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Monday, July 17, 2017 Vol. 12 No. 277

Palace urged to certify rice-tariff bill as urgent

By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

he Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council Executive Committee (Ledac-Execom) identified the conversion of the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice into tariff and 12 other bills as measures that the President must certify as urgent.

The number of bills that the Ledac-Execom has identified as measures that must be certified as urgent According to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), the Ledac-Execom’s list See “Rice-tariff,” A2

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Dissecting PPP contracts #4: Maga PPP Lead

Alberto C. Agra

ne of the most desired boilerplate provisions of public-private partnership (PPP) contracts today, the absence of which can be a deal breaker for some privatesector proponents (PSPs), is the Maga—Material Adverse Government Action. Having a Maga is one way by which PPP arrangements, typically long-term contracts, become robust and “future-proofed”. (1) What does Maga seek to address? Every time this columnist gives a lecture on PPPs, participants identify political risk as one of the top risks in the country. One such political risk is regulatory risk where future actions of government adversely affect a PPP project. Broadly, this is successor risk whereby the next (successor) administration changes policies made by the previous administration. Continued on A15

BIG-TICKET PROJECTS BMReports BOOST B.O.I. APPROVALS Pinoys hope Duterte keeps campaign promises in Year 2 By Catherine N. Pillas @c_pillas29

nvestments approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) jumped by 30 percent to P273 billion as of mid-July on the back of big-ticket projects, such as San Miguel Corp.’s (SMC) Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 7 project, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo expressed confidence that investment approvals by the end of July could reach P290 billion. “In January to June, growth was flat at 0.81 percent to P188 billion, from P186 billion last year. But mid-July, in our last board meeting, we saw a 30-percent increase. We’re now at P273 billion, from P210 billion last yetar,” Rodolfo told reporters in an interview. He said the figure may likely reach P290 billion as another board meeting may be scheduled before the end of July. “We still have more projects in the pipeline worth around P18 billion that is expected to be approved before July ends,” Rodolfo added.

Projects approved by the BOI are expected to create 56,056 jobs, 50 percent higher than figure recorded last year. The BOI, an attached agency of the DTI, green lighted the grant of fiscal incentives to 245 projects, including the P79-billion MRT 7 project of SMC. The construction of the 23-kilometer railway line, passing through 14 stations, will run from North Avenue in Quezon City to San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan. A second component of the project entails a 22-km, six-lane asphalt road from Bocaue interchange in North Luzon Expressway to the intermodal terminal in Tala, Caloocan. The project is entitled to a four-year income-tax holiday and duty-free importation of capital equipment. The BOI is still eyeing to surpass its target of approving P500 billion in investments this year. The government is confident this can be attained due to the influx of projects from Chinese investors. “The P290 billion we expect by the end of the month represents nearly 60 percent of our goal to reach P 500 billion this year, in line with the BOI’s 50th founding anniversary, so we are on pace to achieve that mark,” Rodolfo said.

PESO exchange rates n US 50.4810

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

Part One

HE labor movement is expecting President Duterte to reveal the government’s next step in its promise to end contractualization in his second State of the Nation Address (Sona). Labor groups Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) are demanding Duterte to address head on whether he is still keen to end the practice of endo (end of contract). A year under Duterte, they said the government failed to scrap contractual arrangement as a mode of employment, which the Chief Executive vowed to abolish during the campaign period. ALU-TUCP, for one, is wishing Duterte has a “surprise gift” for workers on his Sona. “The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines is Continued on A2

Workers at the Batasang Pambansa compound in Quezon City put on fresh paint on the House of Representatives signage as preparation for the State of the Nation Address of President Duterte. Labor groups are hoping Duterte would address head on whether he is still keen to end the practice of end of contract among businesses. NONOY LACZA

n japan 0.4456 n UK 65.3426 n HK 6.4651 n CHINA 7.4403 n singapore 36.7509 n australia 39.0016 n EU 57.5584 n SAUDI arabia 13.4623

Source: BSP (14 July 2017 )

A2 Monday, July 17, 2017

BMReports BusinessMirror

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Pinoys hope Duterte keeps campaign promises in Year 2 Continued from A1

hoping President Duterte [will] finally announce his decision to fulfill his promise to end contractualization and free millions of precarious contractual or short-term workers from the bondage of labor slavery without security of tenure, poor wage and benefits,” ALU-TUCP Spokesman Alan A. Tanjusay told the BusinessMirror. The labor group in early-May submitted to the Office of the President a draft executive order (EO) that will prohibit all forms of contractual arrangement. According to Tanjusay and Labor Undersecretary Joel B. Maglunsod, the draft EO was requested by Duterte during his Labor Day meeting with labor leaders in Davao City. However, two months after sub-

Rice-tariff. . . Continued from A1

includes the proposed Unified Nat ion a l Ident i f ic at ion Sys tem Act; Security of Tenure Bill (end of contractualization); utilization of the coconut-levy fund; National Transport Act to address transport traffic crisis; Budget Reform Act; National Land Use Act; and Rightsizing of the National Government. A l s o t a g ge d a s re q u i r i n g urgent certification were the A mendments to the A nti- Cybercrime Act; Amendments to the NIA Charter to provide free

mission, Malacañang has yet to disclose if Duterte has read through the draft EO already, leaving ALUTUCP hanging in the air. “Frankly speaking, that ‘surprise gift’ we are expecting in Duterte’s Sona is his EO banning all forms of fixed-term employment,” Tanjusay said. In an e-mail to the BusinessMirror, KMU Chairman Elmer C. Labog said his group is also expecting Duterte to address contractualization in his report to the nation. KMU, for its part, is pushing the radical stance of abolishing the practice of endo and “penalizing businessmen, especially the big foreign and local ones, who implement” the mode of employment. On top of this, Labog said KMU would like to see Duterte push his

so-called supermajority in Congress to prioritize the passage of House Bill 556, or the anticontractualization bill, filed by the Makabayan bloc in Congress. Labor expert Rene E. Ofreneo of the University of the Philippines said that, while Duterte vowed to end contractualization in three months, it took the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) nine months to issue Department Order (DO) 174. DO 174, issued by Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III in midMarch, imposes tighter rules on contractual arrangements. However, instead of drawing praise, Bello received flak from both labor groups and economists. The order prohibited the practices of labor-only contracting, farming of work through cabo,

contracting out of jobs through an in-house agency and contracting out of jobs due to a strike or lockout, whether actual or imminent, among others. On one hand, labor groups, including ALU-TUCP and KMU, called on Duterte to scrap DO 174, saying the prohibitions stated under it were already banned by existing laws. Economists, on the other hand, said the government will have difficulty implementing the orders. Likewise, they said the government should avoid reducing the labor market into a sphere involving only firms and workers. “Duterte promised to end contractualization in three months. [It took the government] nine months [before it] issued DO 174, which many unions refused to accept,”

Ofreneo told the BusinessMirror. “The reality is it is difficult to balance the interests of the two sides—labor sector and employer sector—that are diametrically opposite [in positions]. What is really needed is to curb abuses in recruitment, hiring and deployment,” Ofreneo added. The labor expert said that, while DO 174 was able to enforce “tighter monitoring and inspectorate”, it provided little impact on “ending short-term hiring” under the context of a labor market influenced by globalization and regionalization. “ There is no law declaring unlawful [contractual arrangement], as demanded by the trade unions, and DO 174 can only tighten the rules [on employment],” Ofreneo said.

On his Sona, Ofreneo said the Chief Executive must vow to take immediate action on contractualization to weather the mood of the labor movement, which was, at first, on his side, but now is gaining more and more reason to troop back to the streets. “For the second year, [Duterte must create] a more decisive and focused program of creating more and better jobs for all areas and sectors of the economy,” Ofreneo said. Tanjusay is expecting the same from the President. “Sana sabihin na niya ano ba talaga ang plano niya para sa mga manggagawang naniniwala sa kanya [I hope he lays out what really are his plans for all the workers believing in him],” Tanjusay said. Duterte is scheduled to deliver his Sona on July 24. To be continued

irrigation; A mendment to Publ ic Ser v ice A c t; Ea se of Do i ng Bu si ness A c t / Fa st Bu siness Per mit Act; and Gover nment Proc u rement Refor m Act amendments. “By identifying them as urgent we mean that we would want them passed into law possibly within the year,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said after the first Ledac-Execom meeting under the Duterte administration. Per n i a s a id M a l ac a ñ a ng ’s certification is “crucial ”, particularly for a bill which seeks to amend Republic Act (RA) 8178,or the Agricultural Tariffication Act

of 1996 Amending the R A 8178, is needed to meet the Philippines’s obligations to the World Trade Organization (W TO), particularly in tariffying the country’s QR on rice. Manila’s waiver to extend the special treatment on rice expired on June 30. He said earnings from tariffying rice import caps will also be used to improve the productivity of farmers and the agriculture sector—as specified in the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, which aims to expand economic opportunities in agriculture. “We need rice tariffication because the QR allowed by the WTO

already ended. This is to prevent uncertainty as to what the demands of WTO members will be following the lapse of the QR,” Pernia said. The Neda chief said the LedacExecom also “strongly” endorsed the passage of the tax-reform bill, which was already certified as urgent by President Duterte in May. The 13 bills are part of the 28 measures included in the proposed Common Legislative Agenda (CLA) reviewed and vetted by the Neda-Ledac Secretariat, for final approval of the council. T he CL A consists of measures which were pr ior itized

based on the President’s Legislative Agenda (PLA) and the Common Legislative Priorities of Congress (CLPC). The Ledac-Execom comprises the leaders of both chambers of Congress, the executive secretar y, the socioeconomic planning secretar y as overall head of the Ledac Secretariat and the presidential legislative adviser. It convenes council meetings and allows opportunities to expeditiously address issues and concerns relating to priority Legislative measures. The Executive committee also serves as a venue to discuss other measures proposed for inclusion in

the CLA. The Ledac-Execom meets as often as may be necessary. The Ledac is an interagency consultative and advisory body to the President on economic and development matters to integrate the Legislative agenda with the national development plan. The council is composed of high-level officials from the government’s Executive and Legislative branches, with representatives from the private sector, youth and local government units. RA 7640 provides that the Ledac shall meet at least once every quarter but it may be convened by the President for special meetings as may be necessary.

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House, Senate leaders meet to finalize priority measures By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

he leaders of the 17th Congress will meet next week to set their agenda and finalize priority measures to be passed during their second regular session. House Majority Leader Rodolfo C. Fariñas of Ilocos Norte said the House of Representatives and the Senate have pending important measures that will be approved during the second regular session. “We will finalize them with our Senate counterparts when we meet on Wednesday, July 26,” Fariñas said in a text message to the BusinessMirror. Earlier, Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez said the lower chamber will prioritize the passage of the 2018 budget, while it will look into the alleged province of Ilocos Norte’s fraudulent use of P66.45 million in tobacco fund and an alleged tax reduction of tax liabilities of food and beverage giant Del Monte Philippines Inc. House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Karlo B. Nograles of Davao City said it would be the first time in history that a president submits the annual budget on the day of his State of the Nation Address (Sona). Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said the 2018 budget will be submitted to Congress on the day the President delivers his second Sona. “To possibly have the earliest submission of the proposed budget in our country’s history, this only goes to show that the President and his men are working hard to make sure that the

fruits of this administration’s reforms will be felt by the poorest of the poor,” Nograles said. Nograles added he would like to see more government funding on education, infrastructure, health, employment generation, peace and order and poverty alleviation. “We assure the public that the administration’s budget proposal, as contained in the national expenditure program, will go through a fine-toothed comb as we perform our duty to ensure that every peso counts in providing much needed services to our people, particularly those in the countryside, and remote areas,” Nograles said. The early submission of the budget, according to Nograles, will give lawmakers more time to study and dissect the proposed budget per agency and per government department. “[We will] make sure that we will pass the budget the earliest possible time so that we can have more time to push other key legislations that support the President’s reform agenda,” Nograles said.

Probe

Meanwhile, Alvarez vowed to look into the alleged tax-deficiency liabilities of Del Monte Philippines Inc. Del Monte reportedly had underpaid P29.6 billion in taxes from 2011 to 2013. The food and beverage company already denied the allegation. But Alvarez said he already asked the BIR to explain the allegations against Del Monte. According to Alvarez, there will be no need for Congress to pass the entire Comprehensive Tax Reform Package if the BIR efficiently collected the correct tax liabilities of big companies.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, July 17, 2017 A3

Martial-law victims lose $2-billion indemnity as CA junks US ruling

By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Court of Appeals (CA) has denied the petition filed by several victims of humanrights violations during the Marcos regime seeking the enforcement of the final judgment of the US court awarding them $2 billion in damages. In a 19-page decision penned by Associate Justice Normandie Pizarro dated July 7, 2017, the CA’s Twelfth Division, instead, affirmed the ruling issued by the Regional Trial Court in Makati City dismissing the complaint for recognition and enforcement of foreign judgment filed by Priscilla Mijares, Loretta Ann Rosales, Hilda Narciso Sr., Mariani Dimaranan and Joel Lamangan in their behalf and on behalf of the class plaintiffs in US case, Class Action MDL 840 consisting of approximately 10,000 human-rights victims during the dictator’s regime. The appellate court held that the final judgment rendered by the Hawaii Court on February 3, 1995, awarding a total of $1.964 billion in damages to human-rights victims during the Marcos regime is not binding because the said court had no jurisdiction as the

right to due process of all the unnamed claimants, as well as the respondent Marcos estate, had been violated. “To our minds, the failure of the final judgment to meet the standards of what a valid judgment is in our country compels us to deny its enforcement,” the CA declared. “Rules of comity should not be made to prevail over our Constitution and we cannot allow foreign impositions to trample upon our sovereignty,” it added. It explained that the Hawaii District Court certified MDL 840 as a class suit, which should mean that the parties who file the case both for themselves and those they seek to represent share a common legal interest—“that is, the subject of the suit over which there exists a cause of action is common to all persons

who belong to the group.” But the CA noted that, in the final judgment issued by the Hawaii court and being sought to be enforced here, the purported claimants were classified into three subclasses according to the basis of their claims, namely, torture, summary execution and disappearance victims. Such classification of the claimants, according to the CA, is an obvious recognition that “no common question of law and fact exists between/among the claimants.” “In other words, each claimant in MDL 840 had a right, if any, only to the damage that such individual may have suffered, and not one of them had any right to or can claim any interest in the damage or injury which another suffered,” the CA said. Hence, MDL 840 was not and should not have been brought as a class suit. Furthermore, the CA held that the Hawaii Court failed to ensure that the 10 Filipino citizens who initiated MDL 840—Celsa Hilao, Josefina Hilao Forcadilla, Arturo Revilla Jr., Rodolfo Benosa, Danila Fuente, Renato Pineda, Adora Faye de Vera, Domiciano Amparo, Christopher Sorio and Jose Duran—were truly and legally authorized by the other purported claimants. It noted that Hilao, et. al. did not identify the other claimants they purportedly represent and also failed to present any power of attorney from any of them.

“In the absence, therefore, of such authority, the final judgment rendered by said court is not binding because the right to due process of all the unnamed claimants, as well as the herein respondent estate, had been violated,” the CA explained. The appellate court added that the final judgment failed to meet the standards for a valid judgment considering that, despite the complaint in MDL 840 was filed under the Anti Tort Claim Act (Atca), the said decision was, however, rendered on the basis of a different law, presumably the Torture Victim Protection Act. Atca is a law that grants jurisdiction to federal district courts over all causes where an alien sues for any harm resulting from a violation of international law, no matter where the harm occurred, or who inflicted the harm, as long as the plaintiff serves process in the US territory. The CA stressed that the final judgment in MDL 840 utilized procedures, such as the classification of the purported claimants into subclasses, which are not provided for under the Atca. Furthermore, the CA noted that the US Supreme Court had recently issued a ruling in Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum that abandons previous rulings that the Atca applies to claims involving human-rights abuses or other international law alleged to have occurred in foreign countries.

Economy

A4 Monday, July 17, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

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Energy sector seen attracting more investments

By Lenie Lectura

Govt remains keen on SMC’s unsolicited bid to build airport in Bulacan–Pernia

@llectura

he chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy is optimistic that more investors will be encouraged to closely look at the Philippine energy market as the government jump-starts the implementation of vital reforms to eliminate red tape in the energy sector. The proposed Evoss Act, an integral part of Gatchalian’s legislative agenda for the energy sector, seeks to cut red tape in the permitting process of new power-generation projects through the establishment of an online system that would allow for single submission and synchronous processing of documentary requirements, assessment and payment of charges and fees, status updates and progress monitoring, and a synchronized permitting approval process. “EO 30 and the Evoss Act are complementar y reforms, which will facilitate the entr y of more players into the Philippine energ y sector. This, in turn, will boost competition, resulting in a more stable power supply and cheaper power costs for con-

FILE PHOTO

Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian said the government has taken a big step forward in addressing energy sector red tape with the issuance of Executive Order (EO) 30, which streamlines the permitting processes for big-ticket energy projects and mandates strict timeframes for government agencies to act on applications forwarded to their offices. “EO 30 is a signal to investors that the Philippines is serious about addressing red tape in the energy sector. The executive order will help address immediate red-tape concerns in the permitting process of energy projects, while the Energy Virtual One Stop Shop (Evoss) Act of 2017, which I have already sponsored on the Senate floor, makes its way through the legislative process,” Gatchalian said.

By Cai U. Ordinario

sumers,” Gatchalian said. The senator said the comprehensive Evoss Act will widen the scope of the reforms under EO 30 in several ways, including the appropriation of P50 million annually for the adoption of new technologies and operationalization of the streamlined permitting process; the setting of specific processing procedures and time frames for local government units and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples; and the im-

position of administrative penalties for failure to comply with the procedural guidelines and time frames, among others. “The Duterte administration and the Senate are working hand in hand to provide sufficient and affordable electricity to the Filipino people. Addressing bureaucratic inefficiencies by eliminating red tape will help us achieve this goal. There is much work left to do, but it is clear that we are heading in the right direction,” he said.

Think tank urges govt to restart Code of Conduct

year after the Philippines secured a decisive legal victory against China from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Duterte administration is in a prime position to restart discussions on a code of conduct in the West Philippine Sea, which observers say can help diffuse tension in the disputed waters, one of the world’s busiest. “As this year’s chair of Asean, we have an opportunity to steer the discussion on the Code of Conduct,” said Dindo Manhit, president of international think tank Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute, in a recent forum in Makati City. As the foremost beneficiary of the landmark Hague ruling, the Philippines must take advantage of the decision and resume its leadership in fortifying international law, Manhit added. “The Code of Conduct must reaffirm the Arbitral Tribunal’s Award to the Philippines as a guide for other countries’ behavior in the West Philippine Sea. After all, The Hague ruled that maritime entitlements should be government by Unclos [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea] and any claims not anchored on it should be denied,” he said. Despite forging warmer relations with Beijing, the Duterte administration can still uphold the 2016 ruling as a legal precedent for Asean claimantstates to further clarify their respective maritime entitlements and boundaries. “The award should not be seen as mere beneficial to the interest of the Philippines but to all claimants in the region with common interests in freedom of navigation for trade and other legitimate activities,” Manhit said. Manhit stressed, “We should resume our leadership in fortifying international law. All diplomatic avenues must be exhausted that are in promoting the rule of international law. We must protest what is unlawful, coercive and contrary to the correct principles that govern relations between states. We should be ready to appeal to the UN General Assembly in moving toward peace, not war.” China and the Asean have agreed on a framework to govern the Code of Conduct in May, a step that many see as the right step toward easing tensions in the protracted territorial row.

@cuo_bm

he Duterte administration is still considering San Miguel Corp.’s (SMC) unsolicited proposal to build an airport in a land owned by the diversifying conglomerate in Bulacan, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda). Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said the proposal is currently undergoing technical evaluation by the Neda, which serves as Secretariat to the interagency Investment Coordination Committee (ICC). “The airport project in Bulacan is still not dead. It’s still being considered,” Pernia said. “It’s just going to go through the usual process. There’s no special treatment, no commitment.” Pernia said the Neda will be looking at the proposal’s merits, particularly the conditions attached to the project. Should there be any conditions, the Neda chief said this will be a point against the proposal. He said he has initially instructed the Neda to just focus on the development of the Clark Airport and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) to improve the access and capacities of the two airports. The Neda chief said this is part of the Duterte admnistration’s aim of focusing on projects that can be completed in three years or within the President’s term. This focus, Pernia said, sent unsolicited proposals, such as the SMC airport proposal, to the back burner. “[Earlier] I said we should focus on Clark and the Naia for the meantime because that is really doable, that is what we need in the immediate and short run so that is what we did. In other words, these unsolicited proposals were placed on the back burner so we felt we had to reconsider also,” Pernia said. “Earlier, it was an announcement, I think the Finance Secretary [Carlos G. Dominguez] said we welcome unsolicited proposals so we wanted to honor that statement. But as I’ve said, it will go through the process,” he added. Pernia said should the Neda find merit in SMC’s proposal, the proposal will still have to go through Swiss Challenge, a process by which other private groups could still come forward to make an offer to match the bid of the proponent. He added that the location of the airport in Bulacan also needs to be studied in terms of accessibility. While the government, through the Philippine National Railway (PNR), has the ManilaClark Railway project, the station in Bulacan is not near the location of the airport. T h i s c a n b e a d d re s s e d through the National Transport Policy (NTP), which, the Neda said, was approved in the last Neda Board meeting. It envisions a national transport system that is “safe, secure, reliable, efficient, integrated, intermodal, affordable, costeffective, environmentally sustainable and people-oriented”. The policy, the oversight agency said, will synchronize decisions and investments of all transport-related agencies and better coordinate such efforts between the national and local levels. Pernia said the primary goal

of the Duterte administration is to translate the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 20172022 into actual programs that will benefit Filipinos. “ The government assures the people that the problem of congestion on the roads is still being prioritized. The NTP is a priority strategy ref lected in the PDP as we seek to provide accessible social services through better connectivity,” Pernia earlier said. In January the Neda advised against using unsolicited proposals to build the New Manila International Airport (NMIA). This was the recommendation Neda made to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) in a letter to Transportation Secretar y Arthur P. Tugade dated October 27, 2016, signed by Neda Undersecretary and, at that time, Officer in Charge Rolando G. Tungpalan. The letter was sent by Neda in response to the DOTr’s request to review the unsolicited airport proposal made by SMC. “Given the numerous proposals received with regard to the development of NMIA, you may wish to subject the project to a competitive bidding rather than through unsolicited mode, unless SMCH has been accorded by your department an original proponent status,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by the BusinessMirror. With the current administration’s openness to unsolicited projects, there are at least five groups keen on undertaking the NMIA. These groups include SMCH, which is reviving its $10-billion-worth airport proposal in Bulacan under the Aquino administration; the DM Wenceslao Group, which is proposing a combined airport and shipping port project in Sangley; and the Sy and Tieng Group, which is proposing a $50-billion-worth airport and economic zone in Sangley. The Neda also said the New San Jose Builders group has also proposed to include an airport in its Manila Bay flood-defense project, while the Okada group is looking to increase its investments in the country by participating in the bidding for the NMIA. If the DOTr decides to conduct competitive bidding for the project, this means that the performance requirements or project specifications will be drawn up by the government. These requirements may include components, such as the capacity of the terminal, the number of runways, access to and from the airport and other key aspects that will allow the NMIA to meet the country’s needs. The DOTr will also have to finalize the bid parameters, such as sovereign guarantees or premium payments, and the award will be granted to the group that offers the highest net present value. This means that if sovereign guarantees were chosen, the government will award according to the lowest subsidy sought. In terms of premium payments, the award will go to the company/ group that will provide the highest offer. Going through a competitive bidding for a project will also promote transparency and prevent naysayers from claiming that the choice of the unsolicited proponent was made through a “sweetheart deal”.

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6 firms eye hydropower projects in Laguna Lake By Lenie Lectura @llectura

he Department of Energy has received interests from six firms that want to put up pumped storage hydropower projects in Laguna. Mario Marasigan, director of Renewable Energy Management Bureau, said Laguna de Bay could host five to six power projects at 400 megawatts (MW) to 600 MW each. The project cost is estimated at $2.5 million per MW. “Right now, we have accepted six proposals, that means SC [service contract] applications over Laguna Lake. All of these projects would be pumped storage using Laguna Lake,” Marasigan said. Two of the six proposals are from Trans Asia Renewable Corp. and Citicore Power Inc., he added. Marasigan said the proposed project scope would depend on the result of the feasibility studies. “The range of the power capacity of each project would depend on their respective feasibility studies. But, at the end of the day, is there sufficient water from the Laguna Lake?” Citicore Regulatory Affairs and Compliance Head Rio Balaba said the company is still in the predevelopment stage for various SCs for its planned pumped-storage hydropower projects with a total capacity of 2,300 MW. “We previously disclosed 2,300 MW of combined capacity, covered by five SCs. We’re still at predevelopment stage and still in our TWG [technical working group] within Citicore. We are given five years for the predevelopment stage,” Balaba said. A service contract authorizes a powergeneration company to proceed with the predevelopment stage of the proposed projects, which include permitting and the conduct of various studies. The company is aiming to be one of the leading players in the renewable energy sector. Its planned 2,300 MW of hydropower capacity is expected to be generated from five plants, which are scattered across Southern Luzon.

Marawi won’t be freed before Duterte’s second Sona–AFP

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

he spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has conceded government troops will not be able to liberate Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, in time for President Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 24 due to various complexities in ground zero. In a recent news briefing, AFP Spokesman Restituto F. Padilla Jr. said as much as security forces wanted to seal the victory in Marawi City, there are difficulties hindering them from doing so. He said there are around 600 buildings that still need clearing and about 80 Islamist militants that need flushing out, leaving the military no choice but to admit Marawi City will not be freed from the clutches of extremist threats before Duterte’s Sona. “We are right into the [target of the] 10 days to 15 days of the President. But the 10 days to 15 days is beyond the Sona, by the way, so don’t expect [the liberation of Marawi City] to be before the Sona,” Padilla said last Friday. “Actually, all of us intend to get this conflict finished. If I were to be asked, this should be done today or tomorrow,” Padilla added.

Padilla said government troops are accelerating operations just to complete the job of regaining the whole of Marawi City the soonest possible time. “They really want to finish this fight as soon as possible and that’s why they are all determined to hold on to the territory that was held already by our troops. They do not want to retreat even if there’s a need to,” the military’s spokesman said. Defense Secretary Delfin S. Lorenzana earlier said the military is keen on clearing Marawi City of Islamist militants before Duterte delivers his second Sona on July 24. “I hope it gets done, and that is one of the things that I have asked the commanders on the ground that if they could terminate the conflict there before the President delivers his Sona,” Lorenzana said.

President Duterte delivering his first State of the Nation Address.

Lorenzana added he expects the conflict to cease before the day of the Sona so as to appease Duterte during his speech. He said it is unpleasant for the Chief Executive to deliver his report to the nation while a number of his constituents are fighting over in southern Philippines. Recent developments in ground zero saw security forces capturing Dansalan College in southwest of Marawi City, which was a strategic position previously held by the Maute Group.

Transfer of Dagupan City Hall opposed By Ruel Camba

AGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan—Members of the minority bloc of the city council, led by the city vice mayor, have strongly opposed the transfer of the city hall to the property owned by the mayor’s brother. Mayor Belen T. Fernandez personally sought the approval of the Sangguniang Panlungsod to pass Draft Ordinance 0-608, entitled “Transferring the City Hall/Government Center to the Lot Donated by the Spouses Kerwin and Mary Ann Fernandez Located at Barangay Pantal, This City; and for this Purpose, Reclassifying the same from Agricultural to Non-Agricultural, Particularly for Institutional Use”. The minority bloc, led by Vice Mayor Brian Lim, strongly opposed the transfer of the city hall to the land of the mayor’s brother, saying this violates the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials. “Mayor Belen Fernandez wants to transfer the city hall to her brother’s property, and where the real-estate properties around the proposed transfer site are owned by the mayor and her family. This is large-scale corruption,” Lim said. The proposed city hall transfer site is along the Lucao-Pantal Diversion Road, where the mayor and her siblings have reportedly amassed close to fifty hectares of fish ponds and other real-estate property, and where their main businesses are in, including the CSI City Mall and CSI Stadia. “We are not questioning the donation. How-

ever, we believe that this is only a ploy—transfer the city hall in order to appreciate the value of the land holdings of the mayor to billions of pesos by using her position as mayor,” Lim added.

More pressing problems

Councilor Redford Erfe-Mejia lamented that the city is facing many problems that need immediate attention. “As a city, we have a serious garbage problem, we have so much traffic and our flooding is getting worse, and the mayor wants to transfer the city hall to her land? It does not make sense. Why not just focus on the city’s pressing problems instead?” The vice mayor also laid out the financial implications of this transfer, “If this ordinance passes, the mayor will then borrow P600,00 to P1 billion to build a new city hall, burying the city in debt.” The proposed relocation site is 180 meters away from the main road and is a fishpond adjacent to the river. “There is not even a right of way to this property from the main road. This will be another cost for the city,” Erfe-Mejia said. The property immediately adjacent to the main road is also owned by the mayor.

Bangus industry

Productive fishponds in the city are being converted at an alarming rate, leading many to believe that the city’s bangus industry is in danger. “We are known as the Bangus Capital of the world, but soon this will end because of greed and corruption,” Lim said.

Aklan’s power supply sufficient to continue lighting up Boracay By Jun N. Aguirre

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Monday, July 17, 2017 A5

ALIBO, Aklan—The supply of electricity in the province of Aklan is sufficient to continuously light up Boracay despite the power shortage still being felt in the entire Visayas area. Engr. Alexis Regalado, general manager of the Aklan Electric Cooperative (Akelco) said last Saturday that Boracay Island and the entire province of Aklan is not affected by the intermittent power interruptions in the Visayas. This was part of Regalado’s message during the 34th Akelco General Assembly held at the ABL Sports Complex at the Aklan Provincial Capitol. The event was participated by around 13,500 memberconsumers from Aklan, including consumers in nearby Antique. “We were only required by the Department of Energy to contribute at least 1 percent of our overall total energy supply to

the Visayas grid. Because of this, we have to do intermittent load shedding from time to time but our member consumers are not largely affected,” Regalado said. He added they have attained sufficient energy by recently commissioning the new Nabas 10MVA Substation Capacity Project. He also reported that in summer of this year, the power cooperative recorded a record breaking 61 megawatt (MW) of usage from member-consumers. He also cited the contribution of the member-consumers of Boracay, where Akelco got 98.98-percent collection efficiency rate. Currently, Akelco gets its electricity from the Green Core Geothermal Inc. (18 MW); Panay Energy Development Corp. (12 MW); Panay Power Corp. (5 MW); SPC Island Power Corp. (4 MW); and the Palm Concepcion Power Corp. (7 MW). Akelco also frequently get its power from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, if needed.

Elena Panado, treasurer of the Board of Directors of Akelco, said the power cooperative is also financially healthy. Earlier, Engr. Joel Martinez, chief of the Akelco Operations Division, however, said that Boracay may still experience fewer incidents of power failures because they are upgrading their current distribution facilities in Boracay. “Boracay consumers have been complaining of frequent brownouts. Among the causes were the flying kites that touch the electrical wires, lizards, birds and snakes. Strong winds and climate change also contribute to these. To address this problem, we are now starting this year the upgrading of our system in Boracay,” Martinez said. Akelco is initially allocating P19 million for these upgrade. They had already submitted the intent to the Energy Regulatory Commission for the project’s capital expenditure. “We hope to finish upgrading our Boracay distribution system this year,” he added.

The school, situated above hills, provides a clear vision of the conflict zone, tactical for sniper positions. The conflict in Marawi City is nearing to breach the two-month mark, leaving 532 dead, a quarter of which were soldiers killed in action and civilians killed by terrorists. Martial-law administrators are set to submit a recommendation to Duterte on whether to extend military rule in Mindanao, which is scheduled to expire on July 22.

Illegally mined minerals smuggled to Singapore

he National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has alerted the Singapore government regarding the transport of illegally mined minerals from unauthorized dredging operations being conducted in Macolcol River in San Felipe, Zambales, that are reportedly being smuggled to Singapore. Lawyer Eric Nuque, chief of the NBIEnvironment Crime Division, said those involved in these illegal activities must be stopped and immediately arrested, which is why they have alerted the Singapore government about the smuggling activities. The NBI is conducting its own investigation to find out who are the people behind the illegal dredging operations of black sand, white sand and lahar in Zambales, which are being smuggled to Singapore. Earlier, the NBI arrested 10 foreign nationals allegedly involved in the illegal dredging operations in Zambales. Charges for the violation of Section 103 (Theft of Minerals) of Republic Act 7942— otherwise known as the Philippine Mining

Act of 1995—were filed before the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor in Iba, Zambales, against Zhining Tang, Liao Nantu, Yichang Lin, Zhibin Xu, Jinewei Chen, Hongming Zhou, Wen Haihu, Yong Wang, Tang Peilong (all Chinese nationals) and Afrizon Hary (Indonesian). The NBI said it had received information regarding the illegal extraction of lahar sand from the mouth of Macolcol River in San Felipe, Zambales, being undertaken by foreign dredging vessels commissioned by domestic firms that have no government permit. After conducting a series of surveillance operations, the NBI arrested the foreigners. “The 10 arrested foreign nationals, most of whom are Chinese, were caught operating the dredging vessel SL-D1 siphoning sand which is suspected to be black sand from the dead river and transporting its cargo to the mother vessel. Five vessels along the mouth of the Macolcol River were likewise seized. The confiscated vessels consist of one dredger vessel, one tugboat and three dumb barge,” NBI Director Dante Gierran said.

Agriculture/Commodities

Monday, July 17, 2017 • Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

PHL meat imports down 16.33% in Jan-May

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

hilippine meat imports in January to May declined by 16.33 percent as local traders were discouraged from buying more expensive meat products from abroad.

Government data obtained by the BusinessMirror showed that meat imports during the fivemonth period reached 224,637.742 metric tons (MT), lower than the 268,508.335 MT recorded last year. Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) Assistant Director Simeon S. Amurao Jr. said local traders slashed their purchases after international prices went up due to lower global supply. “Only a few traders are applying for import permits compared to last year. This is still caused by the high price of meat abroad, which has not changed since the start of the year,” Amurao told the BusinessMirror in an interview. Meat Importers and Traders Association President Jesus C. Cham said the decline in meat imports is caused by a “confluence of events”. “We’re seeing a confluence of events that impact negatively on imports—high prices abroad, weak peso, volatile foreign exchange and bans on imports,” Cham told the BusinessMirror. “Prices are still trending higher, but increases are not as high as before. Hopefully, prices are

already peaking,” he added. BAI data showed that pork pu rc h a sed abroad accou nted for almost half, or 47 percent, of total meat imports during the period. The country’s pork imports declined by 13.65 percent to 105,625.949 MT, from 122,328.647 MT a year ago. The bulk of pork imports during the period were offals, which accounted for 43 percent of the total volume. Purchases of pork offals abroad reached 45,694.792 MT, 12.35 percent lower than the 52,136.676 MT recorded last year. The government has earlier encouraged importers to bring in more imported pork to stabilize local prices by cutting the tariff. In April the Department of Agriculture (DA) approved the special importation of 7 million kilograms of pork slapped with a 30-percent tariff instead of the usual 40 percent. This covers only prime cuts of pork and not other parts, such as offal. Data from the attached agency of the DA also showed that chicken was the second-most bought meat from abroad, accounting for 31.85 percent of total imports.

Bloomberg

Chicken-meat imports during the period reached 71,561.010 MT, lower than the 92,331.862 MT imported in January to May 2016. This is due to the decision of Manila to restrict the entry of chicken meat from traditional sources. Since the start of 2017, the DA has temporarily banned the importation of poultry and poultry products from various European countries with reported outbreaks of bird flu, including the Netherlands—one of the major sources of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of chicken. Chicken MDM is a raw material used by meat processors. Data

from the BAI showed that chicken MDM imports went down by 31.35 percent to 52,524.389 MT in January to May, from 68,991.967 MT last year. In March Cham told the BusinessMirror the price of MDM in the international market rose by at least 40 percent due to the tightness in supply caused by the bird-flu outbreaks in Europe. The government issues a temporary ban on poultry products from countries where there are outbreaks of bird flu to protect the domestic poultry population. The Philippines is one of the few Southeast Asian countries that remain free from the avian

‘Black, red rice contain more antioxidants’

ating unpolished red and black rice, which contain higher levels of antioxidants compared to white rice, would make Filipinos healthier, according to a study conducted by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). In the study, titled “Healthier red and black rice: Not your ordinary staple food”, PhilRice food scientists Marissa Romero, Gerome Corpuz and Henry Mamucod said red and black varieties of rice have high phytochemical contents and health-promoting properties. “Results showed that pigmented rice has higher amounts of crude protein, crude ash, crude fat and crude fiber compared with white rice,” Romero said in a statement. “Pigmented rice is rich in antioxidants, such as phenolic compounds, vitamin E derivatives and y-oryzanol, that are effective free

radical scavengers. The unique color is determined by the amount of anthocyanin [also an antioxidant] in the bran layers resulting in various shades of red and black,” she added. For the study, Romero and other PhilRice scientists collected 45 red rice varieties and 25 black rice varieties from various provinces in the country and were compared with white rice of Enolayan Variety. The varieties were characterized in terms of proximate composi-

tion, phytonutrients and healthpromoting components, according to PhilRice. To maximize the health benefits of pigmented rice, Romero said Filipinos should consume it in its unpolished form as phytochemicals are “significantly” lost during polishing. Romero added Filipinos are eating less of these rice varieties due to lack of proper information and knowledge on their health benefits. She said these rice varieties could

be promoted by the government as “functional foods” to help improve the health of Filipino consumers. “Our country has a rich diversity of pigmented rice, but their utilization as functional food has not been fully explored owing to the limited information on their phytonutrients. We conducted this research to help the public be more aware of the health benefits of pigmented rice,” she said. The PhilRice food scientist also said the study proved that unpolished red and black rice are good genetic resource for the development of modern varieties with good eating and nutritional qualities. The study won third place in the poster competition during the 24th Federation of Crop Science Socities of the Philippines Scientific Conference held in Iloilo City last month. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

Researchers looking to develop longer strawberry season

U R H A M , Ne w H a mp shire—Strawberr y season i n t he Nor t hea st usually lasts only four to six weeks, but New Hampshire researchers have figured out how to stretch the harvest from July to Thanksgiving. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire har vested strawberries grown in low tunnels for 19 consecutive weeks. They also found that the 3-foot (0.91-meter) tall tunnels significantly increased the percentage of marketable fruit, from an average of about 70 percent to 83 percent. Now in its second year, the research project by the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station is part of a larger, multistate effort to optimize protected growing environments for berry crops in Northeastern states and the

US Department of Agriculture

upper Midwest. The project is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture. The university’s part is focused

on improving berry quality and the role ever-bearing, or dayneutral, varieties may play in extending the length of strawberry season in the Northeast.

Graduate student Kaitlyn Orde said the university is growing one of these varieties on three different mulches, “to determine if there are any differences in total production, production patterns, runner production and fruit characteristics”, She said they also are investigating the role the plastic-covered low tunnels play in improving berry quality. They are evaluating five different plastics for the tunnels. The strawberry crop is important to New Hampshire farmers. Agricultural researcher Becky Sideman estimates the retail value of the crop is about $1.85 million. R esea rc hers i n M a r yl a nd , Minnesota, North Carolina, and New York have conducted preliminar y research on similar systems. AP

inf luenza virus. Data from the BAI also showed that the volume of beef and meats of buffalo, lamb and turkey was lower in January to May. Turkey-meat imports fell by 42.12 percent to 650.642 MT, from 1,124.358 MT last year. Purchases of imported lamb meat and buffalo meat went down by 35.20 percent and 33.53 percent, respectively. Lamb-meat imports reached 259.319 MT, while buffalo-meat imports amounted to 10,976.940 MT. The volume of beef imports declined slightly to 35,491.212 MT from 35,743.552 MT recorded in the first five months of 2016.

Last week the DA has started lifting the import bans slapped on some European countries. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol issued Memorandum Orders 27 and 28 authorizing the lifting of the ban from Girona, Spain and the Netherlands. The DA lifted the ban after the BAI said the risk of contamination from importing poultry and poultry products from these areas is now “negligible”. Spain and the Netherlands earlier notified the World Organisation for Animal Health that the outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in affected areas have already been resolved.

APP: Agricultural productivity and profitability

s I said in my last week’s column, 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. A well-funded program like “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) for infrastructure needs to be done for agriculture with the same kind of determination and funding. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol, the new chairman of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is calling on countries to provide greater support and invest more in the agriculture sector to ensure global food security, amid the increasing population and threats of climate change. He should demonstrate that he is serious about this call by convincing Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno that much more money has to be made available to agriculture, to make APP work. Heavy investments will allow the consolidation of farm land; farm consolidation is of great importance. The best models of Philippine cooperatives should be copied 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. In this context, the excellent work of East West Seed Co., equipping farmers with innovative and efficient methods in agriculture and by providing subsidized (subsidized by the DA) [Deparment of Agriculture] seeds/seed farms all over the country. East West Seed is one of the 10 largest seed companies in the world and active in the Phil-

Henry J. Schumacher

europe Beat ippines since 1982. As I and many others have mentioned before, 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. Nobody will invest in agriculture if land titles are not available. What will APP—the heavy budget allocation for agricultural productivity and profit—accomplish? There will be more investments in agriculture, farmers will get easier access to finance, there will be lower unemployment and supply/value chains will be created. As a consequence, some 20 million rural Filipinos can be lifted out of poverty. And the children of farmers will stop moving from rural areas to urban centers or become overseas Filipino workers. Isn’t this what the 11-point economic agenda of the Duterte administration had in mind? Fighting poverty in agriculture? If APP is properly implemented, millions can be given dignified lives. Let me repeat what Mike Alunan said in his column “On the Contrary” the other day: “Despite decades of agrarian reform, farmers now owning farms remain poor as land ownership does not guarantee better production and higher incomes.” The time for APP is NOW. Comments are welcome; contact me at Schumacher@mca.com.ph.

news@businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Lyn B. Resurreccion • Monday, July 17, 2017 A7

Turkey commemorate one year since failed coup with huge march

STANBUL—President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to “rip the heads off” of terror groups and coup plotters who tried to end his more than decade-long rule last Saturday, as Turkey marked the anniversary of the country’s crushed military coup with a series of rallies and other commemorative events.

Accompanied by his family and the families of the victims of the coup, Erdogan joined a massive, flag-waving crowd near the iconic July 15 Martyrs’ Bridge in Istanbul to remember 250 people who died on July 15, 2016, resisting the coup. He inaugurated a hollow, globe-shaped monument featuring the names of the victims near the foot of the bridge, before flying to Ankara to attend a special session in parliament at the exact moment it was bombed a year ago. He also opened a second memorial opposite the grounds of his palace in Ankara. “Exactly a year ago today, around this hour, a treacherous attempt took place,” Erdogan told tens of thousands of people in Istanbul who converged at the bridge following a “national unity march”. “The July 15 coup attempt is not the first attack against our country, and it won’t be the last,” he said, referring to a series of terror attacks that also hit the country. “For that reason, we’ll first rip the heads off of these traitors.” The bridge was the scene of clashes between civilians and soldiers in tanks. At least 30 people died there and more than 2,000 were injured across Turkey in the struggle. Thirty-five coup plotters were also killed. Photographs of the 250 “martyrs” were displayed on monitors and their names announced. Erdogan paid tribute to the victims saying they fought with their “bare hands” and “their faith” against the heavily armed coup plotters. Erdogan also told the crowd that he wants hundreds of people who are on trial for plotting last year’s failed coup to appear in court wearing the same type of outfit—similar to those that were worn by detainees at Guantanamo Bay. He also reiterated that he would approve a bill reinstating the death penalty if parliament proposed it.

Arrests

TURKISH soldiers attempted to overthrow the government and the president using tanks, warplanes and helicopters on July 15, 2016. The coup plotters declared their seizure of power on the state broadcaster, bombed the country’s parliament and other key locations and raided an Aegean resort where Erdogan had been on vacation. But Erdogan had already left and the coup attempt was put down by civilians and security forces. Turkey blames US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen for orchestrating the coup and infiltrating state institutions. Gulen denies the allegations. In the aftermath of the coup attempt, Turkey declared a state of emergency that has been in place ever since, which has allowed the government to rule by decree and to dismiss tens of thousands of people from their jobs. More than 50,000 people have also been arrested for alleged links to Gulen and other groups. Addressing thousands of people outside of the parliament’s building, Erdogan said the country’s highest security-advisory body would on Monday consider further extending the state of emergency. He said the failed coup had allowed Turkey to distinguish its friends from its foes but would not name the countries, saying he wanted to avoid “a serious international crisis”.

Crackdown

IN the latest government decree published last Friday evening, 7,395 more state employees were fired, including teachers, academics, military and police officers, bringing the number of dismissed

Israel reopens Jerusalem holy site after deadly assault

ERUSALEM—Hundreds of Muslim worshippers visited a Jerusalem holy site last Sunday after Israel reopened the compound following a rare closure in response to a deadly shooting last week that raised concerns about wider unrest. For the first time in decades, Israel closed the site—known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount—last Friday after three Arab citizens of Israel opened fire from the sacred site with automatic weapons, killing two police officers. The three were later shot dead inside the compound. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that following consultations with security officials the site would be reopened last Sunday afternoon with increased security measures that included metal detectors at the entrance gates and additional security cameras. At midday, Israeli police opened the gates to allow worshippers to enter through the newly erected detectors. The police said some worshippers refused to go through them and knelt to pray outside instead. But despite concerns that the new measures could slow movement and spark tensions, police said they appeared to be working fine and that 200 people had already passed through. The attack triggered a rare phone conversation between Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who condemned the attack and called for the site to be reopened. Jordan, a custodian of the sacred compound, also called for its immediate reopening. Netanyahu sought to allay Muslim fears, saying that the status quo at the Muslim-administered site “will be preserved ”. But Gaza’s Hamas rulers called the act a “religious war” and urged Palestinians to carry out more attacks. AP

to more than 110,000. The government calls the crackdown necessary to purge state institutions of those linked to Gulen, but critics say the dismissals are arbitrary and the victims’ paths to recourse severely curtailed. “It has been exactly one year since Turkey’s darkest and longest night was transformed into a bright day, since an enemy occupation turned into the people’s legend,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said earlier in the day at a special parliamentary session in Ankara,

the capital, attended by Erdogan. The US State Department last Saturday issued a statement praising the bravery of the Turkish people who took to the streets to “preserve the rights and freedoms of their democratic society”. “The preservation of democracy requires perseverance, tolerance, dissent and safeguards for fundamental freedoms,” the agency said, warning that curbs on those key freedoms erode “the foundations of democratic society”.

“More voices, not fewer, are necessary in challenging times,” the statement said. Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg paid homage to those who lost lives resisting the coup and said attempts to undermine democracy in any one of the allied nations was “unacceptable”. July 15 has been declared a national holiday in Turkey. Tens of thousands of people were holding “democracy vigils”—similar to vigils held in the days following the coup. AP

Monday, July 17, 2017

The World BusinessMirror

White House says budget deficit to be $99 billion higher this year

ASHINGTON—The White House says worsening tax revenues will cause the budget deficit to jump to $702 billion this year. That’s a $99-billion spike from what was predicted less than two months ago.

The report from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) comes on the heels of a rival Congressional Budget Office (CBO) ana lysis that scutt led W hite House claims that its May budget, if implemented to the letter, would balance the federal ledger within 10 years.

The OMB report doesn’t repeat that claim and, instead, provides just two years of updated projections. The White House budget office also says the deficit for the 2018 budget year that starts on October 1 will increase from $149 billion to $589 billion. But lawmakers are already working on spending bills

Feds appeal judge’s travel-ban ruling to Supreme Court

A S H I N G T O N —T h e Trump administration is seeking to close a legal window opened for tens of thousands of refugees to enter the United States, appealing a federal judge’s order directly to the Supreme Court (SC). US District Judge Derrick Watson had ordered the government to allow in refugees formally working with a resettlement agency in the US. His order also vastly expanded the list of US family relationships that refugees and visitors from six Muslim-majority countries can use to get into the country, including grandparents and grandchildren. In its appeal last Friday night, the Justice Department said Watson’s interpretation of the SC ruling on what family relationships qualify refugees and visitors from the six Muslim-majority countries to enter the US “empties the court’s decision of meaning, as it encompasses not just ‘close’ family members, but virtually all family members. Treating all of these relationships as ‘close familial relationship[s]’ reads the term ‘close’ out of the Court’s decision.” Only the SC can decide these issues surrounding the travel ban, the Justice Department said. “Only this Court can definitively settle whether the government’s reasonable implementation is consistent with this Court’s stay,” it said. Last Saturday the US Justice Department asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to put Watson’s ruling on hold while the SC considers its appeal. The long, tangled legal fight is expected to culminate with arguments before the nation’s high court in October. Watson’s ruling could help more than 24,000 refugees already vetted and approved by the US but barred by the 120-day freeze on refugee admissions, said Becca Heller, director of the International Refugee Assistance Project, a resettlement agency. “Many of them had already sold all of their belongings to start their new lives in safety,” she said. “This decision gives back hope to so many who would otherwise be stranded indefinitely.” Citing a need to review its vetting process to ensure national security, the administration capped refugee admissions at 50,000 for the 12-month period ending September 30, a ceiling it hit this week. The federal budget can accommodate up to 75,000 refugees, but admissions have slowed under Trump, and the government could

hold them to a trickle, resettlement agencies say. “Absolutely this is good news for refugees, but there’s a lot of uncertainty,” said Melanie Nezer, spokeswoman for HIAS, a resettlement agency. “It’s really going to depend on how the administration reacts to this.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions had said the administration would ask the SCto weigh in, bypassing the San Francisco-based Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals, which has ruled against it in the case. The SC allowed a scaled-back version of the travel ban to take effect last month. “Once again, we are faced with a situation in which a single federal district court has undertaken by a nationwide injunction to micromanage decisions of the coequal executive branch related to our national security,” Sessions said. “By this decision, the district court has improperly substituted its policy preferences for the national security judgments of the executive branch in a time of grave threats.” The administration took a first step by filing a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit, allowing it to use a rule to petition the high court directly. There was no timetable for the SC to act, but the administration sought quick action to clarify the court’s June opinion. The justices now are scattered during their summer recess, so any short-term action would come in written filings. The administration has lost most legal challenges on the travel ban, which applies to citizens of Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Yemen. The SC’s ruling exempted a large swath of refugees and travelers with a “bona fide relationship” with a person or an entity in the US. The justices did not define those relationships but said they could include a close relative, a job offer or admission to a college or university. The Trump administration defined the relationships as people who had a parent, spouse, fiance, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling already in the US. Watson enlarged that group to include grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-inlaw, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. Hawaii Attorney General Douglas S. Chin, who sought the broader definition, said Thursday’s ruling “makes clear that the US government may not ignore the scope of the partial travel ban as it sees fit.” AP

that promise to boost that number even higher by adding to President Donald J. Trump’s Pentagon proposal and ignoring many of Trump’s cuts to domestic programs. Last year’s deficit registered $585 billion. The White House kept the report to a bare-bones minimum and cast blame on “the failed policies of the previous administration”. “The rising near-term deficits underscore the critical need to restore fiscal discipline to the nation’s finances,” said White House budget director Mick Mulvaney. “Our nation must make substantial changes to the policies and spending priorities of the previous administration if our citizens are to be safe and prosperous in the future.” In late May Trump released a budget plan proposing jarring cuts

to domestic programs and promising to balance the budget within a decade. But it relied on rosy predictions of economic growth to promise a slight surplus in 2027. Trump’s budget, however, left alone Social Security retirement benefits and Medicare, though House Republicans are poised next week to again propose cutting Medicare as they unveil their nonbinding budget outline. CBO says that Trump relied on far too optimistic predictions of economic growth and that Trump’s rosy projections are the chief reason his budget doesn’t balance as promised. Trump’s budget predicts that the US economy will soon ramp up to annual growth in GDP of 3 percent; CBO’s long-term projections predict annual GDP growth averaging 1.9 percent. AP

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Tony Blair says Brexit must be stopped to halt harm to UK

ONDON—There’s a chance Britain won’t leave the European Union (EU), former Prime Minister Tony Blair said last Saturday, arguing that stopping Brexit is “necessary” to avoid severe economic damage. In an article published by B l a i r ’s I n s t it ut e for Glob a l Change, he wrote that EU leaders might be willing to “reform and meet us half way” to keep the UK in the bloc. He said that might include compromise on freedom of movement—a key EU principle that conflicts with Britain’s goal of placing limits on immigration. Blair said conditions in Britain and Europe had changed since the UK’s EU membership referendum in June 2016. Europe has some new leaders, including France’s centrist President Emmanuel Macron. And in Britain, the Conservative govern-

ment suffered a setback in last month’s election. Blair also told Sky News that “every day is bringing us fresh evidence” of Brexit’s harm to Britain, with economic growth slowing and the value of the pound down sharply since the Ju ne 2016 E U me m b e r s h i p referendum. “This is causing us real damage. That’s beyond doubt,” he said. “I think it’s absolutely necessary that it doesn’t happen.” Blair left office in 2007, and his interventions in British politics are always contentious. He won three successive elections for the Labour Party, but many have not forgiven him for joining the USled Iraq War. Prime Minister Theresa May, who in March triggered the twoyear timetable for leaving the EU, has insisted that the process cannot be reversed. AP

A maid’s feud in India flares into class war

OIDA, India—The madams in the luxury-gated community went to yoga classes and toddler playgroups; the maids soundlessly whisked away dirty dishes and soiled laundry before retreating, at night, to a nearby shantytown of tin sheds and plastic tents. This kind of arrangement has persisted across India for decades, in apparent harmony. But early last Wednesday, at the Mahagun Moderne in Noida, on the outskirts of India’s capital, the madams and the maids went to war. A dispute between a maid and her employer erupted into a fullblown riot, as hundreds of the maid’s neighbors, armed with rocks and iron rods, forced their way into the complex and stormed her employer’s apartment. In response, thousands of families have locked their maids out, saying they can no longer trust them in their homes. Ashok Yadav, the development’s head of security, wondered how long the madams could hold out. “The fact is that it is a symbiotic relationship between the madam and the maid,” he said. “Right now, the residents are very angry and shocked at the violent way the mob attacked the society. But before long, they will have to find new maids. How will life go on otherwise?”

Unheard-of

CONFLICTS between domestic workers and employers are a regular feature of Indian crime logs, but mass violence is almost unheard-of. In Indian cities, many maids live in their employers’ homes, giving them little opportunity to build networks, said Tripti Lahiri, the author of Maid in India: Stories of Inequality and Opportunity Inside Our Homes. That has changed, however, as luxury high-rises proliferated in farmlands on the outskirts of New Delhi, and slum neighborhoods appeared beside them, in what Lahiri called “a perfect setup for an us vs. them clash”. In the case of Harshu Sethi and her maid, Johra Bibi, in Noida last Wednesday, the clash was Alfred Hitchcock-grade, awakening subterranean anxieties about the true relationship between the rich and the poor. Last Tuesday Sethi accused Bibi of stealing 17,000 rupees, or about $265, from a safe in her apartment. She said Bibi had admitted taking 10,000 rupees in back wages, and then disappeared. Bibi, 30, denies confessing to anything, and said Sethi “kept me locked at her place” that night, an allegation that her husband shared with other residents of the slum. The police say the maid

People gathered outside the Mahagun Moderne in Noida, India, on July 15. A dispute between a maid and her employer led to a full-blown riot, an unusual boiling over of resentment between rich and poor in India. The New York Times

spent the night in the apartment of another employer. “I don’t remember anything,” Bibi said in an interview. “The next morning there was a big ruckus. A lot of people came. The guard came and took me out.”

Poor ones

SETHI, a schoolteacher, described something more frightening. She was in her apartment waking her 8-year-old son for school, she said, when she saw a “huge crowd”, led by women, coming toward her unit, shouting, “Today we will kill her; we will kill the madam.” Video shows a loud, aggressive crowd surging toward the complex while security guards try ineffectually to beat it back. Sethi said people in the crowd jumped over the balcony

of her ground-floor apartment and shattered a plate-glass door with a flower pot. Sethi said she pulled her son from a glass-strewn bed and hid in the locked bathroom with her husband for an hour and a half, while the crowd ransacked her apartment. “We were only thinking of saving our lives,” she said in an interview, sobbing, and displayed a heavy iron rod left in the apartment by one of the intruders. “They tried to show that they did not have rights. I feel that we do not have any human rights. We are the poor ones.”

Bright line

BIBI, the maid, had a different take on the relationship, saying Sethi had not paid her 3,500 rupees, or about $55, for the past two

months, and had falsely accused her of stealing. “Just because she has money, does she think she will get away with anything?” she said. “All over, everyone is listening to her, and nobody to me. Will she throw us in the garbage just because I am poor?” Within hours, the conflict had drawn a bright line through the complex, which has 2,700 units, and the residents announced a decision to bar all servants from the complex. The Hindustan Times reported earnestly that “a large number of families ordered their food from outside on Wednesday and Thursday”. “The point is that they must be taught a lesson,” said Mamta Pandey, 50. “If they can unite, why can’t we?” New York Times News Service

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Monday, July 17, 2017

Muppet in Afghanistan promotes gender equality

ABUL, Afghanistan—Last year Afghanistan’s version of Sesame Street introduced a little girl character aimed at inspiring girls in the deeply conservative Muslim nation. Now a new muppet is joining the cast: her brother, who will show boys the importance of respecting women.

Zeerak, whose name means “Smart” in Afghanistan’s two official languages, is a 4-year-old boy who enjoys studying and learning. He joins 6-year-old sister Zari, whose name means “shimmering”, on Afghanistan’s version of the show, Baghch-e-SimSim, or Sesame Garden. Bot h muppets wea r trad i-

t ion a l A fgh a n c lot h i ng—t he baggy trousers and long embroidered shirt known as a shalwar kameez for him and colorful native dresses and a cream-colored hijab, or headscarf, for her. They join the rest of Sesame Street’s multicultural lineup, which includes muppets specially created for local versions of the program

in Bangladesh, Egypt and India. Massood Sanjer, the head of TOLO TV, which broadcasts the program in Afghanistan, said after the overwhelmingly positive response to Zari from both parents and children, the goal was to create a boy character to emphasize the importance of gender equality and education in a country where the vast majority of girls don’t go to school and the literacy rate for women is among the lowest in the world. “In a male-dominant country like Afghanistan, I think you have to do some lessons for the males to respect the females. So by bringing a male character to the show who respects a female character, you teach the Afghan men that you have to respect your sister the same way as you do your brother,” Sanjer added. In keeping with that goal, Zeerak proclaimed in a recent episode of the program, “I love Zari so

much and, as much as I love Zari, I love her friends too.” It ’s an impor tant message broadcast on a medium with a nationwide reach: W hile television in Afghanistan is largely restr icted to urban areas, Sesame Street is also broadcast on radio in both official languages, Pashtun and Dari, expanding its audience to most of the country. Both Zari and Zeerak were created in New York, and their costumes incorporate fabrics and designs from all of Afghanistan’s major ethnic groups to promote inclusiveness in a society racked by decades of conflict. Afghanistan has been at war for almost 40 years, since the 1979 Soviet invasion and the subsequent mujahedeen war that lasted a decade. That was followed by a devastating civil war in which warlords drew lines based on ethnicity and killed tens of thousands

of people in Kabul alone. The Taliban took over in 1996, and their five-year rule was one of brutal extremism in which they banned women from work and girls from going to school, confining them to their homes. The radical Taliban regime was forced from power by the 2001 US invasion that ushered in a democratic experiment and billions of dollars in international aid to help rebuild the country. Ahmad Arubi, the producer of the local version of Sesame Street, said he is hopeful that the new characters will eventually have a wider audience outside of Afghanistan. “Possibly, in the coming years other Muslim countries, which are running this program, might use our characters, such as Zeerak and Zari. They might use our scripts, translate them in their own languages and use them in their countries,” he added. AP

Iran dominates in Iraq after US opened door B

AGHDAD—Walk into almost any market in Iraq, and the shelves are filled with goods from Iran—milk, yogurt, chicken. Turn on the television and channel after channel broadcasts programs sympathetic to Iran. A new building goes up? It is likely that the cement and bricks came from Iran. And when bored young Iraqi men take pills to get high, the illicit drugs are likely to have been smuggled across the porous Iranian border. And that’s not even the half of it. Across the country, Iraniansponsored militias are hard at work establishing a corridor to move men and guns to proxy forces in Syria and Lebanon. And in the halls of power in Baghdad, even the most senior Iraqi Cabinet officials have been blessed, or bounced out, by Iran’s leadership. When the US invaded Iraq 14 years ago to topple Saddam Hussein, it saw Iraq as a potential cornerstone of a democratic and Western-facing Middle East, and vast amounts of blood and treasure—about 4,500 US lives lost, more than $1 trillion spent—were poured into the cause. From Day 1, Iran saw something else: a chance to make a client state of Iraq, a former enemy against which it fought a war in the 1980s so brutal, with chemical weapons and trench warfare, that historians look to World War I for analogies. If it succeeded, Iraq would never again pose a threat, and it could serve as a jumping-off point to spread Iranian influence around the region. In that contest, Iran won, and the US lost. Over the past three years, Americans have focused on the battle against the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq, returning more than 5,000 troops to the country and helping to force the militants out of Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul.

Heightened sectarian tensions

BUT Iran never lost sight of its mission: to dominate its neighbor so thoroughly that Iraq could never again endanger it militarily, and to use the country to effectively control a corridor from Tehran to the Mediterranean. “Iranian influence is dominant,” said Hoshyar Zebari, who was ousted last year as finance minister because, he added, Iran distrusted his links to the US. “It is paramount.” The country’s dominance over Iraq has heightened sectarian tensions around the region, with Sunni states, and US allies, like Saudi Arabia mobilizing to oppose Iranian expansionism. But Iraq is only part of Iran’s expansion project; it has also used soft and hard power to extend its influence in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, and throughout the region.

Detainees who are suspected Islamic State fighters in the courthouse in Qaraqosh, Iraq, on June 15. The US spent more than $1 trillion and lost about 4,500 troops in the effort to make Iraq the cornerstone of a Western-facing Middle East. But from Day 1, Iran saw a chance to make a client state of Iraq. The New York Times

Iran is a Shiite state, and Iraq, a Shiite majority country, was ruled by an elite Sunni minority before the US invasion. The roots of the schism between Sunnis and Shiites, going back almost 1,400 years, lie in differences over the rightful leaders of Islam after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. But these days, it is about geopolitics as much as religion, with the divide expressed by different states that are adversaries, led by Saudi Arabia on one side and Iran on the other.

Large number of allies

IRAN’S influence in Iraq is not just ascendant, but diverse, projecting into military, political, economic and cultural affairs. At some border posts in the south, Iraqi sovereignty is an afterthought. Busloads of young militia recruits cross into Iran without so much as a document check. They receive military training and are then flown to Syria, where they fight under the command of Iranian officers in defense of the Syrian president, Bashar Assad. Passing in the other direction, truck drivers pump Iranian products—food, household goods, illicit drugs—into what has become a vital and captive market. Iran tips the scales to its favor in every area of commerce. In the city of Najaf, it even picks up the trash, after the provincial council there awarded a municipal contract to a private Iranian company. One member of the council, Zuhair al-Jibouri, resorted to a now-common Iraqi aphorism: “We import apples from Iran so we can give them away to Iranian pilgrims.” Politically, Iran has a large number of allies in Iraq’s parliament who can help secure its goals. And its influ-

ence over the choice of interior minister, through a militia and political group the Iranians built up in the 1980s to oppose Saddam, has given it substantial control over that ministry and the federal police.

Permanent fixture

PERHAPS most crucial, the parliament passed a law last year that effectively made the constellation of Shiite militias a permanent fixture of Iraq’s security forces. This ensures Iraqi funding for the groups while effectively maintaining Iran’s control over some of the most powerful units. Now, with new parliamentary elections on the horizon, Shiite militias have begun organizing themselves politically for a contest that could secure even more dominance for Iran over Iraq’s political system. To gain advantage on the airwaves, new television channels set up with Iranian money and linked to Shiite militias broadcast news coverage portraying Iran as Iraq’s protector and the US as a devious interloper. Partly in an effort to contain Iran, the US has indicated that it will keep troops behind in Iraq after the battle against the IS. US diplomats have worked to emphasize the government security forces’ role in the fighting and to shore up a prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, who has seemed more open to the US than to Iran. But after the US’s abrupt withdrawal of troops in 2011, US constancy is still in question here—a broad failure of US foreign policy, with responsibility shared across three administrations. Iran has been playing a deeper game, parlaying extensive religious

ties with Iraq’s Shiite majority and a much wider network of local allies, as it makes the case that it is Iraq’s only reliable defender.

A road to the sea

IRAN’S great project in eastern Iraq may not look like much: a 15-mile stretch of dusty road, mostly gravel, through desert and scrub near the border in Diyala province. But it is an important new leg of Iran’s path through Iraq to Syria, and what it carries—Shiite militiamen, Iranian delegations, trade goods and military supplies—is its most valuable feature. It is a piece of what analysts and Iranian officials say is Iran’s most pressing ambition: to exploit the chaos of the region to project influence across Iraq and beyond. Eventually, analysts say, Iran could use the corridor, established on the ground through militias under its control, to ship weapons and supplies to proxies in Syria, where Iran is an important backer of Assad, and to Lebanon and its ally Hezbollah. After the IS, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh, swept across Diyala and neighboring areas in 2014, Iran made clearing the province, a diverse area of Sunnis and Shiites, a priority. It marshaled a huge force of Shiite militias, many trained in Iran and advised on the ground by Iranian officials. After a quick victory, Iranians and their militia allies set about securing their next interests here: marginalizing the province’s Sunni minority and securing a path to Syria. Iran has fought aggressively to keep its ally Assad in power in order to retain land access to its most important

spinoff in the region, Hezbollah, the military and political force that dominates Lebanon and threatens Israel. A word from Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, Iran’s powerful spymaster, sent an army of local Iraqi contractors scrambling, lining up trucks and bulldozers to help build the road, free of charge. Militiamen loyal to Iran were ordered to secure the site. “Diyala is the passage to Syria and Lebanon, and this is very important to Iran,” said Ali alDaini, the Sunni chairman of the provincial council there. Closer to Syria, Iranian-allied militias moved west of Mosul as the battle against the IS unfolded there in recent months. The militias captured the town of Baaj, and then proceeded to the Syrian border, putting Iran on the cusp of completing its corridor. Back east, in Diyala, Daini said he had been powerless to halt what he described as Iran’s dominance in the province. When Daini goes to work, he said, he has to walk by posters of Iran’s revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, outside the council building. Iran’s militias in the province have been accused of widespread sectarian cleansing, pushing Sunnis from their homes to establish Shiite dominance and create a buffer zone on its border. The IS was beaten in Diyala more than two years ago, but thousands of Sunni families still fill squalid camps, unable to return home. Now, Diyala has become a showcase for how Iran views Shiite ascendancy as critical to its geopolitical goals. “Iran is smarter than America,” said Nijat al-Taie, a Sunni member of the provincial council and an outspoken critic of Iran, which she calls the instigator of several assassination attempts against her. “They achieved their goals on the ground. America didn’t protect Iraq. They just toppled the regime and handed the country over to Iran.”

Business of Influence

THE lives of Suleimani and other senior leaders in Tehran were shaped by the prolonged war with Iraq in the 1980s. The conflict left hundreds of thousands dead on both sides, and Suleimani spent much of the war at the front, swiftly rising in rank as so many officers were killed. More than anything else, analysts say, it is the scarring legacy of that war that has driven Iranian ambitions to dominate Iraq. Particularly in southern Iraq, where the population is mostly Shiite, signs of Iranian influence are everywhere. New York Times News Service

briefs

Merkel’s challenger: Germany should invest in infrastructure BERLIN—Chancellor Angela Merkel’s challenger in Germany’s election is calling for the government to be obliged to invest in infrastructure, such as roads, railways and schools. Under Merkel, Germany has made it a priority to stop running up debt, but has faced criticism for investing too little. Her center-left challenger, Martin Schulz, is struggling to dent a double-digit poll lead for her conservatives ahead of the September 24 vote. Schulz said last Sunday: “The state, and that is right, is not allowed to run up unacceptable deficits. But then... it must also use its money to improve public infrastructure according to binding specifications.” AP

Arson suspect arrested after China fire kills 22 BEIJING—Authorities apprehended a man suspected of setting fire to a twostory house in eastern China early last Sunday, killing 22 people, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Investigators discovered traces of gasoline at the scene of the predawn fire in Jiangsu province and found all the doors of the house locked, according to the national work-safety agency. The house, located in the city of Changshu, about 80 kilometers northwest of Shanghai, was used as a dormitory for 29 people working at a local restaurant, according to The Beijing News newspaper. The residents were mostly migrant workers in their 20s working as waitresses and cooks, the report said. AP

Teen charged in London acid attacks as U.K. plans crackdown LONDON—British police have charged a teenager with a spate of London acid attacks, as authorities consider whether tougher sentences would curb a spike in assaults with corrosive liquids. The Metropolitan Police force says a 16-year-old boy faces 15 charges, including grievous bodily harm. The boy, who can’t be named because of his age, was arrested after five moped riders were attacked during a 90-minute period last week. The police say the number of reported attacks with corrosive liquids in London rose from 261 in 2015 to 454 in 2016. The government says it is considering increasing sentences for acid attacks to a maximum of life. AP

Paris charm offensive may soften Trump’s climate stance–Macron PARIS—French President Emmanuel Macron says his glamorous Paris charm offensive on Donald J. Trump might have changed the US President’s mind about climate change. Macron defended his outreach to Trump, saying in an interview last Sunday in the Journal du dimanche newspaper “that our countries are friends, so we should be too.” After a tense, whiteknuckle handshake at their first meeting in May, Macron said they gained “better, intimate knowledge of each other” during Trump’s visit last week. Macron added ,“Trump listened to me” on their main point of contentionTrump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. AP

‘E.U.’s hand remains outstretched to Turkey’ BERLIN—The head of the European Union’s executive body says the EU’s hand remains outstretched to Turkey, but is renewing warnings that Ankara will not get EU membership if reinstates the death penalty. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker wrote in Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper that Turkey being democratic, stable and economically successful is important to the EU. He said Turkey should “move closer to Europe rather than moving away from us”. Turkey’s 12-year-old EU membership talks have ground to a halt. Juncker stressed the bloc is a “union of values”. He added “if Turkey were to introduce the death penalty, the Turkish government would definitively slam the door on EU membership.” AP

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Venezuelan opposition calls for protest vote

ARACAS, Venezuela—Venezuela’s opposition called for a massive turnout last Sunday in a symbolic rejection of President Nicolas Maduro’s plan to rewrite the constitution, a proposal that’s escalating tensions in a nation stricken by widespread shortages and more than 100 days of antigovernment protests. Maduro has called a July 30 vote to elect members of a special assembly to retool Venezuela’s 1999 constitution. The opposition says the vote is structured to pack the constitutional assembly with government supporters and allow Maduro to eliminate the few remaining checks on his power, creating a Cuba-style system dominated by his socialist party. Maduro and the military dominate most state institutions but the opposition controls the congress and holds three of 23 governorships. The country’s chief prosecutor has recently broken with the ruling party. “This fraudulent constitutional assembly will create a majority that will shut congress, throw democracy out the window, wipe out state governors and fire the chief

prosecutor,” said former Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga, who flew to Caracas last Saturday with a group of former Latin American presidents to support the opposition vote. “Tomorrow, democracy and freedom are in play.” The opposition is boycotting the constitutional assembly. Instead, it has asked Venezuelans to oppose Maduro’s plans by showing up at 2,000 sites across the country to fill out ballots featuring three yesor-no questions. Do they reject the constitutional assembly? Do they want the armed forces to back congress? Do they support the formation of a government comprised of Maduro backers and opponents?

Manipulation

THE symbolic referendum has no legal impact; it will serve as a show

Cabello said last Saturday. “That’s how the right is, manipulative, fooling their own people.”

Clashes

A woman with her face painted with Spanish words “Freedom, peace, don’t forget” attends a vigil to honor the more than 90 people killed during three months of antigovernment protests in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 13. Opposition protests demanding new elections and decrying triple-digit inflation, food shortages and worsening crime continue as President Nicolas Maduro pushes forward with his plan to draft a new constitution. AP

of support whose success or failure will be measured in how many millions of people participate. Democratic Unity, a coalition of some 20 opposition parties, has printed 14 million ballots for voters inside and outside the country of 31 million people. Few expect turnout that high, but analysts say participation

by more than 8 million people would significantly hike pressure on the government two weeks before the constitutional assembly. The government calls the opposition vote a manipulation aimed at destabilizing the country, and has been urging its supporters to participate in the constitutional assembly,

which it calls a way of restoring peace to Venezuela. “Some comrades and brothers may be worn out by the right’s great media campaign. Now, they’ve invented this July 16 thing to put the burden on their own people and evade their responsibility,” socialist party Vice President Diosdado

POLLS show barely 20 percent of Venezuelans favor rewriting the late Hugo Chavez’s 1999 constitution— about the same level of support they have for Maduro. The government has nonetheless called for its own nationwide exercise last Sunday, a rehearsal for the July 30 assembly that will pull backers into the streets. Opponents of Venezuela’s government blame it for turning one of the region’s most prosperous countries into an economic basket case with a shrinking economy, soaring inflation and widespread shortages. The government blames the crisis on an economic war waged by its opponents and outside backers. The petroleum-rich nation has been hit hard by falling world oil prices. Clashes between protesters and police have left at least 93 people dead, 1,500 wounded and more than 500 behind bars. Edinson Ferrer, head of the Justice First opposition party, said he didn’t expect violence between government backers and opponents last Sunday because the polling sites for the two voting exercises were far enough apart to avoid clashes. He said some 50,000 poll workers would help organize the opposition event. AP

Afghan girls robotics team After swallowing 2 houses in Florida, sinkhole stops growing arrives in US just in time

ASHINGTON—Twice rejected for US visas, an allgirls robotics team from Afghanistan arrived in Washington early Saturday after an extraordinary, last-minute intervention by President Donald J. Trump. The six-girl team and their chaperone completed their journey just after midnight from their hometown of Herat, Afghanistan, to enter their ball-sorting robot in the three-day highschool competition starting Sunday in the US capital. Awaiting them at the gate at Washington Dulles International Airport were a US special envoy and Afghan Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib, who described it as a rare moment of celebration for his beleaguered nation. “Seventeen years ago, this would not have been possible at all,” Mohib said in an interview. “They represent our aspirations and resilience despite having been brought up in a perpetual conflict. These girls will be proving to the world and the nation that nothing will prevent us from being an equal and active member of the international community.” In the short time since their visa dilemma drew global attention, the girls’ case has become a flashpoint in the debate about Trump’s efforts to tighten entrance to the US, including from many majority-Muslim countries. Afghanistan isn’t included in Trump’s temporary travel ban, but critics have said the ban is emblematic of a broader effort to put a chill on Muslims entering the US. The girls’ story has also renewed the focus on the longer-term US plans for aiding Afghanistan’s future, as Trump’s administration prepares a new military strategy that will include sending more troops to the country where the US has been fighting since 2001. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said last Friday the strategy was moving forward but “not finalized yet”.

Rare ‘parole’ mechanism TRUMP’S personal intervention earlier in the week using a rare “parole” mechanism to sidestep the visa system ended a dramatic saga in which the team twice traveled from their home in western Afghanistan through largely Taliban-controlled territory to Kabul, where their visa applications were denied twice.

The US won’t say why the girls were rejected for visas, citing confidentiality. But Mohib said that based on discussions with US officials, it appears the girls were rebuffed due to concerns they would not return to Afghanistan. It’s a fate that has beset many Afghans seeking entry to the US in recent years as continuing violence and economic challenges lead many to seek asylum in America, or to travel through the US to Canada to try to resettle there. As their case gained attention, Trump intervened by asking National Security Council officials to find a way for them to travel, officials said. Ultimately the State Department, which adjudicates visa applications, asked the Homeland Security Department to let them in on “parole”, a temporary status used only in exceptional circumstances to let in someone who is otherwise ineligible to enter the country. The US granted parole after determining that it constituted a “significant public benefit”.

Future of Afghanistan AMBASSADOR Alice Wells, the acting US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, downplayed concerns that the girls might use the parole to stay in the US or go to Canada. As she drove to the airport to greet the girls, she said by phone that they were proud to represent Afghanistan and “proud to return to be role models to others around them”. Competing against entrants from more than 150 countries, the girls will present a robot they devised that can recognize blue and orange and sort balls into correct locations. They’ll also be feted at a hastily arranged reception at the Embassy of Afghanistan attended by supporters who had petitioned the US to let them in. The Taliban, ousted by the US-led coalition in 2001, denied schooling to girls when they ruled the war-torn country. Wells said that since 2002, the number of Afghan children attending school has increased from about 900,000—virtually all boys—to 9 million today including 40 percent girls. “We’re looking to ensure that Afghanistan continues its trajectory to stabilizing politically and economically,” Wells said. “It’s young women like these that are going to be the future of Afghanistan.” AP

AND O’ LAKES, Florida—A sinkhole that swallowed a boat and destroyed two homes had stopped growing and officials said last Saturday they would monitor it over the weekend before determining when cleanup can begin. The hole has been stagnant since Friday afternoon, said Kevin Guthrie, Pasco County’s assistant administrator for public safety. He confirmed that the hole, which is 250 feet wide and 50 feet deep, is the largest in three decades in the county, which has a history of sinkholes. Dramatic video showed the home in Land O’ Lakes, north of Tampa, collapsing into the hole last Friday morning. It quickly engulfed one home and a boat and then consumed about 80 percent of another home. Guthrie said 11 homes in all have been affected. A third home

lost about 45 feet of driveway and a septic tank. Of the other nine evacuated homes, residents were allowed to return to four of them last Saturday afternoon. Guthrie said that all three homeowners had insurance. No injuries have been reported. State geologists and environmental officials will continue to monitor the sinkhole over the weekend before determining when cleanup can begin. The state’s Department of Environmental Protection has requested that the county and homeowners wait a few more days before doing any recovery work. The scene is being considered a hazardous materials incident because of possible septic tank issues and building debris. Guthrie said that chemicals from at least three septic tanks are in the sinkhole.

Cleanup will likely take weeks, while repairs to the road and the damaged lots will take months.

Catastrophic event

JARED Hill of the Pasco County Sheriff’s office said that deputies helped one of the homeowners retrieve some items last Friday night and that they would help with the other home last Saturday. “This is a very catastrophic event,” Hill said. “One resident was going to go on vacation and now that has changed. Now they are trying to get as much out as they can so they can move on with their lives.” County property records show there was a sinkhole at the property where the first house was swallowed up, and that it had been stabilized in 2014. The home was sold in 2015, according to records. Messages left for its owner were not immediately

returned last Friday. Sinkholes are stabilized by boring holes into the ground and injecting concrete. Records also show a sinkhole was stabilized at the partially destroyed home in 2007. Two sisters renting that home with four other family members said they had left the house early Friday and returned to see their neighbor’s home falling into the sinkhole. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Edilia and Theresa Villa and their relatives had time to retrieve important documents and six dogs from their house before officials declared it unsafe. Theresa Villa’s 15-year-old daughter, Thalia Chapman, told the newspaper the family moved into the home after arriving from Cuba about a decade ago. Officials said Duke Energy has restored power to the neighborhood. AP

Fight over copper mining in N. Minnesota heats up

INNEAPOLIS—The fight over whether to allow copper-nickel mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of northeastern Minnesota is shifting to the capital city, as the US Forest Service opens a new set of public meetings on its proposal to bar minerals exploration and development on more than 234,000 acres near the pristine wilderness for up to 20 years. The meetings this coming Tuesday in Saint Paul and in the Iron Range city of Virginia on July 25, follow one held in Duluth in March. They’ve already become contentious. Mining supporters have announced plans to boycott the Saint Paul meeting. They plan a show of force at the Virginia event instead. A look at some of the issues:

The proposal

THE Obama administration announced last December that it would not renew mineral rights leases held by Twin Metals Minnesota, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the company’s efforts to build a large underground copper-nickel mine near Ely. At the same time the Interior and Agriculture departments also announced a two-year “time out” to study and engage the public on

whether any prospecting or mining should be permitted on more than 234,000 acres in the Superior National Forest just outside the Boundary Waters. That land is in a watershed that flows into the wilderness area, and it includes the Twin Metals site. The agencies cited the threat of acid mine drainage to the area and its tourism economy. The meetings are part of a public comment process that runs until August 11. Two decades is the longest the agencies could withdraw the lands from mineral exploration on their own. Congress would have to approve a permanent set-aside.

The boycott

MINING supporters are boycotting the Saint Paul hearing and planning a march to the Virginia meeting. The boycott is organized by labor and business groups that say northeastern Minnesota residents—not Twin Cities environmentalists—should have the final say on what happens in their region. They also say that closing the land to mining would cost the state thousands of jobs from future projects, billions of dollars in investment in northeastern Minnesota and billions in potential revenues for public education.

The “Save the Boundary Waters” campaign and other mining opponents plan to rally before the Saint Paul meeting.

The Trump administration

WHILE the Trump administration has generally expressed support for tapping natural resources, it’s proceeding with the two-year study for now, and the Justice Department is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit by Twin Metals that seeks to force renewal of its leases. At a congressional hearing in May, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who oversees the Forest Service, said he and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke agreed they would make no decision before the study concludes. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell testified the study could conclude that mining upstream from the wilderness “may be too hazardous”.

The local congressman

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, a Democrat who represents northeastern Minnesota, is trying to get the Trump administration to change course. The Congressional Western Caucus has sent a letter signed by 26 representatives to Zinke and Perdue, asking them to reverse the Obama

administration’s decisions on both the study and the leases. Nolan said in an interview that he and GOP Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota had a “very good conversation” recently with Zinke, and he’s been assured of a meeting with Perdue. He said Zinke is “very supportive of mining...provided it’s done in a way that protects the air, the water, the environment and natural surroundings”.

The other mine

THE withdrawal proposal doesn’t directly affect the planned PolyMet copper-nickel mine near Babbitt, because it sits in a different watershed, but the issues remain closely linked. PolyMet has cleared a protracted environmental review, but a new hurdle popped up earlier this year when opponents filed four separate lawsuits seeking to block the Forest Service from trading 6,650 acres of federal land that PolyMet needs for a similar amount of private land nearby. Nolan got a hearing last Friday on a bill to nullify those lawsuits and complete the swap. He said he was “cautiously optimistic” that it will pass in the coming weeks. AP

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AseanMonday

Philippines to host Asean environment ministers meeting By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

he Philippines will play host to an important meeting of senior environment officials representing the 10-member Association of Asean this month, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The Asean Senior Officials for Environment (Asoen) meeting, which will be chaired by the Lao PDR, will be held in Pasay City from July 23 to 29. Some 80 delegates are expected to attend annual meeting. Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said in a statement that the meeting will focus on climate change and hopes to boost environmental cooperation in Southeast Asia. Cimatu underscored the importance of the meeting to better manage the region’s natural wealth. “Environment is transboundary in nature. As neighbors, we share the air that we breathe, the seas around us and the animals that travel across our borders. Asean and cooperative arrangements among its members are critical if we are to better manage our environment and natural resources,” he said. The Asoen meeting is part of the Asean 2017 Summit which is being chaired by the Philippines. The theme of this year’s summit is “Asean 50: Partnering for Change, Engaging the World”. SOEN is composed of Asean officials with the ranks of undersecretary, assistant secretary and director. Among the highlights of the meeting are the consultation on the draft Asean joint statement on climate change and the holding of the 11th Asean-Japan Dialogue on Environmental Cooperation. The group will also hold a joint dialogue with senior environment officials of the Republic of Korea, China and Japan during the

Asean Plus Three SOME, or Senior Officials Meeting on Environment. The three countries have provided support for various environment initiatives in Southeast Asia, particularly in the implementation of the 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) policy. They also provided training courses to enhance the region’s environmental protection capacity. The Asoen meeting is in preparation for the high-level Asean Ministers’ Meeting on the Environment or Amme to be held in Brunei in September. The Amme meeting aims to promote Asean environmental cooperation and ensure enforcement of environmental decisions made by each head of government. Among the agreements the Asean Ministers of the Environment had concluded in earlier meetings include the Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution to promote cooperative action to address the haze from forest fires in Indonesia, and the establishment of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) in Los Baños, Laguna, which serves as the “center for excellence” for biodiversity in Southeast Asia. The Asoen meeting coincides with the inauguration of the new ACB Headquarters in Laguna on July 29. ACB is the only Asean center being hosted by the Philippines. Executives of the DENR and the Department of Foreign Affairs, the ACB governing board—composed of Asean senior environment officials and ambassadors—and representatives of ACB partner agencies are expected to attend the inauguration. ACB has been at the forefront of biodiversity and conservation in the region for the past decade. Established in 1967, the Asean is composed of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Lao PDR and the Philippines.

First tunnel project of Jakarta-Bandung high speed railway launched

ALINI, Indonesia—The Walini tunnel project of the high-speed railway (HSR) linking Indonesian capital Jakarta to Bandung was launched here Saturday. Indonesian State-owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno attended the ground-breaking ceremony and visited the project in Walini in Bandung Regency. “I am optimistic about this project which would be in full swing at the end of August. It means that any obstacles we are facing now need to be cleared,” Rini told Xinhua. The minister said she will immediately coordinate with state power firm PLN and the Ministry of Public Works to overcome the obstacles. “I am pleased with these developments so far. I have heard about results of cooperation with the Chinese firms here, such as recruitment of locals in the projects,” she said. The project was previously delayed due to official permits and land compensation issues, she said. “But as the state enterprise minister who is a shareholder of this project, I will make it sure this project would be completed as we have planned,” she added. Praising the Indonesian minister’s commitments, Zhang Wei, general manager of the China

Railway Engineering Corp. (CREC) Jakarta-Bandung HSR project, said that the commencement of the tunnel project will offer a significant demonstration and give experience for other tunnel constructions in the HSR project. “As the first formal project of the Jakarta-Bandung HSR project, the commencement of the tunnel in Walini marks an important step in the overall construction,” Zhang told Xinhua. The CREC will cooperate with other Chinese contractors so as to contribute to the accomplishment of the HSR project and the Chinaproposed Belt and Road Initiative, he said. The Jakarta-Bandung HSR project contract was signed in Jakarta in early April between consortium joined by Chinese and Indonesian firms and KCIC, a China-Indonesia joint firm tasked with monitoring the project. The 142-kilometer-long railway project is the first of such in Indonesia, as well as in the whole region of Southeast Asia. It is expected to be built in three years and the high-speed train could reach a speed of 350 km per hour. The HSR would shorten the traveling time between the two cities from three hours to 40 minutes and spur economic activities along the line. PNA/Xinhua

BusinessMirror

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Monday, July 17, 2017 A11

China calls for deeper cooperation with Asean

AKARTA—China called for deeper cooperation with the Asean, so as to achieve mutual development, as the regional bloc marks its 50th anniversary this year. The call was made by Chinese Ambassador to Asean Xu Bu when addressing a seminar, titled “Asean at 50: A New Chapter for Asean-China Relations”, held here last Friday. “We should seize the opportunities and waste no time to move our relations onto a higher plane,” the ambassador said. China and Asean should push forward a “win-win” cooperation in connectivity, production capacity, promoting trade and investment and reaping benefits from the upgraded protocol of China-Asean Free Trade Area (FTA). The two economies should combine their strength and potential to carry out those ef-

forts, aimed at synergizing China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Asean Vision 2025 in the future, he added. “China is also ready to promote and support the growth of subregional frameworks, such as the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and the East Asean Growth Area (BIMPEAGA) to assist in narrowing the development gaps within Asean and move forward Asean community building,” Xu said. Prioritizing dialogues to settle regional issues, respecting each other’s concerns and national condition are also part of efforts that need to be implemented to improve the strategic partnership between China and

Asean, the ambassador said. Ambassador Xu added that close relations between China and Asean is an inseparable part of the strategic partnership between the two. To make the two sides closely know each other, China and Asean need to enhance cooperation on cultural, science, technology, environmental protection, tourism sectors and intensify exchanges among youth, media organizations, think tanks and local provinces, he said.

Hailing Ambassador Xu’s remarks, Asean Deputy SecretaryGeneral for Community and Corporate Affairs AKP Mochtan said that intensifying contacts between communities of the two economies is a bright idea as it would create good foundation toward synergizing the goals of Belt and Road Initiative and Asean Vision 2025. “Excellent community-to-community contact will lead to a civilization based on shared destiny community,” Mochtan said at the seminar. China established dialogue relationship with Asean, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, in 1991. The two sides forged a strategic partnership in 2003. China continues to be the largest trading partner of Asean, and Asean is China’s third-largest trade partner. Two-way trade was recorded at $452.2 billion last year. Combined two-way investment had exceeded $183 billion by the end of May. PNA/Xinhua

Telegram blocks terror content after Indonesia threatens ban

AKARTA, Indonesia—The encrypted messaging app Telegram is forming a team of moderators who are familiar with Indonesian culture and language so it can remove “terroristrelated content” faster, its cofounder said Sunday, after Indonesia limited access to the app and threatened a total ban. Pavel Durov, who, with his brother Nikolai, founded the app in 2013, said in a message to his 40,000 followers on Telegram that he’d been unaware of a failure to quickly respond to an Indonesian government request to block a number of offending channels—chat groups on the app—but was now rectifying the situation. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology last Friday said it was preparing for the total closure of Telegram in Indonesia, where it has several million users, if it didn’t develop procedures to block unlawful content. As a partial measure, it asked Internet companies in the world’s most populous Muslim nation to block access to 11 addresses offering the web version of Telegram. Samuel Pangerapan, the director general of informatics applications at the ministry, said the app is used to recruit Indonesians into militant groups and to spread hate and methods for carrying out attacks, including bomb making. Suspected militants arrested by Indonesian police recently have told authorities that they communicated with each other via Telegram and received orders and directions to carry out attacks through the app, including from Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian with the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria accused of orchestrating several attacks in the past 18 months. Durov said Telegram has now blocked the channels that were reported to it by the Indonesian government. “We are forming a dedicated team of moderators with knowledge of Indonesian culture and language

The messaging app Telegram is displayed on a smartphone on July 15 in Bangkok, Thailand. AP

to be able to process reports of terrorist-related content more quickly and accurately,” he said. Indonesia’s measures against Telegram come as Southeast Asian nations are stepping up efforts to combat Islamic radicalism following the capture of the southern Philippine city of Marawi by ISlinked militants. Nearly two months after the initial assault, Philippine forces are still battling to regain complete control of the city. Experts fear the southern Philippines could become a new base for the IS, including Indonesian and Malaysian militants returning from the Middle East, as an international coalition retakes territory held by the IS in Syria and Iraq. But the government move sparked a public

outcry in Indonesia, with Twitter and Facebook exploding with negative comments and some people reporting they were unable to access the web. telegram.org domain. Indonesians are among the world’s biggest users of social media. The free messaging service can be used as a smartphone app and on computers through a web interface or desktop messenger. Its strong encryption has contributed to its popularity with those concerned about privacy and secure communications in the digital era but also attracted militant groups and other criminal elements. Durov said Telegram blocks thousands of ISrelated channels a month and is “always open to ideas on how to get better at this”. AP

‘Elevate MSME integration in AEC to national agenda’

he Philippine government should make supporting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) a national agenda, with focus on ensuring Filipino entrepreneurs are “relevant” players in the Asean Economic Community, according to Gil Gonzales, executive director of the Asean-Business Advisory Council (Abac). Speaking at a recent business forum, Gonzales said helping MSMEs enter the Asean market can be more effectively realized if it is part of the national agenda, with the prime goal of making MSMEs “AEC [Asean Economic Community] relevant” by facilitating their integration in regional trade. This, he said, calls for fast-tracking reforms toward ease of doing business, as he noted recent proposals to introduce policies on ease of “starting” a business, which he deemed not a sound idea.

“Apparently, the direction is that by November the leaders will say, ‘We are approving a set of principles in ease of starting a business,’” he said. Gonzales added that such an idea can make the approval of new businesses “long and complicated”. He stressed that effective policies are those focused on cutting red tape and empowering small businesses to get started, survive, succeed and sustain growth. He continued that to be key regional players, MSMEs need access to finance, innovation and mentoring, as well as to peer-to-peer platforms in Asean. He called for access to financing for MSMEs similar to the cash transfer program for families, as well as access to collateral-free loans and funding for innovative ideas.He continued that even ordinary businesses, like taho producers, should

be provided access to platforms connecting them to peers in the region, “wherein you could relate, exchange notes, compare with your peers in Asean”. Doris Ho Magsaysay, speaking at the same forum, “Asean 2017 Dialogues: Business Beyond Borders”, held on July 11, underscored the value of cooperation between established business and government in building the environment and infrastructure for MSME participation in Asean trade. “Government must work with the private sector to define key sectors where the country has a competitive advantage. What are we selling to Asean? And where can we most possibly contribute in a competitive way so that entrepreneurs and MSMEs are guided where the market opportunities are?” She also cited the importance of big businesses creating a long-term

relationship with MSME suppliers to raise small companies’ capital, improve their skills, technology, and standards and expand their role in trade. Magsaysay also urged government to “invest in and provide universal access to broadband, smart infrastructure and the Internet of Things”, and to give MSMEs the chance to join the market of innovative ideas by providing capital to commercialize innovative products and services. Meanwhile, Sherill Quintana, president of Oryspa, which produces and exports spa and beauty products made from rice bran, stressed that, “It takes a whole nation to raise an entrepreneur.” She explained that government, big business, academe and civil society together can play a big factor in a fledgling company’s growth and entry into the export business. Philexport News & Features

Green Monday BusinessMirror

A12 Monday, July 17, 2017

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

Traffic jams worsen air quality–study

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

ere’s more bad news about the pesky heavy traffic in Metro Manila. A recent study by technical experts commissioned by the civic group Kaibigan ng Kaunlaran at Kalikasan (KKK) said traffic jams continue to worsen air pollution in Metro Manila, exposing people to risks of acquiring cardiovascular diseases and various health problems associated with breathing dirty air every day.

But what is causing the traffic? Ed Alabastro, executive director of KKK said: Overpopulation and the sheer lack of discipline of Filipinos. These two, he said, are the reason for Metro Manila’s major traffic woes. “Traffic is the reason for poor air quality but it’s the population that is causing traffic in Metro Manila. We are over populated,” he told the BusinessMirror in telephone interview. Besides Metro Manila’s huge population, “Filipinos lack discipline. That’s another problem,” he added. He said like Metro Manila, highly populated urban centers, like Metro Cebu and Metro Davao, are sure to experience living with poor air quality sooner or later. “Metro Cebu’s traffic will lead to poorer air quality,” he said. The study commissioned by KKK, he added, confirms the problem caused by traffic congestion—which is poorer air quality. “The more engines are running longer, the more pollution we get,” he said in Filipino. Based on the study, the congestion in Metro Manila is costing the country billions in lost revenues. It is also contributing largely to respiratory and cardiovascular

A week-day traffic on Edsa. Stephanie Tumampos

diseases, according to the study. “Inhalation and ingestion of pollutants from mobile sources can cause diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease and stroke,” the study said. Conducted for a per iod of two years, the study was completed recent ly w ith suppor t f rom nonprof it g roup C lea n A i r A si a , sc ient i f ic resea rc h institute Manila Obser vator y and independent professionals. Other “area” sources, including burning refuse, street-side cooking and construction work, account for 20 percent of air pollution, while only 4 percent is at-

tributed to “industrial” sources. The project, “Modeling Particulate Matter Dispersion in Metro Manila”, used an internationally recognized mathematical technique to predict the pathways of pollution from various sources. Factors that impact air quality were used as inputs to the mathematical modeling: air qualitymonitoring data, topography, actual traffic count, type of vehicles and fuels, and meteorology, such as wind speeds and directions that vary in different months. Due to variability of these factors, not all of Metro Manila experiences dirty air the same way, the study noted. KKK, or “Friends of Progress and the Environment”, a nongovernmental organization that advances sustainable development by providing science-based research to policy-makers, said

According to the World Health Organization, around 3 million deaths each year are linked to outdoor pollution, with the majority occurring in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific

that traffic congestion is now a critical health issue. The study specifically focused on particulate matter that can easily enter people’s lungs and cause coughing, sneezing and asthma in children. Such small particulates are also internationally recognized as causes of ischemic heart disease, cardiopulmonary diseases, respiratory dysfunctions and lung cancer. According to the World Health Organization, around 3 million deaths per year are linked to outdoor pollution, with the majority occurring in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. In the Philippines, the Department of Health has noted that the leading causes of death include cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, among them, lung cancer exacerbated—if not directly caused—by air pollution.

While the group lauded the national government’s drive to solve traffic congestion, it emphasized that a lot can still be done to address traffic and the critical risk it continues to pose to citizens. To address the problem, the study recommended a “holistic” approach to solving air pollution and traffic congestion. It proposed greater coordination among agencies handling traffic and environmental issues; establishment of a traffic-management bureau to oversee the traffic situation. Strengthening of the motor-vehicle inspection system and trafficmanagement efforts; installation of more closed-circuit television cameras to monitor both social and environmental concerns; and upgrading of traffic light system to deal with increased traffic volume; and lesser dependence on manpower to direct traffic.

Huge iceberg breaks free in ever-shrinking Antarctica A

c h u n k of floating ice roughly the size of Delaware broke away from the Antarctic Peninsula this week, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) confirmed on Wednesday, producing one of the largest icebergs ever recorded and providing a glimpse of how the Antarctic ice sheet might ultimately start to fall apart. A crack more than 120 miles long had developed over several years in a floating ice shelf called Larsen C. Scientists carefully tracked it in recent months, and images shot by a Nasa satellite on Wednesday morning showed that a 2,200-square-mile chunk had finally broken loose. There is no scientific consensus over whether global warming is to blame. But the event fundamentally changes the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula, according to Project Midas, a research team from Swansea University and Aberystwyth University in Wales that had been monitoring the rift since 2014. “The remaining shelf will be at its smallest ever known size,” said Adrian Luckman, a lead researcher for Project Midas. “This is a big change. Maps will need to be redrawn.” Larsen C, like two smaller ice shelves that collapsed before it, was holding back relatively little land ice, and it is not expected to contribute much to the rise of the sea. But in other parts of Antarctica, similar shelves are holding back enormous amounts of ice, and scientists fear that their future collapse could dump enough ice into the ocean to raise the sea level by many feet. How fast this could happen is unclear. In the late 20th century, the Antarctic Peninsula, which juts out from the main

In a photo released by the British Antarctic Survey, a fissure in the Larsen C ice shelf is seen from air in February 2017. A chunk of floating ice weighing more than a trillion metric tons has broken away from the Antarctic Peninsula, producing one of the largest icebergs ever recorded, scientists confirmed on July 12. British Antarctic Survey via The New York Times

body of Antarctica and points toward South America, was one of the fastest-warming places in the world. That warming had slowed or, perhaps, reversed slightly in the 21st century, but scientists believe the ice is still catching up to the higher temperatures. Some climate scientists believe the warming in the region was at least in part a consequence of human-caused c l i m ate c h a n g e, w h i l e o t h e r s h ave disputed that, seeing a large role for natural variability—and noting that icebergs have been breaking away from ice shelves for many millions of years. But the two camps agree that the breakup of ice shelves in the peninsula region may be a preview of what is in store for the main part of Antarctica, as the world continues heating up as a result of human activity.

“While it might not be caused by global warming, it’s at least a natural laboratory to study how breakups will occur at other ice shelves to improve the theoretical basis for our projections of future sea level rise,” said Thomas P. Wagner, who leads Nasa’s efforts to study the polar regions. In frigid regions, ice shelves form as the long rivers of ice, called glaciers, flow from land into the sea. The result is a bit like a clog in a drain pipe, slowing the flow of the glaciers feeding them. When an ice shelf collapses, the glaciers behind it can accelerate, as if the drain pipe had suddenly cleared. “We’re going to be watching very carefully for signs that the rest of the shelf is becoming unstable,” Martin O’Leary, a Swansea University glaciologist and member of the Project Midas team, said in a statement.

At the remaining part of Larsen C, the edge is now much closer to a line that scientists call the compressive arch, which is critical for structural support. If the front retreats past that line, the northernmost part of the shelf could collapse, possibly within months. “At that point in time, the glaciers will react,” said Eric Rignot, a climate scientist at the University of California, Irvine, who has done extensive research on polar ice. “If the ice shelf breaks apart, it will remove a buttressing force on the glaciers that flow into it. The glaciers will feel less resistance to flow, effectively removing a cork in front of them.” According to Rignot, the stability of the whole ice shelf is threatened. “You have these two anchors on the side

of Larsen C that play a critical role in holding the ice shelf where it is,” he said. “If the shelf is getting thinner, it will be more breakable, and it will lose contact with the ice rises.” Ice rises are islands that are overridden by the ice shelf, allowing them to shoulder more of the weight of the shelf. Scientists have yet to determine the extent of thinning around the Bawden and Gipps ice rises, though Rignot noted that the Bawden ice rise was more vulnerable. “We’re not even sure how it’s hanging on there,” he said. “But if you take away Bawden, the whole shelf will feel it.” The collapse of the Antarctic Peninsula’s ice shelves can be interpreted as fulfilling a prophecy made in 1978 by a renowned geologist named John H. Mercer of Ohio State University. In a classic paper, Mercer warned that the western part of Antarctica was so vulnerable to human-induced climate warming as to pose a “threat of disaster” from rising seas. He said that humanity would know the calamity had begun when ice shelves started breaking up along the peninsula, with the breakups moving progressively southward. Mercer died in 1987, and, thus, did not live to see his prophecy fulfilled. The Larsen A ice shelf broke up over several years starting in 1995; the Larsen B underwent a drastic collapse in 2002; and now, scientists fear, the calving of the giant iceberg could be the first stage in the breakup of Larsen C. “As climate warming progresses farther south,” Rignot said, “it will affect larger and larger ice shelves, holding back bigger and bigger glaciers, so that their collapse will contribute more to sea-level rise.” New York Times News Service

The study also recommended that enforcers should undergo a unifor m training program, implementation of the no-contact apprehension and stricter compliance to existing emission standards. Motorists should also consider the quality of fuels they use, along with reliability and cost. It recommended the enhancement of air-monitoring capability of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, by putting up more monitoring stations in critical areas. The group also called on government to lead a shift from cars to mass transit over the long term. “A high ly f unctiona l mass transport system, combined with land use and population management, would greatly support a drive for cleaner air in Metro Manila,” the study said.

DOST urges collaboration of govt agencies to save Laguna Lake

h e D epar tment of S cience and Technology-National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP) recommended possible courses of action that government agencies can collaborate on to help improve the conditions of Laguna lake. The recommendations were borne out of consultations with various environmental experts. “ Fu n d i n g i n t h e a re a o f p o l i c y assessment and researches on destructive fish species can go a long way,” said Joselito A. Carteciano, project leader and coorganizer of Lake Ecosystem Assessment in the Philippines. Studies have shown that “fish quality is the recurring major issue of the fisheries sector in Laguna de Bay”. Among the major causes of the decline in fish quality are the waste accumulation from households, industries and factories; the settlements’ construction and urbanization; and climate change. Current studies show that the lake is getting worse despite the intended measures (policy, relevant institution/s, programs, regulations), thus, there is an impending need to assess the relevance of existing policies and measures. There is a need, for instance, to review the extent of implementation of regulations, identify the stumbling blocks, and to determine the proper course of actions for the lake to get better for the next 20 to 50 years, according to DOST-NRCP’s recommended course of action. S&T Media Service

Biodiversity Monday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Monday, July 17, 2017 A13

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

‘Biological annihilation’ era underway, scientists warn Hope shines a new

rom the common barn swallow to the exotic giraffe, thousands of animal species are in precipitous decline, a sign that an irreversible era of mass extinction is underway, new research finds.

The study, published last Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, calls the current decline in animal populations a “global epidemic” and part of the “ongoing sixth mass extinction” caused in large measure by human destruction of animal habitats. The previous five extinctions were caused by natural phenomena. Gerardo Ceballos, a researcher at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City, acknowledged that the study is written in unusually alarming tones for an academic research paper. “It wouldn’t be ethical right now not to speak in this strong language to call attention to the severity of the problem,” he said. Ceballos emphasized that he and his coauthors, Paul R. Ehrlich and Rodolfo Dirzo, both professors at Stanford University, are not alarmists, but are using scientific data to back up their assertions that significant population decline and possible mass extinction of species all over the world may be imminent, and that both have been underestimated by many other scientists. The study’s authors looked at reductions in a species’ range—a result of factors like habitat degradation, pollution and climate change, among others—and extrapolated from that how many populations have been

70%

The percentage of populations of mammals that are getting lost because of habitat loss lost or are in decline, a method that they said is used by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They found that about 30 percent of all land vertebrates—mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians—are experiencing declines and local population losses. In most parts of the world, mammal populations are losing 70 percent of their members because of habitat loss. In particular, they cite cheetahs, which have declined to around 7,000 members; Borneo and Sumatran orangutans, of which fewer than 5,000 remain; populations of African lions, which have declined by 43 percent since 1993; pangolins, which have been

“decimated”; and giraffes, whose four species now number under 100,000 members. The study defines populations as the number of individuals in a given species in a 10,000-square-kilometer unit of habitat, known as a quadrat. Jonathan Losos, a biology professor at Harvard, said he was not aware of other papers that have used this method, but that it is “a reasonable first pass” at estimating the extent of species decline and population loss.Losos also noted giving precise estimates of wildlife populations is difficult, in part because scientists do not always agree on what defines a population, which makes the question inherently subjective. Despite those issues, Losos said, “I think it’s a very important and troubling paper that documents that the problems we have with biodiversity are much greater than commonly thought.”The authors of the paper suggest that previous estimates of global extinction rates have been too low, in part because scientists have been too focused on complete extinction of a species. Two vertebrate species are estimated to go extinct every year, which the authors wrote “does not generate enough public concern,” and lends the impression that many species are not severely threatened, or that mass extinction is a distant catastrophe. Conservatively, scientists estimate that 200 species have gone extinct in the past 100 years; the “normal” extinction rate over the past 2 million years has been that two species go extinct every 100 years because of evolutionary and other factors. Rather than extinctions, the paper looks at how populations are doing: the disappearance of entire populations and the decrease of the

number of individuals within a population. Overall, they found this phenomenon is occurring globally, but that tropical regions, which have the greatest biodiversity, are experiencing the greatest loss in numbers, and that temperate regions are seeing higher proportions of population loss. Ehrlich, who rose to prominence in the 1960s after he wrote The Population Bomb, a book that predicted the imminent collapse of humanity because of overpopulation, said that he sees a similar phenomenon in the animal world as a result of human activity. “There is only one overall solution, and that is to reduce the scale of the human enterprise,” he said. “Population growth and increasing consumption among the rich is driving it.” He and Ceballos said habitat destruction—deforestation for agriculture, for example—and pollution were the primary culprits, and climate change exacerbates both problems. Accelerating deforestation and rising carbon pollution are likely to make climate change worse, which could have disastrous consequences for the ability of many species to survive on earth. Ceballos struck a slightly more hopeful tone, adding that some species have been able to rebound when some of these pressures are taken away. Ehrlich, however, continued to sound the alarm. “We’re toxifying the entire planet,” he said. When asked about the clear advocacy position the paper has taken, a rarity in scientific literature, he said, “Scientists don’t give up their responsibility as citizens to say what they think about the data that they’re gathering.” New York Times News Service

for Laguna de Bay By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga Conclusion

Knife-fish infestation

ishers, as well as fish-pen and fish-cage operators, continue to complain about knife-fish infestation. The knife fish, a carnivorous fish, lays their eggs that stick to the bamboo poles of fish cages and fishnets. Upon hatching, they easily enter the fish pen and fish cage and feed on bangus and tilapia fingerlings. According to Renato Francisco, they estimated that knife-fish infestation reduces potential bangus and tilapia harvest by as much as 60 percent. Knife fish, although edible, is not a very popular fish, and sells from P15 to P25 per kilogram. Those who catch knife fish sell them to traders in Malabon, who use it in making fish balls. Jaime C. Medina said the Department of Agriculture (DA) is also helping address the knife-fish infestation in the lake. “It is important for these programs against knife fish to continue. The DA pays for every knife fish caught in the lake by the fishers,” he added.

Fish-stock replenishment

To boost the income of small fishers who fish within the lake’s open waters, Medina is pinning hope on the DA’s program, called “Project Basil”, or “Balik Sigla sa Ilog at Lawa” Project. Part of the project is to release 25 million fingerlings. Laguna de Bay is among the priority. He said native fish would be released by the DA as a part of the program. This includes ayungin, biya and other native fish, he added. “We are eyeing to register the fishers, too. We want illegal fishing to stop,” he said. According to Medina, hopefully as the Laguna Lake Development Authority, with the help of the DA, cushions the impact of knife-fish infestation, the lake’s native fish will recover and, soon, replenish the lake with enough fish stock to sustain fish production. Fighting pollution and getting rid of the pesky knife fish, he said, will be a priority under his watch. With the support of stakeholders, there is always hope for Laguna de Bay, he added.

A14 Monday, July 17, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

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editorial

G20 is a bad movie

F they made a movie about the Group of 20 (G20), it would be like one of those “high-school reunion” films. The homecoming queen recently died from bird flu she contacted during a sit-down protest against cruelty to animals at a chicken farm. The boy voted “Most Likely To Succeed” is on the run from arrest in six countries for a billion-dollar pyramid scheme. The G20 was officially organized in 1999, but no one is really sure why or whose idea it was. It was sort of a club formed by the Group of 7 nations as maybe a nod to the countries not good enough to make the Varsity Team. The German finance minister back then— Hans Eichel—claimed credit for the idea. But by 2005 the Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin had “Founder of the G20” on his resume. Then-US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has also been identified as the “Father of the G20”, yet no one has ever been willing to take a paternity test. Nobody has really cared or maybe even heard of the G20 until they started having Heads of States summits in 2008—first in Washington D.C.—at the suggestion of US President George Bush. The fact that this happened as the global economic meltdown started is not a coincidence. Bush stated, “The G20 would be important in finding solutions to the burgeoning economic crisis.” Unfortunately, the G20 cannot even find a solution to avoiding the millions of dollars of damage from protests against their annual meetings—except, of course, in Russia (2013) and China (2016). President Duterte has taken some heat since Germany did not extend an invitation for him to attend this year’s summit, which would be normal, as the Philippines is currently chair of the Asean. Maybe that is a blessing in disguise when you consider what is happening in many of the other G20 nations, and things are weird enough already in the Philippines. Since the last summit, Brazil removed its president, Dilma Rousseff, by impeachment for corruption. Her successor Michel Temer is being considered for impeachment for corruption. This past week Rousseff’s predecessor—the most popular president in Brazilian history, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva—was sentenced to 10 years in prison for corruption. G20 member South Korea also impeached and removed its president for corruption. South Africa’s Jacob Zuma is under investigation for corruption. The word “corruption” and “G20 presidents” seem to come up together a lot on Google. Along with its drug-cartel problem, Mexico has entered a new war. Armed regional cartels are stealing $1 billion of gasoline a year by punching holes in pipelines of the state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos. Like with drugs, dead bodies are turning up and the police are once again outgunned. Member China said member India “needs to be taught a ‘bitter lesson’ over its border dispute”. According to the recent Bloomberg’s Misery Index, South Africa—yet another G20 member—is the second-most miserable country on earth. After looking at all this, there’s probably a valid reason for having the annual G20 Heads of State summit. These national leaders can get together far away from their constituents. They can drink and dine in five-star luxury at the public expense. And, after a few bottles of champagne, say to each other, “You think you’ve got it bad? Listen to this!”

This year’s top technologies Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

N a world fueled by modern technologies, we are bombarded by innovations and inventions from various fields and sectors on a regular basis—and many of them are necessary and noteworthy! But trust the guys at Scientific American, in cooperation with Global Future Councils and the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network, to pick the cream of the crop. They recently came out with a top-10 list of this year’s emerging technologies. I am devoting this column to a rundown of these 10 technologies. These were chosen for their “potential to improve lives, transform industries, and safeguard the planet”. Murat Sönmez, head of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and member of the Managing Board of the World Economic Forum, said, “New

‘Too many cooks!’ Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan

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technologies are redefining industries, blurring traditional boundaries and creating new opportunities on a scale never seen before. Public and private institutions must develop the correct policies, protocols and collaborations to allow such innovation to build a better future while

legally speaking

here is conventional wisdom in the saying that “too many cooks spoil the broth!” That is exactly why there is little faith in the implementation of this newest law, Republic Act (RA) 10913 known as the AntiDistracted Driving Act despite numerous attempts to revise and clarify its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulation.

The objective of the State is laudable—“to safeguard its citizenry from the numerous and extremely imperious effects of vehicular accidents” (RA 10913, Section 2). But, there have been many laws attempting the same objective, all of these laws were enthusiastically enforced at the start until they became more honored in breach than in observance, and the State and local governments had no budget to hire traffic enforcers. Hereunder is a sample listing of some laws uniformly aimed at “ensuring road safety through the observance of the citizenry of responsible and ethical driving standards” (RA 10586, Section 2): n RA 10916—An Act Requiring the Mandatory Installation of Speed Limiter in Public Utility and Certain Types of Vehicles; n RA 10913—An Act Defining and Penalizing Distracted Driving; n RA 10666—An Act Providing for the Safety of Children Aboard Motorcycles; n RA 10054—An Act Mandating All Motorcycle Riders to Wear Standard Protective Motorcycle Helmets While Driving and Providing

Penalties Thereof; n RA 8794—An Act Imposing Motor Vehicle User’s Charge on Owners of All Types of Motor Vehicles and for Other Purposes; n RA 8750—An Act Requiring the Mandatory Compliance by Motorists of Private and Public Vehicles to Use Seat Belt Devices, and Requiring Vehicle Manufacturers to Install Seat Belt Devices in All Their Manufactured Vehicles; n RA 10586—An Act Penalizing Persons Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, Dangerous Drugs and Similar Substances, and for other purposes; n RA 8749—An Act Providing for a Comprehensive Air Pollution Control Policy and for other purposes; and n RA 4236—An Act To Compile The Laws Relative To Land Transportation And Traffic Rules To Create Land Transportation Commission And For Other Purposes. Are these laws being implemented? Do we really need new laws for motorists or just strict enforcement of these laws? But because, presumably, we are law-abiding citizens, it

avoiding the risks that unchecked technological change could pose.” First on the list is Liquid Biopsies. This is an alternative to the traditional tissue-based biopsies that are performed to diagnose and monitor cancers and tumors. Second would be the work of the scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley in the area of water production. They are able to extract clean water from air with the use of porous crystals. A start-up company in Arizona called Zero Mass Water can produce two to five liters of water every day based on an “off-grid solar system”. The third technology is the use of computer-vision in applications like driving autonomous vehicles, medical diagnostics, monitoring crop yield and water levels, among other things. This is being done through deep learning, a new field of AI (artificial intelligence) wherein computers are able to

recognize images much better than humans could. The fourth one is all about the technology of using sunshine to generate and store energy. This development could prove to be helpful for the solar and wind industries. The fifth is a scientific study that is being designed to improve and personalize health care. It is an international collaboration dubbed The Human Cell Atlas, which aims to “identify every cell type in every tissue; learn which genes, proteins and other molecules are active in each type and the processes [that] control that activity; determine where the cells are located and how they interact with one another; and what happens to the body’s functioning when genetic or other aspects of a cell undergo change”. I will finish the list next week and present the other five technologies that landed on the top-10 list of emerging technologies for 2017. Watch out for that.

is incumbent upon all of us to understand this new law (RA 10913) and the final version of its implementing rules and regulations (IRR). Quoted hereunder are the salient provisions:

placement of the mobile-communications device or the hands-free device does not interfere with the line of sight of the driver. For this purpose, the use of a mobile-communications or handsfree device shall be considered as interference to the line of sight of the driver when the highest point of the device is more than four (4) inches from the motor vehicle’s dashboard. b. Wheeled agricultural machineries, such as tractors; and construction equipment, such as graders, roller, backhoes, pay loaders, cranes, bulldozers, mobile concrete mixers and the like; and other forms of conveyances, such as bicycles, pedicabs, habal-habal, trolleys, kuliglig, wagons, carriages, carts, sledges, chariots or the like, whether animal or human powered, are covered by the provisions of this IRR as long as the same are operated or driven in public thoroughfares, highways or streets, or under circumstances where public safety is under consideration. c. The provisions of this IRR shall apply to a motorist of a vehicle in motion, and those which are stopped temporarily at a traffic light or any intersections. A motorist of a motor vehicle that is not in motion, or is pulled over the side of the road in compliance with traffic regulations, is not prohibited from using a mobilecommunications or electronic devices as defined in this IRR. Section 6. Exemptions The provisions of this IRR shall not apply to the following: a. A motorist using a mobile phone for an emergency call to: (i) A law-enforcement agency or agent to report a crime or prohibited act, accident, natural calamity, bomb threat/terrorist action, animal

Rule 2—Prohibition, coverage and exemptions

Section 4. Distracted Driving Subject to the qualification in Sections 5 and 6 of this IRR, distracted driving refers to the performance by a motorists of any of the following acts in a motor vehicle in motion, or temporarily stopped at a traffic light or any intersection, whether diplomatic, public or private: a. Using a mobile-communications device to write, send or read a text based communication, or to make or receive calls and other similar acts; and b. Using an electronic-entertainment or computing device to play games, watch movies, surf the Internet, compose messages, read ebooks, perform calculation and other similar acts. A motorist holding a mobilecommunications device or an electronic-entertainment or computing device in a motor vehicle in motion, or temporarily stopped at a traffic light or any intersection, shall be prima facie presumed to be engaged in distracted driving. Section 5. Extent of Coverage a. The operation of a mobilecommunications device is not considered to be distracted driving if done using the aid of a hands-free functions or similar device, such as, but not limited to, a speaker phone, earphones and microphone or other similar devices, which allow a person to make and receive calls without having to hold the mobile communication device: Provided, that the

See “Kapunan,” A15

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Celebrating Accountancy Week

Dissecting PPP contracts #4: Maga By Alberto Agra

PPP Lead

Joel L. Tan-Torres

DEBIT CREDIT

he annual tradition of celebrating the Accountancy Week is a big event for all accountants. For this year, the celebration will be from July 16 to 22 and will be held at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel and various locations throughout the Philippines. Accountants all over the country have been conducting this weeklong festivities since 1966, when then-President Ferdinand E. Marcos issued Proclamation 19 declaring the Accountancy Week Celebration (AWC). Filipino accountants continue the AWC tradition and celebrate every third week of July pursuant to Malacañang Proclamation 218 as issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. As we celebrate our AWC, it is appropriate to note what are the more important initiatives in our accountancy profession. The profession is now addressing the introduction of the new accountancy programs with the issuance by the Commission on Higher Education of the guidelines for three new accounting courses and a reformat of the existing program. Future accountants in the Philippines will now have more options as they pursue their chosen learning track. The employers of the future graduates will also have more options on the Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) whom they will hire. Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants definitely will be a player in these major developments. We have now implemented the global standards for our Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The challenge now for us, accountants, is how to meet the heightened demand for more relevant CPD training. The Board of Accountancy (BOA) is now focused on empowering the small and medium practices (SMPs). The SMPs constitute 95 percent of the practitioners in the country, and they provide services to the majority of the small and medium enterprises. The BOA is focused on transforming the SMPs to better manage their practice and provide quality service to their clients. After many years in the back burner, the Quality Assurance Review (QAR) over the work of the auditors and the Asean Mutual Recognition Arrangement for Accountancy Services (MRA) will be implemented in the last half of this year. The QAR and MRA are important measures that will result in significant impact and involvement of the stakeholders of the profession. The high-impact regulatory measures that the BOA has been putting in place will continue. The accreditation rules for the various

Kapunan. . .

continued from A14

activism, infrastructure failure and biological, chemical, or radioactive hazard spill or release; (ii) Government or non-governmental health-care provider, or a medical practitioner, and emergency rescue units, in instances requiring immediate medical attentions; (iii) Fire department or nongovernmental fire volunteers in the event of fire/explosions; (iv) Other emergency services, agency or entity rendering electric, gas, water, chemical, towing and other similar services, in instances requiring immediate attention to save lives and properties or to remove hazards from the environment; and (v) Other analogous circumstances. b. A motorist using a mobile phone while operating an emergency vehicle, or a private vehicle while responding to an emergency call.

Rule 4—Penalties

Section 8. Penalties Any person who shall violate any provision of this IRR shall be penalized with: n A fine of P5,000 for the first offense; n A fine of P10,000 for the

accountancy sectors, the monitoring of the implementation of the Expanded Auditors Report and Certificate of Compilations services, the review of the audit threshold and the motu propio investigation of the board have gained ground. All of these will go a long way toward putting in place a conducive environment for the furtherance of the practice of the professional and lawabiding accountants while curbing the irregularities of the erring CPAs who continue to take advantage of their fellow accountants. The results of the public consultations on the revisions of the antiquated 2004 accountancy law are now pending in Congress for the start of the public hearings. A revised accountancy law will address the many concerns of the profession. With the BOA, the various accountancy professional organizations and the many accountancy stakeholders working together, the catch line “I am Accountant” will proudly be proclaimed by one and all in our accountancy profession. Note: Organizers of the various events for the AWC are encouraged to post in Facebook 2017AWC the details of their events. The hashtag #2017awc can be used to share the pictures and information on the AWC. Chairman Joel L. Tan-Torres is the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy. He is a Certified Public Accountant who placed No. 1 in the May 1979 CPA Board Examinations. He is concurrently a tax partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co., CPAs. He was the former commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue from 2009 to 2010. This column accepts contributions from accountants, especially articles that are of interest to the accountancy profession, in particular, and to the business community, in general. These can be e-mailed to boa.secretariat.@gmail.com.

second offense; n A fine of P15,000 and suspension of driver’s license for three months, for the third offense; and n A fine of P20,000 for the fourth offense and succeeding offenses, and revocation of driver’s license.” The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), through its no-contact apprehension policy, is reported as closely monitoring distracted drivers on the reimplementation of the Adda, along with the Land Transportation Office (LTO), and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). According to MMDA Liaison Officer Atty. Victor Nunez, screen shots of the distracted drivers on their “highdefinition closed circuit television cameras” will be used as evidence of the drivers’ violations. The MMDA will then coordinate with the LTO in tracing down the name and address to whom the plate number of the vehicle was registered. On its first day of implementation, July 6, 2017, the MMDA apprehended 72 drivers. Too much government resources are spent on this Adda. And too many cooks involved! Doesn’t the MMDA, LTO and LTFRB have better things to do? Like, for instance, solving the worsening Edsa traffic, the daily breakdown of the Light Rail Transit—and, yes, what happened to my license plate?!!

Monday, July 17, 2017 A15

Continued from A1

. Action by which government agency? Typical Maga provisions only extend to action by the national government that is not the signatory to the PPP contract. To be more exhaustive, government action should be made by any government agency or public office. This includes the Executive and Legislative branches, government corporations and instrumentalities, regulatory bodies and local government units. 3. What is the form of the action? The usual clause on Maga touches on laws. A layperson may construe this as only statutes or national laws enacted by Congress. If the breadth of Maga will cover the

whole government bureaucracy, the courts excepted, then action here, to avoid confusion, would embrace ordinances, executive orders, other executive issuances, rules, official interpretations or any government

Tenacity in action Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

henever we dare to do something different, we must be prepared. We must have the balls to go through with it despite the falls we will inevitably experience. Balls and falls, just as risks and rewards, go together in life. It is often said that ships are safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for. As designed, a ship must set sail and expect rough seas ahead. In the same vein, lawyers are not trained to be timid and submissive advisers, but uncompromising and daring advocates. Lawyer Alan Paguia, my former teacher and faculty member at the Ateneo Law School, is one courageous advocate. He relentlessly pursued the interests of his client, then-President Joseph E. Estrada, as he argued against the constitutionality of the presidency of then-Vice President Gloria MacapagalArroyo. Paguia was indefinitely suspended from law practice for eight years when he accused the Supreme Court (SC) of bias, as some members of the Court supposedly engaged in politics when they participated in the 2001 popular uprising that deposed Estrada. The SC eventually reinstated Paguia when he declared that the suspension has strengthened his “belief in the Filipino people, the rule of

law, due process and equal protection, the Supreme Court as the final dispenser of justice, and God as the ultimate source of justice.” A few years after his reinstatement, Paguia died. During my last few weeks at the immigration bureau, lawyer Norman Tansingco, one of my more reliable technical assistants, was daring enough not to bail out. Knowing that those associated with me will be “punished”, I told him to lie low. Believing that what we were doing in office was fair and just, he refused to heed my call. Expectedly, as soon as I was replaced, Norman was reassigned to an insignificant position in one of our field offices. A few weeks thereafter, he resigned.

or administrative policy. 4. When is the action materially adverse? Any future government action that could harm, prejudice or impair the rights and will reduce the benefits of a PSP under the PPP contract, or any action which could disrupt the operations of the project and would unfavorably affect the PSP’s ability to comply with its financial and contractual obligation would be the subject of Maga. For example, if the implementing rules of the build-operate-transfer law is amended, which henceforth bars the grant of government subsidies, and that rule is given retroactive effect would definitely affect a subsidy stipulated in the PPP contract. This is a classis example of a successor-regulatory risk. 5. What will the affected PSP do? When a PSP feels that a government action post-PPP contract signing will adversely affect its entitlements and obligations, it must first

notify its partner-government entity. It has the burden of proving that said government action would have that material adverse effect. The government may dispute the claim or assert that the effect is not adverse. 6. What are the remedies? The PSP, after negotiations or arbitration, may be excused from performance or its obligations and/or compensated depending on the breach. The compensation or mitigation may take any of the following forms: toll-rate adjustments, extension of contract life, rescheduling of milestones and payment of damages, among others. The insertion of a Maga clause in PPP contracts is intended to assure the business community that, if and when government changes its position after PPP contracts are executed, there are available remedies. For PSPs, this contractual warranty is essential. PSPs just hope that such assurance will be honored by the next administration.

National Basketball Association (NBA) stars Michael Jordan and Steph Curry almost always prefer to have the ball in their hand whenever the game is on the line. They have the balls to take the last shot. The possibility of failure does not prevent them from trying again and again. As quoted in Nike Culture: The Sign of the Swoosh, Michael Jordan said, “I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twentysix times I’ve been trusted to take the gamewinning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” In the case of Steph Curry, he became the NBA’s best shooter through constant and consistent practice and shooting drills, where Curry takes 10 shots from five different locations on the three-point line, going back and forth until he makes 100 shots. Leaders react positively to failure. They become better people because they know, deep inside, the purpose of these “falls” in life. Some say what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger. Inspirational speaker and author John Maxwell uses the story of Job and Joseph to show how positive results can come from negative situations. In the case of Joseph, he was sold as a slave and endured many years of hardship before becoming a servant leader of his people. Joseph was so loyal to his faith and to God that he was never worried when he faced adversities in life. In the case of Job, he realized that God allows us to suffer during stages in our lives

for reasons; according to Sid Buzzell, “to test us, to discipline us, to humble us, to change our perspective, or to prepare us for blessings in the future.” Having been inspired by these powerful stories, we should all stop wondering why and how some people still dare to do bold things despite repeated failures. We have heard the classic saying: “Expect the worst. Hope for the best.” In his devotional article “Sun Stand Still”, Steven Furtick said, “Your expectation is the belief that what you are hoping for is actually going to happen, not your backup plan”. Furtick shared the story of Joshua, who audaciously prayed to God and asked the seemingly impossible—to make the sun stand still. Joshua wanted more light so he could destroy the rest of his enemies. We should strive to be like Joshua and be bold enough to ask for the impossible and then act in audacious faith, which does not eliminate doubt and fear but which, according to Furtick, “merely eclipses their power one decision at a time”. Servant leaders always expect the best—not worst—and always hope for the best. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” Of course, servant leaders were not born with confidence and optimism. They had to develop tenacity through the 6Ps: preparation, patience, persistence, perseverance (as what Curry and Jordan did) and powerful prayers (like those of Job, Joseph and Joshua).

Who won one year after China lost in The Hague? Ricardo Saludo

DIPLOMASIA

alf-empty or half-full. That’s one way of looking at how things have gone since the Philippines won a favorable decision from the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague in its case asserting sovereign rights under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (Unclos) against China’s “nine-dash line” claim over most of the South China Sea. The PCA ruled that, under Unclos, the Philippines alone may exploit marine resources in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) 200 nautical miles (370 kilometer) from the country’s territorial baseline surrounding its main islands and the waters between them. So, the Chinese may not bar Filipino fishermen from Scarborough Shoal, and undertake economic activities, including reclamation, within the EEZ, as they did at two reefs. Western governments and media, and Filipino leaders favoring a tough stance toward China, urged President Duterte to assert the ruling, backed by US forces. But Duterte reversed his predecessor’s adversarial approach. He agreed to resolve disputes through bilateral talks, not arbitration, which Beijing opposed. Duterte also scrapped planned naval patrols with the US. Then, in his October state visit to Beijing, Duterte declared “separation” from America and “alliance” with China

and Russia. That won him $24 billion in aid, loans and investment pledges from Beijing. Filipino fishermen also resumed fishing at Scarborough Shoal. China was quick to defuse issues, like the reported plan to build monitoring facilities on Scarborough Shoal, announced by a Chinese provincial leader, but promptly denied by China.

The half-empty view

Western media and analysts lambasted the diplomatic turnaround; so did architects of The Hague case: former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario and Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio of the Supreme Court. On the ruling’s anniversary last week, the pair, along with experts convened by del Rosario’s ADR Institute, again deplored Duterte’s refusal to aggressively press Beijing on the Philippines’s Unclos rights. Their common refrain is that Duterte

is weakening Philippine claims by allowing China to undertake activities that could convey possession under international law, including reclamation and militarization. Justice Carpio said Duterte “dropped the ball” when, as the President put it, he “set aside” The Hague decision. The staunchly pro-American del Rosario reiterated his view that the case should be cited in the Code of Conduct in disputed areas, which the Asean wants to conclude with China this year. Prof. Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Seas, warns that the environmental and military situations in disputed areas are becoming irreversible. “For the environment, the point of no return is the collapse of the natural resources,” he said at the ADRI forum. On the military aspect, “the only thing left...is the activation of the defenses and the basing of actual assets” on reclaimed islands. Then “jurisdiction will follow”.

The half-full argument

While the del Rosario camp warns of an emptying cup of Philippine maritime claims, the Duterte administration and even some Western experts see water in the diplomatic glass rising. Ambassador Jose Santiago Santa Romana, a top China expert who was once the ABC network’s Beijing bureau chief, leads Manila’s negotiators in bilateral talks with Beijing, which discusses, among other issues, conflicting territorial claims. He maintains that his country did not lose “an inch of territory” in mending fences with China.

Duterte himself has repeatedly said he will assert sovereign rights. In talks with President Xi Jinping in Beijing in May, Duterte did raise offshore oil exploration in the Philippines’s EEZ. That prompted Xi to warn of possible war. Now, however, pending advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Manila may again allow oil drilling near Reed Bank, where Chinese ships once warned an exploration vessel authorized by the Philippines. Notably, Vietnam has also allowed new drilling in its EEZ. If China allows both actions, the glass water may indeed be rising. There’s more. Beijing and Asean agreed on the code of conduct framework in April, raising hopes that it could be signed in the Asean summit meeting in November. And another rival maritime claimant, Malaysia, has also gotten cosier with China. Indeed, even last year, some analysts conceded that Duterte’s conciliatory approach had led Beijing to follow The Hague ruling. “China,” writes global security expert David Welch of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, “demonstrated de facto, if not de jure, compliance.” He noted that China hardly mentions the nine-dash line, has stopped building artificial islands, minimized high-seas confrontations, and avoided statements against the PCA ruling. Welch says the largely nonconfrontational approach all around enabled the Chinese Foreign Ministry to gain the upper hand against hawks in the military. Now, is that better or worse than letting the frictions of past years get even hotter?