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Friday, June 23, 2017 Vol. 12 No. 253

BSP keeps policy rates steady on tame inflation

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By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday opted to calm the markets when it decided to maintain key policy rates due to lower inflation during the last policy meeting of Central Bank Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr.

Following its monetary-policy meeting on Thursday, Tetangco announced the Monetary Board’s decision to maintain the interest rate on the overnight reverse repurchase

(RRP) facility at 3 percent.

The corresponding interest rates on the overnight lending and deposit facilities were also kept steady.

The reserve requirement ratios

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PESO exchange rates n US 50.2390

Make Sense

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The projected inflation for 2017

he flash floods caused by the recent heavy rains, which resulted in several traffic standstill situations in the Metro Manila area, are a grim preview of the worst that is yet to come, once the typhoon season sets in this year. But it is also a ghastly reminder of the concerned government agencies’ failure, both local and national, to permanently address this recurring problem, even as a large part of affected communities already feel apathetic to the situation out of frustration.

were also kept unchanged.

Tetangco said the decision came as the country’s inflation environment continued to be manageable, with latest baseline forecast revisions pointing to a lower path of future inflation.

In particular, Central Bank Deputy Governor for the Monetary Stability Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo

Continued on A10

Widodo vows to support Duterte’s war vs terror

Continued on A2

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

Moral suasion

forms, including transitioning to a rate corridor in 2016 for greater policy flexibility. He advocated targeted measures—such as capping property-loan collaterals—a method that addresses specific

What happened to the anti-squatting laws?

Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza

risks, like asset bubbles, without hurting other parts of the economy.

The 64-year-old outgoing governor, who served under three presidents, has upheld central bank independence and avoided controversies.

He was first appointed by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2005 and retained

by Benigno S. Aquino III in 2011.

Singapore. “Tetangco is to be credited for that. He has provided a very firm foundation for inflation targeting and built up strong buffers for the economy.”

Tetangco adopted dramatic re-

A shooting enthusiast and car lover, Tetangco perfected the use of moral suasion: the art of influencing market behavior with his words rather than direct intervention. He also built the central bank into one of the most predictable in Asia, with policy-makers, including his deputies, flagging the outlook for months in advance.

See “Tetangco,” A2

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3.1%

Tetangco bows out with prices lower, growth strong mando M. Tetangco Jr. saw inflation surge to almost 11 percent and economic growth plunge to as low as 0.5 percent during his term as central bank governor. As he oversees his final rate meeting on Thursday, price gains are about a third of that and the economy is booming.

In his 12-year stint, Tetangco boosted reserves, reined in inflation, kept the currency stable and bolstered economic growth.

Ba ngko Sent ra l ng P i l ipi n a s (BSP) is forecast to hold its benchmark rate at a record-low 3 percent on Thursday.

“Bangko Sentral is one of the most well-respected and credible central banks in the region,” said Michael Wan, an economist at Credit Suisse Group AG in

2016 ejap journalism awards

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@alyasjah

ndonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday night called President Duterte to reaffirm Indonesia’s commitment to support the Philippines’s fight against the Maute Group terrorists.

According to Presidential Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella, Duterte and Widodo agreed to heighten the region’s war against terror, as the threat of Islamist extremism looms within Southeast Asia.

“They both reaffirmed the need to step up cooperation to address threats posed by terrorism and violent extremism,” Abella said.

“Overall, the call was productive and fruitful.”

On top of this, Abella added that Widodo assured Duterte of Indonesia’s all-out support in the Philippines’s ongoing operation against

the Maute Group terrorists. According to Abella, Widodo is concerned about the restoration of peace and stability in southern Philippines. “[The] President [Duterte] also welcomed the Indonesian president’s expression of commitment and emphasized the Philippine government’s full resolve to work closer together with Indonesia and like-minded states to address these issues,” Abella said.

Aside from this, the two leaders noted the significance of continuing with the trilateral meeting between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines on Thursday in Manila. Abella added the meeting was intended to bolster Southeast Asia’s coordinated action in foiling terror attacks and activities within the region.

Duterte on Wednesday said in an interview with reporters in See “Widodo,” A2

n japan 0.4511 n UK 63.6779 n HK 6.4400 n CHINA 7.3557 n singapore 36.1692 n australia 37.9304 n EU 56.1170 n SAUDI arabia 13.3978

Source: BSP (22 June 2017 )

A2 Friday, June 23, 2017

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BSP keeps policy rates steady on tame inflation Continued from A1

said the inflation forecast for 2017 was cut to 3.1 percent, from the earlier projection of 3.4 percent.

For next year, the BSP maintained its 3-percent inflation forecast, while the projected inflation for 2019 inflation forecast was pegged at 3 percent.

While the BSP admitted that risks to the inflation outlook remains tilted to the upside, the growth of consumer prices is still seen to hit target from this year up until 2019.

“While there may be potential transitory impact of the proposed tax-reform program, the social safety nets are expected to mitigate the resulting inflationary pressures,” Tetangco said.

Guinigundo also told reporters the projected impact of tax reform on inflation is lower than 1 percentage point for 2018 and 2019, so even if it is added on inflation, the growth of consumer prices will still be within target for both 2018 and 2019. “ T he long-r u n ef fec t s on

productivity will improve overall supply and further dampen inflation,” Tetangco said.

The weaker peso, as seen in recent days due to the market’s sentiment of another potential rate hike this year from the Federal Reserve (the Fed) favoring the US dollar, is not expected to derail the inflation path for the year.

Guinigundo said that, while the peso has shown recent weakness, the exchange rate passthrough—or its ability to affect local inflation— has diminished over the years.

“The peso actually depreciated star ting on Wednesday, hitting 50 to a dollar on account of pronouncements of some Fed officials that even if inf lation is still off-target, the fact that labor market conditions are becoming tighter, that would in effect be transmitted in terms of higher inf lation,” he said.

“Because of that, market thought that is a definitive clue that they will continue tightening monetary policy in the US, which means one more time before end of year, and

two to three times in 2018. That’s one of the major reasons the dollar became strong relative to the peso,” Guinigundo added.

Data from the PDS Group showed the peso sank further to the 50 to a dollar territory on Thursday, hitting P50.345 to a dollar. The previous day’s trading value was at P50.29 to a dollar.

The traded volume was also higher during the day at $802.4 million, from the previous day’s $727.25 million.

Other considerations for the

UNWTO cites Ongpin resort’s sustainable-tourism program Continued from A12

UNWTO’s International Year of Sustainable Development this year, with Alphaland as a “proud partner...to pursue the common vision of a more sustainable world”.

Sustainable tourism, as per the UNWTO, is “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.”

At the news conference, Alphaland COO Michael M. Asperin cited the resort club airport’s 1.5-kilometer runway, which doubles as a rainwater catchment. It is constructed at a certain angle that will enable falling rainwater

to wash off into water reservoirs and ponds. “We are able to collect 200 million liters of rainwater, that can sustain the island six to eight months even if no rain comes,” he stressed.

He added that Balesin also grows much of its own food, like vegetables and fruits, such as dragon fruit, grapes “most of which are put in our guest rooms”. The resort club is, likewise, into agribusiness and aquaculture, raising sea bass and mud crabs, and growing herbs, vegetables and ducks. These projects, he said, could be replicated by other barangays in Quezon.

“Our goal is to empower Polillo, and replicating it in other areas in Quezon,” Asperin stressed. Polillo is a third- class municipality in Quezon and covers Balesin Island.

In a project brief, Alphaland said the Balesin Sustainable Development Program “is a pillar project [of the company] that aims to maximize the rich natural resources of the island and promote tourism by means of sustainability. It has successfully and progressively taken steps into becoming a self-sustaining tourist attraction, a rare sight to behold in the Philippines, without compromising its prestige and exclusivity.”

In her speech before unveiling the marker at Balesin’s clubhouse, Teo expressed the DOT’s “sincerest gratitude to Alphaland Corp. for its invaluable contribution to our efforts to promote sustainable tourism. This program...is a testament to the growing consciousness among the members of the private

sector to give prime importance to the protection of our environment and rhe empowerment of local communities while we conduct business.

“Projects such as this humanize the tourism industry, or in other words, bring back the ‘people factor’in the equation of tourism development to ensure that guests and host communities learn and benefit from each other’s interaction, thus, enriching the whole tourism experience,” she emphasized.

She challenged the business sector to scale up its efforts to “provide more decent jobs, introduce sustainable practices and technologies, and promote intercultural understanding through corporate social responsibility”.

She expressed hope that with the implementation of Balesin’s sustainable-tourism program, “more companies would be inspired to take up this challenge”.

Other UNWTO officials touring Balesin are Juan Pablo Nieto, vice minister for tourism of Guatemala; Ambassador Dho YoungShim, chair man of the UNWTO’s Sustainable Tourism for Eliminating Poverty Foundation; Mohamed Abdu Zaid Mustafa Mohamed, tourism minister of Sudan; Walter Mzembi, tourism minister of Zimbabwe; Igde Pitana, deputy tourism minister of Indonesia; Xu Jing, UNWTO director for Asia Pacific and his spouse, Huijun Mo; Carlos Vogeler, UNWTO executive director; and Mario Hardy, CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association.

decision to maintain monetarypolicy settings were ample liquidity conditions and the still uncertain global economic outlook.

T hursd ay’s meeting is t he Central Bank’s fourth monetarypolicy meeting for the year. It is also the last meeting of the Monetary Board with Tetangco as its chairman as he is scheduled to step down in July this year. The BSP will be having its next monetarypolicy meeting on August 4, under the leadership of incoming BSP Governor Nestor M. Espenilla Jr.

Tetangco. . .

Continued from A1

His other accomplishments include successfully pushing for a law that eased rules on foreign ownership of banks, boosting their capital and adopting stricter risk management.

The last time annual inflation exceeded the target was in 2008, as oil prices surged. Bangko Sentral met the goal in the succeeding years until 2015 and 2016 when price gains were so muted that inflation fell below the target.

The inflation goal is determined by the Central Bank and may vary for each year. From 2017 to 2020, the target range is 2 percent to 4 percent.

Tetangco has kept rates steady since 2014, as the economy expanded more than 6 percent, among the fastest in the world. In contrast, others in the region, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, have loosened monetary policies.

While economists predict the Philippines will be among the first to increase rates in the region this year, Tetangco’s successor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. said in May the bank isn’t in a race to raise rates. Inflation is expected to ease after peaking in the third quarter and remain in the target range in 2017, the deputy governor said.

“A rate hike will likely be the first policy move under the new Central Bank governor,” said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist at DBS Holdings Ltd. in Singapore, who predicts it may come as early as August. “The upward trend in inflation, particularly core inflation, persists.”

More time

The economy faces risks, including a weaker peso, as the US tightens policy.

The currency has lost almost 8 percent in the past 12 months to become Asia’s worst performer. The Central Bank also predicts the nation will post its first current-account deficit in 15 years in 2017.

Tetangco, who retires on July 3, said he plans to visit his daughter in the US and travel to places, including Iceland to see the Northern Lights.

“I’m looking forward to that time,” the nation’s longest-serving governor, who had a heart bypass operation in 2010, said in an interview in April. “I can wake up late, spend more time with my wife and children.”

Bloomberg News

Widodo. . .

Continued from A1

Cagayan de Oro City that he would call Widodo to inquire about Indonesian nationals reportedly fighting on the side of the Maute Group.

Sounding unimpressed, Duterte said he has “many questions” for Widodo. Malacañang has yet to disclose what are these questions the Chief Executive asked his Indonesian counterpart.

Security forces engaged in the conflict in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, were able to slay foreign fighters on the side of the Islamist militants, some identified to be Malaysians and Indonesians. Defense authorities speculate that foreign fighters might have joined the ranks of the Maute Group through the backdoor channels in the Sulu and Celebes Seas.

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Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Friday, June 23, 2017 A3

BI on the lookout for foreign terrorists at airports

By Recto L. Mercene

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@rectomercene

HE Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Thursday ordered the heightened nationwide personal screening of all incoming and departing airline passengers following a report that some suspected foreign terrorist are on the way to join the Maute Group that is still battling government forces in Marawi City.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime H. Morente, said he ordered immigration personnel at the airports to “double screen” all passengers coming from countries with known jihadist activities who might enter the country to join local bandits in Mindanao.

Morente also ordered the Port Operation Division (POD) chief, Marc Red Mariñas, to assign agents who are experts in profiling, agents who are experts on border control and those from the intelligence unit to be on the lookout for the possible entry of foreign terrorist.

Morente said, “It is is not an easy task, but we have to do it.”

The National Police and the military recently sought stricter implementation of immigration rules following reports that some terrorists have entered the country through the airports.

Brig. Gen. Restituto F. Padilla, Armed Forces spokesman, said in a news conference that it is important to strengthen immigration procedures because of reports that some terrorists have obtained Philippine-stamped passports and flew into the country.

“Kailangang patibayin o palakasin natin ang ating procedures sa immigration. Ito ang unang line of defense natin eh,” Padilla said.

In May immigration counters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) terminals experienced long lines of passengers because there were only a few immigration officers available to process documents.

Immigration supervisors and agents from other airport units were ordered to come to the Naia and function as immigration officers.

Padilla added that the Human Security Act, or the Republic Act (RA) 9372, should also be reviewed.

COA suspends P1-billion DND purchase of tactical equipment

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HE government’s award of a P1-billion contract to a foreign supplier of night-fighting gadgets was held in abeyance after the Commission on Audit (COA) intervened to ensure that the transaction is beyond reproach.

The commission has reportedly served notice to the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Turkey-based Aselsan Elektronik Sanayi Ve Ticaret that the projected purchase of the tactical devices was being suspended to give way for the submission of multiple documents meant to firm up the integrity of the bidding process.

The contract involved the supply of some 4,500 units of night-vision monoculars (NVMs), an equal number of infrared aiming devices and 500 pieces of laser zeroing gadgets worth P1.116 billion.

These equipment are earmarked for use by soldiers deployed to the battlefront.

The bidding was conducted in 2016 by the DND in line with the continuing modernization of the Armed Forces.

A controversy, however, hounded the bidding exercise, as some of the prospective suppliers complained about alleged lack of level playing field. The US-based bidders charged that they were virtually excluded due to the 0.85-millimeter rule on the image-intensifier tubes (IITs), a key component of the NVMs. The American suppliers averred that a under US trade law, only IITs with a minimum halo diameter of 0.85 mm could be exported.

But the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) that conducted the bidding for the night-fighting system stood pat on its rule that only IITs with an exact 0.85mm halo diameter were acceptable.

According to the American IIT makers, mass production of IITs to an exact halo measurement with zero margin of error is next to impossible.

The BAC ruled in favor of Aselsan for having offered the least price.

But serious questions were raised over the BAC’s decision, as Aselsan presented IITs made by the American company Harris Corp. as a component of their NVMs, prompting the COA to step in and suspend the award of the contract.

The auditors also sought the submission of more documents to ensure the integrity of the transaction.

Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

“Kaya nga noong nakaraang linggo iminungkahi natin na kinakailangan siguro tignan nang mabuti ang Human Security Act para mas maging matibay. Ang mga puwedeng gawin para harangin ang pagpasok ng ganitong klaseng indibidwal [Last week we suggested that we should review the Human Security Act to strengthen the screening of these unwanted individuals],” he said.

Passed into law in 2007, RA 9372 deals with terrorism and is meant to “protect life, liberty and property

from acts of terrorism, to condemn terrorism as inimical and dangerous to the national security of the country and to the welfare of the people, and to make terrorism a crime against the Filipino people, against humanity and against the law of nations”.

A few days after President Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao, the government said foreign terrorists were killed in a clash between government troops and Islamic State-inspired terror groups.

Gen. Eduardo M. Año, Armed Forces chief of staff, confirmed that three Malaysians, an Indonesian and possibly Arab extremists have been killed in Marawi City as the military made advances in containing the siege in the city. Morente also said all incoming passengers who have derogatory records with the bureau will be automatically deported.

It was reported that some foreigners who helped the Maute Group in Mindanao came from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Chechnya and Morocco.

Economy

A4 Friday, June 23, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

Plaza eyeing 200% to 300% hike in new Peza investments in 2017

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he Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) sees investments in Peza-registered enterprises to double or even more than triple in 2017.

This, after new investments rose 51 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017.

“We’re expecting 200 percent to 300 percent new investments for the year because we already grew 51 percent in the first quarter alone,” Peza Director General Charito B. Plaza told journalists at the sidelines of the three-day 14th Philippine Semiconductor and Electronics Convention and Exhibition (PSECE) that started on Wednesday at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

In the first three months of the year, Peza registered P7.640 billion worth of approved semiconductor

₧7.640B

The total value of approved semiconductor and electronics investments in the first three months of the year, up by 85.19 percent from year-ago’s P4.125 billion and electronics investments, up by 85.19 percent from year-ago’s P4.125 billion she said.

Plaza said semiconductor and

electronics exports in Peza in the first quarter of the year rose 11.50 percent, from $5.109 billion in the first three months of 2016 to $5.697 billion.

During the same period, Peza’s direct employment for the electronics and semiconductor industry went up 2.4 percent, from 333,849 last year to 340,662 in end-March this year.

Plaza noted that of the total 3,985 operating enterprises in Peza as of March this year, 469, or 11.8 percent, are electronics and semiconductor enterprises.

She is optimistic on the full-year performance because of the opening of new economic zones and inflows of new investments.

“Those foreign investors that we had an LOI [letter of intent] in the Middle East, in the US and in Japan, one-by-one or by group, they are now coming over,” she said.

The Peza chief added investors from these countries have started to check out the various economic

zones in the Philippines and have started to register their businesses with Peza.

She said even investors from Qatar remain bullish on investing in the Philippines. “The Middle East crisis did not affect investors’ interest [in the Philippines],” Plaza said.

Peza has conducted an inventory of all public lands and islands “because we want these idle lands to become economic zones,” she said.

“So we are encouraging, inspiring [and] motivating all the private landowners and the government agencies [and] the LGUs [local government units] that they come up with their own economic zone that we will help to develop and market to the whole world,” she added.

According to the Peza web site, the agency currently oversees 73 manufacturing economic zones, 243 information-technology parks/ centers, 21 agro-industrial economic zones 19 tourism economic zones and two medical tourism parks/centers. PNA

Group work

A group of women in Batangas weaves strands of discarded coconut husks into a more useful coconet mat using the modern decorticated coconut husk-processing equipment from the Department of Science and Technology. The finished woven product is primarily used for soil-erosion control. PNA/John Maico M. Hernandez

PHL, Russian firms ink nuke technology cooperation pact

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ilipino listed firm A Brown Co. Inc. (ABCI) and Russia’s Rusatom International Network (RAIN) had forged a partnership deal to develop cooperation in nuclear technology.

RAIN’s web site said a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by RAIN President Alexander Merten and ABCI President Roel Castro in Moscow on Tuesday during the international forum ATOMEXPO2017.

ABCI and RAIN plan to develop economic, scientific and technical cooperation in the field of “peaceful use” of atomic energy.

The private institutions aim to jointly explore application of radiation technologies in industry, medicine and agriculture.

The partnership also targets to raise awareness in the Philippines about the use of nuclear technologies.

“The memorandum signed by our companies is one of the

first steps in implementation of the agreements between our countries reached during the meeting between Vladimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation, and Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, on May 25, 2017,” Merten said.

“The document opens up great prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation in the development of innovative technologies in the nuclear field,” he added.

The Department of Science and Technology and the State Atomic Energy Corp., or Rosatom, signed during the official visit of the Philippine delegation in Moscow last month a cooperation agreement on the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

RAIN is under the governance of Rosatom.

RAIN has 11 regional centers.

The company seeks opportunities to expand business by promoting Russian nuclear products and services globally. PNA

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Lawmaker urges LGUs to avail of P5.9-B ECCD fund mechanism

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

0-23 months old

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The age of targeted beneficiaries of ECCD

@joveemarie

vice chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations on Thursday urged local government units (LGUs) to maximize the P5.9-billion Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) intervention package.

Nacionalista Party Rep. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte Jr. of Camarines Sur said LGUs should expand their respective health, nutrition and water-sanitation programs supportive of infant care and development in order to better protect babies from deadly diseases through the ECCD. Chosen as recipients of the P5.9billion, three-year ECCD intervention package implemented starting last year were Camarines Sur, Davao del Sur, Pangasinan, Quezon Province, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Leyte, Zamboanga del Sur and Sulu.

The program’s objective is to reduce mortality and morbidity rates among children 0 to 23 months old, reduce the prevalence of stunting and wasting among of the same age bracket, and increase chances of children meeting developmental milestones.

According to Villafuerte, LGUs should take their cue from the Quezon City government, which has been cited by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) just recently as a model for its integrated First 1,000 Days Program, which aims to put in place measures to ensure quality care for infants from conception up to the child’s second birthday.

“The first 1,000 days in the life of a child, which includes its 270 days inside the mother’s womb up to the time he or she is 2 years old, is crucial in reducing mortality and malnutrition rates among Filipino children. It is, thus, imperative for LGUs to come up with their respective infant-care programs,” said Villafuerte, also vice chairman of the House Committee on Local Government.

T he l aw ma ker added poor communities in his province were fortunate enough to be among the recipients of the ECCD Intervention Package from the national government that provides integrated services on health, nutrition, early education and social services on the first 1,000 days of life.

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a i wa n i s cou r t i ng Fi l ipi no bu si ness t rave lers to con sider t he cou nt r y a s a n oversea s dest i n at ion for meet i ngs, i ncent ive t rave l , con ferences a nd e x h ibit ion s ( M IC E).

This is the aim of the Bureau of Foreign Trade in Taiwan, which recently held the Meet Taiwan networking meeting in Manila.

Taiwanese MICE industry players, such as travel agencies, hotels and conference/ exhibition companies, met with local counterparts on Tuesday.

Lily Super, executive director of Meet Taiwan, estimates 170,000 Filipino tourists visited the Republic of China/Taiwan last year. This is a significant growth from 2015’s 140,000 visitors.

With the growing tourist numbers, Super hopes to

entice business tourists, corporate buyers and travel trade executives.

Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade has focused on its Southbound Policy, targeting Asian countries, like Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, India, and Indonesia, that can serve as alternative tourism sources to China. “ We want to build closer relations w ith other countr ies due to these policies,” added Rosa Liu, manager for Convention Section III at the Taiwan Exter na l Trade Development Council.

Mainland China currently takes up the lion’s share of Taiwan’s inbound tourists, but numbers have stagnated as of late, Super said, thus the need to look at other markets.

Catherine N. Pillas

Approval

Meanwhile, Villafuerte added the approval of House Bill 1340, or the First 1,000 Days Act, will help institutionalize the program.

Citing data from the latest National Nutrition Survey, he said the “overall malnutrition or stunting rate for Filipino children aged zero to 2 was at its worst in the last 10 years at 26.2 percent in 2015—an indication that growth was not inclusive and that inequality between the rich and the poor continued to widen”.

Villafuerte said the maternaland child-care program covered

by HB 1340 includes nutritional counseling, immunization and vitamin supplementation for the mother; intensified communitybased food-production projects to ensure the adequate supply of nutritious foods; exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and complementary feeding.

The program also includes psychosocial services for pregnant and lactating mothers; complete immunization services for children; treating malnourished children with special and therapeutic food; and general family counseling, including child and family development.

Under the bill, the Department of Health and its National Nutrition Council are tasked to develop the barangay-based maternal- and child-care program in coordination with the departments of the Interior and Local Government and of Social Welfare and Development, and the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology.

In the Senate, Sen. Grace PoeLlamanzares has filed a similar bill calling for the establishment of a maternal- and child-care program in every barangay that would also cover the first 1,000 days of a baby’s life.

E-billing rules allow online platform link between DUs, power consumers

By Lenie Lectura

Taiwan steps up drive to lure more Filipino MICE tourists

To institutionalize the program down to the barangay level, Villafuerte said the government should implement a maternal- and child-care program in every village covering the first 1,000 days of an infant’s development.

@llectura

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he Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has promulgated early this month the rules on electronic billing (e-billing) and communications for electricity consumers.

The said rules are meant to offer an alternative means for distribution utilities (DUs) to dispatch bills and other communications to consumers through online platforms.

The e-Billing Rules provide that all customers may opt to receive electronic bills and/or other electronic communication in lieu of paper-based bills and communications from their concerned DUs. Existing customers can migrate to receiving electronic bills and other communications upon notice from the DU and subject to the ERC and the concerned DU’s rules and regulations on electronic billing and communications. New customers, on the other hand, may exercise this option at the time of the approval of the application for electric service.

“The e-Billing Rules [were]

developed to utilize advance technologies, in order to streamline and enhance the issuance and delivery of electricity bills and other communications to consumers,” ERC Officer In Charge Alfredo J. Non said.

The e-billing rules shall apply to all DUs within their respective franchise areas and their customers. It will cover all communications and bills issued by the DU in relation to an approved contract for electric service of a customer.

Under the rules, DUs are required to draft their own procedure on e-billing; provide options for consumers on how to receive e-bills; and conduct an annual revalidation of e-mails of actual end-users.

On the part of the customers, if they choose to receive their bills electronically, they have to provide an e-mail address, where the documents will be forwarded and conscientiously check for any and all receipts of electronic bills and/or other electronic communications.

Consumers must also inform the DU if they are new occupants of a property to allow the latter to update their e-billing address.

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Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Friday, June 23, 2017

A5

Farmers owe NIA ₧12.31B in irrigation fees

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

he National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said it could not collect the P12.31 billion in irrigation service fees (ISFs) from farmers who have refused to pay their debts after the government rolled out its free-irrigation program.

NIA Administrator Ricardo R. Visayas said he has sought the help of the Office of the Solicitor General to collect the amount.

The figure was based on the NIA’s records as of December 31, 2016.

“Although there’s no law yet that allows the provision of free irrigation, the NIA has stopped collecting ISFs since January 1 because there is already an order from President Duterte,” Visaya told reporters in a news briefing on Wednesday.

“But the ISFs owed by farmers should still be collected. This is challenging for us because farmers don’t want to pay their debts anymore,” he said, when asked about the hurdles in implementing the free-irrigation service this year.

The NIA said it would seek an increase in the subsidy for the free-irrigation program so it could expand its coverage.

“The NIA wants the amount to increase so we can also support the communal irrigation [CI] systems, or those that serve areas

with less than 1,000 hectares,” Visayas said.

The government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC) attached to the Office of the President has proposed a budget of P45.8 billion for 2018, which is 19.36 percent higher than its budget of P38.37 billion for this year.

Visaya added the P2 billion allocated to the government’s free-irrigation service next year is already included in the P45.8billion budget being sought by the NIA from the Department of Budget and Management.

Under Republic Act (RA) 360, or the NIA charter, the GOCC is mandated to collect ISFs from farmers as payment for irrigation water it delivered. The GOCC uses the money for the operation and maintenance of irrigation systems.

To fully implement the free irrigation scheme, RA 360 must be amended to lift the NI A’s mandate.

In May House Bill (HB) 5670, or the Free Irrigation Services

Farm-gate price of palay up 4.56% –PSA report

Cagayan Economic Zone Authority aids local pineapple farmers

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he average farm gate price of palay or ummilled rice as of the second week of June rose by 4.56 percent to P19.29 per kilogram, from P18.45 per kg recorded a year ago, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In its report, titled “Updates on Palay, Rice and Corn Prices”, the PSA also said the wholesale price of well-milled rice rose slightly to P38.76 per kg on an annual basis. On a weekly basis, the figure is slightly lower than the P38.78 per kg posted in the first week of June.

“The average retail price of wellmilled rice during the week was registered at P41.80 per kg. This was higher by 0.06 percent from a week ago level of P41.78 per kg, and by 0.74 percent from previous year’s quotation of P41.49per kg,” the report read.

As for regular milled rice, the PSA said the average wholesale price went up to P34.97 per kg on an annual basis. On a weekly basis, the figure is lower than the P35.08 per kg recorded in the in the first week of June.

“During the period in review, the average retail price of regular milled rice at P37.72 per kg registered price increments from a week ago level by 0.10 percent and from previous year’s quotation by 1.91 percent,” the report read.

The PSA said the average farm gate price of yellow corn at P11.32 per kg was lower than the previous week’s level of P11.43 per kg. Compared to a year ago the quotation of P13.03 per kg was also cheaper by 13.16 percent.

“Similarly, the average farm gate price of white corn grain at P13.61 per kg declined by 0.65 percent from a week ago level and by 8.34 percent from previous year’s price of P14.85 per kg,” the report read.

Palay and corn are the country’s staple crops. Unmilled rice output alone accounts for around 15 percent of the Philippine farm production.

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UGUEGARAO, Cagayan—To help develop the pineapple industry in the coastal town of Santa Ana, the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) has extended its assistance to dedicated pineapple farmers there.

Joyce Marie Jayme-Calimag, Ceza public relations chief, said the free-port authority assisted the farmers in buying kitchen utensils and raw materials for developing pineapple products and in building a temporary display and production area.

“We also obtained a sponsorship from the Department of Science and Technology for the purchase of processing equipment, such as drier and processor, among others, which the cooperative has just obtained,” Calimag said.

In 2013 the pineapple farmers organized themselves as a cooperative in partnership with Ceza. On March 22 that year, the Santa Ana Pineapple Farmer Growers Producer Cooperative was registered with the Cooperative Development Authority.

“We have recognized the potential of the [co-op’s] product that could also be traded in nearby towns and, perhaps, in other provinces nationwide,” Calimag noted.

She noted the cooperative started only with volunteers and a total of 32 members in 2013. Now it has 76 local farmer-members.

“Since then, the cooperative’s pineapple production has become a lucrative enterprise for the local community,” Calimag said.

The cooperative is working on a contract with a big local canning company and is eyeing to become a pineapple supplier to a big supermarket.

“Once the agreements push through, Santa Ana can become a renowned pineapple supplier of the country, comparable to Bukidnon, Davao and South Cotabato,” Calimag added.

The cooperative is working on maximizing pineapple production to make sure it is able to sustain its

Members of Davao del Sur’s Albatana Blucon Malabis, APRAA’s Outstanding Irrigators Association, regularly check an irrigation canal to ensure adequate water supply flows to their rice fields. FILE PHOTO

Act, was approved on its third and final reading. Apart from the provision of free irrigation, the measure also indicated that the government would no longer call all back accounts or unpaid ISFs

supply to clients in the long term. It is now tilling more than 46 hectares along Barangay Zinungan and in other villages in the town exclusively dedicated to pineapple production.

“Currently, the majority of the farmers still use the traditional smooth cayenne pineapple variety, which is popular in Spain, Costa Rica, Brazil and other pineappleproducing countries,” Calimag said.

She said prior to the organization of the cooperative, a number of local farmers have already produced pineapples for small-scale consumption and local trading.

“We have then identified pineapple crop as a promising product that could give income and livelihood opportunities to the local farmers in Cagayan Freeport,” Calimag said.

The Department of Science and Technology, Cagayan State University-Gonzaga Campus and the Department of Trade and Industry also support the cooperative.

With Ceza, they have assisted the cooperative in institutionalization, technical assistance, skills enhancement, product development and marketing.

Calimag said the cooperative’s partners have trained cooperative members on processing their pineapple into jam, dried pineapple, ketchup, chutney and oat bars. In 2016 the group was also trained in packaging and labeling their products.

“In their training, we have also included wine and vinegar on the list of its processed products,” Calimag said.

Meanwhile, Ceza is looking at establishing an annual pineapple festival in Santa Ana town, with pineapple now becoming a major food crop in the Cagayan Freeport.

Ceza was created under Republic Act 7922, or Cagayan Special Economic Zone Act of 1995, as a government-owned and -controlled corporation by then-President Fidel V. Ramos to manage and supervise the development of the 54,118-hectare Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport, which included the town of Santa Ana.

in national irrigation systems.

Visaya also disclosed that the Balog-Balog Dam in Tarlac, one of the NIA’s biggest and most expensive irrigation projects to date, could be operational by 2020.

“It took six presidents [to start the construction of this project]; it started in [the] 1980s. The NIA has completed the first phase and we have begun work on the second phase,” he said.

Phase 2 of the Balog-Balog Multipurpose Dam Project will include the construction of a new irrigation system that will cover 21,935 hectares. With a report from Christine B. Francisco and Rikka D. Daquipil

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Saudi’s new crown prince will have major effect in energy

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s the new heir apparent to the throne of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Salman will play an even more influential role in world oil markets at a time when big crude-producing nations are struggling to prop up prices.

Salman, who was named crown prince on Wednesday, has upended the traditional Saudi energy model in the nearly two-and-ahalf years since his father ascended the throne. Whereas the royal family had previously been content to leave the running of the oil industry to seasoned technocrats, the prince has sought to exert influence over the country’s huge energy resources.

With the kingdom’s economy suf fer ing f rom wea kened oi l markets, Saudi Arabia, with the prince’s backing, has been a leading force behind the effort by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to bolster prices by limiting production.

It is a complicated task with prices continuing to fall, as US shale-oil producers, and Libya, add to the glut of supplies.

Domest ic a l ly, Sa l m a n h a s sought to consolidate control over the energ y sector. He has brought in Wall Street bankers to organize an initial public offering (IPO) of the national oil company, Saudi Aramco, which is likely to value the enter prise at hundreds of billions of dollars. And he has replaced the country’s longtime oil minister, replacing him with a more pliant hand who has become crucial to fulfilling the prince’s plans.

Saudi Arabia to do whatever it takes to keep the prices above” $50 a barrel, FGE, an energy consultancy, wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday. “If the IPO is to go ahead, prices cannot go below” $50 a barrel, it added.

Opec’s Debate

$45 The price of oil per barrel, which continued their slide after the news of Mohammed bin Salman’s promotion as crown prince

Supporters say the 31-year-old prince will bring youthful energy and a fresh eye to the kingdom’s most valuable export, using it to help modernize and diversify the economy. Detractors, however, charge that he is inexperienced and prone to meddling, undermining experienced officials and making sudden public pronouncements. “ The problem is he is unpredictable, and it is not clear who he is relying on for advice,” said Paul Stevens, a Middle East energy analyst at Chatham House, a research organization based in London. Here’s how Salman’s rise may affect oil prices, global energy production and the sale of shares in Saudi Aramco:

Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has appointed his 31-year-old son Mohammed bin Salman as crown prince, removing the country’s counterterrorism czar and a figure well-known to Washington from the royal line of succession. In a series of royal decrees issued on June 21, and carried on the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the monarch stripped Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who was first in line to the throne, from his title as crown prince and from his post as the country’s powerful interior minister overseeing security. AP/Hassan Ammar

Prospect of falling prices

Oil prices are around $45 a barrel, continued their slide after the news of Salman’s promotion. That is down 20 percent since mid-April, and well-off the levels in 2014 above $100 a barrel.

The main reason for the decline in prices, though, is that Opec’s much-trumpeted production cuts seem to be having little impact on the persistent glut of oil for sale.

The higher prices resulting from Opec cuts have prompted increased production from shale oil producers in the US and by other rivals, undercutting the cartel ’s actions.

Flip-flopping Saudi energy prices

Salman appears to have gone back and forth on oil strategy.

He initially declared that prices did not matter. But when they fell to uncomfortable levels early last year, he backed production cuts by Opec and other producers, like Russia, as a way to prop up prices. The Saudis and Opec may now be headed for another crunch, and there do not seem to be any good options. Analysts say the most likely path is for the Saudis to persist with, or even deepen, production cuts to bolster prices and improve the environment for the Saudi Aramco IPO. “We should be prepared for

The question is how long the Saudis can stick with a policy of reduced production if it does not result in higher prices.

In 2014 Saudi Arabia’s former oil minister Ali al-Naimi concluded that there was little point in Opec restraining production, because any cuts would just be replaced by producers of shale oil. When prices fell below $30 a barrel early last year, Naimi and other officials began pursuing temporary production restraints to prop up prices.

So far, those cuts are credited with bolstering prices and supporting the revenues of producer countries. But falling prices could push Salman to, once, again consider whether output constraints serve Saudi interests.

An IPO dependent on oil prices

Salman’s elevation gives him added authority to push ahead with his pet project, overriding the objections of traditionalists, who argue that only the state should own natural resources, like oil. The Saudi Aramco offering is a big part of the prince’s overall blueprint for overhauling the economy and reducing its dependence on oil, a plan known as Vision 2030.

Oil prices, though, may play a major role in the success of his ambitious undertaking: Buoyant prices would help raise more money through the IPO, and help attract investment to Saudi Arabia.

New York Times News Service

US should lift sanctions on Sudan, group says

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he US should permanently lift economic and trade sanctions on Sudan to boost Washington’s leverage to push for political reforms, even if the African country has only made limited progress in improving aid access and ceasing hostilities against rebels, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said.

Under an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in January, the temporary easing of some sanctions will become permanent if Sudan’s government sustains progress in key areas, including helping the US in the fight against terror and stopping internal conflict. President Donald J. Trump’s administration is due to decide on the next step by July 12.

“To lift sanctions would reward a regime that must do much more to improve governance and end its wars; not to do so could lead to a reversal of advances made and discourage further cooperation,” the Brussels-based ICG said. “Lifting sanctions is the better of two imperfect options, particularly if coupled with clear signals that far more is needed for the government to escape” the restrictions that remain.

The US imposed sanctions on Sudan in 1997, four years after listing the country ruled by President Umar al-Bashir as a state sponsor of terrorism. Permanently lifting the sanctions could help revive the economy of the oil-producing nation, which lost three quarters of its crude reserves with South Sudan’s secession in 2011.

The US “should also make clear that it stands ready to impose new targeted financial sanctions should Khar toum renege on its commitments”, the ICG said in a briefing note on Thursday.

Sudan has been cooperating with the US on combating terror and sharing intelligence information, Sudan’s ambassador to the US, Maowia Osman Khalid, said by phone from Washington. The head of the country’s National Intelligence and Security Service, Mohammed Atta al-Mawla, visited Washington in March and met Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, he added. “That’s a clear testimony that cooperation between Sudan and the US is in top and high gear,” Khalid said. “When the sanctions are lifted on July 12, it will be like heaven.” Bloomberg News

Queen’s speech hints at May’s lean agenda

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ONDON—Before she lost her parliamentary majority in elections this month, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain harbored bold ambitions to reshape her country’s politics, promising to reach out to working-class voters who were left behind by globalization and struggling to get by.

But on Wednesday, May jettisoned much of her policy agenda, putting forward a slimmed down legislative program intended to minimize the risk of defeats in Parliament, while focusing on Britain’s departure from the European Union, a process known as Brexit.

Her authority shattered by the election debacle, May is fighting for survival. Despite days of negotiations to secure support for her minority government from 10 lawmakers from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland, there was still no agreement on Wednesday.

Having already postponed by two days the Queen’s Speech to Parliament, in which the monarch outlines the government’s coming legislation, May proceeded without an accord with the DUP, and in the knowledge that any contentious bill risks defeat.

Queen Elizabeth II’s role in presenting the agenda is a significant ceremonial duty. Buckingham Palace announced on Wednesday morning that the queen’s husband, Prince Philip, had been hospitalized on Tuesday night “as a precautionary measure, for treatment of an infection arising from a preexisting condition”.

Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, accompanied the queen to Parliament in place of Philip for a ceremony that was, by British standards, relatively light on pomp.

Because the June 8 snap election provided little time for preparation, the monarch arrived by car, not carriage, and wore a hat rather than a crown (though

the crown traveled in a separate vehicle to Parliament in accordance with protocol).

The queen’s choice of headgear became an unexpected talking point with a number of posts on Twitter claiming it bore striking similarities to the EU flag.

The speech she delivered, meanwhile, was noteworthy less for what it contained than for what it omitted or played down.

Those included moves to expand the number of grammar schools, which admit pupils after tests; several promises to remove some financial privileges for affluent elderly voters; a pledge to reopen Britain’s debate on fox hunting; and a push to consider a price cap on energy costs, which appeared to have been toned down.

Nor was there any mention of imminent plans to host President Donald J. Trump on a state visit. Though May’s office says that the invitation still stands, there have been reports that Trump favored postponing a trip to Britain, where his presence is very likely to prompt protests.

May promised to work “in the national interest” and with “humility and resolve”, but her trimmed policy agenda highlighted the extraordinary speed with which her fortunes have declined.

Not only has she been blamed by many in the Conservative Party for a disastrous election campaign she need not have fought, she was also widely judged to have mishandled the aftermath of a devastating and deadly fire at a London high rise last week.

May’s next crucial test will be winning a vote next week on the Queen’s Speech.

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, promised to use “every opportunity to vote down government policies that failed to win public support”.

“This is a government without a majority, without a mandate, without a serious

legislative program, led by a prime minister who has lost her political authority and is struggling to stitch together a deal to stay in office,” Corbyn told lawmakers.

While May’s medium-term position remains fragile, she is likely to secure some sort of support from the DUP. A party with strong Protestant roots, the DUP worries that without its help, May’s government could fall and one way or another, power could pass to the Labour Party and its left-wing leader, who has a history of close ties to Irish republicans.

It remained unclear whether the DUP would support the government on crucial confidence motions, or would enter a broader arrangement to guarantee the passage of other important bills, including those on finance.

Even if May prevailed and won approval for the Queen’s Speech, as expected, she would still struggle to pass every piece of contentious legislation, hence her decision to drop some measures that were once at the heart of her political thinking.

Though there were plans announced on Wednesday to review antiterrorism strategy and data-privacy laws, and to tackle domestic violence, May focused mainly on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, outlining eight bills intended to provide the legislative framework for the move.

That approach presents its own perils, however, because the general election failed to deliver an endorsement of the clean break with the bloc that she wanted—one that prioritizes control of immigration over economic interests.

Although the Labour Party accepted the outcome of the referendum on withdrawing from the EU, it wants to keep closer economic ties to the bloc and it could try to obstruct crucial parts of the government’s exitrelated plans.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II (left) and Prince Charles (right) walk through the Royal Gallery in the Houses of Parliament prior to the Queen making The Queen’s Speech during the State Opening of Parliament in London on Wednesday. Queen Elizabeth II goes to parliament, on Wednesday, to outline the government’s legislative program with far less pageantry than usual in a speech expected to be dominated by Britain’s plans for leaving the European Union. AP/Alastair Grant

Yet, if May softens her stance on withdrawing from the bloc to accommodate pro-Europeans worried about the British economy—including some members of her own Cabinet—she risks a rebellion from leading supporters of the withdrawal.

That would include possible successors, like Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, and David Davis, the Cabinet minister responsible for negotiating Britain’s exit from the EU.

How long May can survive is unclear.

George Osborne, the former chancellor of the Exchequer who was fired by May last year and is now a newspaper editor, has described her as a “dead woman walking”.

Few analysts believe that May will be allowed to lead the Conservatives into another election, but there seems little appetite for an immediate contest to replace her.

In recent decades, some weakened

governments in Britain have continued longer than expected, after prime ministers appeared to lose authority. That situation befell another Conservative leader, John Major, in 1992, after Britain crashed out of the EU’s exchange rate mechanism—yet, he survived until 1997.

When he finally did seek reelection, however, Major led his Conservative Party to a landslide defeat.

New York Times News Service

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Thailand construction Bloomberg

rolls out $2-B Thailand: $44-B project can link Nigeria Brazil-like welfare plan to Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative N

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hailand said a $44-billion plan to add infrastructure and upgrade industry on its eastern seaboard can link up with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, as part of a push to encourage economic growth.

The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project could be beneficial for China and the rest of Southeast Asia, apart from bolstering Thailand’s outlook, Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Bangkok.

“It’s very natural, logical and mutually beneficial for the EEC to link up with ‘One Belt, One Road’, and other regional initiatives, like the RCEP [Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership] or even TPP [TransPacific Partnership], if that goes ahead,” Uttama added.

Thailand’s economy has been subdued since the military seized power in 2014, and the government is seeking to speed up infrastructure projects to boost the outlook.

The eastern seaboard plan targets 1.5 trillion baht ($44 billion) of investment from 2017 to 2021

$123B The budget for the construction of roads, railways, ports and pipelines linking more than 60 countries based on the plans outlines by Chinese President Xi Jinping for airport expansion, new railways and cities, port development and spurring modern industry.

Uttama expects about 80 percent of funding from the private sector and the rest from government.

“We are pretty much on track,” he said. “So far this year, it has been

a year of preparation for the EEC. We have been putting in place the overall plans. Next year we are expecting to see actual investments taking place.”

The EEC Act, which institutionalizes the project and gives it a legal basis, will go before the National Assembly soon, Uttama added. Southeast Asia’s secondlargest economy also realizes it needs to upgrade workforce skills to support the EEC, he said.

Belt, road

The Belt and Road Initiative is Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature plan to open trade routes and build infrastructure from Asia to Europe to Africa.

Last month Xi outlined plans to direct as much as 840 billion yuan ($123 billion) to construct roads, railways, ports and pipelines in more than 60 countries.

“Today, many countries can’t afford to just think about themselves in terms of sustainable development,” Uttama said. “We need to work together and think about the region as a whole.”

T hailand has been relying on exports and tourism to drive its economy, as industrial overcapacity crimps private investment. Growth lags behind neighbors, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, with a stronger baht

adding to risks by threatening to erode competitiveness.

China ties

Thailand has recently sought closer relations with China, such as in defense procurement and infrastructure development. Just last week Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha used his absolute power to hasten a delayed $5.2-billion high-speed rail joint venture with China. He later rejected criticism that he overrode due process and said the order was in the nation’s best interests.

The EEC plan covers Rayong, Chachoengsao and Chonburi provinces. Under the project, Thailand will aim to take on Singapore’s dominance in aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul as part of a $5.7-billion upgrade of U-Tapao International Airport.

The increased terminal capacity would also ease the strain of coping with an annual influx of more than 30 million tourists.

Apart from the airport, the EEC project calls for $4.5-billion investment in high-speed rail, $11.5 billion for new cities and $14 billion for industry. Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn ratified a military-backed constitution in April, paving the way for a return to some sort of democracy in 2018.

Bloomberg News

With health law in flux, insurers scramble to meet filing deadline

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s health insurers scrambled to decide whether to stay or go by Wednesday’s deadline to file plans for the federal marketplace, Anthem, one of the Obamacare market’s major players, announced it would pull out of two more states, Wisconsin and Indiana, in 2018. The company, which offers for-profit Blue Cross plans in 14 states, had already said this month it would stop selling coverage in the marketplace next year in Ohio.

In making the announcement, Anthem said offering plans had “become increasingly difficult due to a shrinking and deteriorating individual market, as well as continual changes and uncer tainty in federal operations, rules and guidance”.

Even as Senate Republicans hurry to finish their plan to overhaul the law, insurers are racing to meet not just federal but also a series of state deadlines to submit rate requests.

While the Wednesday deadline does not represent a final commitment by any insurer, “it will be a good indicator of the health of these markets”, said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, whose home

state of Wisconsin is among those Anthem plans to exit, pointed to the decision as a reason why the Republicans need to pass their overhaul of the health-care legislation.

“This law has failed our state,” he said.

“Obamacare is clearly collapsing, and we have to step in before more families get hurt.”

Anthem’s exit underscores to date the rapidly changing dynamics of the market.

Other insurers have indicated they will stay— and a few are even expanding into more states. Oscar Health, the New York insurance start-up, said on Wednesday that it expected to offer policies in three additional states for 2018: Ohio, New Jersey and Tennessee.

The company, which covers about 105,000 people, also plans to expand in California and Texas while remaining in New York. Oscar had previously sold policies in New Jersey, but did not offer them there this year. Backed by venture capitalists—including Josh Kushner, one of the company’s founders and the brother of Jared Kushner, President Donald J. Trump’s son-in-law—Oscar has focused almost exclusively on selling insurance in the

market created by the Affordable Care Act. “We’re confident that when the dust settles, the market for health insurance will stabilize in time for 2018,” Mario Schlosser, the company’s CEO wrote in a blog post. “For all of the political noise, there are simply too many lives at stake for representatives in Washington, D.C., not to do what’s right for the people.”

Other insurers also appear to be gambling on the current market, despite the political turbulence. Molina Healthcare, another major player in the market that has expressed concerns about its stability, said it had filed initial proposals in all nine states where it has business, according to a company spokesman.

Medica, a small nonprofit insurer, said on Monday that it would offer plans statewide in Iowa, although it is seeking rate increases that average 43 percent. Its decision would cover the yawning gap left

by Aetna and the state Blue Cross plan, which left the market for next year, raising the possibility that no carrier would offer coverage to the bulk of the state’s residents.

Centene, another large insurer, announced its plans last week to offer coverage for the first time in Nevada, Missouri and Kansas.

But other insurers have emphasized they remain ambivalent about staying. Health Care Service Corp., which operates nonprofit Blue Cross plans, said it would file proposals in all five states where it offers coverage but could still decide to leave. The insurer covers more than 1 million people in the individual market. The overall market appears to be worsening as more insurers leave the market, said Dan Mendelson, president of Avalere, a consultant, who added “there is a lot of variation by local market”.

“There are some markets that are doing fine,” he said, while others, particularly rural ones, could still be left without an insurer willing to offer coverage.

Anthem’s departure from Wisconsin and Indiana, where the company is headquartered, does not seem to add to the dozens of so-called bare counties across the country where no insurer has yet said it will offer insurance in the state marketplace for that area. New York Times News Service

igeria is rolling out its first national social-welfare program modeled partly on Brazil’s Bolsa Familia in a bid to boost a weak economy and curb poverty by giving cash to its poorest citizens and ensuring their children go to school.

The government of Africa’s most-populous nation is investing 500 billion naira ($1.5 billion) in the initiative this year and is talking to the World Bank about a $500-million loan, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed said in an interview in the capital, Abuja.

L au nc he d l a s t D e c e m b e r, the program is initially targeting about 1 million households starting in eight of Nigeria’s 36 states. The government expects that reducing poverty will have a knock-on effect for the rest of the economy, she added.

“It increases money in the hands of people,” Ahmed said.

“It means they are contributing toward consumption, and an increase in consumption is desirable, because it now encourages producers to produce more and, as producers produce more, it means they are able to employ more people.”

As in Brazil, Nigeria’s plan requires cash-transfer beneficiaries to fulfill two conditions: keep their children in school and immunize them.

It a lso inc ludes prov id ing school meals, short-ter m job training for graduates, loans at below-market rates to 1.6 million potential entrepreneurs, grants for science and technology students and low-cost housing.

The state will use biometric systems to register beneficiaries, and will make transfers into bank accounts that are opened for families’ caregivers, Ahmed added.

President Muhammad Buhari’s administration seems committed to make it a success, said Esili Eigbe, the head of Nigerian equities at Exotix Capital.

“Other administrations tried to do this before, but not with the kind of determination of Buhari’s administration,” Eigbe added by phone from the commercial capital, Lagos. “The enormous political will and a strong partner in the World Bank shows their determination to do it.”

Economic strain

The program is still in its infancy compared to similar projects in countries, such as Brazil, which started Bolsa Familia in 2003 and will probably increase its

social-security budget to 83.3 billion reais ($25 billion) this year, according to the Planning and Budget Ministry.

South Africa, with a population about a third of Nigeria’s 180 million people, plans to spend about 180 billion rand ($13.8 billion) on social assistance.

Nigeria’s drive to set up a socialwelfare program comes at a time of economic strain, and analysts, such as Magnus Kpakol, director at Abuja-based consultancy Economic and Business Strategies, doubt whether the country can afford it now.

Tight money

“I am afraid that a day will come, they will strand these people,” said Kpakol, who a decade ago led a welfare pilot program featuring the nation’s first conditional cash transfers. “They will just raise their hands and surrender and say we don’t have the money.”

The decline in production and price of oil, Nigeria’s biggest export, crippled West Africa’s largest economy, which shrank 1.6 percent in 2016, the first full-year contraction since 1991. Dollar shortages pushed the inflation rate to the highest in more than a decade in January. The need for such a program is clearly stark.

More than 65 percent of Nigerians live on less than $2 a day, and as many as 12 million children are malnourished, according to the Budget and Planning Ministry.

The World Bank, which supports 30 sub-Saharan African countries that disburse money to fight extreme poverty, estimated in a May 2016 report that giving Nigeria’s poor households 60,000 naira annually would reduce poverty to 27.6 percent, from 33 percent within a year, if 80 percent of the money was spent on consumption.

Nigeria’s target is to reach 5 million cash-transfer beneficiary households in five years from the 27,000 currently receiving 5,000 naira a month. The World Bank credits Brazil ’s Bolsa Familia with lifting more than 28 million people out of poverty in a decade, increasing school enrollment and improving children’s health.

“The cash transfers are similar to Brazil’s in conditions and objectives, but it’s still early to tell how the results will compare,” Eigbe said. “The most important thing is making a whole lot of people employable by ensuring children get some education and are healthy.”

Bloomberg News

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IS destroys an ancient mosque in Mosul

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AGHDA D —A s t he bloody batt le to reta ke Mosu l from t he Isl a m ic St ate (IS) g rou nd on for mont hs, w it h losses in l ives and inf rastr ucture pi ling u p, s ol d ie r s a nd c i v i l i a n s kept in t heir minds an image of what v ictor y wou ld look

l i ke: capt u r ing t he h istor ic, and sy mbol ic, a l-Nur i Grand Mosque a nd its d ist inct ive lea ning m ina ret.

It was there, in the summer of 2014, that the IS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ascended a pulpit and declared a caliphate after his fighters took control of Mosul and swept through other

parts of northern Iraq and Syria.

It was the last time al-Baghdadi was seen in public.

On Wednesday night, with the terrorist group on the cusp of losing control of Mosul and with it its claim to a caliphate straddling the border of Iraq and Syria, IS fighters packed the building with explosives and took it down. The destruction of the mosque and minaret—which has dominated Mosul’s skyline for centuries and is pictured on Iraq’s 10,000-dinar bank note— is another blow to the city’s rich cultural heritage and its plethora of ancient sites that have been damaged or destroyed during three years of IS rule.

For residents of Mosul and those who care about Iraq’s history, the destruction was yet another painful loss, after so many years of the IS violently erasing a region’s history.

Before the IS took control of Mosul, the United Nations Educational, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization had begun an effort to protect and rehabilitate the minaret, known as Al Hadba, or the hunchback.

“You can find it on money notes, you can find it in

scrapbooks,” said R asha A l Aqeedi, who grew up in Mosul and is now a research fellow at the Al-Mesbar Studies and Research Center in Dubai, in t he Un ited A rab Em i rates.

“It’s everywhere. I don’t know how to put it into words. It’s just something people always identified with because it was always there.”

Ali al-Nashmi, a prominent Iraqi historian, said, referring to the terrorists: “These dogs, they are the worst of what God has created. I swear to God I cannot imagine Mosul without Al Hadba.”

The long campaign for control of Mosul was closing in on the part of the Old City where Al Hadba beckoned, thrusting toward the sky. Capturing the mosque, built by Nur al-Din Mahmoud Zangi, a ruler who in the 12th century unified Arab forces against crusaders from Europe, would have provided an important symbolic moment for the Iraqi security forces, who have taken heavy casualties in day after day of street battles and ambushes by the IS. “Imagine the Iraqi flag on this mosque, and everyone tak-

ing selfies,” Aqeedi said, envisioning what might have been.

Earlier on Wednesday evening, Iraqi officers had indicated that on Thursday they planned to begin an assault on the mosque. Shortly after the Iraqi military issued a statement announcing that IS had destroyed the mosque, the terrorist group used its news agency to claim that the mosque had actually been destroyed by an American air strike.

Col. Ryan Dillon, a US military spokesman in Baghdad, said the coalition had confirmed, through drone surveillance footage, the mosque had been destroyed. “We don’t know how,” said Dillon, who added that the coalition was investigating.

But shortly after, the US Central Command issued a statement bluntly accusing IS of destroying the mosque.

“As our Iraqi Security Force partners closed in on the al-Nuri mosque, ISIS [Islamic States in Iraq and Syria] destroyed one of Mosul and Iraq’s great treasures,” Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin, the US commander for the operation, said in the statement. “This is a crime against the people of Mosul and all of Iraq, and is an example of why this brutal organization must be annihilated.”

In denying the Iraqi forces a moment of victory—many had anticipated that recapturing the mosque would become an iconic visual image of the battle for Mosul—the IS sought to claim a propaganda victory for itself, by blaming the destruction on the coalition. Many Sunni Arabs in the Middle East, who have suffered under the IS, believe that the terrorist group is a tool of their enemies—Shiite Iran, the West or Israel. And the loss of such a famous mosque is likely to only inflame those conspiracy theories.

“This is my worst fear,” Aqeedi said. “It has strategic implications

for the long term, if there’s the perception that the west is involved in the destruction.”

Many Mosul residents see IS in such conspiratorial terms. “My message to ISIS, who were sent to erase the history of this city, is I tell them don’t be happy about your outrageous action,” said Ahmed al-Mallah, 45. “Mosul people built Al Hadba minaret. And we will build a thousand minarets after kicking out ISIS, who were sent to us to carry out agendas that attempt to eradicate the Sunnis and erase them from this city.”

Almost from the beginning of its rule, the IS systematically destroyed or damaged one important monument or shrine after another: the tomb of the biblical prophet Jonah, the Mosul Museum, the ancient city of Nimrud. In Mosul’s library, militants burned thousands of old books and manuscripts.

In doing so, the extremist group justified the destruction on religious grounds—that its harsh brand of Islamic law deems such things heretical. But in destroying an important mosque, especially the one in which the group’s leader, al-Baghdadi, made his famous declaration, the IS simply seemed intent on erasing what was soon, once the city falls, to become a symbol of the failed caliphate.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq called the leveling of the mosque a final act of depravity for the group.

It was, he said, the “official announcement of their defeat”.

In 2014, after the IS had destroyed many shrines and monuments, residents of Mosul, fearing the minaret might be next, gathered at the site in protest. It was one of the few times that civilians ever confronted IS fighters in the city. New York Times News Service

news@businessmirror.com.ph

The Regions BusinessMirror

Group calls on hospitals, health-care facilities nationwide to reduce energy use

By Mark Kevin Reginio Special to the BusinessMirror

E

NVIRONMENTAL health and justice organization Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is calling on health-care facilities and personnel nationwide to adopt measures that will reduce their energy use and carbon emission.

HCWH Asia Executive Director Ramon San Pascual said on Tuesday doctors and health workers should be at the forefront of addressing climate change following their sworn oath.

“The ‘do no harm’ oath of doctors and other health-care professionals should heal both the patient and, at the same time, disallow further harm to our environment,” he said.

Pascual suggested that hospitals should replace their bulbs regularly and should put solar panels on their roofs to reduce energy consumption.

Paeng Lopez, HCWH healthy energy campaigner, said since 2013 the price of generating solar energy has significantly decreased and is now lower than coal energy.

“Every day, the cost of renewable energy goes down. In 2013 solar energy breached the cross-over point, which means this is very possible for the Philippines,” he said.

Before the Clean Air Act was

passed in 1999, hospitals had burnt medical wastes that produced dioxins that harm human health and agriculture.

Lopez said health facilities have been contributing 13 percent to the global carbon footprint, or the amount of carbon dioxide produced by consuming fossil fuels, including coal.

HCWH also proposed local and regional assessment of environmental and health impacts of energy sources, air-quality governance, and transition toward the use of “healthy energy”.

In the long term, HCWH pushes for a moratorium on additional coalmining plants and to have more sources of renewable energy.

Yet, Dr. Esperanza Cabral, president of the Philippine College of Physicians, admitted all sources of energy have their own negative impacts.

“All sources of energy have their own problems. What we are currently balancing are those with more problems and those with fewer concerns so we can shift to those with lesser problems,” she said.

HWCH launched on June 16 “I Choose Healthy Energy”, a campaign on the use of healthy energy over dirty energy at the Lopez Museum.

Senator seeks P5-million fine for those who spread fake news

By Rosabell Toledo Correspondent

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ROLLS could soon experience starvation, as Sen. Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva seeks to penalize those who feed them— with fines ranging from P100,000 to P5 million and jail time of one to five years.

Senate Bill 1492 filed by Villanueva on Wednesday seeks that any entity found guilty of creating and/or spreading false news in print, broadcast or social media shall be penalized, with public officials receiving stiffer punishments for the act.

In a statement published on the senator’s web site, he said even seasoned reporters could fall prey when being fed false or unverified information by those who are, supposedly, their most credible sources—public officials.

“It is very irresponsible for public officials to speak on things that remain to be seen—things that are yet to be verified. It has to stop,” he added.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre had earlier linked members of the opposition to the recent Maute attacks in Marawi. For this, Villanueva said in a statement: “I think he should apologize.”

Despite Villanueva’s pronouncements that established media could also be “victims” of fake news, the bill he proposed makes it clear they are not exempted from the punishments lined up. In fact, he proposed “any mass-media enterprise or social-media platform that fails, neglects or refuses to remove false news will be penalized with a fine ranging from P10 million to P20

million, and imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years”.

He also proposed that any person who merely aids in the creation and spread of false news will be hit with fines ranging from P50,000 to P3 million, and 6 months to 3 years of jail time.

Also joining the cause against fake news is the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) that, on Wednesday, issued a “pastoral exhortation against fake news” entitled “Consecrate them in the truth”.

In the statement signed by CBCP President Socrates B. Villegas, the Catholic bishops said, “Crucial decisions—personal and social—depend on the accurate grasp of facts.”

“Alternative facts” and “fake news” engender faulty descisions many times with disastrous longterm consequences to persons and to communities. Sadly, we see this happening today. There are persons who have given themselves to the service of reporting who reported what never happened, concealing what really happened and distorting what should be presented in a straightforward manner,” it added.

Citing how social media has now become the “unfortunate site” of “alternative facts” and “fake news” after originally showing great potential in democraticizing expression and truth, the CBCP said it “heeds its faithful to refrain in patronizing sources of fake news, to rebut falsehood when in possession of facts and data, to refuse to be part of those who further purvey fake news and to identify sources of false news in order to aid the public in finding out “which media and which sites to shun”.

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Friday, June 23, 2017 A9

SBMA posted ₧615.28-M earnings in four months

CARGO ships unload at Subic Bay ports, which anchored revenue growth for the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority this year.

S

By Henry Empeño | Correspondent

UBIC BAY FREEPORT— The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) recorded a total of P615.28 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) in just the first four months of this year.

SBMA Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the Subic agency’s various strategic units contributed a total of more than P1 billion in

operating revenues during the period for a 9.5-percent increase over the P919.6 million posted last year.

Minus the operating expenses

HENRY EMPEÑO

of P313.5 million and bad debts of P78.2 million, Eisma said the SBMA managed a P56.9-million increase over the 2016 Ebitda of P558.3 million for a 10.2-percent increase in earnings.

“We’re very optimistic that while 2016 was considered a banner year in SBMA finances, we just might be able to top that at the rate we’re going this year,” Eisma said. “The SBMA is actually riding an upward trend that began in the past few years, and I believe we can sustain that and that further growth will continue.”

A comparative report from the SBMA Finance Group showed agency earnings this year eclipsing 2016 records. The agency’s net income, for example, surged by 148 percent from P18.5 million in the first quarter of

2016, to P46.76 million in the first quarter of 2017.

The biggest revenue contributor among the SBMA business units was the Port Authority Group, which delivered P476.4 million in the first four months. The Business and Investment Group followed with P426 million; Public Services Group, P67.5 million; Regulatory Group, P18.38 million; Chairman and Administrator’s Group, P9.25 million; and Support Services Group, P7.19 million.

The biggest increases as of endApril came from the Business and Investment Group, which posted close to P55 million in variance, and the Port Authority Group, with an increase of P17.85 million.

Meanwhile, the SBMA Tourism Department reported a 28-percent growth in revenues from visitor and tourist arrivals, as well as hotel occupancy, from January to April.

A report from SBMA Tourism showed a total of 894,603 visitors, and 161,046 tourists arriving in Subic in the first four months. These figures represented respective increases of 70,648 and 30,284 over 2016 arrivals.

The 2017 arrival figures included 289,600 visitors who arrived in the Subic Bay Freeport for the Holy Week.

The report said the increase in the number of visitors and tourists this year generated actual revenues amounting to P2.74 million. This is 28 percent higher than the P2.1million revenue record last year.

Among the events that generated much tourism traffic here from January to April were the arrival of the luxury cruise ship MS Bremen, and the conduct of the three-day Summer Siren beach music festival that brought in 7,000 visitors.

Cebu City, Chengdu ink sisterhood pact

By Charles R. Pepito Correspondent

C

EBU CITY Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Mayor Lou Qiang of Chengdu, China, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for sisterhood relationship on Wednesday.

In a news conference, Osmeña said no specific project has been discussed yet, but he is hopeful Chengdu would be able to assist the city.

“It was suggested to me and, then of course, we have a very big presence of the Chinese community here. But there’s no initial discussion about a possible project yet,” Osmeña added.

Osmeña admitted he was not knowledgeable enough about Chengdu and its ability to assist the city.

The MOU stipulated that both parties should enhance the mutual understanding and friendship between the Philippines and China, and seeks to establish friendly cooperative relations based on the

principles of equality and mutual benefit, and would cooperate to develop education, culture, antiterrorism and agriculture.

With this, the city governments of Cebu and Chengdu should establish information-sharing mechanisms of activities related to culture, agriculture and tourism, among others,

and would exchange activities.

Aside from this, they are expected to intensify the education cooperation through exchanging lessons at school, and both parties should help in promoting tourism.

During the signing, Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office head Nagiel Baña-

cia and Vice Director General of Chengdu in Municipal Foreign and Overseas Affairs Office, Lyu Tianyi, served as witnesses.

On May 8 and 9, Osmeña went to Chengdu, China after he was invited by a Chengdu delegation to discuss the matter of the two cities’ sisterhood.

DSWD ready to distribute ₧1,000 payout to Marawi victim-families

T

HE chief of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Thursday said the DSWD is set to roll out a financial-assistance program for the recovery of persons displaced by the conflict in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur. In a news briefing, Social Welfare Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo said the DSWD was able to distribute an initial P1,000 cash assistance to the evacuees situated in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte, as requested by the local officials of the Autonomous Re-

gion in Muslim Mindanao.

“We have started the distribution of P1,000 to each [family]. All of the families will be provided that,” Taguiwalo added.

The initial P1,000 cash was on top of the P4,000 assistance that the DSWD will be giving out to the affected families once the conflict has been put out by security forces.

“Another P4,000 per family has been budgeted already. Once they are allowed to go back to Marawi City, [this will be distributed] to help

them start anew,” Taguiwalo said.

The DSWD, under Taguiwalo, was one of the quickest to respond to the crisis in Marawi City, which erupted on sundown of May 23. Tracing back to May 26, the DSWD has spent P294 million for food items, nonfood items and hygiene kits distributed to the evacuees, Taguiwalo added.

She said this amount will continue to soar, as the DSWD is on the process of procuring family-sized tents to serve as temporary shelters of the evacuees.

“We have started the procurement three weeks ago in preparation for the return of our evacuees to Marawi City, and we hope to provide individual tents per family,” Taguiwalo added.

“Although we have problems with the procurement because the bidding has failed as of Thursday, we’re still fast-tracking it. We’re prepared for that,” the DSWD chief noted.

The DSWD is targeting to purchase 69,000 tents to cover all families affected by the conflict.

Good thing though, Taguiwalo

said, the private sector is lending its hand in bringing aid to the evacuees.

According to Taguiwalo, a number of corporations had given their word in carrying out the humanitarian aid to the displaced persons.

“Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific have both offered free transportation of our goods to Iligan City via their cargo service. San Miguel Foundation has offered toll-free passage of our cargo trucks going to Mindanao in the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road and the South Luzon

Expressway,” Taguiwalo added.

The DSWD chief vowed her agency will continue to assist the displaced persons until they recover from the tragedy of the conflict.

Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella said there “was no update yet” from the Office of the executive secretary as to the draft executive order (EO) on the recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation of Marawi City. The draft EO was pending President Duterte’s signature for two weeks now. Elijah Felice E. Rosales

A10 Friday, June 23, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Time to wake up and wise up

T

he continuing deadly combat circumstances in Marawi City have created a situation for the Philippines where we may be unable to see the “forest” because there are too many “trees” in the way.

Certainly, everything related is complex and has moved well into uncharted territory.

An issue before the Supreme Court is the legal semantic discussion of the definition of “rebellion” as regards the constitutional circumstances that allow the President to declare a state of martial law. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno accurately said recently, “We need to find out how we can get out of this emergency situation by trying to define for the President—with all due respect—what can be done and what cannot be done.”

Others have their own view on the impact on the foreign relations of the Philippines. Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes said, “The US is now using the ISIS threat as pretext for permanent basing and increased US military intervention in the Philippines, in a clear effort to counter whatever is left of President Duterte’s pronouncement of upholding an independent foreign policy.” While it may be easy to dismiss Reyes’s comments as agenda-driven, bordering on a conspiracy theory, in this day and age, no one really knows what is lurking behind the geopolitical curtain.

The New York City press has devoted more ink and paper to reporting and commenting—mainly commenting—on the Philippines than they probably have in the combined decades since the Edsa Revolution.

The New York Times newspaper has had over 1,000 articles and opinion pieces about the Philippines in the past 12 months compared to about less than 1,000 during all of 2014 and 2015 together. We are definitely in the spotlight.

However, the 800-pound gorilla in the room from which all the other issues emanate and is of the most singular importance is the extent that the extreme Islamic group, known by the acronym ISIS, wants a base of operations in Mindanao.

Indonesia, the largest Muslim country on earth, is battling with its own problems. Malaysia is deeply worried that it is next on the list. These nations’ concerns come from the undeniable fact that about 1,000 of their own citizens traveled to the Middle East to fight with ISIS. Strategic security intelligence service company The Soufan Group puts that number closer to 2,000. With many of these fighters being pushed out of the areas previously controlled by ISIS, they are returning to their home countries.

As of March, a report said that “currently there exists no formal ISIS presence in Southeast Asia and there is little to suggest a significant ISIS threat to the region”. Before Marawi, Zachary M. Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington who specializes in Southeast Asian security issues, said, “Southeast Asia was never a priority for ISIS, and it is hard for me to make the case that fighting for survival in Iraq and Syria, or at least trying not to lose any more territory, that they will stay focused on Southeast Asia”. Now, Rohan Gunaratna, the head of Singapore’s International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research writes, “We see the southern Philippines emerging as an important venue for foreign terrorist fighters.”

A strong and ongoing discussion on the martial-law declaration is important. So also is the involvement of the US and other countries as we prepare for joint sea patrols with Indonesia and Malaysia. However, what does not have any room in the issue is partisan local politics.

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BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

Six weeks before elections James Jimenez

spox

T

he latest rumblings on the postponement of the 2017 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections is that the law will probably come out by September, at the earliest.

Needless to say, this is simply what the word on the street is, with absolutely no confirmation one way or the other. However, it does provide ample food for thought.

Assuming that the postponement comes in the first week of September, that would put it at roughly six weeks prior to election day, scheduled for October 23, 2017.

By that point in the electoral calendar—based on the relevant election laws—a lot will have already happened toward conducting the elections.

By early-July, for instance, the last day for the filing of petitions for the exclusion of voters will have already lapsed, signaling the start of the finalization of the list of voters to be used in the elections.

By mid-July, filing of petitions for

exclusion of voters will have already been barred, thus, paving the way for the certification and sealing of the List of Voters. These certified lists will then have to be posted for the public to inspect before the end of July.

With the List of Voters certified and sealed, ballot printing will begin promptly—signaling, among other things, the start of significant election-related spending by the Commission on Elections.

Earlier this week the Comelec’s Election and Barangay Affairs Department released its staggering first estimate of the number of

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ballots that will have to be printed: 77,658,205.

The fourth week of August will be the period for the constitution of the members of the Boards of Election Tellers—the people who will be directly running the polling places on election day—and the Barangay Boards of Canvassers—the people who will be tallying up the precinct results and will eventually announce the winners. Once again, this will entail some cost, as those tapped for election duties will have to undergo training and orientation to ensure that they are capacitated for the work ahead.

At around the same time, the first of the election bans will kick in: the prohibition against the release of prisoners before and after elections.

Assuming, on the other hand, that the law postponing the elec-

tions comes out during the last week of September, then a number of other things will have happened on top of everything I’ve just outlined. Most critical of all, the period for the filing of certificates of candidacy will have already begun.

Concurrently, the gun ban will have already started, as well as the prohibition on the use of security personnel or bodyguards by candidates.

Other bans will also be in effect, such as the prohibition on the transfer and detail of officers and employees in the civil service, including public-school teachers, and the suspension of any elective provincial, city, municipal, or barangay official. These proscriptions are very necessary for the conduct of free and fair elections as they prevent politically motivated movements in the civil service.

However, no matter how briefly they are in effect, these bans also significantly impact the government’s ability to function and provide services to the people.

With all of these things happening in the last six weeks—costing money and disrupting government operations—before scheduled elections, the question is begged: Why delay the decision?

What happened to the anti-squatting laws?

✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Publisher

With all of these things happening in the last six weeks— costing money and disrupting government operations—before scheduled elections, the question is begged: Why delay the decision?

Continued from A1

A

mong the major causes of flooding in Metro Manila is its clogged and silted waterways, aside from its being polluted.

And while the responsibility to clear these waterways was initially assigned to local government units (LGU), this has, however, been transferred to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), an apolitical organization. But apart from its limited funds, the MMDA is hardly able to unclog and dredge some of Metro Manila’s choked waterways as it can’t even park its backhoe and other equipment alongside the rivers and creeks because of the shanties of informal settlers along these danger zones.

Squatting aggravates flooding problem

In 2010 the MMDA estimated the number of informal settlers living in Metro Manila at over 2.8 million. An aggregate of over 550,000 families, with over 100,000 of them occupying areas declared by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) as danger zones—along railroad tracks, garbage dumps, canals, rivers and creeks.

The continued habitation and increasing number of informal settlers living along creeks and rivers

have added to the flooding and environmental woes in the National Capital Region (NCR), according to a research by the Philippne Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

Proof of this is the level of pollution in most of Metro Manila’s waterways. About 35 percent to 58 percent of the organic pollution in the waterways of Metro Manila come from domestic sources, both solid waste and sanitation. For instance, all wastes, including plastics thrown into rivers and creeks by informal settlers living along waterways, are

being blamed for causing the water levels to rise as they block the natural flow of rivers and creeks.

But plastic waste cannot walk to the rivers themselves, unless these are deliberately thrown into rivers and creeks.

And yet, informal setllers, with some, if not many, of them classified as professional squatters so brazenly defy the laws on squatting. Why do some concerned local government units allow this to happen? Why do these LGUs allow their constituents to be exposed to the hazards of living in areas classified as danger zones? Are there people earning from syndicated squatting, or are there political trade-offs between local government officials and informal settlers?

There are lots of questions to be answered regarding the country’s squatting problem. But, as we grope for the answers to these questions, Metro Manila residents will have to endure with the floods during the coming typhoon and rainy season.

Laws to protect the waterways and secure the safety of informal settlers

There are more than enough laws to address the country’s probems with informal settlers.

There is Republic Act 8368, an Act Repealing Presidential Decree 772, entitled “Penalizing Squ at t ing a nd ot her Sim i l a r Acts”. There is also R A 7279,

or the Urban Development and Housing Act, where Section 27 of the Act defines the actions against professional squatters and squatting syndicates. Under the law, LGUs, in cooperation with the Philippine National Police, the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP), and the PCUP-accredited urban poor organization in the area, shall adopt measures to identify and effectively curtail the nefarious and illegal activities of professional squatters and squatting syndicates, as herein defined. Any person or group identified as such shall be summarily evicted and their dwellings or structures demolished, and shall be disqualified to avail themselves of the benefits of the program.

A public official who tolerates or abets the commission of the abovementioned acts shall be dealt with in accordance with existing laws. For purposes of this Act, professional squatters or members of squatting syndicates shall be imposed the penalty of six years imprisonment or a fine of not less than P60,000 but not more than P100,000, or both, at the discretion of the court.

Community involvement necessary

It’s been observed that despite the many laws against professional squatting, the problem with See “Arranza,” A11

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Sustaining inclusive growth amid risks and shocks

The ghost of 21 Del Pilar St. Tito Genova Valiente

Fernando T. Aldaba

T

EAGLE WATCH

he Philippine economy continues to accelerate, amid political risks and uncertainty. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank project a 6.5-percent to 6.9-percent GDP growth rates in the next two years. One important characteristic of the growth the past seven years is its trend toward inclusivity—reduction in poverty incidence, lower unemployment, managed inflation, and because of the economic expansion, bigger budget for basic services for the poor and lower income classes.

But how can this kind of growth be sustained?

First, growth must continue at these higher levels­—6.5 percent to 7.5 percent. This growth, of course, must be biased toward the creation of quality employment, especially in the manufacturing and agribusiness sectors. Presently, there seems to be a firewall between the political and economic arenas, where any noise or disruption in the former has negligible effects on the workings of the latter. The firewall must then be strengthened. Negative political events must be contained and managed well, so as not to dampen economic productivity and expansion.

There are also initiatives at the political arena, which would certainly affect the economy one way or another i.e., fiscal and tax reforms, the violence and conflict in Marawi City and the creeping martial law. As such, the firewall is not impenetrable and can be breached and broken any time.

Expectations play a key role in actual investment decisions. This is why we need to maintain an environment that investors perceive has low to moderate risks and conducive to give them adequate returns to their capital. Investments, as a recent driver of economic growth, must be sustained.

Second, we must be able to continue to reduce the number of chronically poor Filipinos. The Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) has been an important component of a poverty strategy to lift people from deprivation. The extra cash from conditional subsidy is usually utilized by households to augment their food expenditures and, thus, contributes to better health and nutrition of their children. The 4Ps must definitely be continued and even expanded. As the program also promotes human capital development, through the education and health of children, poverty reduction will even accelerate in the next few years as they grow up and get better chances of employment in the labor market.

Third, while almost 2 million Filipinos were lifted out of poverty in recent years, many of these are still vulnerable to go down the poverty lane. These people are included in around a third of the population who are susceptible to various types of shocks and risks, which can bring their incomes below the poverty threshold. Their place above the poverty line must be secured through enhanced social protection programs. Targeting the poor and vulnerable can now be facilitated because of a comprehensive database of the government that include poor and low-income households all over the country called “Listahanan”.

Listahanan, or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, is an information

Arranza. . .

continued from A10

informal settlers remains unabated, as some provisions of these laws are not enforced. Organizing multisectoral monitoring teams in areas near waterways that would be composed of local government officials, business and civic groups and home owners association officials in affected areas, including the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, can be vital in resolving the perennial problem on flooding and squatting.

The team shall monitor the implementation of such laws by the concerned government agencies, as

management system that employs geographic targeting, household assessment and validation, in order to provide national government agencies, development partners and other social protection actors with information on who and where the poor and vulnerable are in the Philippines.

Because of this database, different agencies may be able to design various types of social-protection programs e.g., social insurance, safety nets and labor market interventions that can respond to the various risks confronting Filipino households.

Fourth, government spending in infrastructure, including housing must be accelerated. The “Build, Build, Build” mantra should be realized, as this will employ a large number of people coming from poor and low-income households. Given limited resources by government, partnership with the private sector and official development assistance from friendly neighbors will further boost expenditures for infrastructure. It will also be good if such strategy will target regions where the building of these relevant infrastructures will further boost the productivity and incomes of people in those areas.

Last, government should further strengthen our disaster risk response and management capacities. Facilities, like the Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is responsible for the gathering, curating, consolidation, presentation and dissemination of information related to all phases of disaster response undertaken by the DSWD. Through this online facility, the public may view and download information sourced from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and other partner agencies.

Even potentially vulnerable families from any region can confirm if they are exposed to hazards based on the information provided by the Philippine Statistics Authority and the DSWD Listahanan’s figures. Data sets of evacuation centers and situational reports, status of relief resources in warehouses and reserve funding available for emergency response can also be viewed in the web site. Predictive analytics and maps for situational awareness and visualization can also be accessed from the same site.

As the country embarks on a higher path of economic growth, it is also the government’s task to ensure that an increasing number of people will benefit from such expansion and that these people become resilient in the face of growing risks and shocks. * Dean and Professor of Economics, School of Social Sciences, Ateneo de Manila University

well as to come up with recommendations on how to address the problem with squatters and flooding.

The impact of squatting and pollution

There are many types of water pollution, like nutrient pollution, surface-water pollution, oxygendepleting pollution, ground-water pollution, microbiological pollution, suspended-matter pollution, chemical-water pollution and oil spillage.

Regardless of the type of pollution, the common effect of water pollution, is that, it will kill aquatic life in the river. And waterways pollution, as we all kow it, is partly caused by the indecriminate throwing of waste

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1 Del Pilar Street was our home address back in the mid1970s and late-1980s. Several days ago, I braved going back to that home with my sister, an aunt and a cousin not for sentimental reason, but for curiosity. One early evening, I was passing by in a cab through that street when I saw a well-lighted terrace and what appeared to be a café. When we reached the corner, I looked back and asked myself if it was our former home. I was not sure but the thought scared me. What will happen to my memories of that home?

It took weeks again before I would pass by that area to finally confirm what had turned into fear: It was now a place where people walked into what used to be a living room and order fried rice and pork chop.

I am being unfair, I told myself. The property is not ours.

Somebody owns it already. If the

house could talk, it would look at me with tears in its eyes—or windows—to blame me, or us, for abandoning it.

The new owner was not around when we made the visit. There were only the manager and the waitresses. Two tables were occupied by five customers when we introduced ourselves. “We used to live

here, I told the lady at the counter. The customers who overheard what I said looked up. However, timid you try to be when you go to a place to claim that you lived there before, you would always appear invasive. Besides, no one visits a former home to tell its present occupants you were there before them. But then again, this is the first time that I saw our former residence transformed into a public place.

“21 Del Pilar Street” belongs to a barangay called “Dayangdang”, By its name, the place has not been seen yet by any city administrators as worthy to be replaced by names of revolutionaries or deceased politicians.

Dayangdang has a piquant sound to it. No one is certain from where the word is derived. What I do recall is that it is one of the last two areas in the city that was serviced by calesas. It was a place where everyone knew each other.

You could give your bag to the “cochero” and he would deliver it to your home. The cochero also called each other by nicknames,

the origin and meaning of which were either hysterical, ridiculous or obscene.

The calesas are gone. The small houses are not there anymore.

What we call townhouses dotted the street. A few meters from our home, the street turned into row of bars.

Our old home has changed. The dining room is now covered by a wall. But the staircase is still the same, except that it could be seen now from the street.

I asked permission to go up.

I wanted to see my old room. It was there waiting to be a function room. I stood by its door and my sister took a photo. I walked out into the terrace now enlarged. A mountain dog named “Shogun” was kept up there. He walked proudly and barked at the birds that flocked on the coconut trees.

Up to this day, my sister has not posted my picture by the door of the room I occupied more than 40 years ago. She found me scary in that shot.

I have become the ghost of 21 Del Pillar Street.

Caritas Manila appeals for continuous support for Marawi In an interview aired at Radio Veritas, the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Iligan said they need help to support residents who fled to their jurisdiction by providing 200 pieces of folding beds, 250 pieces of thermos and 200 pieces of kettle. The Diocese also asks for antibiotics, medicines and supplements.

As the social services and development arm of the Archdiocese of Manila, we are appealing for donations in kind, especially for the benefit of the children traumatized by the violence in the southern city.

In an interview aired at Radio Veritas, the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Iligan said they need help to support residents who fled to their jurisdiction by providing 200 pieces of folding beds, 250 pieces of thermos and 200 pieces of kettle.

T he diocese also asks for antibi-

otics, medicines and supplements, such as ceterizine tablets and syrup, calamine lotions, oresol solution, eye drops, vitamins, lagundi tablets or syrup, blood pressure medication, amlodiphine, ranitidine tablets, mefenamic acid, iodopovidone and gauze for the sick.

They also appeal for television sets to help improve and ease the psychosocia l cond itions of the children traumatized by the firefight in Marawi City improve.

Earlier, Caritas Manila has

sent P500,000 and 100 cavans of rice as initial help to the residents affected by the crisis in Marawi City.

Cash, as well as in-kind donations are accepted. Donations can be made online via http://ushare. unionbankph.com/caritas/, or by bank deposit: Banco de Oro—Savings Account No.: 5600-45905; Bank of the Philippine Islandss—Savings Account No.: 30635357-01; Metrobank—Savings Account No.: 175-3-17506954-3.

For dollar accounts: Bank of the Philippine Islands —Savings Account No. 30640033-55 Swift Code—BOPIPHMM; Philippine National Bank— Savings Account No. 10 -856 660002-5 Swift Code—PNBMPHMM. Donations can also be made via Cebuana Lhuillier (free of charge) or dropped off at Caritas Manila, 2002 Jesus Street Pandacan, Manila or at Radio Veritas in West Avenue corner Edsa, Quezon City. For proper acknowledgment of your donations, kindly fax copy of deposit slip to 5639306, or e-mail a scanned copy to car itas _ manila@ yahoo.com.

Please indicate your name and complete address.

Caritas Damayan is one of the programs of Caritas Manila.

Through its Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Program, Caritas Manila has put in place a disaster-management program that allows for quick response relief operation and effective crisis intervention.

by informal settlers living along the rivers and creeks.

The multisectoral team can then identify and recommend to concerned government agencies down to the “barangay” level, a comprehensive action plan that will address most, if not all, the concerns affecting the environment, safety and economic well-being of their respective communities.

Barangay officials and affected families should look at the program to clear the danger zones along rivers and creeks of informal settlers on a positive light. After all, these initiatives are not just about clearing the areas along crucial waterways of informal settlers, but it is also about

improving the health and sanitation of affected communities, protecting the properties of the residents in the area from damaging floods, saving for the government billions of pesos in recurring cost for unclogging and dredging of clogged waterways, and most important, getting the informal settlers, living in danger zones along rivers and creeks, to safer grounds. Moreover, a flood-free community would make healthy lives of its residents, resulting in savings on the costly expense of medication and hospitalization.

But on a more proactive stand, and considering the government’s unrelenting campaign to keep our communities safe, barangay offi-

cials, while the relocation of informal settlers living along rivers and creeks in their communities is still being processed, can conduct a census of its informal settlers. Just like the banks, where they have the know-your-client (KYC) policy, barangay officials can also adapt its KYC, or knowyour-constitutents policy. They should know where their informal settlers came from, their source of livelihood and their descendants as much as possible, among others. The urgency of doing this is more pronounced these days with the proliferation of illegal drugs and terrorist activities.

If the aforementioned programs

and the KYC policy are implemented, we should have healthy, safe and economically vibrant communities.

Are these reasons not good enough for our local government officials to fully implement our anti-squatting laws and the aforementioned KYC policy? And, most important, will saving for the government billions of pesos in recurring costs for clearing and dredging of clogged waterways also be a good incentive for our government officials to pursue its anti-squatting program? Your answers to these questions could be good as mine. It depends on the political will and commitment of concerned local government officials to fully implement the law.

Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

C

SERVANT LEADER

aritas Manila continues to appeal for donations for the displaced residents of Marawi City, amid the ongoing firefight between government security forces and Muslim extremist groups led by the Maute Group.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Friday, June 23, 2017

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Palay production in MY 2016-2017 seen increasing 6% to 18.52 MMT 4.7M has T

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

he Philippines’s palay production in marketing year (MY) 20162017 would reach 18.524 million metric tons (MMT), 6.09 percent higher than the 17.460 MMT estimated output in MY 2015-2016, according to the latest Global Agricultural Information Network (Gain) report.

The Gain report, prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) in Manila, said latest output forecast in the

current market year is 1.48 percent more than the USDA FAS’s earlier projection of 18.254 MMT. The Gain report noted that the hike in palay production could be

attributed to the expansion of area harvested during the market year ending June 30. “MY 2016-2017 rice production and area harvested where modestly raised, consistent with estimates from the Philippine Statistics Authority [PSA] in its April 2017 Rice and Corn Situation and Outlook report,” the report published recently read.

The Gain report estimated that the rice area harvested in MY 20162017 expanded by 4.02 percent to 4.705 million hectares, from 4.523 million hectares recorded area in MY 2015-2016. The Gain report’s earlier forecast of rice area harvested in MY 2016-2017 was pegged at 4.6 million hectares.

The FAS in Manila also revised its milled-rice output forecast from 11.5 MMT to 11.67 MMT. The

The total rice-harvest area in the country as of marketing year 2016-2017, up 4 percent

revised milled-rice production is 6.09 percent more than the 11 MMT estimated output in the previous market year, according to the Gain report. The Gain report also estimated that Manila’s ending rice stock by June 30 would reach 1.58 MMT, 12.7 percent lower than the 1.810 MMT estimated ending staple stock in MY 2015-2016.

In its April round of palay-production forecast, the PSA projected that output in the second quarter to

reach 4.128 MMT, 11.38 percent higher than the 3.714 MMT recorded output in the same period last year.

The PSA added that harvest area in the April-to-June period would expand by 11.86 percent to 948,610 hectares, from 848,030 has recorded a year ago.

“All regions may possibly have increments in production, except Central Luzon. Probable growths in production are expected due to increments in harvest areas resulting from availability of irrigation water/sufficient rainfall during planting period and availability of seeds from Department of A g r icu lture [DA]-Reg iona l Field Offices and local government units [LGUs],” the PSA said.

“In Cagayan Valley and Mima-

ropa, the possible increments are attributed to movement of harvest to April 2017 due to intermittent rains in late-March 2017,” the PSA added.

However, the PSA noted that the average yield in the second quarter would contract to 4.35 MT per hectare, from 4.38 MT per hectare level a year ago.

The DA also projected that palay production in the Aprilto-June period would reach the 4 MMT level on the back of better planting conditions, particularly favorable weather patterns.

The forecasts of the DA and PSA came after local rice farmers hiked their palay output in the first quarter by 12.38 percent to 4.42 million, from 3.93 MMT recorded a year ago.

MANILA, BEIJING SIGN GRANT DEAL FOR TWO METRO BRIDGE PROJECTS

In an event held on Wednesday at the Department of Public Works and Highways Head Office in Port Area, Manila, Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar and Embassy of China in the Philippines Economic and Commercial Counselor Jin Yuan signed the Minutes of Discussion for the full grant to finance the construction of two bridges that will soon be a new landmark in the cities of Manila, Makati and Mandaluyong.

Aliw Media Group wins big at the RCM Journalism Awards 2017 The Rotary Club of Manila (RCM) recognized members of the Aliw Media Group during the RCM Journalism Awards 2017 held on June 22 at the New World Hotel in Makati City. The BusinessMirror bagged the Business Newspaper of the Year award for the fourth time, while CNN Philippines was awarded Television Network of the Year for the second consecutive year. Also recognized were CNN Philippines’s Pinky Webb as TV Female Broadcaster of the Year and Cely Ortega-Bueno of DWIZ as Radio Female Broadcaster of the Year. Present during the awarding ceremony were (from left) Marvin Nisperos Estigoy, vice president for Advertising Sales of the BusinessMirror; T. Anthony C. Cabangon, publisher of the BusinessMirror; Benjamin V. Ramos, president of the BusinessMirror; Pia Hontiveros-Pagkalinawan, CNN Philippines chief correspondent, who accepted the award on Webb’s behalf; Ortega-Bueno; Alfonso Marquez III, vice president for News and Current Affairs, CNN Philippines; Susing Pineda, RCM director; D. Edgard A. Cabangon, chairman of the Aliw Media Group; and Jimmie Policarpio, chairman of the RCM Journalism Awards Committee. ALYSA SALEN

UNWTO cites Ongpin resort’s sustainable-tourism program

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

B

ALESIN Island, Quezon— Officials of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) were all praises for the sustainable-tourism program of Balesin Island Club, the f lagship project of business tycoon Roberto V. Ongpin’s Alphaland Corp.

In a news conference on Thursday, UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai said, when he was told that the island-resort would feature different international tourism destinations, “I thought, ‘Would I be seeing a Disneyland?’

But not at all. There’s so much creativity here and might I say, ‘Filipino-ness’ in workmanship, which has a common theme.”

United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary-General Taleb Rifai (center) and Philippine Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo (left) unveil a marker to commemorate Balesin Island Club’s partnership with the UNWTO as it implements its sustainable tourismdevelopment program. At right is Anna Bettina Ongpin, vice chairman, president and director of Alphaland Corp., parent firm of Balesin Island Club. Stella F. Arnaldo

Also, he said, “The money spent here, stays here. All the furniture is made here, and all the food is produced here.... People here are employed. While I cannot say how the Philippines is doing exactly in terms of sustainable tourism development compared to other countries, this [Balesin] is a good example of it.”

Rifai, along with his spouse, Nisrin Shawwa, and other executives of the UNWTO, as well as officials of the Department of Tourism (DOT), led by Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo, went on a tour of Balesin as a side activity to the ongoing Sixth International Conference on Tourism Statistics, which ends today, Friday.

A marker was unveiled at the island-resort’s clubhouse on Thursday morning, commemorating the Continued on A2

T

he Ph i l ippi nes a nd China have officially signed a pact for their first-ever infrastructure partnership project under t he Duterte administration.

In an event held on Wednesd ay at the Depar tment of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Head Office in Port Area, Manila, Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar and Embassy of China in the Philippines Economic and Commercial Counselor Jin Yuan signed the Minutes of Discussion for the full grant to finance the construction of two bridges that will soon be a new landmark in the cities of Manila, Makati and Mandaluyong.

The signing of the deal for the construction of state-of-the-art Binondo-Intramuros and Estrella-Pantelon Bridges in Manila, Makati and Mandaluyong was witnessed by DPWH Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office Operations Emil K. Sadain and Economic and Commercial Counselor Second Secretary Yang Ming.

According to Villar, the grant will cover the design and construction of the bridges, while the DPWH will be responsible for the acquisition of its road right-of-way.

Earlier, a Chinese Project Team has been dispatched to provide the DPWH with recommendations and technical

assistance for the stages of project preparation, initiation and implementation.

“Based on the initial project design, Binondo-Intramuros Bridge will be constructed into a four-lane, Steel Bowstring Arch Bridge with inclined arches that will connect Intramuros side at Solana Street and Riverside Drive and Binondo side at San Fernando Street with a viaduct. It will have a total length of 807 meters, composed of 90-meter main bridge, 488-meter Binondo approach, and 193-meter upramp and 166-meter downramp Intramuros Approaches,” Villar noted.

“The Estrella-Pantelon Bridge will also have four lanes, but will be a 560-meter Twin Spine steel box girder bridge with concrete deck slab. It will utilize the existing approaches at Makati City and Mandaluyong City sides, with modification on abutment and pier to accommodate new bridge superstructure,” Villar noted.

The construction of BinondoIntramuros and Estrella-Pantelon Bridges will be implemented by the DPWH Unified Project Management Of f ice-Roads Management Cluster I. Two other proposed projects—the Panay-GuimarasNegros Link Bridges and Davao City Expressway—will, likewise, receive grant from the Chinese government through feasibility study.