Businessmirror march 08, 2017

BMReports

Cities reckon with downsides of thriving nightlife industry

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

Part Three

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HE city of Makati, considered the richest local government in terms of revenue, does not condone any illegal acts in the city, its top officials maintain.

“Bars and clubs are allowed to operate, as long as they do not solicit sex or drugs,” Makati City Legal Officer and Spokesman Michael Camiña said. “They are there only to provide entertainment within bounds of the law.”

Makati has been a favorite leisure destination for its wide variety of restaurants, as well as clubs, lounges and bars that keep the city alive way into the wee hours of the morning.

Earlier, Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay-Campos vowed to cooperate in the campaign of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in its drive against illegal drugs. “We will cooperate, of course. We will not allow any illegal activity that will happen in our city,” Binay-Campos said. “We are very cooperative.”

Being a haven of mid- to high-end bars has its advantages and disadvantages, according to Ares P. Gutierrez, Quezon City Public Order and Safety city information officer. Gutierrez added it will be considered disadvantageous when “we look at the moral side [of the equation]”.

Continued on A2

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he government is looking inward and, apart from looking more closely into the activities of the police and their related agencies, has begun scrutinizing the activities of its customs and revenue people who may be in cahoots with largescale tax cheats.

Fed up Teddy Locsin Jr.

Dominguez: “The government needs to first establish strong evidence to pin down this cigarette manufacturer on such charges.”

​Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III made this clear on Tuesday, saying, “the bureaus of Internal Revenue [BIR] and of Customs [BOC] are now gathering evidence against certain parties for submission to the Department of Justice [DOJ]”.

See “Excise-tax,” A2

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‘Excise-tax cheats, cohorts are economic saboteurs’

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free fire

F

ED up with lousy French candidates, the French have launched a 1 million-signature campaign to draft Barack Obama for the French 2017 presidential race. CNN reports that “the organizers of Obama17 admit the idea is totally crazy. But the cool thing is that once you get past the craziness, you start thinking it is possible. And who cares that he’s not French? He’s Barack Obama”. Or better yet, Justin Trudeau.

“That it is a joke is beside the point.” They want to show that the French are fed up with French political choices.

Continued on A10

DEATH-PENALTY BILL Govt to spend ₧6B to improve ports EASILY HURDLES HOUSE T T

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

he House of Representatives approved on third and final reading the measure reviving the death penalty via a vote of 216-54-1 (yes, no, abstain).

The passage of House Bill (HB) 4727, or An Act Imposing Death Pen a lt y on Cer t a i n Hei nou s

Crimes, repealing for the purpose RA 9346, or An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in the Philippines, and further amending the Revised Penal Code and Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, was quick, as what the administration committed.

But Liberal Party Rep. Edcel C. Lagman of Albay, who voted See “Death-penalty,” A2

PESO exchange rates n US 50.3790

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

HE Duterte administration will spend an estimated P6 billion until 2022 to improve port facilities across the country in a bid to attract more tourists who travel on international cruise lines.

According to the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) of

402

The number of cruise ships that PHL hopes to attract annually by 2022 via improvement of port infra

2016-2022, a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) is expected to beef up port facilities with some P1.9 billion in funds for this year alone.

Better port facilities will enable the Department of Tourism (DOT), which drew up the tourism road map, to hopefully encourage the port call of 402 ships with 456,164 passengers by 2022, from 56 ship calls ferrying 47,098

passengers in 2016. This year the DOT projects 75 port calls to be made by cruise ships carrying 68,763 passengers.

The investment of the DOTr will help “develop an international cruise port and marina in Manila, [and] improve ports in Romblon, Coron, El Nido, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Iloilo”. Also, the cruise-tourism strategy of the DOT aims to “develop the

n japan 0.4424 n UK 61.6387 n HK 6.4887 n CHINA 7.3054 n singapore 35.7045 n australia 38.1974 n EU 53.3312 n SAUDI arabia 13.4333

See “Govt,” A2

Source: BSP (7 March 2017 )

BMReports BusinessMirror

A2 Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Cities reckon with downsides of thriving nightlife industry Continued from A1

“It’s a moral question,” he said. “[From] a moralistic point of view, any form of vice is not good.”

Vice, versus

GUTIERREZ emphasized that frequenting bars could become a vice and can cause problems in a family. “’Yung tatay, namba-babae,” he said. “Imbes na ipanggasto sa pamilya ipinang-iinom ipinangsusugal. [Problems arise if the father is a womanizer. Instead of spending for the family, he wastes hard-earned money on alcohol and gambling].”

However, Gutierrez said that, from a business point of view, the presence of night entertainment establishments is relative to an area.

“There are areas na hindi kailangan

Excise-tax. . .

’yan,” Gutierrez said, referring to bars and nightclubs. However, he said there are times businesses like these boom, pointing to Tomas Morato Avenue, which is part of an area sociologist Arnel de Guzman referred to as the “Lust Triangle”.

“That was before, but not anymore,” Gutierrez said, adding the trend has changed.

“Ang gusto ng tao ngayon, ayaw na nila ng maingay, coffee-coffee,” he said “’Yung iba, health conscious na. [People today avoid noisy venues. They also prefer to just have coffee. Some are also conscious of their health and thus avoid alcohol].”

Clamping down

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has announced it now targets attack

Continued from A1

“This is preparatory to the government’s filing of an air-tight case against Mighty Corp. for tax evasion and other possible charges.

“The government needs to first establish strong evidence to pin down this cigarette manufacturer on such charges,” Dominguez said. “We must make sure the charges stick not only to haul the guilty parties, including their possible cohorts in the government, into jail, but to send a clear message to big-time tax dodgers that the Duterte administration is dead set on putting an end to their nefarious activities and sending all of them behind bars.”

Dominguez issued the statement on the heels of his call on the BIR and BOC to file soon enough the appropriate charges against persons and companies proven to be the owners of P2.2 billion worth of smuggled and counterfeit tobacco products, shoes and clothes that government agents had seized in a series of raids.

Among the seized goods were cigarette brands manufactured by Mighty Corp. with fake-tax stamps that BOC operatives had seized in raids in Pampanga and the cities of General Santos and Zamboanga in Mindanao. “They [BOC and BIR] should speed up their investigations and also look into the possible involvement of bureaucrats acting as protectors of these large-scale tax-evasion attempts,” he said.

This developed even as Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said President Duterte himself ordered the arrest of Mighty Corp. owner Alexander Wongchuking or alleged economic sabotage after the BOC confiscated P2.3 billion worth of Mightybranded cigarettes with fake excise-stamp tax in a series of raid.

Dominguez said the Wongchuking case will send a “clear message to big-time tax dodgers that the Duterte administration is dead set on putting an end to their nefarious activities and sending all of them behind bars.” “[Wongchuking] was ordered arrested by

bars, nightclubs and restaurants they deem too liberal in the sale of liquor.

According to the MMDA, bars, nightclubs and other business establishments that serve alcohol should have a strict guideline or system that will determine if a particular customer has already reached his or her ma ximum alcohol-tolerance level.

This, according to the MMDA, will help prevent accidents that occur during nighttime and involve intoxicated drivers. The MMDA believes these drivers usually came from bars or clubs.

The MMDA will be proposing various measures to Metro Manila mayors for the implementation of Republic Act 10586, or the Anti Drunk and Drugged Driving Act of 2013, according to MMDA Acting

Chairman Thomas Orbos.

Orbos said he is also keen on the ordinance mulled over by his predecessor, former MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino, which will require bars, beerhouses, restaurants and similar entertainment centers to limit the sale of alcoholic to customers, particularly to those who have to drive home at night.

The matter will be brought up to the Metro Manila Council (MMC) to drum up support to the agency’s relentless campaign to promote road safety, Orbos said.

The MMC is the policy-making body of the MMDA whose members are the mayors of the 17 local government units in Metro Manila.

“It’s about time the government have some kind of control over these business establishments,” Tolentino said. To be continued

Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, is wrong as the news on the matter pertained to an incident when Duterte was still mayor of Davao City, the boxes of money used was promptly returned to the giver who was already onboard a plane bound for Manila.”

its product Marvel.

The BOC maintained that the bureau has the authority to seize smuggled cigarette packs bearing fake tax stamps found on the premises of cigarette manufacturing or storage facilities, or those found in the domestic market, pursuant to its border-security mandate under Executive Order (EO) 127 (Series of 1987) and in accordance with its powers and functions as a member-agency of the Presidential AntiSmuggling Group (PASG) created by virtue of EO 624 (Series of 2007).

Thus, Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon said the subject raids were conducted in valid exercise of the BOC’s power to curb and eliminate smuggling, illegal importation and other forms of customs fraud.

“We are confident that, while the BOC is still conducting further investigation, there is already a strong tax-evasion case that the BIR can pursue, as this is outside our jurisdiction,” Faeldon pointed out.

the President because of economic sabotage.

Marami siyang ginagawang [ilegal] saka ipinangangalandakan niyang nabibili niya ang lahat ng opisyales dito sa bansa natin [He did many illegal activities. He even bragged he could buy any official in our country],” Panelo said in a statement.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) later confirmed that Wongchuking met with NBI Director Dante A. Gierran and expressed his willingness to cooperate in any investigation. Right after the meeting, the Mighty Corp. owner surrendered to Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II. In an interview with Malacañang reporters on Tuesday, Duterte admitted Wongchuking gave him a “gift”, but it was given one Christmas during his stint as Davao City mayor. Duterte made it clear “it was a Christmas gift” that he did not accept. From then on, Duterte already marked King as a man who will give gifts in exchange of favors.

“May hinihingi siyang pabor [that time], but I said I am not into it. Pagtayo niya, may naiwan doon [sa inupuan] niya [He was asking for a favor, and I said I am not into it. When he stood up, he left something where he sat],” Duterte said. Thinking it contained a liquor gift, the former Davao City mayor opened the package, only to discover a stack of money inside it. He then ordered one of his aides to return the gift to King.

Wongchuking, accompanied by Fortun, sought an audience with Aguirre and Lavin on Tuesday.

Fortun, however, denied that the meeting was in connection with Duterte’s order for Wongchuking to be arrested for allegedly trying to bribe his way out of tax evasion and smuggling accusations being hurled against him by the BOC and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

“There is nothing to that effect [bribery].

So the company had decided to cooperate fully in accordance to what Secretary Aguirre had conveyed with regard to the wishes of the President,” Fortun said, adding what they discussed with Aguirre was related to the supposed excise-tax deficiencies of Mighty Corp.

Lavin, for his part, confirmed that Wongchuking was being “sought”by the NBI on Monday night upon the request of the BIR in connection with the tax-evasion issue being lodged against him.

“We do not have a warrant against the person of Mr. Wongchuking. He just showed up to express his willingness to cooperate in the investigation to be conducted by the NBI. He voluntarily came over to the NBI,” Lavin said. Lavin added he has no information about Duterte’s supposed order to arrest Wongchuking.

Mighty denies bribery try

BOC to pursue case

In a statement, Mighty Corp. said: “On the bribery attempt allegedly perpetrated by Mighty Corp., the company, through its counsel Atty. Sigfrid Fortun, categorically denied any occasion or participation by the company in the supposed incident.

Mighty has never taken part nor has it ever indulged in such activity, especially with officers of the incumbent administration.”

Fortun said it was plain that the information on the matter, as disclosed by

Wongchuking’s NBI ‘visit’

Meanwhile, the BOC vowed to pursue charges against those involved in the manufacture of some P2.3 billion worth of cigarette products that were earlier seized in separate raids in warehouses inside the San Simon Industrial Park in Pampanga.

The Intelligence Group of the BOC is now gathering evidence for submission to the bureau’s Legal Service to build a case against those behind the importation of cigarettes bearing the name of Mighty Corp., as well as

China. . .

‘Airtight’ case

Dominguez, meanwhile, said the BIR and the BOC have teamed up to strengthen the taxevasion charges against cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp.

In a news statement, the finance chief said the case against Mighty Corp. was“airtight”and the BIR and the BOC had teamed up to further cement the charges.

Dominguez said “the government needs to first establish strong evidence to pin down this cigarette manufacturer on such charges.”

“We must make sure the charges stick not only to haul [off] the guilty parties, including their possible cohorts in the government, into jail but to send a clear message to big-time tax dodgers that the Duterte administration is dead set on putting an end to their nefarious activities and sending all of them behind bars,” he said.

“They (BOC and BIR) should speed up their investigations and also look into the possible involvement of bureaucrats acting as protectors of these large-scale tax-evasion attempts,” he​ added. With PNA

Continued from A12

This program will serve as the underlying framework for strengthening economic cooperation during the Duterte administration. The program will be signed during the visit of a high-level Chinese delegation this month.

Also during the JCETC, the Philippines and China threshed out the operational procedures on the use of China’s concessional loans. The trade offices of both countries also discussed the creation of “complementary areas for further studies and private sector participation”, among which is the Philippines-China Industrial Park. “Apart form trade, the government of China also encourages Chinese companies to make investments here. This is why we talked about what we’re going to do for the next step in order to build the industrial parks with engagement of Chinese and Filipino businesses,” Zhong told reporters on Tuesday.

The JCETC, which hasn’t convened during the Aquino administration, serves as the official bilateral platform for the discussion of trade, investments and economic cooperation between Manila and Beijing. The other agreements signed were: Chinese assistance in the form of grants for the construction of two bridges over the Pasig River; conduct of capacity-building programs for rice experts and aquaculturists; establishment of alert mechanism and undertaking prompt notification on the incidence of plant and animal diseases; development of a protocol governing the handling and resolution of cases of detection and noncompliance; Proposed expansion of the scale of agricultural trade; identify possible locations of the proposed Philippines-China Industrial Park; and endorsement of complementary areas for further studies and private-sector participation, such as infrastructure projects, industrial parks development, cross-border e-commerce, big data analytics, creative industries, electric vehicles, iron and steel, manufacturing, testing facilities, irradiation facilities and export promotion.

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DEATH-PENALTY BILL EASILY HURDLES HOUSE Continued from A1

against the bill, said the approval of the capital-punishment bill at the lower chamber was premature, citing the three-day rule mandated

by Section 26(2) of Article VI of the Constitution and Section 58 of Rule X of the Rules of the House.

He said counting the three-day rule from Monday, and pursuant to the computation that the first day is excluded while the last day is included, the third day will still be on Thursday, March 9. Consequently, the third reading is seasonable starting on Friday, March 10, although Friday is not a session day. “The third and final reading of House Bill 4727 should, therefore, be next week.”

For his part, Anakpawis Rep. Ariel B. Casilao said, “We oppose death penalty as it is primarily antipoor, a threat to people’s welfare and rights and vulnerable to corruption.”

Casilao said that until when the death penalty was abolished in 2006, the majority of those in the death row came from poor sectors, earning less than P10,000 a month and usually working at the factories, construction, transport, services and sales and agriculture, who obviously have no capacity to defend themselves in front of the court.

He added that death penalty failed to curb criminality when it was implemented in 1999 that posted an increase in crime rate.

Rep. Robert S. Ace Barbers, chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said he voted in favor of the bill because “I am fully aware of the dangers, as well as the irreparable damage, that this menace has brought our people, our children and how the entire future of our country has been compromised”.

“Senseless killings, irreversible brain damage and a completely wasted populace are but some of the realities we face with the proliferation of illegal drugs,” he said.

Govt. . .

Continued from A1

Turquoise and North Triangles”, which covers Manila-BoracayPuerto Princesa, and Currimao (Ilocos Norte)/Salomague (Ilocos Sur)-Cagayan-Batanes.

The strategy will also involve the improvement of ferry services between Cebu and Bohol, Batangas and Mindoro, as well as Misamis Oriental and Camiguin—all considered prime tourist destinations in the country. The DOT, likewise, eyes the simplification of port immigration and quarantine policies for cruise tourists.

During the recent Asian Cruise Dialogue held in conjunction with the Asean Tourism Forum in Singapore, Paul Chong, vice president for Business Development of Carnival Cruises Corp., noted the Philippines has “great potential in becoming one of Asia’s important cruise hubs” primarily because of its strategic location. Chong met with Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo, who presented to him the idea of port calls by Carnival’s 101 ships in Cebu, Boracay, Palawan, Manila, Davao and Subic.

Chong said Carnival Cruises, reputed to be the largest cruise company in the world, already made an ocular inspection of Palawan in 2015, but concluded that “the province is not yet ready” for the thousands of cruise passengers that will disembark from their luxury liners. He promised, however, to look into the other provinces and islands that Teo endorsed.

The DOT chief admitted: “It will be a big challenge [to attract cruise companies] because there is still so much to be done. All these promotion efforts won’t prosper if there is no government cooperation,

Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez said the lower chamber may still include other heinous crimes, such as plunder and rape, among offenses punishable by death in subsequent bills that they may tackle after the passage of the death-penalty bill.

Like HB 4727 seeking the revival of death penalty, Alvarez said he will also personally file bills imposing capital punishment on other heinous crimes. He said their decision to restrict the imposition of death penalty to drug-related crimes was meant to expedite the passage of HB 4727.

Under the substitute bill, the death penalty shall be executed through hanging, firing squad and lethal injection. The death sentence shall be carried out not earlier than one year nor later than 18 months after the judgment has become final and executory, without prejudice to the exercise by the president of executive clemency power at all times.

However, the bill said the death penalty shall not be imposed when the guilty person is below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the crime, or is more than 70 years of age.

Under HB 4727, the drug offenses punishable by penalty of reclusion perpetua to death and a fine ranging from P500,000 to P10 million are importation of dangerous drugs; sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution and transportation of dangerous drugs; maintenance of a den, dive or resort; manufacture of dangerous drugs; and/or controlled precursors and essential chemicals; misappropriation, misapplication or failure to account for confiscated, seized or surrendered dangerous drugs; and planting of evidence.

Meanwhile, the penalty of reclusion perpetua and a fine ranging from P500,000 to P10 million shall be imposed upon any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall possess any dangerous drug. investment in cruise infrastructure, and backing from the private sector in terms of land-side tourism support, such as tours, guides, coaches and venues, to increase passenger satisfaction. But we have to do it. The Philippines will make the most of cruise tourism being one of the most successful sectors in the tourism industry.” Teo also met with Genting Hong Kong executives to encourage more homeporting of their 21 vessels in addition to the SuperStar Virgo’s scheduled homeporting in Manila on March 19, the first global cruise line to do so.

The 2,000-capacity vessel will complete a 15-week cruise from Manila-Laoag-Kaohsiung (Taiwan)Hong Kong and back to Manila, which is projected to bring in some 50,000 international visitors to the Philippines. Genting Hong Kong is a leading global leisure, entertainment and hospitality corporation, which wholly owns Star Cruises.

Banking on planned tourism infrastructure as envisioned in the NTDP, Teo also noted the need to ready the islands for the arrival of these big ships as only Manila, Puerto Princesa, Cebu and Subic Bay have ports suitable for the docking of large cruise vessels.

She said the ports of Boracay, Coron, Bohol and Poro Point in La Union, while offering breathtaking views, can only accommodate midsized ships. On the other hand, only small vessels can dock in the ports of Salamogue, Currimao, Hundred Islands (Pangasinan) and Kalanggaman Island (Leyte).

“But our Cruise Tourism Roadmap is already in place and I am confident that we will get the full support of the different government agencies on this initiative and see the launching of several new cruise ports under the Duterte administration,” Teo stressed.

news@businessmirror.com.ph

The Nation BusinessMirror

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Wednesday, March 8, 2017 A3

EVER HEARD OF TOO MANY COOKS?

Top security execs in Sulu to boost fight vs Abus

J

OLO, Sulu—Four top security officials arrived here on Tuesday to oversee the ongoing military operations against the Abu Sayyaf.

National Security Adviser Hermogenes C. Esperon Jr.; Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana; the Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen. Eduardo Año; and the Army commander, Lt. Gen. Glorioso Miranda, immediately held a closed-door meeting with Joint Task Force Sulu ground commanders after their arrival at around 9 a.m.

Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief, said

they will assess the ongoing military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf bandits.

Capt. Jo-ann Petinglay, Westmincom information officer, said the four top officials will also meet with the local chief executives to determine the needed assistance to the communities affected by the fighting.

At least 32 Abu Sayyaf members have been killed since January. Six have been reported

wounded, while 23 were captured.

The biggest number of fatalities incurred by the Abu Sayyaf is in this province, where 30 were killed, including two subcommanders.

“This will greatly affect their capability to conduct atrocities,” Petinglay said.

So far, no soldiers have been killed, although 28 were wounded.

Task Force Sulu is employing a “surgical operations” to ensure the safety of the hostages.

To date, there are 31 kidnapped victims who are still in Sulu, 26 of them foreigners.

The calibrated military operation was ordered following the spike of atrocities launched by the bandits. PNA

NO LOSES IN ANC DEAL–DOMINGO

C

HAIRMAN Andrea Domingo of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) said on Tuesday the government did not lose a single centavo in the advance rental payment of P234 million to a company contracted to build a casino at the Army Navy Club (ANC) in Manila.

During a hearing conducted by the House of Representatives’s Committee on Good Government and Accountability investigating the Army Navy Club lease contract between Pagcor and Vanderwood Management Corp. on Tuesday, Domingo stood firm that no law was violated when Pagcor paid Vanderwood the

advance rental for a portion of the subject property.

“The P234 million, or 18-month advance, is for the rental of a building that will be built, as I was told, based on the specifications given by Pagcor. The rental will commence after the acceptance of Pagcor of the building,” the Pagcor chief told the committee led by PDP-Laban Rep. Johnny T. Pimentel of Surigao del Sur. Saying the amount paid to Vanderwood by Pagcor remains intact, Domingo said it will not be spent until Pagcor actually accepts the building as complete with specifications that have been dictated by the state gaming agency.

Economy

A4 Wednesday, March 8, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

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Govt eyes ₧4-billion ‘green jobs’ program for communities affected by mines closure

T

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

he government is planning to spend about P4 billion to create “green jobs” in three provinces affected by mine-closure orders issued by Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez.

Around 30,000 households in the three provinces—Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Dinagat Islands—will benefit from various programs that will be implemented by various government agencies.

An environmental advocate, Lopez said the closure of mines would not result in job losses.

On the other hand, she said, tens of thousands of people will suffer from the impacts of mining in those areas.

Lopez had earlier ordered the closure or suspension of 28 operating mines and canceled 75 mining contracts entered into by the government with large-scale mining companies, months after ordering the conduct of a mine audit with a list of criteria that includes social, environmental and biodiversity considerations.

Since then, the official gained the support of environmental and antimining groups, but is experiencing rough sailing in the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA).

Some members of the CA were also

irked by Lopez’s statement to the media about the alleged P50-million bribe offer to any member who will vote against her confirmation.

Lopez later recanted the alleged P50-million bribe offer, which, she said, was conveyed by a friend she declined to identify.

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) said the closure or suspension of the 28 mines alone will result in a huge economic setback, with 1.2 million people whose livelihood depend on mining operations being condemned to a life of hunger and poverty.

The closure or suspension order will also result in a huge drop in the country’s annual mineral-production output, particularly nickel.

The Philippines is the world’s single major supplier of nickel, with China as the sole major buyer for its various steel products, such as stainless steel.

The COMP, which has filed an opposition to Lopez’s confirmation before the CA, said the decision to close and suspend the mines was

made without due process of law, claiming that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) chief ignored even the findings and recommendations of the various mine-audit teams.

Lopez said it is incumbent upon the government to provide alternatives for citizens who will be affected by policies.

“We want to protect the environment, and want to show that we can save lives and provide livelihood at the same time,” Lopez said.

The DENR, together with 10 other government line agencies, she added, is prepared to invest close to P4 billion to provide employment opportunities for 25,000 to 30,000 households.

The other agencies include the Department of Labor and Employment, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Department of Agriculture, the Department of Science and Technology, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of the Interior and Local Gover nment, Depa r t ment of Trade and Industry, Philippine Coconut Authority, Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

“We have a very good, very doable plan that will provide employment in the short and long term, jobs that do not involve mining activities that will damage our much-needed watersheds,” the DENR chief said.

Short-term employment opportunities include reforestation; desilting of agricultural land; napier and

bamboo farming; livestock raising; and biochar manufacturing.

Biochar is a powerful soil enhancer that holds carbon and makes soils more fertile. It can boost food security, discourage deforestation and preserve cropland diversity. Biochar systems can reverse soil degradation and create sustainable food and fuel production in areas with severely depleted soils, scarce organic resources, and inadequate water and chemical fertilizer supplies.

Medium- and long-term jobs, on the other hand, will be generated by the manufacture of charcoal briquettes, ecotourism activities, infrastructure and agro-postharvest processing.

Lopez stressed, “Providing economic opportunities and protecting the environment are not mutually exclusive.”

“It is not one or the other; we can and should do both at the same time, because we cannot sacrifice the welfare of future generations to meet short-term economic objectives.”

The environment secretary added that experts from the Mineral Policy Center based in Washington, D.C., have referred to water as “mining’s

most common casualty”.

“Any competent scientist will tell you that mining affects fresh water through the heavy use of water in processing ore, and through water pollution from discharged mine effluent and seepage from tailings and waste rock impoundments,” Lopez said.

Lopez said she hoped legislators and fellow Cabinet secretaries “look at the issue of protecting our watersheds in the long term, because we could face a very, very serious problem with water many years down the road.”

A study conducted by think tank World Resources Institute said in late-2015 that the country is in danger of experiencing water scarcity in 23 years. The study predicts the Philippines will experience a “high” degree of water shortage in the year 2040.

The Philippines is ranked 57th out of 167 countries that will likely be a water-stressed country in 2040. The study defines water stress as “the ratio between total water withdrawals and available renewable surface water at a subcatchment level”.

We have a very good, very doable plan that will provide employment in the short and long term, jobs that do not involve mining activities that will damage our muchneeded watersheds.”—Lopez

ERC cuts FiT rates for hydro and biomass projects

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

T

he Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has lowered the Feedin-Tariff (FiT) ratesforhydroand biomass power projects that are scheduled for commercial operations this year.

In a two-page resolution signed by the ERC commissioners on January 24, but was made public only on Tuesday, the degressed FiT rates for January to December 2017 hydro and biomass plants with commercial operations within the year are P5.8705 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and P6.5969 per kWh, respectively.

The approved rates are lower compared to the July 2012 FiT rates of P5.90 per kWh for hydro and P6.63 per kWh for biomass.

“FiT rates for run-of-river hydro and biomass shall be degressed at a rate of 0.05 percent for the period January to December 2017, which is two years from the January 2015 FiT effectivity,” the ERC resolution read.

When sought to comment further as to why the FiT rates for the said renewable-energy (RE) technologies were lowered, ERC Spokesman lawyer

Floresinda Digal said, “They should be referred to as degressed FiT, more of adjusted than new.”

Under the FiT rules, the eligible RE plants shall be entitled to such degressed FiT rate corresponding to the year when they started commercial operation. The ERC may approve a different degression rate for different technologies. This rule, the ERC said, is meant to encourage the RE producers to invest at the initial stage and hasten deployment of RE. The FiT is basically an incentive in the form of guaranteed power rate given to RE producers for 20 years.

However, consumers are the ones who shoulder the FiT-All, a separate line component in the power bills.

The said FiT rates were based on installation ceilings set by the Department of Energy. The ERC is the agency that sets the FiT rates.

As of December 31, 2016, the ERC issued certificates of compliance for FiT Eligibility for a total capacity of 28.6976 megawatts (MW) and 144.804 MW for run-of-river hydro and biomass, respectively.

Farm-fresh produce

A fruit vendor in Davao City, bailiwick of former city mayor now President Duterte, presents her stack of fresh pomelo harvest at her stall along the main highway. Davao is a known major producer of pomelo and durian, among many other fruits. ALYSA SALEN

Three House panels approve creation of Mindanao rail, power corporations

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

T

he House Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization has endorsed the plenary approval of

two measures creating Mindanao Power Corp. (MPC) and Mindanao Railways Corp. (MRC).

PDP-Laban Rep. Jesus Nonato Sacdalan of North Cotabato said the substitute bill approved by his committee, together with the committees on Energy and on Transportation, will boost development in Mindanao.

The bill was principally aut hored by PDP-L aba n Rep. Celso Lobregat of Zamboanga and PDP-Laban Rep. Maximo Rodriguez Jr. of Cagayan de Oro. House Committee on Energy Chairman and PDP-Laban Rep. Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco of Marinduque said there is a

need to create an organized government corporate entity that will push economic development of the Mindanao region through the availability of electricity at a reasonable cost.

For his part, Lobregat said the bill seeks the nonprivatization of the Agus and Pulangui Hydropower complexes, and pushed for a viable way for the government to operate and maintain these sources of cheap power.

“The most concrete effect of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act [Epira] of 2001 on Mindanao is the treatment extended to AgusPulangi Hydropower complexes— considered as crown jewels of the Mindanao power industry—which continue to bring low power rates in

Mindanao,” Lobregat said. He added the Agus-Pulangi Hydropower complexes should not fall into the hands of “profit-driven private interests”.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, said the proposed MPC will resolve the recurrent power crisis in Mindanao. “It seems the Agus-Pulangi Hydropower complexes remain a lucrative endeavor and economically viable entity, but all efforts are geared toward their privatization. Happily, privatization will not happen because the people of Mindanao always oppose it. And even the President of the Republic has enunciated his favor to retain the Agus-Pulangi complexes,” said Rodriguez, chairman of the Committee on Mindanao Affairs.

National Power Corp. Power Sec-

tor Spokesman Romero Pasilan, Energy Regulatory Commission Executive Director Niel Simon Silva and Privatization Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) Officer in Charge Lourdes Alzona backed the passage of the substitute bill.

Alzona said they support the proposal, as long as it is consistent with the Epira law.

Under Epira, Alzona said the privatization of the hydropower complexes is subject to the discretion of PSALM, in consultation with Congress. She assured to apprise the committees on their plans, and to consult the Senate and the House, through the Joint Congressional Power Commission before venturing into any undertaking.

Neda reveals PHL’s annual disaster losses

₧206B

The average annual loss caused by natural and man-made disasters, according to the Neda

By Cai U. Ordinario

D

@cuo_bm

isasters cost the Philippine economy some P206 billion annually, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

In a speech read by Neda Undersecretary Adoracion M. Navarro, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said the annual cumulative impact of disasters on the economy reached 0.5 percent to 0.6 percent of the GDP. The impact of these disasters eventually cut the country’s GDP by 0.3 to 0.4 percentage point. This means if GDP growth reached 7 percent, the disaster will cut this growth down to 6.6 percent to 6.7 percent.

“Following disasters, we also see increases in school dropout rates, mental and psychological issues, outbreak of communicable diseases, and malnutrition. These have long-term effects, as they reinforce intergenerational transmission of poverty,” Pernia said.

Based on the 2017 to 2022 Philippine Development Plan (PDP), disasters caused by climate change have cost Philippine agriculture to suffer P163.6 billion in production losses between 2011 and 2015 alone.

The Neda said this is the reason the government has embarked on the codeveloping the Socioeconomic Resilience Assessment Methodology, which is based on the analytical framework of the World Bank report, titled “Unbreakable.”

Pernia said the Philippines is the first among the 117 countries to customize the socioeconomicresilience methodology.

He said the government created an interagency technical working group (ITWG) in October 2015 to work on this methodology.

“This tool will be used to identify the appropriate geographic focus of interventions, and policy and investment priorities aimed at reducing losses, and managing the socioeconomic and fiscal impacts of disasters. Wherever applicable, the results of the resilience assessment will be used to update the Philippine Development Plan,” Pernia said.

In order to address the ill effects of disasters brought about climate change, the government plans to create an independent Disaster Risk Reduction Authority (DRRA) through proposed amendments to the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act. The government envisions the DRRA as the agency that will lead the coordination, monitoring, oversight and implementation of disaster-risk reduction and management nationwide.

“The authority will be equipped with the necessary competency and resources to engage new actors, particularly in the field of risk transfer and insurance, and build with the necessary structure to manage broader governance arrangements,” the PDP stated.

The World Bank earlier said natural disasters could cost the Philippine economy as much as 6.5 percent of GDP in well-being losses every year.

In the same Unbreakable report, the World Bank said the country also stands to lose 4.5 percent of GDP in annual average of asset losses.

Based on 2015 data, a 6.5-percent cut in GDP would translate to P493.6 billion, while a 4.5-percent loss would amount to P341.72 billion.

However, the World Bank said some well-being loses could be avoided if countries will put in place measures that would reduce the exposure of poor people to natural disasters.

The Regions BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Wednesday, March 8, 2017 A5

East Visayas workers get minimum-wage increase

T

By Elmer V. Recuerdo | Correspondent

ACLOBAN CITY—Minimumwage earners in Eastern Visayas get an increase of between P10 and P25 in daily income based on their sectoral classification.

The labor department in the region is urging business establishments to comply to this.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) Eastern Visayas issued Wage Order RB VIII-19 increasing the basic minimum age for nonagriculture workers from the previous P253 to P278. This wage also applies for those working in sugar mills.

Workers in handicraft will now receive P246 and retail and service with 10 or less employees get P238, while those with over 10 workers will get P268 a day.

Agriculture workers will still

receive lower rates of P244 for nonsugar, while those in sugar farms will get P238.

All workers in the private sector will still receive a P7 cost of living allowance on top of their daily basic wage. The new wage rates took effect on February 13, 2017.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Director and RTWPB Chairman Elias Cayanong urged private employers to comply with the prescribed new minimumwage structure in the region. He said

based on DOLE’s monitoring, 22 percent of private establishments are not complying with the minimum wage, many of them are in retail service.

Cayanong said he is confident the compliance rate will increase in the second quarter after the department goes on a massive information campaign.

Wilson Uy, president of the Tacloban-Leyte chapter of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the local business community welcomes the wage increase to ease the living condition of minimumwage earners and increase their purchasing power.

“This will help our local economy because our workers will have more money to spend,” he said.

Uy, however, urged workers to be more dedicated to their work, so they can also help local businesses to survive, especially since many of them remain in debt and have not fully recovered from the aftermath of Supertyphoon Yolanda.

Uy said small businesses may find it difficult to comply.

“They have no choice because this is an order from the DOLE. Some businesses may be forced to retrench

employees or cut manpower to keep their business afloat,” he said.

The new wage rates will apply to all minimum-wage earners in the private sector in the region regardless of their position, designation or status of employment and irrespective of the method by which they are paid.

In the case of private educational institutions, the share of covered workers and employees in the increase in tuition for school year (SY) 20162017 shall be considered as compliance with the wage increase prescribed.

Private educational institutions, which have not increased their tuition for SY 2016-2017, may defer compliance with the minimum wage prescribed herein until the beginning of SY 2017-2018.

All private educational institutions shall implement the minimum wage prescribed starting SY 2017-2018.

Not covered by the new wage order are kasambahay or domestic workers, persons in the personal service of another, including family drivers and workers of duly registered Barangay Micro Business Enterprises with Certificate of Authority pursuant to Republic Act 9178.

Asturias Industries gives TCTs to 626 families in Batangas town

H

UNDREDS of families in Calatagan, Batangas, can now look confidently into the future, knowing they own not only the houses they live in, but the land these are built upon.

This was after stakeholders in Calatagan, Batangas, led by Asturias Industries Inc. (Asturias), owned by businessman Ramon S. Ang, ended over 20 years of land dispute, by awarding transfer certificate of titles (TCTs) to families at relocations sites in the progressive town of Balayan.

The awarding of TCTs was the culmination of a sustainable-relocation program that Asturias, the local government and community members initiated. The program took into consideration both the social and economic needs of the beneficiaries and the benefits of development to the rest of the province.

More than half of the 626 families have received their respective TCTs, representing ownership of the lots they now occupy. The sites were chosen due to their proximity to basic facilities and services. They also provide community members easy access to employment, livelihood and development opportunities.

Way back in 2005, the Supreme Court (SC) upheld that the Asturias property, which the company legally acquired from its original owner, is mineral land. This nullified the titles issued by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to occupants of the land. The same decision was upheld by the SC in its 2009 decision.

I n 2015 t he same petition for the property to be placed under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (C ARP) was denied with finality by the SC, reiterating the property is mineral in nature.

Amid the long and arduous process to end the land dispute, Asturias has kept its door open to dialogue with the community. Eventually, this helped both parties to agree on a sustainable resettlement program for the settlers in the property of Asturias.

“I am very happy that after several years, you now were able to get titles that are all yours. I remember when I was fighting with you in 1998 and now this bore fruit,”Calatagan Mayor Peter Oliver Palacio told the residents who used to occupy lands in barangays Baha and Talibayog, Calatagan, where the formal turnover ceremony was held recently.

“You can now sleep well, knowing you now hold the titles to your lands and need not fear that these will be lost again,” added Mayor JR Fronda, whose town will host the relocation sites at Barangay Palikpikan, Santol, Sambat, and Barangay Caloocan in Balayan, Batangas.

The awarding of the TCTs was attended by Palacio, Balayan Mayor JR Fronda, former Balayan Mayor Manny Fronda, representatives from the departments of Enviroment and Natural Resources and Social Welfare and Development, department heads of the municipalities of Balayan and Calatagan, Public Attorney’s Office, led by Remedios Berena; and Asturias officials, led by Project Manager Micaela Rosales.

“The Asturias Foundation is committed to help the relocated settlers as long as they need it. We have educational and medical assistance, and we will continue to guide you where you

ORDER PROCESSING The staff of Natasha in Santiago City process thousands

of orders from different parts of Cagayan Valley and the Eastern Cordillera region. The homegrown direct-selling company carries shoes, apparel, accessories and personal-care products. LEONARDO PERANTE II

have resettled,” Rosales told the residents, adding it will continue to provide support even after the relocation process is completed to improve outcomes and help their community flourish.

One recipient, Renato Villarin, said: “After a long time, my dream came true.

This is the happiest day of my life. When I go home, I will give this certificate to my wife. This is victory that I have been

telling you. Before we were walking in the dark and did not know where to go.

Now, we have a home. This is the start of change and a new life.”

Asturias provided financial and technical support in the relocation of legitimate occupants, who owned houses in the 507-hectare property that form part of the 808 hectares owned by Asturias.

A6

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

briefs

Pakistan temporarily reopens border with Afghanistan PESHAWAR, Pakistan—Pakistani officials say authorities have temporarily reopened the two main border crossings with Afghanistan after the closure of the border last month following a string of deadly militant attacks. They say all those with valid travel documents will be allowed to cross on Tuesday and on Wednesday through the Torkham crossing in the northwest or the Chaman in the southwest.

There are two major arteries for trade and commerce between the two neighbors. Other crossings are less in use and will remain closed. The measure is aimed at easing tensions between the two countries and the backlog of people and vehicles trying to cross over. AP

American Indians to protest Trump, pipeline in Washington Members of American Indian tribes from around the country are bringing their frustrations with the Trump administration and its approval of the Dakota Access oil pipeline to the nation’s capital.

Tribal members were planning to gather at the National Mall on Tuesday to begin four days of activities culminating with a Friday march on the White House, dubbed the “Native Nations March on DC”.

Tribal members and supporters plan to camp each day on the National Mall, with teepees, a ceremonial fire, cultural workshops and speakers.

Native American leaders also plan to lobby lawmakers to protect tribal rights. Last Friday a march of about 2 miles is planned from the Army Corps of Engineers office to the White House, where a rally is scheduled. AP

Iraq troops capture Mosul government complex BAGHDAD—US-backed Iraqi forces fought their way on Tuesday into the heart of western Mosul, capturing the government complex in this part of the city from the Islamic State (IS) group, a senior Iraqi military commander said. The advancing troops hoisted an Iraqi flag on the complex of buildings in the Dawasa neighborhood and hailed the federal police units behind the taking of the area as heroes, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Rasheed Yar Allah said.

The consistent advance—more than two weeks since the new push started to clear Mosul’s western side of IS militants—has been a major blow to the extremists who once controlled nearly a third of Iraq. AP

China rejects accusations keeping defense budget under wraps BEIJING—China’s finance minister on Tuesday rejected accusations that the country is keeping its defense budget under wraps after the figure was omitted from an annual report released to the media. The defense budget and budgets for foreign affairs and domestic security had been included in a draft submitted to members of China’s rubberstamp parliament, Xiao said at a news conference on the margins of the annual 10-day legislative session.

A finance ministry official last Sunday told The Associated Press that the budget was rising 7 percent to 1.044 trillion yuan ($151 billion) this year, pushing it to its highest level ever, even while the rate of economic growth slows to its lowest this century. AP

Russian court overturns woman’s child pornography conviction MOSCOW—A Russian court on Monday freed a cleaning lady who had been convicted of disseminating child pornography in a socialmedia post decrying abuse, a case that has caused uproar in Russia.

Yevgenia Chudnovets, who worked in a kindergarten in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, was sentenced to six months in prison last November for posting a three-second video of child abuse in a summer camp, along with a call for the perpetrators to be punished.

Individuals captured in the footage were convicted and sent to prison. AP

The World BusinessMirror

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

US starts deploying THAAD antimissile system in S. Korea

H

ONG KONG—Alarmed about the threats from North Korea’s increasingly provocative behavior, the United States said on Tuesday it had started to deploy an antimissile system in South Korea that China has angrily opposed as a threat to its security.

The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system ( TH A A D) came af ter North Korea launched four ballistic missiles on Monday, apparently in response to joint naval exercises by South Korea and the US. Those launchings led South Korea to call for the accelerated deployment of THA AD. A spokesman for the US forces in South Korea said one of five major components of the missile system had arrived on Monday. Officials said it could take a couple of months for the system to become fully operational.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had urged the South Koreans to move ahead with the deployment of the system during a visit to Seoul in February.

In telephone calls on Monday to South Korean and Japanese leaders, President Dona ld J. Trump said the US would stand with its Asian allies and take steps to defend against North Korean’s growing ballistic missile threat.

Tr ump emphasized that the United States was ta k ing steps to “enhance our abilit y to deter and defend against Nor th Korea’s ballistic missiles using the f u l l range of US militar y

c apabi l it ies,” accord i ng to a W hite House statement.

Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., the commander of the US Pacific Command, said “continued provocative actions by North Korea, to include yesterday’s launch of multiple missiles, only confirm the prudence of our alliance decision last year to deploy THAAD to South Korea.”

“We will resolutely honor our alliance commitments to South Korea and stand ready to defend ourselves, the American homeland and our allies,” the admiral said in a statement.

China has been particularly incensed over the deployment of the system, which it regards as an intrusion that could compromise its military capabilities.

Recently, the Chinese media urged people to boycott South Korean products and companies, and over the weekend hundreds of people protested at the outlets of a South Korean supermarket chain whose land is being used in the deployment of the system.

Some held banners saying, “Get out of China”. Others have advocated additional stern measures, including severing diplomatic relations with South Korea.

A retired general, Luo Yuan,

A truck carrying parts of US missile launchers and other equipment needed to set up the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile-defense system arrive at Osan air base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on Monday. US Force Korea via AP

even suggested that China destroy the system with a military strike.

“We could conduct a surgical hard-kill operation that would destroy the target, paralyzing it and making it unable to hit back,” Luo wrote in The Global Times, a staterun newspaper.

Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Ministry of National Defense responded to faxed questions on Tuesday about the announcement of the deployment, which was reported by Chinese news media, citing South Korean news reports. Officials provided no official comment on it.

The missile system is being deployed as South Korea is embroiled in turmoil over the impeachment of president Park Geun-hye, who had been a supporter of deploying THAAD. But with the president facing possible removal from office over a corruption scandal, the fate of the system had been in doubt, and its accelerated deployment could make it harder for her successor to head off its installation.

Maj. Rob Shuford, a spokesman for the Pacific Command, said it would be up to the South Korean gover nment “to determine where that system w il l go”. In a phone inter v iew, he declined to say when the system wou ld be operationa l.

Last year thousands of peo ple in Seong ju, a r ura l souther n count y, protested when it was announced that a TH A A D batter y wou ld be established there. T hey said they feared that the system wou ld har m their agr icu ltura l livelihoods.

Many South Koreans also worry that any expansion of military ties with the US could worsen tensions with the North and China.

Under its deal with Washington, South Korea will provide land and build the base, but the US will pay for the missile system, to be built by Lockheed Martin, as well as its operational costs.

The US military statement said that “the first elements” of THAAD were deployed on Monday, the same day as the North’s missile launchings. New York Times News Service

WHO: Poor environment causes 1 in 4 child deaths

U

NITED NATIONS—Unhealthy environments— both inside and outside the home—cause the deaths of more than 1.7 million child under the age of 5 every year, according to two new reports released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.

Even in their ow n homes, many children in developing countries have neither clean air to breathe nor clean water to drink, the reports found.

“Almost half of the world’s population is still cooking or heating or lighting their households with very dirty fuels” such as coal or animal dung, Maria Neira, director of the WHO Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health told Inter Press Service (IPS).

Neira describes the smoke that children breathe in from these fuels as a “hidden and very pernicious” cause of ill health, leading to childhood illnesses, such as pneumonia and asthma, as well as long-term health affects, such as poor brain development and lower IQs. In addition to smoke for dirty cookstoves, children are exposed to many other pollutants both inside and outside the home, including untreated drinking water, outdoor air pollution and pesticide residues, the reports found.

For some children, exposure to toxins comes because they work in unsafe jobs, such as tobacco farming or recycling.

Neira gives the example of children who help their mothers to “recycle little pieces from electronic waste computers or old televisions from industrialized countries that end up in Africa”.

1.7M The number of children under the age of 5 who die each year owing to unhealthy environments

By helping to recover t he heav y metals inside the electronic waste, children are exposed to chemicals that cont r ibute to i s s ue s, i nc lud i n g brain development problems, Neira said. One way to address the environmental pollutants that children are exposed to is through ensuring that households have access to clean fuels, Neira told IPS. For those families

P

rime Minister Najib Razak condemned North Korea for barring Malaysian citizens from leaving the country, a move that escalated a diplomatic spat between the nations following the murder of dictator Kim Jong Un’s half-brother last month.

“This abhorrent act, effectively holding our citizens hostage, is in total disregard of all international law and diplomatic norms,” Najib said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Our hope is for a swift resolution. I call upon the North Korean leadership to immediately allow our citizens to leave to avoid any further escalation.”

Najib said he instructed the police to prevent all North Koreans from leaving Malaysia until the safety of his citizens is guaranteed.

He added that Malaysia “will not hesitate to take all measures necessary” to protect them. The travel restrictions ramp up tensions that have been growing since a North Korean citizen believed to be Kim Jong Nam was murdered in a Malaysian airport last month.

Authorities in Malaysia have said the chemical weapon VX was used in the attack, and are seeking to question a North Korean diplomat taking refuge in the embassy.

North Korea announced on Tuesday it was temporarily barring Malaysian citizens from leaving the country.

Restrictions on Malaysian citizens will continue until the safety of North Korean diplomats and citizens in Malaysia is secured, the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency said on Tuesday, adding that it hopes issues will be resolved “fairly and swiftly”.

Murder probe

Eleven Malaysians are stranded at Pyongyang’s airport, including three embassy employees and two who work for the United Nations World Food Programme, the Malay Mail Online reported, citing the foreign ministry.

South Korean government officials have speculated that Kim Jong Un was behind the killing of his half-brother, a critic of his leadership who had lived outside the country for years.

Malaysia has charged two women with the murder, saying they were trained to swipe the poison on the victim’s face and knew the substance was toxic. They were accused of abetting in the murder along with four others who are still at large, charge sheets showed.

North Korea said its citizen, who was identified as Kim Chol, probably died of a heart attack and the allegations that chemical materials were responsible for the death are lies. The country hasn’t responded to requests by Malaysia to question four suspects who fled to Pyongyang on the day of the killing, Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters in Penang on Tuesday.

‘Not cooperating’

Children look for a living in a garbage dump in Pakistan. Ashfaq

that cannot yet access clean energy, Neira says that proper ventilation can help by “diffuse[ing] the pollution caused by this incomplete combustion.”

Access to improved cook stoves that can reduce cooking times and, therefore, fuel use can also help, she added. Even better, is access to green energy, which can also help to address climate change, said Neira, another environmental issue with both current and future impacts on children’s health.

Climate change will particularly impact the health of the world’s poorest people by contributing to malnutrition and spreading mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue, Neira said.

According to the report “Don’t pollute my future!,” the impact of the environment on children’s health is that “570 000 children under 5 years die from respira-

Najib: N. Korea holding Malaysian citizens hostage

tory infections, such as pneumonia, attributable to indoor and outdoor air pollution and secondhand smoke each year” and “361, 000 children under 5 years die due to diarrhea, as a result of poor access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene.”

A second report, titled “Inheriting a Sustainable World: Atlas on Children’s Health and the Environment”, found that many of these deaths are preventable through addressing their environmental causes, including through access to safe water and clean cooking fuels.

Margaret Chan, WHO directorgeneral, said that children are particularly vulnerable to pollution because “their developing organs and immune systems, and smaller bodies and airways, make them especially vulnerable to dirty air and water.” IPS

“The Korean authorities are not cooperating with us in this investigation,” Khalid said.

Several North Koreans who are wanted to assist with investigations are still hiding within the embassy premises in Kuala Lumpur, he said. Authorities have said they want to question a diplomat at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, an employee at Air Koryo, and a North Korean living in Malaysia for three years.

“We don’t intend to retaliate but this is what must be done when a country that has diplomatic relations with Malaysia acts outside diplomatic norms,” Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Tuesday. “We want to send a clear message—do not point fingers at Malaysia and do not belittle Malaysia’s standing as a sovereign country that has carried out investigations professionally.” Bloomberg News

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

The World BusinessMirror

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

A7

GOP health bill trades mandate for tax credits

W

ASHINGTON—House Republicans unveiled on Monday their longawaited plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, scrapping the mandate for most Americans to have health insurance in favor of a new system of tax credits to induce people to buy insurance on the open market.

The bill sets the stage for a bitter debate over the possible dismantling of the most significant health-care law in a half-century.

In its place would be a health law that would be far more oriented to the free market and would make far-reaching changes to a vast part of the US economy.

The House Republican bill would roll back the expansion of Medicaid that has provided coverage to more than 10 million people in 31 states, reducing federal payments for many new beneficiaries. It also would effectively scrap the unpopular requirement that people have insurance and eliminate tax penalties for people who go without. The requirement for larger employers to offer coverage to their fulltime employees would also be eliminated.

People who let their insurance coverage lapse, however, would face a significant penalty. Insurers could increase their premiums by 30 percent and in that sense, Republicans would replace a penalty for not having insurance with a new penalty for allowing insurance to lapse.

House Republican leaders said they would keep three popular provisions in the Affordable Care Act: the prohibition on denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions, the ban on lifetime coverage caps and the rule allowing young people to remain on their parents’ health plans until age 26.

Republicans hope to undo other major parts of President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement, including incomebased tax credits that help millions of Americans buy insurance, taxes on people with high incomes and the penalty for people who do not have health coverage.

Medicaid recipients’ open- ended entitlement to health care would be replaced by a per-person allotment to the states. And people with preexisting medical conditions would face new uncertainties in a more deregulated insurance market.

The bill would also cut off federal funds to Planned Parenthood clinics through Medicaid and other government programs for one year.

“Obamacare is a sinking ship, and the legislation introduced today will rescue people from the mistakes of the past,” said Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the House majority leader. Democrats denounced the effort as a cruel attempt to strip Americans of their health care.

“Republicans will force tens of millions of families to pay more for worse coverage— and push millions of Americans off of health coverage entirely,” said Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader.

Two House committees—Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce—plan to take up the legislation on Wednesday.

House Republicans hope the committees will approve the measure this week, clearing the way for the full House to act on it before a spring break scheduled to begin on April 7.

The outlook in the Senate is less clear.

Democrats want to preserve the Affordable Care Act, and a handful of Republican senators expressed serious concerns about the House plan as it was being developed.

Under the House Republican plan, the income-based tax credits provided under the Affordable Care Act would be replaced with credits that would rise with age, as older people generally require more health care. In a late change, the plan reduces the tax credits for individuals with annual incomes over $75,000 and married couples with incomes over $150,000.

Republicans did not offer any estimate of how much their plan would cost, or how many people would gain or lose insurance.

The two House committees plan to vote on the legislation without having estimates of its cost from the Congressional Budget Office, the official scorekeeper on Capitol Hill.

But they did get the support from President Donald J. Trump that they badly need to win House passage.

“Obamacare has proven to be a disaster with fewer options, inferior care and skyrocketing costs that are crushing small business and families across America,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.

“Today marks an impor tant step toward restoring health-care choices and affordability back to the American people.”

The release of the legislation is a step toward fulfilling a campaign pledge—repeal and replace—that has animated Republicans since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010. But it is far from certain Republican lawmakers will be able to get on the same page and repeal the health measure.

On Monday four Republican senators— Rob Portman of Ohio, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—signed a letter saying a House draft that they had reviewed did not adequately protect people in states like theirs that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Three conservative Republicans in the Senate—Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas—had expressed reservations about the House’s approach. New York Times News Service

WH rejects FBI chief’s avowal that wiretapping claim is false

W

ASHINGTON—The White House on Monday refused to acknowledge reports that James Comey, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director, had asked the Justice Department to refute President Donald J. Trump’s claim that former President Barack Obama wiretapped him during the 2016 presidential campaign, and said Trump still believes he was spied on.

Comey urged the Justice Department this weekend to push back against Trump’s claims, but the department has not said anything publicly. The New York Times first reported about Comey’s request to the Justice Department on Sunday, and other news media organizations followed suit.

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, dismissed the stories on Monday.

“I have not seen anything, aside from another report based on anonymous sources, that that actually happened,” Spicer said. “I’m not aware that that occurred. I don’t think that we’re aware that that occurred.”

Spicer did not say why Trump or other administration officials had not reached out directly to the Justice Department or Comey to find out whether Trump’s accusations are true. And Spicer provided little evidence to back up Trump’s claim about Obama.

At one point, Spicer pointed to comments

by Michael Mukasey, who served as attorney general in the administration of George W. Bush, as evidence of the eavesdropping.

Mukasey said on television last Sunday that based on reports he had read in the press, he believed Trump was probably right about the surveillance.

“There’s no question that something happened,” Spicer said. “The question is: Is it surveillance, or wiretapping or whatever?”

Spicer said Trump still had confidence in the FBI director. “There’s nothing that I have been told by him that would leave me to believe that anything is different than it was prior,” Spicer said.

But the president could be headed for a confrontation with Comey that would pit the administration against the head of the nation’s leading law-enforcement agency, which is conducting an inquiry into links between Trump’s associates and Russia.

Trump, who has already fired his national security adviser and acting attorney general, could dismiss Comey, but that would probably lead to significant backlash from lawmakers and federal authorities, who would see such a move as an attempt to influence the Russia investigation. Trump started the controversy early on Saturday morning with a series of Twitter posts.

“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory,” Trump said. “Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” Trump added: “This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!”

The White House has not officially said what led Trump to make the claims. But administration officials have acknowledged that they were primarily prompted by unverified claims by Breitbart News and conservative talk radio hosts that secret warrants were issued authorizing tapping the phones of Trump and his aides.

New York Times News Service

U.S. Park Police officers shut down Lafayette Square, moving a protest against President Donald J. Trump’s revised travel ban, outside the White House in Washington on March 6.

The new executive order removed citizens of Iraq from the original travel embargo and scrapped a provision that explicitly protected religious minorities. Al Drago/The New York Times

Trump’s new ban blocks migrants from 6 nations

W

ASHINGTON—President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order on Monday blocking citizens of six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States, the most significant hardening of immigration policy in generations, even with changes intended to blunt legal and political opposition.

The order was revised to avoid the tumult and protests that engulfed the nation’s airports after Trump signed his first immigration directive on January 27. That order was ultimately blocked by a federal appeals court.

The new order continued to impose a 90-day ban on travelers, but it removed Iraq, a redaction requested by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who feared it would hamper coordination to defeat the Islamic State (IS), according to administration officials.

It also exempts permanent residents and current visa holders, and drops language offering preferential status to persecuted religious minorities, a provision widely interpreted as favoring other religious groups over Muslims.

In addition, it reversed an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria, replacing it with a 120day freeze that requires review and renewal.

But the heart of the sweeping executive action is still intact, reflecting Trump’s “America First” pledge to safeguard against what he has portrayed as a hidden influx of terrorists and criminals— a hardline campaign promise that resonated deeply with white working-class voters.

The new order retains central elements of the old one, cutting the number of refugees admitted to the United States each year to 50,000 from about 110,000.

Trump is also leaving open

50K The number of refugees to be admitted to the US each year, from 110,000, under the new order

the possibility of expanding the ban to other countries, or even putting Iraq back on the banned list if the country’s leaders fail to comply with a requirement that they increase intelligence sharing, officials said.

“Unregulated, unvetted travel is not a universal priv ilege, especia l ly when nationa l security is at stake,” said John F. K e l ly, home l a nd se c u r it y secretar y, appearing alongside Secretar y of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building in Washington on Monday.

Kelly said the order was now “prospective” and applied “only to foreign nationals outside of the United States” who do not have a valid visa. None of the men took questions.

T he Trump administration quickly tried to break the legal logjam, filing papers in US District Court in Washington late on Monday seeking to lift an order

blocking the fulfillment of the initial ban.

But the president’s revisions did little to halt criticism from Democrats and immigrant-rights advocates, who predicted a renewed fight in the courts. The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, described the new order as a “watered-down ban” that was still “mean-spirited and un-American.”

Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement that the new order would “cause extreme fear and uncertainty for thousands of families by, once again, putting anti-Muslim hatred into policy.”

The new measure will be phased in over the next two weeks to avoid the frenetic, same-day execution of the order in January, which prompted protests across the country and left tearful families stranded at airports abroad and in the US. The redrafted order, delayed by a week so it would not overshadow Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress last Tuesday, represented a recognition that the rushed first attempt at the ban did not pass muster legally or politically.

Administration officials privately conceded that the initial version of the order was a pol itica l debac le t hat d amaged Tr u mp’s n a scent presidenc y.

But they were much more sanguine about the second order, a rg u i ng t h at t he ne w, mu l tiagency rev iew process could be used in the future to bend Trump’s uncompromising messages toward Washington’s bureaucratic realities.

Trump signed the first ban with great fanfare, in front of reporters, at the Pentagon. “We don’t want them here,” Trump said of Islamist terrorists. “We want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the ver y threats our soldiers are fighting overseas. We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country, and love deeply our people.”

This time the White House issued a photograph of the president signing the order alone at his desk in the Oval Office.

Justice Department lawyers said the revisions rendered moot legal cases against the original travel ban. But opponents said the removal of a section that had granted preferential treatment to victims of religious persecution was a cosmetic change that did nothing to alter the order’s prejudicial purpose.

Immigrant-rights lawyers had argued that the provision was intended to discriminate against Musl i ms, poi nt i ng to recent statements by Trump.

“This is a retreat, but let’s be clear—it’s just another run at a Muslim ban,” said Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants’ Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the groups that sued to stop the first order.

“They can’t unring the bell.”

Eric T. Schneiderman, attorney general of New York and a plaintiff in a suit seeking to block the first order, said his office was reviewing the new ban, adding, “I stand ready to litigate—again—in order to protect New York’s families, institutions and economy.”

Congressional Republicans, who were split over the first travel ban, had a more muted reaction. But Speaker Paul Ryan, who backed the first order, issued a statement saying the revised order “advances our shared goal of protecting the homeland”.

Citizens of Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya will face a 90-day suspension of visa processing as the administration analyzes how to strengthen vetting procedures, according to a homeland security summary of the order.

The removal of Iraq from the list came after talks with security officials in Baghdad and at the urging of Mattis and State Department officials, who have been in communication with Iraqi officials alarmed that the ban will turn public sentiment in their country against the US. New York Times News Service

A8

Agriculture/Commodities

Wednesday, March 8, 2017 • Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

‘Govt should secure PHL rice buffer stock’

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

T

@jearcalas

he government must be wary of allowing the private sector to import the rice buffer stock of the country, as some unscrupulous traders could make the staple more expensive, according to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol.

During the Cabinet meeting on March 6, Piñol said he warned the President against letting the private sector secure the country’s buffer stock, as this would be disadvantageous to consumers.

“I told the President that we should be cautious about the rice importation of the private sector.

If the purpose is to come up with a buffer stock, letting the private sector import won’t work,” he told reporters in an interview on Tuesday.

“What some of those in the private sector do is that they restock and rebag the imported rice, which they would sell in the market as commercial rice. This will not help consumers,” Piñol added.

While it would be ideal to purchase the paddy rice produced by local farmers, the chief of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said the National Food Authority (NFA) has not been able to significantly expand its palay-

procurement program.

The NFA buys rice from farmers at a support price of P17 per kilogram to augment its buffer stock, which the food agency releases to areas devastated by natural calamities.

Piñol said he also asked Duterte to again include the DA in the National Food Authority Council (NFAC), which decides on the government’s rice importation. He said the decision to import also takes into account the welfare of farmers, particularly the timing.

“When I reviewed the law, Presidential Decree 1770 of the NFA, it is stated that the Ministry of Agriculture is a member of the council.

But, in reality, we are not included,” he said.

“We have been shut out [in riceimportation plans]. That’s why I told the President if we could be included in the NFAC, so we could give our inputs on the matter. The

President said, ‘Okay’,” Piñol added.

The NFAC is the highest policymaking body that oversees the affairs of the NFA, particularly in deliberating and approving riceimportation proposals via government to government or the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme.

The DA was dislodged from the NFAC, after the NFA was transferred to the administrative supervision of the Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization by former President Benigno S. Aquino III. Prior to its transfer, the NFA was attached to the DA. Piñol said he made the proposal to Duterte when the issue of the tension between the NFAC and the current NFA management was raised during the Cabinet meeting.

He added he would write a formal letter to Duterte to request for the inclusion of the DA in the NFAC. At present, the NFAC is comprised of the Cabinet secretary sitting as its chairman, while the NFA administrator serves as the vice chairman. Other members of the current NFAC include the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor, Development Bank of the Philippines chairman, president of the Lank Bank of the Philippines (LandBank), finance secretary, trade secretary, socioeconomic planning secretary and a representative from a farmers’ group.

“I hope the DA will be given a voice in the council, so we can share our inputs or be given access to information on rice importation, so

that we would know how much they would import, when would they import and when the imports will arrive,” Piñol said.

The DA chief also revealed the President has ordered the review of all government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) to determine their “relevance” to the country’s food-security program.

“The Preident directed Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III to head a group that will review the viability and relevance of GOCCs in relation to the food-security program,” Piñol said.

“The NFA has the highest debt [among GOCCs], with P210 billion, while No. 4 is the National Irrigation Administration, with P160billion debt. So, it looks like they are going to check the viability of these agencies,” he added.

Rice-import probe

NFA officials on Tuesday said they welcome any investigation into allegations that “food officials are making a cash cow out of government-led importations.”

This was in reaction to a statement by NFAC chairman, Cabinet Secretary Leoncio B. Evasco Jr., that he will propose the creation of a special committee to investigate the culprits of this “flagrant corruption to the detriment of the country’s food security”.

“This is a very serious accusation, and it is very sad this is happening at a crucial time when we should be focusing our sights on helping our farmers, who are cur-

rently harvesting their summer crop, earn a reasonable income from their produce,” NFA Administrator Jason Laureano Y. Aquino said in a statement.

“Instead of pointing accusing fingers and casting doubts on those who are faithfully implementing the mandates of the agency, we should be focusing our watch over a possible abuse of the import permits given to private rice importers in view of allegations that these permits are being recycled for smuggling purposes,” he added.

Aquino said the NFA’s recommendation to push through with a government-to-government importation refers to the balance of the 500,000-metric ton (MT) importation for 2016, which was approved by the NFAC. He said this was the subject of his letter to the Vietnam Embassy.

“Only 250,000 MT was contracted in 2016, thus the NFA is recommending importing the balance of 250,000 MT for this year’s buffer stock in preparation for the lean months.”

The NFA is mandated by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council to maintain a food-security reserve good for at least 15 days at any given time. By July 1 of each year, which marks the onset of the lean season for rice, the NFA must have at least a 30-day buffer stock.

Aquino said the current national daily rice-consumption requirement is pegged at 654,400 bags, or 32,720 MT.

DA launches color-coded agriculture guide map

T

he Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday rolled out the national color-coded agriculture guide map (NACCAG) it developed under the Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AIMA) to help farmers decide what to plant in their areas.

President Duterte led the launching of the NACCAG in Malacañang. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the colorcoded guide map would serve as the “backbone” of the DA’s program for boosting farm productivity.

“The NACCAG, or Color-Coded Agriculture Guide Map, is a campaign commitment of President Duterte that will enable farmers and fishermen to obtain interactive data on things related to farming and fishing,” Piñol told reporters in a news briefing on Tuesday.

“For example, by typing the name of his region, province and town, a farmer will be able to determine what crops could be grown ideally in his area, down to the barangay level,” he added.

By accessing the web site www.farmersguidemap.gov.ph, he said a fisherman would also know when a storm or dangerous climatic conditions would occur because it will have a link to the Pagasa web site.

Piñol said the NACCAG incorporates and digitalizes all the latest scientific data on soil analysis, climate impact, geographical hazards and weather prediction from Pagasa under the web site www.farmersguidemap.gov.ph.

He said the DA plans to put up information centers in the busiest agricultural areas and communities in the country so that farmers could easily access the data from the web site.

The creation of NACCAG is part of the government’s plan to identify the comparative advantages of specific areas in the country in farming, as indicated in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022.

“It will contain updated subnational information on soil characteristics, water availability, climatic types, topography and socioeconomic conditions,” Chapter 8 of the PDP read.

“The map will inform production decisions about suitable crops and agricultural activities. It will also guide the identification and prioritization of programs, projects and activities in the sector,” it added.

The DA said it took seven months to complete the NACCAG. Piñol said NACCAG is still a “work in progress” that would need to be updated constantly to include other data that would help farmers make decisions on their planting practices.

“We will continue to improve this in the next two years and add more data layers such as the inclusion of water availability map which would show the water table of areas in the country,” he said.

The AIMA was allocated a budget of P36 million. Aside from the map, the DA has also created the Nutrient Expert software which could help farmers manage their crops during extreme weather conditions. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

Agribusiness experts to offer free seminar on food trends

T

he Center for Inter national Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem) and the Management Association of the Philippines-AgriBusiness and Countryside Development Foundation (MAP-ABCDF) will conduct a free seminar on the latest food trends and innovations with leading agribusiness experts at Ifex Philippines.

The export-promotion arm of the Department of Trade and Industry ties up with the MAPABCDF to invite leading researchers and educators to conduct food-related discussions on May 19 and 20 at the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC).

MAP-ABCDF is a leading nongovernmental organization in agribusiness and countr yside development that provides access to innovation, entrepreneurship, management services and leading-edge technologies through its network of movers and shakers in the Philippine agricultural sector.

“For the 11th edition, Citem has prepared a good lineup of seminars that can help international and local stakeholders make infor med decisions in conducting export deals and m a k i ng i nvest ment s on t he luc rat ive food sec tor i n t he Philippines,” newly appointed Citem Executive Director Clayton Tugonon said.

The two-day talk, titled “Agribusiness Research and Development”, will tackle Philippine food innovations, modern farming applications and agricultural developments in the country’s leading research institutions, such as the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and Sugar Palm Research Information and Trade Center at the Cavite State University.

On May 19 Dr. Shirley Agrupis from Mariano Marcos State Universit y w ill share the research and development efforts on the Ilocos Norte black garlic using the technology adopted from Japan and South Korea.

UPLB researcher Claudette Oraye will talk about the business potentials and production of i nd i ge nou s ve get a bles i n the Philippines.

For May 20 Dr. Ofrero Caparino, chief of the Department of Agriculture’s bioprocess engineering, will discuss the opportunities in a village-level coconut water-processing system. Petteri Makitalo, general manager of The Freefood Co., will, likewise, discuss the development of cacao and coconut sugar into premium export products.

“Aside from helping buyers, these discussions are beneficial to local micro, small and medium enterprises, so they can track the significant advances in the agribusiness and countryside development and see how they can benefit if they implement or adapt to this progress,” MAP-ABCDF President Melito Salazar Jr. said.

Ifex Philippines is slated from May 19 to 21 at the World Trade Center Metro Manila and at the PTTC in Pasay City.

Citem is encouraging Philippine and international exporters and manufacturers to participate in the biggest food, ingredients and beverage trade fair in the Asia Pacific.

ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror

PHL mission secures ₧20-B commitment from Japan

T

OKYO, Japan—PhilippineJapanese trade relations remain robust, as the Philippine mission to Japan headed by the Department of Trade and Industry secured over P20billion investment commitments from Japanese firms during the three-day visit from February 28 to March 2.

On the sidelines of the Investment Forum in Tokyo and the 35th annual meeting of the Japan-Philippines Economic Cooperation Committee and the Philippines-Japan Economic Cooperation Committee 35th annual meeting, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez met with two top Japanese executives who specified their interest to invest and expand in the Philippines.

Lopez met with Tsuneishi Presi-

dent Kenji Kawanoto to discuss the expansion plans of the company in the Philippines.

“These projects with Tsuneishi involves a 120-hectare ship reuse center in Negros Occidental, a biomass-fuel project in Mindanao, and an international ship recycling facility that will be equipped with state-of-the-art green technologies,” Lopez said.

The projects with Tsuneishi are projected to generate P15.2 billion

in revenue, with 32,000 additional direct and indirect jobs in shipbuilding and the biofuel industry.

Ichijo Co. Ltd., a prefabricated housing-component manufacturing company, also discussed with the trade chief their plans of further expanding their facility in Cavite by building a two-story warehouse. The facility is estimated to cost nearly P2 billion and generate roughly around 600 additional jobs.

“Ichijo’s competitive operations in the Philippines catapulted its ranking from No. 6 in Japan to No. 1, alongside Sekisui House,” said Lopez, highlighting investor opportunities in the Philippines.

Lopez also met with senior executives of Sōgō Shōsha, Japan’s seven major trading houses, namely, Mitsubishi Motors, Mitsui and Co. Ltd., Sumitomo Corp., Itochu Corp., Marubeni Corp., Toyota Tsusho and Sojitz Corp., joined

by Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade and Jose Laurel V. The Sōgō Shōsha group expressed interest to further trade partner-

ships with the Philippines in the fields of renewable energy, railway and transportation, water management and security.

These projects include a coal-power plant with an estimated cost of over P75 billion, capacity enhancements of mass transportation, namely, Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 South extension, LRT Line 2 East extension, North-South Commuter Railway Project and the possible development of transit systems in Davao, Cebu and Clark, Philippine Coast Guard Multi Role Response Vessels.

For the latter half of 2016 to 2018, the Sōgō Shōsha group of companies (including subsidiaries and affiliates) expressed investment interests amounting to P198.5 billion in the aforementioned segments of the Philippine government’s economic development plan.

The Philippine mission to Japan garnered more than P200-billion investment interests, securing over P20 billion worth of commitments from Japanese companies.

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Wednesday, March 8, 2017 A9

The Belgians are coming!

By Jose Antonio Buencamino

Commercial Counselor, Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC)-Brussels &

Jeoffrey Houvenaeghel Trade Assistant, PTIC-Brussels

MARKET DEVELOPMENT UPDATE Conclusion There were three product groups that had no trade at all in 2014, but performed exceptionally in 2015. These are seagoing tankers (€39.4 million), electronic-integrated circuits with storage capacity (€8 million) and baked products (€5.3 million). One product group that was practically unnoticed in 2014 (€76,000) but grew to €8.4 million in 2015 was air-cured tobacco products.

The remaining six new product groups also demonstrated exceptional performance in 2015: Medical tubular metal needles (80-percent increase), printers and copying machines parts (30 percent), polyethylene products (548 percent), electronicintegrated circuits excluding multichip integrated circuits and storage capacity (8 percent),

and static converters without telecommunication use (110 percent).

There is no predictable science or reliable methodology that will fix or predict the composition of tradable products between Belgium and the Philippines.

Indeed, when the opportunity presents itself and this is met by the capacity to supply or available stock, then trade happens. And is that not the foundation of international trade? History has taught us the free flow of ideas, people and the confluence of interests lead to many outcomes, not the least of which is international trade.

We therefore welcome warmly the coming business mission from Belgium!

In our next write-up, we will look at Belgian investments abroad and in the Philippines.

PHL, China economic heads discuss trade and investment opportunities

P

HILIPPINE Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez met newly appointed Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan in Manila on March 7, during the 28th Philippines-China Joint Commission on Economic and Trade Cooperation (JCETC).

Lopez welcomed Zhong on his first official trip as the top leader of China’s Ministry of Commerce.

“We foresee a more meaningful engagement with our good neighbour [China] in the coming years, as we work with renewed vigor toward a deepened and strengthened cooperation based on mutual values, goals and results,” Lopez said.

The ministers agreed on important initiatives geared toward improving overall levels of trade and investment between the two countries. Foremost among these is the Six-Year Development Program (SYDP) for Economic and Trade Cooperation that will serve as the overall framework for economic relations from 2017 to 2022.

The SYDP was endorsed by the JCETC for signing when a highlevel delegation from China visits the Philippines during the latter part of March 2017.

A list of priority infrastructure projects to be funded by available

Chinese credit facility was also taken up. Both sides encouraged participation by the private sector in infrastructure projects, industrial parks development, cross-border e-commerce, big-data analytics, creative industries, electric vehicles, iron and steel, manufacturing, testing facilities, irradiation facilities and export promotion.

The meeting also positively noted the five Letters of Intent (LOI) for potential private-sector investments from China on oil downstream projects, aviation industry (including aircraft-parts manufacturing), waste-to-energy through gasification, ship building, and ship-repair facility and integrated steel facility.

“We are pleased that government efforts are moving in parallel with opportunities being opened for the private sector to come in, as demonstrated by the signing of the LOIs last week, showing a shift to more innovative and hightechnology manufacturing,” said Lopez, adding tourism arrivals from China in the country reached 675,663 in 2016.

Led by the Department of Trade and Industry, the JCETC is the official bilateral mechanism for discussion of trade, investments

and economic cooperation and was convened at the ministerial level in support of high-level policy pronouncements on strengthened bilateral ties.

The JCETC was convened after a five-year hiatus, and serves as a quick follow-through of President Duterte’s state visit to China last October 2016, which led to positive strides toward renewed bilateral relations. The reconvening of the JCETC serves as testament to the commitment of both sides to bring to fruition the huge trade and investment potentials between the two countries.

Under the JCETC mechanism is the Economic Cooperation Working Group (ECWG), led by the National Economic and Development Authority in close coordination with the Department of Finance. The ECWG met on March 6 to discuss matters related to infrastructure, loan financing and grant cooperation.

These outcomes were reported to the JCETC. China is the Philippines’s secondmajor trading partner, fourth-largest export market and first import supplier in 2015. It is also the 14th top source of IPA-approved inward investments to the Philippines in the same year.

NEW CHINESE TRADE MINISTER MARKS FIRST OFFICIAL VISIT TO PHL

During his first official visit to the Philippines, China’s newly appointed Ministry of Commerce Minister Zhong Shan (right) met with the Philippines’s Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez on March 7 in Makati City during the 28th Philippine-Chinese Joint Commission on Economic and Trade Cooperation (JCETC). Serving as the official bilateral mechanism for discussion of trade, investments and economic cooperation, the JCETC was convened after a five-year hiatus, and serves as a quick follow-through of President Duterte’s state visit to China in October 2016. Both sides agreed on important initiatives geared toward improving overall levels of trade and investment between the two countries. Discussion highlights included the Six-Year Development Program for Economic and Trade Cooperation (SYDP) that will serve as the overall framework for economic relations from 2017 to 2022, the list of priority infrastructure projects to be funded by available Chinese credit facility and potential private-sector investments from China on oil downstream projects, aviation industry (including aircraft-parts manufacturing), waste-to-energy through gasification, ship building, and ship repair facility and integrated steel facility.

upcoming events

FILIPINO WOMEN IN GLOBAL BUSINESS

Compiled by Louise Kaye G. Mendoza DTI-EMB Knowledge Processing Division

Sherill Quintana of Oryspa Office of the Director, DTI-EMB

S

HERILL Quintana, a proud mother of four, began her entrepreneurial mind-set at the age of 9 when she and her siblings sold karyoka (sugar-coated cassava) and iced candies around their neighborhood. She would teach her siblings and friends how to mix different iced-candy flavors. They would sell the products and she would give them commissions.

“I was the kid behind the concept and the coaching,” she said.

Quintana knows the importance of mentorship, which she considered as one of the unique qualities of being a woman-entrepreneur.

“It’s like blood letting. When you do mentorship, you nourish yourself,” she said.

She believes the key to success is to give back and to pay forward to

others so that the chain of kindness would continue.

Quintana founded Oryspa, a pioneering brand in the health-andwellness retail category, using the franchising concept. Their first store opened in 2010 in SM Calamba. They tried their hands in franchising the following year. Since then, their products garnered positive raves and received numerous awards, including Most Promising Filipino Franchise Excellence Award, Calabarzon Champion Award, Asean Business Awards 2016: AEC Priority Integration Sector Excellence Award for Healthcare, among others.

Oryspa is also registered in the Singapore Stock Exchange as Oryspa Pte. Ltd., and has distributors in Myanmar and Vietnam.

Oryspa is most known for its rice bran-based spa products, a first of its kind in the country. Unlike other

Event: 44th Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group (SMEWG) Meeting To be attended by: Assistant Director Agnes Legaspi Venue: Sydney, Australia

MARCH 15-19

Event: Sikat Pinoy National Food Fair—Piling-piling Pagkaing Pilipino Venue: Megatrade Halls 1-3, 5th Level, Mega B, SM Megamall

By Abigael Mei M. Yaokana

MARCH 12-17

health-and-wellness retailers that expand through direct selling, the company is into franchising.

With a vision for her company to be well-known internationally in the health-and-wellness industry, Quintana has been working the extra mile to bring their products abroad while carrying the Philippine name.

In 2016 she was invited to the World Trade Organization (WTO) public forum. With the theme “Inclusive Trade”, Quintana proudly represented the country’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and discussed how a wider range of individuals and businesses can participate and access the trading system and WTO rules that

ensure benefits for those involved in the export trade.

She also shared the challenges she faced while expanding her brand which included how she convinced other people about her entrepreneurial vision, finding the right people to work with, financial assistance and the lack of infrastructure. Despite these, Quintana’s passion and willingness to expand her brand surpassed these challenges.

“When embarking on a branding journey, make sure you identify your

unique value proposition,” she said.

Through the help of the government and her determination, Quintana was able to do so.

“We wish to be a testimonial that yes, the government is at work to bring the SME to the next level,” she said.

In fact, the departments of Trade and Industry, Science and Technology, Tourism and Labor and Employment take pride that Oryspa is a fruit of the collaboration of private enterprises being assisted by government agencies.

A10 Wednesday, March 8, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

What govt must do to attain PDP goals

E

ight months after President Duterte assumed office, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) released over the weekend the government’s economic blueprint, dubbed as the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022. The Neda, which spearheaded the crafting of the blueprint, noted that the PDP is the first medium-term plan anchored on the “AmBisyon Natin 2040”, the long-term development plan drawn up by the previous administration. The Neda said the goal of the current PDP is to lay the necessary groundwork that would enable Filipinos to attain a “matatag, maginhawa at panatag na buhay”.

The Neda said the PDP 2017-2022 adopted some of the good practices of the previous administration. While GDP grew by an “impressive” 6.8 percent in 2016, the Aquino administration fell short of the targets it set in the PDP 2011-2016. The previous administration had wanted to grow GDP by 7 percent to 8 percent in 2015 and 2016. Actual figures, however, were lower at 5.9 percent in 2015 and 6.8 percent last year. Among the three major economic sectors, agriculture was the laggard. Even after tweaking the targets for the sector, the Aquino administration had a hard time meeting its growth goals for agriculture, pegged at 2 percent to 3 percent in 2015 and 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent in 2016. Last year farm output even contracted by 1.3 percent.

In its PDP, the Duterte administration had shown, in broad strokes, how it intends to uplift the lives of Filipinos and regain their trust in government. The current administration appears to subscribe to the idea that the little things matter, especially for the poor. This can be deduced from the Duterte administration’s focus on equipping government offices with adequate facilities and training government personnel to provide prompt and efficient service to citizens. “Clean and efficient” are the favorite adjectives used by Duterte in describing the kind of government he wants, and he has warned inept and corrupt bureaucrats that they have no place in his administration.

Following the release of the PDP, it is now up to the line agencies and other state-run institutions to see to it that the targets of the economic blueprint and the aspirations of AmBisYon Natin 2040 are met. Guided by this PDP, it is imperative for other government agencies to judiciously make use of taxpayers’ money to fund interventions aimed at improving people’s lives.

Some government agencies, such as the departments of Agriculture and Trade and Industry, have already crafted road maps that detail strategies for hiking the production of certain sectors. Officials must be cognizant of the fact that the President only has five more years to deliver on his promises to the Filipino people, as he is stepping down in 2022. All of them must now act with a sense of urgency.

Fed up Teddy Locsin Jr.

Free fire Continued from A1

A

respectable, if not a winning, vote—even if neither can assume office—for the unqualified Obama or Trudeau will deny the same tired old faces the 50-percent vote to avoid a runoff election.

And what if Obama won? What more Justin Trudeau, whose name and roots are French? All it takes to remove their disqualification is for the president of the French Assembly to naturalize either one.

France, being a great nation and

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Madeleine Albright retired, the Czech Republic invited her to run for president.

As far as I am concerned, and that’s a lot, the only constitutional change we need is the deletion of natural-born citizenship as a

qualification for president. Natural-born citizenship has not ensured any degree of quality in our past elected choices.

Now you might say: Hey! Remove the natural-born citizenship requirement, and what is to stop a Chinese general from running for president?

Hey! Again! He won’t need to run if our elected leaders do again what they did when the Japanese invaded. Turn the country over to the enemy. He will install himself as president or military governor.

And what would be the difference between an outright enemy president and a natural-born Manchurian candidate?

Natura lizing foreig ners to qualify them to run is not even a gamble. It is certain to be a sure improvement in Filipino electoral choices.

Trump’s wiretap tweets raise risk of impeachment Noah Feldman

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

a civilization unto itself does not demand natural birth. The French embrace as one of themselves anyone superior in mind and morals.

It is a republic of intelligence as it is of letters—or was not too long ago. When US Secretary of State

As far as I am concerned, and that’s a lot, the only constitutional change we need is the deletion of natural-born citizenship as a qualification for president.

Natural-born citizenship has not ensured any degree of quality in our past elected choices. Now you might say: Hey! Remove the natural-born citizenship requirement, and what is to stop a Chinese general from running for president?

BLOOMBERG

T

he sitting president has accused his predecessor of an act that could have gotten the past president impeached. That’s not your ordinary exercise of free speech. If the accusation were true, and President Barack Obama ordered a warrantless wiretap of Donald J. Trump during the campaign, the scandal would be of Watergate-level proportions.

But if the allegation is not true and is unsupported by evidence, that, too, should be a scandal on a major scale. This is the kind of accusation that, taken as part of a broader course of conduct, could get the current president impeached.

We shouldn’t care that the allegation was made early on a Saturday morning on Twitter.

The basic premise of the First Amendment is that truth should defeat her opposite number. “Let her and Falsehood grapple,” wrote the poet and politician John Milton, “who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?”

But this rather optimistic adage only accounts for speech and debate between citizens. It doesn’t apply to accusations made by the government. Those are something altogether different.

In a rule of law society, government allegations of criminal activity must be followed by proof and prosecution. If not, the government is ruling by innuendo.

Shadowy dictatorships can do that, because there is no need for

proof. Democracies can’t.

Thus, an accusation by a president isn’t like an accusation leveled by one private citizen against another. It’s about more than factual truth or carelessness.

The government’s special responsibility has two bases. One is that you can’t sue the government for false and defamatory speech. If I accused Obama of wiretapping my phone, he could sue me for libel. If my statement was knowingly false, I’d have to pay up. On the other hand, if the president makes the same statement, he can’t be sued in his official capacity.

And a private libel suit mostly likely wouldn’t go anywhere against a sitting president—for good reason, because the president shouldn’t be encumbered by lawsuits while in office.

The second reason the government has to be careful about making unprovable allegations is that its bully pulpit is greater than any other. True, as an ex-president, Obama can defend himself publicly and has plenty of access to the news media. But even he doesn’t have the audience that Trump now has. And

essentially any other citizen would have far less capacity to mount a defense than Obama.

For these reasons, it’s a mistake to say simply that Trump’s accusation against Obama is protected by the First Amendment.

False and defamatory speech isn’t protected by the First Amendment.

And an allegation of potentially criminal misconduct made without evidence is itself a form of serious misconduct by the government official who makes it.

When candidate Trump said Hillary Clinton was a criminal who belonged in prison, he was exposing himself to a libel suit. And the suit might not have succeeded, because Trump could have said he was making a political argument rather than an allegation of fact.

But when President Trump accuses Obama of an act that would have been impeachable and possibly criminal, that’s something much more serious than libel. If it isn’t true or provable, it’s misconduct by the highest official of the Executive branch.

How is such misconduct by an official to be addressed? There’s a common-law tort of malicious prosecution, but that probably doesn’t apply when the government official has no intention to prosecute.

The answer is that the constitutional remedy for presidential misconduct is impeachment. That would have been the correct remedy if Obama had “ordered” a wiretap of the Republican presidential candidate’s phones. The president has no such legal authority. Only a court can order a domestic wiretap, and that only after a showing of probable cause by the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Breaking the law by tapping Trump’s phones would have been an abuse of executive power that implicated the democratic process itself.

Impeachment is the remedy for such a serious abuse of the executive office. That includes abuse of office in the form of serious accusations against political opponents if they turn out to be false and made without evidence. These, too, deform the democratic process.

The Constitution speaks of impeachment for “high crimes and misdemeanors”. A lot of ink has been spilled over these words, which date back at least to impeachment proceedings in the 14th century. This isn’t the place for a detailed analysis.

Suffice it to say that what makes crimes “high” is that they pertain to the exercise of government office. That’s exactly what accusations by the executive are: actions that take on their distinctive meaning because they are made by government officials.

What’s more, government acts that distort and undercut the democratic process are especially serious and worthy of impeachment. The Watergate break-in to the Democratic National Committee headquarters was part of an effort to steal the 1972 election. A wiretap of Trump’s campaign would’ve had political implications.

And accusing the past Democratic president of an impeachable offense is every bit as harmful to democracy, assuming it isn’t true. Obama is the best-known and most popular Democrat in the country. The effect of attacking him isn’t just to weaken him personally, but to weaken the political opposition to Trump’s administration.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Why not push for a clean-air technology

East Asian Insurance Congress Atty. Dennis B. Funa

INSURANCE FORUM

Michael Makabenta Alunan

on the contrary

A

fter almost 18 years of the Clean Air Act, air quality has not improved and may have worsened with no massive intervention being done, while over 350,000 vehicles are sold yearly, thus, contributing to the increasing share of vehicles to total air pollution in Metro Manila from 70 percent three decades ago to 93 percent today. n Solutions needed, not mere tests or diagnoses. Ever since, our clean-air programs have been limited merely to three activities: 1) Measuring ambient-air pollution through Department of Environment and Natural Resources’s monitoring stations; 2) Road apprehension by antismoke-belching units of the local government units; and 3) Vehicle Emission Testing centers. All three do not offer real solutions to air pollution at source. These activities are limited to accosting polluters and measuring pollution levels and do not solve anything.

An emission inventory is vital as one cannot plan something one cannot measure. However, unless the technologies used can measure real time of, say, every minute, or 43,200 times a month, results will be inaccurate. For one, as an archipelagic country exposed to regular sea breeze and air turbulence, pollution levels can change drastically and be diluted any second, says a study by Dr. Emmanuel Anglo.

Moreover, many of our air monitoring stations bought from a single supplier Electro Byte the past 17 years are no longer functioning, and if they still do, have high margins of errors. In short, they do not measure up accurately to expectations, making many of them useless. n Penalties won’t reduce emissions, education will. On the antismoke-belching campaign, no frequency of road apprehensions or increases in penalties will reduce emissions. Drivers are the ones penalized, and since no one teaches them how to reduce their emissions, they get caught again, so their solution is to bribe their way around.

The Private Emission Testing Centers are another case with their rampant anomalous practice of issuing “Non-Appearance” Emission Clearance Certificates, which are mere paper compliance with no actual physical tests. Worse, they are declared valid stupidly for a period of, say, three months.

Section 46 of the Clean Air Act requires that on top of penalties, violators must undergo a seminar on how to reduce emissions. Section 11 mandates the government to make available all the information, best maintenance practices and technological options to reduce emissions. Unfortunately, these are not being done.

In the end, the right education or the dynamic application of theory into practice will help reduce emissions.

Huge funds, but none for research? Another unimplemented provision is Section 15 on Pollution Research, which is lamentable as even ResCueAir, the group of researchers from academe, led by Dr. Mylene Cayetano from UP and Dr. Edgar Vallar from De La Salle, spent a few hundreds of thousands from their own pockets to bring a team of Germans and their equipment to conduct ambient-air tests.

This is unacceptable, as there are untapped huge funds for clean air like the P9-billion Special Vehicle Pollution Control Fund from the road users’ tax, and the hundreds of millions of pesos of the Air Quality Management Fund coming from all air-pollution penalties.

Even the Department of Science and Technology’s Environmental Technology Verification program tasked to verify technologies is not funded much to verify the various technologies in the market.

n By endorsing all, government doesn’t favor any. The government has long been squeamish about endorsing technologies, for ethical reasons of favoring any technology, while ignoring higher moral issues that air pollution is resulting in thousands of deaths and health costs of $2.8 billion in 1990, says a World Bank study.

In fact, 85,000 Filipinos die yearly from respiratory diseases, like bronchitis, emphysema, pneumonia, lung cancer, asthma, etc., all aggravated by air pollution with drivers topping the mortality list, followed by street children. The World Health Organization also confirms that even cardiovascular diseases are caused by air pollution.

Actually, if the government endorses all technologies, it is not endorsing any single technology. So there is really nothing wrong with pushing for technologies as this is the only missing element in finding solutions to emissions. Even the US Environmental Protection Agency carries technologies on its web site as a menu of choices.

The government has already endorsed technologies, but not specific brands, like the shift from four-stroke to two-stroke engines, and even subsidized by P500 million the shift from incandescent bulbs to CFLs. n Patronize inventors, top technologies. We must allow all technologies to compete and give users the freedom to make the choice.

After all, most technologies have specific interventions like a fuel additive for fuel, oil additive for lubricants, air bleeders to enhance air-fuel ratios, etc.

Let’s put them all to the test, but give priority to those that work and those by local inventors like Deo Reloj, who demonstrated straightrun diesel is as clear as water, but is adulterated by light cycle oil from refinery wastes containing heavy poly-aromatic hydrocarbons that cause the emissions that can be treated by oil and fuel additives; or George de Guzman, for his oxygen enhancers as fuel boosters; or Pablo Planas, for his air bleeders enhancing air-fuel ratios, whose verified gadget for two-stroke engines was also independently studied by Miriam College and Dr. Serafin Talisayon of the UP Technology Management Center.

Let us include in the research and techno challenge or tests, all the fuels in the market; the air-monitoring equipment; high-end antiviral masks that can neutralize certain viruses and bacteria; or old friend Marlo Colimbo’s assorted high-tech accessories, like his oil-filter magnets that can capture abrasive metal shavings and dust, gas chromatographic paper that can instantly diagnose oil and brake-fluid quality, and many more.

Also put to the test the proposed new vehicles and engines, forming part of the transport modernization.

Lamentably, the absence of a program and support policies have not created a market for small technology providers, over a dozen of whom have turned bankrupt, as it is still cheaper and convenient to buy a piece of paper (nonappearance emission certificates) than resort to actual maintenance and adopting technologies. But, in the end, Engr.

Dave Garcia of Atin To Development Services stressed that all these technologies will not work well without regular maintenance in the same way humans need maintenance like food, sunshine, exercise, vitamins, etc.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017 A11

I

n 2018 Manila will once again be hosting the East Asian Insurance Congress (EAIC), a much-anticipated event in the insurance world.

The EAIC was founded in October 1962, with the objective of developing “international collaboration in all fields of insurance”. It was founded

by Taizo Fukumuro, an actuary with the Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance of Japan, together with other Asian insurance executives. Among them was E.S. Sevilla, a Filipino actuary working with National Life Insurance. It was established upon the realization that Asian insurance executives were practically ignorant about the insurance practices in other Asian countries. According to Fukumuro: “We came to the conclusion that it is nonsense for neighboring peoples not to know each other, and that we should have some system or organization through which neighbors could become more acquainted. It was on this occasion that the idea

of EAIC was given birth.”

The EAIC is held every two years on a rotation basis in various member-cities. The very first congress was held in Tokyo in 1962, hosted by Dai-ichi Life at its home office in Tokyo, with about 140 attendees. Tokyo sent 88 delegates to the conference.

More than 30 delegates from at least 10 other Asian countries attended the milestone event. Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo became the founding membercities of the EAIC. The Tokyo conference was presided over by Kenji Sono of Keio University, and Sevilla of the Philippines was entrusted with the responsibility of drafting the statutes (bylaws) of EAIC. The next congress was held after two years in 1964 in Manila. Ma-

nila would again be the host of the 10th Congress in 1980 and of the 20th Congress in 2000. In 2012 it celebrated its 50th founding anniversary in Kuala Lumpur, with the theme “Transforming the East Asian Insurers”, and with more than 1,000 attendees. The 28th Congress was held in Macau in 2016.

In 1966 EAIC would have its first Filipino president in the person of Sevilla. Manila would again hold the presidency in 1982 with Ramon A. Diaz, and again in 2002 with Jose Halili Co. Under the statutes (the bylaws) of EAIC, its General Secretariat shall be located in Tokyo, Japan, and shall hold office with the Foundation for the Advancement of Life & Insurance Around the World. Its headquarters shall be where the president and secretary-treasurer are from. Its members may only come from cities specified in the statutes, namely, Bandar Seri Begawan (Sultanate of Brunei), Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Manila, Phnom Penh, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo. Associate members come from specified neighboring countries, namely, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Fiji, India, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka. It also now includes Australia, the United Kingdom and

the United States.

The latest addition was Phnom Penh, whose application was accepted by the Executive Board at its Bali meeting in 2010.

As of 2017, there are 948 corporate members (both regular and associate) and 630 individual members (both regular and associate). Insurance regulators may only be admitted as honorary members. From 2016 to 2018, the EAIC board members are Chris Ma (Macau), president; Augusto P. Hidalgo (Manila), vice president; Toru Nagashima (Tokyo), general secretary; Sally Siu (Macau), secretary and treasurer; and Takashi Okuma (Tokyo), auditor.

One of the key strategic decisions of EAIC was taken at its 23rd session in Bandar Seri Begawan in 2006. This was the historic decision to observe a common East Asian Insurance Day on October 18 every year by all member-cities. The date was chosen to coincide with the auspicious birth date of EAIC. Today EAIC holds office at the Falia office at Totsuka-ku Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa, Japan. It is now run by an executive board with the honorary secretariat based in Tokyo.

Dennis B. Funa is currently the deputy insurance commissioner for Legal Services of the Insurance Commission. E-mail: dennisfuna@yahoo.com.

Exploring the benefits of virtual field trips

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By Rubielyn B. Cabaddu

ducators have long acknowledged the value of school field trips. They believe these endeavors will help enrich the knowledge and broaden the experience of students. For example, a visit to historical sites, museums, zoos, or theaters can be culturally enriching for students who are exposed to diverse sites or new ideas.

However, with the advent of the digital age, the Internet is slowly providing support for educators who want to explore all kinds of things they can explore through field trips.

The safety of students has become a primary concern why some educators are now opting to explore virtual field trips (VFT) for their students. Indeed, the lives of more than a dozen students from Bestlink Colleges in Novaliches should have been spared had their teachers opted to offer a virtual field trip, instead of going to a remote camp in

Tanay, Rizal, where their field trip tragically ended.

The Tanay accident, similar to that of the Madlum River tragedy in Bulacan, or the Benguet bus accident that claimed countless lives of young students in the Cordillera Administrative Region, could have been prevented if the students remained inside their classroom virtually exploring and discovering wonderful things via the Internet with the guidance of their teacher.

A VFT is a guided exploration that organizes a collection of prescreened,

thematically based topics on the Internet. These digital materials can be downloaded and shown on a big screen using a projector for better learning.

Like regular field trips, VFTs are designed to be entertaining and educational. The activities range from a simple virtual trip to a zoo or a photo tour of a famous museum. It can also be an extremely detailed and high-tech VFT that offers video and audio segments to make the activity interactive.

VFTs can be made available to students in all levels, from preschool to college. The activity can also be designed to meet the needs of individual students.

VFTs offer rich learning experiences for students and are wonderful tools to help educators impart knowledge and create experience for the whole class. For students who are better hands-on learners,

A party not ready to govern Paul Krugman

new york times

A

ccording to Politico, a Trump confidante says the man in the Oval Office—or more often at Mar-a-Lago—is “tired of everyone thinking his presidency is screwed up”. Pro tip: The best way to combat perceptions that you’re screwing up is, you know, to stop screwing up.

But he can’t, of course. And it’s not just a personal problem.

It goes without saying that Donald J. Trump is the least qualified individual, temperamentally or intellectually, ever installed in the White House. As he veers from wild accusations against President Barack Obama to snide remarks about Arnold Schwarzenegger, he’s doing a very good imitation of someone experiencing a personal breakdown—even though he has yet to confront a crisis not of his own making. Thanks, Comey.

But the broader Republican quagmire—the party’s failure so far to make significant progress toward any of its policy promises—isn’t just about Trump’s inadequacies.

The whole party, it turns out, has been faking it for years. Its leaders’ rhetoric was empty; they have no idea how to turn their slogans into actual legislation, because they’ve never bothered to understand how

anything important works.

Take the two lead items on the congressional GOP’s agenda: undoing the Affordable Care Act and reforming corporate taxes. In each case Republicans seem utterly shocked to find themselves facing reality.

The story of Obamacare repeal would be funny if the health care— and, in many cases, the lives—of millions of Americans weren’t at stake.

First we had seven—seven!— years during which Republicans kept promising to offer an alternative to Obamacare any day now, but never did. Then came the months after the election, with more promises of details just around the corner.

Now there’s apparently a plan hidden somewhere in the Capitol basement. Why the secrecy? Because the Republicans have belatedly discovered what some of us tried to tell them all along: The only way to maintain coverage for the 20 million people who gained

insurance, thanks to Obamacare, is with a plan that, surprise, looks a lot like Obamacare.

Sure enough, the new plan reportedly does look like a sort of halfbaked version of the Affordable Care Act. Politically, it seems to embody the worst of both worlds: It’s enough like Obamacare to infuriate hardline conservatives, but it weakens key aspects of the law enough to deprive millions of Americans—many of them white working-class voters who backed Trump—of essential health care.

The idea, apparently, is to deal with these problems by passing the plan before anyone gets a chance to really see or think about what’s in it.

Good luck with that.

Then there’s corporate-tax reform—an issue where the plan being advanced by Paul Ryan, the House speaker, is actually not too bad, at least in principle. Even some Democraticleaning economists support a shift to a “destination-based cash flow tax”, which is best thought of as a sales tax plus a payroll subsidy. (Trust me.)

But Ryan has failed spectacularly to make his case either to colleagues or to powerful interest groups. Why? As best I can tell, it’s because he himself doesn’t understand the point of the reform.

The case for the cash flow tax is quite technical; among other things, it would remove the incentives the current tax system creates for corporations to load up on debt and to engage in certain kinds of tax avoidance. But that’s not the kind

the opportunity to manipulate a computer and experiment with images will keep them productively engaged.

Much like the benefits that students get when they join an actual field trip, virtual tours can enhance or build upon what students are about to experience or have just experienced. And for students who won’t have any other opportunity to join actual field trips, what better and safer way to bring the experience to them than a well-designed VFT. Educators can help keep their students safe inside their campuses by introducing VFTs that will enable them and their students to go just about anywhere on Earth, or even into the solar system. The Internet is here to provide all the resources they need.

The author is Teacher 3 at Enrile North Central School in Cagayan.

of thing Republicans talk about— if anything, they’re in favor of tax avoidance, hence the Trump proposal to slash funding for the IRS. No, in GOP world, tax ideas always have to be presented as ways to remove the shackles from oppressed job creators. So Ryan has framed his proposal, basically falsely, as a measure to make American industry more competitive, focusing on the “border tax adjustment”, which is part of the sales-tax component of the reform.

This misrepresentation seems, however, to be backfiring: It sounds like a Trumpist tariff, and has both conservatives and retailers like WalMart up in arms.

At this point, then, major Republican initiatives are bogged down for reasons that have nothing to do with the personality flaws of the tweeter in chief, and everything to do with the broader, more fundamental fecklessness of his party.

Does this mean that nothing substantive will happen on the policy front? Not necessarily. Republicans may decide to ram through a health plan that causes mass suffering, and hope to blame it on Obama. They may give up on anything resembling a principled tax reform, and just throw a few trillion dollars at rich people, instead.

But whatever the eventual outcome, what we’re witnessing is what happens when a party that gave up hard thinking in favor of empty sloganeering ends up in charge of actual policy. And it’s not a pretty sight.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Wednesday, March 8, 2017

www.businessmirror.com.ph

High oil prices, more expensive rice to put pressure on inflation F

By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

ilipinos should brace for higher commodity prices in the next few months due to more expensive crude oil and rice, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said on Tuesday.

Neda Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said these factors, plus the depreciation of the peso—which would make imports more expensive—would affect inflation.

“Risks to the inflation outlook appear to be tilted to the upside. This could drive inflation toward the higher end of the target,” Pernia said.

Pernia added the National Food Authority (NFA) memorandum, which did not extend the arrival of rice imports under the minimum access volume (MAV) program, will also have a “significant” impact on food prices. The deadline for MAV rice imports was set on February 28.

This means that after February 28, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) senior research fellow Roehlano Briones said, the private sector will no longer be allowed to import rice.

Briones added the impact on rice prices will depend on how fast the NFA will be able to procure rice.

Any increase in rice price will ultimately affect food and nonfood prices nationwide. This will particularly have significant impact on the poor. According to the Philippine Development Plan (PDP), rice accounts for 30.6 percent of the total food expenditure of the poorest 20 percent of households, based on the 2012 Family Income and Expenditure Survey. “[It will] depend on how fast the NFA can do the procurement,” Briones said. “[But] there seems to be enough stocks. [It] also depends on scheduled import arrivals and harvest season.” In February the country’s inflation rate spiked to 3.3 percent, the highest since November 2014, when inflation rate reached 3.7 percent. This brought average inflation in the first two months of the year to 3 percent, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The Neda said the increase was largely due to hikes in rice and other food prices. There was also an increase in nonfood items.

Pernia said rice, meat, fish and vegetables propped up the food subgroup inflation rate to 4.3 percent in February from January’s 3.6 percent. The Neda said rice prices increased because of low inventories. It said rice stocks fell by 17.9 percent in January, due to the contraction in palay production in the fourth quarter of 2016.

There were also price increases in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels that drove the nonfood subgroup inflation rate to 2.5 percent in February 2017, from January’s 2 percent.

“The risks to inflation that we see on the external side include increase in the price of oil and the depreciation of peso,” Pernia said.

Inflation in Metro Manila went up by 3.6 percent in February 2017. Inflation in the previous month was posted at 3 percent and in February 2016, 0.1 percent.

China vows to fund $3.4-B infra projects

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By Catherine N. Pillas

@c_pillas29

anila and Beijing have identified three priority infrastructure projects that will be financed via the $9-billion credit facility pledged by the Chinese government during President Duterte’s state visit to China last year.

These are the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project, New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project and the North-South Railway South Line. Implementing the three projects will entail a total cost of $3.4 billion. Related story on A9.

This is among the results of the 28th Philippines-China Joint Commission on Economic and Trade Cooperation (JCETC) meeting held on Tuesday.

Chinese Minister for Commerce Zhong Shan said these projects are in their early stages and the two governments will still finalize the details of their implementation, including the loan agreement and the companies that will undertake them.

Finalization and launch of the Chico River Pump Irrigation project and the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project are expected by the first half of the year. The terms of the loans for the North-South Railway-South Line, on the other hand, will be known by year-end. These will be submitted to the Chinese government. Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez and his Chinese counterpart also discussed the signing of a six-year development program for economic and trade cooperation.

See “China,” A2