Businessmirror june 24, 2016

PHL included in million-dollar

dream destinations

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ccording to a recent study, Americans would spend an average of $43,154 on vacation if money were no object—almost exactly the same amount as the average salary nationwide. But if money is no object, why not go whole hog?

The Seven Commandos Island in El Nido boasts of pristine water that is perfect for snorkeling. Local fishermen on the island still practice the old way of fishing by using wooden spears. NONIE REYES

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A broader look at today’s business

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Friday, June 24, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 258

Aquino has ₧1.5-T PPPs ‘gift-wrapped’ for Duterte

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

Liam hemsworth’s ‘resurgence’

Delighted to hear that the next administration has included infrastructure development on its 10-point economic agenda, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center Executive Director Andre C. Palacios expressed his confidence that Duterte’s economic

LIfe

a taste of korean ‘Beefed’ Motoring

@lorenzmarasigan

he Aquino administration has “giftwrapped” a pipeline of infrastructure deals worth P1.5 trillion to the team of President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte, topped with recommendations on how the new government will be able to speed up their implementation.

INSIDE

team will further drive growth to the program.

“We have gift-wrapped for the new team a pipeline of 53 projects worth P1.5 trillion. These projects are intergenerational endeavors, with 20-year and 30-year contracts spanning several

53

The number of PPP projects pipelined by the Aquino administration presidencies. We are confident the new team will turn over a bigger, longer pipeline to the next team in 2022,” Palacios told the BusinessMirror.

See “Aquino,” A12

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BusinessMirror

Henry Ford Awards Best Motoring Section 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 2011 Hall of Fame

Editor: Tet Andolong

Friday, June 24, 2016

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tHe Ara blue-colored Hyundai tucson 2.0 cRdi Gls 4x2 At brings its fine features further to the fore.

HyundAi tucson 2.0 crdi GLs 4x2

A tAste of KoreAn ‘beefed’ Story & photos by Ronald Rey M. de los Reyes

new fog lamp styling. One gets to feel its upscale aura, particularly with its sculpted body contours all the way to the visual effect of its wheel design. It continues its pronounced panache all the way to the rear with sharper combination taillights—a roof-mounted spoiler and a larger rear bumper. Completing its unabashed f lair are its massive ref lector lights, a third brake light, twin tip exhaust pipes and 17-inch alloy wheels. With 51 percent advanced high-strength steel that increases rigidity by 48 percent, its overall body structure all the more props its tough persona.

Meanwhi le, its slick d arkthemed interior instantly speaks of a sound regal appeal. Since a simple semi-minimalist approach paints the dashboard, it could have been more fitting if a tad more entertainment cues were added—and not just some 3.8-inch mono LCD with radio and six speakers. Though, in a

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Next admin’s top priority: Narrowing gap between rich and poor Filipinos

By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

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he new administration wants to narrow the wide gap between rich and poor Filipinos by investing heavily in social programs, according to the incoming economic-planning chief.

Incoming Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said the gap between the rich and the poor in the Philippines, as measured by the Gini coefficient, is the widest in Asean.

Pernia told the BusinessMirror that by the time the Duterte administration ends in 2022, it would have brought down the country’s Gini coefficient to around 0.40.

“There is a stark inequality [not only] among income classes or households but also among regions nationwide,” Pernia said in a presentation at the Makati Business Club (MBC) Forum held in Makati City.

“We really need to work hard on poverty reduction and inclusiveness, as has been used by so many observers already,” the incoming director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) added.

The Gini coefficient ranges from zero to 1, with zero indicating perfect income equality among families, and 1 indicating absolute income inequality.

Pernia said the current Gini coefficient of the country is at 0.46, the highest in Asean. He said some Asean countries have a Gini coefficient of as low as 0.41 or 0.42, allowing the region to post an average of around 0.40.

To address inequality and cut the country’s high poverty rate, the Duterte administration will place population control at the heart of its development strategy.

Pernia said the government needs to fully implement the reproductive-health (RH) law to expand poor families’ access to contraceptives. This, he said, will allow the poor to limit their children to 3—the number they consider ideal.

In 2008 Pernia led economists from the University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE) in expressing support for the RH law. Pernia and other UP economists argued that poor households are having more children

0.46 The current Gini coefficient of the Philippines

See “Narrowing gap,” A12

tHuMbs up

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HEN the third-generation Hyundai Tucson first arrived in our shores and was introduced in their Logistics Center in Laguna, the impression was nothing short of awe—as it was now bigger and definitely bolder. In fact, this beefed-up Korean icon can be the next big thing that could ever happen in the next season of the hit television series The Walking Dead.

In a country where practicality is priceless and every inch of saved space is gold, this crossover comes into the picture as a one-man army machine eager to provide power, performance, elegance, a touch of brute and needed room. A closer look into this Ara Blue-colored Hyundai Tucson 2.0 CRDi GLS 4x2 AT brings its fine features further to the fore.

Bold and athletic, this stunner’s Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 design philosophy is carefully embedded in its DNA. Based on pure aesthetics, this third-gen Tucson grows in proper proportion, as here clearly stands a better version of this vehicle’s ancestors.

From a plain metrosexual to a f lamboyant ritzy athlete who knows his swagger—upfront, it imbues a clear-cut aggressive and strong stance with its restyled blacked-out LED headlights, a large chrome-plated hexagonal grille, a revamped bumper and

Continued on A2

n Push Start Button n Keyless Entry/ Sensors n Comfortable space inside n Elegant exterior and interior design n Refined suspension n Quiet ride

tHuMbs doWn n Can be mistaken for a Santa Fe n Entertainment system could be improved n No sunroof

speciFicAtions A siMple semi-minimalist approach paints the dashboard

bold and athletic Fluidic sculpture 2.0 design philosophy is carefully embedded in its dnA

way, it helps to keep the driver’s eyes on the road. This Tucson also comes with a 10-way driver and eight-way passenger power adjustment seats, as well as a three-spoke steering wheel w ith audio-mounted controls

a high with this writer’s short weekend trip to Pampanga. From previous accounts, this runabout vehicle is on a lofty throne when it comes to a finely tuned suspension compared to its predecessors, which have haunted Korean cars of the past due to its excessive movements. One could even tell its impressive high center of gravity, as no trace of giddiness troubled this scribe; especially when scampering from one place to the other to avoid traffic situations in the tight spots of the Metro. Steering is even superb and well-balanced, thus, could even smoothly unleash a bite of vigor when shifted to sports mode.

On rare long straights of this urban jungle, the prowess of the 2.0 common rail direct injection (CRDI) 16-valve diesel engine with variable geometry turbocharger that pumps out 178 hp and 410 Nm of torque roused this driver,

n Vehicle: Hyundai Tucson 2.0 CRDi GLS 4x2 AT n type: Crossover SUV n engine: 2.0 common rail direct injection (CRDI) 16-valve diesel engine with variable geometry turbocharger n Maximum power: 178 hp at 4,000 rpm n Maximum torque: 410 Nm of torque at 2,750 rpm n transmission: Six-speed H-Matic

diMensions

motoring

and manua l a ir-cond itioning w ith rear vents. A s a bonus, the Tucson can house 513 liter of luggage capacity.

From the get-go, this adorable creature is preppy in the city and, thus far, kept its momentum at

n overall length: 4,475 millimeters n overall width: 1,850 mm n overall height: 1,660 mm n Wheelbase: 2,670 mm n price as tested: P1.558 million

inspiring every turn of the wheel and push of the pedal, which leaves one hungry spirit no less than gratified; hence, wanting for more.

Fuel economy-wise, this behemoth guzzles about a reasonable 10.25 km/L on city driving, while fairly consuming 12.75 km/L on the highway.

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AIM for Change First Pacific Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan (center) answers questions from the media at a news conference on AIM for Change, an event organized by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), where the country’s most respected business leaders exchange ideas and discuss ways to promote inclusive growth in the Philippines. The event was held at a hotel in Makati City. Also present during the event are A. Magsaysay Inc. President and CEO Doris Magsaysay-Ho (left) and AIM Dean Dr. Jikyeong Kang. ALYSA SALEN

no rory in rio

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Sports Continued on A11

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HE pillars of the business community are receptive to the plan of incoming Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia of “rebalancing” the economy, underscoring the need to diversify exports and, to that end, expressing support to the director general’s suggestion of possibly splitting the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, allowing the management of mineral resources to be handled separately.

Speaking at the joint meeting of the United States-Philippines Society (USPS), Makati Business Club and the US-Philippine Business Council, Pernia

PESO exchange rates n US 46.5110

mapped out the Philippines’s status quo and “status ad quem”—the direction he aims to steer Asia’s second-fastest growing economy to.

“Currently, the status quo is that our economy is consumption-driven.

We’d like to be an economy driven by investments and exports. Second, we’re services-oriented. We should go toward an economy driven also by agriculture and industry, especially manufacturing,” Pernia told businessmen.

This rebalancing also entails narrowing the gap between robust development of Mega Manila, as opposed to the sluggish economic growth in other regions.

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In a panel discussion, Manuel V. Pangilinan, cochairman of the USPS, agreed on broad terms on the rebalancing scheme posited by Pernia, especially in terms of wealth distribution and a need to diversify growth areas from services. Promotion of agriculture and aquaculture could also be pushed.

Moreover, Pangilinan underscored the importance of diversifying exports, apart from the usual coconut oil and bananas for agriculture, and electronics for industrial goods.

“We’d like to grow exports, dominated

imtshreng Lepcha seeps medicinal leaves in cow urine and sprays the brew over his tomatoes. It’s the main way pests are repelled on his farm in the Himalayan foothills and across the northeastern state of Sikkim, the first in India to go fully organic.

For more than a decade, Sikkim’s 66,000 farmers have shunned chemical weed killers, synthetic fertilizers and gene-altered seeds. Their return to traditional-farming methods has made the tiny state, sandwiched between China, Nepal and Bhutan, a testing ground for a countermovement to the Green Revolution, the half-century-old system that relied on modern seeds, chemicals and irrigation to boost crop yields and stave off hunger.

Now, faced with health and environmental problems, ranging from poisoned waterways and degraded farmland to antibiotic-resistant bacteria and diet-linked disease, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is backing Sikkim’s approach as a safer, more sustainable way to produce food, support farm jobs and reduce the nation’s fertilizer bill.

“Other states can take a lead from Sikkim,” Modi told political leaders in the nearby state of Meghalaya last month.

“The North East can become the organic-food basket for this country. Organic products are going to be increasingly used

See “Pernia,” A12

See “Indian farmers,” A2

Biz groups urge Pernia to ‘rebalance’ economy

M a z d a Skyactiv-D: Breaking

INDIAN FARMERS USING COW URINE TO KILL FARM PESTS

n japan 0.4455 n UK 68.4270 n HK 5.9952 n CHINA 7.0739 n singapore 34.7642 n australia 34.8833 n EU 52.5528 n SAUDI arabia 12.4063

Source: BSP (23 June 2016 )

BMReports BusinessMirror

A2 Friday, June 24, 2016

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PHL included in million-dollar dream destinations Continued from A1

In an effort to find the real definition of no-holds-barred luxury, we asked seven travel insiders to dream up how they would spend a cool million on the trip of a lifetime. Their answers were inspiring, with deep dives spanning entire continents and options that touch every corner of the globe (sometimes all in one vacation). In short: It’s time to upgrade your bucket list.

A Safari on Steroids

The Insider: Tom Marchant, cofounder of Black Tomato, one of the world’s leading bespoke tour operators “I’m drawn to the natural beauty of Africa and it’s hard to pick which region speaks to me the most. So if I were to design the ultimate trip, it would be a private jet charter down the continent from Cairo to Cape Town with multiple stops. I’d revisit some of my favorite iconic places, such as Kruger National Park, the Okavango Delta and the Serengeti. I’d dive deeper into Ethiopia—one of the hottest places in the world [temperature-wise]—where I would summit active volcanoes, join camel caravans across the barren landscape, and explore Bale National Park, which is still off the tourist map [for now]. And I would add in some rare cultural and physical experiences, like climbing the Brandberg mountains in Namibia one day and soaring above the Namib desert by hot-air balloon the next. It would all be a mixture of testing physical limits, retracing the steps of iconic explorers and diving into the unknown—but with gorgeous secluded lodges or private camps as accommodations at the end of each day.”

Planes, trains and boats—all or nothing

The Insider: Andrew Zimmern, peripatetic gastronome and host of Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods “If I had a million to spend on the trip of a lifetime, to whom do I listen? The angel on one shoulder or the devil on the other?

One voice tells me to rent a Learjet for a few months, fly to Europe with my son, show him Capri and Ischia, Sardinia and Sicily, sail the Greek Isles, pass through Cyprus, and go by private rail

Indian farmers. . .

Continued from A1

widely,” he continued, and the practice “will contribute immensely to the income of the people and the region.”

Employment boost

India already has some 650,000 organic producers— more than any other country. Expanding the industry could boost employment by 30 percent through recycling resources, and certifying, marketing and packaging products, a parliamentary committee said in a report last August, without giving a time frame. Farmers in more than a dozen states, including Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Modi’s home state of Gujarat, are embracing organic farming.

India isn’t the only country looking for alternative ways to nourish its people. The United Nations’s new development agenda, which began in January, calls for more sustainable food-production systems and the implementation of resilient agricultural practices that increase production, help maintain ecosystems and

from Budapest or Istanbul across Central Asia. Show him nomadic peoples in Mongolia, the glory of Saint Petersburg and the Grand Hotel Europe, fly to China and spend a few weeks navigating to Hong Kong, then Thailand and Vietnam. I’d sail the South China Sea and tour Japan. From there, we head to the Solomon, Cook and Samoan islands, across the Pacific to Ecuador and on through South and Central America. We could cross the oceans once again and make it to Namibia, where we could start a northern-bound voyage from Botswana to Morocco and back to Europe again. Ultimately, we’d wind up in the Scandinavian countries and fly home to Minnesota direct on Iceland Air. Should take about four to five months and easily run through the million.

“And, yet, I think I’d rather listen to the voice on the opposite shoulder and go to a place like Milobi in Suriname, or the small coastal towns of Senegal, or the wilds of the Amazon, or the southernmost tip of Madagascar to a Sakalava town and park myself for a few months and spend the whole wad making sure that one impoverished village—one community beyond repair—had food, water and electricity in perpetuity. That would be pretty f__king cool.”

close enough to the tip of the continent that I could charter a boat to Antarctica and discover the final frontier. Where better to take in nature than on a Zodiac boat, cruising along glaciers, watching whales and penguins?”

A South American odyssey

Asia by private jet

progressively improve land and soil quality.

“Poor farmers, who cannot afford the inputs for intensive agriculture, can benefit most from adoption of organic methods,” said Anil Markandya, a British environmental economist who has advised international development banks, the UN, European Union and the governments of India and the United Kingdom.

Farmer Lepcha, who also grows maize, cardamom, cauliflowers, carrots, radishes and pumpkins on 2 hectares (5 acres) in Lower Nandok, abandoned his father’s farming practices 20 years ago, returning instead to the natural cultivation methods of his grandfather. The rewards from organic farming aren’t just monetary, he said.

“This field has given us enough of the best-quality food for my family and enabled me to provide higher education for three of my children,” said Lepcha, 56.

“We are all in good health and stamina. I don’t remember when we last purchased medicines.”

Soils are nourished with composted cow manure and other organic matter, while pests are managed with the cow-urine spray brewed for three months, he said.

In the colder months, Lepcha grows vegetables under

clear plastic domes that trap heat and moisture, and are fitted with sprinklers for irrigation.

The Insider: Horst Schulze, CEO of Capella Hotel Group and former president of Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. “I’d begin by traveling to Peru, where I’d hire a very wellversed guide for a private tour of Machu Picchu. Then I’d go back to Lima to explore the city’s high-end restaurants, as well as its street food—Lima is said to have some of the best restaurants, in the world. From there, I’d travel to Chile, where I’d visit Easter Island and discover its secrets. I’d hire a guide to take me around the Galapagos and teach me about the region’s unique flora and fauna, both by land and by sea.

“I’d continue the theme in the sub-Antarctic wilderness of Tierra del Fuego, where I’d hire a guide for the ultimate fly-fishing trip. The sea-run brown trout there average 10 to 13 pounds in weight and are sure to be impressive catches. By then, I’d be

Globetrotting with the next Great Shutterbugs

The Insider: Superstar photographer Murad Osman, known to his 378,000 Instagram followers as @followmeto “I would open a roving photo school for children and take my students on a worldwide photo tour. A lot of talented people were born in poverty and live in hard conditions, but they dream big—we try to tell their inspiring stories on our site. So a worldwide tour for young amateurs would be a great way to do what we do best as photographers: to share the beauty of different countries and help a younger generation discover the world. I would buy them their own top-of-the-line cameras and have them shoot with me and other photographers; who knows, maybe we can create a new generation of big-name professionals. We would visit all seven continents, see the deserts, waterfalls, jungles, fly in helicopters and meet sunsets in mountains.”

The Insider: Social-media impresario Jeremy Jauncy, founder and CEO of @BeautifulDestinations, the largest travel account on Instagram “A dream trip of mine would be to charter a jet with Fly Victor from New York City to Hong Kong. While I’m there, I’d stay at The Upper House, for a bit of an escape that’s still within the city limits. Its General Manager Marcel Thoma is a true legend. From Hong Kong, I’d jet over to Tokyo and stay at the Aman, another sleek oasis in the center of a metropolis. After that, I’d take a break from my urban vacation to head to the beach. I’d fly to Cebu in the Philippines and charter a private yacht to Palawan, where I’d stay at El Nido Resort, one of my absolute favorite hotels. These are all some of the world’s most beautiful destinations and a dream trip for sure.”

Yields rebound

Crop yields fell in the first few seasons after he stopped using conventional fertilizers and chemicals, but then increased as the fertility of his soil improved, he recalled. These days, Lepcha earns more than 400,000 rupees ($6,000) a year. “I am getting profit with low input costs and higher margins,” he said.

Benefits of organic farming include less pesticide-related illness, improved household nutrition and gender equality, said Markandya, who is the former scientific director of the Basque Centre for Climate Change in Spain. Last year he edited a 415-page report on organic agriculture for the Asian Development Bank.

“I don’t see organic agriculture replacing conventional, intensive agriculture, but as an important complement to it,” Markandya said. “There are many places where producers can benefit from adoption of such methods, and the demand for organic products is growing—not only in the rich countries, but also inside India.”

Growing health consciousness among India’s middle-

The ultimate culinary pilgrimage

The Insider: Will Drew, group editor for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards “Unsurprisingly, my dream trip would involve a food-led world tour, with some superb wine thrown in for good measure! But that doesn’t mean it would be restricted to fine dining and super-luxury hotels [at least not all the time]. As we all know, the ultimate 21st century luxury is time, so I’d love to be able to travel through Asia in no great hurry, exploring the amazing variety of culinary cultures, street food, and landscapes. I’ve never been to Japan or Korea, so a few weeks of serious eating there would be essential, as well as taking in the huge variety of amazing restaurants that Tokyo has to offer. I’d love to visit Fukuyama in the west, the Gifu prefecture in central Japan and Kyoto, the home of kaiseki cuisine.

In Korea I’ve just learned about the traditions of temple cuisine from Chef Mingoo Kang, and I’d like to get a taste of that. I’d also love to explore more of South America, taking in Chile [including Borago and 99, among others], Argentina [too many to name], and Brazil [with Lasai and A Casa do Porco high on the list], including the wine regions, of course, as a glorified gourmet backpacker.”

Four semesters abroad

The Insider: Sam Shank, CEO and founder of the last-minute booking app HotelTonight “My family loves to travel. My wife and I strive to show our sons [ages 7 and 11] that experiencing new places will expand their horizons and creativity. Nothing beats the cultural immersion of actually living somewhere new, so if I had a million dollars to travel, we would take our boys out of school for a year and spend three months apiece in four different destinations. The rules: each place must be on a different continent; each must have a different climate; each must have a different native language; Each should be totally unique; And wherever we go, we’d take a lot of spontaneous weekend getaways. I asked my family for ideas at dinner and came up with Sydney, Paris, Singapore and Buenos Aires as a dream itinerary…but we’d also be game for playing it by ear!” Bloomberg News

class consumers is fueling demand, TechSci Research said in a report last August. It predicts the organic market will expand more than 25 percent annually to cross $1 billion by 2020.

“Consumers want it even though there is a premium attached to it,” said Renzino S. Lepcha, COO of Mevedir, a non-governmental organization in the Sikkim capital, Gangtok, that helps farmers to grow, certify and sell their organic produce.

Organic goods typically fetch about 20 percent more than conventionally grown products, according to Lepcha, who is not related to farmer Nimtshreng Lepcha.

“This is creating jobs, an avenue and a market. This is favoring farmers and India.”

Sikkim achieved organic certification of 74,190 hectares (183,000 acres) of agricultural land last year, the culmination of a movement that began in 2003.

“The start was not smooth,” S. Anbalagan, executive director of the Sikkim Organic Mission, said in an interview in his office in Gangtok. “We struggled to provide farmers required knowledge and infrastructure.”

Birds and the bees

With those problems behind them, farmers are now expanding into poultry, bee-keeping and other areas of livestock production, while the state focuses on improving services, including marketing, cold storage and transportation, he said. “Whatever Sikkim has achieved, it has done it mostly on its own,” Anbalagan said.

Organic exports will be bolstered by an airport in Sikkim, Modi said in January at an organic festival and conference. Discussion at the meeting “set the tone for a new holistic vision for the country’s agriculture,” he said. “The winds of this organic effort would now spread across the country.” Modi’s government has earmarked 4.12 billion rupees ($61 million) for spending on organic farming in the year ending March 2017. It’s promoting organic fertilizer and says the use of natural nutrients could defray part of the 700 billion rupees India spends each year on fertilizer subsidies.

With the second-highest number of undernourished people in the world and an annual food requirement set to increase by almost 20 percent to 300 million tons by 2025, India’s needs won’t be met with organic farming, according to Shanthu Shantharam, a scientist who helped formulate the country’s agricultural biotechnology regulations in the 1990s.

‘Romantic idea’

“In many ways, organic farming is a romantic idea that won’t work,” said Shantharam, who teaches plant biotechnology at the Iowa State University. He argues that organic production is impractical on a mass scale, because of inadequate supplies of organic fertilizer and the lower crop yields resulting from organic farming. “India cannot meet its food-security obligations if the entire nation goes organic. Organic is good as a kitchen garden.”

Product integrity is also a challenge for India’s organic industry, he said. “Whether organic rules are strictly followed, they slap an organic label on it and sell it a premium price,” Shantharam said. “Their niche market is urban elites who have lots of cash jingling in their pockets, and who want to buy organic just to feel good.”

Prohibitive prices

At the Sikkim Organic Market in Gangtok, vendor Birbal Rai says it’s mostly the health-conscious who are aware of the advantages of organic products and are buying from his stall. “Others turn away when they see the price difference,” Rai said. Still, “the demand for the organic foods is gradually picking up.” Bloomberg News

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Friday, June 24, 2016 A3

Aquino defers to Duterte handling of SCS case ₧1T

By David Cagahastian

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@ davecaga &

Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

he Aquino administration will defer to President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte the handling of the territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea (SCS, West Philippine Sea), but maintained that a possible favorable ruling from the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration will be enforceable with the help of the United States and other claimant-countries.

At the same time, a complete accounting of the country’s natural resources, particularly its “blue economy,” can boost the Philippines’s claim in the South China Sea, according to the incoming economic planning secretary.

In a presentation at the Makati Business Club (MBC) Forum on Thursday, incoming National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Director General Ernesto M. Pernia said the blue economy, based on a previous study made by the Marine Science Institute, was conservatively estimated at P1 trillion.

“If we had done this before, it would have been easier for us to argue that

this claim by China is ours, that it is part of our total economy, both the land economy and the sea economy, the ocean economy. We should have done this before, but maybe its not too late and we should continue to argue that the blue economy is part of our possession,” Pernia said.

Pernia said the blue economy, which accounts for 70 percent of the country’s territory, includes fisheries, corals, marine life, biodiversity and other natural resources found in the sea.

Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said on Thursday the Philippine government continues to adhere to international law and

is confident of a favorable decision in the arbitration case filed by the Philippines against China in the UN arbitration court.

“As far as the Aquino administration is concerned, we will just adhere to the principles of international law. We have agreed with all the other nations of Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] in the last Asean-US Summit that the rule of law must prevail. But we can only speak for what this government will do until June 30, because at noon of that day, a new administration will take over the reins of our foreign policy,” Coloma said.

He said President Aquino did not offer any suggestions to Duterte on how to enforce a the ruling, possibly in favor of the Philippines, and will give the incoming president a free hand in effecting his own foreign policy.

Mr. Aquino led the 118th anniversary celebration of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday morning, but did not dwell on the issue of the SCS in his speech.

Duterte said in previous interviews that he would seek bilateral negotiations with China if no tangible benefits will come out of Philippine efforts to enforce the forthcoming ruling from the UN arbitration court.

The ruling is expected to resolve the issue of economic benefits over the disputed areas in the SCS, but will not dwell on the issue of sovereignty over the area. The issue was expressly excluded from the case by the Philippines.

But Coloma said the Aquino ad-

The conservative estimate of the value of the blue economy

ministration continues to believe that the arbitration case ruling could be enforced despite China’s adamant refusal to recognize the jurisdiction of the UN arbitration court.

As speculations abound that a ruling is forthcoming by July, China has stepped up diplomatic efforts to rally to its side countries dependent on China for support and trade, and had apparently asked them to voice out their opposition to the arbitration case filed by the Philippines, even though they have no stake in the territorial dispute, being hundreds of miles away from it.

“I believe that this is something that has been enunciated by the US government in many diplomatic fora,” Coloma said when asked whether the forthcoming decision of the UN arbitration court would be enough basis to ask China to stop its aggressive reclamation and militarization program in the disputed territory.

“The latest of [these forums] was the Asean-US Special Summit convened by President [Barack] Obama in which the leaders of the nations that participated in that meeting declared in their statement that the

international rule of law must prevail and that the provisions of such laws, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, must be followed,” Coloma added.

The blue economy only included the country’s tapped sea economy.

There is no telling how much the sea economy can contribute to GDP without a proper and complete accounting.

“In the case of the blue economy, [if ] you had claimed it as our own, not as squatters, but as our own legitimately, legally, internationally defined as our own, then it would be easier, I think, for us to protect it,” Pernia told reporters after the forum.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) told the BusinessM irror that it is currently working on data for the ocean economy. The preliminary data, which has yet to be released publicly, estimates that the ocean economy of the country accounts for 4.5 percent of GDP. Using current prices in 2012, which was the benchmark year used for the estimate, this amounts to around P471 billion, or $11.2 billion. The PSA said it based its data on current methodologies and available industry data. It includes fishing and maritime information.

Besides this, another larger project, the World Bank-funded Philippine Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (Phil-WAVES), aims to perform a natural resources accounting, including the ocean economy.

Preliminary data released by the

government showed that rampant land conversion has caused the rapid decline of the water quality of the lake and endangered the fish that could be harvested from the Laguna de Bay. Based on the Phil-WAVES findings, land conversion has more than doubled at a rate of 116 percent between 2003 and 2010. The converted land could have been used for agriculture or watershed purposes.

The extent of land conversion has already reached at least the lower level of the Sierra Madre mountains, Luzon’s primary defense against violent typhoons coming from the Pacific ocean.

The Phil-WAVES grant will focus on minerals and mangroves and support the sustainable management of these key sectors. Executive Order 79 on institutionalizing and reforming the Philippine mining sector refers to Phil-WAVES as a tool for conducting resource accounting and costbenefit analyses.

A national account and associated indicators will also be developed for mangroves, whose role in protecting coastal communities against storm surges and other climate changerelated events was highlighted after Supertyphoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan).

The Phil-WAVES grant will focus on capacity building and generating data and indicators for key natural resources, in order to support the Philippine government in institutionalizing the use of the selected System of EnvironmentalEconomic Accounting modules.

BMReports BusinessMirror

A4 Friday, June 24, 2016

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Several Singaporean food and beverage firms seek franchise partners in PHL

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By Mary Grace C. Padin

@_enren

even food and beverage companies from Singapore on Thursday expressed interest in expanding to the Philippines, saying they are currently on the lookout for local franchise partners.

Singaporean brands—Wing Zone, BurgerUp, H2O Life Source, Maki-San, Joe & Dough, Keisuke Ramen and Xiao Ban Café—are eyeing potential master franchisees who will help them penetrate the Philippine market.

The companies were introduced during a business-matching session in Taguig on Thursday. The event was organized by U-Franchise Sales and Management, together with the Philippine Franchise Association, Franchise and Licensing Association (FLA) Singapore, Astreem Consulting and Francorp Philippines.

U-Franchise President Sam Christopher Lim said the demographics, as well as the stable economic status of the country, has attracted these brands to the Philippines.

“We have such a big demographic. We have around 100 million, as compared to [Singapore’s population of] 3 million or 4 million,” Lim said.

“But more important, we have one of the youngest populations. If you notice, these brands are actually targeting the millennials, the young people,” he added.

Lim said the number of middle- class Filipinos—who are also these companies’ target market— is slowly on the rise, making the country an attractive market.

FLA Singapore Chairman Donna Lee also told reporters the support given by the Singaporean government encourages small and medium enterprises to invest in international expansion.

She said entrepreneurs who are

keen on going to other countries can ask for a grant from the government of Singapore, which subsidizes 60 percent to 70 percent of the total cost of their investment.

According to Lim, business matching with Singaporean companies gives Philippine entrepreneurs access to brands that adhere to international standards. He said international brands invest in great systems, as well as their branding and marketing. “ T he re a re a l s o s o m a ny unique concepts [in different countries]. The entrepreneurs locally don’t have to do trial and error anymore, they can just learn from international concepts,” he added.

Most of the Singaporean companies also said they are open to sourcing their raw materials and ingredients locally.

Damien Koh, director of specialty coffee shop Joe & Dough, said sourcing raw ingredients locally will ensure the quality and affordability of their products.

“We want to make sure we can get access to good coffee here, if there will be partners who can do that. Because that way, it will help us bring our costs down, improve the quality of our coffee and [enable us] to give back to the [local economy],” Koh told the BusinessMirror.

The six other F&B companies from Singapore also have unique offerings. For one, Wing Zone— a US-based restaurant with a casual-dining concept and serves American food—offers classic

Sam Christopher Lim (from left), U-Franchise president; Donna Lee, Franchising and Licensing Association (FLA) chairman; Michelle Kwok, FLA assistant general manager; and Abhishek Dale, Astreem director, share a light moment before the news conference of “Master Franchise Meet and Match”—an exclusive business-matching event with top Singaporean franchise brands scouting for Philippine partners. NONIE REYES

We have one of the youngest populations. If you notice, these brands are actually targeting the millennials.”—Lim hamburgers and 17 f lavors of buffalo wings. Singapore hosts its regional headquarters.

BurgerUp also offers burgers but it has customizable menu choices.

It has an ordering system that makes use of technologies, such as interactive self-ordering kiosks and mobile apps.

Maki-San is Singapore’s first

design-it-yourself sushi joint with over 70 ingredients to choose from, and Keisuke Ramen is a restaurant chain in Singapore with over 50 stores.

Soy-based products are the specialty of Xiao Ban Café, a popular brand in Singapore.

Among the firms introduced on Thursday, only H2O Life Source is present in the Philippines. Kenneth Wong, group managing director, said the company targets to

open 1,000 stations in the country in the next three years.

Meanwhile, Lee said FLA is keen on bringing in more Singaporean companies in the country, particularly from the education and beauty sectors.

“We hope to bring in more companies from other sectors, like education. I think there’s interest in education here. Education enrichment is needed in the Philippines,” she said.

China’s nickel-ore supply at risk as Philippines talks tough N ickel-ore shipments from the Philippines may be jeopardized by Presi-

dent-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte’s appointment of an antimining crusader to head the country’s

environment department, a move that may potentially disrupt supplies to Chinese buyers.

Concerns that the new government will limit ore exports helped push nickel higher on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday, analysts from Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said in a note.

The metal closed up 0.4 percent. It lost 0.7 percent to trade at $9,165 a ton by 9:27 a.m. in Shanghai on Thursday, after the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for US growth this year.

“We might see an imminent crackdown on the Philippines’s small mines,” Sam Xia, an analyst at China Merchants Futures Ltd., said from Shenzhen on Wednesday, a day after Regina Lopez, 61, managing director of ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya

Foundation Inc., said shed accept the role. “This will reduce its nickel-ore exports, including to China.”

The Philippines has emerged as the key supplier of nickel ore to Asia’s top economy, after Indonesia halted shipments in January 2014 in a bid to promote local processing. Duterte, who takes office on June 30, told a forum this week that he will review all mining claims, and has referred to problematic mining in Surigao, a province that ships ore to China. The material is used to make nickel, which is used in stainless steel.

Lopez criticized miners’ track record in comments to ABS-CBN News Channel late Tuesday, saying that she didn’t like the industry as it harmed the environment and hurt the poor. Stocks of locally listed mining companies slumped this week,

including Nickel Asia Corp., the nation’s largest producer in which Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. owns a stake.

China’s nickel-ore imports from the Philippines rose to 3 million tons in May, the highest level in seven months, according to official figures.

That accounted for 97 percent of the country’s total purchases. Shipments from Indonesia have dwindled after that country’s prohibition.

Philex Mining Corp. said in a statement it is open to whoever the President-elect appoints as Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) secretary.

According to lawyer Michael T. Toledo, MVP Group Media Bureau head and senior vice president for public and regulatory affairs at Philex, the President-elect has every right to ap-

point whoever he deems fit to become the next secretary, not just on a matter of competence, but also on a matter of trust and confidence as a member of his official family.

“Philex has committed to support President Duterte and his drive against illegal and irresponsible mining,” Toledo stated. “We are open to sitting down and working with the new DENR secretary to further the President’s call, to stamp out the illegal and irresponsible miners who give the industry a bad name.”

Toledo added that in its 60 years of living the tradition of responsible mining, Philex has adhered to “doing what is right” according to international standards, in response to the President-elect’s statements made at the recent Sulong Pilipinas Davao conference. Bloomberg News

Rules on sourcing of power from RE sources out

By Lenie Lectura

T

@llectura

HE Department of Energy (DOE) released on Monday the draft rules mandating all distribution utilities (DUs), among others, to source a portion of their energy supply from eligible renewable-energy (RE) sources.

This policy is known as the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), which is intended to contribute to the growth of RE industry. If implemented, this will help the agency attain its goal of maintaining the RE

share in the national energy mix to at least 35 percent by 2030.

The scope of the proposed RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standards) rules includes the following: types of RE sources; yearly minimum RPS requirement; annual minimum incremental percentage of electricity sold by each mandated participant required to be sourced from eligible RE resources and which shall, in no case, be less than 1 percent of its annual energy demand over the next 10 years; and means of compliance by the mandated participant set by the govern-

ment to meet the RPS requirements.

T he fol low ing entities wou ld be mandated to participate in the prog ra m: DUs, L icen sed R et a i l Electricity Supplier, Directly Connected Customers (DCCs), Supplier of Last Resort, entities authorized as distributors within the economic zones, and generating companies only to the extent of their actual supply to their DCCs. A composite team will determine the minimum annual RPS requirement per mandated participant.

The members of the team will be composed of representatives from the National Renewable Energy Board, Electric Power Industry Management Bureau, Renewable Energy Management Bureau, Legal Services and Energy Policy and Planning Bureau.

Meanwhile, the minimum annual increment in the RPS level shall be initially set at 2.15 percent to be applied to the actual total supply portfolio of the mandated participant in each grid for the previous year, stated the draft circular.

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Widodo rebuffs China with visit to Natuna Islands

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resident Joko Widodo flew to Indonesia’s Natuna Islands to underscore his country’s sovereignty over the surrounding waters, after China outlined a claim over nearby fishing grounds.

The trip by Widodo, also known as Jokowi, comes a week after Indonesia’s navy detained a Chinese vessel fishing off the islands and arrested seven fishermen. China’s foreign ministry said on Monday that China has no territorial sovereignty dispute with Indonesia, “yet, the two countries have overlapping claims for maritime rights and interests over some part of the South China Sea.” Indonesian Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung posted photos on Twitter of Widodo aboard the KRI Imam Bonjol, a warship that patrols the waters around the islands. The president plans to hold a Cabinet meeting during the visit to discuss the economic development of the islands. He was joined by Coordinating Minister for Security Affairs Luhut Panjaitan, as well as Retno Marsudi, the minister for foreign affairs.

Ministers for energy, fisheries and national planning also attended.

Widodo asked Luhut in June to prepare a common stance on Indonesia’s South China Sea policy, so ministers would speak with one voice on the issue. Rear Adm. A. Taufiq R., commander of Indonesia’s Western Fleet, said on Tuesday that more Chinese fishing boats have been detected in the vicinity of the islands this year.

“We need to resolve this issue. If not, they will make a one-sided claim to the waters,” he said.

Since Widodo’s election in 2014, Indonesia has become more active in detaining fishing boats and, in some cases, blowing them up. Indonesia has detained 57 ships for illegal fishing in the Natuna area this year, according to Susi Pudjiastuti, minister for maritime affairs and fisheries. Of those, three were Chinese boats and 49 were Vietnamese.

China has sparked tensions with nations, such as Vietnam and the Philippines, by asserting claims to more than 80 percent of the South China Sea based on a nine-dash line map first published in the 1940s. In

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Suu Kyi to tackle migrant workers’ plight in Thailand

The number of ships detained

by Indonesia for illegal fishing in the Natuna area this year

passports issued in 2012, China’s line encroaches on the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that Indonesia derives from the Natuna Islands.

China’s Communist Party-run Global Times newspaper said on Wednesday that the 200-nauticalmile EEZ that Indonesia claims around the islands overlaps with waters within the nine-dash line by 50,000 square kilometers (1,900 square miles). “It is no easy task for today’s China to safeguard its sovereignty in the South China Sea and defend the nine-dash line,” the newspaper said.

Indonesia has been careful not to recognize the claim outlined on the map, which might lend legitimacy to China’s assertions. In 2010 Indonesia made a statement to the same United Nations body, to which China had submitted its nine-dash map, saying China’s claim “clearly lacks international legal basis.”

Widodo’s public irritation at the presence of Chinese fishing boats in the area—along with that country’s coast guard—will likely draw Indonesia closer to other Southeast Asian nations who dispute Beijing’s claims over the South China Sea. In March Indonesia detained the crew of a fishing boat after a scuffle involving a Chinese coast-guard vessel.

At the same time, Widodo wants to keep relations with China from deteriorating. China overtook the US, Singapore and Japan in the past decade to become Indonesia’s largest trading partner with $49.2 billion in transactions last year, up from $16.3 billion in 2006. Widodo has also highlighted Indonesia’s need to invest in infrastructure to attract overseas investment and boost growth. Bloomberg News

Singapore inflation slows in May onsumer prices in Singapore fell more than forecast in May, extending a record slump that was triggered by falling oil and house prices.

The inflation rate declined 1.6 percent from a year ago, after dropping 0.5 percent in April, Statistics Singapore said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. The median estimate of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 0.8-percent fall.

“Car prices and housing rentals

will continue to dampen overall inflationary pressures,” the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in a separate statement. The headline inflation rate is forecast to remain negative for the rest of the year, it said.

The bank’s core inflation measure, which strips out accommodation and transport costs, rose 1 percent in May, lower than the 1.1percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Bloomberg News

Myanmar Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi (center) shakes hands as she arrives at the Suvarnabhumi Airport on Thursday. Suu Kyi is on an official threeday visit to Thailand from June 23 to 25. AP

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hen Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi last visited Thailand four years ago, it was as head of her country’s opposition party to offer moral support to the huge numbers of her countrymen who work here as migrant laborers in menial jobs, often in exploitative conditions.

On Thursday she arrives back as her country’s elected de-facto leader to tackle on an official basis the problems faced by Myanmar migrant workers the government estimates to number 1.4 million, but advocates say is at least twice that.

In her new position of more power and responsibility, Suu Kyi faces greater scrutiny than she did as a democracy heroine fighting military rule. The trip puts her in the spotlight as questions have arisen about her government’s policies, particularly toward the oppressed Rohingya Muslim minority, which critics say falls short of what they expected from the Nobel peace laureate.

A highlight of Suu Kyi’s visit will likely be a town hall-type meeting

Laos ecotourism forum seeks easing of travel

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onders of history, nature and culture abound in Southeast Asia and are increasingly attracting visitors from both within the region and further abroad.

The hustle and bustle of urban life has ushered in a new era of prosperity, convenience and unparalleled economic opportunities to many millions of city dwellers across the continent and beyond.

Amid such modernization, there’s an increasing need for urbanites to touch with green spaces where they can refresh their spirits, alongside family and friends during valuable time away from their regular duties. For this reason an increasing number of travelers are finding themselves exploring the wonders that tropical Southeast Asia has to offer.

Getting in touch with nature and the leisurely pace and rich culture of rural lifestyles are just some of the benefits for those visitors willing to explore a little further than the well-beaten tourist trails in the diverse region.

Rare and wonderful plant and animal species can be seen in a wide variety of habitats spanning mountain ranges, river valleys and coastal shores.

Visitors are finding increasing levels of comfort and accessibility, as regional transport connectivity improves via air, sea and land, as a result of improv-

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Friday, June 24, 2016 A5

ing infrastructure and enterprise.

Aiming to hasten this development and ease of movement between natural attractions across the region is Asean Ecotourism Forum being held in the southern Lao center of Pakse from June 22 to 25.

The forum brings together ministers responsible for tourism from across the 10-member group, as well as collected expertise from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, three major markets with increasing potential for ecotourism the region is keen to tap. Speakers from institutions, such as the World Wildlife Fund, the Adventure Travel Trade Association, the Asian Development Bank, the Wildlife Conservation Society and Birdlife International, will attend the forum, alongside representatives of sector operators and regulators from Europe, Latin America and the United States.

The forum will deliberate on the theme: “Asean Without Borders: Roadmap for Strategic Development of Ecotourism Clusters and Tourism Corridors” and is expected to result in the “Pakse Declaration on Asean Roadmap for Strategic Development of Ecotourism” being adopted, to help get visitors to sites across the region more smoothly and effectively to better share the benefits of the growing market. PNA

on Thursday with Myanmar migrant workers in the Thai port of Mahachai, where many work, reprising a similar meeting in 2012 that drew tens of thousands.

She is expected to sign an agreement on Friday with the Thai labor ministry that will slash a “work break” required after four years of labor in Thailand, from three years to 30 days. The three-year requirement means many Myanmar migrant workers would rather stay illegally in Thailand than return home to bleak job prospects for such a long period.

Suu Kyi will also sign a memorandum of understanding on labor cooperation to ensure productive Thai-Myanmar relations on issues of academic cooperation and

1.4M

The estimated number of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand

workers’ skill development.

“For the migrant workers, it will probably bring a positive result for them, as Suu Kyi promised to try to get rights for migrant workers in Thailand, and I think she will try to deal with the Thai government on this,” said Naing Han Thar, vice chairman of the United Nationalities Federal Council and chairman of the New Mon State Party.

Otherwise, it was hard to predict what sort of results her trip would bring, he said.

Suu Kyi was scheduled to visit a refugee camp in the western province of Ratchaburi, bordering Myanmar, but that was canceled due to poor weather, the Thai foreign ministry said.

There are about 100,000 refugees from Myanmar in camps just inside the Thai border, and their eventual repatriation has been discussed for decades. But combat in Myanmar’s ethnic-

controlled border regions has never completely ceased, though there are hopes that with the army out of power, peace can be achieved.

Suu Kyi’s 2012 visit was her first trip abroad in 24 years, with much of that time spent under house arrest under Myanmar’s then-military government. She was freed after a 2010 election—boycotted by her National League for Democracy party—installed a militarybacked government.

Her party swept last year’s general election to take power in March, but she is barred from becoming president because of a constitutional clause that bars anyone with a foreign spouse or child from holding the job. Her two sons are British, as was her late husband. Instead, her party created the post of State Counsellor, putting her in charge of her amenable party colleague, President Htin Kyaw.

Also foreign minister, she made her first official trip in early May to Lao PDR, accompanying Htin Kyaw on a low-key visit.

Her three-day visit to Thailand has more at stake. Besides the migrant and refugee issues, Bangkok is a regional center for the international media keen to scrutinize her.

Suu Kyi displays coolness toward the press at home, and her government is not much more communicative than the military-backed regime it replaced.

Suu Kyi, who won her Nobel prize for her nonviolent promotion of democracy, is being hosted

by Thailand’s markedly undemocratic military junta, and her trip is being tightly scripted, with no chance for the media to question to her, even at a joint press appearance on Friday with Thai Prime Minister General Prayuth Chanocha, where organizers say a joint statement will be read.

One issue overhanging her visit — even if she isn’t directly asked about it— is her government’s treatment of the Rohingyas, a Muslim minority of about 1 million who generally have been deprived of citizenship under Myanmar law and are targets of discrimination and violence.

Many of the country’s Buddhist majority, who typically call them “Bengalis,” say the Rohingya are mostly illegal immigrants and not a native ethnic group when, in fact, many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Rights activists have criticized Suu Kyi for failing to ensure justice for the Rohingya, many of whom live in poor conditions in internal displacement camps after communal violence forced them from their homes. AP

Cambodia to expel Taiwanese scam suspects to China

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ambodia plans to send 21 Taiwanese arrested for suspected fraud to China instead of the selfruled island this Friday, a Cambodian official said. Rights activists and Taiwan say the plan reflects the great influence Beijing exercises over Cambodia through aid and investment.

Gen. Ouk Haiseila, chief of the Interior Ministry’s Immigration Investigation Bureau, said on Wednesday the Taiwanese citizens, along with 14 Chinese also arrested this month, will be sent to China because Cambodia regards Taiwan as part of China.

Those arrested allegedly defrauded victims in China using phone calls made over the Internet, making them harder to trace. Haiseila said the arrests, made in raids in Phnom Penh on June 16 and 18, were made after tipoffs from Chinese authorities.

He said since November some 213 Chinese and Taiwanese have been arrested and deported for similar offenses.

China claims jurisdiction in such

cases, because it says the victims are residents of mainland China. They have said Taiwan doesn’t punish such crimes harshly enough, encouraging others to try their luck at such scams that can potentially lead to massive payouts.

Kenya and Malaysia have also deported Taiwanese Internet-scam suspects to China despite protests by Taiwanese officials.

Taiwanese officials have viewed Beijing’s demands for the fraud suspects as a sign that China is interfering with Taiwanese affairs and exerting its legal authority over the island’s citizens abroad.

The Taipei Times cited the island’s foreign ministry as saying that Beijing pressured Phnom Penh into sending the suspects to China. The ministry was quoted as saying that Taiwanese officials based in Vietnam, who had traveled to Cambodia, were prevented from visiting the suspects.

China is a key ally and economic partner of impoverished Cambodia. China’s influence in Cambodia is considerable,

despite Beijing’s strong backing of the former Khmer Rouge government that caused the deaths of some 1.7 million people in the late 1970s. It has provided millions of dollars in aid to Cambodia over the past decade, agreed to write off debts and granted it tariff-free status for hundreds of items.

“China’s idea of rule of law is getting what it wants when it wants, even if that means running roughshod over human rights—and in the case of Cambodia, it’s found a willing partner which is all too happy to deport people on Beijing’s word without any concern for due-process rights,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division. He cited Cambodia’s expulsion to China of ethnic Uighur asylum-seekers, and Phnom Penh’s alignment with China in the dispute over its territorial claims in the South China Sea as other examples of doing Beijing’s bidding.

He said the group should be allowed to contest the deportations at an impartial hearing. AP

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th 445 A6 Friday, June 24, 2016 | www.businessmirror.com.ph

Of Manila, Pinoy pride and ‘Bourne Legacy’

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By Vernon Velasco

HERE are two things that disabused me of my belief about Manila: Carlos Celdran’s Walk This Way tour and Bourne Legacy.

Because there are things I experienced firsthand far worse than what I used to think I knew about the country’s capital, a far-cry from gritty documentaries portraying it in a way a “filthy and dangerous” place is cut out to be portrayed.

All the lowdown one has to live with around these parts notwithstanding, the tour and the movie hoped to create a moment: the former, because it taught me that, as Celdran puts it, “If you can’t find beauty and poetry in Manila, you’ll never find it anywhere”; the latter, because it taught me the same thing.

I watched Bourne only recently and figured that, set in Manila, it

was not as much a movie as another field day for Pinoy pride. We could not get over seeing Manila on a Hollywood film. We were as exaggerated about our being Filipino as a swooning Aling Dionisia.

What’s all there is to Bourne is all that is Filipino. More than action extraordinaire, what grabbed us by the balls were glimpses of Nagtahan Bridge, the camera-conscious sidewalk vendors, the unseen usiseros, the monumental cameo of Lilia Cuntapay. It’s like seeing yourself on TV. Suddenly, we’re hardcore fans of the Philippines’s dirty look; we reveled on pictorial majesty that is Manila traffic.

On Youtube, one could only

have so much woe to the lead Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz because it couldn’t be more apparent that they’re not the stars of the show.

Instead, the talk in every thread is whether or not the backdrop is a pigsty, or that whether Lou Velozo executed acting well, or that, as one may insist, national police is really as competent in real life.

If there were comments heaped on Jeremy and Rachel, it was the constant inane debate on the latter’s surname being pronounced as “Vice,” and that in a motorcycle-chase scene on the streets of Manila, one said “Lagot ka, Jeremy, wala kang helmet!”

It’s overwhelming how this international exposure makes us take the cudgels for Pinoy pride. Someone who seemed to disown his being Filipino on Youtube after seeing Bourne was threatened with as much barbarity as “abangan ‘yan sa kanto,” and cursed by frenzied swearing netizens.

But one may ask: How does Bourne portraying Manila as shanty city, therefore bad publicity, ratchet up its tourism? A riposte was at the ready: Bourne production team flew in to

shoot a film, not promote our country.

Which reminds me of a BBC

documentary “Worst Place to be a Bus Driver: Manila” a friend had recommended.

What do you know? And where else do you expect public-utility-vehicle drivers to be ill-paid, ill-equipped, illiterate to the point they’re labeled worst but in the Philippines?

Josh, a London bus driver, gets a short spell in Manila to drive a Philippine jeepney and lives the life of Rogelio, his Filipino counterpart.

While he’s soul-searching, he sees along cluttered view of slums what kind of crap we have to live with.

Watching the documentary when you’re Filipino yourself and knowing it had been watched by millions around the world makes us

understand how Africans must have been feeling when associated to world hunger. But be that as it may, I was more uppity than ashamed seeing my country on international TV. Maybe because we’re so over it and have grown hardened seeing poverty every day. Or maybe because, as my friend put it, “We make sense of anything we can take pride in.”

It didn’t occur to me, however, watching Bourne. Inasmuch as one could be lost in translation about why the things we used to hate about the city suddenly appeared glamorous and Hollywood-movie material, what rather occurred to me watching the movie is that Manila, warts and all, is a beautiful place.

Estrada constitutes Manila Anti-Drug Abuse Council

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anila Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada has issued Executive Order No. 10 series of 2016 constituting the City of Manila Anti-Drug Abuse Council (Madac).

In his order dated May 3, 2016, Estrada said the establishment of Madac is mandated by Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Memorandum Circulars 98-227 and 99-235 to coordinate the efforts of all government offices toward fighting illegal drugs.

Estrada said the move is spurred by the recent discovery, raids and arrests by the police on several laboratories and storage facilities of illegal drugs in Manila, which are run by local and foreign suspects.

He added that the rise in criminality necessitates a more aggres-

sive and unified stance against illegal drugs to help ensure peace and harmony in the community.

The Madac is composed of the following: City mayor, chairman; city PNP director, vice-chairman; city administrator, action officer; and the following members: city DILG director, DepEd city division superintendent; DOJ city prosecutor; city DSWD, city health officer, city information officer and city council committee on social welfare chairman; and three representatives from DATE Philippines Associations Inc., Ermita-Malate Business Owners Association and Manila Public Schools Teachers Association.

Its secretariat services will be handled by the NGO Program secretariat of the office of the mayor.

ror Special Feature

nilaDay www.businessmirror.com.ph | Friday, June 24, 2016 A7

Paintings bring back Manila ready for coming floods–Erap Manila rivers to life he upgrading, drainage

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improvement and concreting of streets in Manila have been feverishly implemented by the city’s Engineering Department, thus we expect few flood incidents in the city this rainy season.”

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uring the Philippine International Rivers Summit in 2012, all rivers in Manila were declared dead, contaminated with silt, crude oil, heavy metals, algae and biological wastes.

To raise awareness for Manila’s polluted rivers and tributaries, TBWA collaborated with artists to pro-

This was the assurance made by Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada as he received an updated report on drainage and flood-control projects implemented by the city from Robert Bernardo, city engineer.

“By latest count, we have completed 80 upgrading, concreting and drainage improvement projects since July 2014. There are also 50 more projects already bidded out and in various stages of implementation,” Bernardo said.

First to be completed are 2014 projects in Abucay, Molave, Bagac, Alvarez, Anacleto, Lope de Vega, M. Natividad, T. Mapua, Oroquieta, Diduce artworks. The artists used Dirty Watercolor, custom pigments from the most polluted rivers in Manila.

The polluted water samples were decontaminated through autoclave and concentrated to produce different colors like black, sepia, burnt sienna, gray and brown.

These pigments were used to paint portraits of children and families living along the dead rivers. ABS CBN Foundation, the organization leading the cleanup of polluted waterways in the Philippines, presented the artworks in an exhibit at the Rockwell Center from May 24 to 26.

masalang, Instruccion, Kundiman and Manga street.

Also completed in 2014 are drainage improvement, upgrading and concreting in Coral, Eduque, Paraiso, Malaya, A. Flores, Penafrancia, F. Agoncillo, Escoda, Biyaya, Certeza, F. Manalo, Kahilum, Paco Roman, Revellin, Suter, Syquia, Sarmiento and Remedios street.

Next to be finished are 2015 projects in Sta. Maria St., Fernandez, Leyte, Perfecto, Narcisa Rizal, Corregidor, Yakal, Katamanan, Mayhaligue, Manga, Rosarito, Alley 1642, Reten, Navarra, Miguelin, Juaning, Crisostomo and Calabash Road.

Also finished are projects in

Firmeza, Sisa, San Antonio St. from Paz to Quirino Ave., Nickel St., Trece de Agosto, Perdigon, Liwayway, Teresa, Abdon, Osorio, V. Serrano, Morong, Narra, Padre Algue (two projects), Muelle de Binondo, Laguna St., Prenza, M. de Santos, San Lazaro, Altura, R. Cristobal, J. dela Rosa, M. V. delos Santos, P. Noval, Arellano St. and Interior Pampanga St. in Sunog Apog.

Other road and drainage projects are ongoing in Juan Nolasco St., Concha, Perla, Kagitingan, Maharlika, various alleys in Barangay 112 Zone 9, Alvarado, Mayhaligue, V. Serrano, R. Fernandez, Limay, Batangas St. (two projects), Caballeros, Ipil, Sobriedad, Santander, Rosarito, Casanas, Moret and Eloisa.

Also being readied are projects in G. M. Tolentino, Santisima Trinidad, Antonio St., Alfredo St., Fajardo, P. Campa, P. Paredes, Zapiro, Nakar, P. H. Lim (two projects), Rubi, Magistrado Araullo, Magistrado Imperial, Bagong Panahon, Florante, Cisne, Balagtas, Floresca, Bataan, Antenor, Reposo, Alabasgtro, various alleys in Barangay 108 Zone 9 and Sagrada Familia street.

The World BusinessMirror

A8 Friday, June 24, 2016

IS pushes back in Syria, Iraq and Libya

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EIRUT—Even as internationally backed forces chip away at Islamic State (IS)-held territory in Syria, Iraq and Libya, the militants have demonstrated a stubborn resilience this week in the face of recent losses.

The IS forces dealt an embarrassing setback to the Syrian army near the militants’ self-styled capital of Raqqa with a swift counteroffensive that rolled back incremental gains by troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Pockets of extremist fighters north and west of Fallujah continued to hold off elite Iraqi special forces on Wednesday, preventing them from making significant advances one month after the government launched its campaign to retake the city west of Baghdad.

And in the battle for the Libyan city of Sirte, pro-government forces besieging the IS stronghold were stunned by renewed clashes there, with 36 people killed, a hospital spokesman said.

Just two weeks ago the Islamic State had suffered setbacks in all three countries in the region where the Sunni militant group captured large tracts of territory in Iraq and Syria two years ago.

Seesaw battles raged in Syria’s Raqqa province, with IS fighters retaking areas from government forces on Tuesday. Two days earlier, the Syrian troops briefly seized an IS-held oilfield in Thawra and threatened to retake the Tabqa air base, which would have opened a direct line for troops to the city of Raqqa.

The government began its highly publicized campaign to retake Raqqa on June 2.

On Sunday the troops advanced to within 10 kilometers of the Tabqa base, which is about 45 kilometers from Raqqa and holds strategic and symbolic value for the government.

It was the last position held by government forces in Raqqa province before the militants overran it in August 2014, killing scores of detained Syrian soldiers in a massacre documented on IS video.

The commander of an elite, pro-government militia known as the Desert Hawks explained the government’s rapid withdrawal from large parts of Raqqa province.

“It is vital to understand that [IS] adopted new tactics to fight the Desert Hawks in this area,” retired Gen. Mohamad Jaber said.

Writing on his Facebook page on Tuesday, he said the militants were sending explosives-packed vehicles at the pro-government line, and he predicted the battle for Tabqa would be “harsh and mighty.”

Activists gave conflicting casualty counts for civilians killed in air strikes on the city of Raqqa, with death tolls ranging from 18 to 32. Differing casualty figures are common in reporting from Syria’s civil war, now in its sixth year.

The activists said the Syrian air force, backed by warplanes from its ally, Russia, had pummeled the Islamic State extremists after government losses earlier this week.

The US-led coalition also has been bombing Raqqa. Col. Christopher Garver, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the coalition, told The Associated Press that four air strikes were carried out on Tuesday near Raqqa. They targeted an IS tactical unit, a finance center, a headquarters and an oil facility, Garver said.

He had no reports on casualties.

The activist group known as Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently said at least one of the air strikes targeted a neighborhood popular among “foreign fighters”—militants who have traveled to Syria to fight with the IS group.

In northern Syria US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces encircled IS militants in the town of Manbij, a vital position that connects the Turkish border to Raqqa.

As the Iraqi military offensive to retake Fallujah entered its second month on Wednesday, clashes continued to try to dislodge IS militants from besieged neighborhoods.

Iraqi special forces pushed into the center of the city last week and retook a government compound and the central hospital.

Officials said they are still working to secure the territory.

At the central hospital, Corp. Ahmad Ahmad warned that only parts of the first floor were fully cleared of homemade bombs because teams specializing in defusing the explosives are in short supply and have been mostly deployed to help troops on the front lines.

Ahmad said his forces had not performed house-to-house searches in surrounding buildings, including the Khalifa Mosque along Fallujah’s main highway.

“Right now, we are focusing on clearing the roads,” he said, adding that the painstaking process of searching buildings would require more troops and risk greater casualties. AP

Colombia govt, FARC rebels near peace deal

news@businessmirror.com.ph

briefs

Ex-Speaker Hastert enters prison CHICAGO—Former US House Speaker Dennis Hastert wheeled himself into a federal prison in Minnesota on Wednesday to serve his 15-month sentence in a hushmoney case involving revelations that he sexually abused at least four boys while a high-school wrestling coach in Illinois.

The 74-year-old Republican—one of the highest-ranking US politicians to ever go to prison—arrived around noon at the facility in Rochester where he will be known as Inmate No. 47991-424.

Hastert, who began using a wheelchair after falling ill last year, wore a black shirt and camouflage pants as he wheeled himself into the complex between razorwire fencing. The only person accompanying him was a woman, who followed him carrying crutches, a plastic bag and a small brown box.

Jolene Burdge, the sister of one Hastert victim, said in a phone interview later Wednesday that she never fully believed until Hastert went in that someone as powerful as him would end up behind bars for what he did. AP

Should Venezuela face more economic sanctions?

Cuba’s President Raul Castro (center) stands with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (left) and Timoleon Jimenez, commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in Havana, Cuba, on September 23, 2015. The Colombian government and leftists FARC rebels said on June 22, that they have reached a deal on a bilateral cease-fire that would be the last major step toward ending one of the world’s longest wars. AP/Desmond Boylan

H

AVANA—Colombia will move closer than ever to ending a half-century of bloodshed when its president joins leftist rebels on Thursday in celebrating a cease-fire and disarmament agreement at a dignitarystudded signing ceremony in Cuba.

After more than three years of often prickly negotiations in the Cuban capital, President Juan Manuel Santos’s government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, announced on Wednesday that they had settled the final differences on how 7,000 rebel fighters will demobilize and hand over their weapons once a peace accord is implemented.

Santos’s trip to Havana is a sign that a final deal to end Latin America’s oldest guerrilla war is close. Together with top FARC commander Rodrigo Londono, better known as Timochenko, Santos will unveil details of the disarmament deal at a ceremony attended by UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon, several other Latin American presidents and a US special envoy.

Colombia’s conflict has killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions. But a 15-year, USbacked military offensive thinned rebel ranks and forced FARC’s aging leaders to the negotiating table in 2012.

And in Santos, a US-educated economist and scion of one of Co-

lombia’s richest families, the rebels found a trusted partner who hailed from the conservative elite but wasn’t bound by its prejudices.

Momentum had been building toward a breakthrough after Santos said this week that he hoped to deliver a peace accord in time to mark Colombia’s declaration of independence from Spain on July 20. But the latest agreement went further than expected.

In addition to a framework for the cease-fire, both sides said on Wednesday they agreed on a demobilization plan that will see guerrillas concentrate in rural areas and hand over weapons that had long been the vaunted symbols of their movement’s origins as a self-defense force of peasant farmers attacked by the oligarchy-controlled state.

Negotiators in January agreed on the United Nations being responsible for monitoring adherence to the eventual cease-fire and resolving disputes emerging from the demobilization The presidents of Cuba, Venezuela and Chile, the three nations sponsoring the peace talks in Havana,

were expected to attend Thursday’s ceremony. The Obama administration was sending its special envoy to the talks, Bernard Aronson.

With the latest advance, only a few minor items remain to be worked out for a peace accord. The biggest is how the final deal will be ratified and given legal armor so it won’t unravel should a more conservative government succeed Santos, who leaves office in 2018.

Santos has also promised to let Colombians vote on accepting the final accord in a national referendum, and his government isn’t taking acceptance for granted.

“Tomorrow will be a great day,” Santos tweeted on Wednesday. “We’re working for a Colombia in peace, a dream that’s beginning to become reality.”

A peace deal won’t make Colombia safer overnight.

The proliferation of cocaine has fueled the conflict longer than any other in Latin America and will remain a powerful magnet for criminal gangs operating in Colombia’s remote valleys and lawless jungles.

Colombia is the largest supplier of cocaine to the US and only a small fraction of the country’s 12,000-plus homicides last year had anything to do with the conflict.

There is also the risk that the country’s second rebel movement, the much-smaller but more recalcitrant National Liberation Army, could fill the void left by the FARC. That rebel group agreed to negotiations with the government earlier this year but those talks have yet to start because of Santos’s insistence that it renounce kidnapping But if the FARC honor their commitments and the fighters are successfully integrated back into society, the government could begin shifting resources away from the battlefield

220,000

The number of people killed in the conflict between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

and toward attacking other forms of crime and the crushing poverty and inequality that it feeds on.

One wild card is the posture of critics like popular former President Alvaro Uribe, who spearheaded the military offensive against the FARC last decade. Partly because of his success beating back the FARC, Colombians almost unanimously refer to the rebels as “terrorists.”

Polls say most Colombians can’t muster the thought of seeing rebel leaders behind atrocious war crimes walking the streets freely let alone occupying seats in a democratic congress whose legitimacy the FARC didn’t even recognize until recently.

Uribe refused to comment on Wednesday’s announcement, saying he was waiting for more details.

Others couldn’t hold back their excitement. Leftist Sen. Ivan Cepeda borrowed a phrase from Colombia’s beloved Nobel Prize-winning novelist, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, to compare the prospect of peace to a “second chance on earth.”

“It’s time to rid ourselves of hatred, lies and fears, and build reconciliation among all our compatriots,” Cepeda, one of the government’s most-trusted conduits to the FARC, said on Twitter.

“Peace defeats death.” AP

NYC subway riders report groping, lewd acts

N

EW YORK—A young woman boards a crowded subway in New York City.

As more passengers pile in, a man inches closer and starts grinding his groin against her. The woman knows what’s happening but the train is so packed she can’t get away.

It’s a situation police say plays out hundreds of times a year beneath the nation’s largest city. With subway ridership approaching all-time highs, averaging 5.6 million daily riders, reports of sex crimes are also rising, up nearly 57 percent.

But police say that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s more groping, grinding and lewd acts going on. They instead credit an orchestrated campaign by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to encourage

riders to report sex crimes, including posters and automated announcements in subway stations, a web page for victims to document encounters and a new smartphone app that makes it easier to send in pictures of perpetrators in the act.

Chief Joseph Fox, who commands the New York Police Department’s Transit Bureau, said the campaign was bolstered by more plainsclothes officers, many of them women, looking specifically for subway lewdness, and more assurances that complaints will be taken seriously.

“More people are feeling empowered to report incidents they might’ve just walked away from before,” said Debjani Roy, the deputy director of Hollaback!, an advocacy group that collects accounts of street

harassment. “We hear stories every day of people groped, grabbed, public indecency on the subway.”

Roy said subway crowding is only making the problem worse by creating more opportunities. “They start with a brush,” she said, “and oftentimes the person who is on the receiving end is second-guessing what’s happening.”

New York police say there were 431 reports of sex crimes from lewdness to forcible touching in the subway from mid-2015 to mid-2016, up from 275 over the same period the previous year. There were also 72 more arrests for such crimes over the same period.

Such numbers pale in comparison to transit systems around the world, such as Japan, where nearly 64 percent of women

in their 20s and 30s reported being groped on trains or in transit stations, or India, where the problem has prompted separate cars just for women.

But they were enough to draw the ire of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who sent a letter to the MTA asking the agency to take all the steps it can to increase patrols and work with the police department to “crack down on this sort of depraved behavior.”

Natasha Huang-Smith acted as her own detective last week at the 42nd Street subway station when she encountered a man masturbating on the platform while staring at her. She pretended to be texting with her smartphone but actually recorded the man in the act, evidence she gave to police, as well as posting it on her Facebook page. AP

WASHINGTON—As the crisis in Venezuela escalates, US lawmakers are questioning whether the Obama administration is doing everything it can to improve the situation.

Four witnesses from the administration testified at a hearing on Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In questioning led by subcommittee chairman Rep. Jeff Duncan, RepublicanSouth Carolina, legislators asked what actions the US government is—and should be—taking to alleviate the suffering of the Venezuelan people.

Duncan suggested the United States impose more economic sanctions against Venezuelan government officials directly responsible for human-rights violations. TNS

China schools ordered to remove toxic tracks

BEIJING—Schools across China have been ordered to remove running tracks made from toxic materials that have been blamed for sickening students, in the latest in a long line of product scandals blamed on corruption and weak oversight.

A statement on the Education Ministry’s web site said nationwide inspections by environmental and consumer protection departments have been ordered over the summer school break.

Any track found to be unsafe must be removed, the statement said, while construction of new tracks will be suspended until contractors can be properly vetted to ensure they meet industry standards. AP

Lightning kills 74 people in India PATNA, India—Lightning has killed 74 people, mostly farm laborers working in fields, across eastern and northern India over the past 24 hours, officials said on Wednesday. A majority of the deaths occurred in the eastern state of Bihar, where 57 people died after being struck by lightning, a state official said. At least 24 others were injured when thunderstorms and monsoon rains lashed 14 districts of the state.

Ten people were killed by lightning in neighboring Jharkhand state, six in northern Uttar Pradesh state, and another in Maharashtra, police said.

Bihar disaster management official Vyasji said scores of cattle also perished in the state after being struck by lightning. AP

Homes, gas station damaged as tornadoes hit Illinois CHICAGO—Powerful storms packing multiple tornadoes swept through parts of the Midwest on Wednesday night, damaging homes and a gas station in central Illinois and sending tens of thousands of soccer fans seeking shelter during the Copa America semifinal in Chicago.

Chuck Schoop, emergency manager for Livingston County in central Illinois, said a tornado destroyed the canopy of a gas station and damaged at least four homes in or just outside Pontiac. There were only minor injuries reported, although a couple had been temporarily trapped inside one of the homes, Schoop said. AP

The World BusinessMirror

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Voters decide in Britain’s historic EU referendum

Advocate to exit Europe Boris Johnson poses for a selfie photo with voters during a whistle stop tour of the country on the final day of campaigning before Thursday’s EU referendum vote in Selby, north England, on Wednesday. Andrew Parsons/PA via AP

British Prime Minister David Cameron reacts as he travels on his campaign bus near Bristol, England, on Wednesday. Geoff Caddick/Pool via AP

L

ONDON—Voters in Britain are deciding on Thursday whether the country should remain in the European Union (EU)—a historic vote that has exposed deep divisions over issues of sovereignty and national identity.

More than 46 million people are registered to vote in the referendum, which asks: “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?” The heated campaign saw the nation take stock of its place in the modern world, even as it questioned the direction it wanted to take in the future.

“This is, I’d say, the most important day in the past 20 years, at least for the UK, and the economic consequences of a vote out are huge,” said investment banker Hasan Naqvi outside a London polling station.

“Leave” campaigners claim that only a British exit can restore power to Parliament and control immigration. The “remain” campaign led by Prime Minister David Cameron argues that Britain is safer and richer inside the 28-nation EU. Financial markets have been volatile ahead of the vote, with opinion polls suggesting a tight race.

The pound has surged over the week amid market optimism that uncertainty over the vote would end with a vote to stay. The pound briefly hit $1.48 in overnight trading, the highest level since the beginning of the year.

Turnout is considered critical in the vote, as polling suggested there were a number of undecided voters. A large turnout will favor the “remain” campaign as those who waver at the end tend to go for the status quo.

It was raining heavily in some parts of the country, which could reduce turnout. Downpours and flooding swamped parts of London and southeastern Britain. London’s Fire Brigade received hundreds of calls of weather-related incidents early Thursday, including some reports of flooding and lightning strikes.

Polls are open until 10 p.m.

(2100GMT), with results due early on Friday.

Final Brexit appeals

Brexit’s advocates and opponents made 11th-hour appeals to voters on the eve of the UK’s referendum on EU membership, with opinion polls on the last day of campaigning suggesting the ballot could go either way. Three of four surveys published on Wednesday depicted a contest that’s too close to call, with 2 percentage points or less separating the camps. A fourth poll showed a clear lead for Remain, which is also favored by Britain’s bookmakers.

The pound, which has tended to slide when the Leave campaign showed signs of momentum, extended gains to reach its highest level this year against the dollar.

Cameron targeted the “Leave” campaign’s mantra that quitting the EU would mean “taking control” of policy on issues from the economy to immigration. “We are not shackled to a corpse,” Cameron said.

Former London Mayor Boris Johnson, a leader of the Leave campaign, kicked off a tour of the UK by plane, holding a salmon almost to his lips at the city’s Billingsgate Fish Market—a nod to the island nation.

“This is our last chance to take back control and it’s worth fighting for,” Johnson told Sky News.

Pound gains

Late on Wednesday, as the campaign’s last televised debate unfolded, a poll by ComRes for the Daily Mail and ITV News put the Remain vote on 48 percent, to 42 percent for Leave with 11 percent undecided.

And a YouGov study for the Times had the pro-EU camp ahead 51 percent to 49 percent, after excluding voters who haven’t made up their minds. But earlier on Wednesday,

China, US, EU to tighten product safety in e-commerce

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EIJING—US, European and Chinese regulators say they will jointly enforce product safety in online commerce, and an American official said they are making progress on crafting standards for hoverboards.

The statement on Wednesday by American, European Union(EU) and Chinese officials reflects the rapid growth of international e-commerce, which the officials said “has created new challenges” in protecting consumers from dangerous products.

They pledged to watch online sales more closely, make it easier to track prod-

ucts to their manufacturer and to cooperate in product recalls. They said manufacturers will be encouraged to do more to design safety standards into products.

The US, European and Chinese regulators have held five such meetings since 2008. They began amid scandals over fake or shoddy toothpaste, tires and other goods from China that revealed weaknesses in safety enforcement.

The latest pledge marked the first time such a meeting produced an agreement to “do something concrete,” said the American envoy, Elliot F. Kaye, chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. AP

two online surveys found the Leave campaign ahead by 1 percentage point or 2 percentage points. The pound, which fluctuated with the various polling data, gained above 1.48 against the dollar in late trading and The Bloomberg British Pound Index, which tracks sterling against seven major peers, also advanced.

Leaders of the Group-of-Seven nations will issue a joint statement stressing readiness to take all necessary steps to calm markets should Britain vote to leave the EU, Reuters reported, citing unidentified government officials with direct knowledge of preparations.

The final hours before balloting begins saw a return to intense campaigning by both sides, after a halt last week, following the murder of Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox, a supporter of staying in the EU. “Let’s vote for jobs, let’s vote for rights at work, vote for great opportunities for everyone,” Sadiq Khan, mayor of London and a Remain backer, told a rally of Labour Party supporters in the north of the capital. “This is the fight of our lives. Let’s win this.”

‘May be tight’

Speaking to supporters in central London, UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage invoked Winston Churchill, the Falklands war and cricketer Ian Botham to rally enthusiasm for his vision of a future outside the EU. “It may be tight, it may be narrow, but I believe we are going to win,” Farage said.

From outside the UK, European leaders warned of the consequences of a so-called Brexit one last time.

In Brussels European Commission

46M The number of registered voters

President Jean-Claude Juncker said the referendum result would be final. “Out is out,” he said. “British policy-makers and British voters have to know that there will be no kind of renegotiation.”

“Out is out,” echoed French President François Hollande in Paris. He said there’s a “serious risk” that the UK could lose access to the EU’s common market—putting British exporters at a disadvantage.

The Remain camp has repeatedly cited that as a risk, while Leave has argued that new arrangements can ensure continued trade privileges from outside the EU. In his final campaign event, Cameron urged undecided voters to “put jobs first, put the economy first, put your children’s future first, put our future first as a country.” Anyone in doubt should vote “Remain,” he said at the University of Birmingham.

Speaking at the same event, former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an impassioned plea to voters to back staying in the EU. “The Britain that I know is the Britain of Jo Cox, the Britain where people are tolerant and not prejudiced,” he said. “I want us to take control again so that unity replaces division. We will be no less British as a result of cooperating with our neighbors.” AP and Bloomberg News

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • Friday, June 24, 2016

A9

Rebellious Democrats in all-day sit-in on House floor over guns

W

ASHINGTON—Rebellious Democrats staged an extraordinary all-day sit-in on the House floor on Wednesday to demand votes on guncontrol bills, shouting down Speaker Paul Ryan when he attempted to restore order as their protest stretched into the night.

The stunning and unruly scene was broadcast live to the world from Democrats’ cell phones, feeds picked up by C-SPAN after Republicans shut down the network’s cameras.

The sit-in was well into its 10th hour, with Democrats camped out on the floor stopping legislative business in the House, when Ryan stepped to the podium to gavel the House into session and hold votes on routine business.

Angry Democrats chanted “No bill, no break!” and waved pieces of paper with the names of gun victims, continuing their protest in the well of the House, even as lawmakers voted on a previously scheduled and unrelated measure to overturn a veto by President Barack Obama.

Ryan attempted to ignore the outbursts and announce the business of the day, pounding down his gavel over shouting. “Shame! Shame! Shame!”

Democrats yelled, but Ryan left the lectern and the voting continued. Then Democrats began singing “We Shall Overcome,” still holding up the names of gun victims.

The scene presented a radical, almost shocking departure from the normal orderly conduct of the House. As the night stretched on Republicans signaled plans to push through a bill to deal with the Zika outbreak and then adjourn until after July 4 to shut Democrats down, a plan Democrats furiously denounced as “cowardly.”

Republicans hoped to present themselves as soberly attending to business and Democrats as disruptive.

Democrats said they would stay until Republicans yielded to their demands to hold votes on bills to strengthen background checks and prevent people on the no-fly list from getting guns in the wake of last week’s massacre in Orlando, Florida.

“Are they more afraid than the children at Sandy Hook?” asked Rep. Mike Thompson, Democrat-California, referring to the 2012 shooting that killed 26 people, including 20 elementary schoolchildren, in Newtown, Connecticut. “What is so scary

about having a vote?”

Rep. John Lewis, a veteran civil-rights leader, asked what Congress has done, then answered his own question: “Nothing. We have turned a deaf ear to the blood of innocents. We are blind to a crisis.

Where is our courage?”

Ryan dismissed the protest as “nothing more than a publicity stunt,” and in an interview with CNN, made clear there would be no vote.

“We’re not going to take away a citizen’s constitutional rights without due process,” he said.

The protest began around 11:30 a.m., interrupted briefly when Rep. Ted Poe, Republican-Texas, tried to start the House’s work at noon. The customary prayer and Pledge of Allegiance went ahead, but Poe was forced to recess the House when dozens of Democrats refused to leave the well.

By evening, 168 House Democrats— out of 188—and 34 Senate Democrats joined the protest, according to the House minority leader’s office. One after another, they spoke of the need for gun control and talked of constituents who had been killed.

Scattered around the House floor were signs reading “Disarm Hate.” Visitors watched from the galleries. A crowd of several hundred gun-control advocates gathered outside the Capitol and cheered as Democrats addressed them.

Congress remains gridlocked over gun control, a divide even more pronounced in a presidential election year. The sit-in had the feel of a 1960s-style protest, as some lawmakers sat on the floor, others in their seats.

Republicans had staged a similar protest in 2008. Democrats controlling the House at the time turned off the cameras amid a GOP push for a vote to expand oil and gas drilling. Republicans occupied the floor, delivering speeches after thenSpeaker Nancy Pelosi sent the House on its August recess. Pelosi ordered the cameras turned off.

Republicans ultimately forced the drilling provision to be attached to a stop-gap spending bill.

C-SPAN, a cable and satellite network that provides continual coverage of House and Senate floor proceedings, does not control the cameras. They’re run on authorization by legislative leaders. AP

A10 Friday, June 24, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

It is time for the nuclear discussion

W

hen you go beyond all the feel-good and meaningless rhetoric about “The Environment,” maintaining a sustainable and habitable world that does not look like a Mad Max movie is complex.

The Sierra Club is an environmental organization in the United States founded in 1892. The group has done an admirable job in the last 100 years to make people aware and actually get laws passed to protect the environment from overuse and abuse. However, things are more complicated in the 21st century.

The Sierra Club has its “Beyond Coal,” “Beyond Natural Gas” and “Beyond Oil” campaigns. That does not leave much else to produce electricity. And, of course, “The Sierra Club remains unequivocally opposed to nuclear energy.”

But it was not always that way.

The Sierra Club would like to forget what its position was on nuclear energy not too long ago. In 1966 David Siri, the executive director of the Sierra Club, wrote: “Nuclear power is one of the chief long-term hopes for conservation.”

Even more recently in 1983, famed nature photographer and Sierra Club Director Ansel Adams said, “Nuclear energy is the only practical alternative that we have to destroying the environment with oil and coal.”

California is shutting down its last nuclear power-generating facility. The Diablo Canyon plant produces about 6 percent of California’s power needs and more than double all of the state’s solar panels combined. And California has a lot of solar panels, thanks to large government financial subsidies.

Reliable and inexpensive electricity is vital for a nation’s economic growth.

The Philippines must look to an “all-of-the-above” approach, even as we move from coal-fired generation plants. Solar and wind must both be part of the equation. But so might nuclear power.

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is still fresh on people’s minds.

But that disaster was inevitable from the day that facility was planned. Built at the wrong location and subject to design changes that put emergency generators supplying cooling water not high enough above ground level caused the disaster; not the inherent dangers of any power plant.

France has 58 running nuclear facilities supplying 75 percent of that nation’s power. China has 33 nuclear-power reactors in operation, 21 under construction and more in planning stages. Nuclear-power capacity worldwide is increasing steadily, with over 60 reactors under construction in 15 countries. South Korea has 25 units in operation, three under construction and eight planned. India has 21 units producing electricity, six more under construction, has plans for 22 more. Even in Southeast Asia, Vietnam plans six; Thailand is planning five reactors; Malaysia wants two; and Indonesia is looking at five nuclear plants.

To say that the Philippines is incapable of building and operating even one nuclear facility is also to say that the nation is incapable and incompetent. We cannot address our massive poverty issue, which depends in large part, both directly through low-cost home electricity and also for manufacturing. It is time to have a serious discussion about nuclear power based on fact and not emotional myths and hysteria.

Since 2005

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‘Tempus fugit’ James Jimenez

spox

A

s with a lot of things, the upcoming Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections aren’t being talked about much yet because they’re not going to be held tomorrow. Nevertheless, tempus fugit and all that, and before you know it, the elections will have snuck up on us again and everyone will be complaining about how little they know about it.

So for the benefit of those forward looking enough to be thinking of these things now, here are some of the most frequently asked questions about the Sangguniang Kabataan elections under Republic Act 10742.

Q: Who are eligible to vote for the SK elections?

A: All citizens of the Philippines residing in the barangay for at least six months, who are at least 15 years

old but not more than 30 years of age, and who are duly registered in the list of the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Needless to say, the Comelec will be conducting continuing registration as early as the second half of July, for this very purpose.

Q: When should we expect the election for SK to be held?

A: Under Section 32 of the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act of 2015, the SK elections will be

synchronized with the barangay elections, and be subsequently held every three years thereafter. With the Comelec looking at the end of October for the barangay elections, it’s a pretty safe bet that the SK elections will be held on the same day, subject to the same election calendar. Which, incidentally, means that there will also be a gun ban and a liquor ban.

Q: What are the qualifications of an official of the Sangguniang Kabataan?

1. Must be a citizen of the Philippines; 2. Must be a resident of the barangay for not less than one year immediately preceding the day of the elections; 3. Must be at least 18 years but not more than 24 years of age on the day of the elections; 4. Able to read and write Filipino, English, or the local dialect; 5. Must not be related within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to any incumbent elected regional, provincial,

city, municipal, or barangay official in the locality where he or she seeks to be elected; and 6. Must not have been convicted by final judgment of any crime involving moral turpitude.

It is interesting to note that, although the SK electorate can be as old as 30, SK officials cannot be older than 24. This makes perfect sense because you need to be at least 18 to enter into contracts—a perennial complaint against the old SK system, which had SK chairman below the age of consent.

Note also the strong antidynasty flavor of these qualifications—particularly No. 5, which effectively prohibits sons and daughters of incumbent officials from running for SK. Once again, this seems to be largely a response to accusations that the old SK system was nothing more than a playpen for dynasts. It’ll be enlightening to see how this plays out.

James Arthur B. Jimenez is director of the Commission on Elections’s Education and Information Department.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Taking the leap: From the corporate world to entrepreneurship Niña Terol

Women Stepping UP

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t Business and Professional Women (BPW) Makati, we see the value of converging and connecting in order to share stories, learn from each other’s experiences and expand our respective networks. Since the beginning of the year, we have been collaborating with A Space Manila on a monthly series of “Women Wednesdays” events that feed both our minds and our souls.

For the month of June, and with the theme of independence in mind, we decided to tackle the precarious shift in which many career women sometimes find themselves: that of shifting from the corporate world to entrepreneurship. There are many prevailing myths around entrepreneurship and the “freedom to be your own boss,” and our three speakers candidly shared both the risks and the rewards of this often-tricky, but always-empowering path.

Camille Basa, owner of CrossBow Communication Services and business development manager of Globex Properties Philippines, was once a marketing executive for one of the largest multinational health, wellness and nutrition companies in the world. She also lived and work in Singapore for a few years, before coming back to the Philippines to establish her own firm.

Ma. Rosario “Ito” Gruet, cofounder of Computer Professionals Inc. (CPI) and one of the leaders of the Philippine Software Industry Association, started out in information technology (IT) and project management roles in the insurance industry, building up over 25 years of experience in various areas of software development. After cofounding CPI, she led the team that developed an integrated nonlife-insurance system that has since been widely adapted by the Philippine insurance market.

Also an IT wizardress, Dinah Salonga is cofounder and managing director of SQL*Wizard Inc., an IT solutions and services company focusing on Oracle technology. According to her, she was “Employee No. 1 of Oracle in the Philippines,” having worked with the company from 1991 to 1996. After founding the companies SQL*Wizard Inc. and its affiliate, dB Wizards, Dinah was named one of the “10 Outstanding Entrepreneurs for 2007” by Entrepreneur Magazine. Aside from her outstanding credentials in the IT industry, Dinah is also a certified Hot Yoga and Yin Yoga instructor and coowns the yoga studio Yoga+.

Our workshop participants noted that all three women had these things in common: n Passion: All three women decided to build something of their own, doing something they love.

There are many challenges to being an entrepreneur, but they enjoy the process, as well as the outcomes, because of their passion for the field. n Single-mindedness: Passion isn’t enough to sustain a business, however, and it’s actually purpose that gets you farther. All three speakers expressed a very clear purpose for making the shift to do what they do now. Beyond the “what” and the “how,” they know why they decided to take on the risks to establish their own ventures. n Grit: Camille, Ito and Dinah all had their own battles to contend with, and they had the determination and the persistence to keep on going even when times were tough.

They knew that rejections weren’t personal, that there were always other opportunities to pursue.

But they also knew which battles to fight, and when to give way and let things go. n Support: All three talked

about having a support system composed of family, friends and loved ones. This kind of support structure is also one that BPW Makati hopes to nurture, through a network of inspired individuals that others can also draw inspiration from.

When asked about “the greatest thing that kept [them] going” through the transition period, and through the tough times of entrepreneurship, here’s what they shared: “It’s a lot of self-mastery and self-awareness. Am I really that persistent? Is it time? Is it something I want to do?” Camille talked about the early questions in her head. “Do all the scenarios in your head of how bad it could get. Fight the battle in your head already, so when you do get there, like when you’re trying to…close accounts, it’s really not personal.”

“When you know yourself… there’s that confidence [that] whatever the outcome is… it doesn’t have anything to do with how good or bad you are as a person. You have to be firm and strong on the inside. But, of course, you also have to cut yourself some slack. Take time out, give yourself breaks.”

Ito talked about her personal-support system. “It also helped that we [in our team at CPI] have supportive husbands. They saw we were having so much fun. That was the most important factor. We always try to look at everything on the lighter side. You will always hurdle if you are positive.

‘There’s always a solution to every problem,’ that is our motto.”

Meanwhile, for Dinah, “It’s very important that the business you are getting into is something that you like. The money comes because you’re doing what you love and you’re putting your heart and soul into it.”

However, she also cautioned the idealists in the audience: “As an entrepreneur, don’t think that everything will always be good. You will always make mistakes. It is a lifelong learning process, but the beauty is you can always change because you dictate your strategy. “ But what about the rewards of entrepreneurship? According to Dinah, “Oh, times are always hard!

As an entrepreneur…I feel that what keeps me going is always believing in what I do. Whether it’s in IT or in yoga, I see the value. When we implement a system and it’s successful and the customer is happy, that is the reward. When I see one of our [yoga] students suddenly getting it [and saying], ‘Oh my God, yoga is saving me, I don’t take medicine anymore, I can sleep better,’ that’s the reward.”

Dinah concluded, “So even when you have difficult times and you hear these stories, it makes [all the challenges] worth it.” For us at BPW Makati, we couldn’t agree more.

To learn more about how BPW Makati supports current and aspiring entrepreneurs and to be part of the BPW Makati network, e-mail bpw.makati@gmail.com.

Niña Terol heads corporate affairs for McCann Worldgroup Philippines, the leading multinational marketing communications firm in the Philippines. Terol is a member of Business and Professional Women Makati, a nonprofit organization aligned with the United Nations Women Empowerment Principles.

Achieving La Niña Tito Genova Valiente

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am not about to join the fray. Everyone, by this time, knows the story about a beauty contestant interpreting “La Niña” as the positive opposite of “El Niño,” that extreme weather condition that brings about heat and drought, and many other climatic conditions.

The fact is the two are extreme opposites—the dry and the wet.

When news items go viral, one should not examine the content as much as one looks at the form of response to it. We are what we blog, tweet and comment on Facebook. We are those rants and more.

Savagely interesting is the fact that we do laugh without knowing the joke. Those who laugh at the beauty contestant rhapsodizing at the trees expected to bring about La Niña, were laughing at how she paused between “La” and “Niña,” and not at what she was proposing. The fact is some people were not sure about the impact of La Niña and the correlation about the planting of trees. Exotic was the answer, but somebody announced the joke and everybody laughed. Ask the people why it is called El Niño and they will look at the sky as if summoning some spirits.

The fact of the matter is that the contestant’s error was not the funny part of the evening. The thing that should tickle us is how we seriously

take beauty contestants and, for that matter, the brains of beauty contestants. The old adage remains: Beauty is its own excuse for being.

We should terminate this tradition

Friday, June 24, 2016 A11

that beauty contestants should excel in recitation, a graded one at that.

The loud laughter echoing at the dream to achieving stormy weather reminds us of another beauty contest in the past where people laughed at a woman named Venus for saying “major, major.” Anyone who clarified how there was nothing wrong with repeating words or modifiers was like a voice in wilderness. Over the radio and TV, everyone would mutter “major, major” and everyone would be swathed with this feeling of security over someone who went into palilogia, or that device that allows one to repeat a word, for rhetorical purposes.

Wasn’t it John Keats who said: “Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed your leaves....”

While we are talking about the terrible, terrible wrath of nature, then, perhaps, it is best to start disabusing ourselves of the many beauty titles we have on record. The title “Miss International” can be tolerated, but when we start claiming how we have three Miss Universes in our midst, then it is time to look at the SES or socioeconomic statuses of our towns and cities.

The titles that these girls win are just that, titles. Wouldn’t it be wiser to join contests where one can win Miss China or Miss China Sea? Now, this is ownership, even if only in the silly pageant sense of the word till the deluge overtakes us, because we have already achieved wetness.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com.

Building on the economic gains of the P-Noy administration Alvin P. Ang

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EAGLE WATCH

he meeting between the incoming administration’s economic managers and the country’s businessmen this week is a brilliant strategic move to start the administration at a high note. This approach is similar to the highly consultative process implemented during the Ramos administration in the 1990s. It looks like this will be the first among the many possible consultative meetings across sectors and industries.

What is interesting is that the new administration is still two weeks away from formally assuming their portfolio, but they are already working ahead. This move has undoubtedly propped the local stock-market index, which hit a 13th month high on account of three consecutive days of increases above 1 percent and strongly supported by foreign buying.

Are we in for a much better economy in the next six years? It would be interesting to look at the 10-point agenda of the incoming government and the specific 10-point proposals of the business sector. In general, the 10-point agenda is a statement of continuity and finding ways to build better. There is no doubt that the Aquino administration has helped bring the economy into a higher growth path. The economy experienced the lowest inflation and lowest interest-rate environment in decades. This is validated by the investment grade accorded to the country by the different rating agencies. The investment grade

is a big challenge to the incoming government. They are pressured not only to sustain it, but to surpass it in the coming years. Related to this, the plan to increase the expenditures on infrastructure to 5 percent of GDP actually requires the government to set aside about one-third of its budget for this. Coupled with the expected lowering of tax rates, the natural implication of these strategies is that the government will most likely be increasing deficit spending.

This will be a good time to do that, especially as the investment grade ensures that international borrowing rates will be lower and affordable.

Meanwhile, the focus on rural areas is a response to the weak trickle down effect of the current growth process.

This is a good approach to being intentional in making inclusivity work.

The continuation of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) and current education policies, and thrust in science and technology ensure that investment in human capital will remain key priorities in the next six years.

What is interesting is that the new administration is still two weeks away from formally assuming their portfolio but they are already working ahead. This move has undoubtedly propped the local stock-market index, which hit a 13th month high on account of three-consecutive days of increases above 1 percent and strongly supported by foreign buying.

The business sector is equally upbeat with its set of proposals to sustain the growth. Among the notable suggestion is the national ID system. This is an efficiency-enhancing measure that have been suggested from the time of then-President Fidel V. Ramos.

Undoubtedly, this can help facilitate many of the government processes, including issuance of basic identifications and the doing away of too many independent government IDs. This is also useful in targeting mechanisms for government programs, such as the CCT and senior citizens’ benefits, among others.

The concerns on streamlining the business processes and permits will require that local governments will have to step up in the mold of Davao City. The national government, through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), has been working on improving the cost of doing business and a lot of processes have already been standardized.

However, a lot of local government units still are not fully compliant in many of these. Other proposals are focused on infrastructure improvement, particularly at the rural areas and agriculture and support on

Why the Fed’s stress tests aren’t credible

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or the sixth year in a row, the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) is conducting stress tests to see whether the country’s largest banks can withstand a severe crisis. If only the results, to be announced this week and next, were more useful.

At first glance, the tests are pretty tough. The Fed’s worst-case scenario subjects 33 banks to a deep recession, in which the unemployment rate doubles, stock-prices plunge about 50 percent, interest rates turn negative and—for the eight banks with the largest trading

operations—a top counterparty defaults. To prevent banks from gaming the exercise, the Fed has even sought to keep them guessing about how exactly it will calculate their losses.

Yet, the simulation is a far cry from what happens in a real crisis.

It doesn’t fully capture how contagion can afflict many of a bank’s counterparties at once, magnifying losses many times over. It also assumes that a thin minimum layer of equity capital—just $4 per $100 in assets —would be

enough to maintain the market’s confidence in a bank’s solvency.

These flaws make a passing grade almost meaningless.

Improvement is within reach.

More advanced network analysis, such as that used by the Bank of Canada, can do a better job of addressing contagion effects. And to its credit, the Fed plans to increase the amount of capital required for the largest banks to pass the tests.

Higher capital levels would be a net benefit to the economy and could allow other regulations to be

industry development, among others. What may be missing from the business-sector side is the level of investment commitment that they are willing to commit to make rural development happen. Their proposals are mostly strategies rather than focus on specific areas. The current DTI and Board of Invesments (BOI) have already worked hard with specific industries on road maps. There is no need to reinvent these road maps and they just need to be implemented and supported by the business groups.

Other key proposals, such as continuity of contracts, removal of bottlenecks, comprehensive tax reform and removal of congressional franchises for telecoms, have already been addressed by the incoming economic team as part of their reform agenda. What may have figured prominently in the meeting was the announcement of incoming Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade of the need for emergency powers to address the traffic problem in Metro Manila. It would be good to look also beyond National Capital Region as traffic has been the regular fare in many urban areas around the country. The proposal of the business sector on improving transport infrastructure is also related to this. This is critical, because one of the frustration that the citizens have continually been experiencing is traffic and by putting this on top of the immediate agenda shows how willing this government is in responding to the needs of the people. This can assure people that the new administration is bent not just on building, but certainly in making their lives better, and we hope that this is sustained and made better in the next six years.

simpler, while also helping to compensate for the errors of a highly uncertain exercise.

The stress tests will never be perfect, particularly in a financial system so opaque and interconnected that some risks defy estimation. As long as regulators do what’s needed to make them more credible, however, the tests can be a useful prod to bankers to think about what happens when things go wrong—for their own sake and for that of the economy as a whole.

Bloomberg View

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www.businessmirror.com.ph

Pampanga LGUs, bizmen laud China offer to build Clark-Manila railway Pernia. . .

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at least in agriculture—coconut oil and bananas—then electronics. We need to diversify out of those things,” Pangilinan said.

Dr. Pernia—surmising that this was in reference to continuously support mineral exports, especially in light of the controversy of antimining advocate Gina Lopez’s being given the helm of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)— assured, “Let me tell you that, well, a single Cabinet member doesn’t make a Cabinet.”

Pernia said in terms of policy, he intends to be consultative with the business sector, such as which exports the Philippines needs to strengthen and which areas of manufacturing are in dire need of investments.

Aside from opening dialogue with businessmen, Pernia conceded that the DENR could be split, a separate office to handle natural resources from environmental concerns.

To this, MVP acknowledged the US operates such a model and it could be “something that we could look at.”

Pangilinan, also the chairman of Philex Mining, expressed the sentiment amid the plunge of

mining and oil shares, instigated by Lopez’s acceptance of the DENR post on Wednesday.

Pernia, likewise, pacified businessmen concerned with the rumored plan of incoming Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael V. Mariano to distribute lands for free to poor farmers.

“I am aware of the orientation of Rafael Mariano. But again, he is just one of the many Cabinet [members] and we have many in the Cabinet who are not too excited about the agrarian-reform program, including myself. So we are certainly going to try to temper his enthusiasm about what he plans to do,” he said.

Other distinguished panelists, such as USPS Director Tessie Sy-Coson stated the need to still support the services, especially as the business-process outsourcing sector and OFWs are still the two engines of growth for the economy.

A trustee of the Makati Business Club, Guillermo D. Luchangco, similarly expressed the hope that services won’t lag behind manufacturing and agriculture, and that the Duterte administration could strike a balance on accelerating both. Catherine N. Pillas

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By Ashley Manabat | Correspondent

NGELES CITY—Local chief executives, led by Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, as well as leaders in the business community, welcomed China’s offer to build the Manila-Clark railway system, as announced by President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte at a recent forum in Davao City.

“That’s a welcome development,” Pamintuan said.

In his Facebook post, Pamintuan also said the Manila-Clark railway should have been finished a long time ago if not for the Aquino administration’s vengeful attitude.

“Dapat noon pa tapos ang rail na yan…puro venganza alam ng dating administrasyon,” Pamintuan said in his Facebook post.

Mabalacat City Mayor Marino Morales also lauded the ManilaClark railway system, saying it will bring progress not only to Clark but also to the whole province of Pampanga and Central Luzon region. “ T he Manila- Clark railway would be a catalyst for development in the region, which is in pursuit of President-elect Duterte’s advocacy of developing the countryside,” the Mabalacat mayor said.

Morales also said the ManilaClark railway would hasten the development of the Clark airport.

Vice Chairman Rene Romero of

Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PamCham) welcomed China’s offer, saying this will spur development in the countryside.

He said PamCham has been advocating to decongest Metro Manila.

The Manila-Clark railway would contribute to that advocacy, he added.

Also on Facebook, businessman Marco Nepomuceno said rich countries do not want their neighbors to be poor because then they could not afford to buy the output of their numerous factories. Like the US, China wants the citizens of the Philippines and other developing countries to have more purchasing power and expendable income.

“Like in Africa, where there are many Chinese investments, so [there should be], too, in the Philippines,” he added.

Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) President Emigdio Tanjuatco III said any plan to build infrastructure in support to the Clark airport is always a welcome

Narrowing gap. . . than what they desire.

He said giving the poor more access to contraceptives will also allow them to make larger investments on their children’s health and education.

This will allow them to have a better chance of avoiding the poverty trap.

Pernia added that better education and health will make children of poor households more productive members of the labor force. This will allow the country to reap the so-called demographic dividend.

“I’d like to note that the business community has been talking about the demographic sweet spot. Actually, we haven’t reached that because of our lack of attention or the lack of implementation of the RH law, which has been passed a couple of years back,” Pernia said.

“That demographic sweet spot does not entail quantity, more quality.

It’s important that children, the youth, the dependent population are given

Aquino. . .

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Palacios noted, however, that the future chief of the agency will have to do three things to make the program sustainable and successful.

“One lesson is to follow the best practices developed for Philippine PPPs, which we are seeking to institutionalize through the PPP Act,” he said.

The outgoing administration has been pushing for the bill to be passed into law, as this concretizes the learnings of the agency from previous hiccups in implementing deals under the program.

Such a piece of legislation, which essentially is the amendment of the buildoperate-transfer law, however, is now at the mercy of the next set of lawmakers, as the 16th Congress failed to pass the bill into law.

When approved, the PPP Act will institutionalize the Project Development and Monitoring Facility, the PPP Governing Board and the contingent liability fund.

The proposed amendments include the separation of regulatory and commercial functions of governmentowned and -controlled corporations

development. He called the offer of Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua to Duterte as a positive development that will help spur economic growth at the air transport hub.

“It’s a welcome development.

Any plan to improve the connectivity between Manila and Clark is always a positive sign for the development of Clark. CIAC also proposes the construction of a rail to the North [Luzon] and a cargo rail to Subic,” he said.

Tanjuatco explained that it would also be better if a railway system from Clark to Northern Luzon will be built, because Clark’s catchment basin is Northern Luzon.

Tanjuatco said a railway system between Clark and the provinces in Northern Luzon is needed to help the air hub realize its full potential.

“A railway system would be a huge factor to improve the transportation in Northern Luzon,” he said.

Manila-Clark railway system, he added, will help Clark in capturing the market in Metro Manila, and not solely rely on passengers

from the north. He explained that this endeavor would also benefit overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East, since most of them are residing in the North and Clark airport caters to Middle East flights.

Clark is host to local and foreign airlines. Duterte had previously said his dream legacy would be to build train lines across the country.

It can be recalled that, during the campaign, Duterte had mentioned he would accept such train systems from China in exchange for agreeing to a joint exploration of the disputed South China Sea (West Philippine Sea). Duterte clarified that this recent offer from China did not come with talks on the maritime dispute. He asked the businessmen attending the Davao forum if they can match the Chinese offer.

“Can you match the offer? Because if you cannot match the offer, I will accept the goodwill of China.

My job is to see to it that the people are comfortable.”

With Krysten Mariann Boado

The Manila-Clark railway would be a catalyst for development in the region, which is in pursuit of President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte’s advocacy of developing the countryside.”—Morales

Apart from focusing on population, the next administration will also give ample attention to the creation of “innovative statistics.”

These innovative statistics, Pernia said, will allow the country to evaluate its policies and monitor the government’s progress in terms of wealth distribution.

In this regard, Pernia added that he will instruct the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to create new metrics that will allow the measurement of the trickle-down effect of economic growth.

“That metric has to be developed.

It’s not going to be easy, because it [entails] merging the National Income Accounts with the Family Income and Expenditure Survey, so it’s not that

easy,” Pernia said.

Data obtained by the BusinessMirror earlier from the PSA showed that the ratio of the richest Filipinos—those at the top 10 percent of the income bracket—and the poorest, or bottom 10 percent, is 11.35 percent.

Reducing income inequality is part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 10, which aims to reduce inequality within and among countries by 2030. SDG 10 aims to “progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the population at a rate higher than the national average.”

In the Philippines the ratio of the income of the top 10 percent and the bottom 10 percent declined by 0.72 percentage points, from 12.07 percent posted in the first semester of 2012.

Nonetheless, poverty reduction may have been faster under the previous administration, since the decline in the ratio of the income of the top 10 percent and bottom 10 percent in the first semester of 2009 was larger, at 1.05 percentage points.

and create a list of projects called “projects of national significance.”

By virtue of being included on the list of projects of national significance, projects will be “insulated” from local laws, among others by local government units (LGUs).

The proposed amendments also include allowing time-bound temporary restraining order and the extension of the period for Swiss Challenge to six months from the current two-month period.

Also, the said piece of legislation will give the executive director of the PPP Center a fixed tenure and will, likewise, make the said body a voting member of the Investment Coordination Committee and the Cabinet Committee of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Palacios said the next government must also conduct feasibility studies with the right set of experts to easily market deals to the private sector “Another lesson is to get the right experts to do a proper feasibility study during project preparation,”Palacios said.

There were several deals that had to undergo a second round of procurement due to their commercial inviability. For example, no party submitted a bid for the P122.8-billion deal to construct the

Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike.

Interested groups said they have three issues on the project: economic viability, problems with connectivity and the complexity of the deal.

By getting the right set of experts in reviewing infrastructure deals before launching them, the government may avoid seeing such a misfortune.

The third point, Palacios said, is to hold “early engagements” and market soundings with all the stakeholders that will be involved in infrastructure deals. With this, issues, such as the lack of engagement with LGUs and business groups, may be dodged.

“We look forward to briefing the new PPP team, and sharing lessons learned for faster implementation of PPP projects. From preparation, approval, bidding and implementation of PPP projects, the Philippines is one of the fastest in Asean, the most improved in Asia-Pacific, and on a par with developed countries like United Kingdom and Australia,” he said.

Since the program’s launch in 2010, the government has awarded 12 projects with a cumulative worth of P217.4 billion. There are still several projects under the program that are currently under procurement.

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quality healthcare and education [for them] to be better prepared to enter the work force,” he added.

Innovative statistics