Businessmirror march 22, 2018

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Thursday, March 22, 2018 Vol. 13 No. 162

DepEd ends payroll-deduction deals with insurers, lenders By Samuel P. Medenilla

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@sam_medenilla

he decision of the Department of Education (DepEd) to suspend its Automatic Payroll Deduction System (APDS) for loans and insurance payments is feared to create a ripple of negative effects impacting private lending institutions (PLIs), insurance firms and the 250,000 publicschool teachers (PSTs).

What the industry really needs is the support of PCA in increasing local production, because the requirement for coconut products in the global market is increasing.” —Agustin By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

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Conclusion

monthly monitor ing report of the World Bank (WB) showed that the average price of coconut oil, or CNO, in February fell to a three-month low of $1,252 per metric ton (MT). The figure was more than a quarter lower than the $1,719-perMT quotation recorded in February 2017, according to the bank’s monthly Pink Sheet report. On the other hand, price-monitoring report prepared by the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) showed that the average price of coconut oil in the world market has fallen below the $1,200 quotation since the start of March. In its latest report, the average price of coconut oil as of March 5 was $1,130 per MT, which was 5.04 percent lower than the $1,190 quotation recorded in March 2. Continued on A12

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The Automatic Payroll Deduction System that the DepEd instituted to ensure proper collection of loans and insurance premia of teachers The DepEd formalized the decision with the issuance of a memorandum signed by Education Undersecretary for Finance Victoria L. Medrana Catibog informing all

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n January the House Committee on Labor, headed by Rep. Randolph S. Ting of the Third District of Cagayan, proudly announced a breakthrough in the “security of tenure” (SOT) legislative issue. House Bill 6908, which was essentially based on the bill filed by Party-list Rep. Raymond C. Mendoza of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, was overwhelmingly approved by the House plenary, 199-7. The House is now awaiting for the approval of a similar bill from the Senate.

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Coconut-oil exports on the road to recovery

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Continued on A10

Teo admits 2018 arrivals goal imperiled by Boracay closure By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

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HE first two months of 2018 brought in some 1.41 million tourists to the country, up 16.2 percent from the same period last year. In a news statement, the Department of Tourism (DOT) attributed the increase in arrivals to the substantial increase in Chinese tourists. “The warming relations between the Philippines and China, plus the Chinese New Year seven-day holiday, strengthen the platform for us to jump-start our campaign of achieving 1.5 million

Israel’s Ambassador to the Philippines Effie Ben Matityau (right) answers questions from reporters of the Aliw Media Group during a forum held at the BusinessMirror office in Makati City. With him are (from left) BusinessMirror Publisher T. Anthony C. Cabangon and Jewish Association of the Philippines Rabbi Eliyahu Azaria. ALYSA SALEN

Jews ready to do business with Filipinos, but not in PHL By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

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@alyasjah

he “unpredictable” business environment and foreignownership cap in certain sectors in the Philippines have been forcing Israeli investors to delay their plans to establish operations in the country, according to Ambassador of Israel to the Philippines Effie Ben Matityau. Speaking at the BusinessMirror Coffee Club Forum on Wednesday, Matityau said there could have been more Israeli investors doing business in the country today, if not for the foreign-ownership cap mandated under the Constitution. He listed predictability as their main consideration before they invest in a country.

PESO exchange rates n US 52.1120

MATITYAU: “Doing business with Filipinos is easy. It is just that doing business inside the Philippines is not.”

“Yes, that has to [change],” Matityau said, referring to the restrictions on foreign ownership, “especially if you want to do business inside the Philippines. It is a very, very serious issue because you do not have total control of your business.” “The legal environment and everything that has to cater to foreigners, you do not have much remedies. Without these remedies, the whole environment is not conducive enough,” he added.

Israeli investors have long targeted the Philippines, but Matityau said the foreign-ownership cap had a good number of businessmen eliminating the Philippines from their list of possible investment locations. In 2016 investments from Israel dropped by 60.66 percent to only P10.45 million, from P26.56 million in 2015. Matityau owed this to unpredictability of the country’s business environment. For the top envoy, this has to be reformed because the Philippines is losing opportunities that could have easily fallen on its feet. “You look at your business environment, and investors would look at where they find themselves in the most comfortable position.” Continued on A12

1.41M The number of tourists that visited the Philippines in the first two months of 2018, up 16.2 percent

Chinese arrivals for this year,” Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo said. This developed even as the DOT chief admitted that the government’s full-year arrivals target might be affected if Boracay Island is closed for a year. Continued on A2

LRWC, Galaxy secure Pagcor license for $500-M resort-casino in Boracay By Rea Cu

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@ReaCuBM

he Phi l ippine A muse ment and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) announced that it has issued a provisional gaming license last Tuesday to Leisure and Resorts World Corp. (LRWC), the Filipino partner of Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG), paving the way for the establishment of a resort-casino in Boracay worth an estimated $500 million in 2019. The Malay government confirmed that it had endorsed the establishment of Galaxy Entertainment Group’s casino in Boracay, as well as that of the Megaworld Corp.’s casino in Savoy Hotel at its Boracay Newcoast Development. The LRWC pointed out that the integrated resort-casino will be built in an area spanning 23 hectares

in Boracay, and that construction work is expected to start in 2019. The facility will take three years to complete. It added that gross gaming revenues (GGR) are expected to reach $100 million annually once the resort-casino operates. “We at LRWC are elated and proud to be GEG’s local partner in this momentous endeavor. We thank Pagcor Chairman Andrea D. Domingo and the entire Pagcor board for giving GEG the chance to contribute to the booming Philippine tourism and gaming industry by granting BPRL [Boracay Philippines Resort and Leisure Corp.] a provisional gaming license,” LRWC Chairman Reynaldo P. Bantug said. Bantug said LRWC will do its best to ensure that the Boracay project will preserve and maintain the Continued on A12

n japan 0.4892 n UK 72.9516 n HK 6.6433 n CHINA 8.2258 n singapore 39.5177 n australia 40.0324 n EU 63.8059 n SAUDI arabia 13.8954

Source: BSP (21 March 2018 )


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