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PHL sets sail for sea safety By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

Part One

ARIA Rona Legatub, 25, only makes the bare minimum to see her family in Samar twice a year—a week spent along the shores near their home during summer, and another tucked in together in a small thatched house during Christmas. She has been in Manila for more than eight years now, working as a helper for a family of five in Quezon City. Barely legal when she left for the big city, she found herself searching for odd jobs just to help her family in Samar. Earning below the minimum wage but with benefits, Legatub said she can only afford to visit her family at most twice a year. She travels by sea to save whatever she can to bring more gifts for her three sisters and a baby brother. “I always take the ferry because it’s much cheaper than flying. I think it’s a luxury to book for an airplane ride. The money that I will spend on airline ticket can buy more clothes and school supplies for my siblings,” Legatub said. Cheapest regular one-way airfare to Calbayog costs roughly $110. The cheapest ferry ride is only a fraction of it, about $35

This undated photo shows Bohol underwater. Data from the Maritime Industry Authority of the Philippines showed traveling by sea has been safer in the past decade. Stephanie Tumampos

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Continued on A2

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Monday, June 26, 2017 Vol. 12 No. 256

Peza to Senate: Don’t tinker with incentives for locators

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie & Catherine N. Pillas @c_pillas29

he Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) will ask the Senate to retain incentives for foreign locators, such as value-added tax (VAT) exemption for purchases of locally made inputs.

Peza Director General Charito B. Plaza said maintaining incentives offered by the attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry will continue to make the Philippines an attractive investment destination.

“We don’t want any changes [in the provision of incentives] because President Duterte has invited investors all over the world to come to the Philippines so more jobs will be created,” Plaza said.

₧2.2T The additional amount needed by the Duterte administration for its socioeconomic programs

In a chance interview with reporters recently, Plaza added she will oppose the removal of the zero-rate VAT exemption when the Senate begins its deliberation on the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP). “In the version approved by the House of Representatives, the VAT exemption for local purchases was removed. The bill indicated that the VAT will be refunded within 90 days,” Plaza said. See “Peza,” A2

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Dissecting PPP Contracts #1: Step-in rights PPP Lead Alberto C. Agra

hen a government agency and a private-sector proponent (PSP) enter into a formal, often, long-term arrangement, the ultimate aim is to provide a public service. So it would be to the best interest of everyone, parties and nonparties alike, project lenders included, if the contract will be operative up to the time the stated period expires. However, as history will teach us, glitches, to put it mildly, occur midstream. Public-private parnertship (PPP) contracts have been terminated, guarantees called upon, traffic projections become useless, tariff adjustments not realized, and the PSP performs below par. Continued on A15

TEO’S TIP TO PHL TOUR Bidding terms for 250,000 MT of rice GUIDES: TELL THE STORY imports under G2P out soon–NFAC OF YOUR DESTINATIONS The target is to ensure shipment starts By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

here is a great Filipino story in every local destination. Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo enjoined tour guides and other members of the travel and tourism sector to tell these great stories behind the country’s diverse destinations—highlighting the rich Filipino heritage, culture, traditions and values. She made this appeal at the recent Eight National Tour Guides Convention and General Assembly, held at Hotel Jen in Manila. “Go beyond the usual training on customer service. Tour-guide training should be able to em-

₧1.2M T The Department of Tourism’s allocation for its threepronged training program for tour guides, which covers a regional tour-guiding course, continuing education and community-guiding seminar

power all of you on how to tell the story of your destinations. You know your destinations better, and these stories must come from you. Take ownership of these stories,” she said. See “Tour guides,” A2

PESO exchange rates n US 50.3270

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he National Food Authority Council (NFAC) has recently approved the terms of reference for the bidding of rice imports under the government-toprivate sector (G2P) scheme. In a text message to the BusinessMirror, Office of the Cabinet Secretary Spokesman Jonas George S. Soriano said the NFAC has green lighted the terms of reference (TOR) for the G2P, which is scheduled to deliver rice imports on the last week of July. “The TOR was already approved. It is just awaiting publication in at least three newspapers,” Soriano said. Soriano added the NFAC has divided the 250,000 metric tons (MT) of rice imports into 10 lots. “The target is to ensure shipment

arriving by the end of July in batches of 25,000 MT.”—Soriano starts arriving by the end of July in batches of 25,000 MT.” However, Soriano said he cannot yet determine when the bidding will begin, owing to the difficulty of getting the private sector to participate in the process. “The shipments will really depend on the process and I know the NFA [National Food Authority] is moving heaven and earth to make sure the deadline is met,” he added. According to government officials, the country’s buffer stock is now down to six days, lower than the 15-day requirement of the Legislative-Executive Development

Advisory Council (Ledac). The NFA is mandated to maintain a buffer stock of 15 days at any given time and 30 days at the onset of the lean months in July. NFA Spokesman Marietta J. Ablaza confirmed to the BusinessMirror the NFA’s rice stockpile is short of the Ledac requirement. “Yes, the buffer stock is six days to last.” On top of this, Ablaza said the NFA has yet to receive the TOR for the bidding of the rice imports under the G2P, which will beef up the buffer stock in time for the lean months. “We are still waiting for the [NFAC] resolution

approving the terms of reference for the bidding of the 250,000 MT NFA importation,” she said. In May President Duterte, in a policy shift, has adhered to the recommendation of the NFAC to import rice following the depletion of the NFA’s rice stockpile. The NFAC has approved the importation under the G2P and minimum access volume schemes to aug ment the buffer stock for the lean months of July to September, when rice harvest is significantly lower. The NFAC has opted to veer away from the traditional governmentto-government (G2G) scheme, as it is prone to corruption since it is exempt from government procurement. The council said it has decided to import rice under the G2P, which it deemed to be “more competitive, least corrupt and transparent”.

n japan 0.4521 n UK 63.8297 n HK 6.4536 n CHINA 7.3612 n singapore 36.2091 n australia 37.9516 n EU 56.1398 n SAUDI arabia 13.4184

Source: BSP (23 June 2017 )

BMReports BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, June 26, 2017

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PHL sets sail for sea safety one-way. “It might be cheaper, but it’s stressful,” she recalled. From her employer’s home in Quezon City, Legatub takes the bus to a bus terminal in Pasay to board the coach that will then embark on a long arduous journey through the Philippine waters aboard a ferry. Legatub said it took some time for her to get used to the almost one-day long travel, admitting that her legs and buttocks sometimes become sore from sitting.

“Hard as it may sound, but I have to do it. Flying is too expensive and, while the ferry ride is tiring, I just have to endure it because it’s much cheaper,” she added. And while safety for her is paramount, Legatub, along with millions of other passengers, believes that she can entrust her life to the captain of the ship she travels with. Sea travel has never been more safe, at least in the past decade, data from the Maritime Authority of the Philippines showed.

While headlines screamed of discouragement from traveling by boat in recent years due to multiple instances of capsizing, collision and weather disturbances, ferrying is considered relatively safe for both passengers and crew of ships. In 2016 a total of 15 vessels figured into various incidents— eight of them provide to be fatal. Another 27 people were recorded to be missing, largely due to a passenger ship sinking along the waters of Tingloy, Batangas. Nonetheless, gover nment officials

believe that maritime travel is a sound and more economical option when traveling around the archipelagic Philippines. “Traveling and shipping are generally safe. We have been instituting stricter rules on maritime safety over the past few years,” Coast Guard Spokesman Armand Balilio said in a phone interview. According to the International Maritime Organization, the best way of improving safety at sea is by developing regulations on seven fronts: carriage of cargoes and con-

tainers; ship design and construction; navigation, communications and search and rescue; human element, training and watch keeping; ship systems equipment; pollution prevention and response; and maritime instruments. Sea safety is enshrined in the Philippine Merchant Marine Rules and Regulations of 1997. The said guidelines spell out requirements for the ship operations—whether cargo or passenger—in all aspects, including social obligations.

Peza. . .

exemption for indirect export sales. The bill provided that suppliers will be refunded within 90 days.

view. “I will not change the mandates of my colleagues. There’s of course [a question whether] it is perfect? Definitely not. It’s never going to be perfect whatever you do about it. [What is important, it was] mandated by the House of Representatives,” he said. The TRAIN, which was certified as urgent by the Palace, is now pending before the Senate Ways and Means Committee headed by Sen. Juan Edgardo M. Angara. For his part, Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said he is confident that the Senate will restore the original features of the TRAIN. “I am ver y confident [that Congress will approve the DOF’s version], because it’s President Duterte’s urgent priority measure,” Chua told the BusinessMirror on

the sidelines of the BM Coffee Club forum last week. With support from the Palace, Chua is optimistic that the first package of its CTRP will be passed by October this year. The government needs an additional P2.2 trillion in capital spending up to 2022 for its infrastructure, health, education and social programs. Chua said half of P2.2 trillion will come from tax-policy reforms, while the remaining amount will be sourced from sustainable borrowings, budget reforms and tax and customs administration reforms. HB 5636 seeks to lower persona l-income ta xes for compensation earners and expand the tax base by limiting VAT exemptions to raw food, education, health and those enjoyed by

seniors and persons with disabilities, and ease the rates of estate and donor’s taxes. The original version, howe v e r, d o e s n o t i n c l u d e t h e sugar-sweetened beverages. It provides for the DOF-proposed indexation of fuel-excise taxes to inf lation after three years, but this was removed in the House-approved bill. HB 5636 also provides for a fivebracket tax scheme on automobile sales, compared to the DOF-endorsed four-tiered structure, and will be implemented in two years, starting in 2018, instead of the original proposal of full implementation in the first year. Chua added the modified provisions in the original bill are among the features that the DOF hopes would be restored in the two chambers’ final version of the bill.

Continued from A1

“But I got feedback that if we will remove the VAT exemption, Peza locators might just as well import everything,” she added. Plaza said this will deal a blow to local manufacturers and suppliers. Citing locators’ records, export-oriented firms bought some P25 billion in locally made inputs. “[These] will be lost if we remove the exemption.” Plaza warned that locators may choose to just avail of the duty-free importation of capital equipment if the process for refunding the VAT proves to be too cumbersome. House Bill (HB) 5636, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) removed the zero VAT

‘Not amenable’

The House of Representatives said it will stand pat on its version of the TRAIN. House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman and PDPLaban Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua of Quirino said the lower chamber is not amenable to any changes in HB 5636. HB 5636 is the first of five packages of the Duterte administration’s CTRP. “Of course, I will stand by the House version, because that’s what the plenar y mandates me. This was not my decision, that was the collective decision of 246 [lawmakers who voted] in favor,” Cua added in an inter-

To be continued

Tour guides. . . Continued from A1

In a news statement, the DOT chief also disclosed that she has instructed the agency’s regional offices to fund the continuous training of tour guides all over the country as soon as possible. The government agency has allocated P1.2 million for its three-pronged training program for tour guides, which covers a regional tour-guiding course, continuing education and communityguiding seminar. As of February 2016 a total of 49 applicants from the National Capital Region (NCR) have applied for the regional tour-guiding course, 16 of whom took the course and eight are on the waiting list for the second training session. The DOT projects the number of applicants to rise this year compared to 2016, which only saw a total of 44 newly accredited tour guides, 20 of whom were from the NCR and 22 from the Cordillera Administrative Region. According to the DOT web site, there are 1,007 tour guides nationwide who are accredited with the government. Teo emphasized that tour guides must share with visitors not just the information about a destination that is available on the Internet, but they should instead tell more personal Filipino narratives about the place. “If our guests and visitors find the stories interesting and inspiring, they will stay longer, contribute to the local economy more and see the Philippines differently,” she added. The convention gathered travel and tours stakeholders from both public and private sectors, including delegates from the Southeast Asia Tourist Guides Association and the 350 members of the Philippine Federation of National Tour Guides from all over the country.

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Regional govt asks Marawi evacuees to register for relief, rehab programs By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox

AVAO CITY—The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) urged all families displaced by the fighting in Marawi City to register using the Disaster Assistance and Family Access Card (Dafac), that is issued by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). “The evacuees should be registered to have access to services and resources we are providing,” ARMM Executive Secretary Laisa Alamia said. The ARMM Crisis Management Committee has recorded 40,753 displaced families, or 193,952 individuals, since the fighting broke out on May 23. The regional government is using the Dafac system “to ensure equal and timely distribution of relief packs for the evacuees”, Alamia added. The system was applied by the DSWD-ARMM to validate the status of families affected by the crisis, and to serve as a reference in the provision of appropriate interventions. But the influx of more families, especially in the houses of relatives, has rendered the delivery of services in recent difficult days, Alamia said. Only 970 families, or 4,691 individuals, could be properly accounted for in designated evacuation centers, while 39,783 families, or 189,261 individuals, were home-based. Alamia added the Dafac would also be used in future rehabilitation and recovery programs for Marawi City. She said some evacuees went to Northern Mindanao (Region 10), Socsksargen (Region 12) and Davao (Region 11); while some have gone to as far as the Visayas and Luzon. “They could go to their municipal or city social-welfare officer to register using [the] Dafac so that the city government of Marawi would be able to monitor its

residents, especially when rehabilitation starts,” Alamia added. The ARMM already spent P35 million in assistance to victims of the Marawi crisis. ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman said the regional government could still respond to the needs of the evacuees in the succedding days saying the government has allocated P77 million for the victims of the crisis. ARMM has so far delivered relief packs to 197,232 evacuees and provided medical services to 5,284 individuals. An operation center has also been set up in Malabang town in Lanao del Sur, and in Iligan City in Lanao del Norte to coordinate and manage the regional government’s response to the ongoing crisis in Marawi City. The ARMM crisis-management committee has been active since May 24 to gather information, as well as assess and monitor the situation to help keep track the needs of the affected families. Meanwhile, Hataman added the observance of the Eid'l Fitr, to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan, “comes under very different circumstances”. “A day that we celebrate with the Muslim ummah [community] is now a day we have to welcome in the midst of terror and suffering caused by those who betray our faith,” he said. Hataman has appealed to the Bangsamoro [literally Moro nation], “to remain committed to overcoming the flaws of our humanity for the rest of our lives. It is our commitment to Islam that will ultimately define the lives of the people around us, and we must strive to remain steadfast if we are to live in peace and justice together”. “Our faith assures us that with hardship, there is relief. Let us not waver in our faith and, instead, let remind ourselves of the reasons [us] we choose to be Muslims and how we can continue living our lives in honor of Allah,” he added.

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Monday, June 26, 2017 A3

Recruiters say TV station spread fake news on jobs in England

By Recto Mercene

@rectomercene

OCAL recruitment agencies are skeptical about a report, aired on June 22 by a local television network, that said the UK needs at least 9,000 Filipino workers. The jobs allegedly being offered include those for civil engineers, linesmen, motor-vehicle drivers, cooks, nurses and others. The television network added report of the offer came from an official of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). Lito Soriano, president of the Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc. expressed doubt about the claim, and said “that is ‘fake news’.” “Many Filipinos in the UK have not heard of any such job offers. There are no available visas for such volume of applicants,” Soriano added on social media. He said there is growing unease among the Filipino community on how Britain’s economy will survive

the Brexit from the European Union. Brexit is the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. The British government led by Prime Minister Theresa May is promoting Brexit despite barely surviving a snap election on June 8, claiming that divisions at Westminster risked hampering the Brexit negotiations. Soriano added the news about the 9,000 jobs allegedly being offered in the UK has affected many Filipino workers in the Middle East. “Many of them would like to resign and take their chances with the alleged UK jobs, although many of these workers have been accredited with the POEA by the leading licensed agencies deploying Filipinos to England.

Another industry leader, Jackson Gan, former president of the Pilipino Manpower Agencies Accredited to Taiwan, refuted statements attributed to an official of the POEA that Filipino professionals holding Professional Regulation Commission licenses are qualified to work in the UK. “There is no reciprocal agreement between the Philippines and the UK, so any professional or journeyman wishing to work in the UK must pass the qualifying examination for his or her profession there. This is true with our nurses who have to pass three tests before being accepted as a registered nurses in the UK.” “It is not that easy to acquire a professional job in the UK, as even Filipino workers have to pass initially a language test [that] will determine if they can work in the UK,” Gan added. “They have to pass a test for their profession before they can be issued a work permit or allowed to work temporarily in the UK for the tenure of their work contract.” Recruitment consultant Emmanuel Geslani said there were several sweeping statements by the newscaster, like it is quite easy

Anti-fake news bill threatens press freedom—group says By Marvyn N. Benaning Correspondent

ARTY-LIST Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate of Bayan Muna has warned local journalists that the proposed anti-fake news bill has a “very broad scope and it may infringe on the people’s constitutionallyguaranteed freedom of expression”. Zarate, who used to be a journal-

ist, said he has serious reservations about the bill’s effectivity as a shield against bogus news, which have become in fashion owing to the Internet and social media, “since bogus news are also churned out by government propaganda mills and trolls”. “While the proliferation of fake news and online misinformation has to be addressed decisively, we submit that criminalizing it is not the way

forward,” said Zarate, who authored the House bill decriminalizing the crime of libel. “Fake news is nothing new and in the Philippine context, it was used by the Spaniards and the Americans and even Presidents Emilio Aguinaldo and Ferdinand M. Marcos,” Zarate said. “What can be done to address fake news is for mainstream and

Israel gives P1-M medicines, equipment to Red Cross

MWSS’s Annual Million Tree Challenge surpasses 1-M target

N the eve of Arbor Day and to cap the Environment Month, the Annual Million Tree Challenge, a reforestation project of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), surpassed its 1-million target on its maiden year as several stakeholders pledged top plant some 1.8 million trees during the kick-off launch at Ipo Dam last Friday. “This Annual One-Million Tree Challenge serves as a way to protect our six targetted watersheds, namely La Mesa, Ipo, Angat, Umiray, Laguna de Bay and Marikina River,” MWSS Administrator Reynaldo V. Velasco said. “But this can’t be done over five years. We hope that through this noble project and the steady support of everyone, particularly our three concessionaires—Maynilad, Manila Water and Bulacan Bulk Water—we will be able to protect our vital water sources, prevent flooding and mitigate other natural disasters.” The MWSS annual million tree challenge is aimed at planting a million trees in five years under the Duterte administration. Present in the kick-off event last Friday were Manila Water President Ferdinand M. de la Cruz, Maynilad President Ramoncito Fernandez, MWSS-RO Chief Regulator Joel C. Yu, ABS-CBN Bantay Kalikasan Managing Director Susan Bautista-Afan, Philippine Water Works Association (PWWA) President Eulogio Agatep, University of the Philippines (UP) Mountaineers Vice President

Patricia Carmela Pangatungan, W WF President Jose Angelito Palma, and representatives from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENRNCR), DENR Region-4 OIC, San Miguel Corp. the Department of Education (DepEd) and Wild Bird Photographers of the Philippines. The DENR National Greening Program (NGP), which originally committed 66,000 trees, increased the agency’s share to 500,000 trees, and SMC, through Bulacan Bulk Water with initial commitment of 100,000 trees, added 200,000 more trees to be planted for a total of 300,000 trees. Aside from the DENR-NGP and the SMC, participating agencies included MWSS, who committed a total of 50,000 trees; MWSS RO at 20,000; Manila Water at 130,000; Maynilad Water Services at 130,000; ABS-CBN Bantay Kalikasan at 140,000; the DENR NCR at 30,000; the DENR Region 4A at 204,000; DepEd/CHED at 100,000; PWWA at 20,000; WWF at 37,000; UP Mountaineers Society at 500; Municipality of General Nakar, Quezon, at 100,000; and Wild Bird Photographers of the Philippines at 500 trees. It was also learned that the DepEd, through Undersecretary Alain Pascua, has thrown its full support to the MWSS Annual Million Tree Challenge, as he vowed to recommend to Education Secretary Leonor M. Briones to actively engage public schools in primar y and secondar y to plant trees in the targetted six watershed areas.

for professionals here in the country to acquire those high-paying jobs in the UK “as long as the applicants have experience”. “This is a false statement, since all professionals applying for jobs in the UK have to pass licensure exams for the professions they are applying for,” Geslani added. “To work as a civil engineer in the UK, one must have to pass a civilengineers qualifying examination, and for every profession there is a corresponding examination that must be hurdled,” he said. He added that every applicant in the UK has to pass an International English Language Test (IELTS). “There is a level of English Writing and Speaking Test for the job. For nurses, the level required is Academic IELTS score of 7.0 in each skill—Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking.” Geslani noted. It is only when an applicant has hurdled the IELTS, that he or she is qualified to take the computer-based test (CBT), which is handled by a company called Pearson Vue. Once the applicant passes the CBT, he or she is required to submit documents for the assessment by another UK agency, processing of which may take up to three months.

NLRC junks illegal-dismissal complaint against GMA Network

PHILIPPINE Red Cross Chairman Richard J. Gordon (left) extends his gratitude to Israel Embassy Ambassador Ephraim Ben Matityau and his wife Lizia Lu.

HE Israel Embassy turned over P1 million worth of basic equipment, medicines and supplies to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), to support immediate needs of those affected by the Marawi conflict. The PRC set up a basic health-care unit in (BHCU) in Balo-i, Lanao del Norte, on June 8, since basic health services are a major priority in the communities and evacuation centers affected by the conflict. The PRC has provided basic, preventive healthcare emergency treatment and medical supplies to the evacuees. “We are all touched by the events in Marawi and the effect they brought to the people of Marawi. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed us to lend a hand to the affected people in Marawi and the surrounding areas,” Israel Ambassador Ephraim Ben Matityau said. The basic equipment, medicines and supplies will benefit thousands of families in the evacuation centers. The equipment include emergency carts, suction machines, portable nebulizers, portable electro-cardiogram machines, portable doppler, pulse oximeters, oxygen tanks, basic medicine packages, emergency

medicines and medical supplies. “We are grateful for the outpouring support we received from our partners and donors as the Philippine Red Cross continues with its humanitarian efforts for our affected brothers and sisters in the Marawi crisis. We are committed to continue our mission to save lives, as well as to give the best assistance to the most vulnerable to the best of our capacity,” PRC Chairman Richard J. Gordon said. “We would like to wish the people of Marawi a solemn end to the holidays of Ramadan and Eid’l Fitr celebration. We all hope for a speedy return of the population to their homes and normal life in time for the celebration, and that peace and national harmony will be restored,” Matityau said. The said donation was approved after the Embassy of Israel reached out to the PRC in order to support the ongoing relief efforts in the Marawi conflict. To date, the Red Cross continues to provide medical care concentrating on health needs of the evacuees, provision of medicine supplies, medical consultations for children, pregnant women and elderly, minor surgical cases and normal spontaneous delivery for uncomplicated pregnancy.

social-media practitioners to be objective in reporting events and for Congress to fast track the passage of the freedom of information bill for the Filipino people to know what is truly happening in the country,” he added. “The best way to counter fake news is for the people to be well informed of accurate facts,” he also said.

HE Fourth Division of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Quezon City ruled in favor of GMA Network Inc. in the illegal-dismissal complaint filed by its former talents. In the decision written by Commissioner Bernardino B. Julve, the NLRC affirmed Labor Arbiter Alberto O. Dolosa’s decision on the dismissal of Christian Cabaluna and 14 other former GMA talents as being valid and legal but reversed the labor arbiter’s ruling with respect to the other 35 former GMA talents by dismissing their illegal-dismissal complaint against the broadcast network. Julve sustained GMA’s contention that it did not illegally dismiss the complainants, but they were actually the ones who cut ties with the network “by their own voluntary acts of (a) refusing to renew their talent agreements with GMA; (b) refusing without justifiable reasons to respond to the renewal offers; and (c) getting employed elsewhere, in effect, choosing to cease their relationship with GMA”. After further evaluation of both parties’ separate appeals, the commission ruled that the basis was sufficient to affirm the dismissal of the 15 complainants who left their work as a form of protest against GMA. He stated that despite GMA’s efforts to send the complainants return to work instructions, the complainants’ failure to do so without any valid reason was inexcusable and displays their clear, deliberate and gross dereliction of duties. In the case of the other 35 complainants, the commission found that there was no proof presented by the complainants of GMA terminating them or preventing them from returning to their work. In the absence of any overt or positive act proving that GMA had dismissed the complainants, the commission declared that the latter’s claim of illegal dismissal cannot be sustained.

Economy

A4 Monday, June 26, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

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DOE to set energy-use standard for household appliances

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

This is after the agency held the second of a series of public consultations that involved the participation of the Department of Trade and Industry and private-sector representatives in culling inputs from experts, resource persons and the public. The collective inputs would be used to improve the proposed Particular Product Requirements (PPRs) that would help consumers choose wisely in buying household items, such as air conditioners, lighting products and refrigerators, that are energy efficient. Once finalized, the PPRs will form part of the Implementing Guidelines for the DOE’s Philippine Energy Standards and Labe-

ling Program (PESLP). The PESLP will also cover television sets, washing machines and even passenger and commercial vehicles. Through the product standards, consumers will be better informed on the energy consumption and efficiency levels of specified consumer goods. DOE Energy Research and Testing Laboratory Services director Amelia de Guzman underscored the importance of involving consumers and civil society in the deliberations in order to get the practical viewpoints of the end-users. She said the PESLP not only benefits consumers by reducing their energy bills but will also help in

POINTDESIGNINC.COM FILE PHOTO

HE Department of Energy (DOE) is on track to develop a national energy-efficiency standard for household appliances.

significantly reducing carbon emissions that contribute to mitigating climate change. The DOE is also collaborating with the European Union on this. “The EU has been supporting the Philippine government through the

years in reaching its energy efficiency and poverty-reduction targets,” Program Manager for Energy of the EU Delegation in the Philippines Willy Hick said. The EU has allocated €60 million or P3.3 billion in support of the Phil-

House committee official seeks NBN creation for fast Internet connection nationwide

VICE chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations last Sunday urged Malacañang to speed up the implementation of a National Broadband Network (NBN) to keep the country’s Internet connectivity and access on pace with global technological advancements. Nacionalista Party Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, in a statement, said the government’s ambitious infrastructure program should not only involve building physical structures but also closing the country’s digital divide. He added seamless, fast access to the Internet would provide Filipinos with more opportunities to increase their incomes and broaden their access to education, communications, health-care information and electronic commerce, to mention a few advantages. Aside from putting up a third player to toughen competition among Internet providers to improve their broadband services, Villafuerte said the government should also streamline the ap-

VILLAFUERTE: “For the government to attain economic inclusion for all sectors, it needs to invest soon enough in expanding wireless connectivity so as not to leave behind millions of Filipinos from the information technology that now drives the global economy.”

proval of permits secured by telecommunication companies in various levels of the bureaucracy and attract overseas investments by fast-tracking efforts to relax the 60-40 ownership rule of companies in the 1987 Constitution. “For the government to attain economic inclusion for all sectors, it needs to invest soon enough in expanding wireless connectivity so as not to leave behind millions of Filipinos from the information technology that now drives the global economy,” Villafuerte added. “Filling our infrastructure backlog should be complemented by dramatic advances in digital-

technology access to remote, impoverished communities, so that people in the countryside can take advantage of the Internet in exploring and expanding economic opportunities available to them,” he said. Last March President Duterte approved the draft Nationa l Broadband Plan of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), whose program involves providing at least 10 Mbps connection to all households by 2020. Villafuerte added the government’s “north-to-south” broadband plan would cost about P77.9 billion, as stated in the DICT’s draft NBN blueprint. The lawmaker said members of the Asean have already started establishing their respective NBNs. In Thailand Villafuerte said the government has invested $114 million to improve its Internet service and access, and Malaysia has spent $4.5 billion over a 10-year period to lay fiber-optic lines to service every home in the country’s urban areas. He said the government is the

largest investor in telecommunications in Vietnam. Two of the three largest telecom companies in Ho Chi Minh City are owned by the government. To strengthen the NBN as a knowledge tool for the poor, Villafuerte urged the leadership of Congress to approve the bill aimed to institutionalize the use of digital technology in the public-education system. Villafuerte’s House Bill 264 calls for the formulation of a digital-technology road map for public schools, with the following goals: maximizing the use of the Internet and other digital technologies as learning aids; and providing sufficient training for teachers and students on the use of digital technology in public education. It also provides for the professional development of educators on the effective use of digital technology inside the classroom, establishing a system of upgrading and replacing outdated technology in public schools and providing technical support to maintain the systems. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

ippine government’s 100-percent rural-electrification target by 2022. “European funding can never work without a strong partner,” Hick added during the Philippines’s and EU’s Access to Sustainable Energy Program (ASEP) Meet.

Aside from efficiency, the ASEP also advocates clean energy by providing grants to boost ruralhousehold electrification using clean-energy sources. The first public consultation was held on May 24.

Duterte expected to sign free college education bill soon By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

enators expect President Duterte to sign into law anytime soon Congress-approved free college education bill. Sen. Juan Edgardo M. Angara over the weekend voiced confidence the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education bill will be quickly approved by Malacañang to pave the way for enabling poor students to pursue college education “at no cost” when they enroll in State-run universities and colleges (SUCs) as well as local universities and colleges (LUCs) funded by city and municipal governments. Pointing out that the bill was envisioned to “empower young people, as it will remove a major hindrance to tertiary education”, Angara expressed optimism that Duterte “will sign this on or before his scheduled State of the Nation Address in July”. “It could be his [Duterte’s] biggest and best announcement for all of us that day,” he said. Angara made an assurance that once enacted into law, “even the financially incapable Filipino families

can give their children college education without worrying how to pay for it, because it will be for free”. He said it is “high time” for college tuition to be made free, expanding an earlier law authored by his father, former Senate President Edgardo J. Angara, was the principal sponsor of the Free High School Act of 1998. “This will definitely be a big sigh of relief for parents. With free tertiary education in SUCs and LUCs, [there will be] no more tears of frustration on their part,” said the younger Angara, who also authored the “Universal Kindergarten Education Act” when he was still serving as a congressman representing the lone district of Aurora. Still, Angara acknowledged that their “work is still not finished” even with the enactment of the free college tuition bill. “Once we resume our session in July, I would be pushing for the approval of a bill I filed [that] would give our students a 20-percent discount on regular fares not only during schooldays and summer classes but on all days, including weekends, semester breaks and other holidays,” he said.

Incoming BSP governor foresees Lower VAT rate possible with roll out of tax reforms—DOF We have a dual system, we have market-based policy execution high tax rates for half of the By Rea Cu

NCOMING Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Nestor Espenila Jr. envisions a more market-based execution of monetary policy under his watch. Speaking before bankers last week, Espenilla laid out his early plans for his term upon his assumption of office in July. Espenilla said while current central bank governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. has already started with the deployment of an interest-rate corridor (IRC) system, he is to “continue reviewing existing tools and policies” in order to make the monetary system more efficient and market-oriented. The incoming governor also told members of the Bankers Association of the Philippines during a forum that the BSP, under his watch, will continue to pursue capital market reforms to provide a viable alternative source of financing for long-term investments, including the development of the necessary financialmarket infrastructures. “With respect to liberalization initiatives, we intend to further liberalize the provision of financial

products and services, including our existing rules on foreign-exchange transactions, to achieve a more risk-based, transparent and market-determined policy framework,” Espenilla said. He added he is also keen on pushing for a modern and innovative financial system to be fully responsive to the needs of the domestic economy. “This would entail providing for efficient retail payments under the NRPS [National Retail Payment System] project and an enabling regulatory environment for financial technology and for digital finance to develop without sacrificing prudent credit underwriting and information-security standards,” Espenilla said. “This would also entail strengthening our commitment to advance our financial inclusion and consumer-protection agenda to ensure that no one is left behind,” he added. Espenilla admitted to the local bankers that while he is “delighted” to succeed Tetangco as governor, he sees “very big shoes to fill”. Bianca Cuaresma

@ReaCuBM

lower value-added tax (VAT) rate on goods and services, which is now pegged at 12 percent, is possible once the government is able to clean up the tax system and plug leakages from exemptions, according to the Department of Finance (DOF). Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said Thailand, which has a VAT rate of 7 percent, collects the same amount of revenues at this tax rate as the Philippines does despite its lower rate because of fewer exemptions. “Our proposal really is to clean up the VAT system. Over time, once we have addressed the exemptions, we may reduce the VAT rate. We will do it step by step,” Chua added. Thailand has 35 lines of exemptions, while the Philippines has 59 lines of exemptions in its tax code and 84 special laws with VAT exemptions. According to Chua, the revenue share as a percentage of GDP from the VAT is the same at 4.2 percent for both the Philippines and Thailand despite the former’s higher tax rate. “Our strong belief is that the

moment we have exemptions and a multitude of exemptions, it multiplies the opportunity for discretion and, therefore, corruption and tax evasion,” he added. Since Thailand has already done the basics of making its tax system simpler, fairer and more efficient, it can afford to provide its citizens lower tax rates, and corporate investors the tax incentives that would entice them to relocate there, Chua said. “We have a dual system, we have high tax rates for half of the population and half of the population pay very little [because] of incentives, exemptions. So our tax system really is very inequitable in that sense. What we want to do as with the VAT is really to broaden the base so that it is fairer to everyone,” he added. Chua said that even with the fiscal incentives given by the government to private businesses, the Philippines remains behind Thailand in terms of per capital gross national income because the fundamentals, which are good governance, adequate infrastructure and public-service efficiency, remain lacking. “And that is, I think, very linked

population and half of the population pay very little [because] of incentives, exemptions. So our tax system really is very inequitable in that sense. What we want to do as with the VAT is really to broaden the base so that it is fairer to everyone.”—Chua to the fact that as of today, we have only collected 13.8 percent of our GDP in taxes while in Thailand, its 17 percent,” he added. The DOF pointed out that the VAT is a tax on consumption and, thus, would place the burden more on the rich rather than on the poor. Chua assured lawmakers that the poor and other vulnerable sectors will not be significantly affected by the reforms in the VAT system, because most of their purchases are already exempt from VAT, and they often buy from marginal suppliers, which, by law, are

also exempt from VAT. The House of Representatives approved the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion Act or House Bill (HB) 5636 on May 31 before Congress’s sine die adjournment. T he bi l l con s ol id ate s t he DOF’s original proposal under HB 4774, with 54 other tax-related measures, seeking to make the country’s tax system simpler, fairer and more efficient, by slashing personal income-tax rates and by adjusting excise taxes on certain products and broadening the VAT base.

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Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

A6 Monday, June 26, 2017 • Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

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PHL chicken inventory down 42.65%–NMIS By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

he country’s chicken inventory in June declined by 42.65 percent to 10,906.6 metric tons (MT), from 19,016.74 MT recorded a year ago, according to the latest data from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).

United Broilers Raisers Association (Ubra) President Elias Jose Inciong attributed this to the decision of poultry growers to cut production so they won’t incur losses again. Inciong added that big industry players have shifted to contract growing from the “volatile” wet market supply chain. “Poultry growers don’t want to lose money like last year,” he told the BusinessMirror. “As such, especially for large players, there is a shift in emphasis in market segments, from the commodity pricing of wet market supply chains to contract pricing of HRIs [hotel and restaurant industry]. Therefore, there is less excess production,” he added.

NMIS data showed that both the volume of chicken purchased abroad and locally produced chicken declined year-on-year. Chicken purchased abroad, which accounted for 64.12 percent of the June inventory, reached 6,993.48 MT. The figure was 30.04 percent lower than the 9,997.12 MT imported a year ago. The inventory of locally produced chicken declined by more than half, or by 56.61 percent, to 3,913.12 MT from 9,019.62 MT posted in June 2016. On a monthly basis, local chicken inventory as of June 5 was 21.69 percent lower than the 13,927.83 MT recorded on May 1. Inciong said the preference of

Bloomberg

poultry growers, particularly the big players, to venture into contract growing could persist throughout the year or even beyond. “It’s a choice between the roller coaster and a relatively smooth highway. We shall see how the market goes. There are always new players who do not know what they are doing, which causes disruptions,” he said.

Inciong, however, made an assurance that consumers need not worry as the retail price of chicken, a popular ingredient in making Filipino dishes, has remained stable. “Yes [prices are stable]. There was just a reduction in surplus. The competition remains stiff,” Inciong said. Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the retail price of dressed

chicken in Metro Manila as of the second week of June has remained at P150 per kilogram. The lowest price of dressed chicken was recorded at P130/kg in Region 10, while the highest was at P175/kg in the Cordillera Administrative Region. Data from the PSA also indicated that the country’s chicken inventory as of April 1 stood at 179.01 million birds, 3.78 percent

Govt launches loan program in Surigao del Norte PUERTO PRINCESA IS SITE OF 139th KSK FARMERS’ TRAINING PROGRAM Puerto Princesa–SM Foundation

AVP for Livelihood and Outreach Programs Cristie Angeles addressed the 139th batch of SMFI Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan Farmers’ Training Program participants at the Palawan Research and Experimental Station (PRES), in Santa Monica, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, during the orientation program. The participants are farmers and Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries from 22 barangays. Librada Fuentes, officer in charge of the PRES, delivered the welcome remarks. Inspirational messages were given by Zyrille Sespene, SM City Puerto Princesa, Palawan, building administration officer; Tito Murcia, City Agriculture Office supervising agriculturist; Kenneth Garcellano, PSWD 4Ps CityLink representative; and City Councilor Victor Oliveros, chairman on Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Angeles gave the participants an overview of the program, as well as set the expectations from the training. Harbest Agribusiness President Arsenio Barcelona and field instructor Conrad Calderon were present to answer technical questions from the farmers. The season-long training program aims to ensure food sufficiency and empower marginal farmers to become entrepreneurs. Through the training program they learn the latest farming technologies, enabling them to increase their yield and improve the quality of their produce.

Agriculture and food security

re we taking agriculture seriously? Are we aware that the farming community supplies us with the daily food needs? Or do we behave the same when we drink water: it’s an infinite resource—no reason to worry? The global food-security challenge is straightforward: by 2050, the world must feed 9 billion people. The demand for food will be 60 percent greater than it is today. The United Nations has set ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture as the second of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the year 2030. To achieve these objectives requires addressing a host of issues, from gender parity and aging demographics to skills development and global warming. Agriculture sectors have to become more productive by adopting efficient business models and forging public-private partnerships. And they need to become sustainable by addressing greenhousegas emissions, water use and waste. The risks: malnutrition, hunger and even conflict. Why is food security such a major global challenge? The obvious reason is that everybody needs food. But the complexity of delivering sufficient food to a national population and to the whole world’s population shows why food security is such a priority for all countries, whether developing

Henry J. Schumacher

europe Beat or developed. In short, this is a global challenge because it’s not just about food and feeding people, but also about practically all aspects of an economy and society. What causes it? 1. Population growth—this varies considerably across countries. Africa is expected to double its population from 1 billion to 2 billion by 2050. Populations in the developing world are also becoming increasingly urbanized, with 2.5 billion additional urban residents projected in Africa and Asia. It is easy to see these effects in Metro Manila, where about 2.5 million people live in the streets or under bridges. 2. Climate change—currently, 40 percent of the world’s landmass is arid, and rising temperatures will turn yet more of it into desert. At current rates, the amount of food we’re growing today will feed only half of the population by 2050. It is good to see that America cares about climate change, only Trump doesn’t. 3. Water scarcity—this is another impending crisis: 28 percent of ag-

riculture lies in water-stressed regions. It takes roughly 1,500 liters of water to produce a kilogram of wheat, and about 16,000 liters to produce a kilogram of beef. In 2050 we’ll need twice as much water. Please take note that water is a FINITE resource. 4. Troubled farmers—fewer and fewer people are choosing farming as an occupation—in the Philippines, the average age of farmers is 57. Meanwhile, food prices are rising, arable land continues to be lost to urbanization and soil is being degraded by overfarming. What makes ensuring food security so complex? Addressing the problem of hunger and malnourishment in an economy such as the Philippines’s requires improvements in the productivity of the agriculture sector, particularly smallholder farms. The consequence of all this is for farmers to produce more, process more, market more and earn more to wipe out rural poverty, which breeds the rural to urban migration. We need economic empowerment of the countryside. I can see the changes in my coffeefarm adventure in Camarines Norte: starting with coconuts and rice, we have added coffee, vegetables, fish farm and agri-tourism. From family members doing the work, it has changed to the employment of almost 20 people. Are we done? Far from it. Comments are welcome—contact me at Schumacher@mca.ph

he Department of Agriculture (DA) has rolled out a new credit access system that allows farmers and fishermen to avail themselves loans without any collateral to help them boost their productivity. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the easy access credit program, dubbed as Production Loan Easy Access (Plea), is the DA’s solution to the difficulties faced by farmers in securing credit from banks. “The credit program, which I personally conceptualized and referred to our rural credit experts for refinement, aims to address the age-old problem of farmers and fishermen for capitalization to finance their farming and fishing activities,” Piñol said in a Facebook post over the weekend. “While the government has passed the Agri-Agra law, which compels Philippine banks to allocate 25 percent of their loan portfolio for agriculture and fisheries, financing institutions have always considered farmers and fishermen as unreliable borrowers. Almost all of these banks preferred to pay the fine imposed by law rather than extend loans to farmers and fishermen,” he added. On June 23 the DA launched Plea in Malimono, Surigao del Norte, as part of the agency’s 199th foundation year, with 247 farmers and fishermen receiving their Juan Magsasaka ID card. Under Plea, farmers are allowed to borrow from P5,000 to P25,000 without any collateral at a 6-percent annual interest, payable for at least two years, Piñol said. Those who are involved in growing high-value crops, such as coffee, cacao, coconut and banana, will be given up to eight years to pay their loan, Piñol added. Piñol said the Plea Program aims to hike agricultural productivity by giving farmers more financial capital to boost their farm activity. “We want to reduce and eventually eliminate the dependency of farmers and fishermen on government subsidies and dole-outs, which

Piñol

have miserably failed to improve their lives because of the tedious procurement process of the government, which prevents the timely delivery of interventions,” he added. The DA chief also said the credit access program aims to contribute to the national government’s plan to cut poverty incidence in the country. “It is hoped that Plea would contribute to President Duterte’s target of reducing national poverty to 15 percent, from 26 percent, by the end of his term in 2022,” Piñol said. “With the proposed initial budget of P50 billion for the Plea Program [next year] and a maximum loan amount of P25,000 per farming and fisherfolk household, an estimated 2 million families will be served by the program,” he added. With an average family size of five, Piñol said the Plea Program will lift 10 million Filipinos out of poverty by 2022. Piñol said he conceptualized the credit program last year when he found out that the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), an attached agency of the DA, allocated about P4 billion for the same purpose. However, Piñol noted ACPC doesn’t have the mandate to lend directly and had to course the money through conduits, such as the Land Bank of the Philippines and rural banks. “Farmers and fishermen had to rely on informal lenders who impose very high interest rates so they could buy seeds, fertilizers, marine engines and fishing gears,” he said. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

higher than the 172.49 million birds recorded a year ago. The PSA said broiler chicken accounted for the bulk, or about 35.91 percent, of total chicken inventory. Broiler chicken inventory as of April 1 reached 64.28 million birds, 1.74 percent more than the 63.18 million broiler chickens recorded in the same period last year.

Bantay Laot sea watchers get cash incentives from Bfar

total of 578 registered fishermen from 23 barangays in Davao City under the Bantay Laot Program received cash incentives of up to P2,000 from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (Bfar). The money was given to sea watchers under the program during a turnover ceremony held in Davao City last Friday. Bfar-11 Regional Director Fatma Idris said fishermen from barangays 21C, 23C, 31D, 76A, Bago Aplaya, Bunawan, Centro, Daliao, Dumoy, Duterte, Hizon, Ilang, Lapu-lapu, Lasang, Leon Garcia, Lizada, Matina Aplaya, Pampanga, Panacan, Sasa, Sirawan, Talomo and Tibungco received their individual cash incentives as sea watchers. Bantay Laot Program is an initiative of the Bfar to deter illegal-fishing activities and to protect threatened marine and aquatic species in the municipal waters by capacitating subsistence fishers, particularly the indigenous peoples as sea watchers during closed season in nationally declared Fishery Management Areas (FMAs). Bfar said this transects its program on F/B Pagbabago, coastal resource management and law enforcement to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The program provides support to local government units and municipal fishermen to include assistance in the training of Bantay-Dagat Task Force. During the turnover of fiberglass boats to registered fishermen in the Philippine Fisheries and Development Authority, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol vowed that the registered fishermen will receive a cash incentive for undergoing support activies. Davao region became the pilot area to implement the program under the supervision of Bfar Director Eduardo B. Gongona. Bfar is an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture. Various activities, like orientations, monitoring, control and surveillance; environmental briefing and disasterpreparedness trainings were laid down to capacitate and support them in their involvement in the program. Other FMAs in East Sulu Sea, Basilan Strait, Sibuguey Bay, Palawan, Visayan Sea, Cagayan River and its tributaries in Cagayan Valley are set to follow the implementation of Bantay Laot Program during their respective observation periods. Bfar-Davao region continues to maintain a sound implementation of various activities providing immediate and appropriate actions in the preservation and conservation of marine and aquatic resources of the region.

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Monday, June 26, 2017

A10 A4 Monday, June 26, 2017 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Cyber attack hits e-mails of British Parliament

The World BusinessMirror

34 high-rise apartments in UK with unsafe cladding

ONDON—The British Parliament was the target of a cyber attack that left many legislators unable to access their e-mails last Saturday, as remote access to accounts was disabled as a security measure. Legislators were made aware of the problem last Friday night, and Chris Rennard, a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, publicized the problem in a Twitter message last Saturday, saying those with “urgent messages” should text him. Last week there were reports in The Times of London that the passwords of British Cabinet ministers, ambassadors and senior police officers were being sold online after Russian-hacking groups gained access. According to The Times, the stolen data revealed the private login details of 1,000 British members of Parliament and parliamentary staff, 7,000 police employees and more than 1,000 Foreign Office officials. The National Cyber Security Center, which was set up to protect the country against cyber attacks, said that it would reissue guidance to government departments after being presented with the findings. The parliamentary authorities are also working with the center to protect the network and ascertain the scale of the damage, according to a spokesman for the House of Commons, who did not provide a name by British convention. In a statement, the spokesman said that “the Houses of Parliament have discovered unauthorized attempts to access parliamentary user accounts. We are continuing to investigate this incident and take further measures to secure the computer network, liaising with the National Cyber Security Center.” To protect member and staff accounts and “secure our network”, the statement added, “we have temporarily restricted remote access to the network. As a result, some members of Parliament and staff cannot access their e-mail accounts outside of Westminster.” New York Times News Service

Residents are evacuated from the Taplow residential tower block on the Chalcots Estate, in the borough of Camden, north London, on June 23. A local London council has decided to evacuate some 800 households in apartment buildings it owns because of safety concerns, following the devastating fire that killed 79 people in a west London high-rise. AP/Alastair Grant

ONDON—Britain’s fire-safety crisis expanded substantially last Saturday, as authorities said 34 high-rise apartment blocks across the country had cladding that failed fire safety tests.

650

Attention has focused on the 24-story tower's external cladding material, which has been blamed for the rapid spread of that blaze, but multiple other fire risks have now been identified in some housing blocks. The government said last Saturday that the cladding samples that failed fire-safety tests came from 34 apartment towers in cities, including London, Manchester, Plymouth and Portsmouth. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said further testing “is running around the clock”. So far, Camden Council has been the only local authority to have asked residents to leave as a precaution. It said about 650 apartments were evacuated, though initial reports put the figure at 800 apartments. The council said residents would be out of their homes for three to four weeks, while it completes firesafety upgrades. “I know some residents are angry and upset, but I want to be very clear that Camden Council acted to protect them,” Gould said in a statement.

“Grenfell changed everything, and when told our blocks were unsafe to remain in, we acted.” Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May, who has been criticized for her slow response to the Grenfell tragedy, said on Saturday that the government was supporting Camden officials to ensure residents have somewhere to stay while building work is done. In response, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, said May needed to “get a grip” and lead a stronger response to what is now a “national threat.” Residents—including families with babies and elderly relatives— trooped out of the buildings late last Friday night with suitcases and plastic bags stuffed with clothes. Council workers guided dozens to a nearby gym, where they spent the night on inflatable mattresses. Others were being put up in hotels or other housing projects. Many residents complained about a lack of information and confusion. Officials first announced the evacu-

London officials scrambled to evacuate four public-housing towers after experts found them “not safe for people to sleep in overnight”. Hundreds of residents hastily packed their bags and sought emergency shelter, with many angry and confused about the chaotic situation. Some refused to leave their high-rise apartments. Scores of evacuees slept on inflatable beds in a gym, while officials sought better accommodations for them. Camden Council leader Georgia Gould said it decided to evacuate four blocks in north London’s Chalcots Estate late last Friday after fire inspectors uncovered problems with “gas insulation and door stops”, which, combined with the presence of flammable cladding encasing the buildings, meant residents had to leave immediately. The evacuation comes amid widening worries about the safety of high-rise apartment blocks across the country following the inferno that engulfed Grenfell Tower in west London on June 14, killing at least 79 people.

The estimated number of apartments that were evacuated

ation of one building, then expanded it to five before reducing it to four. Some residents said they learned about the evacuation from the television news hours before officials came knocking on doors. Renee Williams, 90, who has lived in Taplow Tower since 1968, told Britain’s Press Association: “No official came and told us what’s going on. I saw it on the TV, so I packed an overnight bag. “It’s unbelievable. I understand that it’s for our safety but they can’t just ask us to evacuate with such short notice. There’s no organization and it’s chaos,” she added. Carl McDowell, 31, said he took one look at the inflatable beds at the gym and went back to his Taplow apartment to sleep there overnight. Other residents were distraught that they were ordered to evacuate, but were told to leave their pets behind in buildings that could be dangerous. Fire-safety experts said the Grenfell Tower blaze, which police said was touched off by a fire at a refrigerator, was probably due to a string of failures, not just the cladding, which is widely used to provide insulation and enhance the appearance of buildings. Police said last Friday they are considering filing manslaughter charges in the Grenfell disaster and they were conducting a wideranging investigation that will look at everything that contributed to it. The Metropolitan Police said cladding attached to Grenfell during a recent renovation failed safety tests conducted by investigators. “We are looking at every criminal offense from manslaughter onwards,” Detective Supt. Fiona McCormack told reporters. “We are looking at all health and safety and fire safety offenses, and we are reviewing every company at the moment involved in the building and refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.” The government has ordered an immediate examination of the refrigerator model that started the blaze, the Hotpoint model FF175BP refrigerator-freezer. The government also urged building owners, public and private, to submit samples of their cladding. One hotel chain, Premier Inn, has calling in experts to check its buildings. Police said 79 people are either confirmed or presumed dead in the Grenfell blaze, although that number may change, and it will take weeks to find and identify remains. To encourage cooperation with authorities, May said the government won’t penalize any Grenfell fire survivors who were in the country illegally. AP

briefs more than 200,000 suspected cholera cases in yemen, u.n. says BERLIN—The UN health agency said there are now more than 200,000 suspected cases of cholera in an outbreak in war-torn Yemen, many of them children. UN Children’s Fund director Anthony Lake and World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan said in a statement last Saturday, “we are now facing the worst cholera outbreak in the world”, with an average of 5,000 new cases every day. The agencies said that more than 1,300 people have died—one quarter of them children—and the death toll is expected to rise. The UN said collapsing health, water and sanitation systems have cut off 14.5 million people from regular access to clean water and sanitation, increasing the ability of the disease to spread. In addition, an estimated 30,000 local health workers have not been paid for nearly 10 months. AP

overturned oil tanker explodes in pakistan, killing 129 BAWAHALPUR, Pakistan—An overturned oil tanker burst into flames in Pakistan last Sunday, killing 129 people who had rushed to the scene of the highway accident to gather leaking fuel, an official said. Some 140 people were injured, including 40 in critical condition, said Mohammad Baqar, an official with local rescue services, adding that the toll was expected to rise. Local news channels showed black smoke billowing skyward and horrific images of scores of burned bodies, as well as rescue officials speeding the injured to the hospital and army helicopters ferrying the wounded. The disaster came on the eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. While Saudi Arabia and most other Muslim countries celebrated the holiday last Sunday, Pakistanis will celebrate on Monday. AP

9 bodies found as landslide buries scores in china MAO COUNTY, China—Chinese crews recovered nine bodies and were still searching for 109 others last Sunday, a day after a massive landslide buried a picturesque mountain village in the southwestern province of Sichuan. More than 2,500 rescuers with detection devices and dogs were looking for signs of life amid the rubble of massive boulders that descended on Xinmo village in Mao county early last Saturday. The government lowered an earlier figure of 15 dead retrieved, which was initially reported in the state media. Three people—a couple and their month-old infant—are the only ones rescued from the site last Saturday. The adults were in stable conditions, while the baby was sent to an intensive care unit with pneumonia induced by mud inhalation. AP

5.6 earthquake injures 2, knocks off roof tiles in japan

TOKYO—A strong earthquake shook residents last Sunday in a mountainous region of central Japan, injuring at least two people and knocking roof tiles off homes. The magnitude 5.6 quake struck about 7 a.m. at a shallow depth of 7 kilometers in Nagano prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The epicenter was about 190 kilometers west of Tokyo. The US Geological Survey measured the magnitude at 5.2. Authorities said two people had minor injuries. Japan’s NHK television said an 83-year-old woman in Otaki village was struck on the head by a falling object in her house, and a 60-year-old woman in Kiso town was hit in the leg by a chest of drawers that fell over. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported multiple incidents of fallen roof tiles and broken glass. NHK showed a worker in Kiso picking up glass from a shattered show window at a Nissan car dealer. There was no danger of tsunami from the inland earthquake. AP

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CIA director: US plans to stop, ‘punish’ leakers

ussia “meddled” in last year’s presidential election as part of a decades-long effort to “undermine American democracy”, said Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo, in an interview where he also said the Trump administration plans to stop leaks and “punish” leakers. “I can’t talk about the details of the intelligence, but we have, the intelligence community has said, that this election was meddled with by the Russians in a way that is frankly not particularly original,” Pompeo said, according to the transcript of an interview with MSNBC broadcast last Saturday morning. It was his first interview with a news network since he became CIA director in January. Before President Donald J. Trump took office, the outgoing director of the national intelligence released a report concluding that Russia attempted to influence last year’s presidential election under orders from President Vladimir Putin. The White House has downplayed Russia’s involvement, even as multiple investigations look into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials to sway the election. As recently as last week, White House Spokesman Sean Spicer declined to say whether Trump believes Russia interfered. Trump, in a Twitter message last Saturday, questioned whether his predecessor, Barack Obama, failed to act against Russian meddling to protect his opponent in the November election, Hillary Clinton. “Obama Administration official said they ‘choked’ when it came to acting on Russian meddling of election. They didn’t want to hurt Hillary?” he wrote.

‘Heightened emphasis’

Pompeo, 53, said it isn’t surprising that Russia would meddle in a US vote. “They’ve been doing this for an awfully long time. And we are decades into the Russians trying to undermine American democracy,” he said. “So in some ways, there’s no news, but it certainly puts a heightened emphasis on our ability to figure out how to stop them.” But the spy chief said he couldn’t confirm whether Putin personally directed the plan. Asked about the Middle East, Pompeo said Iran represents a “longer challenge” to the US than Sunni extremists, such as the Islamic State, which he said poses an “enormous risk” to America. “It remains the world’s largest state sponsor of terror,” he added of Iran. “We find it with enormous influence, influence that far outstrips where it was six or seven years ago.”

Nuclear danger

Pompeo said North Korea is a “very real danger” that’s getting closer to threatening the US with nuclear weapons. “For 20 years, America has whistled past the graveyard, hoping on hope that North Korea would turn colors and become part of the Western civilization,” he said. “There’s no evidence that that’s going to take place, absent a very real, very concrete set of policies that put pressure on the North Koreans to denuclearize.” In March the web site WikiLeaks released thousands of documents it said contained secrets about how the CIA hacks into smartphones and other devices as part of the agency’s cyber-espionage efforts. Edward Snowden became a celebrity after leaking classified information from the National Security Agency about how the government monitors communications. “There is a phenomenon, the worship of Edward Snowden, and those who steal American secrets for the purpose of self-aggrandizement or money or for whatever their motivation may be,” Pompeo said, adding that the trend seems to be accelerating. Bloomberg News

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China’s imports from N. Korea slump in May after coal ban

hina’s imports from North Korea dropped almost 32 percent in May to $123.75 million from a year earlier, after the world’s second-largest economy stopped buying coal from the regime in February in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Shipments in the first five months of this year are down 10.7 percent to $722.1 million, according to China Customs data released last Friday. The slump came in the wake of Beijing’s move in February to ban coal imports from Kim Jong Un’s regime until end of the year, in compliance with United Nations Security Council resolutions over North Korea’s nuclear program. China, North Korea’s main ally and trading partner, previously bought the commodity under exemptions that allowed trade for “livelihood” purposes. The sales accounted for more than 50 percent of North Korea’s exports to China last year and about a fifth of its total trade, according to Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. China has backed the Kim dynasty since it took charge after the Korean War, in part to prevent having a US ally on its border. North Korea has accelerated its development of nuclear bombs and ballistic missiles since 2009, when it walked away from six-party talks involving the US, South Korea, China, Russia and Japan. Still, China’s exports to North Korea rose 33-percent year-onyear in May. China provides as much as 90 percent of the country’s energy supplies, according to a December report from the Cato Institute. Bloomberg News

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Mayors to Trump: Immigration orders meddle with cities’ affairs

IAMI BEACH, Florida— Mayors are warning President Donald J. Trump that toughening immigration enforcement meddles with US cities’ affairs. More than 250 mayors are meeting at the US Conference of Mayors in Miami Beach to take a stance on issues from climate change to the federal budget and health care. They are reviewing resolutions that would strongly oppose Trump’s crack down on illegal immigration. Mayors were struck a blow in January, when Trump ordered to cut funding to jurisdictions that deny, in some way, cooperation with federal immigration agents. Most cities have defied the order, and a federal judge blocked it in April, at least temporarily. “Some of us are proud to be places of sanctuary, to protect immigrants, but this idea that we’re in violation of something, I think is a big charade,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said. Garcetti argued that all he wants from immigration officials is that they conduct enforcement in a “lawful, constitutional, court-ordered way”, referring to policies where sanctuary cities demand warrants to turn over suspects to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “Police officers in Los Angeles do 20,000 to 30,000 requests for warrants from judges every year in the middle of the night when the judges are probably in their pajamas,” Garcetti said. “The idea that ICE can’t do the same thing seems ridiculous.” Mayors from big cities say they

250

The estimated number of US mayors who are meeting at the US Conference of Mayors in Miami Beach to take a stance on issues fear the increased enforcement will push immigrant communities into the shadows, deterring them to report crimes or cooperate as witnesses. The police chief of Los Angeles, Charlie Beck, said in March that sexual assaults and domestic violence reports by Latinos had dropped. Miami-Dade County, which houses 34 municipalities, including the conference host of Miami Beach, heeded Trump’s January order and changed its policy so the corrections department honors all requests by ICE. Authorities have turned over 124 people to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement since January 27. But GOP-identified mayors from states, such as Indiana and Florida, disagreed this weekend on targeting noncriminal immigrants solely for being in the country illegally. Kent Guinn, mayor of Ocala, Florida, says that although he is against offering a pathway to citizenship to

Amal Hana, of Warren, Michigan, holds a photo of President Donald J. Trump on June 16, outside the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building, during a protest in Detroit. Hana said a family member, whom she did not wish to name further, who has lived in the US for 25 years was detained during the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids of primarily Chaldean immigrants and is facing deportation. Hana joined hundreds others to protest the recent ICE raids in which more than 100 Iraqi nationals in Metro Detroit were detained. Tanya Moutzalias/MLive.com via AP

the 11.5 million immigrants who are in the country illegally, most immigrants he sees are “good”. “I don’t think people realize there are some bad people that are here that need to leave,” Guinn said. He referred to the 2015 shooting death of a San Francisco woman often highlighted by Trump when attacking sanctuary policies, because the man charged with her death was in the country illegally and had been released by local law enforcement. “But the ones that we encounter on a day-to-day basis, they’re very hard-working individuals that do the things that they need to do and participate in the economy. They work

on horse farms, in restaurants. We see them. They’re good people. We’re not going around looking for them.” The Republican mayor of Carmel, Indiana, Jim Brainard, who is also bucking his party on the climate front, says he opposes Trump’s immigration views. “Punishing cities makes no sense,” Brainard said. “Everyone who has come to this country, regardless of whether it was illegal, ought to have a pathway to legalization and then we can move to issues that really can help make our country better.” Besides opposing the order on sanctuary cities, several mayors propose extending a deportation re-

GOP senator’s push for 20-year tax cut getting support

Republican senator is building support to change budget rules in order to make temporary tax cuts last for two decades or more, but he has yet to convince a critical figure—House Speaker Paul Ryan. Ryan says he wants permanent tax cuts, a goal he repeated this week in response to questions about Senator Pat Toomey’s proposal to relax time limits on any cuts that would increase the federal deficit. Beyond Ryan’s skepticism, Toomey’s proposal carries procedural challenges and political risks for the GOP, according to budget experts. The change would at least double the time frame allowed for enacting tax cuts that add to the deficit—marking a sea change for budget rules and making it easier for the GOP to enact lower rates without any support from Democrats. Republicans control only 52 of the Senate’s 100 seats, and they want to pass a tax bill under a process called reconciliation that allows for a simple-majority vote. Currently, reconciliation rules require that any changes that would add to the deficit outside a 10-year window must be set to expire. Toomey’s proposal to extend the time horizon to 20 or 30 years has gained the support of influential Republicans, including Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, as well as antitax activist Grover Norquist and conservative groups, such as the Club For Growth. “I’m talking to my colleagues all the time about it, including recently more and more House members who, once you walk people through it, they get the logic of this,” Toomey said to reporters last Thursday. “The alternative is really weak tax reform.”

Economic decline

Monday, June 26, 2017

Ryan and others want a permanent tax overhaul that they can only get through a

tax bill that pays for itself and doesn’t add to the deficit. During a news conference earlier this week, the speaker was asked about the push to extend the budget window to 20 or 30 years. “No matter how long the window is, the out-years, whatever the out-years are in whatever window, have to be revenue neutral or deficit neutral for reconciliation to work,” Ryan said. “That’s why I made the point yesterday that the key components of tax reform need to be permanent” in order to provide long-term certainty to businesses and generate robust economic growth, he said. The following day, Ryan went a step further. His office sent a news release saying that when it comes to corporate taxes, “a temporary rate cut could actually result in economic decline rather than growth”, citing a study by the Tax Foundation. The study evaluated a 10year tax cut. Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, said the White House has expressed openness to the idea, adding that President Donald J. Trump has been promising a tax cut and is “not talking about revenue neutrality”. Toomey has argued that tax cuts that expire after 10 years wouldn’t help businesses, which need a longer time horizon for planning. In Washington, 20 or 25 years is “as close to permanent as you get”, Toomey said. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said that he’s open to considering Toomey’s proposal—if there’s no hope of winning Democrats’ support for a tax plan. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he doesn’t expect any Democratic votes for a tax overhaul.

Leadership follows

Republicans are still working on the terms of the budget resolution for fiscal 2018, the vehicle they plan to use to advance tax legislation. But they need to

finish work on the health-care bill before a tax overhaul can advance. McConnell, who has also insisted on revenue-neutral tax changes, hasn’t taken a position on the length of the budget window, a spokesman said. A Senate Budget Committee aide said Chairman Mike Enzi is aware of the proposal to extend the window and hasn’t made a decision yet. A House Budget Committee aide said the panel’s plan for the budget is still to use a 10-year window. Toomey doesn’t seem to be too concerned about Ryan’s lack of support. If enough Republicans endorse the idea, leaders would follow, he said. “If the consensus of the Republican conference in both bodies were to go here, I don’t see why leadership would object,” he added. The change would require the House and the Senate to approve a longer budget window in reconciliation instructions. The 1974 Budget Act just says the window must be at least five years, so it could be extended without violating the law, said Ed Lorenzen, a senior adviser at the Committee For a Responsible Federal Budget. He noted that Congress has shifted it to seven years before, but never lengthened it beyond 10 years. “Using a longer budget window to try to game budget rules would be unprecedented, and would be a pretty blatant gimmick,” said Lorenzen, a former congressional Democratic policy adviser.

Cutting Medicare

Toomey’s idea is under serious consideration by congressional Republicans, according to a Republican who’s familiar with internal GOP discussions. But the former aide, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private, said it’s unlikely that Toomey’s suggestion would be adopted. If it were, the former aide said, that would signal death for permanent tax reform. Setting that precedent would also be

a gamble for the GOP, since Democrats could eventually extend the window for their own goals, according to Lorenzen. “Any gimmick that can be used to allow deficit-financed tax cuts can be used later to allow deficit-financed spending,” Lorenzen said. “You could easily see a new spending program being created for 19 years and sunset after that.” The move may pose another, more immediate challenge. Republicans have touted the benefits of adopting budgets that seek to balance revenue and spending over the specified time frame. But if they extend that window to 20 years, it would be “very hard” to achieve balance without cutting Medicare or Social Security, Lorenzen said. That’s difficult to do since spending for those programs is expected to grow substantially in the second decade. Trump has vowed not to cut them.

‘Magic wands’

Democrats are expected to oppose the tactic. Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, a former Ways and Means chairman, called it a “very bad idea” that smacks of desperation. He said it would suggest that Republicans don’t care about fiscal discipline and “think there are magic wands” for the economy in tax cuts. The escalating push to change the rules comes amid signs that Republicans are deeply divided on how to raise revenue to pay for the steep individual and corporate tax-rate cuts they want. Ryan-endorsed proposals to impose a border-adjusted tax on imports and to end interest deductibility have struggled to gain traction, and Senate Republicans and the White House have yet to propose alternatives. But the 47-year-old Ryan seems to be staying the course on a project that is close to his heart, attempting to keep hope alive for the first permanent overhaul of the tax code since 1986—the year, he often says, he got his driver’s license. Bloomberg News

prieve granted by former President Barack Obama to young immigrants who arrived illegally. Trump had vowed to end the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, calling it “illegal executive amnesty”, but has not yet decided whether he will revoke it. ICE said it arrested more than 41,000 people on immigration charges in Trump’s first 100 days in office, an increase of nearly 40 percent from the same period a year earlier. Nearly 11,000 had no criminal convictions, more than double the number of immigrants without criminal convictions that were arrested during a comparable period last year. AP

Hong Kong handover created beneficial ties with China–Li Ka-shing

ong Kong’s return to Chinese rule almost 20 years ago set the stage for a smooth transition that paved the way for a mutually beneficial relationship, according to billionaire Li Ka-shing. “Not only did it provide stability for Hong Kong, its people and its businesses to thrive and evolve in an intensifying competitive environment, our ‘front row seats’ offered unparalleled views into the opportunities and changes in an advancing Chinese economy,” Li, Hong Kong’s richest man, said in comments posted on the web site of the Li Ka Shing Foundation in response to questions from the Xinhua News Agency. China’s “one country, two systems” framework for Hong Kong “epitomized the creativity and the flexibility of the Chinese leaders” and China’s continued commitment to the framework is critical to Hong Kong’s ability to flourish, Li said. The comments come as Hong Kong prepares to mark the 20th anniversary of the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule, with July 1 marking the first time Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the city since taking office. Other business tycoons, including K. Wah Group Chairman Lui Che-woo and Tencent’s Pony Ma, have also voiced their views about Hong Kong recently. “If we cherish freedom and opportunities, we need to be mindful of the essence of mutual tolerance and respect” under the framework, Li said. Hong Kong must also “uphold its part, to be respectful and safeguard the foundation of law and order and to stand and fight against the corrosive force of corruption”, he added. Looking ahead, Li expressed confidence that Xi’s Belt-and-Road Initiative will be an important conduit of growth and that the city’s incoming administration will be able to build on Hong Kong’s strengths. The city’s Chief Executive-elect Carrie Lam will began her five-year term on July 1. When asked how to diversify the city’s heavy reliance on property and finance to drive economic growth, Li said Hong Kong should step up efforts in investment, education and reforms. Developing the technology industry is important to the future of Hong Kong, he added. Bloomberg News

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ExxonMobil, Hawking agree on climate fix

ess than three weeks after President Donald J. Trump pulled the United States from the 195-nation Paris Agreement on climate change, there’s a new ragtag group of underdogs supporting carbon-cutting.

ExxonMobil Corp., Total SA, Raymond Dalio, Laurene Powell Jobs, Stephen Hawking, Ratan Tata and Michael Bloomberg, the founder and owner of Bloomberg LP, among others, have signed on as “founding members” of a months-old group called the Climate Leadership Council (CLC). The organization is the brainchild of Ted Halstead, a serial think tank entrepreneur, who set out to craft traditionally conservative ideas into a potential climate fix. The council has developed a draft policy that taxes climate pollution and redirects the money to taxpayers. The idea was first unveiled in February, when former Treasury secretaries James Baker and George Shultz presented it to the president’s top economic adviser, Gary Cohn. “When major fossil-fuel producers are supporting a tax that will bear on fossil fuels,” said former Treasury Secretary [and CLC member] Lawrence Summers, “It’s hard to believe that it isn’t a good idea.” The plan is made up of four parts: A carbon ta x on fossil-fuel combustion lets energ y prices ref lect the damage done to the c limate f rom carbon d iox ide (CO 2) emissions. Money raised by the lev y is refunded monthly to ta xpayers—turning distant climate benefits into immediate cash. A border ta x on goods

The coal-fired Plant Scherer, one of the US’s top carbon-dioxide emitters, stands in a distance in Juliette, Georgia. A new poll finds that less than a third of Americans support President Donald J. Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, with just 18 percent of respondents agreeing with his claim that pulling out of the international agreement to reduce carbon emissions will help the US economy. AP/Branden Camp

$1.9T

The amount of market capitalization of the 11 companies included as founding members of Climate Leadership Council

from countries without a carbon ta x ensures that US companies rem a i n compet it ive. Fi n a l ly, the US safely rolls back climate regulations. A CLC analysis released in February suggests that a $40 tax on every ton of CO 2 may meet the climate goals set by President Barack Obama twice as quickly as his own policies would have. Requests for outlooks on climate policy were not returned from two relevant Republican-led Senate and House committees and the Heritage Foundation. Releasing a plan is one thing. Enacting the plan is another. Broad political support is a prerequisite for ambitious legislation, which means that coalition-building far from the halls of Congress enables voting that eventually transpires there. Without a union of business and non-governmental organizations

(NGOs), for example, a climate bill that passed the House of Representatives in 2009 (and died in the Senate), probably would have been killed in committee, according to Eric Pooley, a senior vice president at the Environmental Defense Fund. “Since the mid-/late-1970s, no major legislation passed unless a broad array of interests put their collective shoulder to the wheel and shoved really, really hard,”

Pooley said in an e-mail. “There has to be political momentum.” Halstead is attempting to build that momentum by earning support from groups as diverse as BP Plc., Banco Santander SA and environmental NGOs, such as the Nature Conservancy and Conservation International. The 11 companies included as founding members together have a market capitalization of $1.9 trillion and annual revenue of

Debate heats up over teaching climate change in US schools

OLU MBUS, Oh io —T he struggle over what American students learn about globa l war ming is heating up as conser vative lawmakers, climate-change doubters a nd ot hers at tempt to pu sh rejected or debunked theor ies into the classroom. An overwhelming majority of climate scientists say manmade emissions drive global warming, but there’s no such consensus among educators over how climate change and its causes should be taught. Severa l US states recent ly considered measures allowing or requiring teachers to present alternatives to widely accepted viewpoints on such topics. For example, a stalled proposal in Iowa would have required teaching “opposing points of view” on topics such as global warming, and proposed science standards in Idaho would have students taught that human impact is driving global warming and that natural factors also contribute. The debate is arriving on teachers’ doorsteps nationwide, as thousands are being mailed the book Why Scientists Disagree about Global Warming from a Chicagoarea advocacy group called The Heartland Institute, which challenges the assertion that there is consensus about a human-caused climate crisis. In a follow-up statement, the institute’s president said science instructors should “keep an open mind” and shouldn’t teach “dogma pushed by some environmental activist groups.” The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) made rebuttal flyers explaining that Heartland relies on debunked theories. The

National Science Teachers Association dismissed the mailing as propaganda and urged educators to recycle the books. Meanwhile, President Donald J. Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from an international agreement aimed at curbing global warming is reinforcing some teachers’ sense of urgency about discussing humans’ role in accelerating climate change. “ T his isn’t just something we’re talking about because it’s going to be on the test,” said Jim Reding, a high-school teacher in Granville, Ohio, who said he wants his students to think critically and have civil, reasoned conversations on the topic. “This is something that could have an impact on my life or my children’s life going forward.” An NCSE survey released last year of 1,500 public midd leand high-school science teachers found about three-quarters taught something about climate change during the 2014-2015 school year. About a quarter give equal time to “perspectives that raise doubt about the scientific consensus”, the survey found. Approaches to teaching climate science depend largely on state science standards and decisions by districts and instructors, because the federal government doesn’t dictate curriculum, said Glenn Branch, deputy director of the science education center. Many schools teach climate change in some way, but teachers vary in knowledge of the topic and how much they emphasize human impact, he said. Lawmakers in Alabama and Indiana recently passed resolutions in support of giving teachers latitude in how they help students

analyze and critique scientific theories. Bills to put similar allowances into law fizzled in Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas. Florida lawmakers approved making it easier for people to challenge textbooks as inappropriate, and critics argued that bill could lead to schools removing books that discuss climate change. The executive director of the science teachers association, David Evans, criticizes such measures as efforts to introduce theories that aren’t evidence-based. It’s “permission, or in some cases even an imperative, to talk about things which are not scientific in the science classroom,” he said. “And we firmly oppose that.” But the South Dakota bill’s primary sponsor, Republican Sen. Jeff Monroe, argued it’s a matter of balance and critical inquiry. He said he heard from educators seeking more latitude because they feel pressured under state standards to teach primarily one view on scientific theories such as climate change. He said none would publicly speak about their feelings or testify when lawmakers considered the measure because they feared backlash in their schools and communities. “All I want is for them to be able to show the strengths and weaknesses of the theory, whatever they’re talking about,” and for state law to outline that allowance, Monroe said. Joe Skahan, a science teacher in Lynn, Massachusetts, said he feels strongly about climate change as a problem and ways to address it, but he lets students draw their own conclusions based on what’s observable. He devotes several weeks of lessons to climate science and might have students

build windmills to learn about renewable energy, discuss rising sea levels or evaluate benefits of energy-efficient light bulbs. “It’s up to teachers to be confident and, you know, not afraid to keep strong to teach the science regardless of what they’re saying at the White House,” Skahan said. Trump said he left the Paris climate accord because it was unfair to the country. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos backed Trump’s announcement and told reporters then, during a visit to a charter school in Washington on June 2, that she believes the climate is changing, but she wou ldn’t answer a repor ter’s question about whether human activity is causing that. T he R e publ ic a n president p re v iou s l y d o w npl ay e d e v i dence of human impact in climate change and once suggested global warming is an economically motivated “ hoa x” by the C hinese, t hough his c u r rent beliefs are less clear. “The president believes that the climate is always changing— sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Pollutants are part of that equation,” the White House said in a statement this month. Evans, of the teachers association, said he doesn’t want students caught in political rhetoric but believes Trump is sending the wrong message about climate change and “the value of science in public life.” Students should be presented with evidence, not opinion, and understand topics like climate change by learning the science behind them, not merely acce pt i ng ot hers’ conc lu sion s, he said. AP

$1.4 trillion. They operate in all 50 states and employ 1.6 million globally. (The council takes no corporate money. More than $2.5 million has been raised or committed from various philanthropic foundations and individuals.) It’s not an accident that several of the newly announced founding members are foreign companies. Halstead said the council initiative is made for the US but also designed for implementation in

virtually any country. The key to contagion is the border adjustment. If nations with a carbon tax place a carbon levy on imports, the exporters may come to their senses, the thinking goes, and tax their own carbon rather than pay for it through trade. Unfortunately, no one who’s spent more than a half an hour in Washing ton ca n e x pect a simple idea to pass and fix the world. Bloomberg News

Hybrid wave energy for PHL marine transport pushed By Jun N. Aguirre Correspondent

EW WASHINGTON, Aklan—A seafarerturned-businessman is asking the government’s support for his proposal for a wave energy to be implemented in the Philippine marine-transportation sector. Engr. Jonathan Salvador, owner of a shipyard in Barangay Lagatik, New Washington, Aklan, said in an interview with the BusinessMirror on Tuesday that he is asking the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to support his proposal. He said his idea of hybrid wave energy has been endorsed by the College of Fisheries and Marine Sciences of the Aklan State University (ASU) based in this town. The ASU has endorsed Salvador’s idea to the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) of the DOST. The proposal is dubbed as the“Development of a Hybrid Fast Craft Passenger and Cargo Vessel Using Multi and Alternative Energy Source from Ocean Waters”. “In my proposal, we will be using gas to start the engine. Then, when the vessel is in the middle of the sea, we will be using wave energy. We will be using the Trimaran Model, an innovation of the Filipino traditional motorboat,”Salvador said, adding that the boat is safe and environment-friendly. Salvador said he has finished preparing a module for the wave-energy concept, but could not release it to the public yet for intellectual property-rights issues. “I am confident with my concept because I have already shown it to my European counterparts,” he said. He explained that wave energy is feasible being a renewable energy. “As the vessel runs into the sea, it creates friction. We could use the friction generated to create electricity. As the vessel runs through the smooth sea, the ship captain can have an option to use gas or navigate the boat to

create additional friction. The boat could also run faster compared to traditional boats,” he told the BusinessMirror. With the Philippines as an archipelago, the use of wave energy is feasible, and the boats could travel short distances for a start. In 2002 Salvador said he has written a letter to then-President Gloria MacapagalArroyo for the implementation of the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH), which was acknowledged by Malacanang. In 2003 Arroyo opened the SRNH, connecting islands for tourism and trade. The SRNH policy was formulated in the time of President Fidel V. Ramos. Engr. Nonilo Peña, chief of the Science Research Specialist, Energy and Utilities Systems Technology Development Division of PCIEERD, has written a letter to ASU, dated April 21, indicating that the proposal for the use of wave energy has passed the initial screening for the PCIEERD Special Call for Proposal for 2016. Peña has recommended to ASU that Salvador and the university provide a more comprehensive discussion on the current marine-transport scenario, and include statistical data, provide a concept design and indicate the raw materials to be used in the hull. He added the proponent should consult with the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, or at least a naval architect, as part of the project team. “I had already complied with all such requirements. I was told that the PCIEERD may release its decision to my proposal this June or July,” Salvador said. “There is a huge potential in the research and use of wave energy, since it is now starting research,” Salvador added. Salvador has worked for 20 years with a Norwegian shipping company. He later decided to put up a shipyard in the province that repairs boats mostly from the island of Boracay. He received the Outstanding Aklanon Award in 2009 for his ingenuity in the field of marine transport.

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Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

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Energy chief: Carbon dioxide not prime driver of warming

ASHINGTON—Energy Secretary Rick Perry said last Monday he does not believe carbon dioxide (CO2) is a primary contributor to global warming, a statement at odds with mainstream scientific consensus but in line with the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Asked on CNBC’s Squawk Box whether carbon emissions are primarily responsible for climate change, Perry said no, adding that “most likely, the primary control knob is the ocean waters and this environment that we live in.” Perry’s view is contrary to mainstream climate science, including analyses by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). The EPA under President Donald J. Trump recently removed a Web page that declared “carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas that is contributing to recent climate change.” Taking down the Web page came after EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, appearing on Squawk Box in March, said “there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact” of CO2 and other greenhouse gases on the planet. “So, no, I would not agree that [CO2] is a primary contributor to the global warming that we see,” Pruitt said. The Nobel Prizewinning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, organized by the United Nations, calls CO 2 the biggest heat-trapping force responsible for about 33 times more added warming than natural causes. The panel’s calculations mean CO2 alone accounts for between 1 and 3 degrees warming, said Massachusetts Institute of Technology atmospheric scientist Kerry Emanuel. Perry, like Pruitt, rejected the scientific consensus on climate change. “This idea that science is just absolutely settled and if you don’t believe it’s settled then you’re somehow another Neanderthal, that is so inappropriate from my perspective,” he said. Being a skeptic about climate-change

issues is “quite all right”, Perry added, saying skepticism is a sign of being a “wise, intellectually engaged person”. Recently, The Associated Press sent Pruitt’s comments to numerous scientists who study climate. All seven climate scientists who responded said Pruitt was wrong and that CO2 is the primary driver of global warming. Perry, in his TV appearance last Monday, said there should not be a debate about whether the climate is changing or if humans have an effect on the climate. Instead, he said the debate should be on “what are the policy changes that we need to make to affect that?” Shaye Wolf, climate science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said Perry “has the science exactly backward.” Far from being a key cause of climate change, “the world’s oceans are actually another victim of greenhouse pollution,” Wolf said. “Our oceans absorb millions of tons of carbon dioxide a day, making them dangerously acidic.” Warming oceans also put “tremendous stress on marine life”, Wolf said. Nasa and Noaa reported in January that the Earth’s 2016 temperatures were the warmest ever. The planet’s average surface temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the late-19th century, “a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere,” the agencies said in a joint statement. Earlier this month, Trump announced he would withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord. The agreement signed by 195 nations in 2015 aims to decrease global carbon emissions in an effort to head off the worst predicted effects of global warming, including worsening storms, catastrophic droughts and city-drowning sea level rise. The Trump administration has also moved to roll back or delay numerous rules approved by the Obama administration to cut pollution from mining operations, oil and gas wells and coal-fired power plants. AP

A diver swims on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultiural Organization said in a draft report to the World Heritage Committee that “climate change remains the most significant overall threat to the future” of the coral expanse. AP/Brain Cassey

3-year global coral bleaching event easing, but still bad

ASHINGTON—A mass bleaching of coral reefs worldwide is finally easing after three years, US scientists announced last week. About three-quarters of the world’s delicate coral reefs were damaged or killed by hot water in what scientists say was the largest coral catastrophe. T he Nationa l Oceanic and At mospher ic Ad m i n ist rat ion ( NOA A) a nnou nced a g loba l bleaching event in May 2014. It was worse than previous global bleaching events in 1998 and 2010. The forecast damage doesn’t look widespread in the Indian Ocean, so the event loses its global scope. Bleaching will still be bad in the Caribbean and Pacific, but it’ll be less severe than recent years, said NOAA coral reef watch coordinator C. Mark Eakin. Places like Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, northwest Hawaii, Guam and parts of the Caribbean have been hit with back-to-backto-back destruction, Eakin said. University of Victoria, British

Columbia, coral reef scientist Julia Baum plans to travel to Christmas Island in the Pacific where the coral reefs have looked like ghost towns in recent years. “This is really good news,” Baum said. “We’ve been totally focused on coming out of the carnage of the 2015-2016 El Niño.” While conditions are improving, it’s too early to celebrate, said Eakin, adding that the world may be at a new normal where reefs are barely able to survive during good conditions. Eakin said coral have difficulty surviving water already getting warmer by man-made climate change. Extra heating of the water from a natural El Niño nudges coral conditions over the edge. About 1 billion people use coral reefs for fisheries or tourism. Scientists have said coral reefs are one of the first and most prominent indicators of global warming. “I don’t see how they can take one more hit at this point,” Baum said. “They need a reprieve.” AP

Fatty algae is biofuel breakthrough for Exxon

t’s the holy grail for biofuel developers hoping to coax energy out of algae: Keep the organism fat enough to produce oil but spry enough to grow quickly. J. Craig Venter, the scientist who mapped the human genome, just helped Exxon Mobil Corp. strike that balance, with a breakthrough that could enable widespread commercialization of algae-based biofuels. Exxon and Venter’s Synthetic Genomics Inc. announced the development at a conference in San Diego last Monday. They used advanced cell engineering to more than double the fatty lipids inside a strain of algae. The technique may be replicated to boost numbers on other species, too. “Tackling the inner workings of algae cells has not been trivial,” Venter said. “Nobody’s really ever been there before; there’s no guideline to go by.” Venter, who cofounded Synthetic Genomics and sequenced the human genome in the 1990s, added the development is a significant advancement in the quest to make algae a renewable-energy source. The discovery is being published in the July issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology. It’s taken eight years of what Venter called tedious research to reach this point. When ExxonMobil announced its $600-million collaboration with Synthetic Genomics in 2009, the oil company predicted it might yield algae-based biofuels within a decade. Four years later, Exxon executives conceded a better estimate might be within a generation. Developing strains that reproduce and generate enough of the raw material to supply a refinery meant the venture might not succeed for at least another 25 years, former chief executive and current US Secretary of State

40%

The estimated percentage of oil produced by the algae strain in the Exxon and Synthetic Genomics collaboration

Rex Tillerson said at the time. Even with this newest discovery, commercialization of this kind of modified algae is decades away. Venter said the effort has “been a real slog”. “It’s to the team’s credit—it’s to Exxon’s credit—that they believed the steps in the learning were actually leading some place,” he said. “And they have.” The companies forged on—renewing their joint research agreement in January amid promising laboratory results. Ex xon declined to disclose how much the Ir ving, Texasbased company has invested in the endeavor so far. Vijay Swarup, a vice president at Exxon Mobil Research and Engineering Co., said the collaboration is part of the company’s broad pursuit of “more efficient ways to produce the energy and chemicals” the world needs and “mitigate the impacts of climate change”.

Carbon consumer

Where Exxon’s chief products— oil and natural gas—generate carbon-dioxide emissions that drive the phenomenon, algae is a CO 2

Algae

Bloomberg

consumer, Swarup said. Most renewable fuels today are made from plant material, including corn, corn waste and soybean oil. Algae has long been considered a potentially more sustainable option; unlike those traditional biofuels, it can grow in salt water and thrive under harsh environmental conditions. And the oil contained in algae potentially could be processed in conventional refineries. The Exxon and Synthetic Genomics team found a way to regulate the expression of genes controlling the accumulation of lipids, or fats, in the algae—and then use it to double the strain’s lipid productivity while retaining its ability to grow. “To my knowledge, no other group has achieved this level of lipid production by modifying algae, and there’s no algae in production that has anything like this level,” Venter said in a telephone interview. It’s “our f irst super-strong ind ication that there is a path to getting to where we need to go.”

Nitrogen starved

They searched for the needed genetic regulators after observing what happened when cells were starved of nitrogen—a tactic that generally drives more oil accumulation. Using the CRISPRCas9 gene-editing technique, the researchers were able to winnow a list of about 20 candidates to a single regulator—they call it

ZnCys—and then to modulate its expression. Test strains were grown under conditions mimicking an average spring day in southern California. Rob Brown, PhD, senior director of genome engineering at Synthetic Genomics, likened the tactic to forcing an agile algae athlete to sit on the bench. “We basically take an athlete and make them sit on a couch and get fat,” Brown said. “That’s the switch—you grab this guy off the track and you put him on a couch and he turns into a couch potato. So everything he had in his body that was muscle, sinew, carbohydrates—we basically turn that into a butterball. That’s what we’re basically doing with this system.” Without the change, most algae growing in this environment would produce about 10 percent to 15 percent oil. The Exxon and Synthetic Genomics collaboration yielded a strain with more than 40 percent. Venter, who is also working on human longevity research, views the development as a significant step toward the sustainable energy he believes humans need as they live longer, healthier lives. The study also is proof, he said, that “persistence pays”. “You have to believe in what you’re doing and that where you’re headed really is the right direction,” he added, “and sometimes, like this, it takes a long time to really prove it.” Bloomberg News

Unilab’s Sekaya steps up health R&D through S&T

he Sentrong Katutubong Yaman (Sekaya), an affiliate of United Laboratories Inc. (Unilab), the leading pharmaceutical and health-care company in the Philippines, is tapping into the country’s rich biodiversity to develop natural medicinal products with the help of science and technology (S&T). Sekaya signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in order to enhance research and development (R&D) on health, especially in medicinal plants. The MoU signing was held during the recent inauguration of the Sekaya Research and Development plant at the Unilab Pharma Campus in Mamplasan, Laguna. The facility is envisioned to become a collaborative R&D center for local medicinal plants and as a platform to develop natural products based on science to help the indigenous communities and small farmers benefit from the country’s rich resources. “Indigenous communities and farmers, who are among the poorest in the country, have a lot to gain from the development of plant-based natural products in terms of livelihood and health benefits,” said Dr. Eliseo Banaynal, executive director of Sekaya. Agricultural research points out that lack of access to modern technology and technical expertise are among the barriers that prevent Filipino farmers from being competitive and from increasing their income. Through the

Executive Director Dr. Jaime Montoya of the Philippine Center for Health Research and Development Council underscores the government’s call for continuous development of the country’s biodiversity for health-related discoveries, particularly plant-based medicines, during the inauguration of the Sentrong Katutubong Yaman Research and Development facility at the Unilab Pharma Campus in Mamplasan, Laguna.

Sekaya facility, small farmers can tap the expertise of scientists and gain access to innovative technologies and processes. The Philippines is one of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world, or the world’s top biodiversity-rich countries, which host two-thirds of the Earth’s biodiversity and contain about 70 percent to 80 percent of the world’s plant and animal species. The country ranks fifth in terms of number of plant species, and home to 5 percent of the world’s plants (about 10,000 to 13,000 species of plants described and recorded). “The Philippines’s rich biodiversity should be protected at all cost, at the same time we should make sure that benefits from it will redound to the Filipinos. Unilab, through Sekaya, with the help of science and technology, will support communities

in cultivating and developing practical applications for the country’s natural resources that will be beneficial to them,” said Joey Ochave, senior vice president of Unilab. For the DOST’s part, PCHRD Executive Director Dr. Jaime Montoya underscored the government’s call for continuous development of the country’s biodiversity for health-related discoveries, particularly plant-based medicines. The DOST, through PCHRD, has been at the forefront of the government’s efforts to develop herbal medicines to maximise the potential of medicinal plants which abound all over the country. “We could not have found a better partner than Unilab in this collaborative R&D initiative. The company has always been guided by its commitment in supporting initiatives and programs that would help

Filipinos live healthier lives—most especially those who belong to the base of the pyramid,” Montoya added. According to PCHRD, experts have identified over 1,500 indigenous medicinal plants in the Philippines. Globally, there is renewed interest and demand for herbal medicines in recent years. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 8 out of 10 people worldwide use herbal medicines. It is stated under the Global Strategic Plan for Biodiversity of the Convention on Biological Diversity that, “by 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people”. Environment protection and stewardship is a priority under the MoU. It cites that Sekaya and PCHRD “commit to work together as stewards of Philippine biodiversity, particularly in the development of plantbased natural products”. Also present during the signing of the MoU and the inauguration of the Sekaya R&D Plant were Science Undersecretary Rowena Guevara, for Research and Development; Marindueque Gov. Carmencita OngsiakoReyes; Dr. Fabian Dayrit, professor at the Ateneo de Manila University Department of Chemistry; National Scientist Dr. Dolores Ramirez; Dr. Teresita Borromeo, professor and head of the Plant Genetic Division of University of the Philippines Los Baños; and Dr. Cecilia Maramba, director of the National Institutes of Health.

A14 Monday, June 26, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Our Manila

ast Saturday was the 446th foundation day of the city of Manila, the country’s capital. Any city would love to have the many unique historical attractions that Manila has because of its unrivaled past. To name just a few, Manila has Malacañan Palace, the seat of government and the official residence and workplace of the President of the Philippines. It has Intramuros and Rizal or Luneta Park, which have both seen so many significant moments in Philippine history. It has neoclassical architectural wonders like the Old Congress Building (now the National Museum), the Department of Tourism Building, the Manila Post Office and the Manila City Hall. It has Manila Bay, with its worldfamous golden sunset, and old districts like Quiapo, Binondo, Santa Cruz, Malate, Ermita and Escolta, as well as a good section of riverfront facing the Pasig River. There’s also Malate Church, one of the oldest churches outside Intramuros, and, beside it, Rajah Sulayman Park, one of the first and most beautiful plazas in Manila. Manileños would be the first to admit that their beloved city today is a far cry from that during its heyday. Many of its once vibrant attractions have become dirty, dark and somewhat even dangerous at times. The city has become overcrowded. Manila is the most densely populated city in the country with 42,628 people residing in a square kilometer of land, according to 2015 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. Many of its 1.78 residents live in slums. There are large concentrations of poverty in its districts and, of course, with it, are also problems with sanitation, crime, prostitution and general disorder. Foreign visitors taking tours in any of the famous sites we mentioned will not likely miss Manila’s blighted neighborhoods, shantytowns and dilapidated buildings. Even in the tourist belt of Malate, including the Manila Baywalk, they would see hordes of homeless people sleeping on pavements. Perhaps after seeing the booming commercial hubs of Makati and Bonifacio Global City, or after being victimized by its criminal elements, these tourists might even wonder why Manila was made the country’s capital, a city once bestowed such prestigious titles, like “Pearl of the Orient” and “Paris of the East”. Manila may well be in decay, its sorry state definitely hurting both the spirit and the economic state of its citizens, but Manileños would also be the first to tell you that all the grumbling about Manila and the volume of complaints about it can only add to its character. Manileños may have seen a worsening of the quality of life in their beloved city, and this has tormented them surely, but it has not quite eroded their pride and love for it. More than a few of them are working for a renaissance that could reverse its runaway decay and make it the city it was hoped to be and was once was—not only a mecca for tourists but a city where people really like to live and which residents can truly, proudly proclaim as their own. From preserving old heritage structures and preventing them from being torn, to raising money for their upkeep, renovation and rehabilitation, Manila’s citizens and private businesses are working to restore the former glory of Manila knowing there is so much to treasure. We truly hope that Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada’s administration could muster the political and financial resources that are needed to help in Manila’s renaissance. Together, both citizens and their city government can implement a real and doable agenda for urban revival—one that could reduce crime, congestion, poverty and unemployment in the city—and solve other pressing problems, like failing and overcrowded schools, inadequate public services and diminishing parks and open spaces. “…Age after age, its lovers have hailed its rebirth or bewailed its perishing…” as one of its native sons and, certainly, its foremost chronicler, the late Nick “Quijano De Manila” Joaquin, wrote in his book “Manila, My Manila”. Here’s hoping people would soon be revising their opinions about Manila and fall in love with the city all over again.

The environment and our economy Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

recently watched on social media a video that showed a whale approaching the shore and refusing to go back into the water even if the people tried to push it away. Soon they realized that it was very sick and was dying. Out of pity, they shot the whale and examined it to see what ailed it. They found around 30 plastic bags in its belly, some of them huge ones. These bags were collected and placed on exhibit to increase awareness about ocean protection. National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Assistant Secretary for Regional Development Mercedita Sombilla recently emphasized the importance of “environmental health and ecological integrity” to the government’s bid for accelerated economic growth. She said, “Our environment and natural resources play a critical role in our country’s development. They support the performance of other sectors, like agriculture,

fisheries, industry and services. They also provide livelihood to resource-dependent communities.” Indeed, if there will be no forests and marine life, then the country’s tourism, manufacturing, fisheries and agricultural industries, among other sectors, would slowly perish. It is good that the Duterte administration realizes this, but, for sure, more aggressive and significant projects will have to be undertaken. June is Philippine Environment

‘Cyber incitement’

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epublic Act (RA) 10844, otherwise known as the “Department of Information and Communication Technology Act of 2015”, was signed into law on May 23, 2016. In accordance with this law, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) shall be the primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing and administrative entity of the Executive Branch of the government that is mandated to plan, develop and promote the national ICT-development agenda. Following RA 10884, the Cybercrime Prevention and Coordinating Center (CICC), which was created upon the approval of RA 10175, or the “Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012”, became an attached agency of the DICT. According to the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, the CICC will have the following powers and functions, among others: n To formulate a national cybersecurity plan and extend immediate assistance for the suppression of realtime commission of cyber-crime offenses through a computer emergencyresponse team; n To coordinate the preparation of appropriate and effective measures to prevent and suppress cyber-crime activities as provided for in RA 10175; n To monitor cyber-crime cases being bandied by participating law-enforcement and prosecution agencies; and n To facilitate international cooperation on intelligence, investigations, training and capacity building related to cyber-crime prevention,

suppression and prosecution; nnn Information Secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima, in a recent news briefing in Malacañang, announced that his office (presumably through the CICC) is “currently investigating suspects who are aiding Maute terrorists using online propaganda”. These terrorists last month rampaged through Marawi, allegedly waving the black flags of the Islamic State of Iran and Syria (ISIS) group. At the early stages of the fighting, over 300 have been left dead, and the city’s 200,000 residents have fled or have been evacuated to nearby cities. The number of fatalities continues to increase, as the fighting continues unabated. The cyberworld is flooded with online propaganda both spreading and fighting terrorist ideology. Reports have shown that ISIS currently controls 90,000

Month, and to celebrate it, Neda conducted a tree-planting event on June 16 in Rizal, Laguna, where around 900 guyabano and narra seedlings were planted. During that event, a few important issues were raised. First was the role of both private and public sectors in implementing strategies that are aligned with the administration’s Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 “to rehabilitate degraded natural resources and to protect fragile ecosystems”. T his means that ever yone should play a role in environment protection; do not wait for the government to do all the work. I am once again reminded of a worthwhile art project I recently viewed online. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, together with the British Council, launched the Pasig River Art for Urban Change project. International and local artists were tapped to paint murals on eight different pumping stations along the Pasig River to inspire Metro Manila residents to explore the river on the Pasig River Ferry to “appreciate the river’s potential and be made aware

of the challenges that affect its rehabilitation”. To go back to Neda’s recommendations, the agency is also pushing for the “complete delineation of final forest limits”. This means that the extent of forestlands will be properly marked to allow for proper management. Sombilla explained that this should distinguish production zones from protection zones. Finally, the economic agency is also recommending the acceleration and prioritization of the “rehabilitation of unproductive, denuded and degraded areas”. This accounts for an estimated 7.1 million hectares. Of course, to help these recommendations along, it is crucial to strengthen the country’s research and law enforcement on forest management. It is quite obvious that progress is linked to the health of our environment. We can’t keep on talking about economic development while we ignore the pressing problems related to environment protection. There is also a sense of urgency—the sooner we address these issues, the better for everyone.

Twitter profiles, apart from other social media accounts, such as Facebook, YouTube and Tumblr. This increases the group’s reach and exposure. Twitter functionalities, such as hashtags, are also heavily used by terrorists to archive, upload and disseminate propaganda. Unlike personal or public accounts, Twitter does not suspend or block hashtags. ISIS members are also known for using online, end-to-end messaging applications, such as Telegram and WhatsApp. In the Philippines, with 44 million Internet users and 47 million active Facebook accounts, it is correct for the DICT to monitor these accounts and for Salalima to issue a stern warning that people “who do sedition or incite people via the cyber world or via Internet xxx will be investigated for cyber rebellion or cyber sedition”. (Rappler.com) He called upon the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct an investigation into these online activities tending toward cyber rebellion or cyber sedition. This has baffled the legal circles because, by their very nature, there can be no such crimes in cyber space. Under the Revised Penal Code, sedition and rebellion are defined as follows: n Article 134. Rebellion or insurrection—How committed. The crime of rebellion or insurrection is committed by rising publicly and taking arms against the government for the purpose of removing from the allegiance to said government or its laws, the territory of the Republic of the Philippines or any part thereof, of any body of land, naval or other armed forces, or depriving the Chief Executive or the legislature, wholly or partially, of any of their powers or prerogatives. (As amended by RA 6968, October 24, 1990.)

n Article 139. Sedition—How committed. The crime of sedition is committed by persons who rise publicly and tumultuously in order to attain by force, intimidation or by other means outside of legal methods, any of the following objects: 1. To prevent the promulgation or execution of any law or the holding of any popular election; 2. To prevent the national government, or any provincial or municipal government, or any public officer thereof, from freely exercising its or his functions, or prevent the execution of any administrative order; 3. To inflict any act of hate or revenge upon the person or property of any public officer or employee; 4. To commit, for any political or social end, any act of hate or revenge against private persons or any social class; and 5. To despoil, for any political or social end, any person, municipality or province, or the National Government xxx of all its property or any part thereof. (As amended by Com. Act 202.) From the above definition, it is obvious that cyber sedition cannot be based on sedition as defined in the Revised Penal Code, because modern technology does not yet allow persons to “rise publicly and tumultuously” in cyber space. The same can be said about cyber rebellion or cyber insurrection, as one cannot “rise publicly and take arms against the Government” via the Internet. Whatever name we wish to call it, the Cybercrime Prevention Act (RA 10175), specifically Section 6 thereof, punishes all crimes defined and penalized by the Revised Penal Code “committed by, See “Kapunan,” A15

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, June 26, 2017 A15

Let’s talk about the tax Dissecting PPP Contracts #1: Step-in rights reform in the Philippines By Alberto Agra

PPP Lead

Filbert Tsai

DEBIT CREDIT Conclusion

here are a lot of those previously exempt from value-added tax (VAT) or zero-rated VAT transactions that are being disallowed under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion. However, these transactions are usually not applicable anyway to business enterprises. Though these proposed changes in the VAT law are quite significant, let me just skip these and go to one change closer to the heart of start-up businesses.

A lot of start-up business owners still do a lot of freelance work in order to sustain a bootstrapping business. While previously, self-employed or freelancers, including professionals, are subject to the 3-percent other percentage tax (OPT) in lieu of VAT (when gross sales or gross receipts do not exceed the VAT threshold of P1,919,500)—this is being changed under the proposed tax reform—I can’t say for sure if it’s for the better or for worse since it really depends on your business. Under the proposed tax changes, self-employed and/or freelancers are no longer subject to the 3-percent OPT. The following summarizes the information that you need to know about the proposed changes: VAT threshold is increased from P1,919,500 to P5,000,000—this is seen as a positive change to allow improved wiggle room for business entities, self-employed and freelancers to pay a 3-percent OPT instead of being subjected to a heavy burden of 12-percent VAT. Self-employed and/or freelancers whose gross sales or receipts do not exceed the VAT threshold (P5 million) are subjected to 8-percent income tax on gross sales or receipts in excess of P250,000. Self-employed and/or freelancers whose gross sales or receipts exceed the VAT threshold will be taxed in the same manner as corporations. Now, is this a good change? If your income is below P250,000 per year, then definitely this is a good change for you, since you don’t have to pay anything. Earning below P400,000 a year, you

Kapunan. . .

continued from A14

through and with the use of information and communications technologies”. This law adds further that “the penalty to be impose shall be one degree higher” in cyber space. Realizing the error in his previous pronouncement, Salalima corrected himself by saying he meant “inciting to rebellion or insurrection” and “inciting to sedition”, defined under Article 138 and 142 of the Revised Penal Code, as follows: n Article 138. Inciting to rebellion or insurrection. The penalty of prison mayor in its minimum period shall be imposed upon any person who, without taking arms or being in open hostility against the government, shall incite others to the execution of any of the acts specified in Article 134 of this Code, by means of speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, banners or other representations tending to the same end. (As restored by Executive Order 187.) n Article 142. Inciting to sedition. The penalty of prison correccional in its maximum period and a fine not exceeding P2,000 shall be imposed upon any person who, without taking any direct part in the crime of sedition, should incite others to the accomplishment of any of the acts which constitute sedition, by means of speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, cartoons, banners, or other representations tending to the same end, or upon any person or persons who shall utter seditious words or speeches, write, publish, or circulate scurrilous libel against the government of the Philippines, or any of the duly constituted authorities thereof, or which tend to disturb or obstruct any lawful officer in executing the functions of his

are still better off with the tax reform, but anything more than that—you will start feeling the pain of the 5-percent hike in tax rate. Now, if you’re currently earning more than P1,919,500—you benefit from the tax savings of 7 percent (12-percent VAT less 5-percent new tax rate). But more than P5 million, it gets pretty complicated. It’s a balance between subjecting your gross income to 12-percent VAT (under the current tax code) and net income to 30-percent income tax (under the tax reform). The tax-reform measure passed by the House of Representatives is still subject to Senate deliberations. As a result, there still may be some changes in the tax proposals. However, early understanding of its impact on your business, as well as your personal income, is crucial to proper financial planning. For companies that are previously enjoying zero-rated VAT or VAT exempt, read more on these proposed tax measures or drop an e-mail to your accountant or tax advisor. Your preferential transactional tax might have been taken away from you with this tax-reform changes.

Filbert Tsai is a Filipino accounting advisor in the UK with global and public-sector experience. His key areas of interests are start-ups and MSMEs. His blog and page, Ask the Accounting Advisor, provide relevant insight for start-ups and MSMEs in the Philippines. This column accepts contributions from accountants, especially articles that are of interest to the accountancy profession, in particular, and to the business community, in general. These can be e-mailed to boa.secretariat.@gmail.com.

office, or which tend to instigate others to cabal and meet together for unlawful purposes, or which suggest or incite rebellious conspiracies or riots, or which lead or tend to stir up the people against the lawful authorities or to disturb the peace of the community, the safety and order of the government, or who shall knowingly conceal such evil practices. (Restored by EO 187.) The crime, therefore, should be “cyber incitement” not “cyber sedition” nor “cyber rebellion” or “cyber insurrection”. I recently shared a video of Maute members burning and destroying religious icons in Saint Mary’s Cathedral at Marawi. I wanted to share my horror, anger and grief over these barbaric acts. I wanted my Facebook friends to feel the same hatred and desire for revenge I then felt for these terrorists, whether Maute or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. I know now that I can be penalized for “cyber incitement.” The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) recently asked Facebook Philippines to shut down at least 63 accounts of Maute militants and their supporters for “spreading extremist ideas and misinformation, making the fight against terrorism more difficult”. (Rappler.com) No similar request was made by the AFP to take down accounts, posts, tags condemning the Mautes, ISIS and other extremists. Personally, I don’t mind being prosecuted for “cyber incitement” (I could always use my constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression as my defense). For as long as there is evil in this world as the Mautes and ISIS, I will continue to post in my Facebook account even if it incites hatred or revenge. Indeed, hatred is not the problem—we should be more concerned if our people meet these barbaric dastardly acts with indifference. When our people become indifferent, then our country truly has a problem.

Continued from A1

n the latter instance, the “step-in” rights provision may be invoked. The insertion of step-in rights provisions, or protective or intervention schemes is a security mechanism, which provides comfort to stakeholders. (1) Who steps out? The PSP is the one who steps out. In which case, the PSP, depending on the type of nonperformance, can no longer continue being the operator, builder or service provider. (2) Who steps in? There are two entities who have interests that the

project is completed or proceeds as envisioned. The government and the lender of the PSP can step into the shoes of the PSP. Government is bound to continue with the project since it is ultimately bound to the public to deliver the service. On the other hand, the lender

Smell the roses Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

recently watched the movie Collateral Beauty, whose opening lines caught my attention: “We long for love. We wish for time. We fear death.” Grieving the loss of a daughter, rich executive Howard (played by Will Smith) started writing letters addressed to Love, Time and Death. Howard chose to isolate himself from work and friends, all of whom suspected him of suffering from a severe psychological problem. In the end, all the characters experienced and learned new perspectives in their relationships. The term “collateral beauty” seems to be beauty that comes from profoundly sad experiences. In the movie, Howard eventually reestablished a genuine connection with his wife, whom he separated from after the death of their daughter. Collateral beauty was found after surviving one’s liminal space. I was reintroduced to the concept of liminal space during my niece’s highschool graduation. One of the speakers, Prof. Lisa Hicks, discussed the feeling of uncertainty between two points, which she defined as liminal space. She was addressing the graduates, whose summer vacation will be spent in limbo—euphoric from graduating high school, but anxious of entering college. Liminal space is akin to waiting in the airport, neither here nor there. The word “liminal” comes from the Latin word “limens”, which means “threshold”. Hicks said liminal space is when you have left the tried and true, but

have not yet been able to replace it with anything else. Hicks further explained that the thresholds of waiting and uncertainty are inevitable. As my sister recently told me, we should embrace liminal spaces no matter how disruptive they can be. Each space ushers in a new chapter of life and can cause varying degrees of anxiety. Going through liminal spaces is often a period of discomfort and of transformation. We often miss the real potential of “in-between” places— we either become paralyzed, as in the case of Howard, or we run away from the cloud of uncertainty. Nonetheless, the experience gives us the chance to

must make sure that it can recover what it lent out to the PSP borrower from the revenues that will be generated from the operations of the project. The lender-bank does not actually assume the actual operations. It can engage a qualified operator or contractor to do the actual work. It can also just opt to gain control over PSP decision-making processes. (3) Why step-out? The principal reason the PSP steps out and the government or lender steps in is the nonperformance or default of the PSP of its commitments that will have an adverse impact on the project. If the PSP abandons the project or does not meet the specified targets, the substitute or “savior” or its nominee takes the cudgels from the PSP. (4) Who must agree to this? When the government who is party to the contract steps in, normally, no approval from any other entity is required. However, when the

lender steps in and nominates a substitute, the approval of government is sought. Government must determine that the new operator is eligible, i.e., it complies with the relevant nationality requirement, has the track record, technical expertise and financial resources. (5) For how long? Normally, the substitution of the PSP is temporary. Reversion to the original setup can happen when the PSP is able to cure the reason that led to the stepping in. Government, for instance, will be reimbursed of costs it incurred. Substitution can only be permanent. In which case, novation takes place and the substitute becomes the new PSP. Allowing another to step-in when the original proponent fails contributes to the “future-proofing” of PPPs. While such a provision are embedded in PPP contracts, PSPs desire that they will not step out and someone else steps in.

become someone completely new, and, hopefully, better. Doctor Jose “Jojo” Bernardo has found and survived his own liminal space. With his marriage annulled and his children emotionally traumatized by the separation, Jojo tried his best to focus on the positive side of things. While this period was painful, he knew that like everything else, it, too, shall pass. Now, he is happy and blessed with a second family. Professionally, Jojo used to be one of the many rehab doctors in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Today, after surviving his liminal space, Jojo has become the most respected hyperbaric oxygen treatment doctor in the country. Together with his business partner Jess Co, Jojo has set up the Advance Hyperbaric Life Support in Tagdalit Street in Quezon City, where people from all ages and walks of life get relief from all sorts of ailments, pain and stress. In one of our more recent conversations, Jojo reminded me to “smell the roses” such that no matter how difficult life can become, we must learn to appreciate what we have. Discovering collateral beauty or being in liminal spaces is often like being on a bed of roses—the thorns might be painful, but the roses make it worthwhile. Jojo’s painful transition taught him to accept change no matter how hard he struggled against it. Change in one area of life always spills into other areas. After all, spirituality, vocation, relationships, physicality, community, friendships and emotions do intersect

and intertwine. A loss of a loved one will always have a ripple effect, just like how Howard’s business affairs were affected by the death of his daughter. Separation from loved ones will impact one’s balance, just like how Jojo’s strained relationship with his children affected his professional career. With fellowship from some well-meaning friends, Jojo eventually discovered the collateral beauty from an unfortunate experience. Most psychologists would say that if we approach our liminal space deliberately, within a community, and with a positive vision instead of becoming paralyzed or running away from it, we can definitely become better persons. Jojo struggled but seized it in due course. Life is a series of waiting and transition periods. Nothing is ever permanent. Children will grow and graduate and start their own families. Companies will hire and fire colleagues at work. Life is not just about waiting for your bus ride, but waiting to love and be loved. Life is waiting to commit and find the work you were meant to do, all in God’s perfect timing. Hicks finally said, “Our lives are full of inconvenient setbacks, not due to some great cosmic mistake but because of some divine purpose.” Psalms 27:14 says, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.” In the waiting, we can and will become “collaterally beautiful” as a rose. It is a matter of choice and of faith.

President Trump, meet this 2-year-old

By Nicholas Kristof | New York Times News Service

IVERCESS COUNTY, Liberia—He’s a 2-year-old boy named Sunday Dahn, lying in a coma in a rural health center with cerebral malaria. Even if Sunday survives, he may suffer permanent brain damage. In Washington, we’ll see debates about President Donald J. Trump’s proposal to slash humanitarian aid, and politicians will emerge as winners or losers depending on the outcome. But the real winners and losers are kids like Sunday. I’m on my annual win-a-trip journey with a university student—this year it’s Aneri Pattani of Northeastern University—and Aneri and I find that most people in rural Liberia have never even heard of Trump. Yet, he will profoundly shape their lives, and deaths, for American health-assistance benefits half the Liberian population. It’s not, of course, that Trump is responsible for Sunday’s coma. And our Liberia journey underscores that saving lives is often complicated, and harder than we think. Pregnant women in Liberia receive free mosquito nets to prevent malaria, and almost every household has received one—including Sunday’s. The problem is that families often don’t use the nets. “Sleeping under the net makes one hot,” Sayee Dahn, Sunday’s father, explained as he stood anxiously by the boy’s bedside. He loves his son and didn’t intend to risk his life any more than an American who sends a text, while driving, is deliberately risking the life of the

child in the back seat. In each case, we get lulled by routines and do stupid things. When mosquito nets are handed out free, they are sometimes misused; I’ve seen them turned into wedding dresses, fishing nets, sponges and chicken fencing. Yet, there’s overwhelming evidence that net distributions do save lives; they’re one reason the number of people dying globally from malaria has dropped 60 percent since 2000. When Sunday developed a fever, his father spent $8—a considerable sum for him—for medicine from a street vendor. Unfortunately, the medicine was apparently counterfeit or was ineffective. This is a huge problem: One large study found that 32 percent of antimalarial drugs sold in poor countries were fake. Predatory Chinese companies export these counterfeit drugs to poor countries with weak regulation. So Sunday’s malaria worsened. By the time his father brought him to the clinic, he was at the edge of death. There is no doctor for many miles around, and no lab or blood bank, but the clinic has a physician assistant, the Rev. Carl Hanson, who immediately gave the boy an antimalarial suppository. “He’s still in danger,” Hanson told me hours later, looking at the tiny figure.

Yet, if humanitarian aid is complex and imperfect, the evidence is overwhelming that it helps; indeed, it has helped save more than 100 million children’s lives around the world since 1990. With American financial support, Liberia is experimenting with rural health workers who encourage families to use bed nets, administer rapid malaria tests, hand out reliable medicine and refer problem cases to a clinic. Rural health workers also promote contraception, which is free in Liberia through support from American aid and from the UN Population Fund. Trump proposes to cut off both family planning assistance and money for the Population Fund. Dr. Ami Waters, comedical director of Last Mile Health, which established the network of rural health workers, offered a glimpse of the consequences if contraception becomes less available. She described treating a 14-year-old girl who lost a baby and suffered gynecological complications, and a 19-yearold student who, in trying to self-abort with a stick, perforated her uterus and suffered sepsis. “A lot happens when you don’t have family planning,” Waters noted dryly. She treated those patients here in Rivercess County, where the hospital has no working x-ray machine, the operating theater lacks running water and oxygen and the pharmacy has mostly bare shelves. There is no aspirin, no gauze, no anesthetic and, most seriously, no antimalarials. Aneri noted on my blog that she had a better supply of medicine in her

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

bag than this entire county hospital did. Why should we care? Shouldn’t we solve Americans’ problems first, before worrying about West Africans’? One response is that we have bonds of common humanity that should impel us to help. Another is that we have a self-interest in preventing the next Ebola outbreak or other epidemic. (At a different hospital Aneri and I visited, a woman had died the day before our arrival of suspected Lassa fever, a hemorrhagic disease similar to Ebola.) Some people say: Let Africans look after African problems. And, indeed, they do. In the Rivercess hospital, we met Betty Tarr, who had four children of her own but adopted her nephew, God Power, after the boy’s mother died. Her husband was furious and abandoned her when she took in God Power. Now, God Power is severely malnourished and fighting for his life, but it’s not because Tarr is neglecting him: When we met her, she hadn’t eaten for three days. We can’t save every child, whether it’s God Power or Sunday. But America and other wealthy countries have always tried to provide modest sums— less than one-half of 1 percent of GDP—to fight disease and illiteracy, as a sign of global leadership and of our common humanity. Trump proposes that we turn our back on that bipartisan tradition, and on children, like Sunday and God Power. I hope Congress and the American people understand that what’s at stake isn’t numbers in a budget, but children’s lives.

Thriving coral communities in Medina, Misamis Oriental, receive boost from MPIF By Lorenz S. Marasigan | Photos by MPIF and Penn delos Santos

he ocean sang in gleeful melody one Friday morning, and the sun was warmly smiling to the shore, making the bay glimmer like glitter.

Jake Miranda, a technical diver and a board of experts at Shore it Up!, teaches locals on how to build a surface marker buoy. Aside from underwater cleanup, volunteers from MVP Group of Companies, locals and the media, also cleaned the shores of Medina.

It was as if everything went perfectly into place despite a weeklong overcast sky, and heavy showers in Medina, Misamis Oriental. Volunteers from different walks of life who were brought together by their shared passion for caring for the environment were audaciously welcomed in the quiet, yet wonderfilled, town in the heart of Mindanao. Young local girls clad in shades of green, red and blue twirling their batons in tune with high xylophone notes and deep drum bass greeted “the heroes” of the sea, as what Shore It Up! calls its volunteers. Melody del Rosario, the executive director of Metro Pacific Investments Foundation, said her group chose Medina, a quiet town nestled in the province of Misamis Oriental, because of the opportunities that it saw in the municipality. “We are extremely excited with the potential that Medina has. It might be a fourth-class municipality, but the opportunities for growth is immense because of its rich marine biodiversity,” she said. Medina is a town quietly seated with much poise along the coast of Ginoong Bay in Northern Mindanao. It has a coastline teeming with beautiful hardwood and coconuts, all growing near the fine-sand beach. But what it truly offers is its thriving coral communities—three of which are considered marineprotected areas. Tucked a few meters away from the Pelaez-owned Duka Bay Resort, and its partner dive shop Duka Dive & Aqua Sports, Japanese Garden, Paradise, and Aquarium allows both visitors and locals to taste the wonders of the waters beneath the surface. Japanese Garden, a coral sanctuary peeking from 18 meters below the sea exudes the feeling of serenity. With an overwhelming assortment of marine biodiversity, it is truly a haven of natural and artificial corals. Paradise, on the other hand, is a crater reef with canyons and

to 34 meters deep. It is also home to a recently mounted statue of the Virgin Mary, a wide array of colorful soft and hard corals, and different families of critters and marine life. Aquarium is heaven for divers who love pelagic fish, black corals and sea turtles. Duka Bay Resort, which was then spearheaded by the late Ernesto Pelaez, launched in 2002 several coral enhancement projects with the help of the local government. The initiatives led to healthier corals, and thus promoted the breeding of fish and other marine life in the area. But after a cold storm in 2009, the reefs were damaged with some portions washed out by huge waves. Several endeavors to rehabilitate the area and promote the increase of marine life population allowed the budding of green shoots of recovery. To help further improve this and promote Medina as a top diving destination, the corporate social responsibility arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. partnered with the local government of Medina to conduct Shore It Up! activities in the area. More than helping clean up the ocean and its coastline, Metro Pacific flew in more than 200 volunteers from the MVP Group of Companies to provide basic education on fishing, anchoring and proper waste disposal—common practices that are often overlooked and unpracticed. Roughly 2,120 volunteers teamed up in collecting 787 kilograms of garbage from the three dive sites, and from 7 kilometers of coastline. “The basis of our unity is to conquer the No. 1 enemy of our town, which is the poverty incidence,” Medina Mayor Donato Chan said. Aside from these activities, Shore It Up! Board of Advisor Jake Miranda taught the locals on how to make sustainable anchor buoys to prevent damaging the reefs from anchorage. Renowned underwater photographer Bo Mancao also taught locals of best practices in recreational diving. Carlos Libosada, who is known as the father of ecotourism in the Philippines, also gave a

overhangs that runs from 10 meters

talk on how to handle the ecotourism

Hundreds of kids were invested into the Junior Environmental Scouts program of Shore it Up!.

Medina Mayor Donito Chan welcomes Shore it Up! participants.

Volunteer divers shore up Medina’s reefs.

Medina locals striking a pose with MPIF Executive Director Melody M. del Rosario.

The Virgin Mary is the marker for Almost Paradise.

A sea snake in Paradise Thick soft corals and diverse hard corals await divers in Medina.

industry in a sustainable manner. Chan, for his part, said his group

will continue on what was started by the public-private partnership venture, and announced the birth of the municipality’s seventh festival: the Medina Coral Reef Restoration and Protection Fest. “We need real partners like Metro Pacific, who truly cares for the environment,” he said. “This fight for a better marine environment is easier said than done and it is a lifelong quest.” Duka Bay Resort President Gregorio Miguel Pallugna also vowed to help in future endeavors, as the new breed of Pelaez children are eager to show their future children how beautiful their home is. “Duka Bay Resort puts preservation of the environment and the

A volunteer diver picking trash underwater.

amazing marine life and coral reefs of Medina on top of its values,” he said. Duka Dive & Aqua Sports owner Danilo Aquino also firmed up his commitment to ensuring that recreational diving in Medina will be sustainable and will have zero impact to the marine ecology. “Medina is my home, and I am more than happy to support any project that will help promote my home. Preserving and conserving what we have is a tall order that by ourselves alone is hard to achieve,” he said. For nine years now, Metro Pacific’s Shore it Up! has helped rescue, restore and revive valuable marine resources all over the Philippines. It has conducted shore cleanups and coral reforestation in Batangas, Subic,

and Siargo, among others. Shore It Up!, the longest corporate-backed environment program, has also set up three mangrove protection and propagation centers in the country. As it gears up for its 10th anniversary, Shore it Up! has lined up two more activities for the year: the construction of a Mangrove Propagation and Information Center in Cordova, Cebu, and the establishment of coral restoration field laboratory in Mabini, Batangas. Over the years, Shore it Up! has had 75,000 volunteers, invested 3,000 junior environmental scouts, and is supported by a roster of elite environmental consultants known for their work in different marine fields.