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Boracay property owners face more challenges with planned declaration of some areas as ‘critical habitat’ By Jonathan L. Mayuga

he Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is not only recommending a total closure of Boracay for up to one year; it also wants certain areas on the island to be declared as “critical habitat,” which means possible government takeover or prohibition of big development projects in affected private properties. This was the recommendation of a team of experts sent by Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu to Boracay to save its rich biodiversity. Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim of the DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) said the recommendation was made by the team following a weeklong biodiversity assessment in various locations on the island. In a telephone interview with the Business-

puka Beach is one of the areas recommended to be declared as “critical habitat” to preserve the puka shells. FAYE PABLO

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Mirror, Lim said declaring these areas as critical habitats will strengthen protection measures that will ensure the survival of important plant and animal species. Once declared a critical habitat, under the law, Lim added that protection will require or involve not only the DENR and local government units (LGUs), but all stakeholders, whether the land is privately owned or not. “We have already submitted our recommendation. It is up to the secretary now whether to approve it and declare the areas as critical habitat,” Lim said. Recommended to be declared or designated as critical habitat under Republic Act (RA) 9147, or the Wildlife Resources Protection and Conservation Act, or simply Wildlife Act, are all the remaining limestone forests on the island, the Puka Shell Beach, all bat-roosting sites and one of four existing wetlands on the island.

See “Boracay,” A12

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Wednesday, March 21, 2018 Vol. 13 No. 161

Boracay mess to set back tourism efforts by 4 years By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

HE closure of the “Best Island in the World” is going to affect the efforts of travel agencies and tour operators to sell the Philippines to foreign tourists.

Coconut-oil exports on the road to recovery

In a statement sent to the BusinessMirror, Cesar Cruz, president of the Philippine Tour Operators Association (Philtoa), said: “The uncertainty whether it will close or not, when and how long will it last, is already creating a big confusion both among tour operators and the market.

“The short-term effect could be a possible cancellation of bookings and totally taking out Boracay as a destination in the Philippines. The long-term effect is losing our hold on the existing markets to our Asean neighbors, which means that our marketing efforts for the destination will be set back by

CRUZ: “Boracay is the face of Philippine tourism...The negative effect in marketing is very difficult to imagine since it will really be big.”

three to four years.” He also pointed out that “just announcing the possible closure of Boracay is more than enough to create that kind of confusion among Philippine stakeholders [tour operators, accommodation and transportation] and the domestic and foreign tourism markets.” He added that the months of April to July are “critical” for said stakeholders, as these months are Continued on A2

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

Part One

See “Coconut-oil,” A2

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LIM: LOCAL RETAILERS NOT READY TO COMPETE UNDER HIGHLY LIBERALIZED REGIME By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

LIM: “That is like leaving bread crumbs to the Filipinos, [while] the foreigners take all the bread.”

@alyasjah

etailers warned the government that the planned further liberalization of the retail sector— as embodied in a forthcoming executive order (EO) and a proposed bill—will kill the country’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as they will be left to compete for mere “bread crumbs.” Samie Lim, chairman emeritus of the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA), said House Bill (HB) 4595, in particular, will “literally” sell the SME sector to foreigners. HB 4595 intends to amend crucial provisions of Republic Act 8762, or the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, in a bid to improve the country’s investment climate. Aside from this proposed measure, the government also wants to ease the retail-industry barriers for foreigners on the Foreign Investment Negative List through an EO.

HB 4595, authored by Rep. Arthur C. Yap of the Third District of Bohol, will remove barriers to foreign investment by erasing the equity and capitalization requirements under the law. In his explanatory note, Yap said these requirements hindered the country from taking advantage of the fruits of liberalization. “Currently, the law has a $2.5-million capital requirement before a foreign entity may 100-percent own a retail establishment. On the other hand, countries like Indonesia and Singapore allow FDI [foreign direct investment] in the retail-trade sector without Continued on A12

House passes budgetary reform bill on second and third reading

quick Google search will show that coconut oil (CNO) has more than a hundred uses—from cooking oil and moisturizer to medicines. And for the Philippines, the world’s top exporter of the commodity, CNO is a billion-dollar industry. Data compiled by the World Trade Organization (WTO), however, show that the country’s coconut-oil exports has been slowly losing its share in the global vegetable - oil market since 2007. In 2016 coconut-oil exports shrank to a mere 1.1 percent of the total vegetable oil exported in the world market, way below the Philippines’s 2.5-percent share in 2007, according to W TO data.

2016 ejap journalism awards

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

T A TOAST TO MINDANAO Foreign Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano (left) and Japanese Ambassador Koji Haneda toast after the signing ceremonies for Japan-funded projects in Mindanao at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila on Tuesday. Both parties signed the exchange of notes on the project for the construction of waste-to-energy facilitiZes in Davao City, and the exchange of notes on the program for the support of rehabilitation and reconstruction of war-torn southern Marawi province and its surrounding areas. AP

PESO exchange rates n US 52.0410

he House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on second and third reading a Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council priority measure introducing reforms in the country’s budgetary system. This, after President Duterte has certified as urgent the proposed “Budget Reform Act.” In a letter to Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez dated last Monday, Duterte asked Congress to immediately approve House Bill (HB) 7302 or “An Act to Reform the Budget Process by Enforcing Greater Accountability

in the Public Financial Management [PFM], Promoting Fiscal Sustainability, Strengthening Congress’ Power of the Purse, Instituting an Integrated PFM System and Increasing Budget Transparency and Participation.” “Pursuant to the provisions of Article VI, Section 26 of the 1987 Constitution, I hereby certify to the necessity of the immediate enactment of House Bill 7302 to address the immediate need for budget reforms, and to remedy the gaps in public spending, which hamper the ability of the government to deliver direct, immediate and substantial service to the people,” the letter said. Continued on A12

n japan 0.4906 n UK 72.9875 n HK 6.6360 n CHINA 8.2203 n singapore 39.5208 n australia 40.1600 n EU 64.2030 n SAUDI arabia 13.8783

Source: BSP (20 March 2018 )

A2 Wednesday, March 21, 2018

BMReports BusinessMirror

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Boracay mess to set back tourism efforts by 4 years Continued from A1

the peak travel season for the domestic and Asian markets. “For Europe and other long-haul markets, the forthcoming winter season [November to March] will be very crucial, as reservations [for Boracay] are supposed to come in now for this period,” he noted. Task Force Boracay, headed by Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, has recommended that President Duterte put the island under a state of calamity for six months, and close it for a maximum of one year. No decision has been made by Duterte regarding the closure, according to presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque Jr. on Tuesday, but

government sources said the announcement of a state of calamity will likely be made by March 26. “Boracay is an iconic destination of the Philippines. Boracay is the face of Philippine tourism. Closing Boracay is not as simple as would have been perceived by people outside of the industry. Negative perceptions of other Philippine destinations in terms of safety and cleanliness could also be an effect of the closure. The negative effect in marketing is very difficult to imagine since it will really be big,” Cruz stressed. To enable the travel and tourism stakeholders to immediately plan out their strategies, he

urged the government to make a decision when it will close the island, how long will the period of closure be, and announce “the extent of the rehabilitation work to be done, as well as benchmark targets of accomplishment.” The Department of Tourism (DOT) is targeting visitor arrivals to reach 7.5 million this year. Meanwhile, Ramon S. Ang, president and COO of San Miguel Corp. (SMC), expressed support for the closure of the island, despite the anticipated reduced operations of its airport in Caticlan. SMC, through Trans-Aire Development Holdings Corp., operates the Godofredo P. Ramos Airport in Malay, Aklan.

“We express our full support to the government’s initiative to rehabilitate Boracay,” Ang said in a statement sent to this paper. “While shutting down the island to tourism for a period of time will have an impact on businesses— including airport operations— we believe that this is the right thing to do.” He underscored that the island “is a national treasure that we should all work toward protecting. That includes all of us stakeholders and our visitors and tourists, as well. By supporting this bold but much-needed action, and doing our part to contribute to this massive effort, we will be ensuring

House passes budgetary reform bill on second and third reading Continued from A12

Any public official or employee who shall cause the inclusion of fraudulent information in any accountability report shall be penalized with imprisonment of up to five years, or a fine not exceeding P1 million, or both, without prejudice to disallowances that may be made by the COA against expenditures related to such fraudulent information, provided that this fine is reviewed and adjusted periodically to be reasonable. Any public official or employee who knowingly incurs any contractual commitment or authorizes any expenditure in violation of the provisions of the act or takes part therein shall, likewise, be removed or dismissed from office, after due notice and hearing, even if no criminal charge is instituted against him. House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Karlo Alexei B. Nograles

of Davao City said the measure will strengthen accountability and integrity in the use of public resources by ensuring transparency, fiscal responsibility, results-orientation, efficiency and effectiveness. “The annual budget is the most important legislation that should be timely enacted by government. It is through this tool that the government delivers basic services and provides public goods to the people. In order to fortify the budget process, there is a need to introduce budget reforms that will enforce greater accountability in public financial management,” he said. “The passage of this bill will ultimately improve the ability of [the] government to deliver direct, immediate and substantial services to the people, especially the poor, as well as strengthen government’s accountability to the people for its

use of public funds. It will, likewise, establish a comprehensive legal framework on the allocation, use and accounting of public funds,” Nograles added. Despite the proffered objective of the proposed “Budget Reform Act” of “strengthening Congress’s power of the purse,” Rep. Edcel C. Lagman of the First District of Albay said the bills failed to excise current practices, which derogate the plenary authority of Congress to appropriate public funds. “The following practices that defeat the legislature’s power of the purse still subsist in the bill: automatic appropriations; use of savings; impoundment of approved appropriations; and lump- sum appropriations,” he said. “All of these practices impugn the authority of Congress to specifically appropriate the expenditure

of inordinately huge amounts of funds,” he added. According to Lagman, the bill shields automatic appropriations and imprimatur payment of debt service, among others, from the congressional scalpel. “Use of savings grants the Executive widest discretion of spending public funds without specific and prior appropriation from Congress,” he said. “Impounding of approved appropriations in the General Appropriations Act by the President subverts the congressional power of the purse and makes more ascendant the Executive power to disburse or not to disburse,” Lagman added. He also said the lump-sum appropriations are virtual sequestration of funds for the exclusive disbursement of the Executive without appropriate particularization from the legislature.

Boracay’s survival and status as the country’s top tourist destination for generations to come.” Sources in Philippine Airlines (PAL) said its flights would likely continue to Caticlan, although at a lesser frequency. “A total suspension of flights seems unlikely,” the sources said. “We still have to cater to the residents in Boracay and those who will do the rehabilitation work,” the sources added. Regarding the closure’s impact on the pioneering flag carrier, PAL Spokesman Cielo Villaluna said in a text message: “Our capacity to Caticlan via Manila, Clark and Cebu daily is at 750 seats. If we average 80-percent passenger load

Coconut-oil. . . Continued from A1

Roehlano M. Briones, senior research fellow at state-run Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said other vegetable oils, especially soybean oil, outpaced the growth rate posted by CNO, effectively getting a bigger chunk of the world market. “That’s because the other oils have experienced growth rate, while our coconutoil exports just recovered last year. Other vegetable oils, particularly soybean oil, are growing at a faster rate. Even though our coconut oil exports posted a good growth, its market share will effectively decrease,” Briones told the BusinessMirror. But this downward trend has come to a stop last year, when CNO exports raked in more than $1.5 billion in revenues for the first time in recent memory. “The world as a whole is going big for vegetable oils, and on the demand side, coconut oil benefitted from such. The good thing is, unlike the previous years when local production cannot respond, reasonably since last year, domestic production has been keeping up with the demand,” he said. “We’ve been lamenting for so long that our production has become weaker. Now, it is recovering.”

Recovery

United Coconut Association of the

factor, that’s 600 seats flown per day. Flight cost varies depending on the fare class and season.” She added: “Our China and Korea flights to Kalibo may be affected, too. We don’t want to unduly alarm [our customers]. You see, the direction of the DOT is for partial operation or scaled-down operations to Caticlan and Kalibo.” On Monday, various aviation sources admitted that airlines plying the Kalibo and Caticlan routes will likely incur huge revenue and opportunity losses with the closure of Boracay. (See, “Carriers to take a ‘big hit’ from closure of Boracay,” in the BusinessMirror, March 20, 2018.) Philippines (Ucap) Executive Director Yvonne T.V. Agustin told the BusinessMirror that CNO exports last year recovered on the back of higher domestic coconut production. In 2017 Ucap projected that total local production would reach 2.24 million metric tons in copra terms, but preliminary data showed that full-year output reached nearly 2.4 MMT. The volume was 16.91 percent higher than the 2.052 MMT produced in 2015, and the highest since 2014’s 2.192 MMT recorded output. “Because of the prolonged El Nino event, we were expecting that there would be a slow recovery [in terms of production], and it showed since January [last year] that the industry’s recovery was really slow. But during the last quarter, there was a sudden push [in production],” she said. “The faster recovery in the last quarter was not expected, thus resulting in higher production and, effectively, higher exports.” The country’s CNO exports in 2017 rose to a four-year high of 922,000 MT in oil terms, exceeding the industry’s target of 850,000 MT, preliminary data from Ucap showed. The figure was 27 percent higher than the 726,000 MT volume of CNO exported in 2016. Furthermore, Agustin said the higher price of CNO last year allowed the industry to rake in $1.504 billion in revenue, a 30.56-percent jump, from the $1.152-billion CNO-export receipt recorded in 2016. Available PSA data showed that this is the first time that revenue from CNO exports breached the $1.5-billion level since 2010.

Sustained recovery

Ucap projects that the industry will sustain its recovery period this year, with domestic coconut production growing by 8.67 percent year-on-year to 2.607 MMT on the back of favorable weather conditions. “[Agencies] are saying that there is a mild La Niña this year, which is positive for the industry, as coconut production needs good weather and sufficient rainfall,” Agustin explained. With the expected hike in local coconut production, Agustin said they are targeting to export at least a million tons of CNO this year, a feat that was last recorded in 2013, when CNO exports reached 1.123 MMT. “This is one of the highest [CNO export volume in recent years],” she said. “After three to five years, we will be reaching 1 million MT again because our exports have been below 1 million MT for the longest time.”

Declining prices

Agustin said the coconut industry does not have problems anymore with domestic production, as they expect it to steadily increase in the following years. However, the Ucap official expressed apprehension that coconut farmers could be discouraged from selling copra because of the declining local mill-gate prices due to falling global prices. “We based our local prices in the world market. For example, the price tonight of CNO in the world market would be converted in copra equivalent to determine the [mill-gate price],” Agustin explained. “We have a break-even price. But if the price of CNO in the world market is low, then prices locally would also be low. And if the prices locally are low, then the farmers may be discouraged to produce copra and would instead sell husk nuts.” Agustin said the price of CNO has been declining since the last quarter of last year due to higher supply of vegetable oils in the global market. “When November came, the year-on-year price of CNO declined. But it is not just CNO, the price of other oils also declined, such as palm oil.”“You will not see the price declining steeply, it is swaying. But if you look at the line, the trend is really declining,” she added. To be continued

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AFP braces for intensified attacks ahead of NPA’s 40th anniversary By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

he military has intensified its operations around the country in its effort to prevent any attempt by the New People’s Army to conduct “tradisional” attacks aimed at marking the rebel group’s 40th foundation anniversary next Thursday, March 29. “ The AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippine] is intensifying [its] efforts to thwart possible attacks and atrocities by the NPA in line with their upcoming anniversary. The occasion is usually marked by their attacks against our people and vulnerable communities,” military spokesman Brig. Gen. Bienvenido Datuin Jr. said. He noted that, in the past, the rebels carried out hostilities, such as raids, ambuscades and sabotage against government troops, on public establishments and vital installations that had severely affected innocent civilians. “These attacks against our people are terroristic in nature and clear reflection of their true color as a criminal and terrorist organization,” Datuin said. The AFP spokesman also blamed the communists for causing so much disturbance in the National Capital Region (NCR) by staging protest rallies. “In the NCR, they have staged rallies and protest actions that caused massive traffic that affected motorists and commuters. They have repeatedly done such actions that disturbed the peace of the place and pestered law-abiding citizens,” he said. While there are no identified NPA members participating in antigovernment rallies in Metro Manila, rally participants belong to groups cozy with the Left.

On Tuesday Malacañang was forced to cancel classes in all levels in Metro Manila as a preemptive action against the protest of jeepney drivers allied with public transport group Piston. “Our forces will continue to be on a proactive stance against all threats of violence and will exert ever y effort to preser ve t he peace in ever y loca l it y,” Datuin said. “The fight against terrorism and the preservation of peace is a shared responsibility of everyone,” he added. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of the Philippines doubted whether slain Bicol revolutionary leader Joey Fajardo really engaged security forces in a firefight. T he mi litar y said Fajardo, alias Ka Owen, 55, engaged government forces in a shootout on March 16 in Naga City wherein he was killed, along with Liza Beriso Ocampo, a longtime migrant worker from Dubai. Ocampo, according to a statement of the central committee of the CPP, owned the house where Fajardo was temporarily staying in. “He was in Naga City to seek medical attention after suffering what medics believe was a mildstroke a little more than a week ago,” the CPP said. “It is highly doubtful that Fajardo, in his condition, could engage in any sort of firefight with a combined military and police force.” “Based on our own information, Fajardo was unarmed while he went on medical leave. Ocampo, on the other hand, was a mere good samaritan who provided shelter to Fajardo through the intercession of common friends,” the CPP added. The military has identified Ka Owen as the head of the CPP’s Bicol regional committee.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Wednesday, March 21, 2018 A3

Duterte: Revoke license of mining firms providing explosives to Reds

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

resident Duterte has ordered the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to revoke the licenses of mining companies providing explosives to New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.

During his regular briefing with Palace reporters in Malacañang, Presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque Jr. said the President has directed the DENR to revoke the licenses and permits of mining companies violating explosive handling rules or reported to have been supplying explosives to communist groups.

Military and police also found violating laws on explosives will face automatic expulsion, Roque added. He also said that the directive was issued by the President during the special meeting of the National Security Council Executive Committee he presided that ended at 3 a.m. on Tuesday.

Last November Duterte threatened to shut down mining companies financing the NPA through the payment of revolutionary taxes to the rebels. “That’s their extortion [targets, the] big companies. All mining companies are paying taxes to the NPA. That’s without exception. Their mining won’t thrive if they’re not giving money,” the President said in his previous speech in Taguig last year. “We have to decide once and for all. If I go against the NPA, the communists, everybody has to reconfigure their relationship with the NPA

All mining companies are paying taxes to the NPA. That’s without exception. Their mining won’t thrive if they’re not giving money.”—Duterte

SC orders OSG to reply to Sereno’s comment on quo warranto petition By Joel R. San Juan

fish for LENT

A lady fish vendor presents her fresh fish inventory at a wet market in Quezon City early-morning Tuesday. A fish-price uptick looms with the approach of Holy Week, when the demand for nonmeat products in the market rises. NONOY LACZA

Veteran scribe found dead in Pasig room Erap backs LMP’s

eteran journalist Jeffrey Tiangco of the People’s Journal and People’s Journal Tonight was found dead inside his room in Pasig City on Monday night. Police investigation showed that Tiangco was discovered lifeless around 6:30 p.m. in Room 108 Rizal Public School Teachers Association Building in Barangay Oranbo, Pasig City. Building administrator Marino Calibara sought the barangay assistance and the Police Community Precinct 10 when Tiangco was not responding when he was knocking on his room. The door was then was forcibly

Apology call

opened and they discovered Tiangco lying in the bed clad only shorts without an upper garment. The police noted that some medicines were also seen scattered on the bed. Tiangco has been taking maintenance medication for hypertension. Dr. Bernard San Marcus of Barangay Kapitolyo Emergency Unit, who responded on the scene, declared Tiangco dead on the spot. On Monday morning Tiangco reportedly complained to his friend and colleague Malaya reporter Ashzel Hachero of pain on his left ear and chest. Hachero then advised him to see a doctor. When Hacero later rang up

because if you continue to support [them] financially, I will close you down,” he added. Roque said that President Duterte also directed the creation of task force for Mindanao IP (indigenous people) convergence to address the plight of indigenous peoples of Mindanao. Secur it y measures against threats of violence by terrorists, particularly at ports and terminals, and efforts to secure and develop the Philippine Rise were also discussed during the meeting.

Tiangco, the latter did not answer her call, only to be informed of his friend’s demise. Tiangco’s body was autopsied on Tuesday at Funeraria Quiogue in Pasig. He was survived by his wife Anne and three children. Tiangco worked at Phililippine Journalist Inc. since 1987. He was assigned to cover the Camanava (the Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela), Intramuros (the Commission on Elections, Church, the Department of Labor and Employment), the Department of Education and recently, the Southern Police District beats. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Multisectoral groups, led by former Candaba, Pampanga, Mayor Jerry Pelayo (right) and Party-list Rep. Milagros A. Magsaysay of Senior Citizen (second from right), stage a rally to support President Duterte in front of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Libertad, Pasay City, on Monday morning. The groups said the statement issued by the United Nations High Commissioner Human Rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein was an insult to Duterte, a democratically elected head of a UN member-country, as well as the sovereignty of the Philippines and demanded an apology from the official. PNA/Avito Dalan

call for Federalism By Roderick L. Abad Contributor

@rodrik_28

MID the issue of constitutional amendments to change the current form of government, Mayor Joseph E. Estrada said he supports the move of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) to make federalism happen during their three-day 2nd General Assembly, themed “Pederalismo: Ngayon Na!” at the Manila Hotel. In his welcome address, Estrada said he supports the federal system because he has a full grasp of problems besetting a local chief executive. “I had nearly two decades of experience in leading the nowprogressive city of San Juan. I really know the problems you are facing since I also had to deal with that for almost two decades,” he told his colleagues, who were present during the conclave that will run until today, Wednesday. The 1,400 members of the LMP, led by its president Mayor Maria Fe Villar-Brondial, revealed that they will issue an official statement urging Congress to prioritize changes in the 1987 Constitution for a shift to a federal form of government. Since his presidency in 1998, Estrada said he has been backing up this effort to empower local government units (LGUs). “I can recall that in August 2000, I even made the following announcement: ‘The local chief executives must be the shepherds who must lead their communities towards a better future,’” he said. The mayor added that he issued that statement, following a decision of the Supreme Court concerning the internal revenue allotment, a mandatory allocation that is due to all LGUs. “I believed it then, and believe it now: We are the leaders who will guide our communities toward a brighter tomorrow. It will only become a reality if the funds for our communities will be given as it should be,” he said. Estrada said he firmly trusts that federalism will happen under President Duterte, whom, he said, completely understands local chief executives’ concerns. The latter had been a mayor of Davao City for 23 years. During the presidential elections of 2016, he campaigned for federalism, saying that it is the only way to turn around the supposedly defective system in place. In this government setup, the local resources are with the federal states. How it works, Duterte previously explained that “if it is P100, you get P30, give it to the federal government, you retain P70.” According to Estrada, “there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel” toward federalism. He, however, advised the delegates to be cautious in the discussion and debates concerning the shift from presidential to a federal type of government.

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday directed the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to reply to the comment filed by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes A. Sereno for the immediate dismissal for lack of jurisdiction the quo warranto petition that the OSG earlier filed seeking to invalidate Sereno’s appointment as chief magistrate in 2012. SC Spokesman Theodore Te said the Court en banc gave Solicitor General Jose Calida five days to submit his reply upon receipt of notice. On Monday Sereno submitted her 77-page comment to the OSG’s petition, where she insisted that her fellow magistrates have no authority to remove her from office via quo warranto, saying that the 1987 Constitution mandates that impeachable officials like her can be ousted “only by impeachment.” Sereno cited Section 2, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, which provides that impeachable officials, which include all members of the SC, may only be removed from office upon impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court. Sereno said the petition should be dismissed not only because of the Constitution and jurisprudence so demand, “but also because the Chief Justice deserves her day in court before the Senate sitting as an impeachment tribunal.” “To rule otherwise, and to preempt the impeachment process by summarily ousting the Chief Justice via quo warranto, would be tantamount to overthrowing the Constitution itself,” Sereno stated. She also argued that the quo warranto petition should be junked immediately for being “time-barred.” Section 11, Rule 66 of the Rules of Court, provides that a petition for quo warranto must be filed within one year from the “cause of ouster,” she said. “There is no authority to commence a quo warranto proceeding more than four years after the expiration of the one-year statute of limitations,” Sereno contended. She also assailed the OSG for its pretext that she flunked the test of integrity for her alleged failure to submit her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALNs) when she was a law professor at the University of the Philippines prior to her appointment to the SC as associate justice in 2010. She noted that her alleged non-filing of UP SALNs with the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) were not included in the impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, and that she is yet to be given the opportunity to debunk these allegations. The country’s top judge asserted that she complied with the SALN law when she was a UP law professor and that she is ready to prove this in the Senate impeachment trial, which is the proper forum, “without prejudice to jurisdictional and relevance objections.” With respect to the SALN submissions required by the JBC the Chief Justice maintained that only the JBC has the power to determine who meets the integrity requirement for appointment to the Judiciary and that such question is a purely political one. “There is no authority for the judicial review of a purely political question, as the OSG cannot substitute its judgment for the discretion of the JBC to include a name in the short list for the position of Chief Justice, and certainly the OSG cannot overturn the then-President’s decision to appoint her to that position,” Sereno said.

Economy

A4 Wednesday, March 21, 2018 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

OFW ban to Kuwait, Oman unlikely to trigger remittance drop

By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

espite the anticipated reduction in the deployment of new overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Kuwait and Oman this year, the country’s overall remittance figures from abroad is unlikely to be affected, according to an expert.

Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (Acerd) Director Alvin P. Ang said OFW remittance from Oman is not as high compared to other Middle East countries. “Only a small portion of the total remittances come from there. We should be more concerned if the ones affected are the remittances pouring in from the Kingdom of Saudi

Arabia [KSA] or UAE [United Arab Emirates],” Ang told the BusinessMirror in an interview. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data showed that total remittances from Oman in 2017 was pegged at $345 million. This is significantly smaller compared to $2.5 billion each from KSA and the UAE in the same period. Ang said he is also confident

remittances from Kuwait will remain strong since the deployment restriction there will not affect the remaining 250,000 plus OFWs in the Arab country. “Although a substantial amount of remittances come from Kuwait, the ban there will not result to repatriation of all OFWs there. The ban will only stop the entry of new OFWs,” Ang stated. Around $800 million of the total $28.1 billion remittances registered by BSP in 2017 came from Kuwait. Although total remittances continued to increase since 2010, Ang said he anticipates a slowdown in the growth of remittances due to the changing nature of Filipino seeking employment abroad. “It is decreasing because those who are going abroad no longer earn a big salary. So on per capita basis, [remittances] are decreasing,” Ang said. This, he added, should prompt the government to search for source

of revenues aside from remittances from OFWs. “We should not be dependent on that [remittances] alone. We should also develop other industries like exports of goods instead of services,” Ang said. Fewer OFWs are expected to be deployed in Oman this year after the Omani government implemented a six-month suspension in the issuance of visas to foreign workers, including Filipinos as part of its nationalization efforts of its work force. The suspension, which took effect on January 24 this year covers 87 professions in the following employment sectors: information and

technology; accounting and finance; marketing and sales; administrative and human resources; insurance; information/media professions; medical professions; airport professions; engineer professions and technical professions. According to an advisory from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the measure aims to provide 25,000 jobs to Omani nationals. Likewise, a lower deployment of OFWs is also projected in Kuwait after the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) imposed a deployment ban for new hires in Kuwait in February.

We should not be dependent on that [remittances] alone. We should also develop other industries like exports of goods instead of services.”—Ang

The ban is not expected to be lifted until the new PhilippineKuwait labor agreement is signed by next month. “The signing may take place in the first week of April, while the venue is yet to be determined,” Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said in a news statement. Among the salient provisions of the accord is the prohibition of the surrender of Filipino passport to Kuwaiti employers, the binding effect of the Philippinecrafted employment contract, the guaranteed payment of minimum monthly net pay of $400 paid through the bank, and non-confiscation of mobile phones and other communication gadgets. The POEA's latest deployment data showed that both Oman and Kuwait remain among the top 10 destination countries for land-based OFWs. I n 2 0 16 P O E A d e p l o y e d 109,615 OFWs in Kuwait, and 27,579 in Oman.

Senators share positive outlook for coconut-industry players DOLE also accountable after deadly Manila Pavilion blaze, KMU says By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

enators see brighter prospects for the multibillion-peso coconut industry, including bigger benefits for millions of coconut farmers, following third reading approval by the Senate on Monday of the awaited coco levy trust fund. The lawmakers, in separate inter-

views, conveyed a positive outlook predicting an end to the decadeslong saga of coconut farmers soon as the bill is enacted into law under the Duterte administration. Sen. Juan Edgardo M. Angara affirmed that “passing the [coco levy] law is but a step in the right direction.” He added: “What is important is that the farmers really get to feel the benefits of the coco levy.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto said concerned sectors need to get their act together to ensure mutual benefit for industry players. “Yes, I am confident that [the] government, with coconut farmersrepresentatives, can craft an industry plan to benefit coconut farmers with adequate resources to fund the programs and projects,” Recto told

the BusinessMirror. He noted, however, that “the challenge will be the absorptive capacity of the Department of Agriculture, in the short term.” For his part, Sen. Francis G. Escudero voiced expectations of coconut farmers from his home region in Southern Luzon that early enactment of the law should trigger brighter prospects for the sector. Asked if the passage of the coco levy trust fund would see the end of the decades-long saga of millions of coconut farmers, Escudero replied: “Hopefully, yes.” Escudero said the most pressing challenge for the sector and the government is the “preservation of the coco levy trust fund and the proper utilization of its fruits for the benefit of coconut farmers.” At the same time, Sen. Gregorio B. Honasan II also foresee brighter prospects for the coconut farmers. “The decades-long struggle of our coconut farmers is, hopefully, finally coming to a new beginning; hopefully charting a clear long-term direction, which will enhance productivity in the agricultural sector, uplift and improve the lives of our farmers.”

ABOR group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Tuesday for more transparency in its probe on workplace fires, which resulted in the death of workers. KMU issued the statement after the DOLE announced it will investigate the recent fire at the Manila Pavilion Hotel, an incident that killed five workers. KMU Chairman Elmer Labog slammed the DOLE for issuing such a pronouncement without publicly revealing the results of its previous probes. He cited the DOLE’s investigations of the fires at the NCCC-SSI mall in Davao in December 2017, the Resorts World Manila in Pasay in June 2017, the House Technology Industry in Cavite in February 2017 and the Kentex Manufacturing Inc. in Valenzuela in May 2015. All of the aforementioned incidents resulted in the death of workers. “Until now, no one has been held accountable for workplace tragedies that took place in the last few years,” Labog said in a news statement. The labor leader added they hope this will not happen in the case of the Pavilion hotel amid reports it has committed occupational safety and health

standards (OSHS) violations due to its defective sprinkler system. Authoritiesarestillvalidatingthesaid report, but the hotel management had already issued a news statement denying theclaimonMonday.“Wedemandjustice for Waterfront Manila Pavilion workers, and all workers who died in workplace infernos. Impunity on workplace deaths must stop,” Labog said. Aside from holding the hotel management accountable, KMU is also demanding for DOLE officials to be also held accountable for the deadly workplace fires for its “lethargic” implementation of OSHS. Meanwhile, KMU also accused Malacañang of “fearmongering” after it preemptively suspended classes in response to the alleged threat of a transport strike from the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston). Piston called the measure as “fake news,” since it stressed it did not schedule any transport strike on Tuesday. Piston has conducted a series of transport strikes since last year to protest against the government’s ongoing modernization program for public-utility jeepneys. Samuel P. Medenilla

DTI releases latest SRP Tollway firm suspends road of basic, prime goods work in time for Holy Week

he Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has released suggested retail prices (SRPs) of basic and prime commodities as of March 15. Compared to their SRPs in the same month last year, prices are generally stable in products, such as bread, coffee, bottled water and canned sardines. In prime commodities, prices of fish sauce, bath soap and batteries were also the same from 2016. The DTI led early this month the National Price Coordinating Council meeting, where Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said prices did not increase dramatically due to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law. On the other hand, prices of canned goods like luncheon meat, meat loaf, beef loaf and corned beef increased by less than P3. But Lopez mentioned that the increase in prices of canned goods was mainly due to foreign exchange-rate movement and higher prices of tin plates used for cans. When the TRAIN law took effect at the start of 2018, the DTI said the tax reform would only translate 0.4-percent increase in prices of goods, with transportation cost increasing by 7 percent to 8 percent due to higher excise tax rates on fuel products. Transportation cost also shares less than 5 percent of the total production cost. Meanwhile, the DTI is promoting the implementation of SRPs in bigger sari-sari stores by giving seal of good housekeeping in stores that will volunteer selling basic and prime goods at SRPs. Dubbed as the Suking Tindahan Program, Lopez said this initiative is in line with the administration’s thrust to improve consumer welfare and to ensure easier access to cheaper products for Filipinos. PNA

N time for the observance of Holy Week, the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) on Tuesday announced the suspension of road works at the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex), SubicClark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) and Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) beginning March 23 until April 2 unless safety repairs are required. This, as the MPTC implements a more extensive “Safe Trip Mo Sagot Ko” (SMSK) motorist assistance program starting this Holy Week for safe travel. “We are implementing a more extensive SMSK starting this Holy Week to further improve our services for the safe and convenient travel of our motorists traveling between Metro Manila and Central and North Luzon provinces,” MPTC President and CEO Rodrigo E. Franco said at a news conference at the Luxent Hotel in Quezon City on Tuesday. MPTC’s SMSK will include not only this year’s Holy Week, All Saints’ Day and Christmas holidays but also the forthcoming long weekends, specifically Araw ng Kagitingan (April 7 to 9), National Heroes’ Day (August 25 to 27) and Bonifacio Day (November 30 to December 2). Franco said the SMSK assistance program is intended to ensure hassle-free travel during the holidays by enhancing all services in all three MPTC-owned expressways. Apart from expanding the coverage to the long weekends, he added, the SMSK will also render 24-hour free towing services for Class 1 vehicles during the specific periods, instead of the usual 12-hour operation. From March 23 to April 2, Nlex-SCTEx traffic personnel will devote extended working hours and intensified patrol coverage to closely monitor and manage the expected surge of vehicles in Balintawak, Mindanao Avenue, Bocaue, Santa Ines, Tarlac and Subic-Tipo toll plazas. Additional patrol and incident-response teams will also be ready to assist motorists in all interchanges and fuel stations. During the peak hours of March 28, 29 and April 1, the Balintawak Toll Plaza will open 24 toll-collection points, while the Mindanao Avenue and Tarlac toll plazas will open 10 and 29 toll-collection points, respectively. Portabooths and portable toll-collection equipment will be used to speed up transactions. PNA

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

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Govt partially awards Treasury bonds as bids breach metrics

By Rea Cu @ReaCuBM

he Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) awarded P7.99 billion out of the planned P20-billion Treasury Bonds (T-bonds) auctioned on Tuesday, as most bids breached the ceiling for the 10-year security. BTr Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana said the fresh set of 10-year Tbonds should be awarded at the 6.25 percent average level, placing an internal benchmark on the set of IOUs. “We have internal metrics that would suggest that the 10-year should be awarded at 6.25 [percent]. So, for this exercise we just set the benchmark for the 10-year. It’s been a while that we have not had any benchmark for the 10-year [T-bonds], so I think that’s the motivation in the committee this afternoon,” Sta. Ana said.

GSIS losing billions from unauthorized pension withdrawals

he Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is losing billions of pesos as a result of unauthorized withdrawals of pension benefits by relatives of deceased member-pensioners. GSIS President and General Manager Jesus Clint O. Aranas said that from 2011 to 2017, the agency lost an estimated P1.6 billion in leakages or pension overpayment because the relatives of deceased memberpensioners do not update the status of the member to the agency. Aranas said the leakages will be addressed by its Annual Pensioners Information Revalidation (Apir) program. “The drive for the Apir is to protect and to grow the fund, that’s the whole intention for the fund. We discovered pensions being received by the relatives, so we incurred pension overpayment. The relatives have not reported that they [member-pensioners]

Tenders for the T-bonds reached P22.806 billion with the committee rejecting P14.816 billion in the end, awarding only P7.990 billion of IOUs. An average annual rate of 6.184 percent was set for the security, which is 133 basis points higher than the coupon rate of 6.250 percent. “So many factors [caused the jump in rates]—the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] meeting factor, t hen t he Monet a r y Boa rd meet i ng this week. But we don’t expect any increase based on what the BSP has

pronounced,” he added. Meanwhile, in line with the issuance of the Panda bonds, Sta. Ana said demand for the paper is “huge enough” with both the onshore and offshore investors clamoring for the bonds. “We’ve received feedback from Beijing that the order book is, let’s say, huge enough. So, actually, the demand is overwhelming at this point, but we don’t know the total amount of the book until 4:30 this afternoon when we will be finally pricing the bonds,” he said. Earlier, the Philippine government reported that it is set to issue its inaugural 1.46 billion worth of renminbi-denominated bonds on Tuesday at the onshore Chinese bond market with its settlement to be done on March 23, 2018. The Panda bonds, with a three-year tenor, will be issued at the onshore Chinese bond market on March 20, and settlement is on March 23, according to the Investor Relations Office (IRO). “At this stage we can confidently say that it’s oversubscribed. Actually, overwhelming relative to the size of the offer,” the IRO added.

Case clippings

By Justice S J Ranada Jr.

LABOR-ONLY CONTRACTOR–Solidary liability A finding that a contractor is a labor-only contractor, as opposed to permissible job contracting, is equivalent to declaring that there is an employer-employee relationship between the principal and the employees of the supposed contractor, and the labor-only contractor is considered a mere agent of the principal, the real employer. Thus, the principal and the labor-only contractor are solidarily liable for the claims of the employee. Allied v. Calumpang 17 Jan. 2018 have died,” Aranas said during a news conference on Tuesday at the GSIS headquarters in Pasay City. The GSIS said it targets to tap the 363,000 member-pensioners of the GSIS to register with Apir on March 23. As of March 1, it was able to register 2,879 pensioners under the program. “[We have already] 2,879 that have registered with Apir, nationwide,” said GSIS Senior Vice President for the National

GR 219435 Velasco, J

Capital Region group Nora MalubaySaludares. The GSIS said the Apir program will reinstitute the personal-appearance requirement for its old-age and survivorship pensioners, to help sustain a sound pension fund. The program will be done to monitor the status of pensioners and ensure that the pension of demised pensioners are discontinued immediately to avoid overpayment that may bring about financial losses. Rea Cu

Is the accounting profession ready for the future?  “I’m most grounded on the role of technology. Ultimately to me it’s about the human capital and the human potential and technology empowers humans to do great things. You have to be optimistic about what technology can do in the hands of humans.” —Satya Nadella Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft Corp., USA

n March 6, Rebekah Brown of the Maryland Association of CPAs made a presentation before the joint meetings of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) Consultative Advisory Groups (CAG) at the Association of the International Certified Professional Accountants conference room in New York. Rebekah highlighted the hard trends that have affected the accounting profession and the fast speed of changes. Cited was the unprecedented impact of technology on the chain of processes in the accounting and auditing. She spelled out three important fundamentals to keep in mind: 1. Be aware; 2. With awareness, predict what could be the consequences; and 3. Adapt. After one-and-a-half hours of discus-

FINEX free enterprise Dr. Conchita L. Manabat sion and workshop, and reflecting on her presentation, I thought artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive computing have become increasingly smarter and simultaneously available to firms of all sizes. Paperless transactions translate to enormous digital data requiring data storage that should be kept with integrity intact and readily accessible. In no time, almost on time financial reporting would demand almost on time audit or third party opinion. In the light of such developments, the following queries came to mind: a. A re professiona l account a nts trained and have the skills to come up to expectations in a high-speed digital environment? b. In the midst of fast recording and big digital data storage, are appropriate standards of reporting, conduct of professional accountants, standards of responsive digital auditing and assurance available?

c. What has to change in how standards are set in a time of exponential change? This is the global scene and the Philippine scenario is not too far behind. To a retired professional accountant now serving in the CAG for IESBA and IAASB, there appears to be a huge gap between what was learned in school, adapted in the practice of the profession and what have quickly evolved in the most recent past vis à vis what may soon to be in place. One can only ask, Is the accounting profession ready for the future? Don't miss W2W Talk presented by Womens Business Council on March 22 at Fairmont Hotel: “Fathers for Daughters Building Next Gen Business Mindsets” Dr. Conchita L. Manabat is the president of the Development Center for Finance, a joint undertaking between Finex Foundation and the UP Virata School of Business. A past President of Finex and past chairman of the International Association of Financial Executives Institutes, she is now the chairman of the Advisory Council of the said organization. She is also a member of the Consultative Advisory Groups of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and the International Ethics Standards Board for A ccountants. She can be reached at clm@clmanabat.com.

Editor: Jun B. Vallecera • Wednesday, March 21, 2018 A5

Disasters make OFWs remit more money–WB By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

isasters increase the remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to their families to help them cope, but it does not ensure their resilience, according to a new World Bank report. In the report “Groundswell—Preparing for Internal Climate Migration,” the World Bank said when their families encounter environmental and economic shocks, OFWs tend to send more remittances to make up for any income lost due to these shocks. The remittances, the bank added, are often used for basic needs, such as food, as well as education, health care and housing. “About 60 percent of exogenous declines in income are replaced by remittance inflows from migrants overseas. Remittances can help improve prospects for disaster recovery and, to some extent, preparedness and adaptation; the contribution to resilience is less clear,” the World Bank said. Most of the OFWs sending remittances, the bank said, are women. This follows the trend in many Asian countries, where increases in female emigrants have been recorded as far back as 1960. The World Bank added this is largely because of shifts in labor demands globally which led to “new migration pulls for women.” “The increase in dual-income households and aging populations in destination countries, for example, has fueled a rise in demand for care-giving services, for which women are most often sought,” the World Bank said. Globally, the bank added the worsening impacts of climate change is also chang-

ing the way people live, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America. The bank estimates there could be over 140 million people who will be internally displaced people in these regions by 2050. The Washington-based lender said this could create a new human crisis. However, the bank said if global efforts to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and robust development planning at the country level prosper, it could reduce the number of internally displaced people by as much as 80 percent, or over 100 million people. World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva said the new research provides a wakeup call to countries and development institutions. “We have a small window now, before the effects of climate change deepen, to prepare the ground for this new reality,” Georgieva said. “Steps cities take to cope with the upward trend of arrivals from rural areas and to improve opportunities for education, training and jobs will pay long-term dividends. It’s also important to help people make good decisions about whether to stay where they are or move to new locations where they are less vulnerable.” The bank also said that cutting global greenhouse-gas emissions is imperative to reduce climate pressure on people and livelihoods, and to reduce the overall scale of climate migration. It added that countries should transform development planning to factor in the entire cycle of climate migration (before, during and after migration) and increase investments in data and analysis to improve understanding of internal climate migration trends and trajectories at the country level.

Sans DOF guidance, BOC Clark bound to apply TRAIN law

LARK FREEPORT—The Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Clark is bound to apply the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law as the Department of Finance (DOF) has yet to give instructions if free ports are exempted from its implementation. This was the statement made by BOC Port of Clark District Collector Maritess Martin on Monday at the first “Kapihan” session of the Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines—North Luzon Chapter at the Xenia Hotel here. “I raised that during our strategic planning. How about the free zones? They [DOF] said they are still looking into it, so for now we are applying it,” Martin said as she discussed the BOC’s five-point priority program, foremost of which is stopping corruption as outlined by Commissioner Isidro S. Lapeña. The Clark Investors and Locators Association (Cila) had initially expressed apprehension on the implementation of Package 2 of the TRAIN law, which covers investments. During the forum, Cila President Frankie Villanueva discussed what proactive steps were taken and presented to the DOF and other relevant government agencies to make the TRAIN law fruitful to investors. Villanueva said Cila also consulted with the Clark Development Corp., which also expressed its concern. “What we are waiting for is the draft, and as soon as that draft is out we will announce it to everyone and have a workshop with locators from different ecozones on its possible effects and how it compares with our neighbors,” Villanueva said. “Hopefully it will carry the spirit of TRAIN 2 to encourage more accelerated investments and inclusiveness,” he added. Villanueva disagreed with the view that relevant provisions of Package 2 represented locator incentives as leakage in government income. “The only principle we would like to suggest is competitiveness because all our neighbors are giving their incentives regularly,” he said. “Competitiveness should be included in the principle fiscal incentives,” he added. Villanueva proposed an income tax holiday of up to 10 years from the present fiveyear tax holiday. “Singapore has 15 years and Vietnam is offering fiscal incentives for the project duration,” he said. “If we want to be

competitive, we should come up with something that will stand up with our neighbors.” “What is happening is, even if you have income tax holiday for five years, for the first three years you cannot use those income tax because you are not making money yet. If you cannot carry over your losses it’s useless,” he said. He also said one of the reasons why we have very low investments here is there is no stability in policy. He pointed out that the Philippines has suffered losses for not protecting contracts. “We should protect contracts,” he said. “We must take care of our existing clients. They are more important because they are here already,” he said. Villanueva said small and medium enterprises under TRAIN 2 should also be linked with the global supply chain to achieve inclusiveness. Villanueva acknowledged Cila Chairman Dr. Irineo Alvaro Jr. saying through his efforts, “we were able to present our case to Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III. “The meeting was very fruitful because at the end of the session, Senator Pimentel said the bottom line is whatever piece of legislation that will be passed, we must make sure it must be competitive,” Villanueva said. The incentives that are being offered by our neighbors can be compared with what we have to offer to make sure we are competitive, he added. The corporate income tax (CIT) of 25 percent is high but the average is only about 20-percent CIT in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, he said. “We strongly believe that giving a 12-percent CIT will not cause any shortages in collection because this will make collection more efficient,” Villanueva said. Ashley Manabat

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

The World BusinessMirror

Crown prince’s visit to US seeks to save Saudi image

ASHINGTON—Saudi Arabia’s young crown prince has an ambitious list of to-dos: Modernize his conservative kingdom, weaken Iran’s hand across the Mideast and, this week, rehabilitate his country’s image in the eyes of Americans.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, son of King Salman and heir to the throne, is opening a marathon tour of the United States with a stop in Washington, where he plans to meet President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday. He’ll hold separate meetings with a long roster of influential US officials, including the secretaries of defense, treasury and commerce, the CIA chief and congressional leaders from both parties. The visit comes as the United States and much of the West are still trying to figure out the Saudi crown prince, better known by his initials MBS, whose sweeping program of social changes at home and increased Saudi assertiveness abroad has upended decades of traditional rule in Saudi Arabia. The 32-year-old crown prince also has big economic plans, and over three weeks in the US he will meet businessmen in New York, tech mavens from Google and Apple Inc. in San Francisco, and entertainment bigwigs in Los Angeles. Other stops include Boston and Houston. “ This is not the real Saudi Arabia,” MBS said when asked by CBS News about the repressive version of Islam many outsiders associate with the kingdom. He said he was restoring the more tolerant, egalitarian society that existed before Saudi Arabia’s ultraconservatives were empowered in 1979. “We were victims, especially my generation that suffered from this a great deal.” It’s a message that has earned MBS admirers in the United States, as he allowed women to drive and opened movie theaters shuttered since the 1980s. MBS is turning “Saudi Arabia into a normal country in which normal people lead normal lives,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters on Monday. Yet, Democrats and Republicans have approached some of the crown prince’s other bold steps with trepidation, particularly as they pertain to his anti-Iran efforts. One bill in Congress proposes scaling back US military assistance to a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

MBS, in particular, has been closely identified with the threeyear-old war in the Arab world ’s poorest country, which started while he was the defense minister. The Saudis and their allies are fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels, but international organizations have harshly criticized the coalition’s airstrikes and blockading of Yemeni ports for contributing to thousands of civilian deaths and a humanitarian catastrophe. It’s not the only regional mess the Saudis are in. In November US officials voiced unease when Lebanon’s prime minister unexpectedly resigned while in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia was accused of attempting to bring down

Lebanon’s government, which is strongly inf luenced by Iranian proxy Hezbollah. Prime Minister Saad Hariri later reversed his resignation. The Saudis are working agg ressively to change percep tions. They’ve cast themselves as essential partners against Islamist extremist groups and, especially since Trump’s maiden overseas voyage last year, touted their lavish purchases of hightech goods from job-creating American companies. In Yemen, the kingdom says it is improving military targeting, opening up ports and pledging $1.5 billion in new aid. “The concerns expressed there are reflective of deep concerns by the American public at large,” said Lori Plotkin Boghardt, a Gulf scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “The Saudis are very sensitive to this. They’re certainly communicating with elite circles to discuss the measures they’re taking to try to get humanitarian assistance in to Yemen.” In MBS, Trump will find a sympathetic ear for his calls to crack down on Iran, Saudi Arabia’s archenemy, and strengthen a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran that former President Barack

This is not the real Saudi Arabia.”—MBS

Obama and world powers brokered. Trump has threatened to pull out of the agreement unless there are changes by May. Last week Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, an advocate of staying in the accord, choosing Mike Pompeo, the current CIA director and nuclear deal critic, as a replacement. MBS could dangle a huge carrot in front of Trump for his support. Stock exchanges in New York and elsewhere are v ying for the international listing of Aramco, the Saudi oil behemoth e x pec ted to go publ ic soon. Saudi concerns with New York include a post-9/11 law that could jeopardize assets in the United States if victims’ families claim Saudi Arabia helped the al-Qaida attackers and sue for compensation. Although the US has welcomed MBS’s determination to purge pervasive corruption in Saudi Arabia, including by royals, the Trump administration hasn’t endorsed his tactics. Last year, more than 150 high-level princes, ministers, military officials and businessmen were abruptly rounded up and detained at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. They eventually paid settlements that Saudi Arabia says exceeded $106 billion. Al-Jubeir, the foreign minister, said the tough tactics were needed after past anticorruption campaigns failed. “It didn’t work,” he said. “So now you do something dramatic.” AP

In this November 26, 2017, file photo released by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s young crown prince is opening a marathon tour of the United States with a first stop in Washington, where he plans to meet on March 20 with President Donald J. Trump. The visit comes as the US and much of the West are still trying to figure out Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose sweeping program of social changes at home and increased Saudi assertiveness abroad has upended decades of traditional rule in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Press Agency via AP

Foreigners buy Saudi stocks as index calls loom, oil gains

OREIGN investors are piling into Saudi Arabian stocks, counting on the country’s inclusion in emerging-markets indexes at a time when the outlook for oil prices is improving. Foreigners were net buyers of more than 5.5 billion riyals ($1.47 billion) of shares for 11 straight weeks this year, according to data provided by Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange. Last week, they bought 1.375 billion riyals in shares, more than in any other week since Bloomberg started compiling the data in October 2015. Foreign firms from Renaissance Capital to Deutsche Bank AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are planning to expand in Saudi Arabia this year as they seek to benefit from a

pickup in market activity fueled in part by government reforms to steer the economy away from oil. Investors are also betting the kingdom will be classified as an emerging market by index compilers FTSE Russell and MSCI Inc. this month and in June, respectively, steps that could spur yet more capital inflows. The country’s main gauge is up 6.4 percent this year—more than the average gain of 4.2 percent for stocks from developing economies. “We see scope for continued outperformance given our relatively constructive view on oil prices, the forthcoming FTSE announcement and continued healthy momentum in underlying earnings, particularly for the

banks and petrochemical companies,“ said Hootan Yazhari, the head of MENA and global frontier markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Dubai. “That is to say, earnings upgrades are outpacing downgrades in these sectors, which we see as supportive to performance.” Bank of America Merrill Lynch has Al Rajhi Bank, Samba Financial Group, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. and Yanbu National Petrochemical Co. as top picks in Riyadh. Al Rajhi has attracted $590 million alone this year, more than any other stock in the Middle East and North Africa and exceeding the net value for the full year of 2017, according to a calculation by Mohamad Al Hajj,

strategist at the research arm of EFG-Hermes Holding. Better prospects for oil, Saudi Arabia’s main export, is another factor boosting sentiment among investors, says BofA’s Yazhari. The 120-day correlation between the Tadawul All Share Index and the commodity became positive again last week for the first time since July. Saudi shares slumped as the price of Brent crude slid to a low of $27.88 in January 2016, and have followed its recovery since then. Brent traded on Tuesday at more than $66 a barrel. “Higher oil prices are permitting the difficult changes to be made without impacting economic growth as heavily,” Yazhari said. Bloomberg News

Editor: Lyn Ressureccion | www.businessmirror.com.ph

EU may offer UK’s ‘improved’ equivalence for financial services

HE European Union (EU) w i l l con s id e r of fe r i n g the United Kingdom “improved equivalence” for financial services after Brexit, according to the bloc’s latest negotiating guidelines, a system Britain has rejected as “wholly inadequate.” T he add it ion to t he d ra f t guidelines, obtained by Bloomberg, ma kes clear that UK institutions wou ld only have access to EU markets if UK r u les are deemed equiva lent by the EU—a unilateral approval that can be w ithdraw n at shor t notice. Equivalence means accepting r u les w ithout hav ing a say in ma k ing t hem—somet hing t he U K gover n me nt a nd it s banks reject. “Regarding financial services, the aim should be reviewed and improved equivalence mechanisms, allowing appropriate access to financial services markets, while preserving financial stability, the integrity of the single market and the autonomy of decision making in the European Union,” read the draft, obtained by Bloomberg. “Equivalence mechanisms and decisions remain defined and implemented on a unilateral basis by the European Union,” it said. The addition is in an annex to

the draft guidelines and will be discussed by EU ministers meeting on Tuesday. Earlier drafts didn’t mention financial services explicitly although they made clear that the trade agreement the EU intends to strike with the UK wouldn’t make special provisions for services. UK banks and the government have long given up hopes of retaining passporting rights—the single market access that allows them to trade across borders. But they are now pushing for a system of mutual recognition. They want a set of rules that are more durable and not subject to unilateral withdrawal. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has tried to make the case that a good deal on financial services, which allows the City of London to remain a financial hub, is in both sides’ interest. He also argues that any trade deal with the EU that excluded services wouldn’t be fair. He has described equivalence as wholly inadequate, saying any arrangement has to be “reciprocal” and “reliable.” But the EU has said the UK’s decision to leave the single market means it can’t pick and choose the bits of the EU internal market where it wants to maintain access. It argues that financial stability is at stake, as well as the integrity of the single market. Bloomberg News

World’s last male northern white rhino, Sudan, dies

AIROBI, Kenya —The world’s last male northern white rhino, Sudan, has died after “age-related complications,” researchers announced on Tuesday, saying he “stole the heart of many with his dignity and strength.” A statement from the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya said the 45-year-old rhino was euthanized on Monday after his condition “worsened significantly” and he was no longer able to stand. His muscles and bones had degenerated and his skin had extensive wounds, with a deep infection on his back right leg. The rhino had been part of an ambitious effort to save the subspecies from extinction after decades of decimation by poachers, with the help of the two surviving females. One is his daughter, Najin, and the other is her daughter, Fatu. His death won’t have an impact on the efforts to save the subspecies, as the focus turns to in vitro fertilization techniques using stored semen from other dead rhinos and eggs extracted from the two remaining females. “He was a great ambassador for his species and will be remembered for the work he did to raise awareness globally of the plight facing not only rhinos, but also the many thousands of other species facing extinction as a result of unsustainable human activity,” the conservancy’s CEO, Richard Vigne said. Sudan was something of a celebrity, attracting thousands of visitors. Last year he was listed as “The Most Eligible Bachelor in the World” on the Tinder dating app in a fundraising effort. The last male northern white rhino had been born in Sudan, the last of his kind to be born in the wild. He was taken to a Czech zoo and then transferred to Kenya in 2009, with the three other remaining fertile northern white rhinos at the time. They were placed under 24-hour armed guard and fed a special diet. “However, despite the fact that they

were seen mating, there were no successful pregnancies,” the conservancy said. Rangers caring for Sudan described him as gentle and, as his condition worsened in recent weeks, expressed sadness over his imminent death. The rhino “significantly contributed to survival of his species as he sired two females,” the conser vanc y said. “Additionally, his genetic material was collected yesterday and provides a hope for future attempts at reproduction of northern white rhinos through advanced cellular technologies.” The only hope for preser ving the subspecies “now lies in developing in vitro fertilization techniques using eggs from the two remaining females, stored northern white rhino semen from males and surrogate southern white rhino females,” the statement said. Sudan’s death “is a cruel symbol of human disregard for nature and it saddened everyone who knew him. But we should not give up,” said Jan Stejskal, director of international projects at Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic. “It may sound unbelievable, but thanks to the newly developed techniques even Sudan could still have an offspring.” Northern white rhinos once roamed parts of Chad, Sudan, Uganda, Congo and Central African Republic, and were particularly vulnerable because of the armed conflicts that have swept the region over decades. Other rhinos, the southern white rhino and another species, the black rhino, are under heavy pressure from poachers who kill them for their horns to supply illegal markets in parts of Asia. Roughly 20,000 southern white rhinos remain in Africa. Their numbers dipped below 100 around a century ago, but an intense effort initiated by South African conservationist Ian Player in the mid-20th century turned things around. AP

Norway’s justice minister resigns to avert government crisis

ORWAY ’S Justice Minister Sylvi Listhaug resigned to avert a government crisis ahead of a noconfidence vote in parliament. The minister announced her decision on Facebook early Tuesday after a majority in parliament had signaled they would oust her in a process scheduled to start at 10 a.m. She had angered the opposition after accusing the

Labor Party of caring more for the r ights of ter ror ists than national security. Listhaug said she was the victim of a “witch hunt” by labor party leader Jonas Gahr Store who’s aim was to limit the freedom of speech when it comes to discussing immigration. She said she will continue her fight in parliament for a strict immigration policy. Bloomberg News

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Editor: Lyn Ressureccion

The World BusinessMirror

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Emboldened Xi lays out nationalistic vision for China’s future, economic growth

EIJING—President Xi Jinping vowed on Tuesday to protect “every inch” of China’s territory while promoting “high-quality” economic growth and the resurgence of Chinese culture and creativity as he kicked off his second term, poised to rule indefinitely.

Xi, China’s most powerful leader in decades, sounded a strongly worded warning that appeared directed at anyone from advocates of independence in the southern Chinese city of Hong Kong to the government of selfruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory. The Chinese people are united in their belief that “every inch of our great motherland absolutely cannot and absolutely will not be separated from China,” Xi declared in his speech before the nearly 3,000 members of the National People’s Congress. Attempts to split the country are “doomed to failure,” he said. Xi said the mainland would continue to promote “peaceful unification” with Taiwan. The island’s 23 million residents are strongly in favor of maintaining their defacto independent status. Xi is set to shape the country’s future for the coming decades after the historic legislative session that closed on Tuesday abolished presidential term limits to allow him to rule for as long as he wants. As an indication of what is to come, Xi stressed the absolute leadership of the ruling Communist Party—of which he is head—in all aspects of Chinese

life. That authority is central to Xi’s vision of a confident, rising China with him at the helm to tackle thorny challenges that include slowing growth, risky excessive borrowing, a possible trade war and other challenges. Premier Li Keqiang, in a briefing with reporters, also promised to fully open manufacturing industries to foreign competitors and said China doesn’t want to see a “trade war” with the United States. He made no mention of a possible Chinese response to any increase in US import controls. Beijing faces mounting pressure from President Donald J. Trump over complaints it hampers access to its markets, pressures foreign companies to hand over technology and is flooding foreign markets with unfairly lowpriced steel and other goods. The longer-than-usual, 16-day legislative session had earlier approved a range of new appointments, including that of key Xi ally Wang Qishan as vice president. New ministers were also appointed and a law passed establishing a powerful new anticorruption body to oversee the party and civil service. In his address, Xi said China would promote “high-quality” development that values innovation over speed of

Xi gives stark warning on Taiwan in hands-off message to Trump

HINESE President Xi Jinping warned that efforts to widen divisions with Taiwan would be “punished by history” in a nationalistic speech to mark the start of his second term. In an address to China’s almost 3,000-member national parliament, Xi said China had the capabilities to stop any attempt to formalize the democratically ruled island’s independence. The remarks came just days after US President Donald J. Trump signed a law allowing high-level official visits to Taiwan, a move that would elevate its diplomatic status. “All acts and schemes to split China are doomed to failure and will be condemned by the people and punished by history,” Xi told the closing session of the National People’s Congress in Beijing. “The Chinese people have the firm will, full confidence and sufficient ability to defeat all activities to split the country.” The remarks on Taiwan were part of a roughly 40-minute speech in which Xi repeatedly emphasized the importance of “the people’s” support for the Communist Party’s rule. The president said public backing was fundamental to achieving his goal of becoming a global power by 2050. “This is an official warning from China’s top leader to the US and Taiwan,” said Wang Jiangyu, an international law professor at the National University of Singapore. “It’s an announcement that China will never compromise on Taiwan-related issues.” Xi has emerged from China’s annual legislative meeting with a strengthened grip over the levers of money and power in China. The legislature voted unanimously to reelect him as president after removing a constitutional provision that limited him to two terms in office. It also voted for a major overhaul of China’s government and approved the appointment

of X i associates to top gover nment positions, inc lud ing for mer antig ra f t Tsa r Wa ng Q i sh a n a s v ice president and economic adv iser Liu He as v ice premier. W hile Taiwan is self-ruled and enjoys American military support, China considers the island a province and has made acceptance of its “oneChina” claim a precondition for diplomatic ties—including with the USTaiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, has angered China since her 2016 election by refusing to endorse the one-China framework while offering to sign a US free-trade deal and buy more advanced American arms. After reaffirming US support for the one-China principle last year, Trump has in recent months signaled a tougher line against Beijing and last Friday signed the Taiwan Travel Act into law. The act encourages visits between the US and Taiwan “at all levels,” specifically citing “cabinet-level national security officials.” Chinese officials have said the act “seriously contravenes” the understanding between China and the US over Taiwan. “The recent ‘Taiwan Travel Act’ is a mine that America buried and one day it will blow up,” said Xu Shijun, former director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “China will not sit back and take such actions. The US should definitely integrate the message that Xi’s sent this morning into its decision making process.” Although Xi didn’t directly reference rising tensions with the US, including Trump’s threats of tariffs and other trade actions, he acknowledged challenges overseas. “The situation at home and abroad is undergoing profound and complex changes, and it is an important period of strategic opportunities for China’s development,” Xi said. Bloomberg News

growth. Xi also invoked China’s historical achievements in governance and culture, and stressed the importance of national unity as it strove to reach new goals in poverty alleviation and economic development in coming years. “I believe that as long as the more than 1.3 billion Chinese people ceaselessly carry forward this great creative spirit, we can certainly create one miracle after another,” he said. Xi pledged to expand the Belt and Road, his signature foreign policy initiative of building ports, bridges and railways connecting Europe with Asia—but in an apparent response to the project’s critics, said China wasn’t seeking hegemony. “China’s development does not pose a threat to any country,” Xi said. “Only those who habitually threaten others will look at everyone else as threats,” he added. This year’s session has been dominated by the rubber-stamp body’s historic move on

March 11 to scrap a constitutional two-term limit on the presidency dating from 1982, enabling Xi to rule indefinitely. W hi le delegates over whelmingly suppor ted the move, cr itics and some ana lysts say it raises concer ns about a retur n to one-man r u le—and greater politica l repression w ithin an a lready highly control led polit y. “There is a distinct danger now that there may well be a return to the Maoist style of leadership symbolized by the dissolution of collective responsibility and the concentration of power under one person,” said Joseph Cheng, a long-time observer of Chinese politics now retired from the City University of Hong Kong. The broad strokes of what Xi plans to do with these expanded powers were laid down over the weekend as he moved to appoint his trusted allies into key positions that appear, in part, set to further sideline Li, officially China’s No. 2 leader. One of them is Wang, reportedly an early

acquaintance of Xi’s and former anti corruption czar who is expected to play a key role in managing trade tensions with the United States. The vice presidency is normally a ceremonial post but Wang’s real standing can be seen in official events, in which he is seated in eighth place in hierarchical order after the seven-man, all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee. Another is longtime Xi adviser Liu He, who was appointed as one of four vice premiers and is expected to oversee a broad range of economic and financial issues. Chief among Xi’s priorities is controlling financial risk without derailing the economy. Regulators have been warning about ballooning debt that caused international ratings agencies to cut China’s credit rating last year. “He knows that if there’s a financial crisis it will damage his credibility and legitimacy very much because he has no one else to blame,” Cheng said. “People will blame him.” AP

The Regions

Wednesday, March 21, 2018 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DENR: 49 Siargao establishments found violating environmental laws By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

HILE pursuing to address the environmental problems on Boracay Island, the country’s top tourist destination in Malay, Aklan, the crackdown on tourism areas has brought Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu to Surigao del Norte, a province equally blessed with aesthetic beauty and natural wonders, but like Boracay, threatened with serious environmental problems. The Department of Environment and Natura l Resources (DENR) said a total of 49 business establishments catering to local and foreign tourists on the island of Siargao were found in violation

of various environmental laws. Cimatu said the DENR has star ted the process of going af ter t hese er r ing establ ishments, with the issuance of a notice of violation by concerned

DENR officials. Siargao is a popu lar tourist dest inat ion in Mind a nao and is frequented by surfing enthusiasts. In a statement, Cimatu said the erring establishments were ordered to address the env ironmental problems they have caused to ensure that “responsible ecotourism” is sustained in the internationally popular surfing island. Meanwhile, Cimatu lauded the DENR-Caraga Regional Office for swiftly responding to his order to identify tourism service providers that have violated environmental laws. “This is an example of quick action by our regional officials,” the DENR chief said. “Within two months, they have finished surveying tourism establishments in the beautiful island of Siargao, and they have already separated those compliant with environmental laws and those who are not,” Cimatu added.

“Siargao is still one of the country’s best tourist destinations, but if we want to sustain its viability as an international surfing capital, we must show that we are all helping to protect and conserve its environment,” Cimatu said. Data from the DENR-Caraga showed that out of 148 businesses in Siargao island, 49 establishments were found violating environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act or the Environmental Impact Statement System. The landscape and seascape of Siargao had been classified as a protected area, although in recent years, it has become a favorite destination for international surfers, and mass tourism has boomed in the entire island. Violations of the businesses, which are mostly resorts and restaurants, included failing to secure environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) and absence of sewage-treatment facilities.

DAR, Pilmico tie up to give agro-entrepreneurship a boost

HE Department of Agrari a n R e for m ( DA R ) a n nounced recently that it has formally forged ties with Pilmico Foods Corp. (Pilmico) to provide farmers technical training on agro-entrepreneurship. The objective of the partnership is to enable farmers belonging to selected agrarian-reform beneficiaries’ organizations to learn and start easy-to-manage businesses with a quick return of investments that will boost farmers’ income. DAR and Pilmico, the food subsidiary of Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (AFI), entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) that provides for the sustainable livelihood and income opportunities to agrarianreform beneficiaries across Albay province, a statement released by the DAR said. Under the agreement signed by representatives from both parties on February 27, Pilmico will provide livelihood packages, as well as technical assistance, to farmer-recipients, while the DAR shall provide microfinance services in the form of loans to help them gain collateral for their agribusinesses. The highlight of the activity was the distribution of 12 piglets (three piglets per beneficiary) to four farmer-recipients who are members of the Pacol Magsasaka Prime Community in Naga City. In his mssage, DAR Undersecretary Bernie Cruz expressed his support to further strengthen and improve partnership with Pilmico, consistent with the DAR’s mandate to provide support services, such as enterprise development programs by implementing community-based projects, which are accessible to everyone, especially those living in the countryside. Camarines Sur II Agrarian Reform chief Maria Gracia R. Sales was hopeful the agreement can do “even more to help the farmers and

“Right now, we are serving notices of violations to the identified establishments, and by the end of the month, we aim to finish serving them, conducting the associated technical conferences, and determining whether or not to elevate the case to the Pollution Adjudication Board,” Cimatu said. Aside from identifying violating establishments, the regional environmental officers of Caraga also identified the problems threatening the island, which include inconsistent water quality, the issuance of business permits by the local government units without requiring an ECC, absence of sewage and septage treatment facilities, coastal encroachment, improper solid-waste management, inadequate drainage system and the inadequate utilization of the environmental fee. “This should be the template by which other regions should conduct their inspection and monitoring activities. We want to be fast, but follow the law at the

Filing of civil case vs Tieza, Premiere Central marks reclaiming of Paskuhan Village

AIRPORT BRIEFING President Duterte gets a briefing from Secretary Raul L. Lambino (left), administrator and CEO of the

Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, on the newly upgraded facilities of the Cagayan North International Airport in Lal-lo town. The airport has a 2.1-kilometer runway capable of handling Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 aircraft. It is set to begin commercial operations in the next few weeks. JOSEPH MUEGO

their organizations be successful partners for growth.” “I wish these projects would go a long way to help our agrarianreform farmers here flourish in their new venture [to go into business], especially on swine and egg production, as they are now assured of livelihood packages or starter kits from Pilmico,” Sales said. Aside from piglet dispersal, Pilmico is also set to provide six kits of egg machines to farmers’ organizations that will be selected by the DAR. Each kit contains 48 heads of ready-to-lay hens,

galvanized-steel cages, feeders, nipple drinkers, water-gallon containers, and one-month feed supply. The succeeding feed requirements will be shouldered by the organization-recipients. An egg machine is a backyard farming starter kit that allows the continuous production of eggs in a 16-month period. The readyto-lay hens have a lifespan of 16 months, while the cages can last for 10 years. In a day, a flock or kit can produce up to 96 percent of eggs, or about 46 eggs per kit. T hese l ivel i hood pac k ages form part of Pilmico’s flagship

advocac y prog ram, “Ma ha l in Pagkaing Atin,” a campaign introduced in mid-2014 to push sustainable entrepreneurship through the promotion of locally produced foods. This community-based partnership is under the public-private Partnership initiative of the government. Present during the signing were Cruz, Sales, Pilmico AEV VP for Government Relations Christopher Camba and Pilmico VP for Corporate Strategy and Business Development Santanina Castro. Jonathan L. Mayuga

same time,” Cimatu said. Siargao island is protected under a presidential decree signed by then-President Fidel V. Ramos in 1996. The Siargao Island Protected Landscape and Seascape is home to birds, such as the Mindanao tarictic, Rufous Hornbill, Philippine mag pie-robin, and other endemic flora and fauna. The DENR-Caraga officials said they are also seeking support for the fast-track ing of approval for the 10-year solidwaste management plans of local government units, gathering support for the construction of a sanitary landfill, coordination on the collection, transportation and treatment of sewage and septage, mandating an ECC as a requirement for business permits, and requiring resorts and other establishments to set up their own sewage-treatment plants. These measures are aimed at securing the future of Siargao as a sustainable tourist destination, the officials said.

ITY OF SAN FERNANDO— “Atin ku pung singsing. Metung yang timpukan… Mewala ya iti, E ku kamalayan… [I once had a ring. That had a single gem… But it disappeared, without my knowledge…],” so goes the immortal Capampangan folk song, which now aptly describes the reclaiming of the historic Paskuhan Village (Christmas Village) here after it was sold to a private corporation. Rep. Aurelio Gonzales of the Third District of Pampanga said the singsing or ring is the Paskuhan Village, which was suddenly lost due to its sale by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza) to Premiere Central Inc. on May 4, 2015, for almost P1 billio. But now, he added, he found it again. “This is the result of our Resolution 654, in aid of legislation, to conduct an inquiry on the sale of Paskuhan Village,” he said. “After conducting a series of hearing, we prepared a committee report.” The hearings were conducted under the Good Government Committee and Public Accountability in the House of Representatives chaired by Rep. Johnny Pimentel of the Second District of Surigao del Sur. Gonzales said he was given an assurance by Solicitor General Jose C. Calida that the government never losses a case like this one. Gonzales said Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez also expressed hopes that the Paskuhan Village be returned to the city government and to the Tieza because it is both a historical and a cultural heritage site. “We have only three Paskuhan Villages in the world—one is in the US, the other in Germany and in Asia here in the Philippines in this city,” he said. “This is not my personal fight. This is the fight of our province. This is the fight of our government and

particularly the city of San Fernando,” the Capampangan solon said. “This is not for our generation, but for the next generations to come.” That is why tomorrow, Gonzales said, he will introduce a bill to make the Paskuhan Village a historical, cultural, heritage and public domain so that whoever is in power can longer sell Paskuhan Village. On Tuesday Mayor Edwin S. Santiago and Assistant Solicitor General Joseph Guevarra filed civil case at the regional trial court against Tieza and Premiere Central. Guevarra filed the case in behalf of the Republic of the Philippines. A news conference followed later at the city hall, where the officials expressed optimism that the court will uphold the civil case versus the defendants. Santiago said the land came from the Lazatin family, through a deed where the purpose was specified for a lantern village. In short, it was for a cultural heritage. The mayor said the lanterns of San Fernando or parol are known the world over and for that, this city has become known as the “Lantern Capital of the World.” “It is only but proper that the lantern village be located here and that was how Paskuhan Village came to be. It was right in our midst, but we lost it,” Santiago said. Now, the mayor added, “We are thankful that the solicitor general, the lawyer of the Republic, has taken steps to file a complaint for the rescission of the sale.” Guevarra said he could not comment on the merits of the case after it was filed in court. But he said: “We have assessed the evidence and based on the assessment that we have conducted, we found that there are courses of action that would merit the filing of the case against the defendants.” Ashley Manabat

ComVal gov: Attitude change needed among govt hospital workers

AVAO CITY—Government hospitals should improve on the attitudes of their personnel doing frontline services to ordinary Filipinos to remove biases and misconceptions of ill-treatment on poor and indigent patients, the governor of Compostela Valley said. “There is a need to change general attitudes and perceptions toward health care. We need to strengthen our health communication system

to thwart generalizations, misconceptions, and misrepresentations of health care,” Gov. Jayvee Tyron L. Uy said in a speech before participants to the Provincial Health Summit 2018 held last week at Big 8 Corporate Hotel in Tagum City. He issued the appeal to government hospitals as he said the national government has already attended to the need for available medicines and medical supplies to poor patients. “We don’t even lack social workers in our hospi-

tals. In fact, I am proud that we are one of the provinces who employ liaison officers, or social workers, in our hospitals,” he added, citing their presence in the Compostela Valley Provincial Hospital and Davao Regional Medical CenterTagum City. However, he said, “there is a need to strengthen awareness of people toward the existence of aid and assistance to make the option to go to hospitals attractive.” “We need to improve the access of people

to our health facilities through enhancing the availability of transportation, especially in the province’s geographically isolated and disadvantaged area,” he added. The health summit was initiated through the Provincial Leadership and Governance Program, a project inspired by help from civil-society organizations to persuade governors to emphasize and prioritize health developments in the Provincial Local Investment Plan for Health. Manuel T. Cayon

ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror

DTI urges PHL businesses to join China International Import Expo

TRADE Secretary Ramon M. Lopez (third from left), together with Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Trade and Investment Promotions Group Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado (second from left), Philippine Commercial Counselor to Beijing Glenn Peñaranda (left) and DTI-Export Marketing Bureau Director Senen M. Perlada (right), discusses other details of the Philippines’s participation to the China International Import Expo (CIIE) with Chinese Embassy Economic and Commercial Counselor Jin Yuan (fourth from left) and Ministry of Commerce Deputy Director General Liu Jun at the sidelines of the CIIE information road show in Manila on March 15 at the Fairmont Hotel in Makati City. By Kristina Noelle S. Andaya | Trade-Industry Development Specialist

Knowledge Processing Division, DTI-EMB

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through its Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), together with the private sector, will lead the Philippines in preparation for the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) to be held in Shanghai, China, from November 5 to 10. As part of the preparation, the first leg of the CIIE information roadshow was held at the Fairmont Hotel, Makati City on March 15. The event was jointly organized by the DTI-EMB and the Embassy of People’s Republic of China in the Philippines. It was fully sup-

ported by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Bank of China. The next road show was held in Cebu on March 20, and another one will be held in Davao on March 23, to gain more participation in the upcoming overseas trade fair.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez highlighted the developing relations between the Philippines and China as seen in China’s strong support by opening up its market to Philippine companies. “The expo is the only trade show in China to date that will feature foreign exhibitors. There will be no Chinese companies on the exhibit floor. But there will be Chinese buyers present, as well as buyers from all over the world at the event,” Lopez said. “I ask Filipino businesses to participate and take this opportunity to showcase the trade capabilities of the Philippines.” P CC I C h a i r m a n E me r it u s Dr. Francis Chua said Philippine companies should sign up because “fortune is waiting for them in Shanghai.” Also, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua shared China’s growing economy over the years and the many opportunities Philippine companies can take ad-

vantage of as trade relations between the two countries warm up. “We need more products from the Philippines,” Jianhua said. “I am confident that sooner or later, China will be the No. 1 importer of Philippine products.” In 2017 China was the fourthlargest importer of Philippine products behind Japan, the United States and Hong Kong. Over the last five years, total trade between China and the Philippines grew 12.08 percent. Total exported goods to China in the last five years reflected a decline of 0.12 percent, while imported goods from China grew to 20.17 percent. “Imagine the magnitude of CIIE, to be participated by over 100 countries around the world. That is something Philippine companies can take advantage of,” DTI-Trade and Investments Promotion Group Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado said. Terrado added that the DTI will apply a “whole country” approach and smarter strategies to maximize the country’s participation at that expo. “We will work closely with the private sector in ensuring that we attract Chinese and foreign investors in building value together as we urge them to partner with the Philippines,” Terrado said. The CIIE arranges a platform for various trade and services that include exhibitions and forums. They also offer prospects for closer international cooperation. State leaders, businessmen and entrepreneurs, and academe from different countries are expected to participate in the expo. Companies interested in joining the CIIE may contact Rowena Mendoza through the e-mail address Rmendoza@citem.com.ph, or Eva Marie Mariquina at emmariquina@ citem.com.ph on or before April 6.

DTI’s first Export Managers Advanced Training program wows participants ‘S

O for six days, I was just amazed that all I thought I knew, but then this came in, WOW!” said Benjamin Pineda, a participant from San Pablo Manufacturing Corp., who attended the training program held at the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Philippine small and medium enterprises recently concluded the First Export Managers Advanced Training program, facilitated by Germany’s Hinrich Foundation and Leipzig University. The two-weekend short course, where the first session was conducted from February 16 to 18 delivered full lectures and workshops on making of Consumer and Business Consumer Personas; Customer Profiling; Value Proposition Designing; Business Model Development; Commercial and Political Risks Identification; and Brand Development.

PROF. Gunnar Kaßberg (standing, right) of the Small Enterprise Promotion and Training Business Services of Leipzig University Coordinator, gets a taste of Dory's Distillery lambanog during the brand-development workshop of the Department of Trade and Industry’s first Export Managers Advanced Training program.

Sessions were facilitated by Leipzig University Director Prof. Dr. Utz Dornberger of International Small Enterprise Promotion and Training (SEPT) Program, and SEPT Business Services of Leipzig University Coordinator Prof. Gunnar Kaßberg and culminated in a one-on-one coaching on March 12 and 13 at the PTTC in Pasay City.

Another participant Roselle Florendo, general manager of Madrak Global Export Inc., added, “It’s an eye-opener to the other exporters that have failed in other aspects, something that we can now be guided by, for all the lessons shared in this course, this will be our stepping stone to a better export business.” The 35 exporting SMEs repre-

sented by their exports managers presented their international marketing strategies, distribution channels, and key resources as they further internationalize their businesses. This is in partnership with DTI’s PTTC and Export Marketing Bureau and the GermanPhi lippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Wednesday, March 21, 2018 A9

PHL eco-motorcycle recognized in WGSN’s Design Futures Report under Engineering Nature

HE Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Design Center of the Philippines sees Philippine design steadily rising into the international design scene, as locally made eco-friendly motorcycle Green Falcon landed in WGSN’s Design Futures Report. “With Green Falcon and Bamboo Extreme getting featured in WGSN, it pushes the Philippines’s status a notch when it comes to material and design innovation. It celebrates the Philippine design industry’s capability to develop products that are forward thinking, and potential in influencing global design,” said Rhea O. Matute, executive director of DTI-Design Center of the Philippines. WGSN is an internationally renowned online trends forecasting portal, where excellent research, data and insights are provided to help businesses stay relevant, keep abreast of future trends, and tap into their potential growth opportunities. In WGSN’s report entitled Engineering Nature, the Green Falcon was listed among other product and material innovations that combined technology and engineering with natural elements. “Moreover, it recognizes Design Center’s efforts, and in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry, in growing its vision for the Philippine design industry,” Matute added. The Bamboo Extreme is a collaborative project between Design Center of the Philippines and DTI-Industry Cluster Enhancement aimed at modernizing bamboo to capture the millennials’ way of life, filled with adventure, exploration, and experimentation. Inspired by café racers in the 1960s, the Green Falcon is notable for using bamboo for the motorbike’s upper body, a first in the production of motorcycles. It remarkably emphasized how bamboo as a material can be pushed beyond the usual, normal, and traditional product applications such as furniture, home accessories

and lamps and lighting. “What is highlighted in the Green Falcon is a natural or organic ergonomic component in the use of bamboo for the motorbike’s body shell,” designer Christopher Paris Lacson said about the bamboo body shell. “It allows the rider to feel comfortable sitting as he would on a wooden chair.” Lacson especially designed the Green Falcon for adventurous millennials, who highly regard design, performance and sustainability, while supporting the Philippine design industry, as well. Mimicking the speed of a falcon, the eco-friendly motorbike can put its gear to a speed of 100 kph to 110 kph. It also uses electricity for power, its contribution to zero pollution on the road. “What we are doing, with bamboo and other raw material composites with technology, we are breathing a new paradigm in materials. It is a paradigm breaker,” Lacson explained about the combination of natural material and technology. “I would like to think that this is something that is hopefully at the edge of a new trend.” While he believes Filipinos are very creative people, he noticed how most Filipino consumers would still look to other countries’ products, and not the locally made ones. “It’s about time we shift their perspectives on products—from Ducati to Banatti [manufacturer of the Green Falcon], from foreign to local,” Lacson remarked, wanting to inspire local industries and leaders to create and develop more tools that can transport the country and its people to inclusive growth. “I hope that other countries will begin looking at us, and would want to try something from the Philippines.” The Design Center of the Philippines, an attached agency of the DTI, is the only national agency for design and the leading agency committed to cultivating a culture that thrives in creativity, value creation and innovation.

EU issues health certificate requirement on fishery products

HE directorate general for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission has issued a new regulation requiring all third countries to issue a health certificate for fishery products intended for human consumption. Covered by the new regulation are fishery products caught by vessels flying the flag of the member-states of the European Union (EU) and unloaded, with or without storage, in third countries before entering the Union. Effective July 1, 2018, such

fishery products shall be accompanied by a health certificate signed by a competent authority of the third country through which the fishery products are transferred before they are brought to the Union. The said regulation, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, lays down a new model health certificate for such fishery products. Copy of the said regulation can be downloaded here: https://www.fsai. ie/uploadedFiles/Reg2017_1973.pdf.

Jewelry makers report P3.8-million sales from Hong Kong trade show

OCAL jewelry makers who participated in a recently held jewelry show in Hong Kong generated P3.78 million in cash and negotiated sales, as they enhanced presence in overseas markets. Meycauayan Jewelry Industry

Association Inc. Chairman Cecille Ramos said the Hong Kong international jewelry show provided industry players an effective channel for them to connect with large retailers from many countries and regions. Ramos added they are looking

to aggressively penetrate the world market through participation in various international trade fairs to attract more buyers. “The jewelry industry is an indigenous and labor-intensive industry, but has to make its mark in the world market. It has

remained a silent participant of the bustling business activity of the country and was content on serving the domestic market,” she said. Ramos added the Philippines is the fifth producer of gold in Asia, comprising 46 percent.

She further said Filipinos are noted in the international market for their craftsmanship, as proven with the increased export revenues from Philippine-made products, such as jewelry and other goods like furniture and gifts, toys and housewares.

“Buyers admire our filigree a nd a nt ique -look i ng je we l r y and, therefore, must be promoted intensively,” she added. “We need three years’ presence in the market to be able to get buyers and penetrate the target market.”

A10 Wednesday, March 21, 2018 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

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editorial

Is Catholic PHL ready for divorce?

ere’s something that will undoubtedly divide more than 100 million Filipinos: The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill allowing divorce in the Philippines. Ignoring President Duterte’s pronouncement that he is against the passage of a divorce law, members of the lower chamber approved House Bill (HB) 7303, or the Absolute Divorce Act of 2018, that seeks to institutionalize absolute divorce and dissolution of marriage in the country, with 134 yes votes, 57 no votes and two abstentions. The bill will now be transmitted to the Senate for its own deliberation. However, the senators have yet to start drafting a counterpart measure. What’s the chance that the 17th Congress will pass a divorce law despite strong opposition from the Catholic Church? Will the President exercise his veto power to strike it down? Filipinos who know their history will say that divorce is not a new concept in this country. It was legal during the American colonial period and Japanese occupation, but it became illegal after the enactment of the 1949 Civil Code. Currently, the Philippines is the only country in the world—aside from Vatican City, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church—that has no divorce law. HB 7303 provides the grounds for the grant of an absolute divorce, which include the reasons for legal separation and annulment of marriage under the Family Code, de facto separation of the couple for at least five years, legal separation by judicial decree for at least two years, psychological incapacity, gender-reassignment surgery, irreconcilable differences and joint petition of spouses. The measure says the interested party or parties shall file a petition for divorce in the proper court within five years of the accrual or cause of action. Summary judicial proceedings, or the expeditious manner of resolving a divorce petition without regard to technical rules, are also provided for under the bill. Petitioners may or may not be assisted by a lawyer in summary judicial proceedings, and the proper court may allow presentation of evidence by the party concerned as needed. Grounds under summary judicial proceedings include instances when one of the spouses has contracted a bigamous marriage or has been sentenced to imprisonment for six years, among others. Except for grounds under summary judicial proceedings, the divorce court shall start trial only after a six-month cooling-off period after the filing of a petition. During this time, the court shall exercise all efforts to reunite and reconcile the parties and the court shall await the submission of the report of the public prosecutor. However, the mandatory cooling-off period shall not apply in cases that involve acts of violence against women and/or children of the petitioner, under the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004. Neither shall it apply in cases involving an attempt against the life of the other spouse, a common child or a child of the petitioner. Proponents said that, although current laws allow legal separation, declaration of a nullity of marriage and annulment, none of these options address the needs of the majority of couples who are searching for freedom from each other. They added that legal separation allows the couple to live apart and separate their assets, but they are not free to marry again. In fact, they may be charged with adultery or concubinage if caught with another partner. Senior Deputy Minority Leader Lito Atienza of Buhay opposed the measure, saying HB 7303 is unconstitutional. His words: “The proposed law is against the Philippine Constitution. It is expressly stated in Article XV on The Family, Section 2, that marriage, as an inviolable social institution, is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State. The Constitution is very clear and there is no room for misinterpretation. So, how can they interpret their proposed law as constitutional? Every definition that can be found on the word inviolable states that it is unassailable, cannot be broken, cannot be interchanged, and anything inviolable is considered hallowed, holy, sacred, sacrosanct and untouchable.” Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz, a leading church voice against the bill, said Filipino Catholics should not be ashamed that they are global holdouts on divorce. “That is a distinction that we should all be very proud of. It means that we are not one of those who believe the family can be destroyed.”

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Bond tariff in the Philippines Dennis B. Funa

INSURANCE FORUM

N the United States the Surety Association of America was formed on November 12, 1908, with the view that the absence of adequate rate-making for bonds could spell disaster for sureties across America. Previous to this, rate-making was a matter of guesswork. On October 1, 1909, the Towner Rating Bureau was organized and began to promulgate rates for all Surety Association companies based upon the aggregate experience and the composite underwriting judgment of such companies.

Today in the Philippines, surety premium rates are subject to minimum tariffs. Surety bonds were first tariffied on July 1, 1960, when the schedule of rates previously approved by the secretary of finance on February 26, 1954, went into effect. The implementation was ordered by then-Insurance Commissioner Francisco Mandanas. Prior to tariffication, there were no standard premium rates. Hence, every surety company was free to charge any rate

based on the risk to be guaranteed, the counter guarantee given, and the need of the applicant. In other words, it was based purely on market forces. It was then that the Insurance and Surety Association of the Philippines proposed a Schedule of Rates to be adopted by all nonlife insurance companies. Subsequently, the tariffs were amended on March 4, 1985 when Insurance Commissioner Gregoria Cruz Arnaldo approved the request

of the Philippine Association of Surety Underwriters Inc. (Philasurers). The revised bond tariff took effect on April 15, 1985. Under this amendment, the minimum premium rate was increased from P10 to P100 for all bonds except firearms bonds, which was fixed at P50. The minimum amount in the graduated scale was increased from P5,000 to P15,000. Finally, in 1995 the tariffs were again adjusted upon the request of the Philasurers through the Philippine Insurance Rating Association (Pira). Insurance Commissioner Eduardo Malinis approved the amendment to the rules of rating on bonds in a letter to Pira Inc. dated August 28, 1995. The Amended Bond Rules and Rates took effect on September 1, 1995. This Amended Rules on Bonds was circularized by Pira in Circular Pira-1070/95 dated September 18, 1995. This circular includes a schedule of Rates for Bonds up to P15,000 (Schedule I) and Rates for Bonds over P15,000 (Schedule II). It also includes a General Classification of Bonds, classified into five classes; as well as a list of abbreviated symbols or codes

Cambridge Analytica’s dirty tricks

By Michelle Goldberg | New York Times News Service

ambridge Analytica, the shadowy data firm that helped elect Donald J. Trump, specializes in “psychographic” profiling, which it sells as a sophisticated way to digitally manipulate huge numbers of people on behalf of its clients. But apparently, when you’re trying to win a campaign, prostitutes, bribes and spies work pretty well, too. On Monday Britain’s Channel 4 News ran an explosive exposé of the embattled company. Going undercover as a potential client, its reporter filmed Cambridge Analytica’s chief executive, Alexander Nix, talking about entrapping his clients’ opponents by sending “very beautiful” Ukranian sex workers to their homes. He spoke of offering bribes to candidates while secretly filming them and putting the footage online, of employing fake IDs and bogus web sites. Mark Turnbull, managing director of Cambridge Analytica Political Global, described how the company “put information into the bloodstream of the Internet” and then watched it spread. This story came two days after a joint investigation by The New York Times and The Observer of London reported that Cambridge Analytica harvested private information from more than 50 million Facebook users without their permission. “The breach allowed the company to exploit the private social-media activity of a huge swath of the American electorate, developing techniques that underpinned its work on Trump’s

campaign in 2016,” The Times wrote. After days of revelations, there’s still a lot we don’t know about Cambridge Analytica. But we’ve learned that an operation at the heart of Trump’s campaign was ethically nihilistic and quite possibly criminal in ways that even its harshest critics hadn’t suspected. That’s useful information. In weighing the credibility of various accusations made against the president, it’s good to know the depths to which the people around him are willing to sink. Created in 2013, Cambridge Analytica is an offshoot of SCL Group, a British company that specialized in disinformation campaigns in the developing world. It’s mostly owned by the Mercer family, billionaire right-wing donors and strong Trump supporters. Before becoming the Trump campaign’s chief executive, Steve Bannon was Cambridge Analytica’s vice president. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who has since pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, also served as an adviser to the company. Cambridge Analytica shared office space with Trump’s San Antonio-based

digital operation, and took substantial credit for its success. “We are thrilled that our revolutionary approach to data-driven communications played such an integral part in Presidentelect Donald Trump’s extraordinary win,” Nix said in a November 9, 2016, news release. It has long been hard to judge how well psychographic profiling actually works. Many consider Cambridge Analytica overrated. Last year BuzzFeed News reported that former employees said “that despite its sales pitch and public statements, it never provided any proof that the technique was effective or that the company had the ability to execute it on a large scale.” Those who feared that Cambridge Analytica was conducting information warfare on the American people may have been giving the company’s self-serving propaganda too much credence. But whether Cambridge Analytica’s methodology works, the fact that the Trump campaign had a crew of hightech dirty tricksters on its payroll is significant. We already know that Cambridge Analytica reached out to Julian Assange about finding and disseminating Hillary Clinton’s deleted e-mails. We know that Robert Mueller, the special counsel, has asked the company to turn over documents related to the Trump campaign. Channel Four News plans to air additional undercover footage about Cambridge Analytica’s role in the Trump campaign on Tuesday. At a minimum, we’ve learned that

with prefixed serial numbers to be printed in the bond forms. Rules were also promulgated. Under the Amended Rules, the annual premium on bonds that are to run for less than one year “shall be charged in full at the applicable rate per annum.” Moreover, “a reduction of 50 percent of the annual premium shall be allowed for bonds which are fully secured by either one or a combination of the following: i) assignment of bank deposits to the surety; ii) Philippine government bonds, treasury certificate or other obligations guaranteed as to principal and interest by the Philippine government; iii) other kinds of securities which are allowable under the Insurance Code, as amended, for investment by insurance companies; and iv) real estate.” Furthermore, bonds which are fully secured shall be stamped with the words “fully secured” on the copy of the bond on file with the issuing company. Dennis B. Funa is the current insurance commissioner. Funa was appointed by President Duterte as the new insurance commissioner in December 2016. E-mail: dennisfuna@yahoo.com.

the Trump campaign’s vaunted socialmedia program was built on deception. Shortly after the 2016 election, Forbes ran an article crediting Jared Kushner for his father-in-law’s shocking triumph. Thanks to digital tools, it said, the traditional presidential campaign was dead, “and Kushner, more than anyone not named Donald J. Trump, killed it.” For those who knew something of Kushner’s pre-election career, this portrait of him as some sort of analytics genius was befuddling. The small, gossipy New York newspaper he’d owned, The New York Observer, didn’t even have a particularly good web site. “He wasn’t tech-savvy at all,” Elizabeth Spiers, the paper’s former editor in chief, told me. Cambridge Analytica’s corruption helps provide the missing piece in this story. If the Trump campaign had a social media advantage, one reason is that it hired a company that mined vast amounts of illicitly obtained data. There’s a lesson here for our understanding of the Trump presidency. Trump and his lackeys have been waging their own sort of psychological warfare on the American majority that abhors them. On the one hand, they act like idiots. On the other, they won, which makes it seem as if they must possess some sort of occult genius. With each day, however, it’s clearer that the secret of Trump’s success is cheating. He and those around him don’t have to be better than their opponents because they’re willing to be so much worse.

Opinion BusinessMirror

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What holds America together

Changing the climate of advocacy on Earth Hour

By David Brooks | New York Times News Service

ast week I went to Houston to see the rodeo. That rodeo is not like other rodeos. It’s gigantic. It goes for 20 days. There can be up to 185,000 people on the grounds in a single day and they are of all human types—rural ranchers, Latino families, African immigrants, drunken suburban housewives out for a night on the town.

When you are lost in that sea of varied humanity, you think: What on earth holds this nation together? The answer can be only this: Despite our differences, we devote our lives to the same experiment, the American experiment to draw people from around the world and to create the best society ever, to serve as a model for all humankind. Unity can come only from a common dedication to this experiment. The American consciousness can be formed only by the lab reports we give one another about that experiment—the jeremiads, speeches, songs and conversations that describe what the experiment is for, where it has failed and how it should proceed now. One of my favorites of these lab reports is Walt Whitman’s essay “Democratic Vistas,” published in 1871. The purpose of democracy, Whitman wrote, is not wealth, or even equality; it is the full flowering of individuals. By dispersing responsibility to all adults, democracy “supplies a training school for making first class men.” It is “life’s gymnasium.” It forges “freedom’s athletes”—strong and equal women, courageous men, deep-souled people capable of governing themselves. Whitman had hoped that the end of the Civil War and Lincoln’s sacrificial death would bring the nation together. But instead, there was corruption, division, demoralization and inequality. For Whitman, America’s great foe was feudalism, the caste structure of Europe that Americans had rebelled against, but that always threatened to grow back: “Of all dangers to a nation, as things exist in our day, there can be no greater one than having certain portions of the people set off from the rest by a line drawn—they not privileged as others, but degraded, humiliated, made of no account.” Whitman feared economic and social feudalism, but above all he detested cultural and moral feudalism. He believed that writers, artists, musicians, poets and preachers were the real legislators of mankind, and in America they were detached from the nitty-gritty American experience. They still looked back to Europe — to the parlor, the perfumed courtier and the spirit of gentility—for their models of character, manners and education. They looked down on America’s democratic mass. That left a spiritual vacuum, he believed. Americans had no way to see how their daily exertions contributed to a common spiritual cause. They saw no way to achieve

individual salvation through community effort. America has created a brilliant political constitution, Whitman wrote. It has amassed untold wealth. But it has not created a democratic culture that captures, celebrates and ennobles the way average Americans live day to day. “The problem of humanity all over the civilized world is social and religious, and is to be finally met and treated by literature.” When there is no common sense of mystical purpose, you end up with alienation, division, distrust, “universal ennui,” a loss of faith in the American project. “Never was there, perhaps, more hollowness at heart than at present, and here in the United States,” he observed. Whitman was not, however, pessimistic. He had worked as a nurse during the Civil War, watching men recover and die, and the experience had given him illimitable faith in the goodness of average citizens. Average American soldiers showed more fortitude, religious devotion and grandeur than all the storybook heroes, he wrote. They died not for glory, nor even to repel invasion, but out of gratitude to have been included in the American experiment. They died “for an emblem, a mere abstraction—for the life, the safety of the flag.” Whitman spent his life trying to spiritualize democratic life and reshape the American imagination, to help working people see the epic heroism all around them that unites the American spirit. He didn’t mind a little healthy rudeness, what we would call the politically incorrect. He thought that the cause of democracy is sometimes aided not by “the best men only, but sometimes more by those that provoke it—by the combats they arouse.” And above all, he pointed out that the American experiment is young. It is just getting started. “Thus we presume to write, as it were, upon things that exist not, and travel by maps yet unmade, and a blank. But the throes of birth are upon us.” True democracy is still in the future. So much of what he wrote rings true today: the need to see democratic life as an exhilarating adventure, the terrible damage done when you tell groups that they are of no account, the need for a unifying American mythos, the power of culture to provide that mythos and, above all, the reminder that this is still early days. We’re still a young country. The times may be discouraging, but the full strength of American democracy is still waiting to be born.

Michael Makabenta Alunan

on the contrary

fter the yearly global Earth Hour environmental movement celebrates its 11th anniversary on March 23 at 8:30 p.m., ever since it started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, it is high time to assess what difference it has made, otherwise it is time to change the climate of governance and advocacy so as to understand better the opposing views about man-made climate change.

n Earth hour vs our Earth? Amid widespread “fake news” and their social-media proliferation through “Goebellian propaganda,” named after Hitler’s propagandist Joseph Goebbels, who peddled lies repeatedly that they were perceived as truth; perhaps, it is time to elevate the discourse to opposing views to get the public and the hoi polloi masses, to think more critically and discover the facts by themselves. I believe global climate change is real, as climate has always been changing constantly and that we witness often Mother Nature’s wrath (i.e., storm surges, earthquakes, etc.), but I no longer believe this is due to anthropogenic or manmade activities as true science says human activities like industrialization and transport emissions do not really cause global warming. The fake news, or massive propaganda that has unfortunately influenced governments and policy-makers worldwide to enter into onerous accords like the Kyoto Protocol, COP 21 agreements, etc., or for civil society to go nuts over Earth Hour only manifest our little understanding of our Earth. Prof. Ross McKitrick of the University of Guelph in Ontario argues

why must we “demonize electricity” by switching it off on Earth Hour, when we should be celebrating electricity for its manifold benefits to humanity. He says this only manifests our ignorance. n Is it man-made or “Mannmade”? The United Nations’s Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) argument, on which Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth global warming documentary was based, is the “Hockey Stick” theory by climatologist Michael Mann. Mann studied global temperature the past 1,000 years and recorded the spike in temperatures starting in the 19th century with a graph shaped like a hockey stick, which was correlated to man-made industrialization and motor-vehicle emissions. Mann got earth samples from the polar region and saw correlations between carbon dioxide (CO2) content and residues capturing temperature levels, although correlation does not establish causality. A total of 31,487 American scientists alone even signed a petition opposing this. Many scientists resigned from IPCC, which is composed more of politicized nongovernmental organization and government people.

Bloomberg View

his weekend marked the 10th anniversary of the collapse of Bear Stearns Cos. The proximate cause of the disaster was a combination of excessive, subprime mortgage-concentrated leverage and poor risk controls. But the overall economic, monetary and regulatory environment were the broader reasons. On this anniversary, it is worthwhile to review what happened and what lessons were and were not learned. Let’s begin by looking at some of the broadest factors in effect during the pre-crisis era and how they contributed to the collapse. Monetary policy: The role of former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan in setting rates at ultralow levels—and keeping them there for a long time—cannot be under-

stated. Credit boomed, especially consumer loans and mortgages, as did items priced in dollars, such as commodities, especially food and energy. Greenspan was No. 1 in my book, and for good reason. Flat wages: Ultralow rates did not occur in a vacuum; they took place in an environment where real wages had been flat for at least three decades and income inequality had been growing. Few people were willing to admit they were sliding lower on the socioeconomic ladder or lower their standard of living, so they turned to debt to fill the gap. Lenders made it easy, especially the nonbank underwriters who were not constrained by either Federal Reserve or Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rules and regulations. Speaking of which: Deregulation: The prior few decades were an era of radical deregulation. The Commodity Futures

n Facts don’t follow theory. In the Global Warming Swindle documentary, earth’s history shows climate changed, contrary to propaganda that CO2 increase leads to global warming, followed by climate change. Prof. Philip Stott of University of London says when humans were not yet producing CO2, we had little ice ages and warm periods. In the 14th century, Europe had a Little Ice Age as artifact illustrations show ice fairs and people skating on the Thames River, and in the medieval period, England was warm as manifested in the writings of English poet Chaucer and numerous sites today like vineyards, Vine hill, Vine Street, Vinery, etc. At the turn of the 19th century, temperatures rose by almost half-percent Celsius, but from the post-War economic boom to 1975, they dropped even when CO2 rose to their peaks with industrialization, thus negating the global warming scare theory. n More proof from Moore. Green peace cofounder scientist Patrick Moore left Greenpeace when it abandoned science and turned political, starting with its “Global Chlorine Ban,” when chlorine is the only technology that can purify water instantly on a mass scale, even dirty canal water. Chlorine evaporates in 30 minutes, making it safe, potable and free of the charges of carcinogenic content. Moreover, 75 percent of medicines are chlorine-based. CO2 may have increased from 260 parts per million (ppm) to 400 ppm the past two centuries, this is a negligible 0.04 percent of a million parts. Over the last 600 million years, average CO2 levels were even at 2,000 ppm, which is ideal for plant growth, Moore said. Industrial Scientific asserts CO2 exposure causes headaches only at 30,000 ppm, and only gets life threatening at 80,000 ppm.

STL earnings nearing ₧4 billion Florante S. Solmerin

FACT IS MIGHT!

F all local government units (LGUs), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other law-enforcement agencies fully support Executive Order 13, the all-out war against illegal gambling, the contribution of Small Town Lottery (STL) to the government coffers will be more than P4 billion in two months.

Believe it or not, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) STL earned P1.8 billion in January 2018, followed by P1.9 billion in the succeeding month of February. The total earnings of 85 Authorized Agent Corp. (AACs), the active STL operators in different regions of the country, is P3.8 billion. Also, the P140.7-million “shortfall” of STL revenues last year

has already been collected. STL’s earnings increased in the last two months this year against the same period in 2017 at P1.8 billion. As for the overall earnings of PCSO games, the agency reported P10.8-billion earnings for January and February of 2018, including STL. Lotto games earned P5.3 billion; Keno, P943.2 million; and

What we didn’t learn from the Bear Stearns collapse By Barry Ritholtz

Wednesday, March 21, 2018 A11

Modernization Act of 2000 allowed derivatives to be treated unlike any other financial instrument: no exchange need, no reserve requirements and no disclosures necessary. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Net Capital Rule (Rule 15c3-1), which limited investment bank leverage since 1975, was overturned. Glass-Steagall, which separated investing and savings banks, was repealed. The federal preemption of state anti-predatory lending laws also contributed. Bad economic theory: Greenspan’s “oops” moment came when he told Congress he found a flaw in his idea that bank executives would never do anything that would hurt the reputations, never mind the survival, of their institutions. This was a basis (perhaps excuse is better word) for the now-laughable belief that banks could self-regulate. The reason was a stronger force existed, namely:

Incentives: This may be one of the fundamental laws of economics: Incentives matter. From “I’ll be gone bonuses” based on trades that blew up long after employees have left the firm, to the run-of-the-mill emphasis on short-term company stock movements (see this, this and this), the incentive system was utterly misaligned. It still is. Perhaps the most startling lessons from the crisis are those that stubbornly refuse to be learned. There is a long and not very distinguished list of what did not cause the meltdown. Some of these explanations are tortured examples of cognitive dissonance: a stubborn refusal to accept a fact that directly contradicts a belief system or ideology in which you have invested a lot of time, effort and energy. Other factors are what I called “The Big Lie” —a false narrative blaming people and issues that had nothing to do with the

n Need more CO2 to go green? We actually need more CO2 to develop agriculture. If environmentalists want more green, they must push for more CO2, being the plants’ basic food. CO2 is also used as a refrigerant in making dry ice to preserve food. There is even a web site, I Love CO2.com. But why is CO2 restricted, if the bigger greenhouse gas is water vapor, which is 850 percent stronger than CO2, and 2.1-M percent more in volume than CO2 in the atmosphere? Without water vapor, the Earth will be 14 percent colder. Apparently, there are people who don’t want backward countries like Africa to industrialize. Restrictions on CO2 will thus prevent industrialization and hinder the adoption of cold storage to sustain food, which can only mean systematic implicit genocide. n Renew energy to discover. Except for hydro and geothermal, other renewable energies like wind and solar have low energy flux densities, not capable of providing baseload energy for massive industries. Windmills made of steel may be more efficient, but are no different than Holland’s 12thcentury wooden mills as there is no energy when there is no wind. Solar is also good, but maybe appropriate for remote areas beyond reach of power lines. In summary, climate change is a fact, which we must prepare for, but it is not caused by humans, so we need to renew and redirect our energy toward discovering the truth by bringing back science and the creative imagination of the arts to discover concrete solutions to mitigate and adapt to global warming, or a mini ice age, and overall climate change. This requires a change in the climate of governance and the way we think.

E-mail: mikealunan@yahoo.com

Sweepstakes, P611.4 million. To compare, PCSO earned a total of P7.8 billion from January to February in 2017 against P10.8 billion from January to February in 2018. There is an evident 37.32-percent spike, amounting to P2.9 billion. If the PCSO’s earnings from STL, Lotto, Keno, and Instant Sweepstakes continue the trend, it is much likely that the agency will hit its P60billion revenue target this year. However, there is a possibility that earnings may decrease as stated by PCSO General Manager Alexander F. Balutan in an interview on DZRH. Balutan said the possible decline in earnings may be due to the ongoing evaluation of AACs operating STL. Some AACs will be terminated for violation of the implementing rules and regulation of STL. Balutan has not yet identified the AACs to be terminated. The common violation committed by the AACs is their failure to remit to PCSO their

Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipt. In simpler terms, if an AAC is to remit P50 million per month but its remittance is only P30 million, there is a deficit of P20 million. According to the PCSO general manager, many of the 85 AACs will be terminated in the coming days. However, he clarified that the terminated AACs will be replaced at the soonest possible time to prevent the decline in revenue collection from STL. The STL-IRR must, indeed, be revised in order to improve PCSO’s revenue collection relative to its games, which are deemed as the solution to jueteng, swertres, masiao, peryahan ng bayan and other forms of illegal numbers game. As I have said, the firm implementation of STL is one of the efficient instruments in completely eradicating all forms of illegal numbers game in our country.

crisis, but make for convenient scapegoats. Let’s state this unequivocally: Poor brown and black people did not cause the financial crisis. There have been numerous attempts to claim they did, but each is so easily dispatched as to be laughable: Community Reinvestment Act (CRA): This 1970s anti-redlining legislation is a favorite boogeyman of critics. But, as we noted previously, had the CRA been the cause of the crisis, home sales and prices in urban, minority communities would have led the national home market higher, then led the nation in foreclosures. This is not what happened. Instead, inland California, Las Vegas, Arizona and South Florida were initially the biggest gainers and ultimately experienced the biggest losses in the housing debacle. To say nothing of the fact that much of the rest of the world experienced an even greater housing boom and bust.

You can blame the CRA, but only if that acronym stands for Credit Rating Agencies. Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac: The other favorite boogeyman is these two government-sponsored agencies. Many pro-deregulation commentators refuse to accept their own roles in the crisis, and casting about for others to blame, found easy marks in these two. Not that they were blameless: They were poorly run, sloppy finance firms that were notoriously mismanaged (my firm was short the GSEs pre-crisis). But that does not mean they were a significant causal factor. Even Greenspan admitted they were no more or less responsible for the crisis than any other big and poorly run bank. That’s the short overview—if you think you understand the crisis, you can take this simple test. If we want to avoid the next crisis, there are still a few steps we need to take.

E-mail: fetad@yahoo.com.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Con-com needs more time to finish first draft of federal constitution By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

he consultative committee (Con-com) has adjusted its timetable, with the first draft of the proposed federal charter that will be presented to the public for comments now targeted to be finished by April 30, instead of the original April 20 deadline.

This is to give the Con-com members more time to draft and approve specific provisions with the all-important annotations. The Con-com started its drafting phase on February 19. Regional and provincial consultations are now set to run from May 2 to June 19, from the previous target of April 23 to June 8. After the public presentation and consultation phase, the committee will move to the consolidation and approval stage from June 20 to July 16. The new schedule was presented in Tuesday’s briefing at the Philippine International Convention Center. Despite the change in schedule, Con-com Chairman and former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno said the committee is still “on track” to meet the July deadline of submission to the President. The Con-com’s target date of first submission to the President is still on July 9, while the final draft should be submitted on July 19, days before the Chief Executive’s State of the Nation Address scheduled on July 23. Puno said the committee needs to discuss various issues before it goes to regional consultations. Puno told reporters that some of the most difficult parts—or “slippery slopes”—in drafting the Constitution are those involving the creation of constituent states, autonomous regions and the extent of powers to be given to them. He noted they still need to determine how many states or regions will be formed on the basis of fiscal and economic data, and how many regions would be viable and sustainable. “This requires a lot of study.

Boracay. . .

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The declaration or designation of a critical habitat is in the form of a Department Administrative Order. Under Section 25 of RA 9147, the secretary of the DENR shall designate critical areas outside protected areas under RA 7586, where threatened species are found. “Such designation shall be made on the basis of the best scientific data, taking into consideration species endemicity and/or richness, the presence of man-made pressure/threats to the survival of wildlife in the area…” it says. Furthermore, the law states that “all designated, critical habitats shall be protected, in coordination with the LGUs and other concerned groups, from any form of exploitation or destruction, which may be detrimental to the survival of the

The studies would determine where you will put the balance of powers between the national government and the constituent regions,” he said. Puno added they are also expecting a lot of opposition when it comes to their decisions on political reforms, saying that they are just doing what’s best for the country. “There will be a lot of opposition. You can expect the champions of the status quo to resist these changes. We see that happening in the case of political dynasties, and we will also see that

April 30 The new deadline set by the consultative committee for the first draft of the federal charter

happening when we restrain the monopolies,” he said. For the rest of its working days this month, particularly until March 23, the Subcommittee on the Structure of Federal Government is continuing deliberations on the distribution of powers among the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches. The Subcommittee on the Structure of Federal Government is hoping to finalize its recommendations to the en banc by the second week of April. The Subcommittee on Rights, Obligations and Social Justice will also have two meetings on the consideration of inclusion of socioeconomic rights and environment rights (seconda nd t h ird- generat ion r ights) until Thursday. The Subcommittee on Economic Reforms will also meet on

Thursday to firm up recommendations on economic provisions for en banc decision. After the Holy Week, the Committee will also decide on a number of topics under political and economic reforms. Political-reform issues to be discussed and to be taken up for en banc by the first week of April are term limits, turncoatism, electoral system, campaign finance, political parties and direct exercise of democracy involving people’s initiative and power of recall. Economic reforms, such as balanced economic liberalization, land ownership and competitiveness, are set to be discussed in an en banc session on April 10, while the bill of rights, or the civil and political rights to be strengthened with the inclusion of second- and third-generation rights, are set to be tackled by April 11. Const it ut iona l bod ies a nd structure of federal government will be discussed the following week, and also the creation of constituent units, including the evolving system of federalism, constituent states, autonomous regions, other units of government, Bangsamoro and Cordillera are up for en banc session from April 23 to 26.

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Lim: Local retailers not ready to compete under highly liberalized regime Continued from A1

setting minimum capital requirements and without limits on foreign equity participation,” Yap said. “These requirements, together with other barriers, have resulted in the Philippines ranking dead last in terms of having a regulatory regime favorable to foreign investment, behind Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia,” he added. A totally open retail industry, Yap argued, will not only drive investments growth but also job creation. However, Lim disagreed. He believes HB 4595 will kill the SME sector, which is just in its developing stage. With this, he said retailers will lobby against the government’s plan to totally liberalize the retail industry. What they can only concede is to lower the paid-up capital requirement to at least $2 million. “That is the only concession we are willing to give because the moral is very simple: If the government is after investments, we should focus on investment amount. For the foreign chambers to say that we should liberalize down to $200,000, that is petty cash to foreign retailers,” Lim told the BusinessMirror. “Whereas the Congress, I would like them: Are they here to look after the interest of Filipinos or of the foreigners? Diretsuhan na lang tayo [Let us be straightforward]. Now, what they are saying is, we let them all come and then let [foreign retailers] compete with our SMEs? That is like leaving bread crumbs to the Filipinos, [while] the foreigners take all the bread,” he added. If the government is really bent on attracting foreign investors, the PRA chairman emeritus said it should just allow the “big guys” to compete with themselves because they can “take care of themselves.” However, further liberalization of

the retail sector only means another obstruction for small businesses to develop, he added. “I think this [measure] will wipe out the middle class, and we will go back to all small enterprises. The bill will, in effect, kill the manufacturing sector, and, in effect, will create unemployment,” Lim said. The Duterte administration is keen on lifting existing restrictions on foreign participation in certain industries. The plan is to liberalize the economy to further attract foreign investors to the country. Yap said the trade department and antitrust regulator agreed with him that the trade-liberalization law, ironically, is biased against foreign investors. “The DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] BOI [Board of Investments] and the PCC [Philippine Competition Commission], along with the joint foreign chambers, are all on the same page, stating that Philippine retail laws are too restrictive and impede the growth of the economy and, [if] left unchanged, work against the interests of millions of Philippine consumers,” Yap told the BusinessMirror. “Innovation and technology is disrupting the economy. We must invite companies that have something new to offer, that are imaginative and out of the box in product offerings to come and set up shop in the Philippines. This will make the Philippines more attractive to tourists and offer Philippine consumers better-priced quality goods. This will not happen if we continue to have restrictive investments laws,” he added. For the Bohol representative, the retail-liberalization law has yet to fulfill its stated objectives when it was enacted into law in 2000. “Clearly, the law’s intention of inviting retail trade investors, creating jobs and making goods more price and quality competitive has not been realized,” Yap said. With Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

House passes budgetary reform bill on second and third reading Continued from A1

Summer fruits galore Various summer fruits are on display in a mall in Makati City, giving consumers a wide range of choices at affordable prices. NONIE REYES

threatened species therein.” The law also allows the environment secretary to acquire, by purchase, donation or expropriation, lands of interests therein, including the acquisition of usufruct, the establishment of an easement or other undertakings appropriate in protecting the critical habitat. According to Lim, once declared as a critical habitat, major development projects will be prohibited by law. The remaining limestone forest on the island, according to Lim, needs to be protected because of its uniqueness. The remaining forests over limestone, beach forests and mangroves on Boracay are uniquely distributed across the island in barangays Yapak, Balabag and Manoc-Manoc. The largest remaining patch of limestone forest is found in the northern section of the island in Barangay Yapak. It represents the largest remaining limestone forest in the Negros-Panay Faunal region.

In Barangay Manoc-Manoc, on the eastern side of the island, a huge concentration of mangrove belonging to four different species can be found. Sonneratia alba, or perepat or mangrove apple, the most adapted mangrove species on the island based on its distribution in the mangrove forest, is the dominant species on the island. The declaration of the limestone forests on Boracay will cover some of the caves on the island, which are unique ecosystems and home to a variety of wildlife, including insect bats. Another area recommended for designation as a limestone area is the Puka Shell Beach. The Puka Shell Beach is known to host a number of marine turtle species, especially the green turtles, which is listed as “critically endangered.” The Philippines—specifically Boracay—has a variety of puka shell species that can be found in one specific beach, hence the name Puka Shell Beach.

While Boracay is known for its whitesand beaches and pristine waters, the Puka Shell Beach is unique because of its finer grains of white sand. “Puka shells and fragments of puka shells make up substantially the sands in Puka Beach and [are] responsible for insulating the sand. That is why, even when it is hot in other areas, the sand on Puka Beach is colder,” Lim said in a previous interview. Also recommended to be designated as critical habitat are forests where the flying foxes or fruit bats are known to thrive. The fruit bats play an important role in the natural regeneration of forests, as they feed and leave feces that include seeds of the fruits they eat. According to Lim, declaring certain areas on the island as critical habitats will be imperative to help save not only the biodiversity of Boracay but also nearby areas, including the mainland Malay town, the entire province and the rest of Panay Island.

With the urgent certification, a bill need not undergo the three-day rule between the second and third reading, with approval on both levels within the same day. The bill, which was approved by 158 and opposed by eight lawmakers with one abstention, seeks to improve the budget process by enforcing greater accountability, strengthening the power of the purse of Congress, and increasing budget transparency and participation. The provisions of the bill shall apply to the management of revenue, expenditure, financing arrangements, and assets and liabilities of national government agencies (NGAs), government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), and local government units (LGUs). The bill mandates Congress to monitor and review government performance against the requirements of appropriations and related laws, and hold government agencies accountable for their financial and nonfinancial performance. It also empowers the President of the Philippine to approve the following: Statement of Fiscal Policy; Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy for submission to Congress; and changes in the functional, operational and organizational structure within and among the depar tments of Budget and Management (DBM), and of Finance (DOF), and National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), as may be

necessary, to ensure the effective implementation of the Act. It mandates the DBM not to approve any request for release of allotments for items of appropriation covered in the negative list or modification in the allotment nor recommend the use of savings by the President until such time the noncompliant agency has submitted the reports required under the act. The bill also allows the Commission on Audit (COA) to suspend and/ or disallow any expenditure charged against augmentation, using savings and any expenditure due to modification in the allotment, which were made within the period succeeding the reporting period when the agency failed to comply with the reporting requirements under the Act. Likewise, the measure holds accountable public officials who fail to report on the income and funds retained at the end of a reporting period. It seeks to void all disbursements against such income or funds in subsequent reporting period when the agency failed to comply with the reporting requirements under the Act. Congress, through its appropriate oversight committee, may motu proprio or upon the request of COA or DBM compel the head of the noncompliant agency, under the pain of contempt, to produce the required report or reports and to explain failure of submission of such report or reports. Continued on A2