Businessmirror may 06, 2016

“The spirit, the essence of America lies in the hearts and souls of us. Some missed this message. It wasn’t sexy, it wasn’t a great sound bite.”—Ohio Gov. John Kasich, announcing that he is suspending his presidential campaign, which failed to gain traction with GOP voters in a race dominated by Donald Trump.

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2015 environmental Media Award leadership award 2008

“I will not rest and I’m going to make sure that the leaders at every level of government don’t rest until every drop of water that flows to your homes is safe to drink and safe to cook with and safe to bathe in.”—President Barack Obama, visiting Flint, Michigan, where lead contamination forced residents to spend months drinking, cooking and bathing with bottled water.

“The view from the air is heartbreaking.”—Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, after a flight to survey the wildfires that have torched 1,600 homes and other buildings in Canada’s main oil sands city of Fort McMurray. AP

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Friday, May 6, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 209

CLIMATE CHANGE COMMISSION TO MAKE PSF ACCESSIBLE BY EASING THE REQUIREMENTS

People’s Survival Fund left untapped for 4 yrs

F

INSIDE

By Cai Ordinario

@cuo_bm

RANKFURT, Germany—Four years and six board meetings after its creation, not a single project has been approved under the P1-billion People’s Survival Fund (PSF) in the annual budget, according to the Climate Change Commission (CCC).

Continued on A2

All-new Honda Civic unveiled

₧1B

The amount of money reserved in the annual budget for climate-change adaptation projects under PSF

P25.00 nationwide | 5 sections 34 pages | 7 days a week

Takata survival gets

harder as deaths climb

amid wider recalls

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Administrator Mark Rosekind arrives for a news conference at the Transportation Department in Washington on Wednesday to announce that Takata has agreed to recall another 35 million to 40 million air-bag inflators, a stunning increase that will more than double what already is the largest automotive recall in American history. AP

T motoring

wo additional deaths in Malaysia were linked to ruptured air-bag inflators made by Takata Corp., further damaging the reputation of the Japanese supplier, as it works to comply with a United States order to expand a record recall.

Two fatal Honda car crashes in Malaysia on April 16 and May 1 involved ruptured driver-side air-bag inflators made by Takata, according to a statement by Honda Motor Co. The air bags hadn’t been replaced, though the two vehicles were included in recalls announced by the authorities, the automaker said. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Wednesday ordered Takata to replace as many as 40 million additional air bags in the US, more than doubling what has been announced.

At least 13 deaths are now linked to the malfunctioning devices, underscoring the scale of the crisis confronting President Shigehisa Takada, who has seen his family company’s market value plunge by 75 percent in the past year. The expansion of recalls in the US also adds to the costs that the supplier must bear even as it seeks a financial lifeline to survive.

Continued on A3

E1

Mustang is best-selling sports coupe

motoring

E2 Protesters link arms to block traffic in a show of disapproval against the candidacies of front-running presidential candidate Rodrigo R. Duterte and vice-presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the son of the late Philippine strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos, on Thursday in Quezon City. Both Duterte and Marcos are topping recent poll surveys leading to Monday’s elections. AP/Bullit Marquez

Mitsubishi launches 2016 Mirage

‘The Punisher’ charged for alleged 11,000 ‘ghost’ employees on Davao City payroll

I

motoring

E2

n a year of global anti-establishment politics, Philippine voters appear ready for a renegade president: Selfconfessed killer Rodrigo R. Duterte, a 71-year-old Viagra-chomping womanizer whose promise of a “bloody war” on crime has seen him race ahead in opinion polls.

But days before the actual polls, he was already charged with a corruption complaint by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who alleged that the Davao City mayor charged salaries for 11,000 non-existent government employees.

The complaint was filed by Trillanes on Thursday before the Ombudsman,

PESO exchange rates n US 47.0620

days after he released leaked documents purportedly showing Duterte has P2.4 billion ($51 million) in undeclared wealth in various bank accounts. Duterte denies amassing ill-gotten wealth.

Thursday’s complaint says ghostemployee salaries in 2014 cost Davao City P708 million ($15 million) and that a 2015 Commission on Audit report questioned the lack of documents to prove they were working.

The next step is for the Ombudsman to investigate the charge, and if it finds probable cause, a charge will be filed before an antigraft court.

BPI TO ADOPT FINTECH AMID CYBER THREATS

T

By Mia Rosienna Mallari

@MiaRosienna

Duterte has been mayor of Davao City on the southern island of Mindanao for two decades, where his strongman swagger and endorsement of the

He oldest bank in the Philippines is ready to embrace technological advancements that financial technologies (fintech) have to offer, amid the cyber-threat issues that plagued the country since the start of the year.

Ramon L. Jocson, executive vice president of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), told the BusinessMirror they plan to incorporate fintech in their banking ecosystem, alongside the digitization of selected parts of their business.

“Fintech in the financial industry is about the concept that people need convenient banking services but they don’t necessarily need the banks. What they need are efficient banking services,” he said.

This is a bold step for the bank considering that the Philippines has been the focus of the global cybercrime spotlight with the money-laundering case involving the Bank of Bangladesh and the hacking of the Commission on Elections web site.

Established in 1851, BPI has been the longest-running bank in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia. Jocson heads BPI’s enterprise services group, which serves as the

See “The Punisher,” A2

See “BPI,” A2

₧708M

The amount of the “ghost-employee salaries” paid by Davao City in 2014, according to Trillanes

n japan 0.4398 n UK 68.2070 n HK 6.0631 n CHINA 7.2385 n singapore 34.6630 n australia 35.0894 n EU 54.0695 n SAUDI arabia 12.5499

Source: BSP (5 May 2016 )

BMReports BusinessMirror

A2 Friday, May 6, 2016

news@businessmirror.com.ph

People’s Survival Fund left untapped for 4 yrs Continued from A1

In a forum at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Annual Governor’s Meeting here, CCC Deputy Executive Director Romell Antonio O. Cuenca disclosed that upon learning that the PSF remains untouched up to now, the agency has moved to assist local government units (LGUs) meet the fund’s requirements.

“I asked the people there how many projects have you approved? They said nothing yet. Why? That was my question. That’s what we’re ramping up now,” Cuenca said.

“We have to strike a balance against fidu-

‘The Punisher’. . .

Continued from A1

execution of criminals earned him the nicknames “Duterte Harry” and “The Punisher.” He’s been likened to US presidential candidate Donald Trump, using populist rhetoric to reach Filipinos who feel the mainstream political parties are out of touch.

“Duterte’s main asset is that, rightly or wrongly, many people see him as having led a ‘Filipino life,’ with all the frustrations and hardships that entail,” said Stephen Norris, senior Southeast Asia analyst at Control Risks in Singapore. “To voters, it’s conceivable that he would actually make a difference on traffic, crime and corruption from the top down, because he has done so locally.”

The leadership in the Philippines has, for decades, been the realm of powerful families whose main assets are their wealth and dynastic connections. But the latest Pulse Asia Research Inc. survey shows Duterte, whose father was a lawyer and mother a teacher, holding a double-digit lead over the other candidates, which would see him take the presidency under a first-past-the-post voting system.

While President Aquino delivered average growth above 6 percent—one of the fastest rates in the

ciary responsibility that we are not going to throw away this money with the balance of not putting in too many hurdles, not putting in too many hoops for civil-society organizations, local governments to jump through to access the fund.”

The PSF was created by Republic Act 10174 as an annual fund intended for LGUs and accredited local/community organizations to implement climate-change adaptation projects that will better equip vulnerable communities to deal with the impacts of climate change.

It supplements the annual appropriations allocated by relevant government

world—and nearly 4 million jobs in his six-year term, the stronger economy has also spurred frustration. Record car sales have clogged the already-gridlocked capital Manila, while infrastructure spending hasn’t improved public transport.

Graft, illegal drugs and crime are concerns of voters nationally, according to Pulse Asia, and poverty rates remain stubbornly high.

Often casually dressed in jeans and a polo shirt on the campaign trail ahead of the May 9 vote, Duterte’s style is described by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISAS) senior fellow Malcolm Cook as a mix of former New York City Mayor “Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump and Mad Max.” While his remarks resonate with voters, and the inf luential Philippine church Iglesia Ni Cristo reportedly backed Duterte this week, investors are voicing concern over his lack of economic experience, plus suggestions he’ll trade President Aquino’s fiscal discipline for spending on populist programs. Last month the peso slumped 1.7 percent, the worstperforming currency in Asia, and stocks fell 1.4 percent.

“I hope when he does become president, he’ll be more grounded and less controversial,” said Soo Hai Lim, a Hong Kong-based money manager at Baring Asset Management, which oversees

agencies and LGUs for climate changerelated programs and projects.

Cuenca said some LGUs and accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) submitted projects; but these often did not meet the requirements set by the PSF. This is the reason, he said, the CCC is urging LGUs to seek advice from the national pool of technical experts to help them improve their project proposals.

The CCC is also trying to improve the processes of approving projects. He said there are already a number of projects in the pipeline for PSF funding. “ We’re actua l ly d iscussing where

about $41 billion. “His platform to reduce crime is good but, at the end of the day, investors need somebody who could implement policies that are generally good for the investment climate.”

Duterte has sought to reassure business leaders, but he’s also been unpredictable on the campaign trail and avoided specifics. He’s pledged to keep spending on public transport and cash handouts to the poor, while identifying education and agriculture as priorities.

“Our best-case scenar io is that Duterte will be pragmatic in choosing his policies,” said Euben Paracuelles, an economist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Singapore.

That would aid an economy underpinned by consumer spending, remittances and a booming business-process outsourcing sector.

“If prudent fiscal and monetary policies remain, the Philippines can sustain growth of at least 6 percent under the next administration,” said Luz Lorenzo, head of Philippine research at Maybank ATR Kim Eng in Manila. “How good the next government is in implementation will make the difference in how fast the economy grows.”

Businessman Fervie Termulo, 35, is one voter in the staunchly Catholic nation of about 100 million people looking for a change.

Ter mu lo’s l ife has improved in some ways under President

we can loosen up some of the requirements, or even look at the option of approving projects in principle, subject to compliance with some of the other doc u ment a r y requ i rement s, wh ic h, some of them, do not need to be there in the first place.

That’s where we define the balance now,” Cuenca said. The Philippine government programmed at least P1 billion into the PSF, which will be sourced from the national budget.

The allocation may be augmented by mobilizing funding sources, such as counterpart LGUs, the private sector and indi-

Aquino: The owner of an electronics repair shop has also become coowner of a car-wash shop, opened two barbecue stalls and drives parttime for Uber Inc. He’s tripled his income to $640 a month, well above the minimum wage.

Yet, his wife was robbed at knife-point two years ago in their home province north of Manila, and Termulo says petty theft and drug abuse have risen. “I want these criminals to be stopped, and Duterte is the man for the job,” he said. “I don’t know how he will do it but I believe in him.”

Accusations from groups, such as Human Rights Watch, that Duterte’s advocacy of extrajudicial killings led to the deaths of more than 1,000 suspected criminals since the late-1990s have not dented his approval rating.

“Duterte is tapping into a few key sentiments,” said Greg Poling, a Southeast Asia specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “In a country with persistently high violent crime, his tough talk and track record in cutting crime as mayor of Davao are attractive to many people, even if his methods were deeply troubling.”

As Duterte rises, the previously favored candidate, Sen. Grace Poe, has faded and she also trails President Aquino’s nominee Manuel A. Roxas II, with Vice President

viduals who support adaptation initiatives.

The PSF Board is headed by the secretary of the Department of Finance. The members are the vice chairman of the Climate Change Commission, secretary of the Department of Budget and Management, and the director general of the National Economic and Development Authority.

The Board also includes the secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, chairman of the Philippine Commission on Women, representative from academe and scientific community, business sector and NGOs. The CCC provides support as secretariat to the Board.

Jejomar C. Binay polling fourth.

Poe and Roxas were named as the best to steer economic policy in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Duterte’s tough-guy rhetoric has pushed the boundaries. When declaring his candidacy last year, he advised “people to put up several funeral-parlor businesses” to deal with a looming pile of dead drug traffickers. He later pledged to kill 100,000 criminals and feed their bodies to the fish in Manila Bay. In a radio interview last December he admitted to helping kill at least three suspected rapist-kidnappers during a rescue operation in Davao in 1988. “I said ‘Put your hands up.’ No one did, so I attacked.”

Duterte said he fired two magazines from his gun but denied committing a crime, saying he was trying to stop it as a “person in authority.”

Having portrayed himself as a man who lives modestly, he’s faced accusations over his wealth.

“I am not a rich man,” Duterte said on April 27. “I have never stolen. Don’t believe what others are saying. That’s pure garbage.”

He’s also unnerved other countries, spurring criticism from Australia after he told supporters at an event he should have been first in line for a turn when an Australian missionary was gang raped in 1989. He said later that’s just the way he speaks, though his camp issued an apology. AP

BPI. . .

Continued from A1

bank’s infrastructure backbone.

It covers human resources, centralize, operations, information systems and general administration shared services.

Jocson said some parts of the business will eventually adopt fintech as they digitize, because of the efficiency that technology brings, particularly in reaching out to clients. He believes that financial-technology companies should focus on three things: personalizing the experience, going into analytics to find certain segments that no other company has catered to before and, finally, doubling down on client fulfillment without the extra cost.

“This way they’re able to fulfill something cheaply or they’re able to do something that probably others can’t do and they do it more efficiently,” he said.

Fintech efficiently delivers convenience t hrough on l inebanking services, according to Jocson, acknowledging “there could be some risks.” However, as banks are under the regulatory ambit of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the hazards posed by adopting financial technologies could be neutralized by tight security systems. “The technology that we have, we have the bank core processes, but we know fintech can add value to what we’re doing,” Jocson said.

He said BPI is planning to make it easy to plug fintech into its process with minimum effort. However, the bank will be selective in partnering with fintech companies. BPI has yet to announce concrete plans regarding its choice of financial-technology partner.

Nevertheless, what the bank is doing at present is simulta neously ta l k ing to f intec h firms, as BPI continues to restructure its banking-system architecture without compromising security in incorporating fintech as part of the bank’s ecosystem.

“Most of these fintech firms have standard technology that most banks are trapped by legacy architecture. So what we need to do is to open our architecture, but, at the same time, not compromising security so that advanced fintech will be part of our value chain,” he said.

Last year the Asian Banker conferred to BPI the Best Mobile Banking in the Philippines award for adopting mobile-device technology to provide banking services. BPI also received the Best Electronic Delivery Channel in the same year during the Bank Marketing Awards, which was coordinated by the Bank Marketing Association of the Philippines “Well, either way you have to spend on technology, so that’s where the bulk of our capex is spent. About 60 percent of what we spend probably goes to compliance and to security. Probably running the bank itself is probably another 20 percent. So the remainder right now is spent on innovations,” Jocson said.

In 2015 BPI spent over P600 million on security-related technologies. Jocson said the two biggest costs for a bank are compliance See “BPI,” A12

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Friday, May 6, 2016 A3

Inflation remained tame in April due to cheaper rice, utilities

I

nflation in April remain unchanged at 1.1 percent as in the previous month, due to cheaper rice and slower hikes in the prices of utilities, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

PSA data showed that the higher annual gains in the indices of some commodities, such as alcoholic beverages and tobacco and clothing and footwear, were offset by the decline in the index for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels.

“Price movements for major commodity groups remained unchanged, while the slight price increases in some commodities were offset by downward price adjustments in others,” Economic Planning Secretary Emmanuel F. Esguerra said.

Excluding selected food and energy items, the PSA said core inflation exhibited a 1.5-percent growth for three consecutive months.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), the PSA said inflation was higher at 0.4 percent in April than the 0.2 percent recorded in March.

The agency said this was due to higher increases in the indices of food and nonalcoholic beverages; alcoholic beverages and tobacco; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; health; recreation and culture; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services.

Inflation in areas outside of the NCR remained at 1.2 percent in April, according to the PSA. Annual growths were higher in the indices of alcoholic bever-

ages and tobacco; clothing and footwear; health; transport; recreation and culture; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services.

In April the country’s food index alone climbed by 1.7 percent, from 1.6 percent in March. The rate, however, is lower than the 4 percent posted in April 2015.

The PSA said this was due to increases in the prices of corn, bread, pasta, bakery products, meat, fruits and vegetables.

“On the contrary, the rice index continued to post annual decrease at -1.3 percent. The rest of the food [group] either had slower annual growths or retained their last month’s rates,” the PSA said.

The April 2016 inflation is below the market expectation of 1.2 percent but within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s (BSP) forecast of 0.7 percent to 1.5 percent.

For the first four months of 2016, year-to-date inflation stood at 1.1 percent, lower than the 2.3 percent recorded in the same period a year ago.

Esguerra warned, however, of the upside risks in the medium term due to a potential recovery in oil prices, El Niño, and the possible occurrence of La Niña in the latter part of 2016.

“International oil prices remained below 2015 levels, and this is projected to

become unstable on the back of a potential oil-production freeze over the medium term by Russia and selected members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries,” he said.

On the domestic front, Esguerra said that with the El Niño phenomenon likely to last until July 2016, appropriate timing of rice importation remains “critical” to avoid supply disruptions, which could result in unstable rice prices.

Also, he noted that the further intensification of La Niña in the second half of the year could provide upside pressures on the prices of agricultural commodities and utilities.

“To help mitigate the impact of El Niño and prepare for the highly likely occurrence of La Niña, government agencies should coordinate and study various response measures on their possible effect toward agricultural production,” Esguerra said.

As inflation remained tame, the BSP said it sees no reason to change its current monetary-policy stance.

BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the April inflation “continues to support” their view that inflation will remain manageable up until the end of the year.

Tetangco also reiterated his confidence that the growth of consumer prices will likely inch to within the government’s target over the policy horizon.

“We will continue to monitor developments, especially movements in international commodity prices,” he said.

While Tetangco admitted that financialmarket volatility could result from market reactions to advance economies’ monetary policy, he continues to believe the BSP should stand pat with its current monetary settings. Cai U. Ordinario & Bianca Cuaresma

Takata survival gets harder as deaths climb amid wider recalls Continued from A1

“This should be a wakeup call for Malaysia” to ensure cars are taken off the roads until they are repaired, said Jochen Siebert, managing director of JSC (Shanghai) Automotive Consulting Co. “Once they do this or similar actions, it will of course give Honda a bad name and in the end one more reason for any carmaker to disassociate themselves from Takata.”

Expanded recalls

NHTSA’s order is in addition to the 28.8 million inflators Takata had previously called back in the U.S., affecting vehicles made by 12 different manufacturers including Honda Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. With the latest development, as many as 69 million inflators will be recalled. Seventeen manufacturers are now covered, including Tesla Motors Inc., Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc and Fisker Automotive Inc. Credit Suisse Group AG has estimated that a recall of 50 million vehicles would cost the company about 375 billion yen ($3.5 billion), more than the value of its net assets. The number may increase to 75 million if it was limited to air bags without drying agents, according to Credit Suisse in a March 30 note. Takata put the tab for a comprehensive callback -- involving 287.5 million air-bag inflators -- at about 2.7 trillion yen, according to a person familiar with the matter back in March.

A researcher hired by a coalition of automakers said in February that moisture seeping into Takata’s inflators was determined to be the reason the air bags may rupture.

Using a drying agent, or desiccant, in the propellant prevents moisture from destabilizing the compound.

‘Shared interest’

In an e-mailed statement, Tokyo-based Takata agreed to act on NHTSA’s request because of “shared interest towards future safety and restoring public confidence.” The company said it wasn’t aware of any ruptures involving the newly recalled population of air bags.

On the Malaysian deaths, Takata said it was working in “close collaboration with Honda to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding the situation.”

A spokesman for Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport didn’t immediately return calls to his mobile phone.

In 2014, an eight-and-a-half-months pregnant driver died in Malaysia after a collision set off the airbag, which ruptured and fired a one-inch-wide shard of metal into her neck. That was the first known Takata airbag-related death outside the US. The latest recalls are just accelerating a longer-term decline in demand for air bags given the advance in assisted driving technology like collision avoidance and automatic braking, according to Yale Zhang, a managing director at Autoforesight Shanghai Co. With automakers and technology companies including Alphabet Inc.’s Google working on fully self-driving cars, “passive safety systems like air bags are becoming a commodity and will eventually be phased out with the cars of the future,” he said.

Even so, it has been a fall from grace for Takata, which started in 1933 as part of the textile weaving industry and was among companies that produced parachutes for the Imperial Army during World War II. It later rose to prominence as one of the world’s largest makers of seat belts.

Overseas push

The company entered the air-bag business

in the 1980s at the behest of Honda Motor Co. That decade also marked Takata’s first forays outside of Japan. The company set up its first plant in Asia outside of Japan in South Korea in 1980, and began production in the UK in 1988. Takata set up its first joint venture in the US in 1984.

The late Juichiro Takada, father of the current president, took the company public in 2006 and pushed expansion in overseas markets before his death in February 2011.

Today, more than 80 percent of Takata’s sales are outside Japan.

Takata this week increased provisions for its air-bag recalls, booking a combined 20.1 billion yen in charges, excluding costs related to recalls that are still under investigation, according to a statement on Monday. The company is scheduled to announce full-year results on May 11.

Seeking sponsors

Takata is seeking sponsors that would replenish its capital and allow it to emerge as a new company, a person familiar with the matter said last month. Takata has estimated cash and equivalents may drop 24 percent to 49.7 billion yen by the end of March 2017 if recalls continue at the current pace, the person said. The company has a market value of 31 billion yen.

“The expansion of the Takata recall is no doubt a severe blow to the companyand its future prospects,” said Scott Upham, founder of Valient Market Research, who has followed the air-bag industry for more than two decades. “It is our forecast that Takata will ultimately survive this recall as a smaller supplier of seatbelts and electronics. Takata will likely need to exit the inflator business and possibly go through a bankruptcy phase in order to survive.”

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Balabag mining project just a step away from full-scale gold, silver production

G

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

overnment regulators have flashed the green light for the development of the Balabag Gold-Silver Project of TVI Resource Development (Philippines) Inc. in Zamboanga del Sur, following the approval of the project’s Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility (DMPF).

The announcement was made through a news statement issued by the Canadian mining company TVI Pacific Inc., which has a 30.66-percent equity interest in TVIRD. TVIRD, in turn, has a 100-percent stake in Balabag Gold-Silver

Project, and is currently seeking public listing in the Philippine Stocks Exchange (PSE).

TVIRD’s operation of the goldsilver mine in Zamboanga del Sur is expected to boost the country’s annual gold output—as well as

investment in mining—despite the moratorium on the processing of new mining-project proposals pending the enactment of a new mining revenue-sharing scheme

by Congress.

The DMPF was the last major hurdle for TVIRD to initiate the development, construction and operation of the Balabag mine, the TVI statement released on Wednesday added.

The DMPF for the Balabag project, which was approved by the DENR on April 29 this year, authorizes T VIRD to proceed with the development and operation phase, initially over a 180-hectare portion of the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) area, which is covered an approved environmental compliance certificate (ECC).

The 180-hectare area covers all currently defined resources at the

project, as well as proposed mining and processing-facility sites.

TVIRD has the option of submitting an amended ECC that would allow exploration and mining to cover the entire 4,779-hectare MPSA area.

The statement said TVIRD intends to submit an amended ECC with the DENR, in order to access areas with future resource-development potential.

“Balabag is the fourth mining project to be successfully permitted

by TVIRD in the Philippines over the past 11 years, and I am confident that TVIRD will secure the necessary funds to move the project forward prior [to] its listing [in] the PSE later this year,” said Clifford James, chairman and CEO of TVI and concurrent chairman of TVIRD. James said securing the DMPF for the Balabag project will greatly support TVIRD’s efforts to list in

the PSE, and that the listing could provide TVI with both a short and long-term source of funding for the company’s resource acquisition and development activities TVIRD’s MPSA with the government for the Balabag project covers 4,779 hectares in the town of Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur, approximately 75 kilometers east-northeast of TVIRD’s Canatuan mine.

According to TVIRD, a total of 296 holes have been drilled for a total of 34,156 meters at the Balabag project up to mid-2013. Based on results of drilling completed to the end of June 2011, the project has estimated an indicated mineral resources of 1.78 million tons, averaging 2.34 grams per ton (g/t) gold and 72.3 g/t silver, containing 134,262 ounces of gold and 4,148,196 ounces of silver.

While exploration and development work have been put on hold at

the Balabag project since the mid2013 pending the approval of permits from the government, work on the engineering design for a goldsilver processing plant to process ore on-site continued.

So far, TVIRD has also constructed and maintained 16 km of access roads to the project in anticipation of the commencement of construction.

TVIRD secured its ECC on the project from the DENR in October 2013. TVIRD also got an approval of its Social Development Management Program in May 2014. It also entered into a memorandum of agreement with Subanen leaders in August 2014, as part of the DMPF process and a prerequisite for a certification precondition to be issued by the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples, another requisite for the operation of the Balabag project

Corruption allegations hound Binay in election I 60,000

N a poor Southeast Asian country with a soft spot for the underdog, Philippine Vice President Jejomar C. Binay has tried to turn online jokes about his dark complexion and small stature to his advantage by portraying himself in campaign ads as an everyman who understands the struggles of the underclass.

But Binay, who is running fourth in opinion polls ahead of Monday’s presidential elections, is battling another image he says is a political smear — that of a corrupt bureaucrat who built a fortune from government coffers.

The country’s Ombudsman plans to file corruption charges against Binay, 73, after he finishes his term of vice president, based on an investigation into several contracts with alleged irregularities, while he was mayor of Makati City, the country’s premier financial district, including a P2.7-billion ($58.7-million) parking building.

Images of his sprawling hacienda, with its air-conditioned pig farm, horse ranch, orchid farm and a garden inspired by London’s Kew Palace, also were splashed on television screens during the yearlong Senate investigation.

Binay denies amassing ill-gotten wealth, saying the contracts are in order, and his assets were mainly from the pig business he started in 1994 and the sale of properties he owned before he was elected mayor of Makati, which lies within Metro Manila, in 1988.

The corruption talk is part of a

The estimated number of wakes attended by Binay

“demolition job” and remains “mere allegations,” Binay told The Associated Press. “What I have done is I have uplifted the lives of everyone in Makati, and I was able to make our city the richest [in the country].”

He boasts that Makati takes care of its residents from cradle to grave, offering free hospitalization, education, burial and senior citizens’ welfare. As a politician, he has cultivated ties with common people. He is known for attending wakes—60,000, as of his last count—weddings, offering scholarships and donating money to the poor.

Binay supporter Leticia Toralba, a 57-year-old mother of six, says she doesn’t care about the corruption allegations, because he has offered financial help to her family and others outside his city. Two of her children’s education was covered by scholarships that Binay maintains in several colleges.

“We owe him a big debt of gratitude,” Toralba said, as she and some 200 supporters waited in the stifling heat for Binay to speak from a makeshift stage in Manila’s San Andres district. “We don’t care about the allegations of corruption against him. Even if he is corrupt, as long as

he is able to help the people, as long as he gives the money to the poor, that is OK.” As she spoke, Binay’s campaign song blared from two huge speakers, declaring that only Binay can make life better and who sends the poor to school. His television ads also say the poor can rely on nognog and pandak—pejorative tags that some have used in social media to refer to his dark skin and 5-foot-3-inch (1.6-meter) height.

By embracing those terms, Binay is identifying with the rural folk and working class who toil under the hot sun.

Binay—whose first name is a contraction of Jesus, Joseph and Mary—comes from humble beginnings.

Orphaned at a young age, he was raised by his uncle and used to feed the pigs in the backyard.

He supported himself through law school and joined street protests in the 1980s against dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, serving as lawyer to Marcos’s human-rights victims.

While he was a friend of President Aquino’s family for a long time, they ran on different tickets in 2010 and have since had a falling out. In the Philippines the president and vice president are elected separately.

Binay declared his intention to run for president years ago, and surveys in 2014 showed him at the top of the heap. But his popularity has steadily declined, as his image became tarnished by the corruption inquiry. The latest polls suggest Rodrigo Duterte, mayor of the southern

IN this February 9 file photo, Vice President Jejomar C. Binay greets his supporters, as he arrives for the start of the official campaign period for the May 9 presidential elections in Mandaluyong City. AP

city of Davao, is favored to win.

“In many ways Binay was a disaster waiting to happen precisely, because he was on top of the game way before the official campaign started,” said Jayeel Cornelio, director of Ateneo de Manila Uni-

versity’s Development Studies Program. “Because he started too early, thinking that it would catapult him to the presidency, that eventually backfired because he opened himself up for all these attacks.”

But with his low poll numbers, Bi-

nay’s political career may be nearing its end, although his family dynasty may survive, Cornelio said.

“The truth is trial by publicity works in this country and at the end of the day it’s really all about the reputation,” he added. AP

PHL urges ADB to revise charter, redefine role

By Cai U. Ordinario

F

FAKE WATCHES Customs Commissioner Alberto D. Lina presented to the media 150,000 pieces of counterfeit luxury watches, valued at P1.5 billion, that the Bureau of Customs confiscated in Tondo, Manila, on Thursday. ROY DOMINGO

@cuo_bm

RANKFURT, Germany—The Philippines urged the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to revise its charter and allow its membercountries in Asia Pacific to have “unfettered” access to its knowledge and expertise.

In his statement at the 49th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors being held here, Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said Asia is changing and its need for concessional loans has “taken a back seat.”

“As economies become more mature and complex, the need for concessional financing takes a back seat to unfettered access to knowledge and expertise from institutions like the ADB,” Purisima said.

“Thus, the ADB’s 50th anniversary may perhaps be the best time to consider revisiting its charter and completely redefining its role to a renewed, agile and dynamic institution able to assist members on their country-specific growth requirements,” he added.

The Manila-based multilateral development

bank is preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary next year. The ADB started operations on December 19, 1966.

According to its 50-year-old charter, the ADB has six primary functions, which include the promotion of investments through public and private capital for development purposes and the use of its own resources to finance development in developing member-countries (DMCs).

The ADB also assists DMCs in coordinating their development policies and plans; provides technical assistance for projects and programs; cooperates with international bodies, such as the United Nations; and engages in activities that will further its purpose.

“The purpose of the bank shall be to foster economic growth and cooperation in the region of Asia and the Far East, and to contribute to the acceleration of the process of economic development of the developing member-countries in the region, collectively and individually,” the charter read.

Last year the Philippines was the ADB’s fourth-largest sovereign borrower after China, India and Indonesia.

In 2015 the ADB extended $5.53 billion in loans, or 9.5 percent, of its total loan portfolio to the Philippines. The ADB was also active in assisting the country through private-sector financing.

Last year the ADB extended private-sector financing to Philippine-based companies.

These projects include the $20-million loan for a 150- megawatt (MW) wind-farm project in Burgos, Ilocos Norte.

Across the region, the ADB said its total operations surged to $27.17 billion in 2015—the highest in the bank’s history.

The total included $16.29 billion in approvals for loans and grants, $141 million for technical assistance, and $10.74 billion for cofinancing, which increased by a record 16 percent.

Disbursements, a key factor in improving aid effectiveness, also hit a new record of $12.22 billion in 2015, an increase of 22 percent over the previous year.

Private sector operations, a major focus of ADB’s long-term strategy for boosting growth in the region, jumped to $2.63 billion from $1.92 billion in 2014.

AseanFriday news@businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Friday, May 6, 2016 A5

Fish-death crisis prompts Vietnam wastewater probe

V

ietnamESE Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered an investigation into how a Taiwanese-owned steel plant, near central Vietnamese beaches, where millions of dead fish washed ashore last month, received approval to pipe wastewater directly into the sea.

With the official cause of the fish deaths still unknown and the newly sworn-in government struggling to contain growing public anger over the disaster, Phuc said the government was determined to track down the main culprits with “objectivity, honesty, prudence and urgency.”

“This is the most serious environmental incident Vietnam has faced,” Phuc said. “We must continue to probe the cause of this disaster. W hichever agency, organization, individual that violates the laws will be investigated on a scientific basis.

No one is allowed to cover up any infringements. The government is determined to protect the people’s rightful interests.”

The investigation comes after protesters took to the streets last weekend to criticize the government’s response to the crisis, which has tested the government’s ability to balance public health and safety

This is the most serious environmental incident Vietnam has faced.”—Phuc concerns against economic development and the interests of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp. The company, a unit of Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics, is considering whether to raise its investment in Ha Tinh from $10.5 billion to $28.5 billion.

Government licensed

“IF the disaster occurred in other countries, a state of emergency would have been declared or at least warnings would have been given to the public,” said a Facebook user named Nguyen Tien Thanh. “What we have seen is that nearly a month

after the incident was first reported, the government leader started giving instructions.”

Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Executive Vice President Chang Funing said the steel plant’s waste water-treatment system had received all appropriate approvals.

“We’ve received official notification about the inspection,” Fu-ning said. “Our wastewater discharge system received license from the environment ministry, and we went through an environmental protection impact assessment. It’s beyond doubt.”

More than 70 metric tons of wild and farmed fish were found dead on the coast of four provinces since early last month. A preliminary investigation by the environment ministry said the fish might have been killed by toxins released by human activities or algal blooms known as a red tide. It also says there is no evidence to show Formosa was the culprit. According to tests conducted by the Thua Thien Hue government, seawater samples taken from locations where the dead fish were found showed high levels of heavy metals.

Phuc has also ordered Environment Minister Tran Hong Ha and the Ha Tinh province to monitor the wastewater discharge system at the steel plant and activate the automatic monitoring system to collect wastewater samples for testing. Bloomberg News

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (center) talks with (from left) Philippine Navy chief Rear Adm. Caesar C. Taccad, Philippines Foreign Minister Jose Rene D. Almendras, Malaysia’s Armed Forces chief Gen. Zulkifeli Mohd. Zin, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Armed Forces chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo and State Secretary Minister Pratikno during their trilateral meeting on maritimesecurity issues at the presidential palace in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday. The gathering was held following the kidnappings of Indonesian and Malaysian crewmen by Abu Sayyaf militants in the waters off southern Philippines, where Indonesia shares borders with the two countries. AP

Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines agree to boost maritime security

I

ndonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi held bilateral talks with her Philippine counterpart Jose Rene D. Almendras on Wednesday, discussing ways to enhance bilateral ties between the two neighbors.

During the meeting, the Indonesian foreign minister conveyed the government’s appreciation to the Philippines for its cooperation to free 10 Indonesian seamen taken hostage by rebel group Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines. Those seamen have returned to Indonesia safely.

Retno expected further cooperation with Manila to free four other Indonesian seamen kidnapped by the same rebel group later on.

Besides security conditions in regional waters, the two ministers also discussed ways to expand economic cooperation, protection for Indonesian nationals in the Philippines, cooperation in Asean and other regional and international issues which they share concerns on.

“The two ministers also discussed development of ratification process on borders of Exclusive

Economic Zones between the two countries whose approval have already been signed by the two governments on May 23, 2014,” a statement released by Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

In the meeting, Retno and Jose welcomed the initiatives to further reinforce economic cooperation through both government-to-government and business-to-business schemes. Two-way trade between Indonesia and the Philippines stood at $4.6 billion last year, higher than $4.59 billion recorded a year earlier. PNA

SCG lines up Asean expansion program

S

ET-listed Siam Cement Group (SCG) will continue its plan to expand in Asean with a focus on high-value-added products and investing to create innovations that match market demand, President and Chief Executive Roongrote Ransiyopash said.

The company is targeting annual average growth of 5 percent, said Roongrote, who officially took the helm of the country’s largest industrial conglomerate and cement producer early this year.

“The Asean market is growing by about 5 percent each year. We also aim to grow at the same rate or higher,” he said. SCG is also exploring southern Chinese cities whose economies are expected to grow rapidly with logistics facilities to help boost businesses, he said.

“Asean remains a strategic market with strong purchasing power of more than 600 million people. We see the region as a strategic place to expand business and our presence in each Asean country,” Roongrote said. “We are also interested in southern China, where there are 60 million to 80 million people, with strong potential to grow.”

Roongrote said SCG would take a few years to study the southern China market before deciding which type of businesses to invest in.

In Asean the company will focus on deciding which countries and sectors are most suitable for expansion.

“This year we plan to spend 5 billion baht of our investment budget on expanding business in Asean,

5B baht The budget set by SCG for its Asean expansion

including Thailand,” Roongrote said.

SCG has cement, construction materials, packaging and petrochemical businesses in Indonesia and Vietnam. It also has packaging and construction materials businesses in Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia.

Its $4.5-billion petrochemical complex in Vietnam has been postponed for another six months after Dohabased Qatar Petroleum International, its former partner, withdrew from the project.

“We are still in the process of seeking a new partner. That is expected to be finalized by midyear and we should have a clearer direction about the project by the second half,” Roongrote said.

SCG will maintain its plan to focus on creating innovative products to match changing demand in each country while introducing high-value-added products that help to generate rising revenue.

“High-value-added products provide about 39 percent of our total revenue and the proportion is expected to grow substantially as we continue to develop more such products,” Roongrote said.

To create new high-value-added products, the company has to invest more in research and development (R&D), not only in terms of investment budget but also in human resources, he said.

This year SCG has allocated around 1 percent of its annual revenue, or about 4 billion baht, for R&D. That was up from 0.8 percent, or around 3 billion baht, last year.

Moreover, the company has around 1,000 employees working on R&D. “In terms of employees working on R&D, we will not increase the number,” Roongrote said.

“However, we will pool our employees on the marketing and services side, who have been dealing with customers, to work together on creating innovations. This will help the company to come up with innovations that match the demand of our customers.”

SCG posted revenue of 110 billion baht in the first quarter.

Its first-quarter net profit reached 13.6 billion baht, up 23 percent yearon-year, driven largely by its chemical and packaging businesses.

Domestic demand for cement is expected to rise by 3 percent to 5 percent this year, driven by government megaprojects. Cement consumption is likely to reach 40 million tonnes this year.

Acceleration of the government’s infrastructure projects helped cement consumption in the state sector to grow by 20 percent in the first quarter.

SCC closed on Wednesday on the SET at 482 baht, down six baht, in trade worth 602 million baht. MCT

Thailand’s TOA said to consider IPO for paint, chemicals unit

T

OA Group, controlled by Thailand’s Tangkaravakoon family, is considering an initial public offering of its paints and chemicals business, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The company is working with banks on a possible share sale that could raise at least $400 million, one of the people said, asking not to be identified as the deliberations are private. A listing could take place on the Thai stock exchange next year, according to the person.

TOA Group could use the proceeds to expand in the growing market for paint products in Asia Pacific, after retail paint sales to consumers in the region rose 39 percent in the five years through 2015

to reach $13.5 billion, according to Euromonitor International. Initial public offerings in Thailand have raised $2.5 billion over the past year, down from $5.3 billion in the previous 12 months, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

TOA Group started in 1957 as a small, family-owned hardware shop in Thailand and began producing shellac the next year. It now sells products, such as SuperShield sealers, Duraclean paints and NanoShield antibacterial coatings through its operations in countries across Southeast Asia including Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The company has joint ventures with Tokyo-based Chugoku Marine Paints

Ltd., which makes coatings for the bottom of ocean vessels, and Japan’s Union Paint Co., whose products are used for wood finishing, according to its web site. Its chemicals business makes allweather adhesives for plywood and automobile coatings for rust prevention, the web site shows.

TOA Group hasn’t made a final decision to pursue the offering, and plans could change or be delayed, according to the people. An assistant to TOA Group CEO Vonnarat Tangkaravakoon said he wasn’t available to comment. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent through a contact form on its web site. Bloomberg News

The World BusinessMirror

A6 Friday, May 6, 2016

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Republicans face reality: Trump as nominee

1,237 The number of delegates Trump must still collect in order to officially clinch the Republican nomination

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is joined by his wife Melania (right) and daughter Ivanka (left) as he arrives for a primary night news conference on Tuesday in New York. AP/Mary Altaffer

W

ASHINGTON— Suddenly, Republicans are confronting a reality that seemed fantastically implausible not long ago: Donald Trump as their all-but-official presidential nominee.

The response on Wednesday in some quarters was a mix of denial and resistance that was unlike anything seen in recent history.

Republican leaders, including some who sparred with Trump, pleaded for unity. Prominent GOP lawmakers announced their support.

So did some tea-party activists.

But many Trump detractors were unmoved. Talk of finding a third-

party alternative continued unabated. Big-money donors, including the Koch brothers and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, were notably silent, as was Mitt Romney, Republicans’ last presidential nominee and a fierce Trump critic.

The overwhelming sentiment— at least within the party establishment, which Trump vilified but now must work alongside to win in

November—seemed to be resignation mixed with a determination to make the best of things.

“The final stage is acceptance, which I think a lot of people will get to,” said Josh Holmes, a Republican strategist unaligned with any candidate. But, he added: “I don’t think we’re going to see a seismic shift in people supporting Trump.”

The prospect of a primary fight extending all the way to a contested July convention instantly vanished on Tuesday night, after Trump roared to victory in Indiana and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz unexpectedly stepped aside. Trump’s sole remaining rival, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, followed suit on Wednesday, becoming the last contestant to abandon a field that once comprised 17 hopefuls—including many of the party’s most acclaimed leaders.

Trump must still collect the 1,237 delegates he needs to officially clinch the nomination, which will

take him until the end of the primary season on June 7, when California and four other states vote.

His critics weren’t yielding, despite the lack of any Republican opponent.

Ample time remains for Trump to “disqualify” himself, said Katie Packer, a GOP consultant and head of Our Principles PAC, which has spent millions on advertisements across the country, attacking Trump.

“We continue to give voice to the belief of so many Republicans that Trump is not a conservative, does not represent the values of the Republican Party, cannot beat Hillary Clinton, and is simply unfit to be president of the United States,” she said in a statement that defied party efforts to rally behind the nominee-in-waiting.

Trump will enter the general election, presumably against Clinton, as a decided underdog.

There are a few Democratic-

leaning states he might make more competitive, such as Pennsylvania, with its large population of disaffected working-class whites. But there are others that have been reliably Republican, like Arizona and Georgia, that could come into play if Latinos and other minorities, antagonized by Trump’s insults, turn out in high numbers.

In Nevada, a major battleground in the last few elections, the state Democratic Party sent a taunting letter on Wednesday urging Trump—“Dear Dangerous Donald”—to campaign there, figuring it would hurt his candidacy and other Republicans, as well.

“General election,” wrote Democratic Chairman Roberta Lange, “here we go!”

Trump spent much of Wednesday looking ahead to the November election, including how he might finance a campaign costing up to $1 billion.

“Do I want to sell a couple of buildings and self-fund?” the Manhattan real-estate developer mused on MSNBC. “I don’t know that I want to do that necessarily.”

Later, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump said he would not self-fund his generalelection campaign but rather create a “world-class finance organization.”

The move carried some risk.

After spending months accusing rivals of trading government favors for donations and claiming, inaccurately, that he alone was paying for his candidacy, Trump faces the danger of undermining his outsider image by accepting big campaign contributions. He has raised more than $12 million, mostly in small sums.

Trump also said he was searching for a seasoned politician with expertise in navigating Congress to be his vice-presidential running mate. “I have the business—let’s call it talents,” Trump said on MSNBC. “And I think I’ll probably go the political route.”

First, Trump must pull his party together, which will not be easy.

Some, more or less grudgingly, said they were coming around to the idea of supporting the businessman and reality TV star, even if he was not their first, second or third choice.

“Donald Trump has struck a chord with a lot of people,” said Jonathan Barnett, a member of the Republican National Committee form Arkansas and a longtime supporter of the state’s former governor, Mike Huckabee, who quit the presidential race in February.

“Even though they may not care for him and may not like him personally, and he may not represent their values … they want to give him a chance to try to work these issues out.”

But others insisted, in the words of Rory Cooper, a spokesman for the Never Trump political action committee, that “never means never.”

Social media were filled on Wednesday with images of voters burning their Republican registration cards, professing their abandonment of the party or vowing to cross party lines to support Clinton.

Among them was Mark Salter, a former top aide and confidant to Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee. “The GOP is going to nominate for president, a guy who reads the National Enquirer and thinks it’s on the level,” Salter said, referring to Trump’s embrace of an unsubstantiated report that linked Cruz’s father to President John Kennedy’s assassination.

“I’m with her,” Salter said of Clinton.

The resistance to Trump extends beyond party elites.

Even as he rolled to victory in Indiana, more than four in 10 of those who voted in Tuesday’s Republican primary said they were “scared” or “concerned” about the prospect of a Trump presidency, a finding consistent with previous exit polls.

Curt Anderson, who worked for another of the unsuccessful 2016 GOP hopefuls, ex-Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, said some “in the professional political class” would never support Trump.

“The question is…will it just be a couple hundred of these folks?” Anderson said. “Or will it be millions of normally reliable Republican voters who refuse to come over to Trump?” TNS

Clinton and Sanders fight for last big prize: California Doctor called to help Prince

L

OS ANGELES—Hillary Clinton is looking confidently ahead to the general election, but taking nothing for granted as California’s mega-primary approaches, reaching out to Hispanic and black voters in the hope of waging a final knockout against rival Bernie Sanders.

Clinton’s visit to the Golden State on Thursday coincides with Cinco de Mayo, the annual celebration of Mexican culture and heritage. She plans to rally supporters in the gymnasium of a community college that serves heavily Hispanic cities on the edge of Los Angeles.

The event will carry symbolic value. The venue, East Los Angeles College, isn’t far from another local school where Clinton kicked off her successful 2008 presidential primary run in California, when she delivered a setback to then-Sen. Barack Obama on his way to claiming the White House.

In that race, the former first lady notched nearly 55 percent of the vote in heavily Democratic Los Angeles County, home to 10 million people and an important battleground in any statewide campaign.

As in past primaries, Clinton is expected to do well in the June 7 primary with older Democrats, Hispanics and black voters, while Sanders could perform better with younger voters and independents, who are allowed to vote in the state’s Democratic primary.

“The Sanders folks feel that they have to do better with the minority communities, especially Latinos,” said Mitchell Schwartz, who ran Obama’s 2008 campaign in the state and supports the Vermont senator.

For Clinton’s campaign, “they don’t want to go into the [national] convention having lost the biggest state in the country,” Schwartz added. “They are going to pull out all the stops here to win.”

Relying on many of the same advisers who laid the groundwork for her 2008 win, Clinton is looking to build on that strategy, targeting key demographics in the diverse region. Hispanics alone make up about half the population in Los Angeles County.

Clinton will begin her day on Thursday, meeting privately with politically influential black pastors in Los Angeles, then attend a fund-raiser hosted by Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar, a Mexican immigrant, before the college rally.

Until recently, the California primary had looked like the makeor-break contest for candidates on both sides of the aisle. But billionaire businessman Donald Trump is now the presumptive Republican nominee, while Sanders looks to California as his last glimmer of hope in stopping Clinton, who has thus far won 92 percent of the delegates needed to claim the nomination.

But Clinton can’t be too confident going in to the country’s final primary, with statewide voter surveys pointing to a tight race between the two Democrats.

An independent Field Poll released last month found Clinton with a six-point lead over Sanders, with 12 percent of voters still undecided.

Highlighting the stakes, Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will each be making appearances in the Los Angeles area this week. The former first lady heads to Oakland on Friday.

Clinton’s appearance at the college also represents a bid to lift her appeal with younger voters, who have strongly rallied behind Sanders’s insurgent campaign.

The Vermont senator’s rallies in California have been filled to capacity with twenty something and thirty-somethings; a Clinton rally last month at another college in Los Angeles was noticeably thin on student-attendees, though it was held on a Saturday.

Driving up turnout will be a key issue for both candidates; likely voters in California tend to be older, white, college-educated and homeowners, surveys show. Hispanics, by comparison, tend to vote in proportions well below their share of the population, in part because many are too young to vote, not registered or not citizens.

Michael Ceraso, Sanders’s state

director, said campaign volunteers would make 1million door knocks by primary day, as part of the campaign’s effort to scout up supporters and to register new voters.

The California election is actually about a monthlong.

Vote-by-mail ballots go out next week and could account for more than half of the total number of votes cast. That means that many voters will be making decisions weeks before June 7.

In California 475 Democratic delegates will be divvied up in the election, some based on the outcome in each congressional district, others in proportion to the statewide tally. That will make it difficult for either candidate to win a commanding victory.

California has long been favorable terrain for the Clintons.

Along with her 2008 win, Bill Clinton locked in the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination in the state, which he carried in his two presidential contests. The familiarity of the Clinton name could be an asset.

Lia Evans, 19, a student from Torrance and registered Democrat, was among the crowd at a Clinton rally at Los Angeles Southwest College last month.

While she liked what she heard from both candidates, she was more comfortable with Clinton.

As for Sanders, “I still don’t know that much about him,” she said. AP

is a longtime pain specialist

M

ILL VALLEY, California—The Northern California doctor who was asked to help Prince before his death is an addiction and pain specialist who has championed the use of a semisynthetic opiate to treat pain.

Dr. Howard Kornfeld, who operates an outpatient medical center in bucolic Marin County, received publicity in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2013 for his work with buprenorphine.

Advocates of the drug say the opiate can help addicted patients by offering pain relief with less possibility of overdose and addiction, unlike oxycodone or morphine. Representatives of Prince reached out to Kornfeld the day before the pop star died, but the doctor sent his son because he couldn’t immediately fly to Minnesota, said William Mauzy, a Minneapolis lawyer for Kornfeld.

The son, Andrew Kornfeld, was one of three people who found the singer unresponsive and called 911. He is listed as a consultant with his father’s clinic and is a premed student, Mauzy said.

A law-enforcement official briefed on the investigation has told The Associated Press that investigators are looking into whether Prince died from an overdose.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk about the investigation.

At least two experts on treating addiction have questioned whether Kornfeld responded appropriately when he was called to help Prince.

Dr. Stuart Gitlow, who has no direct

knowledge of Prince’s case, said that, if Kornfeld believed it to be a medical emergency, “his obligation is to call an ambulance and get the patient to emergency personnel who can assess the situation— not to fly to the patient.”

Kornfeld spoke to The San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday but declined to discuss anything related to the singer.

Instead, he said he wanted to speak out to encourage more research into finding ways to treat and manage pain and addiction.

He said in a telephone interview that he said he had to reschedule patients at his clinic after news of his involvement in the case broke.

Howard Kornfeld told the Marin Independent Journal in 2013 that he first became aware of buprenorphine in the 1990s while treating heroin and prescription-drug addicts.

“We know this drug has no toxicity to the kidneys and much less toxicity to the liver than any other opiates. It works better for chronic nerve pain, and it doesn’t cause overdoses,” he said in an interview with The San Francisco Chronicle in 2013.

“In most addicts or pain patients, it decreases cravings but doesn’t cause this kind of euphoric state people get drawn into,” he said.

Kornfeld told The Chronicle he also advocates an approach that includes exercise, nutrition, psychotherapy and other alternatives to drugs. “Our overall goal is get people off of buprenorphine, and off of all drugs,” he said. AP

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Wildfire cuts Canadian oil output as 80,000 flee blaze

Friday, May 6, 2016

A7

Soaring US gasoline demand not enough to stop supply glut

T

he biggest increase in US gasoline demand in almost 40 years hasn’t been enough to keep storage tanks from filling up.

Gasoline imports into the US East Coast are near the highest in seven months and American refiners have maximized gasoline output as diesel margins falter. That’s helped push inventories in the region up by 3.68 million barrels over the past two weeks to the highest seasonal level in three decades, during a period when supplies typically decline.

Refiners across the US had been flying high on cheap oil and strong demand, pumping out fuel at record rates and reaping healthy margins.

Now, a 67-percent rally in crude since mid-February has increased costs, while tankers sailing from Europe and elsewhere are flooding New York Harbor, the delivery point for futures contracts. Profits for processing crude into gasoline have fallen for six days in a row to $18.66 a barrel, down $2.99 from a week ago, based on futures prices.

“We have to start drawing inventories at some point, otherwise the margin situation is going to deteriorate pretty quickly,” said Sam Margolin, lead analyst at Cowen and Co. If inventories build for another six to eight weeks, “at some point runs are going to be cut.”

US gasoline demand rose by 556,000 barrels a day in February, according to the Energy Information Administration, the biggest annual increase since May 1978. The trend has continued, the latest weekly figures show. But the de-

mand is starting to be overwhelmed by imports that last week that were more than 50 percent higher than a year ago.

The narrower margins are weighing on refiners’ earnings and outlooks. The BI North America Refining and Marketing index is down 27 percent this year— and none of its companies have year-todate gains.

HollyFrontier Corp. posted a surprise loss of nine cents a share, compared with the average estimate of a seven-cent per-share profit. HollyFrontier pointed to $36 million in losses related to federally mandated ethanol blending. Since oil prices have plunged, adding the octaneenhancing blendstock no longer helps the bottom line.

Phillips 66’s 61-percent drop in earnings was driven by lower gasoline and distillate margins globally. While the company expects strong summer gasoline demand, CEO Greg Garland said supply would keep pressuring margins.

Gasoline traders this week watched the spread between June and July futures prices flip into contango from backwardation. Now contracts for nearterm delivery are weaker, indicating that the market is well supplied and prices could fall further. The import surge in the second half of April could be caused by a continuation of a floating storage play in Europe, said Eric Rosenfeldt, vice president of supply and trading at Papco Inc. in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

“The floating storage of gasoline that was taking place in Europe was summer grade,” he said. “Unwind of that trade is still happening.” Bloomberg News

Foreign investors in fizzled development at wit’s end

M

An evacuee puts gas in his car on his way out of Fort McMurray, Alberta, as a wildfire burns in the background on Wednesday. The raging wildfire emptied Canada’s main oil sands city, destroying entire neighborhoods of Fort McMurray, where officials warned that all efforts to suppress the fire have failed. Jason Franson /The Canadian Press via AP

A

fire fueled by shifting winds that forced more than 80,000 people to flee their homes and disrupted oil-sands operations in Western Canada is poised to expand.

The fire will probably grow to about 100 square kilometers, from around 80 now, Chad Morrison, a wildfire official, said on Wednesday.

Suncor Energy Inc., Cnooc Ltd.’s Nexen, Royal Dutch Shell Plc. and Husky Energy Inc. are among companies reducing production and opening work camps to residents fleeing blazes in Alberta’s biggestever evacuation caused by a fire.

Inter Pipeline Ltd. shut part of its system in the province. No deaths or injuries have been reported although 1,600 buildings have been damaged.

Reduced output from the world’s fourth-biggest crude producer helped lift benchmark oil prices, with West Texas Intermediate gaining as much as 2.3 percent in New York and Brent advancing 1.9 percent in London on Thursday.

Many residents of oil-sands hub Fort McMurray fled north to nearby sites where companies are flying out workers and making room for evacuees. Shell has shut its 255,000 barrela-day Albian Sands mine and Suncor, Syncrude Canada Ltd. and Connacher Oil and Gas Ltd. have also reduced output from the region.

More than 1 million barrels a day of oil-sands production capacity may be affected by the blaze, according to company statements and data published in Alberta’s Spring Oil Sands Quarterly.

“My house and everything I own is gone,” Mike Marchand, a crane op-

erator for Suncor, said in a phone interview from Edmonton, where he evacuated with his family after the trailer park where he lives in Fort McMurray went up in flames.

“I’ve never had anything like this happen.”

The wildfire is the latest blow to a province already grappling with the economic toll of a two-year oil-price slump in one of the world’s most expensive places to extract crude.

More than 40,000 energy jobs have been lost in Canada since the price crash began in 2014. Some 250 firefighters, 10 helicopters and 17 air tankers have been deployed to fight the blazes around Fort McMurray, about 700 km northeast of Calgary.

While lower temperatures may aid firefighters on Thursday, the blaze is expected to last at least until the weekend, Morrison said.

The area will require years to recover, Scott Long, an emergency official, told reporters. In the hardest-hit Fort McMurray neighborhoods, between 50 percent and 90 percent of homes have been lost, officials said.

Production cuts

Suncor said it brought down its base plant while cutting output from its Firebag and MacKay River oil-sands operations. Nexen shut its Long Lake facility, the company said on its web site. The facility had already shut its 72,000 barrel-

a-day upgrader and had reduced bitumen extraction after a January 15 explosion.

Husky cut production at its Sunrise facility to 10,000 barrels a day from 30,000 after Inter Pipeline shut a diluent line to the plant, company Spokesman Mel Duvall said. Connacher cut about 4,000 barrels a day of output at its Great Divide project.

Inter Pipeline said it shut part of its Corridor and Polaris systems.

The annual wildfire season in Western Canada started early this year after a dry winter and low spring rainfall. Officials have yet to identify a direct cause for the inferno, which quickly strengthened on Tuesday afternoon and caught emergency responders by surprise.

An out-of-control blaze in 2011 caused an estimated C$700 million ($544 million) in damage after burning 47 km and forcing some oil and gas operations to shut around Slave Lake, also in northern Alberta. Oil sands operations belonging to Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Cenovus Energy Inc. were disrupted last year by a blaze near Cold Lake.

Unpredictable fire

The current evacuation has been hindered by the unpredictability of the fire, which on Tuesday afternoon breached Highway 63, the main road in and out of Fort McMurray, south of the community.

Videos posted to Twitter as residents were trying to escape showed vast tracks of trees being swallowed by fire along Highway 63, the forest floor engulfed in flames and the sky thick with smoke. Helicopters flew overhead on their way to fight the fire.

Some who headed south to escape the blaze ran out of gasoline as refueling stations along the road were emptied. Alberta’s Transportation Department escorted a fuel tanker along the highway to assist stranded motorists, according to a Wednesday

morning Twitter post. Imperial Oil Ltd. is also supplying fuel to evacuees who fled north at the Wapasu Creek Lodge, which normally houses oil-sands workers, the company said on Twitter.

Too early

It’s too early to tally the damage, according to Premier Rachel Notley.

The evacuation is the largest ever for the province tied to a fire, she said.

The provincial Cabinet has approved C$2 million in up-front funding for the Red Cross and will continue to review further needs, she said.

“At this point the focus continues to be on the safety of the residents,” Notley told reporters at a Wednesday morning briefing in Edmonton. “Right now it’s people, then critical infrastructure, then stopping the fire.”

Fort McMurray is at the heart of the Athabasca deposit, one of three large bitumen reserves that make up Alberta’s oil sands where companies produce about 2.5 million barrels a day. Oil-sands crude prices rose after producers cut output.

The discount for Western Canadian Select, the heavy grade that includes oil-sands bitumen, shrank relative to West Texas Intermediate futures by 65 cents to $12.95 a barrel on Wednesday, according to Calgary brokerage Net Energy. That’s the smallest gap since March 1, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Light synthetic crude, also produced from the oil sands, flipped to a 75-cent premium to WTI from a 5-cent discount on Tuesday, according to Net Energy.

Canada’s Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale pledged federal support for Alberta, while the national government dispatches military planes to the region. Fort McMurray faces a long road ahead to rebuild, Goodale said at a briefing.

“The recovery from this situation is going to take a considerable amount of time.” Bloomberg News

ONTPELIER, Vermont—Foreigners who had been banking on their investments in a biomedical research facility and a hotel and rental cottage project in northern Vermont to get green cards are scrambling to find a backup now that the project’s developers are accused of misusing hundreds of millions of dollars of investors’ money in what investigators called a “massive eight-year fraud scheme.”

Wei Wang and his wife, who are from Beijing and living in Houston after graduate school, had hoped their investment of more than half-a-million dollars would lead them down the road to starting a restaurant.

“We were doing our business plans for the restaurant when this came up, so we have to change everything,” Wang said.

“It’s hard to accept that we may lose all of our almost 600K.” Wang said he recently contacted about 30 other Chinese investors, of the 166 foreigners who chipped in a total of about $83 million in the biomedical research project, to see if they might be able to work together to protect their immigration status and money.

The federal Securities and Exchange Commission and the state of Vermont last month accused Ariel Quiros—owner of Jay Peak, a large ski resort in the state— and the resort’s president of misusing in “Ponzi-like fashion” more than half of nearly $400 million raised from foreign investors for developments through a special visa program. The EB-5 program offers foreign investors a chance at residency for investments in projects that create jobs.

Quiros also is accused in the civil complaints of “pilfering” $50 million of investor funds for his personal use, including to buy the Jay Peak and Burke Mountain ski resorts, a Trump Place luxury condo in New York, and to pay personal income taxes. Both Quiros and Jay Peak President Bill Stenger have said they will be cleared of wrongdoing.

The case is one of several around the country in which the EB-5 program was allegedly used to defraud hundreds of investors out of tens of millions of dollars.

One investor on Tuesday filed a classaction lawsuit in Miami against Quiros, Stenger, the Raymond James financial firm and Quiros’s then-son-in-law who was working at the firm. The lawsuit is seeking to recover funds the investor says were misused, commingled and stolen.

The status of investor funds related to the litigation ultimately will be decided by the courts, the state of Vermont said. The federal receiver overseeing the projects amid the fraud allegations said he is attempting to protect both the investors’ immigration status and the investments.

Five of the eight projects connected to

Quiros and Stenger have been completed and are operating, including the Jay Peak Hotel, indoor water park, ice arena and golf course; the Jay Peak Golf and Mountain Suites; and the Jay Peak Lodge and Townhouses.

But the biomedical research plant, which was expected to bring 450 jobs, is unlikely to happen, Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin said last month.

Federal receiver Michael Goldberg expects both Jay Peak and Burke Mountain resorts, including a new hotel at Burke that has not yet opened, to be sold.

Antonius Van Usen, of Utrecht, the Netherlands, said he had several options, including a life insurance company in Seattle and other commercial ventures, but chose to invest in the Jay Peak hotel and water park in 2008 because the Vermont government was in favor of the project and said it would monitor it, he said.

“For a layman as me, that gave me confidence,” said Van Usen, whose son at the time wanted to study in the US. The project was completed, and he had the conditions removed on his visa in 2011. Now he wonders if he’ll get a return on his investment.

“It’s not that we have to eat grass from now on, but I mean I have to work hard for my $500,000,” said Van Usen, a builder, who has a property management company and does some real estate.

While EB-5 investors can hope for a return on their investment, there’s no guarantee they will receive one, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The state also has since changed the structure of the EB-5 regional program to provide more financial oversight.

Felipe Vieira, of Brazil, said he decided to invest in the Jay Peak Hotel Suites Stateside project to create a more secure life for his small family. He said he made the decision after vacationing in Stowe, Vermont, when his then-8-year-old daughter said she wanted to stay.

He sold a small farm about two hours outside of Rio and an apartment in the city and moved to Stowe, Vermont, where he loves living but worries that he and his wife and daughter may not be able to stay.

They could return to Brazil, he said, but would rather stay in Vermont.

He said he is in contact with other investors so they can communicate their main concerns to officials as a group.

Some investors have expressed interest in chipping in more money to make sure the projects are completed and jobs are created, said Michael Goldberg, the federal receiver. Vieira, who works as a business analyst, said he’s out of money to do that. He said he has expenses of lawyers, moving, housing, and next year his daughter is going to college.

“To tell the truth, I don’t have money,” he said. AP

A8

The World BusinessMirror

Friday, May 6, 2016

The city is now free, but at a high cost: It was destroyed

IS routed in Iraq’s city of Ramadi

Two buildings in Haji Ziad Square in the Iraqi city of Ramadi show extensive damage in this March 20 file photo, months after US-backed Iraqi forces freed the city from the Islamic State group. AP/Maya Alleruzzo

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AMADI, Iraq—This is what victory looks like in the Iraqi city of Ramadi: In the once-thriving Haji Ziad Square, not a single structure still stands.

Turning in every direction yields a picture of devastation.

A building that housed a pool hall and ice-cream shops—reduced to rubble. A row of money changers and motorcycle-repair garages—obliterated, a giant bomb crater in its place. The square’s Haji Ziad Restaurant, beloved for years

by Ramadi residents for its grilled meats—flattened. The restaurant was so popular its owner built a larger, fancier branch across the street three years ago. That, too, is now a pile of concrete and twisted iron rods.

The destruction extends to nearly every part of Ramadi, once home to 1 million people and now virtually empty. A giant highway cloverleaf at the main entrance to the city is partially toppled. Apartment block after apartment block has been crushed. Along a residential street, the walls of homes have been shredded away, exposing furniture and bedding. Graffiti on the few homes still standing warn of explosives inside.

When Iraqi government forces backed by US-led warplanes wrested this city from Islamic State (IS) militants after eight months of IS control, it was heralded as a major victory. But the cost of winning Ramadi has been the city itself.

The scope of the damage is beyond any of the other Iraqi cities recaptured so far from the jihadi group. Photographs provided to The Associated Press by satellite imagery and analytics company DigitalGlobe show more than 3,000 buildings and nearly 400 roads and bridges were damaged or destroyed between May 2015, when Ramadi fell to IS, and January 22, after most of the fighting had ended.

Over roughly the same period, nearly 800 civilians were killed in clashes, airstrikes and executions.

Now the few signs of life are the soldiers manning checkpoints, newly painted and decorated with brightly colored plastic flowers. Vehicles pick their way around craters blocking roads as the dust from thousands of crushed buildings drifts over the landscape. Along one street, the only sign that houses ever existed there is a line of garden gates and clusters of fruit trees.

The wreckage was caused by ISlaid explosives and hundreds of air strikes by the Iraqi military and the US-led coalition.

Besides the fighting itself, the IS group is increasingly using a scorched-earth strategy as it loses ground in Iraq. When IS fighters

withdraw, they leave an empty prize, blowing up buildings and wiring thousands of others with explosives.

The bombs are so costly and time-consuming to defuse that much of recently liberated Iraq is now unlivable.

“All they leave is rubble,” said Maj. Mohammed Hussein, whose counterterrorism battalion was one of the first to move into Ramadi. “You can’t do anything with rubble.”

As a result, US-led coalition and Iraqi officials are rethinking their tactics as they battle IS to regain territory. The coalition is scaling back its air strikes in besieged urban areas. Efforts are under way to increase training of explosive disposal teams.

The new approach is particularly key as Iraq and the coalition build up to the daunting task of retaking Mosul, Iraq’s second-biggest city, held by IS for nearly two years.

“They know they can’t just turn Mosul into a parking lot,” said a Western diplomat in Baghdad who has been present for a number of meetings with coalition and Iraqi defense officials regarding the Mosul operation. The diplomat commented on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

In January, after IS was pushed out of Ramadi, thousands of families returned to their homes. But residents have since been barred from coming back because dozens of civilians died from IS booby traps. Officials estimate IS planted thousands of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) across the city.

Janus Global Operations, an American firm, began working to remove them last month and said it has so far cleared more than 1,000 square meters—a fraction of a city block.

3,000

The number of buildings and nearly 400 roads and bridges that were damaged or destroyed between May 2015 and January 22

The vast majority of the city’s population remains displaced.

Ramadi lies on the Euphrates River west of Baghdad and is the capital of Iraq’s Sunni heartland, Anbar province. Even as IS swept over most of the province and northern Iraq in 2014, Ramadi had held out under tenuous government control. After months of fighting, in May 2015, IS fighters captured it by unleashing a barrage of truck and suicide bombs that overwhelmed government forces.

They raised their flag above Anbar Operations Command center, the former provincial police and military headquarters that was once a US military base, then proceeded to largely level the complex with explosives. Over the following days, they methodically destroyed government buildings.

Militants took over homes, converting living rooms into command centers and bedrooms into barracks. They dug tunnels under the streets to evade air strikes, shut down schools, looted and destroyed the homes of people associated with the local government. They set up a headquarters on the campus of Anbar University, on the city’s western edge.

Over the course of the eight-

month campaign to push IS out of Ramadi, coalition aircraft dropped more than 600 bombs on the city.

The strikes targeted IS fighters, but also destroyed bridges, buildings and roads, the Pentagon has acknowledged. Government forces seized districts on the outskirts and in December launched their final assault.

As Iraqi ground forces moved into Ramadi, IS methodically laid explosives and blew up swaths of the city’s infrastructure. The electrical grid was almost completely destroyed and the city’s water network was also heavily damaged.

The jihadis bombed the city’s remaining bridges and two dams.

Though most of the population had already left, IS fighters tightened checkpoints along main roads out of the city to prevent civilians from fleeing. They later used families as human shields as they made their escape.

“ISIS [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] made a concerted effort to ensure the city would be unlivable,” said Patrick Martin, an Iraq researcher at the Institute for the Study of War. As his convoy of troops approached Ramadi, Maj. Hussein said he watched IS fighters set fires in Anbar University to destroy sensitive documents. The fires burned for days.

The complex is now largely destroyed. A gymnasium used by IS to store documents has been torched.

Charred sports equipment—a boxing glove, cleats, pieces of a track suit—line the hallways. Iraqi artillery fire punched thick holes into the university’s library. Only the two main reading rooms are safe to visit; the rest of the four-story building is believed to be booby-trapped.

Trying to uproot dug-in fighters, coalition aircraft and Iraqi artillery unleashed devastation.

Haji Ziad Square, for example, is a strategic intersection with lines of sight down major thoroughfares by which troops had to approach. So IS fighters deployed heavily there.

The new multistory Haji Ziad Restaurant made a prime sniper post.

Iraqi troops called in intense coalition strikes on the square to help clear the militants.

Similarly, a complex of around 40 large residential towers stood across from Anbar University on a key route for Iraqi forces entering the city. Before-and-after imagery shows at least a dozen of them were leveled. Multiple bomb craters are evident, including at least two that measure more than 45 feet across.

In a district along the western edge of downtown Ramadi, a dense strip of buildings, homes and bustling shops, not a single building escaped unscathed from the IS occupation and the coalition air strikes.

Key streets throughout the city are blocked by craters as each side tried to hamper the other’s movement.

Tens of thousands of Ramadi’s residents live in camps or with extended family in Baghdad. Hundreds of thousands are in other nearby villages. Thousands more live in a small resort town on Habbaniyah Lake south of Ramadi that has become a sprawling camp.

Where Iraqis came to jet-ski and boat as recently as 2012, the beach is now lined with tents. The 300room hotel and hundreds of chalets in the complex are filled with people displaced from Ramadi, Fallujah, Hit and smaller villages across Anbar. AP

Islamic State is seeking new revenue streams­, UN ambassador says

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NITED NATIONS—The Islamic State (IS) extremist group is looking to increase revenue from taxation, smuggling antiquities “and potentially kidnap for ransom” after losing some territory and oil revenue following the destruction of significant oil facilities, the chairman of the UN committee monitoring sanctions against the militant group and al-Qaeda said on Wednesday.

New Zealand’s UN Ambassador Ge-

rard van Bohemen told the UN Security Council that the Islamic State (IS) group is not short of arms or fighters.

While recent reports indicate that the flow of recruits is slowing, he said, “estimates suggest that upward of 30,000 foreign terrorist fighters have traveled to Iraq and Syria to date.”

Van Bohemen said the threat from IS is also expanding geographically, and as pressure increases on its territory in Iraq

and Syria, foreign fighters are seeking to return home.

He said this poses a challenge because while some returning fighters are disillusioned, “others return radicalized, battle-hardened and well-networked” and pose a serious risk to the international community because they can link up with local al-Qaeda affiliates to conduct terror attacks.

“Their capacity to initiate complex at-

tacks at great speed is already becoming a reality,” van Bohemen said.

“ISIL [Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant] affiliates in Libya, Afghanistan and Yemen are steadily gaining a foothold and becoming increasingly important to the survival of ISIL,” he said, and as pressure grows on its territory in Iraq and Syria “it is expected ISIL will look to move funds to these affiliates, including through the use of informal money transfers.”

Van Bohemen said tracking the travel of “foreign terrorist fighters” has become more difficult because instead of traveling directly to the neighboring country of a conflict area, many “are now taking multiple, indirect routes, often using more than one passport.”

To combat this, he urged all countries to implement UN resolutions calling for the sharing of information to better detect and disrupt their movements. AP

news@businessmirror.com.ph

U.S. declares cease-fire in Aleppo

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AMASCUS, Syria—Sporadic violence persisted in Aleppo on Wednesday, as US officials announced an agreement had been reached with Russia to extend Syria’s fragile ceasefire to the deeply contested northern city.

The Syrian military said the truce would last only 48 hours.

Restoration of a partial truce would bring relief to residents on both sides of Syria’s largest city after two weeks of relentless violence that has killed nearly 300 people, destroyed hospitals and brought it to the brink of humanitarian disaster.

It was not immediately clear whether the new effort will be observed or for how long. The US and Russia finalized a nationwide cease-fire in late February, but have struggled to make it stick.

The agreement was reached late Tuesday and took effect at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday Damascus time (7 a.m. EDT), Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Since the truce began, “we have seen an overall decrease in violence...even though there are some reports of continued fighting in some locations, which does not surprise us because it only went into effect one minute after midnight,” Kerry said.

“We expect all the parties...to fully abide by the renewed cessation in Aleppo.

That means the regime and the opposition alike,” he told reporters. “We look to Russia...to press for the regime’s compliance with this effort and the United States will do its part with respect to the opposition.”

The US and Russia have been working to salvage the cease-fire they brokered together, which held surprisingly well until two weeks ago amid an alarming uptick of violence around Aleppo. Shells slammed into hospitals and residential areas on both sides of the divided city, plunging it into renewed violence that quickly escalated to levels unseen in months.

The agreement on Aleppo follows an earlier deal to reaffirm the truce in the Damascus suburbs and in coastal Latakia province.

The Syrian military confirmed the truce but said it would not take effect until 12:01 a.m. on Thursday and last for only 48 hours. It did not elaborate and there was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.

Rebels fighting in Aleppo did not immediately react to the news. But Kurdish forces said the besieged, predominantly Kurdish neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud appeared to be excluded, saying that opposition forces shelled the district on Wednesday evening, killing one person and wounding five.

The cessation of hostilities doesn’t apply to the Islamic State (IS) group or the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, which operate in parts of Aleppo.

In some battles in Aleppo and elsewhere, Western and Arab-backed militants have fought alongside those swearing allegiance to al-Qaeda, making it hard to determine whether Syrian government offensives or Russian airstrikes against them constitute violations. Such dynamics could cause any cease-fire to easily unravel again, particularly with no clear mechanism for control or accountability.

Kerry and the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said last week that the US and Russia had agreed to assign additional personnel to Geneva to work around the clock to create a better mechanism for monitoring a new cease-fire.

De Mistura, said the alternative to a cease-fire in Aleppo is “catastrophic,” raising the possibility that 400,000 people could head for the Turkish border.

“The test is Aleppo now,” he said after meeting the German and French foreign ministers in Berlin on Wednesday.

Nearly 300 people have been killed during the latest spate of violence, which has put the city at the center of the Syrian conflict. Over the last two weeks, hospitals and civilian areas in the divided city have come under attack from government warplanes, as well as shelling from rebel forces.

State TV said government troops repelled an overnight rebel attack on an Aleppo suburb controlled by the government. Pro-opposition activists confirmed the report, adding that government forces regained control of a shopping mall that has become a new front line with rebel fighters in the western part of the city.

The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdurrahman, described the clashes as some of the worst between the government and rebel fighters over the last year in Aleppo. AP

news@businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • Friday, May 6, 2016

A9

Brexit uncertainty drags U.K. economy to near stagnation

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nited Kingdom companies are feeling the strain from the upcoming European Union referendum, with a gauge of services falling to its lowest level in more than three years in April.

Markit Economics said its services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) dropped to 52.3 from 53.7. While that’s above the 50 level that divides expansion from contraction, it’s the weakest since February 2013 and below the 53.5 median forecast of economists.

The slump follows bigger-than-expected declines in Markit’s manufacturing and construction surveys earlier this week.

The reports indicate growth of just 0.1 percent in April, down from 0.4 percent in the first quarter.

Bank of England (BOE) officials have said they will interpret economic data around the referendum with caution. The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will announce its next interest-rate decision and publish new forecasts on May 12.

“The MPC told us that it’s going to be less sensitive than normal to the data amid all this Brexit uncertainty, but if you do get growth this quarter of 0.2 percent or lower, it’s going to test the patience of the doves on the committee,” said Alan Clarke, an economist at Scotiabank in London. “It’s looked through temporary distortion in the past. I don’t think they’ll cut rates, it’s just questionable whether you’ll get a dissent or two.”

The pound was trading at $1.4504 as of 10:05 a.m. London time, up 0.1 percent from a day earlier.

The BOE has already said the buildup to the June 23 vote is weighing on confidence and investment, and warned the impact could be more severe if the UK votes to leave the bloc in a so-called Brexit. Markit’s composite PMI fell to the lowest in more than three years last month. Bloomberg News

Protesters head into the legislative building for a sit-in against House Bill 2 in Raleigh, North Carolina, on April 25.

While demonstrations circled North Carolina’s state house on Monday for and against a Republican-backed law curtailing protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and limiting public-bathroom access for transgender people, House Democrats filed a repeal bill that stands little chance of passing. Chuck Liddy/The News & Observer via AP

North Carolina LGBT law violates civil rights–US govt

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ALEIGH, North Carolina—A North Carolina law limiting protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people violates federal civilrights laws and can’t be enforced, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Wednesday, putting the state on notice that it is in danger of being sued and losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.

The law, which requires LGBT people to use public bathrooms that conform to the sex on their birth certificates, has been broadly condemned by gay-rights groups, businesses and entertainers.

Some have relocated offices or canceled shows in the state. Several other states have proposed similar laws in recent months limiting protections to LGBT people.

In a letter to Governor Pat McCrory, the Justice Department said federal officials view the state law as violating federal Civil Rights Act protections, barring workplace discrimination based on sex. Provisions of the state law directed at LGBT-state employees violate their antidiscrimination protections, the letter said.

“The State is engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination against LGBT state employees, and both you, in your official capacity, and the state are engaging in a pattern or practice of resistance” of their rights, the letter said.

The DOJ notification appeared to be an attempt by President Barack Obama’s administration to extend a new requirement, involving which bathrooms and locker rooms LGBT

people will be allowed to use, McCrory said.

“This is no longer just a North Carolina issue, because this conclusion by the Department of Justice impacts every state,” McCrory said during a forum with the state’s chamber of commerce. The move represented “something we’ve never seen regarding Washington overreach in my lifetime.”

McCrory, who signed the bill into law in March, has defended the law and said he didn’t think it would have any financial impact, either on the economy in general or on federalschool funding in particular.

But shortly after it was passed, PayPal reversed plans to open a 400-employee operation center in Charlotte, Deutsche Bank froze expansion plans near Raleigh, and convention officials reported some meetings were avoiding the state. Nearly 200 corporate leaders from across the country, including Charlotte-based Bank of America, have urged the law’s repeal, arguing it’s bad for business, because it makes recruiting talented employees more difficult.

House Speaker Tim Moore, who helped pass the law known as House

Bill 2, said he would speak with McCrory and Senate Leader Phil Berger about the state’s legal options. Moore told reporters that the letter was an attempt by the Obama administration to “continue its radical left agenda” in his final months in office.

“This is a gross overreach by the Obama Justice Department that deserves to be struck down in federal court,” Berger said in a news release.

The DOJ said in a separate letter to the 17-campus University of North Carolina system that the state law violates Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination in education based on sex.

Which could lead to North Carolina losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal-school funding.

The letter effectively serves as a warning to the state to proceed at its own peril or risk being sued. Civilrights groups and several individuals sued in North Carolina federal court in late March seeking to overturn the law.

McCrory and GOP legislators “were warned about these dire consequences, but they ignored the law and the North Carolinians. It would harm and passed the bill anyway,” said a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal, which helped file the lawsuit.

It has not been uncommon during the Obama administration for the Justice Department to weigh in on hot-button civil-rights issues. In March the department sharply discouraged state-court administrators from jailing defendants who can’t pay court fines for petty offenses.

The letters to North Carolina don’t have the force of law, but it puts the state on notice that its actions are being watched and run afoul of federal civil-rights laws.

The letters seek confirmation

by Monday that people can “access bathrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity.”

The government could file a lawsuit to protect state employees from discrimination, the letters said.

The Justice Department’s inter-

200

The number of corporate leaders across the country who have urged the law’s repeal vention could affect similar laws passed in other states.

Mississippi’s House Bill 1523, which becomes law on July 1, says government and business workers can deny services to people by citing their own religious beliefs that marriage should only be between a man and a woman and that a person’s gender is set at birth and is unchangeable.

The day after Republican Governor Phil Bryant signed the bill, Democratic US Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi sent a letter to Attorney-General Loretta Lynch, asking her to block what he called the “overreaching, unconstitutional and blatantly discriminatory piece of legislation.” Thompson told The Associated Press in a text message on Wednesday that he had heard about the Justice Department’s letter to North Carolina.

“I would expect a similar letter to be sent to Mississippi in the near future,” Thompson said. “The circumstances in both states are closely aligned. Discrimination in the name of religion is illegal.”

Officials from Bryant’s office and the Mississippi attorney general’s office said they had not received a letter from the Justice Department

by Wednesday.

“Mississippi’s law prevents state agencies and political subdivisions from punishing employers that opt to have gender-specific standards” for employees’ dress or restroom use, Bryant Spokesman Clay Chandler said. “This law does not establish or mandate a specific policy for restroom facilities.” AP

Stand up to bigotry, Obama urges Asian-Americans

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ASHINGTON— President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders to fight bigotry and to press Congress to update US immigration policy.

Obama said America’s tradition is to welcome newcomers, because it was founded by immigrants. He said that tradition also makes difficult to understand why some people are blocking efforts to overhaul US immigration laws.

“We don’t simply welcome new immigrants. We are born of immigrants,” Obama told hundreds attending the Asian Pacific-American Institute of Congressional Studies’ annual awards dinner. The nonpartisan, nonprofit organization promotes Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) participation and representation in politics.

Comprehensive immigration legislation cleared the Senate in 2013, but House leaders did not bring the bill up for a vote.

Obama has used his executive authority to shield some immigrants illegally living in the country from deportation, but more than two dozen states, led by Texas, challenged his action in federal court.

The Supreme Court recently heard arguments in the case, and a decision is

expected by the end of June.

In his remarks, Obama said: “The actions I’ve taken on my own can’t take the place of what we really need, which is the Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.... You have the power to push Congress to do it.”

He said the AAPI community is the fastest-growing minority group in the US, but is also significantly underrepresented at the ballot box.

In a reference to Donald Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee, Obama urged the audience to push back against anti-immigrant sentiment, especially from people who stoke such feelings for political gain.

Trump has called for barring Muslims from entering the country and also has pledged to deport the estimated 11 million people illegally living in the US. Obama said that just as the US has moved beyond “No Irish need apply” signs, questioning the loyalty of Catholics, persecuting Chinese immigrants and its treatment of Japanese-Americans and immigrants during World War II, “we are going to move beyond today’s anti-immigrant sentiment, as well.”

“We will live up to our ideals,” Obama said. AP

Ecuadoreans in US seek immigration after quake

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OS ANGELES—Ecuadorean immigrants are asking the Obama administration to allow their fellow citizens illegally living in the United States to stay here and work, while the South American country recovers from a 7.8-magnitude earthquake.

A group of Ecuadorean activists in Los Angeles on Wednesday joined similar calls by Democratic lawmakers after an April 16 quake killed more than 650 people and left thousands homeless.

The US periodically grants so-called temporary protected status to countries ravaged by war or natural disasters, such as Nepal, following a 2015 earthquake.

Under the program, immigrants can get work permits, but not green cards, and are not allowed to bring relatives to live in the US. More than 300,000 people from countries, including Haiti, Nicaragua and Somalia, have temporary protected

status, according to US government estimates.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and immigrants in New York and New Jersey have called for Ecuador to be added to the list of more than a dozen countries eligible for the status, since the quake flattened entire towns along its Pacific coast. A group of 32 Democratic members of Congress signed a letter asking the Obama administration for the change.

Some activists have also urged Ecuador President Rafael Correa to request the program for his countrymen living in the US. “Remittances are vital to rebuild the country,” activist Wilfredo Triviño-Pérez said. “Without the remittances from our countrymen here, who are undocumented, it will be difficult to rebuild.”

Critics, however, say the status isn’t really temporary, since it can be continually renewed, noting Salvadorans granted the benefit in 2001 still have it. AP

A10 Friday, May 6, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Thanks for all the advice

B

y our count, in the last month there have been 38 frontpage stories, “in-depth analysis” and opinion columns from notable pundits about the Philippine election. These have come from all over the world, and have ranged from an “explanation” to “suggestions” as to whom the Philippine voters should choose as the next president through to strong criticisms of who Filipinos might vote for.

You would think in a world where international terrorism is killing innocents daily and when the financial markets are in chaos, our own “Halalan 2016” would be way down the list of global concerns. Maybe it is because of our Miss Universe victory that the Philippines is suddenly showing up on the radar screen.

However, it is nice to know that we are finally even worthy of discussion.

These same experts are also telling Americans who they should choose as their next president. Perhaps, being a foreigner gives a better perspective on what is good for another country, like the in-depth analysis on whether the United Kingdom should vote to leave the European Union.

Besides, how can anyone really expect rather dark-skinned, strongly religious (by enlightened Western standards) and obviously uninformed islanddwelling Asians to be able to make these decisions on their own?

But this actually is all a good development. The Philippines is now fully part of the global dialogue, and we should have our turn.

Let’s begin with Singapore. For a country so economically advanced, it is somewhat disgraceful that it ignores basic human rights, like free speech. On May 12, 2015, a Singapore court sentenced Amos Yee, an outspoken 16-yearold video blogger, to four weeks in jail. His crime was making “remarks against Christianity, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of Christians, in general.”

Another web site owner, Ai Takagi, who is eight weeks’ pregnant, is now going to prison for 14 months, because she published four articles likely to “promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different groups of people in Singapore.” It is also too bad we could not weigh-in on the US elections in 2008 and 2012 that made Barack Obama president. We could have warned about his economic polices that created the worst economic growth for a president since the 1952 election of Dwight Eisenhower.

Because we have a potential problem with global Islamic terrorism, Australia should take note that we are concerned with their behavior. Even its government is aware that it has had the highest foreign per-capita contributor of citizens leaving to become members of State of Iraq and al-Sham in the Middle East.

And Switzerland made another list that worries us. The US global trade representative just said Switzerland is on the “black list” of countries “for protecting file-sharers and playing host to many pirate sites.”

But we appreciate all the unsolicited foreign advice. And the next time you are in the neighborhood, drop by and give us your thoughts on what the chairman of the Makati Business Club—Ramon R. del Rosario Jr.—pointed out. “Let us not vote out of despair or sheer disgust at an indecisive, slow-responding administration, or the infuriating traffic, or rampant crimes.”

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We know this James Jimenez

spox

T

oday may just be the noisiest day of the year. Starting today, many of the campaigns will be staging their grand rallies—their miting de avance—where they will make their last pitch for electoral victory through song, dance, comedy, drama.

If you were an outsider looking in on this, you could be forgiven for remarking how remarkably like a fiesta it all seems.

Ah, but that’s the problem, isn’t it? While the people are being entertained and whipped up into a frenzy, we sort of forget that, for some of us, this is serious business. While many of us worry about how to ensure that we get to exercise our right to vote, that our votes are properly cast, and that we do our part in protecting the sanctity and integrity of elections, there are those who will actively seek to defeat those goals.

There will be those, for instance, who will try everything to prevent us from voting.

So, we won’t rely on unofficial lists telling us that we cannot vote, right?

We won’t trust those bogus lists, because we know that it is almost standard operating procedure, during the last few days before an election, for fake lists of voters to proliferate. People carrying these lists will tell us that they got it from official sources, naturally, and sadly point out to us that we’re not on the list. As a consolation, they will offer us money to just stay home and not vote at all.

Unfortunately, the recent hacking of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) web site has given these jokers extra leverage. They will now say that the list was generated from

We won’t trust those bogus lists, because we know that it is almost standard operating procedure, during the last few days before an election, for fake lists of voters to proliferate. People carrying these lists will tell us that they got it from official sources, naturally, and sadly point out to us that we’re not on the list. As a consolation, they will offer us money to just stay home and not vote at all. leaked Comelec data. The average guy, knowing only what he hears from the scare jockeys of morning radio, will find that lie very easy to believe.

But we know better, don’t we?

We know that the only reliable list of voters is the one at the polling places themselves. We know, for a fact, that the leaked data isn’t reliable, and I’m pretty sure we can recognize a vote-buying scheme when we see one—even when it is dressed up as “public service.” We know better. Just as we know that all these posts on social media, screaming

bloody murder are all sound and fury signifying little beyond the determination of some quarters to sow confusion, doubt and fear.

We ought to know that a complaint can’t simply rely on descriptions of sentiment—“the people are getting mad”—and bare allegations of wrongdoing—“we are being cheated!” We understand that identifiable and verifiable details are critical to launch an investigation. Just as we understand that with the elections less than 72 hours away, we should turn away from all these distractions and focus on what matters.

On May 9, 2016, we should keep in mind that we are taking part in an ancient ritual that, for better or worse, we have placed at the core of our society. And in that ballot, is the crucible that will determine the strength, the resilience, the very character of our nation for the next six years.

We know that, the fiesta notwithstanding, that is something we cannot take lightly. Don’t we?

James Arthur B. Jimenez is director of the Commission on Elections’s Education and Information Department.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

The election and the Filipino vision Alvin P. Ang

EAGLE WATCH

D

rowned in the current string of controversies and surveys is the result of a national study commissioned by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) on the aspirations of the Filipino family. The study, called AmBisyon Nation 2040, had a sample size of 10,000, covering members of the population aged 15-50 across income classes and across regions of the country. The margin of error is less than 1 percent.

The study found that about 80 percent of Filipinos aspire for a simple and comfortable life. It defines simple and comfortable life as having a medium-size home, having enough earnings to support everyday needs, owning at least a vehicle, having the capacity to provide for college education and going on local trips for vacation. In order to achieve these, the survey ranks the following as the most important economic goals in order of priority: eradication of poverty, eradication of hunger, adequate jobs, housing, education and health. In relation to jobs, the sentiment is that these should be available within the country with a good salary that could support a comfortable life as mentioned above and that the jobs should be stable and secured.

According to the study, the government and governance are key elements in achieving our aspirations.

It, therefore, calls for a government that can overcome corruption. People see corruption as the key stumbling block to achieving a better future.

Note, however, that the corruption that the people are referring to is not the large-scale corruption, but the ordinary petty corruption that people face daily in their dealings with the government. Ordinary people are the victims and readily vulnerable to these acts of petty corruption, where the perpetuators will most likely go unpunished. These may also be reflected in poor and low quality of public service and favoring a few and those with connections. In addition to corruption, people also see peace and security are important for the achievement of the goals. Peace and security here means better governance to protect the income opportunities and life goals against conflicts, disaster and disorder.

People are largely supportive of the broad anticorruption campaign of the PNoy administration, but are waiting to know what is being done on the things that they see and encounter everyday. This is possibly the explanation why the current presidential front-runner who is running on a platform stressed on addressing crime and peace and order is leading the surveys. He is the only one who gave a timeline for his actions.

It is surprising to note that just five days before the elections, none of the presidential candidates had directly quoted or mentioned this work that Neda had done. This could have been a good basis in fine-tuning and building up their platforms and agendas. Although the aspirations and challenges in the study have been largely mentioned in the debates, they have been taken as individual challenges disconnected with each other. Almost all the candidates recognized that poverty, jobs and corruption are key issues that ordinary people are concerned with. They have mentioned these in many of their campaign speeches.

In the different materials and web sites showing their platforms, former Interior Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II, Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, Sen. Grace Poe and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago have clear strategies and approaches in meeting these challenges. In particular, the Roxas and the Binay platforms provide a holistic and specific views on how to tackle these different challenges. Unfortunately, these details were not clearly explained and shared to the people that only

a few actually know that they exist.

The details of their platforms can be accessed through these links: Vice President Jejomar C. Binay—https://www.scr ibd.com / doc/310578264/Binay-Platform Sen. Grace Poe—http://gracepoe. ph/platform Former Interior Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II—http://roxasrobredo2016.com/roxas-robredo-platform Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte*— http://ipilipino.com/platforms-for2016-elections-rodrigo-duterte Sen. Miriam Santiago*—http:// ipilipino.com/platforms-for-2016elections-miriam-defensor-santiago *unofficial sites What may be observed in these different platforms is that most of their strategies are not really in contrast to each other. Since people hardly heard the details of these platforms, the differentiating factor is not in the platforms but on how they are perceived to be able to deliver on these promises.

Moreover, the different platforms have no specific timelines identified for the attainment of goals and objectives. Relating this to the AmBisyon study results, it is pointed there that the people have been frustrated by the daily corruption that seems to go unfettered. People are largely supportive of the broad anticorruption campaign of the PNoy administration, but are waiting to know what is being done on the things that they see and encounter every day. This is possibly the explanation why the current presidential front-runner who is running on a platform stressed on addressing crime and peace and order is leading the surveys. He is the only one who gave a timeline for his actions.

As we cast our votes on Monday, it will be critical to think about the aspirations of the ordinary Filipino.

We should remember that the challenges of the Philippines today cannot be solved in a matter of six years.

More important, it does not belong to the hands of one person. Much of the issues that the people are concerned with are actually issues that are addressed by the local governments.

Hence, we must also look carefully at our local candidates and how they view these issues. Finally, the attainment of our aspirations for 2040 is a collective responsibility. It means that whoever wins this election, we should support and help the new administration in every way we can.

God bless the Philippines!

‘We are all called to be servant-leaders’ Keynote speech given by Atty. Antonio L. Bernardo, commissioner and CEO, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, at the Grand Annual Awards Night of Eternal Gardens on May 3 at Citystate Tower Hotel.

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our Company traces a long and colorful history. Almost 40 years ago, your highly renowned and well-respected founder, Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, whom I greatly admire, had the vision to organize a company that sought to develop and maintain first-class memorial parks in key provinces.

Now, four decades later, the company has branches in 10 locations: Caloocan City, Dagupan City, Biñan City, Balagtas in Batangas City, Lipa City, Naga City, Cabanatuan City, Santa Rosa City, Concepcion in Batangas City and Cagayan De Oro City. And with men and women like you and with Chairman Edgard A. Cabangon at the helm, there can be no doubt that Eternal Gardens will continue to expand and scale greater heights.

Over the years, the company had undergone a lot of changes in keeping with the times. Just like any other organization, it had its highs and its lows. There were many significant achievements but also some disappointing setbacks. Developments in the industry and advances in technology have caused adjustments to be made in the direction and activities of the organization.

Notwithstanding all these changes, however, the company has remained anchored on the original vision and values espoused by its founder, Ambassador Cabangon Chua, which is to provide its clientele the best memorial parks and services while maintaining the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and business ethics in all its dealings with the community.

Your pioneering efforts and advocacy in preneed memorial planning have benefited many of your

clientele who purchased memorial properties even before there was a need for them. This has helped them prepare in advance and protect their families from future financial concerns and anxieties brought about by the untimely demise of family members and loved ones.

Truly, Eternal Gardens has gone a long way from its simple and humble beginnings. Currently, the company has around 30 agency managers, 70 unit managers and 200 counselors. Tonight, we gather to honor the cream of the crop from among them. We recognize the valiant efforts, strong commitment, deep loyalty and hard work demonstrated by all of them.

You could not have chosen a more appropriate theme for tonight’s Grand Annual Awards than “Our Pillars of Success.” Indeed, the men and women we honor tonight are the pillars of success of the company.

They are the pillars on which the company has anchored its programs as it continues to build on success after success.

An event such as tonight’s provides, not only the awardees but all of us, a very good opportunity to reflect on the many blessings we have received from God and how much we have to be grateful for. This occasion is as good a time as any to think on how we can share these blessings as good stewards of everything that God has given us.

In the Parable of the Talents, we saw how our Lord Jesus Christ showed us that we are all stewards of God’s blessings and that if He gave us more blessings than others, God expects us to share these blessings with the less privileged. We are all called to share what we have received. We should not bury our treasures and keep them for ourselves. Rather, we should use them not only for our own personal needs and wants but, more important, to help those who are in need. Drawing from this parable, we hear loud and clear the exhortation that: “To whom much is given, much more is expected from.”

I am sure that all of you, in your own respective ways, have used and continue to use your time, talent and treasure in the service of God and fellowman.

In closing, please allow me to share with you a very important lesson I learned early in life. God allows us to excel in certain aspects of our lives for a reason. The awardees we have tonight have been blessed with the opportunity to accomplish many of

Friday, May 6, 2016 A11

SPARK Philippines and the Pinay vote Jenny Lind Elmaco, PhD

Women Stepping UP

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AMAHAN ng mga Reporma at Kaunlaran (SPARK) Philippines aims to advocate and contribute to the information dissemination and training of citizens, private and public entities to be both gender-sensitive and gender-responsive. Specifically, we target improvement in access to resources and strategic participation in programs and initiatives that will lead to economically engaged and politically empowered women; we work toward inclusive policies and practices for a gender-responsive financial and political commitment to promote, protect and fulfill women’s rights; we ensure that we include men to advocate for and support women’s issues.

According to the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), one in every hour a girl or a woman is raped; one woman is beaten by her husband/partner every 43 minutes; 1 child is battered every 80 minutes; one woman is sexually harassed every four hours; one in 10 Filipinas experienced sexual violence; 98 percent of women are sexually harassed every day.

The gender and development (GAD) budgeting and planning is one of the key tools in addressing women’s and gender issues. We bring this tool to different government agencies, including Pag-IBIG, Commission on Filipino Overseas, Social Security System and to the outskirts of the society where we frame it in the context of the 5-percent GAD budget and the bottom-up budgeting. Empowering the citizens and implementing agencies like, the Department of Health, will give focus and to the point responses gender-based needs.

In line with this, SPARK Philippines organized a Senatorial forum on women’s and gender issues, entitled PinayVote: Talakayan Para sa Kababaihan, held on April 25 at SM Megamall. This forum was attended by seven senatorial candidates: Shariff Ibrahim Albani, Greco Belgica, Larry Gadon, Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros, Lorna Kapunan, Susan Ople and Roman Romulo. This forum also commemorated the 79th anniversary of Filipina vote, which began on April 30, 1937.

The forum aims at making gender issues a center of discussion and legislation in the legislative assembly. The four main issues tackled in the forum were (1) Health, (2) Education, (3) Security and (4) Women and Economy.

According to the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), one in every hour a girl or a woman is raped; one woman is beaten by her husband/partner every 43 minutes; one child is battered every 80 minutes; one woman is sexually harassed every four hours; one in 10 Filipinas experienced sexual violence; 98 per-

cent of women are sexually harassed every day. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) added the statistics that one in five Filipinas has experienced physical violence since age 15; two in every three women got abused by their alcoholic husband/partner; only 30 percent of women sought assistance after being physically or sexually abused, while 4 percent experienced violence while pregnant.

Poverty and health are twin issues. The less money, the less healthy women are and they are unhealthy, they become unproductive and dependent. For this reason, health took a center stage in the forum. All the senatorial candidates fully support Magna Carta of Women, which was specifically voiced out by Albani.

Belgica, Gatchalian and Romulo focused on the budget and how the appropriated funds for health should be maximized. Gadon, on the other hand, stressed the need for an active implementation of Reproductive Health (RH) Law. Gatchalian said an increase in birthing centers

the things that others merely dream of. They have been set apart from their peers because of the hard work they have put in and the dedication they have committed to their work.

This success, however, carries with it a price and a calling. Our success does not entitle us to be just leaders. Rather, we are called to be “servant-leaders.”

No matter who we are and what we have achieved, we are all called to be servant-leaders in our families, communities, parishes, schools, places of work and recreation, and in places where we touch other people’s lives.

And this is what I have learned about servant-leadership.

I have learned that in order to lead, one must serve. Leadership is no longer about being on top of the heap, barking out orders, cracking the whip and making others follow your commands. Leadership is about standing side by side with your fellow members, walking the same journey toward the same goal, working together to achieve the same objectives, jointly performing the tasks at hand and relishing together the victorious feeling of realizing your dreams together.

The leader must give more than he takes, must offer more than he receives and must serve more than being served. It is no longer enough to be a leader. One must be a servantleader to be a leader in the true sense of the word. Being a servant-leader means putting others before one’s self. Chapter 19 of the gospel of Matthew is very clear, “Many who are now first will be the last, and many who are now last will be first.”

A servant-leader is one who leads by example and is willing to do more even if it means giving up his privileges and comfort. The only thing that sets the true leader apart from the rest of the team is that the leader works harder, comes earlier, stays longer, does more, complains less, walks the extra mile, takes full responsibility and serves the most.

He does not enunciate what others must do. He does it first. If he says everybody should start early, he is there first. If he says the job must be done, he stays until it is done. If he says this is not good enough, he does it all over again. He is always ahead of his team or with his team, never staying back to let others do the work. A servant-leader shows integrity. He does not cheat his team members out of their just rewards.

He gives everyone his due.

A servant-leader shows competence and always gives his best. The servant-leader studies what must be done, lays out the appropriate plan and executes the same with his team.

A servant-leader shows dedication.

He infects his teammates with his enthusiasm and motivates them to move on in the direction of their goal.

A servant-leader shows perseverance.

He does not give up in the face of difficulties. He shows his teammates that no matter how big the obstacles along the way, the goal can be achieved if everybody works together as a team to attain their common goal. A servant-leader does not have to do great things. He just needs to do ordinary things extraordinarily well.

A servant-leader is sure to leave

will make sure a decline in maternal mortality, which is a pressing issue of the country. Romulo suggested that there should be an oversight of the Congress to ensure that the budget appropriated is spent on that purpose. Kapunan stressed the need for freedom of choice and fully informed citizens on maternal and RH issues. Hontiveros, on the other hand, highlighted the importance of having more women in legislation to guarantee the reasonable response and full implementation of health policies, such as the RH. Ople said the government should resurrect what the late Secretary of Health Juan Flavier did: bring doctors to the rural villages and mobilize our nurses to assist our doctors.

As SPARK’s executive director and a reactor of the forum, I pointed out to the senatorial candidates that despite the many laws crafted, there are gaps in legislation when it comes to women. I also asked what they would do as future legislators to bridge these gaps. Kapunan pointed out that, in her practice, the law is delayed because the Philippines lacks courts. There should be a significant increase in courts to cope with tons of cases filed every day.

For all of the senatorial candidates, full implementation of law means from barangay up, since most conflicts are from families, from houses. Barangays should have full power to make sure laws are implemented. This is the same perspective of SPARK: empowering people from the grassroots and small government agencies and institutions like Barangay Health Workers. It is necessary to match the work of legitimate nongovernmental organizations with that of the government’s efforts for a more sustained and consistent growth and development that is felt even in the most rural areas.

We believe and reiterate a proverb from the African continent: “When you educate a man, you educate an individual, but when you educate a woman, you educate the whole nation.” After all, it is the women who carry and represent their whole family. Solving the issues of women is solving the root cause of the deeply rooted issues in society. She is not the problem, she is the solution.

Jenny Lind Elmaco, Ph.D. is executive director of SPARK Philippines and a board member of Business and Professional Women (BPW) Makati.

a legacy. He does not have to consciously plan it. His life of leadership by example already assures that he will be remembered long after he is gone, in the same way that Ambassador Cabangon Chua is honored and remembered. His reputation and image will continue to live beyond his mortal life. His very own life will be the testament and the monument by which he will be remembered. He will be loved not only by his followers and teammates but by his opponents and critics, as well.

I cannot think of a perfect example of a true servant-leader other than our Lord Jesus Christ. He was not born of nobility, He was born to a carpenter and an ordinary maiden; He was not born in a magnificent palace amid royalty, He was born in a manger amid animals and ordinary shepherds; He was not educated by philosophers and learned men, He learned his values from His simple parents; He did not grow up in the splendor of the court being pampered by courtiers, He grew up in simple surroundings learning the trade of His father-carpenter; when He became a man, He did not ride into battle at the head of His army, He went from village to village with His small band of disciples preaching the good news, curing the sick and helping the needy; He did not come into this world to be served, He came to serve; and at the end of His life, He made the ultimate sacrifice of serving others by giving up His own life to redeem us. May we all learn from the example of our Lord how to become true servant-leaders.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Friday, May 6, 2016

DMCI Power plans to invest $300M for 100-MW hydropower

By Lenie Lectura

D

@llectura

MCI Power Corp. (DPC), a subsidiary of Consunji-led DMCI Holdings Inc., is pursuing a total of 100 megawatts (MW) of hydropower projects to expand its investment portfolio.

Investments in hydropower business could reach a conservative $3 million per MW, DPC President Nestor Davidas said.

Of the planned 100-MW, Davidas identified 90 MW of power-generating capacity that would be done in phases in Sultan Kudarat. The remaining 10 MW is being eyed in Cagayan de Oro (CDO).

Davidas said Landbank of the Philippines has agreed to provide partial funding for the hydro project in CDO. “Landbank funding is about P2 billion for CDO hydro project alone,” he said. DPC plans to make its foray into hydropower generation, as soon as results from various feasibility studies are completed. Hydro projects, he commented, are “risky since the projects’ success largely depends on nature.”

“It’s bad if there is no water, but it’s also bad if there’s so much of it. In fact, one of the planned hydro projects already cost P2 billion. It would wipe out our equity if we fail in this project.

It’s too risky that is why the engineers from DMCI are closely studying the prospects,” Davidas said.

At present, DPC operates diesel and bunker power plants in Masbate, Palawan

₧1.2B The amount of capital expenditure DMCI Power allotted this year

and Oriental Mindoro. Davidas said DPC earmarked P1.2 billion in capital expenditures this year, up from P750 million last year.

He said P450 million had been allotted for the 10-MW bunker plant in Palawan and another P450 million to finance its operations in missionary areas.

“Our growth area is mainly in Masbate.

Mindoro comes next,” Davidas said.

To further expand its business, DPC continuously looks for opportunities through the bidding of National Power Corp. (NPC)-Small Power Utilities Group contracts and Power Sector Asset and Liabilities Management Corp.’s privatization of power-generation assets.

DPC earlier signed an agreement with NPC and Palawan Electric Cooperative Inc. (Paleco) to provide base-load/peaking power in response to the demand of the island.

DMPC also bagged a 25-MW supply contract from Paleco to construct a coalfired power plant. However, this faced strong opposition from environmentalist groups and residents.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Arthaland creates unit to develop property

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By VG Cabuag

@villygc

ROPERTY developer ArthaLand Corp. on Thursday said it created a subsidiary, which will be used to acquire other properties for development.

The company said in its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, it incorporated Zileya Land Development Corp. and subscribed to its 499,995 common shares at P100 per share.

“This wholly owned subsidiary will be the vehicle used to acquire another property for [Arthaland’s] upcoming project,” the company said.

Earlier this year Dutch firm Rock and Salt BV invested in Arthaland’s newly-formed subsidiary Cebu Lavana Land Corp., a firm that owns two parcels of land in Cebu City.

Arthaland said Rock and Salt subscribed some 214,351 common shares at P100 apiece and 118,982 preferred shares at P100 each.

At the said rate, the Dutch firm infused P33.33 million into

₧33.33M

The mount Dutch firm infused into Arthaland unit Arthaland’s unit.

“The foregoing subscription entitles Rock and Salt BV two seats in the five-man board [of directors] of CLLC [Cebu Lavana],” the company said.

The property is on the Cebu IT Park area, where multinational business process offices currently operate. Arthaland is mainly focused on boutique developments, as well as joint-venture developments.

Other units of the company

include Cazneau Inc., incorporated in July 2008; Emera Property Management Inc., also established in July 2008 and serves as the company’s property management arm; Manchesterland Properties Inc., the registered owner of the 6,357-square-meter property located along McKinley Parkway on which Arya Residences stands; and Urban Property Holdings Inc., incorporated in January 1995, established for the development of a housing project on its 33-hectare property in Calamba, Laguna.

BPI. . .

Continued from A2

and security, which comprise 50 percent to 60 percent of their spending. At present, the bank has no specific spending budget for its ventures on fintech.

“Your cost-to-income ratio shouldn’t soar high enough.

There would be hard choices.

There will be choices to weigh, you know, prioritize some. The other thing also is that it needs

Last year the company had a net income of P223.83 million, some 10-percent higher than the previous year’s P203.75 million.

Revenue from real-estate sales dropped 23 percent to P1.58 billion from the previous year’s P2.05 billion, as most of the cash came from the remaining unrecognized revenues from Arya Residences located in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig.

“Substantial portions of sales from the project were already recognized in prior years,” the company said. to be balanced with how much you’re spending on people because if you digitize, essentially some parts of your system will be automated. So maybe that means the bank’s level of hiring would be flat,” he said.

The challenge for BPI is to be able to attract clients to move into the platforms that they are about to create, without requiring them to mitigate. “All of those channels will be open, but what we’re trying to do is a migration of the traffic to the new channel.”