Island. Lyn Resurreccion

US-Cuba sea mission finds healthy reefs, invasive lionfish AVANA—A joint US-Cuban expedition to explore the island ’s coral reefs uncovered a surprisingly healthy ecosystem and large schools of mackerel with significant commercial value, scientists involved in the mission said on July 4. The study also found alarmingly high numbers of invasive lionfish, which is not native to the Western Hemisphere and has become a growing marine menace in recent years. “ We f o u n d a n i n c r e d i b l e amount of diversity, especially in algae and sponges, and the reefs were in incredible health,

The forest restoration campaign is more than just tree planting. The seedlings adopted under the program provide additional livelihood to communities living near the forests.

as well,” said Patricia Gonzalez of the Mar ine Investigations Center at the University of Havana. “Some of the most fascinating results have to do with widespread coral coverage, in some cases up to 70 and 80 percent...and some species we believe are new.” T he pre l i m i n a r y f i nd i n g s came from an expedition aboard a boat that sailed more than 1,400 nautical miles around Cuba in May and June. Scientists said the mission was made possible by the restoration of diplomatic relations between Havana and Washington two

years ago under then-President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro. It was a result of an agreement signed in 2015 between the US Nationa l Oceanic and Atmo spheric Administration, the US National Park Service and Cuba’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment. Florida Atlantic University provided technology aboard the boat that allowed specialists to observe coral reefs at a depth of over 60 meters, participants said. Scientists predicted such cooperative ventures would continue despite current President

Donald Trump’s new policy toward the communist-run country, which would prohibit most new American transactions with Cuban military-linked businesses and restrict some US travel to the island. “Env ironment a nd sc ience are two issues that ever yone can agree on,” said Dan W hittle of the Environmental Defense Fu nd . “ It ’s f a i rly apol it ic a l , and if you look into the Trump Nat ion a l Sec u r it y D i rec t ive, there’s a line in there that identifies science and the environment as one area of engagement that will continue.” AP

s many in the world prepare for the warm summer months—or wet season in the Philippines—Discovery Channel is using its global reach to focus the world’s attention on the single greatest agent of death in modern human history: the mosquito. The global crisis was highlighted in the worldwide premiere of the Discovery Impact film Mosquito, on July 6 on Discovery Channel and Discovery networks around the world. Recent news coverage around the globe has highlighted individual outbreaks of diseases, such as Zika, malaria, West Nile virus, yellow fever, chikungunya, and dengue. However, there is a bigger story to be told, one that connects the dots between these diseases and reveals how a single force is driving them all: the unceasing, accelerating expansion of the mosquito around the globe, driven by factors—such as increasing global travel and trade and a warmer world that is more hospitable to mosquitos. Mosquito is a timely in-depth look at this very tiny, very dangerous creature, and how it is changing in unpredictable and unprecedented ways. Narrated by Academy Award nominated actor Jeremy Renner, the film chronicled the increasing global threat this tiny insect poses and the potential lethal ramifications without a worldwide coordinated effort. The film featured interviews with leading experts, including former Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden and Bill Gates, cochair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who points out that the resources required to fight an outbreak relative to the level of death that could result from a fatal pandemic makes this a clear global health priority. “For more than 30 years, Discovery’s mission has been to ignite viewers curiosity, spark dialogue and encourage action on critical topics through our world-class storytelling and brands across 220 countries and territories,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery Communications. “Mosquito sounds a worldwide alarm about the need for bold steps to address this

increasingly urgent threat. As a purposedriven company, we are proud to leverage the strength of our unmatched television and digital services in all corners of the globe to call on citizens and worldwide leaders alike to act.” “Discovery is at its best taking a global problem and showcasing its effects on individuals and their local communities,” said Rich Ross, group president, Discovery, Animal Planet, Science Channel and Velocity. “The spread of mosquito-borne illnesses in places they have never been has the potential to change the world as we know it. Mosquito shines a spotlight on this rapidly moving issue, giving audiences the tools to understand and prepare for a new world.” Mosquitos kill more than 750,000 people a year, many of whom are children. Today rapid environmental shifts like climate change and the ease of international travel for both humans and goods have only increased the threat mosquitos pose, hastening their spread around the globe. As deadly mosquitos are now reaching and surviving in places they have never— including Florida and Texas, and as far north as Washington, D.C., and New York—they are bringing diseases, like Zika, dengue and yellow fever, to uncharted and unprepared parts of the world. Shot on four continents, Mosquito weaves together expert interviews with the intimate stories of the men, women, and children who are living in fear that the next bite could be a deadly one.

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Hope shines anew for Laguna de Bay By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

First of two parts

ays before President Duterte delivers his second State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 24, the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) is faced with a seemingly impossible mission to dismantle illegal structures in Laguna de Bay and restore the ecological balance in the once healthy and economically productive freshwater lake. Despite t he task at ha nd, LLDA General Manager Jaime C. Medina, former mayor of Pateros town within the Laguna de bay region, remains unfazed and confident that the positive response of various stakeholders may eventually work wonders to reverse the decades of neglect and environmental degradation, and enhance the productivity of the country’s biggest aquaculture hub once more.

Risky business

While the Laguna de Bay remains the biggest aquaculture hub in the countr y, fish pens and fish cages in the area are a ver y risky business. “ If you h ave a P5 -m i l l ion capital, my advice are not to venture in aquaculture,” said Renato Francisco, secretary of the Federation of Fish Pen and Fish Cage Operators of Laguna de Bay. Construction of fish pen alone is costly. Speaking in Filipino, Francisco said some fish-cage operators have gone bankrupt after investing in its operation. “One foreigner jumped from a building. Another shot himself in the head because of bankruptcy,” he said. Laguna de Bay, he said, is no longer as healthy as it used to be. Before fish-pen and fishc a ge operators h a r vest bangus (milkfish) and tilapia four m o nt h s a f t e r d r o p p i n g t h e fingerlings. Today it takes six months, and sometimes a year, before they can har vest. A major risk in fish-pen and fish-cage operation is the threat of disaster. “One strong typhoon can wipe out our fish pens and fish cages. With one strong typhoon, your P5-million to P6-million capital for the structure alone will be gone,” he said.

One-year moratorium

In Februar y, under the short stint of Regina Paz L. Lopez as secretar y of the Depar tment of Env ironment and Natura l Resources (DENR), the LLDA board of directors passed Resolution 518, imposing a one-year morator ium on f ish-pen and fish-cage operations. The LLDA was also ordered by Lopez not to renew the business permits and licenses of fish-pen and fish-cage operators. The moratorium came a month after the DENR , through its Nationa l A nti-Env ironmenta l Crime Task Force, started to demolish illegal structures outside the designated areas. Fish-pen and fish-cage operators were also given the option to self-demolish their structure until March 31. The demolition of illegal structures resumed in April, but with ver y slow prog-

14,000 ha The area covered by fish cages and fish pens on Laguna de bay ress. By May, before an ambit ious sel f -imposed dead l ine, Lopez was no longer in charge, after she was rejected as DENR chief by the powerful Commission on Appointments.

Sustainable aquaculture

Under the new DENR secretary, Roy A. Cimatu, however, Lopez’s “Zero Fish Pen and Fish Cage policy” was set aside. Cimatu’s marching orders to the LLDA, Medina said, was to reduce the number of fish cages and fish pens and strictly observe the 1996 Zoning and Management Plan (Zomap) to ensure sustainable aquaculture in Laguna de Bay. “We will reduce the areas of operation. W hen I took over in January 23, there are more than 14,000 hectares of fish cages and fish pens. My commitment is to dismantle 2,000 hectares,” Medina, who spoke in Filipino, told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview. On June 29, with the support and cooperation of the Federation of Fish Pen and Fish Cage Operators of Laguna de Bay, the LLDA resumed the dismantling operation and cleared 300 hectares of illegal structures. “In the past several months, we h ave a l ready d i sm a nt led [s t r uc t u re s co ve r i n g ] 1,6 0 0 hectares. This time, even those with no violation, which means they are operating legally on their own, reduced their area from 50 hectares to 25 hectares. This is a show of goodwill and voluntary support by the federation to the programs of the government,” Medina said. “Easily, by December, we can reduce the number of fish pens to cover 9,200 hectares and, hopefully, this will help increase bangus and tilapia production in the lake,” he said.

Win-win solution

The federation, which has over 500 members, including cor porations, cooperatives and individuals, supports the LLDA chief ’s plan and agreed to voluntarily reduce their fish pens and fish cages. They reiterated their position that stopping the operation of aquaculture in Laguna de Bay will be a disaster, because it will adversely affect the supply and cost price of bangus and tilapia to drastically go up from an average of P150 to P180 a kilo to P250 a kilo. “Many people will go hungry if the Zero Fish Pen and Fish Cage

A portion of Laguna de Bay

LLDA Public Information Unit

policy is pushed through,” said Francisco, a fish-cage operator for 33 years. He added that the group will now police its rank and help the LLDA enforce the 1996 Zomap by reporting erring businessmen who will violate existing rules and regulations on fish-pen and fishcage operation.

‘Business–not as usual’

Starting next year, Medina said business permits will be rationalized and priority will be given to small fishers, and aquaculture will resume operation. More areas will be set aside for small fishers who wish to venture in aquaculture with a little help from the government, Medina said. “President Duterte’s order is to prioritize small fishers, that is why we are constantly holding dialogue with their representatives,” he said. Under a new policy, Medina said 60 percent, or 5,520 hectares, of the total 9,200 areas set aside for fish-pen and fish-cage operation in the entire Laguna de Bay will be set aside for small fishers, while the remaining 40 percent, or 3,680 hectares, will be granted to corporations and cooperatives. Medina added that the LLDA i s “c o r p o r a t i z i n g ” a q u a c u l ture—a mar r iage of cor porate and cooperative. He said the LLDA will ask the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) to help small fishers form their own cooperative, if needed, and to manage it like a corporation. “It will be like a cooperative running like a corporation,” he said. The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), he said, has also agreed to help by providing loans for the fishers startup capital of up to P50,000. There are 22,000 fishers, according to an initial count made by the LLDA.

Pollution and pollution control

Curr ently, the LLDA is a lso intensif y ing its campaig n to address pol lution that continues to c au se e nv i ron me nt a l degradation in Lag una de Bay. W it h over 10 0 r ivers a nd streams draining into the lake, the Laguna de Bay is the biggest natural catch basin of water— including waste and untreated wastewater from households and toxic chemicals from industrial and commercial establishments. Accord ing to Med ina, t he LLDA will intensify the campaign against erring establishments that continue to discharge untreated wastewater into the lake. He noted that last year, only

12 establishments were issued closure orders. On Ju ne 29 t he LLDA issued c losu re orders to eight est abl ish ment s. “ It shou ld have been 20, but some made a n appea l,” he sa id. Never t he less, the LLDA issued a tota l of 20 not ice of v iol at ions to con-

cer ned est abl ishments. From now on, he said there would be no let up in the campaign against erring establishments until the water discharge meets the environmental standard. The one-year moratorium on fish-pen and fish-cage operation, he said, is hoped to somehow im-

prove the water quality of the lake’s waters. “The reason fish from Laguna de Bay is affordable, fish-pen and fish-cage operators do not have to spend on commercial feeds,” he said. To be concluded

A14 Monday, July 10, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

On Duterte: The people speak again

he US Declaration of Independence—which was celebrated a few days ago—truly changed the course of society with one particular sentence. “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”. Never before had this concept been so clearly institutionalized. The legitimacy and moral and legal authority to use the power of the state was only justified when the people consented, giving permission and/or agreement to the use of that power.

Abraham Lincoln further simplified the idea when he spoke of a “government of the people, by the people, for the people”. Pragmatically, every organization, from a country to a club, functions better when the leadership has the support of the members. While there may be strong and rightful dissent as to which direction the group should go, a general—never unanimous of course—unity of purpose and goals simply works better. A comment on social media the other day, though, perhaps summarizes the feeling of some, if not many, people. “The only thing wrong with the Philippine is the 16,601,997 idiots who voted for Duterte”. Ironically, this was followed by the latest survey from the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showing President Duterte with the highest net-satisfaction rating since his term of office began, at +66 with 78 percent of those surveyed giving the President a “Satisfied” rating. Making a comparison with previous administrations may or may not be useful, valid or important. However, there is no denying that this President has faced several grave and major situations that the others did not in his first year of office. Further, neither of the past two presidents made such dramatic change of policy direction as Duterte, regardless if we agree or not with those changes. The internals of the SWS survey show the highest net satisfaction demographics are from the “35-44” age group, “College Graduates” and “Women”. The largest drops in net satisfaction from the first quarter 2017 were in the “25-34” and the “45-54” age groups demographic. The largest increases were in the “Some elementary” education and the “3544” age. The highest net rating economically is from the “D” and “E” groups. Interestingly, the biggest regional fall was in Mindanao, and the largest increase was in the Visayas. What conclusions can we make from this snapshot of satisfaction/ dissatisfaction with the President’s performance? Probably, none that would not be tainted with personal positive or negative bias. Making any comparison between Philippine President Duterte and US President Donald J. Trump is ridiculous and only for the purpose of advancing a political agenda. However, a New York Times columnist said last week that Trump’s supporters are “idiots”. Sounds familiar? Trump’s supporters, the columnist added, do not “admire” elites who are “educated” and care about things like “culture” and the “cultivation of the human soul”. So then, what can we say about the Philippines when our President’s greatest performance satisfaction comes from the most and least educated, and from the lowest economic classes? “The People” speak, and we may not fully understand the reasoning, but we must listen. Since 2005

Some notes on TRAIN Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

he Department of Finance is currently active in its campaign to make more Filipinos understand what House Bill 5636, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN), is all about. The Duterte administration wants more people to understand what the proposed bill contains so that more people will support it. Congress approved it on May 31, and it is slated to be discussed in the Senate when the new session opens on the 24th of this month. The tax-reform bill aims to lower the personal income taxes being paid by the ordinary citizen, decrease donor and estate taxes, and adjust excise, fuel and automobile taxes. Also included in the bill is the widening of the value-added tax base and additional taxes for sugary beverages. More than 80 percent of current

‘DU30’s political health’

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taxpayers won’t have to pay income tax under the new tax bill, according to its proponents. Those who are currently paying 32 percent will see that figure go down to 25 percent. Those who make at least P5 million yearly will be shelling out 35 percent of their money for taxes. Because of these changes, it is believed that 99 percent of Filipino taxpayers will

ometime in February 2016 Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, then 71, admitted having four ailments. “I have no cancer. I have four illnesses, but they are not fatal,” the then-presidential candidate said to reporters who asked him if he had suffered a stroke while campaigning in Quezon City in February 2016. The mayor admitted that he was confined overnight at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in Greenhills, San Juan City, for severe migraine, not a stroke, and had to skip a speech before a medical convention. He has also admitted that he was diagnosed to have a respiratory infection, which triggered a headache, nausea and vomiting. “I did not know I have acute bronchitis. I was told to rest and take [an] antibiotic,” he added. Duterte also denied having cancer. The then-frontrunner revealed he had a slipped disc from a motorcycle accident 10 years ago. He also has Barrett’s esophagus, which involves tissue lining the esophagus, and Buerger’s disease, a constriction of the blood vessels caused by accumulation of nicotine due to smoking. Speculations about the health of now President Duterte has not stopped, and is unlikely to stop, especially since he “disappeared” from the public eye for a week this June and missed a number of official functions, including the 119th anniversary of Philippine Independence on June 12. Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella assured the pub-

lic that the President was not suffering from any sickness, but that he was just very tired and needed some rest, especially because of his hectic schedules visiting military camps in Cabadabaran, Agusan del Norte, and Butuan to talk to the troops. Although there is no official statement from Malacañang, Cabinet Secretary Leoncio B. Evasco Jr. reportedly briefed members of the Cabinet on June 16 that the President was brought to Cardinal Santos Medical Center in Greenhills on June 15, where he reportedly underwent a “peritoneal dialysis”, a treatment for early kidney disorder. The medical center has not issued any official media bulletin. I am not worried about the rumors or speculations about the President’s health. If he “disappears” to get much-needed rest, or to submit to doctor-prescribed medical tests and procedures to address the ailments

benefit from the proposed tax-reform bill. This includes the working middle-class, like teachers, employees, call-center agents, policemen, soldiers and those working in the medical industry. With the new tax system, purchasing power is also said to increase because the amount that people will save in taxes may be added to money they can actually spend. The government says income from taxes will be used for infrastructure projects, education, health and social-welfare programs. There will be support for public-utility vehicles drivers for four years, and cash transfers for poor families. As more infrastructure projects will be undertaken, productivity will increase and more jobs will be created. Better delivery of basic services will also follow, like education, health, housing and social welfare. Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said the proposed bill is pro-Filipino and pro-poor, and will greatly support the administration’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda. It

he has admitted as having, let us leave him be and not fuel speculations. If the President needs medical care, then he is entitled to the best medical care available. Let us not compound his medical condition by making irresponsible speculations, rumors, unfair reporting and “alternative facts”. I am not worried about the President’s medical health, but I am worried about his “political health”. As early as Villena v. Secretary of Interior, (67 Philippine 451 [1939]) it has already been established that there is one repository of executive powers, and that is the President of the Republic. This means that when the Constitution, Article 7, Section 1, speaks of executive power, it is granted to the President and no one else. Corollarily, it is only the President, as Chief Executive, who is authorized to exercise emergency power as provided under the Constitution, Article 6, Section 23, as well as what became known as the calling-out powers under Article 7, Section 7. “Springing from the well-entrenched constitutional precept of One President is the notion that there are certain acts which, by their very nature, may only be performed by the President as the head of the State. One of these acts or prerogatives is the bundle of Commander in Chief powers to which the calling-out powers constitutes a portion. The President’s emergency powers, on the other hand, is balanced only by the legislative act of Congress, as embodied in the second paragraph of the Constitution, Article 6, Section 23” (Kalayaan v. Tan, 675 SCRA 482 [2012]).

will fund the government’s “Dutertenomics” strategy, which is expected to change the economic landscape in the country and transform the Philippines into a high middle-income country by 2022. Poverty incidence is also expected to decrease by 14 percent around this time. If the Senate approves TRAIN, I believe more people will be pleased. There will be some who might have to sacrifice a bit more for the benefit of the economy. Definitely, everyone is hoping that all the tax money goes to projects and programs that will benefit those who are in need. nnn

ON June 11 the PCSO Silver Cup Race was held at the Manila Jockey Club Inc. in Carmona, Cavite. The horses that finished the race were: Radio Active (with jockey JA Guce) placed first; Bite My Dust (with jockey KB Abobo) landed on second place; third prize went to Kanlaon (with jockey VR Dilema); and in the fourth place was Son Also Rises (with jockey JB Hernandez). Congratulations to all the winners!

The power to declare a state of martial law is subject to the Supreme Court’s authority to review the factual basis thereof. By constitutional fiat, the calling-out power, which is of lesser gravity than the power to declare martial law, is bestowed upon the President alone. As noted in Villena, “[t]here are certain constitutional powers and prerogatives of the Chief Executive of the Nation [that] must be exercised by him in person, and no amount of approval or ratification will validate the exercise of any of those powers by any other person. Such for instance, is his power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus and proclaim martial law...” (Id.) Indeed, while the President is still a civilian, the Constitution, Article 2, Section 3, mandates that civilian authority is, at all times, supreme over the military, making the civilian president the nation’s supreme military leader. The net effect of Article 2, Section 3, when read with Article 7, Section 18, is that a civilian President is the ceremonial, legal and administrative head of the armed forces. The Constitution does not require that the President must possess military training and talents, but as Commander in Chief, he has the power to direct military operations and to determine military strategy. Normally, he would be expected to delegate the actual command of the armed forces to military experts; but the ultimate power is his. As Commander in Chief, he is authorized to direct the movement of the See “Kapunan,” A15

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, July 10, 2017 A15

Meeting global standards Dissecting PPP contracts #3: Anticorruption warranty for the global Filipino CPA By Alberto Agra

PPP Lead

Atty. Samuel B. Padilla

DEBIT CREDIT

he International Federation of Accountants (Ifac) is the global organization for the accountancy profession for which the Philippines is a member-country. The organization supports the development, adoption and implementation of international standards for accounting education, ethics and the public sector, as well as audit and assurance. To maintain membership, Ifac set out the seven Statement of Membership Obligations, one of which is the International Education Standards (IES). IES set forth a number of education and training requirements in order to be able to offer professional accountancy services. T he cur rent IES entr y requirements for accountants are as follows: n A university education with adequate curriculum standards; n At least three years of practical experience under an experience mentor; and n Passing a qualifying examination. In addition, once a prospective accountant gains entry to the profession, IES requires at least 120 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) over each three-year period (or, on average 40 hours per year) to maintain his professional license. In a report prepared in cooperation of the Asean Federation of Accountants (AFA) by World Bank, a survey was made on the comparison of entry requirements in Asean countries for the accounting profession where it showed that the three years practical experience is required before an applicant could qualify as a professional accountant in this respective countries. In the same report, the World Bank has recommended that AFA should consider providing coordination, facilitation and oversight of the three IES entry requirements, notably to implement a common standard for practical experience and mentoring arrangements and the establishment of a common standard for CPD requirements and monitoring its compliance. To conform with the 120 hours CPD as required by Ifac, as a requirement to maintain the professional license, Congress passed into law Republic Act 10912, otherwise known as the “Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016”. Additionally, in order to develop capable and competent accountancy professionals, we need to establish and implement a common standard for practical experience requirements that complies with

Kapunan. . .

continued from A14

naval and military forces placed by law at his command, and to employ them in the manner he may deem most effectual” (Fr. Joaquin Bernas S.J., The Philippine Constitution A Comprehensive Reviewer [2006] p. 314.) In addition to being the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, the President also acts as the leader of the country’s police forces, under the mandate of the Constitution, Article 7, Section 17, which provides that, “The President shall have control of all the executive departments, bureaus and offices. He shall ensure that the laws be faithfully executed.” During the deliberations of the Constitutional Commission on the framing of this provision, Bernas defended the retention of the word “control”, employing the same rationale of singularity of the Office of the President, as the only Executive under the presidential form of government. It is, therefore, imperative that we are assured of the political health of the President. Does he have control of the military as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces? From

It is noteworthy that the 10 Asean member-countries forged the Asean Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on Accountancy Services and adopted the three IES entry requirements of the Ifac before an applicant can qualify as an Asean accountant. This MRA was signed by all Asean representatives, including the Philippines, in November 2015, and is an international agreement that is binding to all the signatories. IES. The Board of Accountancy should redefine the extent and scope of the “minimum three years of meaningful experience” on the context of improving the quality of public practice. It is noteworthy that the 10 Asean member-countries forged the Asean Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on Accountancy Services adopted the three IES entry requirements of the Ifac before and applicant can qualify as an Asean accountant. This MRA was signed by all Asean representatives, including the Philippines, in November 2015, and is an international agreement that is binding to all the signatories. This MRA will provide mobility to the qualified accountants in the Asean region in pursuing their accountancy work in the 10 member-countries. The Filipino CPAs will be a beneficiary of this mobility privilege since our CPAs have long been going throughout the world to share their expertise. With the CPD and the three-year practical experience in place in the accountancy profession in the Philippines, the Filipino CPA can very well compete throughout the accountancy world as a truly global accountant. Samuel B. Padilla, MBA, DBA, is a CPA Lawyer by profession, and a member of the Board of Accountancy. He is a member of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a fellow of Institute of Corporate Directors.

whom does the Army take orders? There are rumors (from the usual suspects) that the Maute uprising is US/CIA-inspired because the weapons retrieved from the battlefields of Marawi are allegedly US highpowered weapons. Also, the country’s police force deputized by the President in his all-out war against drugs, is seemingly out of control with the rising number of extrajudicial killings and rumors that the police themselves are entrenched in the drug trade. Not to mention the almost failed peace talks, the threats from the communist left; the looming constitutional crisis because of attacks on sacred institutions, like the Supreme Court, by an irresponsible and abusive Lower House leadership; media-attention craving opposition senators; the veiled threats of war by China over our territorial claims; and the possibility of a “military junta” should the generals refuse to respect our Constitutional succession. Is the political health of the President strong enough to survive and prevail over these challenges? Does he still have the passion, fire and political will that elected him into this country’s highest office? We can only pray and hope as a people that he does!

Continued from A1

et us now dissect this seemingly innocuous, but value-laden, provision: (1) Who is the warrantor? Typically, in a PPP contract, the warrantor or promisor is the private-sector proponent (PSP), not the government agency. But this columnist submits that both parties must make such a promise. Corruption goes both ways. (2) What if there is no such contractual warranty? Not engaging in any corrupt practice can be an express or implied warranty. While it is better that said warranty be stated in the PPP contract, failure to make such an express

promise does not excuse the parties. All laws, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act included, are read into every contract. (3) What is being promised? The PSP-warrantor promises that it or its officers and representatives

Break time Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

dear friend once told me, “If there’s anything I wish I had more of, it’s time. Always rushing to get through my mornings.” The hustle and bustle of each day causes her undue stress. The instinctive response would be to tell her to take a break. However, nowadays I am slowly learning that “break time” may have a different meaning—not of escaping one’s routine, but getting control of it. As in any ownership, we must get rid of unnecessary thoughts and undesirable activities for a more organized world. We can be the master of our time whenever we have clear, simple and specific goals and values in life. As author Sarah Young said, “Learn to master your time or it will be your master.” In his book Ordering Your Private World, Gordon MacDonald says a person is disorganized if he misses deadlines, fails to respond to messages, or feels poorly about his work. In the same vein, he says a person is organized once he begins to seal “time leaks and allocate his productive hours in light of his capabilities, his limits and his priorities.” Unlike any other resource, time, once spent, cannot be taken back. MacDonald suggests three ways to successfully recapture lost time: (1) find out your rhythm for maximum effectiveness, (2) set a criteria for choosing how to use time and (3) plan in advance. I remember a former law student who studied during the wee hours of the morning. She admits that she can

absorb more information and learn faster that way. Thus, her rhythm dictates that she spends her productive hours during midnight to dawn. In terms of allocating time, she said she always spends more time studying the core subjects in law school and subjects whose professors are notoriously “terror professors”. When she prepared for the Bar exam, she planned all her activities during the five-month review period, allotting specific hours for each subject, social activities and recreation. As she discovered her rhythm (night studying) and complemented it with advanced planning (five-month review calendar) and optimal time allocation (core subjects), she easily passed the Bar exam.

will not bribe, engage in any corrupt practice, or exert any undue influence on the government agency and its officers. The promise can also include prohibiting the PSP and its agents and contractors from hiring, engaging or contracting officials and consultants of the government agency for the PPP project. The assurance may also cover acts prior to the signing of the PPP contract. The PSP may also represent, not really warrant, that it secured the PPP award without doing something unlawful. (4) For how long is the assurance? The parties are bound to be “clean” during the life of the contract and project, and depending on the covenant, even prior to signing the same. This is considered a continuing warranty. (5) What is the effect if the warrantor breaks its promise? The effect of a breach of this warranty extends to the act (i.e., con-

tract) and/or the actor (i.e., the party, its officers and agents). Thus, the consequences can range from contract cancellation, blacklisting in future PPP projects, forfeiture of the performance security, payment of damages and/or civil and penal liabilities for the actors. (6) How can this warranty be enforced? The breadth of the impact, therefore, determines whether the breach is material or formal. For rescission of the contract, this may be self-executing or when contested, may be subject of arbitration or judicial action. For personal liabilities, the courts will determine innocence or guilt after complying with due process requirements. PPP contracts are therefore ethical arrangements, both in terms of content and process. PPP contracts are public good-driven and must be ethically pursued. We hope that anticorruption warranty clauses will not remain dead letter.

Every moment, we can do a hundred of good things—hit the gym, cook, read, have coffee with a friend, watch a movie, or enjoy the sunset. But every moment also allows us to do better things depending on our rhythm. Since every moment can present itself differently, context determines what is good, better, or even best. Author Robert Hales said, “When you cannot do what you have always done, then you only do what matters most.” We must budget our time like any other resource. However, unlike money, time should be weighed in terms of quality. Quality time is a term usually used in leadership and management courses to equip people with the necessary skills to be more productive in the workplace. But quality time is also the time and attention we invest in a person or activity. A few minutes of dedicated time spent with a loved one clearly outweighs the long hours we spend in business meetings. The heartfelt satisfaction people derive from thanking others can sometimes be captured in a brief hug instead of a long-winded beer session. How we manage our time determines who we will become. How we spend our time demonstrates the extent of our relationships with others. How we prioritize our time reflects the values we cherish in life. Whenever we make use of our time to perform our “best” activity, we must be fully present in mind and body, psychologist Benjamin Hardy says.

In his devotional article, “Relationship Resonance”, Doug Hacking said, “It may only take a few seconds of giving someone your full attention to make a positive impact. But what is important is that you don’t create interruptions with things like a smart phone, a television show, or anything else that will tempt you to temporarily check out.” There will always be time for the other things you set out to do. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, the Bible tells us, “There is a season for everything, and a time for every event under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted.” In her book, Jesus is Calling, Sarah Young, speaking as Jesus, wonderfully said that “as you focus on my Presence, the demands of time and tasks will diminish.” Time is a gift from God. Since we are all time-bound beings here on Earth, we need to seek Him in His timelessness. So, to my dear friend who wished for more time, I say that we will never lack time if we focus on whatever we have and the things that truly matter. No one can know our rhythm, set our criteria and plan in activities in advance except ourselves. However, make sure that whenever you want to “break” time, as our favorite yoga teacher Maidee would say, “you must surrender to the moment”.

The West and what comes after By Ross Douthat

New York Times News Service

hile Donald J. Trump was giving a speech in Poland last week depicting a West whose values, heritage and freedoms are threatened by the weakening of borders and a loss of confidence within, I was reading about the last days when European empires ruled the globe. Those years, the years of decolonization that followed World War II, are the subject of a book by anthropologist and historian Gary Wilder, Freedom Time: Negritude, Decolonization and the Future of the World. Wilder follows two black intellectuals and politicians, Aimé Césaire of Martinique and Léopold Sédar Senghor of Senegal, who shared a striking combination of anti-imperialist zeal and desire for continued political union with the French Republic. Césaire’s tiny Martinique did indeed become a French département. But in Senegal and Africa and the once-colonized world writ large, their project never had a chance. Once the age of empire ended, political separation became inevitable. Yet, against critics who deemed both men sellouts and self-haters for desiring to remain in some sense French, Wilder argues that their vision was complex and potentially prophetic. They were Western-educated Francophones who read deeply in the European

canon, who believed in the “miracle of Greek civilization”, who drew on Plato and Virgil and Pascal and Goethe. At the same time, they argued for their own race’s civilizational genius, for a “negritude” that turned a derogatory label into a celebration of African cultural distinctiveness. And finally they believed that part of the West’s tradition, the universalist ideals they associated with French republicanism and Marxism, could be used to create a political canopy—a transnational union—beneath which humanity could be (to quote Césaire) “more than ever united and diverse, multiple and harmonious”. This vision was rejected by both the colonized and the colonizers. But in certain ways it was revived by global elites after the Cold War’s end, with neoliberalism substituted for Marxism, and a different set of transnational projects—the European Union, the Pax Americana— taking the place of the pan-ethnic, multicultural French Union envisioned by Césaire and Senghor. Of late, though, this project has run into some of the same difficulties that made theirs an impossibility. The cultural reality that Césaire and Senghor grasped—that civilizational difference is real and powerful and lasting—has a way of undoing the political unity for which they fondly hoped. On the evidence of recent European controversies, it is hard enough for a

political union to reconcile the different branches of the West—German and Mediterranean, French and Anglo-Saxon. It becomes harder when that same union is trying to manage a society so multicultural—as European nations under the pressure of mass migration may become—as to lack religious or linguistic or historical common ground. And it becomes harder still when your ruling elite’s cosmopolitanism is essentially superficial, more “eating ethnic food and cheering for Obama” than “celebrating negritude while reading Goethe”. Thus, the nationalist backlash against cosmopolitanism, embodied in its starkest form by Trump, is somewhat equivalent to the anticolonial nationalism that rejected Senghor and Césaire’s unionism as hopelessly naive. Yesterday’s African nationalists argued, reasonably, that you cannot develop an African civilization if your center of political authority is still in Europe. Today’s Western nationalists argue, also plausibly, that many European distinctives are unlikely to survive if nationstates are weak, mass immigration constant, Christianity and Judaism replaced by indifferentism and Islam, and young elites educated as global citizens without knowing their own home. This nationalist argument comes in racist forms, but it need not be the white nationalism that Trump’s liberal critics read into his speech. It can just be a species of conservatism, which prefers

For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.

to conduct cultural exchange carefully and forge new societies slowly, lest stability suffer, memory fail and important things be lost. As such, it’s a view I endorse. But in the European case I don’t necessarily believe that it will prevail. I certainly don’t believe in Trump as its paladin—not when his entire career makes a mockery of faith, family, tradition, virtue. Nor do I have much confidence that the present burst of European nationalism is more than a spasm, a reflex—not when religious practice is so weak, patriotism so attenuated, the continent’s birthrate so staggeringly low. What’s more, I can read the population projections for Europe versus the Middle East and Africa, which make ideas like “managed migration” and “careful cultural exchange” seem like pretty conceits that 21st-century realities will eventually explode. Which brings me back to Césaire and Senghor, men who loved their African heritage and yet also knew European civilization better than most educated Europeans do today. Their fantasy of a postimperial union between north and south, white and black, was in their times just that. But as a striking sort of African-European hybrid, as prophets of a world where the colonized and the colonizers had no choice but to find a way to live together, the West’s future may belong to them in some altogether unexpected way.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A16 Monday, July 10, 2017

PHL provinces need more paved roads, recycling facilities T

By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

he country’s largest infrastructure gaps are found in provincial paved roads and municipal recycling facilities, according to an official of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

In a presentation last week, Neda Infrastructure Staff Director Roderick M. Planta said the infrastructure gap in paved provincial roads is at 71.4 percent. This means of the 36,075 kilometers, only 28.7 percent, or 10,353.53 km, of provincial roads have been paved. Around 25,721.48 km of subnational roads have yet to be paved. “While the Philippines has attained important achievement in infrastructure provision, we see here that there are still a number

of sectoral gaps that need to be addressed, especially in the face of continuous population growth, rapid urbanization, and occurrence of natural calamities and disasters,” Planta added. Neda data also showed that the infrastructure gap in paved city roads was at 38.2 percent of 15,376 km of city roads. This means only 61.8 percent, or 9,502.37 km, have been paved. The infrastructure gap in barangays covered by municipal rec yc l ing fac i l it ies was a lso

significant at 46.2 percent. In terms of barangays covered by solid wastemanagement facilities, the gap is at 36.1 percent. Double-digit infrastructure gaps were also observed in Mindanao’s household electrification level at 27.6 percent; access to broadband in cities and municipalities, 23.6 percent; and access to irrigation service, 13.6 percent. Planta said, however, the assessment does not include health facilities, classrooms, housing and other similar infrastructure needs. Apart from implementation delays and changes in project scope, he added these gaps are also due to challenges, such as institutional

issues, including weak regulations and poor project planning. Operational issues, such as unsynchronized planning, investment programming and budgeting, have served as obstacles to government infrastructure projects. Planta said the government is currently working to address bottlenecks and reduce or eliminate infrastructure gaps through its “Golden Age of Infrastructure” program. “Infrastructure development will still be prioritized to support economic activity, encourage mobility and promote freer interaction among sectors. Good infrastructure was, is and will be a See “PHL,” A2

Good infrastructure was, is and will be a necessary condition in sustaining our growth trajectory.”—Planta

online money executives Bansan C. Choa (third from left), chairman and CEO at I-Remit, updates shareholders on latest developments in the money-remittance business. Harris D. Jacildo, president and COO at the same firm, sits on Choa’s right. John Y. Tiu (left) independent director and chairman of the Audit and Finance Committee, carefully observes the proceedings, while Gilbert C. Gaw fidgets at the firm’s 2017 stockholders’ meeting at the Discovery Suites in Ortigas Center. NONOY LACZA

www.businessmirror.com.ph

NET OIL IMPORTS REACH 38.41 MILLION BARRELS IN JANUARY-MARCH

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

he country’s oil net-import bill in the first three months of the year increased to $2.137 billion, from $1.258 billion in the same period a year ago, mainly on account of higher world oil prices. The amount represents a total net import-oil volume of 38.410 million barrels at end-March this year, higher from 36.065 million barrels in the same period a year earlier. Net oil import is the difference between the country’s net imports and exports. Of the total volume, the country imported 42.064 million barrels, with a value of $2.383 billion in the first quarter of the year. Of which, 21.987 million barrels are crude oil, and the re-

maining 20.077 million barrels are finished products. In the same period last year, the country imported 39.710 million barrels of oil worth $1.405 billion. Crude-oil volume stood at 18.801 million barrels, while finished products make up 20.909 million barrels. On the other hand, the country’s petroleum-exports earnings for the period slightly went up to $246 million, from $147.4 million at end-March last year. In terms of volume, exported oil reached a total of 3.655 million barrels at end-March this year, slightly higher than last year’s 3.645 million barrels. Of which, exported crude oil reached 350 million barrels, and finished products reached 3.305 million barrels in the first quarter of 2017.

Dollar reserves lower by $764M in June–BSP By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

he so-called foreign-currency operations of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), essentially when the Central Bank itself plays the foreign-exchange market to manage the exchange rate, helped diminished the country’s dollar reserves in June by some $700 million. The BSP reported a diminution of the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) of only $81.41 billion in the first six months of this year. This proves lower compared to foreign-currency levels reported the previous May and that of last year. Compared to the prev ious month, the June GIR level was $764 million lower than the $82.18 billion reported in May. Compared to the year ago level, this was $3.87 billion weaker than the $85.28 billion worth of foreign-currency reserves in the same month last year. Despite the decline, the BSP said the end-June GIR should be enough to cover 8.7 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. It was also equivalent to 5.6 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.8 times based on residual maturity. Apart from outflows arising from the BSP’s foreign exchange operations, the BSP attributed the decline in the GIR to pay downs on maturing obligations of the national government and the retreat in the price of the central bank’s

$82.18 billion

The country’s gross international reserves in May gold holdings forcing so-called revaluation adjustments. In June the peso pushed past the 50-per-dollar territory due to the strong dollar. BSP chief Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. recently gave assurance the central bank is “actively managing” volatilities in the foreign-exchange market as the exchange rate continues to go deeper into the P50 territory at last week’s trades. The Central Bank endeavors to keep a market-determined foreign exchange framework, which essentially means the BSP allowing players to dictate the value of the peso even as it “maintains a strategic presence in the foreign-exchange market” to ensure against sharp rises and falls in the exchange rate. The peso ended last Friday’s trade at 50.58 per dollar, slightly better compared to 50.67 per dollar in Thursday’s trade, data from the PDS Group showed. The BSP said the national government payments made for maturing foreign-exchange debts, as well as revaluation adjustments on its gold holdings helped bring down the level of GIR during the period. The decline could have been larger were it not partially offset by the foreigncurrency deposits also by the national government and income from the BSP’s investments abroad.

Chinese, Taiwanese lift 5-month tourist arrivals Continued from A1

receipts, which indicate how much revenues have been generated by the economy from tourists. T he last receipts data was reported for February, when some P40.08 billion was earned in the first two months of 2017, a 19-percent drop from the receipts in the same period in 2016. T he DO T st at i st ic s of f ice reported that countries from Asia still accounted for the biggest market share by delivering 60.7 percent of the total visitor volume, or some 1.75 million ar r iva ls for t he f ive mont hs to May. East Asia represented more than half of said volume at

some 1.5 million arrivals, while the rest came from the Asean at 203,400 arrivals, and South Asia at 55,543 arrivals. North and South America supplied a total of 534,012 arrivals, or a share of 18.5 percent of the total visitors. Also, 324,618 tourists (11.3 percent) came from Europe, while 140,979 tourists (4.9 percent) were from the Australasia/ Pacific region. China posted the largest jump in visitors at 36.3 percent to 388,896 in the period of review, making it the third-largest tourism market. This was slower, though, than the market’s 89-percent rise in the first four months of the year. Visitors

from Taiwan grew by some 21 percent to 108,643, landing the country in the sixth spot among the top source markets for tourists for the Philippines. The Philippines tourism industry appears to be benefiting from the warming of diplomatic relations with China, which had promised to send 1 million tourists this year. For the market to hit 1 million, Chinese arrivals in the Philippines have to average some 87,301 every month, from June to December 2017. Looking at past data, however, arrivals from China reached their peak at 85,948 in January, but generally slowed down each month,

falling to 73,649 in May. Yet, this 1-million commitment from Beijing, made during the state visit of President Duterte to China in March, boosted the confidence of DOT officials to raise the agency’s target arrivals to 8 million this year, from the original target of 6.5 million. The target for inbound tourism receipts this year remains at P407 billion, some 77 percent higher than actual receipts of P230.13 billion in 2016. Meanwhi le, d ata f rom the DOT show the top source market for tourists continues to be South Korea, with 686,630 arrivals, posting a growth of 19.1

percent; followed by the US with 686,630 (+13.6 percent); China; Japan 255,819 (+14.7 percent); Australia 255,819 (+4.1 percent); Taiwan; Canada 97,387 (+18.3 percent); and the UK 97,387 (+8.07 percent). Decreases were recorded in the arrivals from Singapore (-7.4 percent) to 70,185; Malaysia (-0.55 percent) to 60,578; and Hong Kong (-7.35 percent) to 47,462. India rounded up the top 12 tourism source markets for the Philippines, with a 24-percent rise in visitor arrivals to 45,675. For the month of May alone, D O T d at a i nd i c at e d v i s it or a r r i v a l s re a c he d 532,757, a

19. 6 - p e rc e nt i n c r e a s e f r o m the May 2016 visitor count of 445,449. “It could be noted that from 2012 to 2015, the month of May only generated more than 300,000 visitors while it produced more than 400,000 visitors last year. [But for] the first time this year, visitor arrivals in May surpassed the 500,0000 mark providing a bright outlook for Philippine tourism.” The DOT statistics office attributed the surge in arrivals in the said month due to “aggressive marketing efforts and international events which included the Asean@50 meetings held in the country”.