Businessmirror march 28, 2015

three-time rotary club of manila journalism awardee 2006, 2010, 2012

U.N. Media Award 2008

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

A broader look at today’s business

n Sunday, March 29, 2015 Vol. 10 No. 171

HSBC lists ‘main risks’ to ‘stable’ PHL economy

L

week ahead

ECONOMIC DATA PREVIEW Foreign exchange

n Previous week: The local currency mostly rallied in the previous week, appreciating in the first two days. In particular, the peso appreciated to 44.79 to a dollar on Monday, from the previous week’s close of 44.815 to a dollar. This further appreciated to hit 44.67 to a dollar on Tuesday. On Wednesday, however, the peso hit 44.755 to a dollar and depreciated further on Thursday at 44.83. The peso ended the week with a slight correction on Friday at 44.76 to a dollar. The average exchange rate of the peso during the week is at 44.761 to a dollar, weaker than the average of 44.65 to a dollar in the previous week.

n Week ahead: The foreign-exchange trading platform in the country will be facing a shortened trading week due to the Holy Week-related suspensions. An international bank during the week, however, said the peso is still seen to continue trading around the 45 territory and will only appreciate significantly toward the end of the year.

M3 (February 2015)

March 31, Tuesday

n January M3: The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported that domestic liquidity—or the volume of money currently in the economy, broadly measured as M3—grew by 7.7 percent in January 2015 to hit P7.5 trillion from its level in the same month the previous year. This is the lowest cash-supply growth in the country since September 2012, when it hit 6.4 percent.

n February M3: Liquidity in the system has been slowing down significantly in the past months, from its previous peak of 30 percent down to a singledigit growth trend in the coming months. This is seen to continue in the coming months into 2015.

Amid the slowdown, central bank officials have said that the economy has enough liquidity to fuel the growing economy, which targets a gross domestic product expansion of 7 percent to 8 percent this year. Bianca Cuaresma

By Bianca Cuaresma

imited investments in the country and the uncertainty of inflation in the event that oil prices normalize immediately are touted as the “main risks” to the country’s strong and stable economy in 2015, an international banking giant said.

In its quarterly review of Asian economies, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) said that, although it remains optimistic for the Philippines versus other countries in the region, some factors remain concerns for the Philippine economy.

Among these factors include unaddressed investment growth and short-term supply shocks that may lead to inflation worries toward the middle to the latter part of the year.

“Limited investment remains a concern. The private-public partnership initiative has been slug-

gish at best. The administration has promised to raise infrastructure investment, but, thus far, key shortages, such as electricity and air transport, remain unaddressed,” HSBC said.

The British banking giant added that this lag in investment will drag down the economy’s competitiveness, as well as its output potential.

“We expect public investment to slow and private consumption, as well as private investment, to pick up the slack. Should government spending slow more than expected See “HSBC,” A2

MVP less interested to cast lot in ‘deal of the century’

T

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

he so-called deal of the century, or the contract to operate the Philippines’s top gas field, might not be too profitable, if at all, one of the country’s most prolific businessmen said over the weekend.

First Pacific Co. Ltd. Managing Director and CEO Manuel V. Pangi­linan admitted, though, that his company has yet to fully grasp the idea of auctioning off the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power Facility after the private partner’s concession expires in 2024. But at this stage of the plan, the firm will likely not participate in the bidding of the deal.

“We are not aware of the project, so maybe not on our radar,” he replied, when asked if his group would be interested in gaining a hold of the project.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., the local flagship of Hong Kong-based conglomerate First Pacific, has interests in the power industry, having a significant shareholding in power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

But it seems that the project might not be too profitable, Pangi­ linan implied, when he said in the vernacular: “Paubos na iyon. Ano pa’ng bibilhin mo doon [The reserves are depleting. What are you going to invest in]?”

The Malampaya gas field currently supplies natural gas to the 1,200-megawatt (MW) Ilijan, the 1,000-MW Santa Rita and the 500MW San Lorenzo plants. The gas field is 850 meters deep offshore northwest Palawan and has proven reserves of about 2.5 trillion to

PESO exchange rates n US 44.8270

See “Deal of the Century,” A2

P25.00 nationwide | 6 sections 28 pages | 7 days a week

Yellen: Rate increase may be warranted later this year

W

Yellen

AP

ASHINGTON—Federal Reserve (the Fed) Chairman Janet Yellen said on Friday that the continued improvement in the US economy means an increase in the Fed’s key interest rate could come later this year.

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But Yellen stressed that any rate increase would likely be very gradual.

The Fed has kept its benchmark rate at a record low near zero for more than six years. Yellen said in a speech in San Francisco that the time to start raising the rate could occur “sometime this year,” though she said the time hasn’t yet arrived.

In her speech, Yellen said that the Fed’s first move would depend on how the economy performs. She said that when the Fed does start raising rates, policy-makers expect the increases to be “rather gradual” for the next few years.

Yellen said Japan’s experience over the past 20 years argues for a cautious approach. Over that time, Japan has struggled with anemic economic growth, as well as deflation—a period of falling prices that’s been hard for its policy-makers to overcome.

Yellen said that a key reason for a gradual approach to higher rates is that the danger of raising them too fast is greater than the risk of doing so too slowly. If the Fed were to tighten loan rates too quickly, the economy could stall and, with rates still relatively low, the Fed would have little room to cut them.

But she did say that taking a “gradualist approach” to raising rates carries its own risks. One is the possibility that it might undermine the Fed’s credibility as an inflation fighter and could risk instability in financial markets by allowing an excessive buildup in borrowing.

“At this point, the evidence indicates that such vulnerabilities do not pose a significant threat, but the [Fed] is carefully monitoring developments in this area,” she said.

See “Rate Increase,” A2

n japan 0.3761 n UK 66.5905 n HK 5.7808 n CHINA 7.2157 n singapore 32.7372 n australia 35.1805 n EU 48.8121 n SAUDI arabia 11.9510 Source: BSP (27 March 2015)

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, March 29, 2015

‘Deal of the century’...

3.5 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Malampaya is regarded as one of the longest subsea pipelines in the world at 504 kilometers. It extracts natural gas from the Malampaya gas field covered by Service Contract 38 that is condensed and is delivered straight to power plants.

The facility provides roughly 45 percent of Luzon’s power-generation requirements.

But experts believe that the facility will run out of gas in nine years’ time.

Roughly 1 trillion cubic feet of gas has been consumed to date.

Pangilinan’s comment came after San Miguel Corp. President Ramon S. Ang declared the project, dubbed as the “deal of the century,” in an economic conference in Manila last week. Ang said his company, which has a power-generating subsidiary, is interested in the deal—even before the government decides whether to bid it out again.

The concessionaire for the Malampaya

HSBC...

continued from A1

facility includes Shell Philippines Exploration BV, Chevron Texaco Malampaya Llc. and Philippine National Oil Co. The quarterof-a-century-long contract was made on the assumption that the field only has a life of 25 years.

Should the gas facility become totally empty by the time the contract expires, the Philippines will have to face another power crisis. Hence, scouting for the next gas field should be of national priority.

Earlier this month, Otto Energy Ltd. Director Rufino B. Bomasang said the players in the power sector should start exploring for more gas fields in order to offset—if not totally saturate—the projected deficiency that comes with the expiration of Malampaya.

Service Contract 55, which covers the southwestern part of Palawan, could be enough to replace the gas facility, he predicted.

Rate increase...

continued from A1

and household expenditure weaken [not our assumption], growth may slow sharply,” HSBC warned.

Meanwhile, the bank said that inflation is an additional risk, more particularly on the electricity prices in the coming months—noting that the government has already projected an electricity shortage for this year.

“The decline of oil prices has helped to offset price risks from various supply-side constraints. However, should the peso weaken sharply and the oil rise again, inflation could bounce back sharply,” HSBC said.

Other risks to the country’s sustained growth momentum is the country’s ability to productively absorb its working age population through the creation of more jobs while its population rapidly rises, and the expectation of a “policy paralysis” due to the upcoming 2016 elections.

“President Aquino’s term will end in 2016. Filipinos will go to the polls in May 2016, and the upcoming 2016 presidential elections will be on both investors’ and politicians’ minds. We expect investment to be cautious in the lead-up to the presidential election, while private consumption should be robust,” the bank said. HSBC earlier forecast a 6-percent growth for the country in 2015.

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST MARCH 29, 2015 | SUNDAY

TODAY’S WEATHER

news@businessmirror.com.ph

MAR 30 MONDAY

MAR 31 TUESDAY

METRO MANILA

24 – 33°C

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Yellen’s comments offered an elaboration on signals the Fed sent after its latest policy meeting last week. It said then that it was content to move slowly to raise rates because it wanted to see further improvement in the job market and an increase in inflation levels.

Inflation recently has fallen further below the Fed’s 2-percent target for annual price increases.

On Monday Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said in a speech in New York that he expected the central bank to start raising rates sometime this year.

Both Yellen and Fischer stressed the Fed’s expectation that rate hikes would be incremental and that the Fed’s action would depend on how the economy performs.

Paul Ashworth, chief US econ-

APR 1 WEDNESDAY

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LEGAZPI ILOILO/ BACOLOD 24 – 33°C METRO CEBU 24 – 32°C

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Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rainshowers and/or thunderstorms Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rainshowers Partly cloudy skies

Cloudy to at times cloudy with rainshowers and/or thunderstorms

Weekday hourly updates: 6:00 AM on Balitaan, 7:00 AM & 8:00 AM on Good Morning Boss!, 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 1:00 PM on News@1, 3:00 PM, 4:30 PM, and 6:00 PM on News@6

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SABAH

LOW TIDEMANILA HIGH TIDE SOUTH HARBOR

MAR 27

PUERTO PRINCESA

Watch PANAHON.TV everyday at 5:00 AM on PTV (Channel 4).

METRO DAVAO 23 – 33°C

SUNRISE 22 – 30°C

LEGAZPI CITY 24 – 31°C

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

omist at Capital Economics, said Yellen’s remarks didn’t alter his view that the Fed will start raising rates in June, though, many other economists foresee no increase before September.

“We still think that sizable gains in payrolls over the next few months will prompt the Fed to start raising rates in June,” Ashworth said.

He predicted that, while rate hikes this year would be gradual, the increases would pick up in 2016 as the Fed responds to stronger wage growth and higher inflation.

In its policy statement last week, the Fed said it wouldn’t be appropriate to start raising rates until the job market improved further, and Fed officials were “reasonably confident” inflation would return to their 2-percent target. AP

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING NORTHERN LUZON (AS OF MARCH 28, 5:00 AM)

Northeast Monsoon locally known as “Amihan”.

It affects the eastern portions of the country. It is cold and dry; characterized by widespread cloudiness with rain showers.

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 24 – 32°C

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@PanahonTV

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EconomySunday

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BusinessMirror

PHL starts journey to sustainable growth, Metrobank exec says

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By Genivi Factao

etropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) said investors now see the Philippines as a country that’s just starting the journey to sustainable growth.

Metrobank President Fabian Dee said the outlook on the economy is very bullish, as shown by investors’ confidence on the Philippines compared with its Asean peers.

“Generally, investors are very bullish on our country.

The feeling is that the growth potential of Thailand is probably plateauing. In Indonesia the thinking there is: ‘All banks have probably lend too much to consumer and that consumer debt is quite high,’” he told the BusinessMirror.

“For the Philippines, we’re just starting this journey where we’ll be seeing a very sustainable and explo-

sive growth. We’re hitting the $3,000 gross domestic product per capita already. It looks pretty good,” Dee added. He said that the country is at the point of inflection, where motorization will really take off and retail business is just about to hit a boom.

“We can already see the foreign retailers coming in.

Everyone has that perception,” he said.

Dee said he sees overseas Filipino remittance and business-process outsourcing to be very strong, while locators are increasing their presence here as new players come in.

House passes proposal on mandatory SIM-card registration on 2nd reading

A

ll prepaid subscribers need to register their subscriber identity module (SIM) card should the proposed measure, which passed on second reading, becomes a law.

This, after members of the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology, led

by Chairman and Rizal Rep. Joel Roy Duavit, unanimously approved House Bill 5231, otherwise known as SIM Card Registration Act of 2015, a consolidation of nine bills.

Under the proposed measure, all direct sellers are mandated to register data in a registration-form device for the purpose to include full name and address of the end users.

Authors of the measure are Reps. Marlyn PrimiciasAgabas of Pangasinan; Magnolia Rose Antonino-Nadres of Nueva Ecija; Sergio Apostol of Leyte; Rodolfo Biazon of Muntinlupa City; Winston Castelo of Quezon City; Joel Roy Duavit of Rizal; Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela City; Maximo Rodriguez Jr. of Abante Mindanao party-list; Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City; and Marcelino Teodoro of Marikina City.

Under the bill, every direct seller shall require the

end user of a SIM card to present valid identification with photo to ascertain the latter’s identity.

The direct seller shall also require the end user to accomplish and sign a control-numbered registration form issued by the respective public telecommunications entity of the SIM card being purchased.

The registration form shall include an attestation by the end user that the person personally appearing before the direct seller and the identification documents presented are true and correct and that the person is one and the same who has accomplished and signed the registration form.

A fine of P300,000 would be imposed if the offense is committed by a PTE for the first time, P500,000 for the second offense and for the third and subsequent offenses, a fine of P1,000,000 each.

The bill also imposes a penalty of suspension of its operation on any direct seller who fails to comply with the provisions of the measure and a fine ranging from Php5,000 to Php50,000.

The House of Representatives is targeting to pass the bill on third and final reading before they adjourn sine die on June 11. PNA

briefs

guimaras lgu files resolution to qualify tarec wind farm for fit

some south metro cities, cavite towns waterless on holy week Some areas in Pasay, Las Piñas and Parañaque cities and Cavite will experience water-service interruption, according to Maynilad Water Services Inc., during the Holy Week to give way for a flood-control project of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Maynilad, the private water contractor of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, said the water-service interruption will start on March 31. Water service will resume on April 4.

According to Maynilad, the DPWH project will cause rotating water service interruptions— ranging from 28 hours to 14 hours—in parts of Pasay, Las Piñas, Parañaque and Cavite during the aid period. Jonathan L. Mayuga

The local government of Guimaras has filed a resolution to the National Development Council (NDC) to qualify Trans-Asia Renewables Energy Corp.’s (Tarec) Wind Farm to be included to the first phase of the feed-in tariff (FiT).

Guimaras Gov. Samuel Gumarin said that the provincial government has supported the project through a filing last week to the NDC to add the San Lorenzo Wind Farm as eligible for the first phase of the FiT. Tarec Chairman Ramon del Rosario appeals to the Energy Regulatory Commission to release the FiTCertificate of Endorsement for the project, citing it has already passed power to the grid.

He said there was a sudden change in the rules on defining finished project, since it was initially defined as first to pass power to the grid and not as first built.

The wind farm has been passing off power to the grid since October, passing an estimated 55 gigawatthours to the Visayas grid. PNA

Sunday, March 29, 2015 A3

‘lechon’ delight

Sen. Cynthia A. Villar (second from right) issues a call to the guests and participants of the 24th Hog Convention & Trade Exhibits, held recently at the Philippine International Convention Center, to push the government and private-sector collaboration further to boost agricultural growth. Through this collaboration, Villar, who is also the chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Food Committee, said the “glory days” of the sector will be revived. With her are Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Davinio Catbagan and Party-list Rep. Rico Geron of Agap, among others.

Roy Domingo

SundayV

Busine

A4 Sunday, March 29, 2015

editorial

For responsible leaderships in LGUs

A

DISTURBING report coming from the Department of Finance (DOF) shows that 14 provinces and 26 cities have not submitted information on their receipts and expenditures for fiscal year 2012.

As required by the DOF, the reports are needed for an assessment of performance by local government units (LGUs) in revenue generation, expenditure management and assets market-value updating. The aim is to regularly publish the information “in the spirit of accountability and good financial housekeeping.”

The provinces are Batanes, Aurora, Camarines Sur, Ilocos Sur, Laguna, Rizal, Occidental Mindoro, Romblon, Marinduque, Capiz, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Surigao del Sur and Sulu. The cities are Manila, Malabon, Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Taguig, Urdaneta, Santiago, Isabela, Calamba, Iriga, Canlaon, Passi, Cebu, San Carlos, Mandaue, Bago, Bais, Calbayog, Catbalogan, Ormoc, Gingoog, Pagadian, Bislig, Sagay and Dapitan. Responsible for the submission of the reports are the treasurers of the LGUs concerned.

Earlier, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) was reported as complaining that a large number of LGUs have not submitted required reports on the physical and socio-economic features of their communities, to the prejudice, among others, of their own ability to attract outside investments. Yawning gaps exist in the information published by the Philippine Statistical Authority in its Philippine Statistical Yearbook.

A local leader should not be “required” to submit reports on the physical and socioeconomic characteristics of their communities, and the extent to which the people’s money is generated and expended. Simple tidiness of mind alone suggests that this information be assembled, updated and analyzed, to know how matters stand in the community. Enlightened local leadership should be demanding to know how development goals are being achieved.

This is where the trouble lies. Many LGU officials, from the provincial governor to the city mayor, and the respective councils and boards, actually do not have specific development goals. Loyal to the practices of traditional politics—shaking hands, patting backs, massaging egos—many are unconscious of the requirements of modern times. Competence and dedication to the planning and execution of programs for the betterment of the communities is what is necessary. In some cases, having spent so much money to get elected, many utilize their time finding ways to recover their investment.

There are exceptions to these failings, of course. One need only to remember the likes of mayors Bayani Fernando of Marikina, Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City, Richard Gordon of Olongapo, Edward Hagedorn of Puerto Princesa and current Gov. Joey Salceda of Albay to be assured that competence and integrity remain a mark of public leadership.

The need for efficient, effective and honest public administration at all levels, including specifically the local level, cannot be overemphasized. It is an assurance that services are rendered to the people on a timely basis, and that public tasks are accomplished at minimum cost.

We support measures of the DOF and also the DILG not only to raise the rate of LGU compliance with reporting requirements, but also to improve the level of their technical competence and enhance the caliber of their moral integrity.

Why Manila wants to be Detroit F

OR a leader facing a plethora of challenges at home, Philippine President Benigno Aquino is thinking a lot about Detroit—in particular, how to steal the title “Detroit of Asia” away from his Southeast Asian neighbor Thailand.

Mr. Aquino’s Philippines is riding an economic high; he claims gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year could reach 8 percent, which would be the best performance since the 1950s. The economy enjoyed a 66-percent surge in foreign-direct investment in 2014 compared to a year earlier. On Thursday the central bank was confident enough in growth prospects to hold rates steady, unlike most other Asian countries recently.

The great need, however, remains job growth strong enough to keep pace with the country’s swelling population. The Philippines’s 6.6-percent jobless rate is six times higher than Thailand’s, and 1.6 times more than China’s. That’s why President Aquino, 55, is hoping to spend his last 15 months in office trying to transform his nation into a true manufacturing center. One major initiative is the so-called Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy program, which aims to woo General Motors, Toyota and other auto giants to set up shop in the Philippines.

It entails tax incentives and about $600 million worth of benefits for companies willing produce at least 40,000 vehicles annually, each fully built in the Philippines.

“We’re not relying on trickle down,” Mr. Aquino told me in an interview on Wednesday at the presidential palace in Manila. “We are really trying to enable our people to seize every opportunity that comes their way.”

Call and data centers have created hundreds of thousands of goodpaying jobs in the Philippines. But that’s the domain of educated urban

Bloomberg View William Pesek

I Gospel

Sunday, March 29, 2015

workers, not the tens of millions of rural poor; manufacturing would soak up more workers at home and, hopefully, draw back some of those currently working abroad. While the $24 billion Filipinos wired home last year helps Manila’s finances, migration depletes the quality of the local labor pool and hurts productivity.

“At the moment, we are a twoshop economy—business-process outsourcing and remittances,” said Nestor Tan, president of Banco de Oro Unibank Inc., the nation’s biggest money manager. “More manufacturing would diversify the economy in so many ways.”

The challenges, however, are immense. Carmakers aren’t going to show up until the Philippines improves its ports, roads, airports, and its notoriously expensive and unreliable power supplies. Clearing logjams to infrastructure projects will be hard; paying for them will be harder. Last month President Aquino green-lighted six transportation-related projects totaling about $8.4 billion; those costs will grow exponentially. As great as the record $6.2 billion of foreign direct investment last year sounds, it’s still half of what Thailand has been getting in recent years.

Pulling in more cash requires better governance. Investors will demand more progress in reducing corruption and inefficiency before deploying fresh capital. Equally important, Mr. Aquino’s antigraft push must outlive his six-year term, which ends in June 2016. That means he’s going to have to start putting more public services and transactions online, including bidding for government contracts. He should go further to do lifestyle checks on lawmakers living far beyond their means. He also should do more to clamp down on the infamous Bureau of Customs, where tens of billions of dollars have

T was now two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Him by stealth, and kill Him; for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be a tumult of the people.”

And while He was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.

But there were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment thus wasted? For this ointment might have been sold for more than 300 denarii, and given to the poor.” And they reproached her.

But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for burying. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the 12, went to the chief priests

vanished since 1990.

Still, President Aquino’s not wrong to see an opportunity here.

Given Japan’s aging population and the central bank’s failure to end deflation, Toyota is looking abroad and expanding its strategy of producing cars where they’re purchased. (The world’s largest automaker may soon formalize a $1-billion investment in a new assembly plant in Mexico.) Its traditional Southeast Asian base— Thailand—is looking less and less attractive as the ruling junta juggles a vague and shifting list of economic priorities. Thailand’s central bank recently downgraded the economy’s prospects this year, saying business and consumer confidence had been shaken by the weaker-thanexpected recovery.

With its young, English-speaking population, low labor costs and rising household incomes, the Philippines looks good by comparison. The biggest change in the Asian manufacturing space is choice—automakers suddenly have many options as India, Indonesia and the Philippines vie for their factories. At first, the Philippines is trying to find “a niche for the region” and position itself as “a mass producer of a model that is not produced in Thailand,” before building on those gains, said Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo. In the interview, Mr. Aquino called signs that Japan’s Mitsubishi may be upping production in the Philippines “very, very significant.”

Success would cement President Aquino’s legacy more strongly than anything else he might do in his remaining months, spreading the benefits of growth beyond skyscraperstrewn major cities. “We are very conscious that manufacturing is more stable than services,” Mr. Aquino told me. This is one opportunity his country can’t afford to miss.

in order to betray Him to them. And when they heard it they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray Him. And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where will You have us go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?”

And He sent two of His disciples, and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the householder, ‘The Teacher says, Where is My guest room, where I am to eat the Passover with My disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.”

And the disciples set out and went to the city, and found it as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. And when it was evening He came with the 12. And as they were at table eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me, one who is eating with Me.” They began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one after another, “Is it I?” He said to them, “It is one of the 12, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.”— Mark 14:1-20

Voices

essMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph • Sunday, March 29, 2015 A5

Good-bye, church I

Free Fire

By Teddy Locsin Jr.

N a global recession crafted by Wall Street, with declining donations and shrinking revenues from church properties, and a budget deficit of $27 million, plagued by financial scandals invented by the Western press because after the P2 (Propaganda Due) Masonic Lodge pillage of a Vatican bank none followed or preceded it, the Vatican is finally imposing strict auditing rules on the finances of a church whose finances

are governed by the principle of subsidiarity, to use a silly term prominent in the Bangsamoro deal. $27 million! Que horror, and it calls itself the Church of God. The cesspool of capitalism, the Wall Street banks, were bailed out by the US government to the tune of a third of a trillion dollars so they could give themselves bonuses for fraud. There is a difference that explains the differential reaction.

The church’s shortfalls happened

unwittingly, the likely result of dividing accounting and spending authority among all its bishops equally, not to mention the near impossibility of balancing the books on small income with large demands of charity. Wall Street’s shortfalls were well crafted with malice aforethought.

The Vatican is now centralizing finances. For that purpose it is mandatory for churchmen to master a 1494 book on double-entry bookkeeping called The Method of

Venice; something like the merchant thereof but Catholic, not Jewish; involving not a pound of flesh but a nail clipping by comparison. But really? A 500-year-old accounting book? Yes. It is time tested. The tiny city state of Venice ruled the Mediterranean for centuries. It paid for the biggest fleet. That navy defeated the Turks at Lepanto which is the only reason the West still exists. It held mortgages on all the kingdoms of Europe. It was dissolved only

by a Napoleon and shortly after, swallowed by a new Italian state.

Now its head is barely above canal water. Vatican reforms grounded in the Venetian method were sure to work, but the Vatican also asked the big four accounting firms in the West to help it. That’s asking the Mafia to do, which is to say, to cook the books for your olive-oil business. The prophecy may come true: Francis will be the last pontiff who could afford to sleep with a roof over his head.

Are we sure the copilot was a killer?

N Bloomberg View

Leonid Bershidsky

EWS reports on accusations that Andreas Lubitz, the Germanwings copilot, purposely brought down Flight 9525 over the French Alps have rushed to convict him.

“Andreas Lubitz [27], the Amok Pilot,” ran today’s banner headline in Bild, Germany’s most popular tabloid. “Killer in the Cockpit,” screamed London’s Daily Mail. But The Independent went it one better: “Mass Murder from the Cockpit.” Other tabloids offered more in that vein: “Madman,” “Jilted pilot,” “Why on earth was he allowed to fly?”

All because Marseilles prosecutor Brice Robin saw fit to announce that the copilot “wanted to destroy the aircraft.” The evidence that led him to that conclusion came from the plane’s cockpit audio recorder. The story it told, however, is a matter of interpretation. It seems clear that the captain went to the toilet, leaving the copilot alone in the cockpit. Then, Robin said, the copilot prevented his colleague from reentering and sent the plane into a fast descent. The captain apparently banged on the door, but to no avail—Lubitz remained silent; the recorder caught his even breathing over the banging and the screams.

This evidence is insufficient for

the momentous conclusions Robin has drawn. This Airbus video, describing the procedures for opening and closing the reinforced cockpit door, leaves room for alternative interpretations of the Flight 9525 audio. The normal reentry procedure involves talking to the pilot inside the cockpit on an internal phone, then pushing the hash button on a keypad, after which the pilot inside hears a tone and hits a switch to let in his colleague. If that doesn’t happen, the person on the outside must enter a code and then has 30 seconds to open the door.

Consider the possibility that Lubitz lost consciousness while Capt.

Patrick Sondenheimer was out, but the captain and crew somehow had the wrong reentry code.

Or imagine that Sondenheimer banged on the door instead of going through the required motions, as the purser does in the Airbus video.

The procedure in that case calls for the pilot inside the cockpit to hit the switch to lock the door. If that’s what happened, might Lubitz have panicked, thinking there was a hijacking attempt, and tried to land the plane?

All these versions sound implausible, of course, but so does the suggestion that Lubitz intentionally

killed 150 people he did not know because he was depressed or had problems with his girlfriend. At the Robin news conference, a reporter even asked about the copilot’s religion. Robin immediately got the hint, saying, “He’s not listed as a terrorist, if that’s what you’re implying.”

The truth is, there’s no way to build a coherent theory of what happened on Flight 9525 without technical information from the flight data recorder. When—or if—it is recovered, we can find out how the plane came to change altitude. As Vanity Fair correspondent William Langewiesche, himself a pilot who has covered plane crash investigations, said of the prosecutor’s allegations: That’s a little premature. The professional investigators, at this stage, are not unaware of these things and the possibility of these things, but they’re not just going to be pursuing that. They’re going to look at the full range of options. How were the systems operating? As far as I know, the data recorder has not been found, and may not have survived the accident.

That’s also what Vereinigung Cockpit, the German pilots’ union, says: The reason for this descent, as well as the answer to the question

As Vanity Fair correspondent William Langewiesche, himself a pilot who has covered plane crash investigations, said of the prosecutor’s allegations: That’s a little premature. The professional investigators, at this stage, are not unaware of these things and the possibility of these things, but they’re not just going to be pursuing that. They’re going to look at the full range of options.

How were the systems operating?

As far as I know, the data recorder has not been found, and may not have survived the accident. why the first officer did not react later on, remain unknown at this time. The question why the captain was unable to return to the flight deck remains unanswered, as well.

To answer all these questions, it is vital to quickly locate and carefully examine the flight-data recorder.

The pilots’ union could simply be in denial, of course, and, yes, it’s possible that Lubitz did bring down the plane intentionally, as the copilot of EgyptAir Flight 990 probably did in 1999. Until that is established with a higher degree of certainty,

however, the hail of harsh accusations is unwarranted.

It hurts Lubitz’s family, it inflicts stress on people who knew him as a normal young man, and it doesn’t make things easier for the crash victims’ families. Anger doesn’t mix well with grief. In 2004 a Russian man, Vitaly Kaloev, traveled to Switzerland to stab an air-traffic controller accused of bringing about a plane crash that killed the man’s family.

He went to jail unrepentant.

Apart from everything else, the relentless news media coverage following Robin’s premature conclusions stigmatizes people who suffer from depression, as tabloids report Lubitz did at some point.

Just one day after urging restraint until the investigators finish their work, German Chancellor Angela Merkel should not have come out and called what happened “a crime against all the victims and families involved.” Investigating airline crashes is not a business that lends itself to rash conclusions. With so much still unknown, there’s nothing that I, for one, want to know at this point about the private life of the late Andreas Lubitz. Why Flight 9525 lost altitude over those mountains is far more relevant.

Appointing a new UN secretary-general

By Dr. Palitha Kohona Inter Press Service

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EW YORK—With United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s term of office tapering off by the end of 2016, there is increasing chatter in the corridors of the UN on his successor.

The interest in the top post at the UN has been heightened because of the issues that have emerged.

Among them: the importance of respecting the principal of regional rotation; the need to have a woman occupy the top job at the UN after 70 years of its existence; and the importance of more transparency in an organization that devotes much energy to promote democracy in the world.

These are prominent among some of the conversation starters in the UN cocktail circuit, all against the background clamour to reform the organization.

The Charter itself says little on the appointment process. Article 97 stipulates that the General Assembly (GA) will appoint a secretary-general on the recommendation of the Security Council. As with much else at the UN, the practice with regard to the appointment of the secretarygeneral also has evolved in response to contemporary pressures. Resolutions 11/1 of 1946 and 54/246 of 1997 are important on this matter.

The Security Council will, in the first instance, seek consensus prior to recommending a candidate to the GA, although nine votes in favor of a candidate in the council would suffice.

If consensus is not feasible, the

council will vote on the candidates available. The practice of conducting straw polls among the members of the Security Council has become popular in recent times.

To the disappointment of many members of the world body, the recommendation is adopted at a private meeting in accordance with Rule 48 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure.

The Permanent Five (P5) of the Security Council—namely, Britain, the US, France, Russia and China— exercises inordinate power over the selection process. Today the endorsement of the P5 is essential and consequently the veto acquires a particular significance in the Security Council recommendation.

In 1996 the significance of P5 endorsement was clearly highlighted.

As the council began its consideration of potential candidates, Boutros Boutros Ghali, the incumbent secretary-general, received 14 endorsements in a straw poll, except the US. Boutros Ghali had offended the US with comments on the situation in the Middle East. A week later, a former senior UN official, Kofi Annan, a surprise candidate from the Secretariat, received the necessary endorsement of the Security Council with the backing of the P5.

Similarly, former SecretaryGeneral Kurt Waldheim’s efforts to secure a third term in1981 were vetoed by the Chinese. It is now almost mandatory for the aspirants to the post of secretary-general to undertake visits to the capitals of the P5 to seek their blessings and

not say or do anything that would cause them alarm.

This was not always the case.

When, in 1951,Trygve Lie of Norway was vetoed by the Soviet Union, as he sought his second term, the US had him appointed through a clear majority of votes in the GA. Given the difficulties that Trygve Lie faced subsequently, especially in dealing with a hostile Soviet Union, it would be unlikely that such an approach would be adopted today.

Although there are suggestions that the Security Council should recommend more than one candidate, for the sake of transparency and to facilitate democratic choice, the GA has decided in Resolution 11 of 1946 that it would be desirable for the council to proffer only one candidate.

Whether this sentiment continues to be shared by many in the GA today with its much wider membership is unclear. While a divisive vote in the GA is always possible, in recent times, the GA has tended to rubber stamp the recommendations of the Security Council.

While early aspirants to the post did not campaign under spurious pretexts, the need to approach a wide range of countries to seek their blessings is increasingly recognised. Visits to capitals could generate a groundswell of sympathy for a candidate which could influence members of the Security Council.

The present incumbent, a former foreign minister of South Korea, advancing his candidature the first time round, used his position as his country’s representative in the

Security Council to visit as many capitals as possible. The second time round, he was advised to seek the endorsement of the regional groups as he was mulling presenting his candidature, in particular, the Asia Pacific Group, his own regional group.

This was against the background of some whispered reservations about his performance in the first term, especially by certain countries of the Western Europe and Other Groups (Weog).

They were mostly concerns about his perceived lack of fluency in the working languages of the organization and the absence of firmness in dealing with difficult issues.

Still, the Asia Pacific Group endorsed him unequivocally, setting in motion a tide of endorsements from the other regional groups. He announced his candidature immediately following his meeting with the Asia Pacific Group.

The WEOGs provided the first two secretary-generals. An assertive developing world demanded the next. U Thant of Burma (now Myanmar) was appointed despite initial opposition from France. The Eastern European Group has asserted a claim to the post after Ban because the group has never had this position before and because there are many suitable candidates from the region.

Resolution 51/241 supports their position. Among the possible Eastern European aspirants are the former UN undersecretary-general and the former president of Slovenia, Danilo Turk; the executive director of United Nations Educational, Sci-

entific and Cultural Organization, Irena Bukova of Bulgaria; EC commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva of Bulgaria; the Lithuanian president, Dalia Grybauskaite; the vice prime minister and foreign minister of Monte Negro, Igor Luksic; and the popular permanent representative of Romania, Simona Miculescu.

The Weogs have occupied the post three times, the Asia Pacific twice, Africa twice and Latin America and the Caribbean once. Candidates from the P5s are not considered for the post. Should Eastern Europe come up with a suitable candidate, they are likely to get the post this time.

Given the perceived lack of clarity with regard to the Eastern European candidature, others have begun to test the water.

Among them are Kevin Rudd, the former Prime Minister of Australia; Helen Clerk, the administrator of the United Nations Development Program and former prime minister of New Zealand; Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and former Prime Minister of Portugal; and Michelle Bachelet, former executive director of UN Women and current president of Chile.

It is noteworthy that the NonAligned Movement, the largest single political grouping of developing nations, has strongly backed the appointment of a woman to succeed Ban. The general feeling among member-states is that the time for a woman secretary-general has arrived. There does not seem to be a shortage of exceptionally qualified women in the field.

NewsSunday

A6 Sunday, March 29, 2015 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BusinessMirror

Global ID system for OFWs pushed

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O protect overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from abuse and exploitation during their employment overseas, a party-list lawmaker has proposed to establish a global Identification system that would identify them as legitimate OFWs. House Bill 5539, authored by Party-list Rep. Juan Johnny R. Revilla of OFW Family, said the Philippine government, through the participation of several government agencies, shall institute an identification system covering all OFWs employed abroad.

Government data showed that there is an estimated 10 million OFWs across many countries around the world.

The bill added that the OFW ID System intends to produce an OFW Card, which will serve as the primary and only identification card for all OFWs. The OFW Card shall contain the worker’s name; date of birth; worker’s latest photo, OFW Card number; validity dates of OFW Card; Philippine passport number and expiration date; type of work visa; its validity date and expiry; country of employment and employer’s name, it said.

The measure added that the machine-readable OFW Card shall be issued in the Philippines through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration for all new OFWs prior to departure to country of employment.

Currently, employed OFWs shall be issued the card by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (Polo) at the country of employment.

Moreover, the bill also said that the OFW Card will also contain electronically Social Security System (SSS) number, PagIBIG member number and PhilHealth membership number.

“The OFW card shall be linked with the SSS, and will provide access to the member-OFWs’ contributions summary. Similarly, the OFW Card will be linked with the Pag-IBIG Fund’s system so that the member-OFW may be able to access his or her contribution summary through the agency’s web site. It shall, likewise, be linked to the PhilHealth system to allow the member-OFW to view his or her premium payments,” the measure said.

It mandates the POEA to work closely with the Department of Labor and Employment, through the Polo; the Department of Foreign Affairs, through its Migrant Affairs Office; Philippine Statistics Authority, SSS, Pag-IBIG Fund and PhilHealth.

In filing the bill, Revilla said that the issuance of an OFW Card will serve as the primary and only identification card for all OFWs, as well as the linkage to various government agencies where the OFWs can access their services.

He said the measure is in recognition of the valuable contributions of OFWs in sustaining the country’s financial stability. “These OFWs have contributed immensely to the economic and financial development of our country through their foreign remittances that saved the Philippines from financial crisis in previous years,” Revilla said. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

www.businessmirror.com.ph

LP allies insist Aquino himself also ‘victim’ of Mamasapano blunder

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By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

everal administration allies in the House of Representatives on Saturday scored the critics of President Aquino in connection with the botched Mamasapano mission that killed 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos.

Liberal Party (LP) Secretary-General Mel Senen Sarmiento of Samar said Mr. Aquino is also a “victim” in the bloody Mamasapano raid, and should not be treated like he is one of the culprits in the clash.

Sarmiento said that some people want “to crucify him [the President], although it was very clear from the report of the Philippine National Police-Board of Inquiry [PNP-BOI] and the Senate that he was fed with the wrong information and had no actual control on what was happening on the ground, when PNP Special Action Force commandos executed the operation to neutralize Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and Basit Usman.”

“Some people are demanding accountability and some are even demanding for his resignation, allegedly because of command responsibility, but even the BOI and the Senate report cannot dispute the fact that the only involvement of the President on this Mamasapano incident was to give the order to execute the operation against Marwan and Usman,” Sarmiento said.

Sarmiento said the President “has had enough of the Mamasapano issue,” and now needs to focus on managing the country instead of devoting all his time and energy to explain his side on the Mamasapano operation.

LP Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles of Davao, a member of the ad hoc committee on Bangsamoro basic law (BBL), said that President Aquino has already said his piece on the Mamasapano incident, and it is time for the nation to move on, instead of trying to “further squeeze blood from stone.”

Nograles added that Mr. Aquino’s recent speech during the graduation rites of the PNP Academy should be the last of him explaining his role in the police raid that led to the death of 44 SAF commandos.

“I think that this should be the end of it. The President has spoken far too much about what he knows and about his limited involvement in the encounter in Mamasapano. He has opened himself up to the Filipino people and, in the spirit of transparency and honesty has, said all there is that he can really say about it. All his statements appear to be consistent,” Nograles said.

Earlier, Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna said that Committee on Public Order and Safety Chairman and United Negros Alliance Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer of Negros Occidental and Committee on Peace, Unity and Reconciliation Chairman and LP Rep. Jim HatamanSalliman of Basilan should invite President Aquino on their joint investigation on the ill-fated Mamasapano

mission on April 7 and 8.

Colmenares, a senior deputy minority leader, said that there are many inconsistencies in the Mamasapano incident that only President Aquino can answer.

Ulterior motive

National Unity Party Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. of Cavite, meanwhile, said the opposition’s demand for Mr. Aquino’s apology over the Mamasapano incident has exposed their ulterior motive, which is to destroy the administration using the death of 44 SAF members.

“Clearly, there’s malice behind this demand for apology. It’s not constructive, it’s clearly destructive,” Barzaga said.

The opposition, along with militant lawmakers from the minority bloc, has been relentlessly demanding that the President apologize for his role in Operation Exodus.

Barzaga, a veteran lawyer, said their demand for apology is not only malicious, but also misplaced because the issue hurled against the President is not even graft-related.

He said it seems that those in the forefront of the calls for President Aquino’s apology and even resignation were the ones “who have been affected, if not targeted, by this administration’s efforts against corruption.”

The President has said his order to former PNP chief Alan Purisima and former SAF chief Director Getulio Napeñas to inform other officials about Operation Exodus, including PNP Officer in Charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, fell on deaf ears, he said.

He added that Mr. Aquino has also said he instructed the generals to coordinate the operation with the military, but this, too, was violated.

Barzaga also joined fellow administration allies in calling for a closure on the issues surrounding the President’s role in the incident.

“They [critics] are beating a dead horse. That issue has already been stretched too far, and this is as far as they can go because the people know that they have an honest and trustworthy leader in President Aquino,” he said.

LP Rep. Jerry Trenas of Iloilo said that he felt “the intense sadness and sense of frustration of President Aquino when he talked about his failure to reverse the situation in Mamasapano, although this could have only been possible if he was given the right information during the firefight.”

Albay remains top tourist summer-destination pick–Philtoa

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EGAZPI CITY—The Philippine Tour Operators Association (Philtoa) has once again picked Albay as one among its top summer destinations this year. The province has remained among the country’s top tourist destinations. Last year it posted a 7.1-percent share of foreign arrivals.

Philtoa President Cesar Cruz said that, other than the “sights and activities” as part of the major considerations in selecting top summer destinations, they also consider the local government’s political leadership and its commitment in providing a sustainable tourism program.

Banking on Albay’s global standard tourism destinations, Gov. Joey Salceda has pursued a strong and holistic program which involves the province’s cultural heritage, involving historical and religious edifices, old roads and houses, ethnic culinary wealth and recently sports tourism.

As a result, Albay’s domestic arrivals have doubled during the first three months of 2015, based on gate receipts at the Albay Parks and Wildlife, a favorite destination of local visitors, and a 40-percent increase of visitors at the Cagsawa Ruins Park.

Albay is holding its Daragang Magayon Festival 2015 in the last week

briefs

sta. lucia land enters jv deal, acquires lands

PROPERTY company Sta Lucia Land Inc. (SLI) has agreed into partnership and land acquisitions, as a show of continuous commitment in focusing its projects in emerging and growing cities across the country. The listed firm disclosed with the local bourse on Friday that it had entered into 16 joint-venture agreements in Davao, Rizal, Pasig, Batangas and Laguna for a total of 142.33 hectares of land. Also, it acquired parcels of land in Batangas and Iloilo, aggregating 34.53 hectares.

Some of these projects are extensions of existing developments, such as Ponte Verde in Davao; Greenwoods Executive, Pasig; Metropolis East, Rizal; Golden Meadows, Laguna; and Metropolis, Iloilo. Roderick L. Abad

of March and the whole of April, with culinary tourism on the spotlight, and where famous chefs around the country for a gastronomic showdown.

Salceda was among the initial recipients of the Department of Tourism’s Tourism Star Award for 2014, for exemplary excellence and dedication in driving the Philippine tourism industry forward, under the Tourism Star Philippines program. Philtoa has invited Salceda to address the organization’s second general membership conference on April 8 to update its members on Albay’s summer holiday program, highlighting recommended destinations. Philtoa had declared Albay as its 2013 summer destination.

Salceda said Albay’s strong position in the industry and the continuous upward surge in its performance has further opened more opportunities for investors in the hotel business, where more competitively priced rooms are needed to accommodate the growing numbers of tourists.

He said the “key is cheap accommodations and the key to cheap accommodations is more rooms, not just in Legazpi but in Daraga, Tabaco, Camalig, Guinobatan, Polangui, Santo Domingo, Bacacay. This should get Albay into the budget domestic tour packages.” PNA

first of c-295s planes to be turned over to p.a.f. on monday

The Philippine Air Force's (PAF) first Airbus Military C-295, which arrived in the country on Sunday last week, will be formally turned over to the PAF on Monday.

This will take place after a blessing ceremony at Villamor Air Base, Pasay City, PAF Spokesman Lt. Col. Enrico Canaya said.

“The additional C-295s will enhance the overall capability of the PAF in providing airlift requirements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines during humanitarian assistance and disaster-response operations,” he added.

Lift requirements of the PAF is presently being carried about by the three Lockheed C-130 “Hercules” and three Fokker F-27 “Friendship” transport aircraft.

The PAF has an existing order for three C-295s from Airbus Military. PNA

RegionsSunday

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo

briefs iligan city has new mayor CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has sworn in Vice Mayor Roderic Marzo as Iligan City mayor on Friday.

Rene Burdeos, DILG regional director, said that Marzo would dispose the responsibilities as city mayor following the 60-day suspension of Mayor Celso Regencia.

The DILG served the notice of suspension on Friday afternoon amid the opposition of more than 1,000 supporters who barricaded the City Hall premises.

“We were able to post the notice of suspension at the door of the Office of the city mayor. That was enough proof that the notice of suspension was served,” Burdeos said. PNA

unicef boosts zambo health program

DIPOLOG CITY—The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has donated 479 boxes of medical supplies, providing a boost to the health program of the provincial government.

The donated medical supplies that arrived here on Wednesday also include instruments and equipment, which Gov. Roberto Uy of Zamboanga del Norte described as a big help to the province’s health program.

Uy handed over the multivitamins, antibiotics and some medical instruments to Bayanihan Outreach Program Coordinator Imelda Endab to be used in medical outreach programs of the provincial government.

The focus of the provincial government’s health program is the conduct of medical outreach, which most of the beneficiaries are residents of far-flung barangays of the province. PNA

BusinessMirror

Former House leader: Flaws mar BBL

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By Gideon Belen | Philippines News Agency

Suarez said that some provisions in the BBL were unconstitutional, which might lead the Supreme Court to stop its implementation.

Suarez cited a provision that

Challenges mark 1st year of peace pact

grants the power of taxation, such as having the Bangsamoro its own customs with the power to collect port taxes. He also said the provision that provided air right would

PRESIDENTIAL Peace Adviser Teresita Quintos Deles on Friday night expressed hope that the

peace process will emerge stronger despite recent challenges it faced, particularly after Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters gunmen massacred 44 Special Action Force commandos in Mamasapano, Maguinanao.

“I admit we are bruised and feeling battered, but we are here to proclaim we still stand firm [in pushing the peace process],” Deles said in a speech during a book-launch event in Intramuros, Manila, marking the first anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.

“The past two months are psychologically and physically battering, but the last two weeks affirmed that the way we have responded made the process stronger,” Deles said, recounting the alleged outpouring of support for the peace process from various sectors such as academe, international community, business groups, and civil-society organizations through statements of support and activities organized to advocate peace and push for the passage of the proposed BBL. “The results will be a stronger process and a stronger BBL with more people onboard,” she said.

Agusan del Norte land Albay dominates ’14 Gawad Kalasag Awards distribution almost complete

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N official of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said a total of 40,423 hectares of land, or 94 percent out of the total target under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in Agusan del Norte, have been distributed by the government since 1988.

DAR Caraga Director Faisar Mambuay said a total of 20,312 farmers have so far benefited and continue to receive government support through the program.

Since year 2000, the DAR Caraga Regional Office reported that the DAR-Agusan del Norte office posted 57-percent growth, or a total of 22,860 hectares of distributed lands.

Agusan del Norte Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Andre B. Atega said the challenge is to distribute the remaining 2,793 hectares before June this year.

Atega said an innovative approach was introduced by DAR Caraga to accelerate land distribution by weekly monitoring the targeted lands for distribution, with the aid of Office Performance Commitment and Review.

This, he said, prompted them to work harder to meet the expected weekly output.

He said tens of thousands of farmers in Agusan del Norte continue to benefit from CARP and other government programs in the province and other parts of Caraga to boost farmers’ incomes. Jonathan L. Mayuga

show Canadian Ambassador Neil Reeder (second from left), Makati Medical Center President Gabriel Gabriel (third from left) and Hossam Elsharkawi (fourth from left), director of Emergencies and Recovery International Operations of the Canadian Red Cross, how the PRC’s Emergency Field Hospital functions while an emergency medical technician provides treatment to a pseudo-patient at an earthquake-simulation exercise.

South Luzon tollways ready for Holy Week traffic

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be a sensitive issue that could give the Bangsamoro the right to deny the passing of airplanes in their territory unless given permission.

Likewise, Suarez found it questionable the provision on Maritime Control Kilometric Distance within its sea territory.

He said that he was not against the BBL but only to make some provisions on the right place.

UCENA CITY—Former House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said on Saturday that some provisions of the proposed Bangsamoro basic law (BBL) are questionable.

EARTHQUAKE SIMULATION Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Chairman Richard J. Gordon and Secretary-General Gwendolyn T. Pang (left)

TA R T I NG on Mond ay, thousands of motorists and commuters are expected to troop to the expressways to go to provinces south of Metro Manila in observance of the Holy Week and grab the chance to be with families and relatives for a longer time.

Skyway O&M Corp. (Somco), Manila Toll Expressway System Inc. (MATES) and Star Tollway Corp.

(STC), the operators of Skyway System, South Luzon Expressway (Slex) and Star Tollway, respectively, expect traffic to peak on Holy Wednesday and Maundy Thursday and on return trip to Metro Manila

by Sunday until early Monday. With this, motorists are encouraged to plan their trips in advance to avoid the traffic rush and delays.

Somco, MATES and STC are prepared to manage the expected Holy Week exodus of motorists to and from Metro Manila and the provinces in Southern Tagalog, and to ensure the safe and pleasant trip of all their motoring patrons. They will intensify their patrol operations and motorist-assistance effort, cancel days-off of their field personnel,

Sunday, March 29, 2015 A7

deploy ambulant tellers in busy toll plazas, and closely coordinate with the National Police Highway Patrol Group and local police to curb possible criminal activities.

Tow trucks and ambulances will be available round-the-clock at strategic areas along the Skyway System, Slex and Star Tollway.

Somco expects an average of 200,000 vehicles on the Skyway System, while MATES sees around 275,000 to 300,000 vehicles to use Slex. At the Skyway System, the sub-base pavement repair and modification of the chariot guards at the toll plazas and the installation of emergency exits in Bicutan and Sucat were completed during the first quarter of the year.

Many road sections of Slex, as well as toll-plaza lanes have been repaired.

All other ongoing rehabilitation and improvement works on the Skyway and Slex were suspended starting March 27 and will resume on April 7.

At Star Tollway, traffic is seen to grow about 15 percent from last year’s actual average of 37,000 to 42,500 this year because of additional road capacity. The two

new northbound lanes between Lipa and Batangas cities and the newly paved lanes of the 42-kilometer Star Tollway have made travel safer, faster and smoother for motorists since late last year.

Meanwhile, more “exact toll” lanes at toll plazas on Skyway and Slex are nowopentoshortenvehiclequeuesand speed up traffic flow especially during peak days. To lessen transaction time at toll booths, motorists can pay their tolls ahead of time at the Slex offsite centers at the service stations along Slex namely, Petron southbound, Caltex northbound and Shell SB and NB. They may also purchase toll coupons for future use at said offisite centers. Motorists are encouraged to prepare exact toll to avoid delay. All these improvements aim to ensure the safety and convenience of the motorists, especially during peak traffic season, such as the Holy Week, during which the South Tollways operators are prepared to adjust the lane direction configuration by providing convertible toll lanes and opening counterflow sections during the time when and where traffic is expected to build up.

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EGAZPI CITY—Albay once again dominated the recent 2014 Gawad Kalasag Awards of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), romping away with another Hall of Fame honor, and three other top titles in rites held at the Armed Forces Commissioned Officers Club in Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

Albay has consistently been in the honor roll of the annual Gawad Kalasag Awards for the past six years. It was elevated to Gawad’s Hall of Fame in 2012, after winning as best DRRMC for three consecutive years from 2009 to 2011.

Now on its 16th year, the Gawad Kalasag Awards, conferred by the NDRRMC under the Department of National Defense, is a national search for excellence in disaster risk-reduction and management, and humanitarian assistance.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, elated by the recent honors received by Albay’s three local government units and a civic organization, said they only prove the province’s consistent effort to perfect DRR. Conferred the Best DRRMC awards in their respective categories were Legazpi City, Santo Domingo town, which was also elevated to the Kalasag Award Hall of Fame, and Barangay Oro Site.

A private organization, the Simon of Cyrene Children’s Rehabilitation and Development Foundation, was also cited as Best Civil Society Organization. Legazpi City and Barangay Oro Site may also shortly be elevated to Gawad’s Hall of Fame after having consistently won awards in the last few years.

Under Salceda, Albay, a province regularly devastated by natural calamities, embarked on a pioneering campaign for DRR with its

preemptive evacuation strategy toward its “zero casualty” goal. Albay’s exemplary DRR performance has consistently been maintained. Following its 2012 Hall of Fame award, the province reaped five major titles in the 2013 Gawad Kalasag Awards.

Albay has also gained global recognition as UN Global Model in DRR and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA). Salceda himself was declared as UN Senior Global Champion in DRR-CCA. He was subsequently elected as 2013-2014 co-chairman of the UN Green Climate Fund board, where he officially represented Southeast Asia and the developing countries.

A recent newspaper editorial has cited Albay’s performance in DRR as “noteworthy and should be emulated by other provinces, and other at-risk developing countries.” PNA

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Sunday, March 29, 2015

Cebu Air’s 2014 net income soared by 66.7% to ₧853.5M

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

OW-COST carrier operator Cebu Air Inc. saw its profits increase by almost twothirds in 2014, stepping into the positive growth territory after a steady decline in the past two years.

Cebu Air’s net income stood at P853.50 million in 2014, a 66.7-percent increase from P511.95 million the year prior, as revenues increased by 26.8 percent to P52 billion, from P41 billion in 2013.

Passenger revenues grew by 26.9 percent to P40.19 billion, making it the major contributor to the Gocongwei Group’s earnings. The increase was attibuted to the 17.5-percent growth in passenger volume to 16.9 million in 2014, from 14.4 million in 2013.

Cargo revenues also surged by 20.6 percent to P3.15 billion in 2014, while ancillary revenues increased by 28.7 percent to P8.67 billion.

Expenses, meanwhile, increased by 23.9 percent to P47.84 billion, from P38.6 billion, due to the expansion of the airline’s long-haul operations and the overall acquisition of new aircraft.

The pace of the company’s growth last year was faster than the decline in 2013, when foreignexchange losses weighed on Cebu Air’s bottom line to P512 million, from P3.57 billion in 2012. The year 2014’s net income, however, was relatively lower than the P3.62-billion net profit in 2011.

Competition in the airline industry, both here and abroad, has been heating up in the last couple of years due to the proliferation of more budget carriers. So far, there are three local low-cost carriers in the Philippines: Cebu Pacific, Tigerair Philippines and AirAsia Zest.

Budget carriers will likely dominate the aviation market in Asia Pacific, including in the Philippines, this year, according to think tank Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

Low-cost carriers, the research agency said, are also rapidly making inroads in the mediumhaul market, which will inevitably put further pressure on the legacy operators.

Cebu Pacific, the country’s leading budget carrier, has been aggressively expanding its route network to include several long- and medium-haul destinations.

The airline business of tycoon John L. Gokongwei has been gaining a foothold in the Philippine market, as it continues to expand its fleet to include larger Airbus A330s.

The Gokongwei-led airline company operates an extensive route network, serving 57 domestic routes and 37 international routes, with a total of 2,652 scheduled weekly flights. It operates from seven hubs, including the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminals 3 and 4; MactanCebu International Airport; Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga; Davao International Airport; Iloilo International Airport; and Kalibo International Airport in Aklan.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PHL goes dark on Earth Hour A

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

T least 7,000 cities in 172 countries, including the Philippines, participated in Saturday’s annual Earth Hour, which was held to dramatize the world’s reaction to climate change.

Earth Hour is a worldwide grassroots movement of the World Wide Fund (WWF) to unite people to take action for the planet. This year’s global tagline is “Use Your Power to Change Climate Change.”

The WWF said millions of people switched off their lights for an hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., on March 28.

However, power plants that generate

electricity did not shut down, thus, the activity did not save any electricity. Whatever the power plants produced was just not used.

“This year Earth Hour is set to be a record-breaking celebration of our planet with an unprecedented 172 countries and territories having confirmed their participation, including nations on the climate frontlines, like the Philippines, Maldives and Madagascar; and key climate actors, such as Brazil, the United States and China,” the WWF said in a pre-event statement.

In the Philippines the main switch-off was held at the Quezon Memorial Circle.

The Philippines has been participating in the annual Earth Hour since 2009, and has earned the title of “Earth Hour Hero Country” from 2009 to 2013 for topping participation records, with over 15 million Filipinos joining the event.

In a pre-event statement, Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Rodolfo Albano III of Isabela urged national government agencies and local governments to actively participate in the annual worldwide Earth Hour switch-off, “as mankind struggles against the deadly and devastating impact of climate change.”

Albano said the national government can make this year’s Earth Hour bigger and more effective by ensuring participation at the community or barangay level.

He said the various organizations of local officials can be activated to make household observance of Earth Hour possible.

Meanwhile, Liberal Party Rep. Eric Olivarez of Parañaque City has moved to institutionalize the Earth Hour movement by filing a bill mandating every city in the country to turn their lights off for one

hour every last Saturday of March.

Olivarez’s House Bill 4302, to be known as The Earth Hour Act, seeks to raise public awareness about the prevailing global environmental problems.

In the Senate, Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara has filed a resolution reaffirming the support of the Senate for the objectives of Earth Hour and Earth Day.

“This year Earth Hour has a global focus on climate change. Given our vulnerability to natural disasters, the objectives of these celebrations are particularly relevant to our country,” Angara said.

Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza of Buhay also urged the public to participate in the 45th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, as he called for more concrete and immediate action to address the growing threat brought about by climate change.

“As early as 2007 during the Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, the Philippines was mentioned as one of the countries that would be tragically affected by the destructive impact of climate change, such as rising sea levels and storm surges,” said Atienza, who was a former environment secretary.

Atienza cited a report by the United Nations Climate Change Commission which predicts that, by the year 2025, the full destructive impact of climate change will be totally felt.

“We have been experiencing the devastating effects of climate change with massive storm surges, abnormal rise in sea levels, with experts predicting that they may even rise to as high as 20 feet. When this happens in Manila Bay, the whole of Manila will be under water. Shall we wait until we are all submerged? The destruction brought about by Supertyphoon Yolanda [international code name Haiyan] should remind all of us to do something concrete now,” Atienza said.

Atienza also pointed out that no less than French President François Hollande mentioned in his recent visit that “the Philippines can be the face and voice of developing countries in confronting climate change… in the eyes of the world, Manila is a symbol of suffering and hope. Nevertheless, there is hope here in Manila. Natural disasters brought about by climate change continue to threaten the world, especially vulnerable countries like the Philippines.”

‘PALASPAS’ MAKER A boy crafts palaspas (palm fronds) to be blessed for Palm Sunday rites among Roman Catholics in Parañaque City on Saturday. Devotees troop to churches all over the country to have their palm fronds blessed by a priest to mark the weeklong observance of Holy Week. In the Catholic world, Palm Sunday marks the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. AP/Bullit Marquez