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n Monday, May 7, 2018 Vol. 13 No. 205
Nontraditional markets seen boosting PHL trade 18 million F By Elijah Felice E. Rosales
In a report, titled “Mainstreaming trade to attain the SDGs,” the World Trade Organization (WTO) advised developing countries and least-developed countries (LDCs),
among others, to diversify their exports and keep up with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The global trade
The number of jobs the World Trade Organization said will be generated in developing countries if the Trade Facilitation Agreement or TFA rolled out
regulator said trade diversification is of paramount importance for these countries given the changing environmental conditions. “With the current decline in commodity prices, developing countries and LDCs are receiving less income for their raw material exports. Diversification into other
By Cai U. Ordinario
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See “ADB,” A2
83 percent Alberto C. Agra
ead
L AlbertoPPP C. Agra Conclusion
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his average grade of the Philippine public-private partnership (PPP) regulatory framework per the recently published report of the World Bank titled Procuring Infrastructure PPP 2018 (2018 PPP Report), hit it on the mark. Having a clear policy and framework ensures stability, consistency, transparency, integrity, accountability, reliability and enforceability. Continued on A15
Continued on A2
ADB backs Duterte admin’s tack to end QR on rice etting a tariff schedule on the country’s rice imports could lead to more stable international rice prices moving forward, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). In an interview at the sidelines of the recently concluded ADB Annual Meeting in Manila, ADB Philippines Country Director Kelly Bird told the BusinessMirror that the Manila-based multilateral development bank supports the government’s move to finally end its quantitative restrictions on rice. The Philippines is converting its QR on rice into a tariff schedule in compliance with commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO). “By converting to a tariff, and you’re allowing importation of rice, then you generally have more stable prices. You have stable supply. And then I guess the tariff would be set so that it also encourages the domestic price of rice. It is a much more preferred approach to managing a particular sector, particularly the agriculture sector,” Bird said. Bird added a QR would cause more volatility in the international market because it pegs commodity prices to a certain level. This prevents prices from adjusting to the demand for certain commodities.
CON-COM EYES TO BREAK UP MONOPOLIES, CARTELS By Bernadette D. Nicolas
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Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman and CEO of Ayala Corp. converses with Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III at the Host Country Seminar: Past, Present and Future of the World Economy during the 51st annual meetings of the board of governors of the Manilabased Asian Development Bank. NONIE REYES
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or the Philippines, the policy is clear: take the road less traveled, even in trade. This was why both the government and the private sector agreed that, to diversify exports and improve the country’s trade activities, the nontraditional markets should be explored and utilized, as well.
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he consultative committee (Con-com) reviewing the 1987 Constitution, having earlier adopted provisions to end political dynasties, now eyes the breakup of economic monopolies, cartels and other anticompetitive agreements by adopting so-called self-executing provisions. A t it s s c he du le d me e t i n g o n M a y 7, t h e C o n - c o m subcommittee on economic reforms will finalize provisions mandating the government to “ensure free and fair competition in trade, industry and all commercial activities, and promote efficient resource allocation...establish and guarantee equal conditions for economic activity” and “prohibit agreements that are anticompetition, including anticompetitive mergers and acquisitions.” After their adoption at the subcommittee level, the Con-com
AGUILAR: “We have to make sure that the business field is level because this is what will encourage investments, create efficient industries, lead to high-quality and rightly priced products and services for our consumers, and make economic growth inclusive.”
will vote in an en banc session scheduled within the month. Arthur N. Aguilar, the subcommittee chairman, told the BusinessMirror that they will take up today proposals from the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) to strengthen the State’s power over “market structures that are inefficient and lacking in competition.” E s t a b l i s h e d i n F e b r u a r y 2016, the PCC aims to prevent businesses from entering into a nt icompet it ive ag reement s,
n japan 0.4750 n UK 70.4155 n HK 6. n CHINA 8.1669 n singapore 38.9778 n australia 39.0454 n EU 62.1801 n SAUDI arabia 13.8294
See “Con-com,” A2
Source: BSP (4 May 2018 )
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A2 Monday, May 7, 2018
2M visited PHL in Q1 By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
pared to last year, when it took four months or until April to reach [that same number],” the DOT chief said. Teo noted the “tight contest between the Chinese and the Koreans” in terms of visitor arrivals. “In fact, these two key markets, together with the Americans, already comprise more than half of our tourist arrivals [for the period],” she added. Boracay Island was closed on April 26 to give way to the government’s rehabilitation efforts, causing many Chinese tourists to cancel their holidays in the country including plane-charter services. Sources in the tourism industry hope the recent governors meetings by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila will help improve the sentiment of foreigners toward the Philippines, and result in increased tourist arrivals. About 4,200 delegates from around the world participated in the ADB meetings in Manila from May 2 to 5.
Meanwhile, in terms of visitor arrivals for the first quarter of the year, in third place were tourists from the United States at 284,946 (+10.44 percent), followed by the Japanese at 181,178 (+8.98 percent) and Australians at 74,027 (+10.81 percent). Other top source markets for tourists included Canada, 70,501 (+15.88 percent); Taiwan, 59,877 (-7.73 percent); the United Kingdom, 56,521 (+19.36 percent); Singapore, 44,398 (+9.91 percent); Malaysia, 37,090 (+7.79 percent); Hong Kong, 36,777 (+41.88 percent); and India, 32,999 (+22.65 percent). Teo did not say what caused the dip in visitors from Taiwan. The DOT also failed to release the tourism receipts for the period. According to the UNWTO Barometer, China spent $258 billion (roughly P13.64 trillion) last year. The market was followed by the US at $135 billion (P7.16 trillion), Germany at $84 billion (P4.45 trillion), tbe UK at $63 billion (P3.34 billion) and France at $41 billion (P2.17 trillion). On the other hand, Chinese tourists in the Philippines spent almost $50 (P2,650) per day, with an average length of stay of 6.24 nights last year, according to the DOT Annual Visitor Sample Survey of 2017. Chinese tourists like to go shopping, sightseeing and on nature and adventure trips when in the Philippines, the DOT survey indicated. They also spent a considerable sum at local department stores, souvenir and curio shops, as they buy food delicacies, apparel, textile
and garments, and arts and crafts. The DOT also released the tourism receipts the country generated in January this year. The agency said the country earned P37.65 billion ($745.4 million) in visitor receipts in January, up some 74 percent from the P21.7 billion ($435.92 million) generated in January 2017. This amount was earned from the 732,506 foreign visitors who arrived in the said month, according to DOT data. The average daily expenditure of foreign tourists in January was P6,426.77, as they stayed 9.10 nights. The average per capita expenditure of each foreign tourist in the country that month was P58.547.33. The top 5 spending markets for January 2018 were South Korea at P11.1 billion, China at P6.24 billion, the United States at P5.82 billion, Japan at P3.2 billion, and Canada at P1.54 billion. About 55 percent of the foreign visitors who came in January did so for pleasure or vacation, while the rest were for business or professional work. Of those who were here for a vacation, 45.3 percent were in the 25- to 34-year-old age bracket, while some 26 percent were in the 45- to 54-yearold age range. Some 18 percent of those who were on vacation visited friends or relatives. Of those who were in the Philippines on business, some 57 percent were aged 25 to 34 years old, while about 48 percent were 34 to 44 years old. Only 0.6 percent came here for MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions).
A g u i l a r sa id t he Con- com finds the existing provision inadequate to promote competition, spur inclusive economic growth and ensure the country’s economic welfare. “Strong and healthy competition and prohibition on monopolies are vital components of economic liberalization. “We have to make sure that the business field is level because this is what will encourage investments, create efficient industries, lead to high-quality and rightly priced products and services for our consumers, and make economic growth inclusive,” he said. In a paper submitted to the Con-com in March, the PCC said a monopoly is not the only market structure that adversely impacts economic welfare, noting that lack of sufficient competition even in markets with no monopolies nevertheless impacts on consumer welfare if left unregulated. “A competitive and well-funct ioning market ensures t hat sufficient competitive pressure
exists on competitors such that they are driven to attract consumers by way of lowering price or improving product quality. Furthermore, by allowing and encouraging the entry of competitors, consumers are empowered and benefit from having more options for the same good or service,” the document said. “Hence, compet it ion enhances publ ic welfare in the short run as consumers immediately enjoy cost savings, as well as noticeable differences in product or service quality and variety.” Likewise, the PCC said competition also improves the welfare of businesses. “Prohibiting anticompetitive arrangements, as well as abuses of dominance, leads to the creation of a fair and level playing field where firms succeed because of the merits of their product and the efficiency of their operations,” the PCC said in a copy of the paper obtained by the BusinessMirror. “Small businesses and potential investors may regard countries
that tolerate foreclosure conduct, explicit or tacit cartel behavior and other anticompetitive practices as economies that are essentially rigged in favor of large and entrenched market incumbents.” The PCC added: “Furthermore, foreign companies will be encouraged to bring in the necessary financial capital and technological expertise only if they are assured of a level playing field.” T he PCC said competition necessarily reduces the cost of business inputs. Con-com Chairman and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno previously said: “Breaking economic monopolies and cartels is a precondition to economic liberalization” just as “breaking up political dynasties to level the political playing field is a condition sine qua non to federalism.” The Con-com is set to submit its final draft to the President on July 19, or just days before the Chief Executive’s State of the Nation Address on July 23.
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HE Department of Tourism (DOT) remains firm in its 1.5-million target for Chinese visitors this year despite the sixmonth closure of Boracay Island, a favorite destination of the market. This developed as the number of Chinese travelers to the Philippines grew by 54.43 percent to 371,429 in the first quarter of 2018, nipping closely at the heels of the South Koreans, whose arrivals grew by 8.22 percent to 477,087. “Our target for the Chinese arrivals this year remains at 1.5 million as we strive for more quality tourists who spend more in the country,” Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo said in a news statement, as she recalled the latest United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Barometer, which ranked Chinese tourists as the world’s top tourism spenders in 2017. Total foreign tourists who visited the country from January to March 2018 reached some 2.05 million, up 14.8 percent from the 1.78 million recorded in the same period last year. “We already welcomed over 2 million foreign guests to the Philippines in just three months com-
Con-com. . . Continued from A1
abu se m a rket dom i n a nce or enter i nto a nt icompet it ive mergers and acquisitions. In April the PCC launched motu proprio, a review of the Grab and Uber merger. The PCC particularly noted the Grab buyout redounds to taking 93 percent of the ridehailing market. Still, the commission said the introduction of new transportation network companies is a welcome development, allowing for passengers to have more choices. The Con-com asked the country’s antitrust agency in March to submit proposals on “regulating or prohibiting monopolies.” Article XII: National Economy and Patrimony Section 19 of the 1987 Constitution read: “ The State shall regulate or prohibit monopolies when the public interest so requires. No combinations in restraint of trade or unfair competition shall be allowed.”
ADB. . .
Continued from A1
Further, Bird said setting a tariff would boost local production because there is more stability in the global and domestic markets. Ample supply is part of ensuring food security. This is especially important because the Philippines is a net importer of rice. Promoting food security not only in the Philippines but also in other developing member-countries (DMCs) is part of the priorities under the ADB Strategy 2030. “The ADB will focus on rural roads, market infrastructure and agri-logistics centers to enable the integration of more producers, agribusinesses and consumers into national, regional and global food systems. Reducing postharvest losses and promoting agricultural value addition will help increase rural incomes and enhance food security,” the document stated. The ADB said it would help the DMCs increase agricultural produc-
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Nontraditional markets seen boosting PHL trade exports should be high on the list of priorities, therefore, for countries dependent on commodity exports,” the report read. “To assist their diversification efforts, these countries need predictable market-access conditions and capacity building. This will help in achieving decent work and economic growth, fostering industrialization, innovation and infrastructure, reducing inequalities among countries and increasing participation in world trade,” it added. The government has responded to the challenge but via a different tack. While the WTO urges developing countries, such as the Philippines to exploit “predictable market access conditions,” Manila headed instead for the nontraditional markets, such as the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, as well as the European Free Trade Association. According to Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez, President Duterte directed the appropriate agencies to improve trade with nontraditional markets while maintaining economic relations with Manila’s major trading partners, such as Japan, the United States and the European Union. This was to the advantage of the country, Lopez said, as trade diplomacy would benefit exporters. He cited as example the country’s warmer relations with China and Russia, whose leaders President Duterte personally admires. At the same time, Lopez said Manila is reviewing its free-trade agreement (FTA) with Japan while also working on the FTA with the US as a result of the meeting between President Duterte and his Washington counterpart Donald J. Trump last November. He also said the country is moving closer to a large-scale trade agreement in the form of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The RCEP w ill consolidate the bilateral FTAs of negotiating-economies Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and member-states of the Asean. The Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) is similarly confident the country will improve its export reach in the coming years. Philexport President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. said they are considering bringing in more products to the BRICS countries. “We are focusing in product development and improving our agricultural production, including high-value crops. We are also looking at more exports to the BRICS countries,” Ortiz-Luis told
the BusinessMirror. For Lopez, the Philippines has started diversifying its export markets. Also, efforts have since been made to assist local producers expand their product base to bolster their competitiveness, the trade chief added. “As we work on export diversification both on products and markets, as well as increasing value addition for our products, we are building further the production capacities of existing product winners, which the country is known for, or where we have clear comparative advantage,” Lopez told the BusinessMirror. The trade chief also recognized the improving production capacity of the country’s neighbors in Southeast Asia, and said this was the reason the government is ramping up efforts to make the Philippine investment climate attractive. “Despite being the huge producer of electronic, agriculture and agriculture-based products like bananas, pineapples and coconut, supply capacities have been hitting the limits and we need more investments to ramp up capacities and jobs. We are improving the investment climate, infrastructure, logistics and foreign exchange capacities that will encourage more manufacturing activities,” Lopez added. Aside from diversifying exports and value addition, the WTO also told countries to adhere to and strengthen the multilateral trading system to help achieve the SDGs. The call comes at a time the WTO and the trading principle it promotes are at risk due to the perceived escalation of trade relations between the US and China. The report also suggested that governments should pursue efforts to reduce further trade costs. The WTO said at least 18 million jobs will be generated in developing countries if the Trade Facilitation Agreement or TFA, which aims to lower trade costs across the globe, is fully rolled out. On top of this, the WTO recommended that member-countries build supply-side capacity and trade-related infrastructure; apply flexible rules of origin to increase utilization of preference schemes; enhance the services sector; and ensure that nontariff measures do not become barriers to trade. Also cognizant of the rising digital platform, the WTO said member-countries should make so-called e-commerce a force for inclusion as this can be easily reach a broader network of buyers. Last, the global trade regulator said support for micro, small and medium enterprises must be allowed to participate actively in the global value chain.
tivity and reduce poverty by boosting farm and nonfarm incomes. This means, the ADB added, promoting the adoption of advanced technologies, such as satellite and drone-assisted applications, to increase irrigation efficiency and to ensure the sustainable use of land and water resources. It also said that the ADB would promote the use of climate-smart agricultural practices, such as the introduction of drought-resistant crop varieties and drip irrigation. “The ADB support will improve natural resource management standards by undertaking land reclamation, reforestation and watershed-management projects to reduce soil erosion and improve biodiversity,” the ADB stated in the draft Strategy 2030. Strategy 2030, a new longterm strategy seen released this year, renews the A DB’s commitment to eradicate extreme poverty in Asia and the Pacific and expand its vision to achieve a prosperous, inclusive, resilient and sustainable region. In his remarks, ADB President
Takehiko Nakao said Strategy 2030 will address existing and emerging challenges. Strategy 2030 will be aligned with the international agenda, including the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change. Strategy 2030 will have 10 priorities—tackle remaining poverty and increasing inequalities in Asia and the Pacific; accelerate progress in gender equality; scale up support to combat climate change; build climate and disaster resilience, and enhance environmental sustainability; build livable cities that are competitive, green, resilient and inclusive; and promote rural development and food security. The priorities include strengthening governance; fostering regional cooperation and integration; mobilizing private-sector resources to meet the region’s huge development financing needs; furthering strengthen the ADB’s role as a provider and facilitator of knowledge; and pursuing a stronger, better and faster ADB.
Continued from A1
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Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, May 7, 2018 A3
DILG to launch nationwide info campaign on federalism
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By Nelson S. Badilla | Correspondent
he Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) expects strong public support for the revision of the Constitution to pave the way for a federal form of government after the consultative committee (Con-com) tasked to study the changes comes out with its recommendations. A ssi st a nt Sec ret a r y Jon athan E. Malaya, DILG Spokesman, said the latest survey results showed that 55 percent of the respondents are open to amending the constitution. Malaya was referring to the survey conducted by Pulse Asia Research Institute Inc. from March 23 to 28. Pulse Asia used face-to-face interviews in the survey. Malaya, who is also the chief of the DILG’s Federalism and Constitutional Reform program, added:
“If you study carefully the survey results, 23 percent said that they are open to amending the charter now, while 32 percent are open to amending the charter in the future, which means a majority actually support Charter change [Cha-cha]. Only 32 percent are strongly opposed to it now or in the future.” At the same time, Malaya noted that it was the same in the question of changing the present unitary to federal form of government, “where
57 percent are actually in favor but differ only in the timing.” “We should note that 27 percent said they are “in favor” while 30 percent are open to it in the future,” he said. He viewed the results of Pulse Asia’s survey as “premature because there is no concrete proposal yet on the table, and the Con-com is still deliberating on the actual proposal of the current administration.” “Again, questions like parliamentary vs. presidential, 12 states/regions vs. 17 states/regions, actual powers of the federal vs. regional governments, shared powers between both levels of governments, revenue sharing, unicameral or bicameral legislature and many other issues are still undergoing deliberation and have not yet been presented to the people; hence, the people cannot be expected to have sufficient knowledge of these proposals,” he pointed out. “We have to reserve judgement until after the Puno commission finishes its work, only then can we have good debate on the actual merits of federalism,” he said. Malaya also said the survey questions made some presump-
Group hits order lifting moratorium on special-use agreement for PAs By Jonathan L. Mayuga
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@jonlmayuga
he Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) last Sunday chided Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu for lifting the suspension of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) SpecialUse Agreement in Protected Areas (Sapa). Pamalakaya National Chairman Fernando Hicap said lifting the suspension of the Sapa is anti-environment as it will open the floodgates for the destruction of the country’s pristine protected areas. Hicap was reacting to the DENR chief’s recent announcement that the DENR is now ready to accept applications for Sapa with the lifting of its indefinite suspension that started in 2011. Sapa is a tenurial instrument issued to enable productive use of a protected area (PA) as defined under Republic Act 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992, while maintaining its status as a PA. Cimatu recently issued a memorandum to all DENR regional offices informing them that the agency resumes enforcement of Department Administrative Order (DAO) 200717 or the rules and regulations governing the issuance of the tenurial instrument for PAs. Another guideline, an addendum to DAO 2007-17 as contained in DAO 2018-05, was recently signed by Cimatu, which provides for the standard computation of development fees imposed on Sapa recipients. The new guideline enhances the income potential of PAs from merely P300 million to P500 billion a year, based on a 2013 study commissioned by the DENR-Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB). Properly used, this fund can boost the protection and conservation of the country’s Protected Areas. Among the objectives of Sapa include putting a premium to ecosystem services provided by PAs, such as water supply, which is becoming a limited resource; and generating revenues that can be utilized for improved management and operations of the PAs, thereby reducing the required national subsidy. DAO 2007-17 provides “access and economic opportunities to indigenous peoples, tenured migrant communities, and other PA stakeholders to contribute to the reduction of poverty.” It also seeks to optimize the special uses of PAs consistent with the principles of sustainable development and biodiversity conservation in cooperation with the stakeholders, as well as to guide the development of the appropriate zones for PAs. “Sapa also serves as a regulatory tool for increased resource use beyond carrying capacity and increasing local economic opportunities, such as increased local employment from ecotourism establishments,” Cimatu said.
In 2011 the issuance of Sapas has been indefinitely suspended by the DENR due to the absence of a standard rate of development fee imposed on Sapa applicants. DAO 2018-05, with the addendum on the rules and regulations for the special uses in PAs, provides a standard for computation for the development fee. BMB Director Crisanta Marlene Rodriguez said that under the addendum, development fees will now be imposed based on the fixed percentage of the zonal value of the land and improvements thereon. According to her, the fees will be equivalent to 5 percent of the most recent zonal value of the commercial zone in the nearest municipality where the project is located multiplied by the area to be developed plus one percent of the value of improvement as a premium to the PA. The annual Sapa fee, she said, shall be paid upon the issuance of the permit, and annually thereafter within 30 days from the date of issuance. “Failure to pay within the prescribed period shall be subject to surcharges of 8.33 percent monthly for the late payment or 100 percent for one year,” she said. Aside from the Sapa fee, the DENR will also be collecting an administrative fee worth P5,000 from the proponent for every Sapa application filed, to cover the cost of examining, assessing, and processing the requirements submitted and will then be deposited to the Integrated Protected Area Fund. But Pamalakaya fear that since Sapa allows PAs such as nature reserves, natural parks, natural monuments, wildlife sanctuary, protected landscapes and seascapes to be used for agroforestry, ecotourism, communication and power facilities, irrigation canals, aquaculture, and for weather and other scientific monitoring facilities, many areas that used to be protected are now at risk of experiencing destructive development. The lifting of the suspension of Sapa lays open anew supposedly preserved areas such as forest and marine zones to corporate activities that pose environmental disaster, Hicap said in a statement. “With the resumption of issuance of SAPA, protected areas will be more vulnerable to various forms of corporate plunder embedded with environmental destruction. It will further the conversion of preserved marine areas into mere ecotourism zones and private aquaculture farms,” he added. “What Cimatu did was far from being a top environment chief for exposing delicate protected areas to unrestrained commercialization and privatization. He is now actually the number one destroyer of our environment, being an instrument of environmental plunderers to legally carry out large-scale projects at the expense of our environment and socioeconomic lives of grassroots stakeholders such as fisherfolk and farmers,” Hicap lamented.
tions when respondents were given an introduction: “In a federal system, there will be several states in the Philippines with the power to enact their own laws and manage their own local or regional governments without much control or intervention by a national government. The national government will have authority over state governments only in matters relating to citizenship, foreign affairs, defense, currency and commercial exchanges between and among the nation’s states.” He said the introduction assumed that these were the features of the proposed federal system of the administration and PDP Laban when, in fact, they are not. “There is no “one-size-fits- all model” of federalism. Every federal country makes its own division of powers, and in the Philippines, we are developing our own bayanihan or cooperative federalism where we don’t focus on exclusive powers but on shared powers between the national and regional governments,” Malaya explained. “ The introduction given to the 1,200 respondents assumes that regional or state govern-
ments under our proposed federal system will be all-powerful entities with little or no oversight from the national government. That is a dangerous assumption because that is not the case,” he said. As the Cha-cha conclusion is far from over, the DILG headed by Undersecretary Eduardo M. Año is confident that the public’s
awareness of the basic principles, concepts and possibilities under federalism, which is why we are launching a massive information and advocacy campaign across all the 17 regions starting next month,” Malaya added. The road show will also serve as a consultation platform where we can hear the sentiments of the people directly, Malaya said.
We have to reserve judgement until after the Puno commission finishes its work, only then can we have good debate on the actual merits of federalism.”—Malaya support for President Duterte’s agenda to transform the country into a federal form will eventually snowball once it launches its program called “Federalism Roadshow” side by side with the Con-com starting next month, Malaya said. The DILG will hold a federalism road show because “we recognize the need to increase public
The DILG will work closely with all stakeholders from local government units to civil-society organizations to the chambers of commerce and various sectoral groups, he added. “When you change the status quo, there will always be questions and we are prepared to explain to our people why the time for change is now,” Malaya said.
Economy
A4 Monday, May 7, 2018 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon
BusinessMirror
PHL’s presence assured in opening of world’s largest exhibition complex
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By Recto Mercene
@rectomercene
HANGHAI, China—The Philippines will take part in the opening of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) Shanghai, billed as “the largest single-block building and exhibition complex in the world.”
It is estimated that 150,000 domestic and foreign professional buyers will participate in the expo that will open in the last quarter of this year, said Wang Yu Xian, operations manager and assistant to General Manager of NECC (Shanghai). The four clusters of buildings were patterned after the four-leaf clover and the total construction area is 1.47 million square meters, of which 1.27 sq m are above ground. The rest is on ground level. The Ministry of Commerce of China and Shanghai Municipal Government jointly built the mega complex. NECC has half a million sq m of exhibition area, of which 400,000 sq m is for indoor exhibition halls, and 100,000 sq m for outdoor exhibition spaces. The indoor area is divided into 13 large halls (each 28,800 sq m) and three smaller halls (each 10,000 sq m). Some 20 journalists from the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations were invited by China to the First Asean-China Media Cooperation Forum, whose theme is: “Jointly Building 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.” Reporters toured the complex aboard four electric vehicles for several minutes going in, around, and through the buildings—accessible by a wide boulevard. There are more than 5,000 parking spaces for cars and buses. To appreciate the magnitude of these mega construction, imagine four rectangular Araneta Coliseums arranged in a four-leaf clover pattern, to have an idea of how gargantuan these buildings are. Just a kilometer away, NECC is linked to the Hongqiao Railway Station via the city’s railway. It takes only one or two hours via high-speed rail to reach major cities in the Yangtze River Delta, and two or three hours by plane to every major city in the AsiaPacific region.
The NECC is at the booming Yangtze River Delta Region. Its main purpose, according to Wang is: “To serve China and the world with its cutting-edge design and wellequipped facilities.” “Its ser vices will help promote China’s economic restructuring, expedite the transform at ion of e conom ic g row t h patterns, and contribute to the de ve lopment of t he C h i nese economy and society.” To date, up to 1,100 enterprises have signed up to join the Import-Expo section, having contracted an area that is more than 190,000 sq m, accounting for more than 90 percent of the total exhibition area, according Wang. The members of the Asean were invited to participate. As of May 3, 2018, 89 enterprises from the 10 Asean members have signed up to join the expo, which covers an area of 3,007 sq m, “mainly in food and agriculture products and daily consumer goods,” Wang said. Goodfarmer Fresh Fruit Trading Corp. is the only enterprise that represents the Philippines at the NECC, in sharp contrast to Myanmar, with a total of 23 companies who have signed up to join, including Myawaddy Trading Ltd. The other big hitters with more than two participating companies are: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Among the single-enterprise exhibitors, aside from the Philippines, are Vietnam, Lao PDR and Cambodia.
Those recommended by the overseas embassies and consulates from developing countries and least-developed countries are being offered by the NECC Shanghai a 10-percent discount and 20-percent discount, respectively, “if they can obtain a letter of recommendation from the business agency of the Chinese embassy or consulate.” Wang, during a brief presentation, said the NECC is a signal to the world that China is opening up, hoping that the four-cluster buildings would be the main platform of the mainland’s import and export business. President Xi Jinping has announced at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that Shanghai will hold the China International Import Expo (CIIE) exhibition from November 5 to 10 at the NECC. Government officials, business communities, exhibitors and professional purchasers (buyers) from 100 countries will participate in the event. Supporting activities such as supply-demand matchmaking meetings, seminars and product releases will be held during the expo. Intercontinental Shanghai NECC, the only luxury hotel here, is connected to the exhibition area through the 8-meter elevated Expo Boulevard. Wang said to convince business enterprises, the CIIE will invite Chinese buyers and merchants from across China and other countries to come to the event.
Kuwait recruiters now sending maids to Hong Kong
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ocal private recruitment agencies who were deploying workers to Kuwait have transferred their recruitment destination to Hong Kong to the dismay of original PRAs whose market has been Hong Kong for the past three decades. According to an agency owner who requested anonymity, the Kuwait agencies are easing out some of the local agencies by offering to reduce the service fee paid by Hong Kong agencies for the procurement of household service workers (HSWs). HSWs do not pay placement fees for their deployment. However, recruitment agencies can charge training fees, medical examinations and other miscellaneous fees to the worker as payment for their services to an HSW they deploy. Other agencies are also offering commissions to the foreign recruitment agencies for the job orders, which further makes it more difficult to compete for original Hong Kong employment providers. Deployment to Hong Kong in 2016 was shrank to 41,925 compared to 28,000 in 2015 due to increased demand for the loss of several thousands of HSWs who were
lured to Russia by a Hong Kong syndicate. Meanwhile, the number of job orders in alternative markets offered by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is inaccurate, according to recruitment consultant Emmanuel Geslani. He said there are 206,362 job orders for household workers in alternative job markets as of December—154,511 in Hong Kong, 30,699 in Singapore, 11,325 in Cyprus, 6,619 in Brunei Darussalam and 3,308 in Macau. The job orders are accumulated job orders accredited by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency for the past five years. This does not reflect the actual yearly demand for the markets mentioned by the DOLE, Geslani said. In Hong Kong yearly deployment hovers from 25,000 to 30,000 for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Geslani said it is not correct to say there are 154,511 positions for HSWs in Hong Kong. Other alternative markets like Russia, China and Japan are “works in progress,” though Japan will accept caregivers initially. The process is still under negotiations, while Russia has been working its
labor agreement with the Philippines. Meanwhile, China’s interest in acquiring HSWs has not been finalized with a labor agreement with the Chinese Ministry of Immigration. Over 100,000 skilled OFWs working in Kuwait may not heed the call of President Duterte to come home despite his call for them to return to the country, Geslani said. He added the skilled workers are not only needed by the Kuwaiti government and private sector where they hold lucrative and well-paying jobs but, as far as the OFWs are concerned, “there is nothing in the Philippines that could replace their salaries in their current jobs. “Our salaries are twice or three times higher than our previous jobs in the Philippines,” Geslani said quoting one Kuwait-based OFW. He said majority of these Kuwaitbased OFWs have decided to remain where they are “to insure the future of our families.” Despite the government’s promise to give them jobs, the OFWs in Kuwait insist “there are no jobs in the country that can match our present positions in Kuwait.”
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ADB to launch program to help create ‘green’ jobs By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla
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he Asian Development Bank (ADB) is set to launch a program this year that will provide funding to local businesses and help them transition into “green” industries. In an interview, ADB Philippines Country Director Kelly Bird told the BusinessMirror they are now finalizing the details for their “Enterprise-led Learning Network [ELLN]” program. “We are still going through the costing.... We hope we will be able to launch it by July or August,” Bird said at the sidelines of the recently concluded 51st ADB Annual Meeting in Mandaluyong City. ELLN is a joint initiative of the ADB and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), where selected companies can apply for grants to provide short-term skills training to their employees. “It can be easily used for helping the transition from brown to green jobs, or also used to help them transition to the changing technology [in workplaces],” Bird said. Brown jobs refer to those from economic activities that are dependent on fossil fuel and unsustainable operations, while green jobs are those from industries, which make use of cleaner energy and environmentfriendly business practices. Initially, Bird said they are considering allocating $1 million for the pilot of ELLN. “The idea is for them [firms] to constantly have access to funding so that they could constantly upgrade the skills of their workers. It will be through a competitive process,” Bird said. “We are looking at piloting it this year in three to four regions and in three to four sectors. These sectors
should be where there are jobs-skills mismatch,” he added. ELLN is an offshoot of the ADB’s previous Tourism Industry Skills Development Program with the Department of Tourism, which ran from 2014 to 2016. The ADB said the program succeeded in boosting the competitiveness of 58 tourism firms by upgrading the skills of their workers. A total of 7,545 workers from Bohol, Davao, Palawan and Cebu benefited from the two-year program. “Average cost of that short-term training was $200 per employee. So we would imagine that would be the same number under this [ELLN] pilot,” Bird said. The ADB is currently prioritizing capacity-building programs in the Philippines to help it cope with climate change and technological advancements in the workplace. In its “Asian Development Outlook [ADO] 2018: How Technology Affects Jobs” report, the ADB estimated $101 million per year was lost in the Asia-Pacific region from 2005 to 2015 due to new technology. It, however, said this was offset by the creation of 134 million jobs per year in the region from new industries, most of which are from the green sector. The ADO highlighted the importance of providing the necessary education and skills training to workers, which will be crucial for countries in the Asia Pacific to minimize displacement from the introduction of technology in workplaces. “The first thing that they would want to do is really to build their own capacity by bringing in experts from abroad. But at the end of the day, they should aim on how you build enough capacity from the ground,” ADB Southeast Asia Human and Social Development Division Director Ayako Inagaki said.
Solons ask Palace to include teachers’ pay increase in 2019 national budget
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wo party-list lawmakers last Sunday asked the Palace to include in 2019 proposed national budget the funds earmarked for the pay increase of public-school teachers and all rank-and-file civilian government employees. Party-list Reps. Antonio Tinio and France Castro of ACT Teachers issued the statement after President Duterte promised to increase the salaries of public-school teachers. “The President even knows how teachers resort to incurring loans just to make ends meet. It’s high time to go beyond promises and to actually walk the talk by issuing marching orders to Department of Budget and Management [DBM] Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno to include funds for government pay hike in the administration’s proposal for the 2019 budget,” Tinio said. For her part, Castro said “a substantial salary increase is the long overdue demand of the toiling workers in the bureaucracy.” The solons filed House Bill (HB) 7211 to raise the entry-level salary of public-school teachers to P30,000 a month and set the lowest salary in government, including nonteaching positions, to P16,000. The bill aims to correct the injustices and
distortion in the SSL and enable salaries to catch up with the cost of living and approximate the family living wage of P1,119 per day (P33,570 per month) for a family of six. The measure also proposes an increase in the Personnel Economic Relief Allowance granted to all government employees from P2,000 per month to P5,000. Stressing the urgency of salary increases for government employees, including publicschool teachers and workers in the education sector, the solons asked Duterte to support HB 7211 and strongly urged Congress to immediately approve it. Together with the rest of the Makabayan bloc lawmakers, they also filed HB 7415, which seeks to grant security of tenure to all non-regular workers in the government who have rendered at least six months of continuous service. “President Duterte and the DBM must include the funds for the substantial salary increase of public-school teachers and rankand-file government employees in the 2019 budget. We enjoin our colleagues in both houses of Congress to champion the cause of our state workers and ensure that this pay hike be realized,” Tinio said.
Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
Tesda, ILO join forces to open job opportunities for women By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent
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O help women ac h ieve quality employment, the Technical Education and
Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) have joined forces to help advance opportunities in jobs related to science, technolog y, eng ineer ing and mathematics (STEM), particularly in animation, game and software development. T h i s a s t he I L O w i l l launch the Women in STEM Workforce Readiness and Development Program to spearhead a work-to-school project for 200 female students in the informationtechnology field, particularly for animation, game
and software development, to encourage and prepare more women and girls to initiate a professional career in IT. Khalid Hassan, ILO director, said that in the Philippines, very few women choose to train for IT courses due to cultural biases on career opportunities in the field. “The program seeks to provide women with demand-led technical STEM-related skills and employability, along with enterprise-level leadership training to help them overcome challenges that reduce their entry, retention and advancement in STEM industries such as, informationtechnology and business-process
management,” Hassan said. Tesda Director General Guiling A. Mamondiong said that Tesda, as the country’s technical-vocational education and training (TVET) provider, will support the ILO through scholarship vouchers for the pilot training of 125 women in animation, game development and software development at Human Resource Development Institute (HRDI) (50 trainees) and selected private-sector training providers (75 trainees). Mamondiong said the HRDI is looking for women who are interested to take up a course or two in animation and game development.
The Tesda chief is inviting all interested women to avail themselves of the program that will start in June. Interested parties may contact or visit the HRDI at the PhilippineKorea Friendship Center in Bayani Road, The Fort, Taguig City or call telephone numbers 63(2) 8439510 or 0918-217-8647. Mamondiong said the trainings aim to spark interest and train women in STEM-related areas of work and, subsequently, this will ensure training and employment assistance to companies in need of workers in this field. The ILO added it will provide soft training suppor t, mentoring and career ta l k s for t he
trainees that w il l be included in the program. The Tesda-HRDI was established in 2014 through the South Korean government to become the center of training for TVET in digital arts and automation. It also aims to develop qualified TVET trainers and industry workers to uplift their standard and ensure “quality-assured competency-based technical vocational education” abroad. Among the courses being offered in HRDI are electrical installation and maintenance, 3D animation, game development, mechatronics servicing, and basic Korean language and culture.
Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror
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Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, May 7, 2018
A5
Sale by micro-, nano-lots new trend in coffee trade
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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
@jearcalas
ILIPINO coffee farmers could earn more income by riding on a new “trend” in the global market of exporting the commodity in smaller quantities or “lots,” according to the Philippine Coffee Board Inc. (PCBI). “The new idea now is exporting in small lots of about two [60-kilogram] bags—this is by micro-lot or nano-lots—because the price of a nano-lot is double or even triple than the usual per-kilogram basis,” PCBI President Pacita U. Juan told the BusinessMirror. Nano-lots are lots containing less than five 60-kilogram bags, while micro-lots are quantities of at least five 60-kilogram bags, according to Juan. She explained that exporting coffee by micro-lots and nanolots is more profitable because the pricing is negotiated between the exporter and importer, unlike exporting volumes in bulk, which
is usually based on New York and London spot prices. The PCBI chief said there is growing demand in Asia-Pacific markets, such as Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia and Thailand for Robusta and Arabica coffee varieties coming from the Philippines. Juan noted that this is driven by the consumers’ growing need for “specialty and higher-quality coffee varieties,” coming from other parts of the world. “What they want are the rare varieties. People buy at an assortment and in smaller volumes like two bags. So, there’s a big potential for us,” she said. “There’s [a] phenomenon among consumers,
which is [called] ‘long tail’—they want Arabica from the Philippines, from Thailand, from Lao PDR. It is not single sourcing anymore.” Furthermore, Juan said the Philippines could capitalize on such marketing strategy, given that it remains to be a net importer of coffee today. “We are a net importer; so what we can do is only export in fewer quantities. For example, you can use the coffee here, roast it and then sell it,” she said. “So, there is this pride factor, as well. Our coffee varieties are present in the world market.” Data from the International Coffee Organization (ICO) showed that the Philippines, in the marketing year 2016 to 2017, exported a total of 15,000 60-kilogram bags of Robusta and Arabica coffee, which is nearly double than the 8,000 bags recorded in the previous marketing year. A coffee marketing year in the Philippines starts from July and ends in June of the following year, according to the ICO. In 2017 the Philippines produced 31,040 metric tons (MT) of green coffee beans, 9.79 percent lower than the 34,410 MT recorded volume in 2016, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
GREEN PATH A man walks among tobacco leaves in a farm in Ilocos Norte. According to reports, farmers remained worried on the impact of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law or Republic Act 10963 on their livelihood. Mauricio Victa
Ilocos farmers introduced to biotechnology agriculture
PCA seeks biofuels board’s aid as coco-oil prices drop L T
HE Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) is appealing to the National Biofuels Board (NBB) to hike the coco methyl ester (CME) content of biodiesel in the local market from 2 percent to 5 percent in its bid to arrest the falling prices of coconut oil (CNO) “The increase could effectively support our coconut farmers and farmworkers, whose livelihoods are threatened by the declining prices of crude CNO in the international market,” PCA Administrator Romulo J. de la Rosa was quoted in a statement issued last Sunday. The present blend of biodiesel in the country consists only of 2 percent CME and 98 percent regular diesel, according to the PCA. The PCA said the price of CNO has declined by over 40 percent in the last few months “because of a glut in supply in the world market of vegetable oils.” Based on the monitoring of PCA, the price of CNO sank to a 16-month low of $1,100 per metric ton last week from a high of $1,850 per MT. The attached agency of the Department of Agriculture said “the weakening copra and CNO world prices could further reduce the already low income of coconut farmers and farmworkers in the country.” “The higher CME content in our biodiesel could significantly increase the demand for copra and CNO, making their prices more buoyant,” de la Rosa said. The PCA chief proposed that the increase in the CME content of biodiesel can be undertaken on a staggered basis. “The first increase can be from
2 percent to 3 percent starting on August 1 this year,” de la Rosa said. “This means that the biodiesel blend to be sold in the domestic market should have three percent CME and 97 percent regular diesel starting on August 1,” he added. T he recommended Aug ust 1 deadline to increase the biodiesel CME content to 3 percent gives oilindustry players ample time to procure their CME supplies and reset their blending ratios, according to de la Rosa. He added that the country has sufficient CME-manufacturing capacity to support the proposed increase in the biodiesel blend. The PCA said it is also urging the NBB to decide before December 2018 whether to further increase the blend to 5 percent CME content or maintain the 3 percent until 2020. Under the Philippine Energy Plan 2012-2030, Philippine biodiesel should contain at least 5 percent CME by 2020. “The coconut industry needs policy action now,” de la Rosa said. Philippine biodiesel has the lowest percentage of vegetable oil blended to regular diesel among Asean countries, according to the PCA. “Malaysia and Thailand mandate that the biodiesel sold in their markets should contain at least 7 percent palm oil. Indonesia’s is much higher, at 20 percent,” it said. The decline of CNO prices in the global market comes in a time that the local coconut industry is recovering with production poised to rise by 8.67 percent to 2.607 million metric tons this year. The local coconut industry is
eyeing to export at least a million tons of CNO this year, 8.45 percent higher than the 922,000 MT recorded volume last year, according to the United Coconut Association of the Philippines (Ucap). However, Ucap Executive Director Yvonne T.V. Agustin expressed apprehension that coconut farmers could be discouraged from selling copra because of the declining local mill-gate prices due to falling global prices. “We based our local prices in the world market. For example, the price tonight of CNO in the world market would be converted in copra equivalent to determine the [mill-gate price],” Agustin explained in an earlier interview with BusinessMirror. “We have a break-even price. But if the price of CNO in the world market is low, then prices locally would also be low. And if the prices locally are low, then the farmers may be discouraged to produce copra and would instead sell husk nuts,” she added. Latest World Bank price-monitoring report showed that the average price of CNO in the first quarter declined by 25.51 percent to $1,258 per MT, from $1,689 per MT average quotation recorded in the Januaryto-March period of 2017. The international lender projected that the average price of CNO this year would decline by 20.46 percent to sink to a five-year low of $1,275 per MT. The average price of CNO in 2017 reached $1,603 per MT, 8.67 percent higher than the $1,475 per MT average quotation in 2016, according to the World Bank. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
A O A G C I T Y— F a r m e r leaders from various parts of the province gathered together for a two-day training and to get to know more about modern biotechnology. Organized by the Asian Farmer’s Regional Network (Asfarnet) Philippine chapter, the farmers IEC (Information, Education and Communication) training-workshop held at the Palacio de Laoag Hotel on May 3 and 4, provided participants with relevant information about biotechnology and served as an option for farmers to grow their income. Asfarnet regards itself as an organization of farmers and interested stakeholders promoting the interests of the farmers through technology, knowledge, communication and exchange activities. Biotechnology as applied in agriculture is a technique to transfer genes of interest to make better products, according to Asfarnet. For mu lt i aw a rded orga n ic farmer Romeo Ganiron of Barangay Ben-agan, Batac City, the training is essential for them to become aware of the latest trends and developments in agriculture and to be able to come up with wise decision later on. “Biotechnology is something we are also concerned about. But we need to know more of the benefits and disadvantages. Is this safe for the people and, the environment? I am into organic farming and so far, I am happy of the result,” Ganiron said of his 3-hectare integrated farm in Batac City, which is a model in organic farming technologies. Backed by the National Food Au-
thority, Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Agriculture and Fisheries Biotechnology Program, the biotech training for selected farmer-leaders here hoped to open up opportunities for all stakeholders. Asfarnet Philippines President Reynaldo Cabanao said last Friday the farmer-led advocacy on biotech training specifically aims to enhance farmers’ understanding of modern biotech agriculture to help them make a position on the issues affecting their lives. C o n f r o nt e d b y i s s u e s o n food security, or the need for af fordable and sustainable food supply for t he g row ing popu lation, Edw in Para luman of the Philippine Agriculture and Fisheries Biotechnology told local farmers here a multilocational demonstration far ms w i l l be establ ished in various parts of the country for biotech farms. In Ilocos Norte PhilRice Batac is set to put up a demo farm on genetically modified golden rice to help solve vitamin A and mineral deficiencies, which is prevalent among children. Ot her biotec h crops, suc h as corn and eggplant, are being promoted for farmers nationwide to increase their yield and income. “Biotechnology is an alternative for us to increase our yield. With the conversion of farmlands into residential houses, how are we going to feed our growing population?” Paraluman said. He also suggests applying modern biotechnology to produce more in a small area. PNA
Nestlé may bag Starbucks store-products unit deal
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ESTLÉ SA is close to a deal for parts of Starbucks Corp.’s business that sells coffee beans and drinks in supermarkets, according to a person familiar with the situation. An agreement will probably be announced on Monday, according to the person, who didn’t want to be identified as it isn’t public yet. Terms were not immediately available. The deal would not involve the Seattle-based company’s cafés. The transaction could generate about $3.8 billion in after-tax cash proceeds for Starbucks, according to Andrew Charles, an analyst at Cowen. Starbucks could use the proceeds to fund stock buybacks, he said in a research note. The first tie-up with a major rival in coffee underlines Nestlé’s efforts to capture more upscale java drinkers in the United States, where the maker of Nespresso and Nescafe has been outpaced by JAB Holding Co. The investment company of Europe’s billionaire Reimann family has spent more than $30 billion building its coffee empire with acquisitions, including Keurig Green Mountain and Peet’s. The shares rose as much as 2.3 percent to $57.42 last Friday. Starbucks holds the crown in the $13.8 billion US coffee market, while Nestlé ranks fifth behind Green Mountain and Kraft Heinz, according to Euromonitor. Starbucks has been examining each of its businesses to streamline its operations and focus on those that add most to sales and profit, CFO Scott Maw said on a conference call in January. Bloomberg News
Banking&Finance
A6 Monday, May 7, 2018 • Editor: Jun B. Vallecera
BusinessMirror
www.businessmirror.com.ph
Phl soon paying at-market, not submarket, loans rates
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By Cai U. Ordinario @cuo_bm
s more Asian countries become upper middle-income countries, including the Philippines, expect less concessional financing and more knowledge products to be extended to them by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Under the Manila-based multilateral development bank’s Strategy 2030, the ADB aims to “continue to apply its current graduation policy” first crafted a decade ago. ADB President Takehiko Nakao said the graduation policy was one of the key discussion points at the recently concluded Annual Meeting in Manila where some governors urged the multilateral to consider “differentiated pricing” from its so-called ordinary capital resource (OCR) lending. “The primary purpose of this differentiated pricing is not to increase ADB’s net income. If countries become richer, it is reasonable and fair to ask them to pay a little bit more as an extension of our current system of transitioning from grant only to concessional lending to marketbased lending,” Nakao said. “Other governors had reservations with differentiated pricing because ADB does not have an immediate need to build equity. As part of differentiated pricing, ADB will consider preferential pricing, for example, for countries transitioning
out of concessional assistance,” he added. Nakao, however, gave assurance the ADB board of governors will develop “concrete proposals” for differentiated pricing and long-term lending, especially now that the Asian Development Fund (ADF) and the OCR have already merged. The ADF was initially the source of concessional lending to poor developing member countries or DMCs, while the OCR represented the bank’s market-based lending operations. In 2015 the ADB announced the merger of the ADF and the OCR to boost the bank’s capital resources. This became effective in January 2017. “This initiative is a win-win-win situation because it increases financial support for poorer members, expands capacity for operations in middle-income countries and the private sector and reduces the burden for ADF donors,” Nakao earlier said. In a separate briefing for Southeast Asian journalists, ADB Director General for Southeast Asia Regional Department Ramesh Subramaniam said that after 2020, only
Santos demands yet again for GSIS funds transparency
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ESUS I. Santos, the lawyer who has since called for an accounting of the multibillion-peso funds of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) invested in various currency transactions, has again demanded for transparency in a letter to the current top GSIS management. In his letter to Jesus Clint O. Aranas, GSIS president and general manager, Santos, representing the Confederation of Government Employees Organization Inc. and the National Association of Lawyers for Justice, said it is their “constitutional and God-given rights to know as to the status of the huge investments considering that we are part owners not mentioned in the exemptions cited by the letter of then GSIS Officer in Charge Atty. Nora Saludares.” Santos received a letter earlier from Saludares, who said the GSIS funds are covered by confidential exemptions against transparency. “We most respectfully understood and respect her views,” Santos said, “but unfortunately, we do not agree with her views and honestly believe that we have a right to be fully informed about the status on the huge investments funds on the following: “1. How and what is now the status as to the $1 billion withdrawn and invested in the local stocks by the former board during the past administration? “2. What happened to the P87 billion also invested by the former board in the local stock? “3. What happened to the huge funds, proceeds of the sale of the Philcomcen Building by the GSIS, which was not revealed in public but instead what was published is the profit of P565 million also invested in the local stock? “4. Sir, there are other investments made by the former board which are part of the records in our communications with the GSIS. “Our apprehension was aroused when the price in the local stock dropped unfavorably affecting our country then during the past administration,” Santos said, referring to President Benigno S. Aquino III’s administration. In a previous communication, Aranas referred Santos to the letter of Saludares, who mentioned several confidential exemptions on the transparency of GSIS funds. Because of her letter, Santos filed a case against her with the Ombudsman for violating the anti-graft law (Case IC-OC-16-1267), which is now pending resolution.
Santos, instead of being listened to, ended up being harassed and persecuted for safeguarding the interest of GSIS members and executives during the previous administration. At one time, revenue agents shadowed and secretly investigated him for tax evasion while the GSIS management held his benefits as a board member along with another GSIS board trustee, Alejandro Roces, the late President Diosdado Macapagal’s education secretary and a National Artist, who was also an avid advocate for transparency. Before he died in May 2011 at the age of 86, Roces made a testament, with his family and Santos as witnesses, that his benefits fund be donated to a charitable institution of GSIS choice. While others had gotten their benefits, the GSIS management refused to release the benefits of Santos and Roces, who both retired as GSIS board members in 2010. Roces and Santos were appointed to the GSIS board by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Santos, now 92 but still active in the field of law, is a close friend of the Arroyo couple and former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. But not one in the implementing agencies under President Aquino’s office was impleaded in connection with the alleged misuse of Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) funds. Under Commission on Audit rules, public funds are never released directly to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil-society organizations (CSOs) or any other people’s organizations, whether they came from the unconstitutionally declared Priority Development Assistance Fund or other sources of appropriations like DAP. Releases of funds are only made to implementing agencies (IAs), which could be a department, an agency, or a local government unit under the Executive branch. Funds are never released to members of the Senate and the House. “The choice of the NGO as the implementing service or supply contractor is the responsibility of the agency head— not the senator or congressman, even in the case of PDAF or other off-budget public funds,” Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno in a previous statement said, adding that “the contract cannot be provided to an NGO at the whim and caprice of the head of the IA.”
Nepal and Afghanistan will be eligible for concessional assistance among the DMCs. As such, Subramaniam said the ADB’s engagement with DMCs in general and Southeast Asian countries in particular, will change. This means providing more knowledge solutions, providing access to higher levels of technology and city-based development strategies, among others He also said that in terms of financing, the ADB can now explore other modes of accessing capital by exploring “opportunities for public-private collaborations.” “Many of the current middle-income countries are on a very clear path to become upper middle-income countries. It’s [just] a matter of whether its 2022 or 2030,” Subramaniam said. “Our new corporate strategy draft is out and it anticipates these changes. We will need to change the assistance, as well as
the nature of assistance that we provide,” he added. Under the draft Strategy 2030, the ADB plans to allow cities to explore new and existing sources of funding. This includes property taxes, utility charges and predictable intergovernmental transfers, among others. The draft also outlines ADB’s efforts to support urban planning by engaging and partnering with various stakeholders such as academia and civil-society organizations. Further, the ADB’s draft strategy aims to help low-income and lower middle-income countries, like the Philippines, reform state-owned enterprises and boost private-sector lending. “ADB will provide predictable and substantial long-term financing to support low-income and lower middle-income countries, and will be a trusted partner
Teves seen taking helm at SSS
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he Department of Finance (DOF) has endorsed Margarito B. Teves as Social Security System (SSS) chairman, saying the former secretary of finance performed well during his stint in the government. Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III told financial reporters Teves will take the position vacated by Amado D. Valdez earlier this year. “I said Gary [Teves] is a good guy to consider. He was a congressman before. He performed quite well as president of Land Bank of the Philippines and as secretary of Finance. You have to remember Gary was the secretary of Finance when the world was crumbling. This guy, together with Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, held his own,” Dominguez said. In February President Duterte opted not to renew the appointments of former SSC Chairman Valdez and SSS Commissioner Jose Gabriel M. La Viña, when their terms
expired in June last year. Valdez was appointed SSS chairman back in October 2016, while La Viña was named commissioner a month after. Meanwhile, when asked whether Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Teresita J. Herbosa will keep her post after her term expires this month, Dominguez said Malacañang would make the announcement. “I’m sure there are several candidates for that position, but I think the chairman is doing a good job now [and] there’s no need to rush. It’s up to the President,” he said. Herbosa was appointed SEC chairman in 2011. Duterte in April named the replacement of SEC Commissioner Blas James Viterbo who resigned in February due to health issues. SEC Davao Extension Office Director lawyer Javey Paul Francisco was appointed SEC commissioner on April 18, according to the document released by Malacañang. Rea Cu
Case clippings
By Justice S J Ranada Jr.
NATIONAL COMM ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLE–jurisdiction Non-ICCs/IPs cannot be subjected to the special and limited jurisdiction of the NCIP (National Commission on Indigenous Peoples) even if the dispute involves rights of ICCs/IPs (Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous People) since the NCIP has no power and authority to decide a controversy involving rights of non-ICCs/IPs which should be brought before the courts of general jurisdiction within the legal bounds of rights and remedies Heirs v. Sta Lucia 06 Mar. 2018
GR 231737 Tijam, J
in supporting structural and systemic reforms,” Strategy 2030 stated. “ADB’s opportunities will include green and inclusive infrastructure, social services and social protection, sustainable urbanization, structural transformation to enhance productivity and competitiveness, private-sector development and domestic resource mobilization,” it added. The ADB said Asia and the Pacific’s share of the global gross domestic product increased to 33 percent in 2016, from 25 percent in 2000. That growth resulted to a dramatic reduction in income poverty and improvements in standards of living. Extreme poverty, as measured by the $1.90 per day threshold at 2011 purchasing power parity, significantly declined in developing Asia from 53 percent in 1990 to about 9 percent of the total population in 2013.
Insurer partners with WB unit
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he nonlife insurer Malayan Insurance Co. Inc. (Mico) has partnered with the International Finance Corp. (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to boost women’s access to risk mitigation and f inancia l-protection mechanisms. “A woman is more conscious of the needs of the family. They are more aware of the risks, and look for ways to mitigate the impact of those risks,” Yvonne Yuchengco, president of Mico, said. “We feel that women are a huge and underserved market that can be empowered through insurance products specific to their needs,” she quickly added. IFC earlier estimated women’s insurance will expand up to $ 1.7 trillion worldwide by 2030. Over half of the growth will come from emerging markets such as the Philippines. “At IFC, we are focused on creating markets that are competitive, sustainable, inclusive, and resilient. We provide solutions to enhance the status of the populations we serve through our intermediaries, and that includes women,” Yuan Xu, IFC country manager for the Philippines, said. “For women, insurance is important as they are more vulnerable to shocks and more likely to face financial risk over the long term then men,” said Esther Dassanou, Women’s insurance lead with the gender secretariat of IFC, adding that “Improved access to insurance would help women increase their savings, their ability to cope with financial challenges, free up income for major investments in business, while at the same time protecting their assets.”
Perspectives
System-wide thinking to integrate and intervene
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EOs in the human services sector see early intervention and integration within human services and with the health-care system as among the top opportunities for reform in the next five years. When seen from the perspective of the customer and through the lens of a single health and care system, these two opportunities are deeply interlinked. A system-wide perspective is critical to ensure that human services work effectively. For governments, this may involve enabling data-sharing, managing the market or commissioning the right services at the right time. However, providers and non-governmental organizations can also think at a system level. Understanding the role of your organization in the ecosystem is critical to performing effectively. It enables an organization to manage demand for services, interact with related services to improve the quality of care and to ensure sustainability. The need to intervene early is not an issue that organizations can manage on their own as it requires investment and commitment from across the health and care system. Few organizations provide the full spectrum of services from universal to specialist and across health and human services. Even fewer are the sole provider in their area so implementing
change requires working with partner organizations. Integration is not necessarily the result of this but it does solve part of the financial issue, one of the key barriers to committing to early intervention. Early intervention requires upfront investment in services that are designed to reduce the workload of more intensive and acute parts of the health and care system. These are not always the organizations that provide the initial investment which significantly weakens the business case to invest in early intervention. If health and human service organizations are integrated, the improved outcomes and financial benefits that accompany them will eventually flow back to the pot from which the investment came. Full system integration is not usually a viable option as it encompasses a huge variety of not-for-profit organizations, community organizations, caregivers and families, as well as governments and private providers. Instead, leaders in local systems should assess where organizational integration is needed and where the same benefits can be gained from dedicated formal liaison teams and pooled budgets. Closer working relationships are key but they also need to be supported by a degree of financial integration to ensure that budgets are big enough to invest and are able
to generate meaningful improvements. The key to any form of financial integration is a clear and fair mechanism for how the effects of the intervention will be measured and how rewards will be allocated. Small underspends or surpluses are quickly swallowed up by organizations under pressure and human services systems are not neatly linear to show the positive outcomes of prevention work. However, while the financial case is important, the clear aim of early intervention is to improve outcomes for people and so use of a proxy or an imperfect mechanism should not prevent leaders from acting to reform the system. Provided it is clear and agreed in advance, systems should act now. The article “System-wide thinking to integrate and intervene” by Liz Forsyth, KPMG International, was taken from the publication entitled Listen, learn, lead: 2018 Human and Social Services Outlook. © 2018 R.G. Manabat & Co., a Philippine partnership and a member-firm of the KPMG network of independent member-firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (KPMG International), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. Printed in the Philippines. For more information on KPMG in the Philippines, you may visit www.kpmg.com.ph.
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Monday, May 7, 2017
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Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on $150B in Chinese goods still looming
US trade mission to China lays bare yawning divide
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resident Donald J. Trump’s top economic advisers have returned home from Beijing with little more than glaring proof of how far apart the United States and China stand on trade issues. A US delegation, led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, wrapped up two days of negotiations with Chinese economic officials last Friday with only an agreement to keep talking. No time or place for further discussions was announced, and Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on as much as $150 billion in Chinese goods is still looming. The two sides appear to be at loggerheads, with both making long lists of demands the other won’t meet, analysts say. Trump wants China to cut its annual trade surplus with the US by at least $200 billion by the end of 2020 and not retaliate for US tariffs. China wants the US to stop an investigation into the country’s acquisition of sensitive American technologies. “The meetings this week are unlikely to lead to more than a very temporary cessation of hostilities,” said Eswar Prasad, a China expert at Cornell University. “We’re going to see the trade tensions if anything flare up even more because it has become clear that the US wants a great deal from China and expects China to capitulate, and the Chinese are up for negotiation, not capitulation.”
‘Very spoiled’
On Twitter last Friday night Trump said that once the delegation has returned, “We will be meeting tomorrow to determine the results, but it is hard for China in that they have become very spoiled with US trade wins!”
Speaking in Cleveland last Saturday, Trump said the US is “going to have to rework trade with China,” adding, “don’t let anyone ever tell you that trade deficits are OK.” Shortly before he spoke, the White House issued a sharply worded statement criticizing China’s government for a recent demand that foreign airlines change the way they refer to Taiwan, calling it “Orwellian nonsense.” Trump also spoke last Saturday with United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May on “the promotion of fair and reciprocal trade, particularly with regard to China,” according to a readout from the White House. While a cure-all deal was always a long shot, the discord between the world’s two biggest economies means skittish global markets will continue to face ongoing trade tensions. The immediate question is whether the US saw enough progress to delay Trump’s planned tariffs on Chinese imports. The duties can be imposed after a public comment period ends on May 22.
Next steps
The White House characterized the talks as a “frank” exchange and said the US delegation in Beijing stressed that fairer trade would help boost economic growth, even for China. Trump will “seek his decision on next steps” after a briefing from his advisers when they return to Washington, according to a statement from the White House last Friday. Earlier last Friday the president hinted his administration
Korean Air pilots, crew protest abuse by founding Cho family
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EOUL, South Korea—Hundreds of Korean Air Lines Co. pilots, cabin crew and other workers staged a rally last Friday night in Seoul saying they can’t take any more abuse from the company’s founding family. One of the protesters was Park Changjin, a crewmember who was forced off of a Korean Air aircraft at John F. Kennedy International Airport in 2014, when the company chairman’s daughter threw a tantrum over the way nuts were served. “I’m proud of Korean Air. I love Korean Air. Let’s protect Korean Air,” Park told the roaring crowd. Authorities are investigating multiple charges against Chairman Cho Yang-ho’s family, including smuggling and tax evasion. Another of Cho’s daughters is under investigation for allegedly throwing a drink
at ad agency officials, an allegation that she denies. Such a protest by employees of a “chaebol,” the family-controlled big businesses that dominate the South Korean economy, is rare. It reflects growing resentment against perceived outlandish behavior by the elite founding families and the view that they treat publicly listed companies as their private firms. Hiding their faces with identical masks to obscure their identities, the protesters shouted slogans against the Cho family. Many pilots were wearing uniforms and ties. “We cannot take any more curse and power abuse by the Cho family,” they shouted in unison. They waved banners that read “Cho, you are fired.” Another banner read: “We want to be treated like a human, not a slave.” AP
more conciliatory than that of Navarro, who is known as a hawk on Chinese trade policies and coauthored the book Death by China about the perilous rise of the Asian economy. Branstad is a former governor of Iowa, where agricultural exports to China are important to the economy. It was Mnuchin’s first visit to China as Treasury chief. “It’s a continuation of a happenstance strategy around foreign affairs but particularly trade, and I don’t think it’s going to change in the near term,” said Kim Wallace, a managing director at Eurasia Group and a former US Treasury official during the Obama administration.
Chinese scapegoat
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (second from left) and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (second from right) leave their hotel in Beijing on May 4. Chinese and US officials met face-to-face to try and resolve a dispute over technology that has taken the world’s two largest economies the closest they’ve ever come to a trade war. AP/Mark Schiefelbein
Making China a scapegoat for the ills of the US economy may appease some uninformed voters, but it would hardly reduce the trade deficit.”—China Daily would take action. “My people are coming back right now from China,” he said in Washington. “We will be doing something one way or the other with respect to what’s happening in China. Let me say this: I have great respect for President Xi, that’s why we’re being so nice, and we have a great relationship, but we have to bring fairness into trade between the US and China, and we’ll do it.” Investors will probably conclude that “it’s harder to get a deal than many market participants might have thought a week or a month ago,” Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Re-
serve governor, said on Bloomberg TV last Friday.
Fight risk
There’s a risk of the dispute between the US and China “ending up with a broader fight in the G-20 [Group of 20], and that could have real effects on global supply chains, asset prices and the global economy,” Warsh said. Experts had expressed doubts that Trump’s team would make a breakthrough, given the differing ideologies within the large US delegation. Mnuchin was joined by Commerce
Secretary Wilbur Ross and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, as well as two senior White House officials—economic adviser Larry Kudlow and trade adviser Peter Navarro—and the American ambassador to China, Terry Branstad. “The size and high level of this delegation illustrates the importance that the Trump administration places on securing fair trade and investment terms for American businesses and workers,” according to the White House statement. “There is consensus within the administration that immediate attention is needed to bring changes to United States-China trade and investment relationship.” China’s Vice Premier Liu He had earlier requested that the Americans designate a single point person for the economic relationship.
Differing views
Mnuchin’s approach is seen as
China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported last Friday that both sides reached a consensus on some trade issues while acknowledging major disagreements on other matters. It said they would continue discussions, without providing specifics. Neither side briefed the media. In an editorial, the official China Daily last Friday reiterated that President Xi Jinping’s government won’t back down from its agenda in the face of pressure from the US. “Making China a scapegoat for the ills of the US economy may appease some uninformed voters, but it would hardly reduce the trade deficit,” according to the editorial. “The developments over the past months show China will not compromise on its core interests no matter how desperately the US tries.” Chinese officials tend to approach changes to economic policy “very incrementally,” said Nathan Sheets, chief economist for PGIM Fixed Income, who served as Treasury undersecretary for international affairs in the Obama administration and until 2017. “It boils down to whether President Xi is willing to use political capital in this way, but this doesn’t seem to be the way he’s moving.” Bloomberg News
Saudi program calls for gender-mixing, no prayer closure
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Saudi government program to improve the quality of life in the kingdom called for the legalization of gender mixing and an end to the mandatory prayer closures for businesses, significant steps to ease social restrictions in the conservative country. The 236-page document sent to reporters last Thursday night outlining the government’s new Quality of Life Program called for lobbying to amend the laws, saying the areas “require immediate regulatory changes.” Even a recommendation would represent a notable shift in the official rhetoric on two sticky religious issues that could spark a backlash from conservative Saudis. The items were buried on page
156 of the document and were not mentioned during a news conference to announce the program last Thursday. They were removed from versions posted online later. Government officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Easing social restrictions is a key part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s push to overhaul the oil-dependent economy and attract foreign investment. The prince’s so-called Vision 2030 seeks to encourage more women to join the work force and has identified entertainment as one industry with strong growth prospects. The government has already lifted its longstanding ban on cinemas and women driving and sponsored
gender-mixed music concerts. The changes have so far provoked minimal public dissent as the government clamps down on criticism. Prince Mohammed, in an interview with CBS News program 60 Minutes broadcast in March, said the kingdom has “extremists who forbid mixing between the two sexes and are unable to differentiate between a man and a woman alone together and their being together in a workplace.” The document sent to reporters called for allowing the “intermingling of both genders to enhance social cohesion” and legalizing the opening of stores during prayer times, as well as the participation of women in sports in public places.
It said that passing new regulations in these areas would improve citizen participation in lifestyle activities and boost investor confidence. Shops, restaurants, cafes and even pharmacies in the kingdom are required to close several times a day in recognition of Islam’s five daily prayers. The rules on gender segregation are more varied, with authorities sometimes enforcing separate spaces and entrances for men and women and sometimes enforcing a looser separation between “single men” and “families”—meaning any group involving a woman. Recently, some state-sponsored events have had no gender segregation at all. Bloomberg News
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Monday, May 7, 2018 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
The World BusinessMirror
N. Korea: US ruining mood of detente ahead of summit
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YONGYANG, North Korea— With just weeks to go before US President Donald J. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are expected to hold their first-ever summit, Pyongyang last Sunday criticized what it called “misleading” claims that Trump’s policy of maximum political pressure and sanctions are what drove the North to the negotiating table.
The North’s official news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman, warning the claims are a “dangerous attempt” to ruin a budding detente on the Korean Peninsula after Kim’s summit late last month with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. At the summit, Kim agreed to a number of measures aimed at improving North-South ties and indicated he is willing to discuss the denuclearization of the peninsula, though exactly what that would entail and what conditions the North might require have not yet been explained. Trump and senior US officials have suggested repeatedly that Washington’s tough policy toward North Korea, along with pressure on its main trading partner China, have played a decisive role in turning around what had been an extremely tense situation. Just last year, as Kim was launching long-range missiles at a record pace and trading vulgar insults with Trump, it would have seemed unthinkable for the topic of denuclearization to be on the table. But the North’s statement last Sunday
seemed to be aimed at strengthening Kim’s position going into his meeting with Trump. Pyongyang claims Kim himself is the driver of the current situation. “The US is deliberately provoking the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] at the time when the situation on the Korean Peninsula is moving toward peace and reconciliation,” the spokesman was quoted as saying. Kim and Trump are expected to meet later this month or in early-June. Trump has indicated the date and place have been chosen and said he believes the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the Koreas might be a good venue. Singapore was also
U.S. President Donald J. Trump (left), speaks during a roundtable on tax cuts in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 5, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Panmunjom, South Korea, on April 27. AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta, Korea Summit Press Pool via AP
believed to be a potential site. Experts are split over whether Kim’s statement made with Moon at the DMZ marks a unique opening for progress or a rehash of Pyongyang’s longstanding demand for security guarantees. Last Sunday’s comments were among the very few the North has made since Trump agreed in March to the meeting. The spokesman warned the US not
The US is deliberately provoking the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] at the time when the situation on the Korean Peninsula is moving toward peace and reconciliation.” —Foreign Ministry spokesman
to interpret Pyongyang’s willingness to talk as a sign of weakness. He also criticized Washington for its ongoing “pressure and military threats” and its position that such pressure won’t be eased until North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons completely. Before Trump meets Kim, Washington is hoping to gain the release of three Korean-Americans accused of anti-state activities. Trump hinted the release of Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim was in the offing. There was no sign of an imminent release last Sunday, though the men had reportedly been moved to the capital. The White House, meanwhile, has announced a separate meeting between Trump and Moon at the White House on May 22 to “continue their close coordination on developments regarding the Korean Peninsula.” AP
Doctors hit Trump’s ‘war zone’ comments on London crime
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ONDON—Some British doctors and legislators reacted angrily last Saturday to President Donald J. Trump’s pro-gun comments at a National Rifle Association (NRA) convention, comparing a London hospital to a war zone because of knife crime. Trump’s provocative comments are expected to increase concerns about his planned first presidential visit to Britain on July 13. Dr. Martin Griffiths, a surgeon at the Royal London Hospital, tweeted that he would be “happy to invite Mr. Trump” to visit his hospital and meet with London’s mayor and police chief to learn how the city has reduced violent crime. Dr. Karim Brohi, another Royal London surgeon, said Trump’s position makes no sense. “There is more we can all do to combat this violence, but to suggest guns are part of the solution is ridiculous,” Brohi tweeted. “Gunshot wounds are at least twice as lethal as knife injuries and more difficult to repair.” At the NRA convention last Friday in Dallas, Trump said Britain has tough gun laws but that one London hospital is awash with blood because of knife wounds. “They don’t have guns. They have knives and instead there’s blood all over the floors of this hospital,” Trump said. “They say it’s as bad as a military war zone hospital ... knives, knives, knives.” Labour Party lawmaker Sarah Jones tweeted that Trump’s speech was a disgrace. “UK knife crime nowhere near your off-the-scale gun deaths,” she said. Trump spoke as London is experiencing an increase in knife-related violence.
France slams Trump for remarks on guns, Paris attacks
At the NRA convention, Trump also
Young protesters join others as they chant and march from City Hall to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, protesting against the National Rifle Association (NRA) on May 4 in Dallas. The annual NRA convention is being held at the convention center until Sunday. AP/Sue Ogrocki
There is more we can all do to combat this violence, but to suggest guns are part of the solution is ridiculous.”—Brohi suggested that a coordinated extremist attack on Paris in 2015 that claimed 130 lives would have been far less deadly if Parisians had been carrying guns to protect themselves. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed his “firm disapproval” of Trump’s remarks and vigorously defended France’s gun controls.
“Free circulation of weapons in society does not constitute a rampart against terrorist attacks, to the contrary, it can facilitate...this type of attack,” he said in a statement last Saturday. The US president plans a one-day stop in Britain as part of a working visit. He has been invited for a state
visit to be hosted by Queen Elizabeth II, but no date has been set for that ceremonial event. Trump has riled many Britons in the past by suggesting that Muslim extremists have made some British cities unsafe. He also drew criticism from Prime Minister Theresa May, a conservative, and other political leaders for retweeting anti-Muslim videos originally posted by one of the leaders of the far-right Britain First group. Trump has criticized London’s Metropolitan Police and Mayor Sadiq Khan, a Muslim, on several occasions. AP
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Billions on the line for firms as Trump weighs Iran pullout
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UBAI, United Arab Emirates—From airplanes to oilfields, billions of dollars are on the line for international corporations as President Donald J. Trump weighs whether to pull America out of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. Regardless of where they are headquartered, virtually all multinational corporations do business or banking in the US, meaning any return to pre-deal sanctions could torpedo deals made after the 2015 agreement came into force. That threat alone has been enough to scare risk-averse firms, like Boeing Co., into slow-walking deals agreed to months ago. A complete pullout by the US would wreak further havoc and likely frighten off those considering making the plunge. “I absolutely think those on the fence will not jump in,” said Richard Nephew, a former sanctions expert at the US State Department who worked on the nuclear deal and now is at New York’s Columbia University. “The only ones who will, will be those who see tremendous monetary benefit and no US risk.” The 2015 Iran nuclear deal lifted crippling economic sanctions that had locked Iran out of international banking and the global oil trade. In return, Tehran limited its enrichment of uranium, reconfigured a heavy-water reactor so it couldn’t produce plutonium and reduced its uranium stockpile and supply of centrifuges. For Western businesses, the deal meant access to Iran’s largely untapped market of 80 million people. Most prominently, airplane manufacturers rushed in to replace the country’s dangerously dilapidated civilian fleet. In December 2016 Airbus Group signed a deal with Iran’s national carrier, IranAir, to sell it 100 airplanes for around $19 billion at list prices. Boeing later struck its own deal with IranAir for 80 aircraft with a list price of some $17 billion, promising that deliveries would begin in 2017 and run until 2025. Boeing separately struck another 30-airplane deal with Iran’s Aseman Airlines for $3 billion at list prices. But Boeing has yet to deliver a single aircraft to Iran. The Chicago-based company’s CEO recently stressed it understands the “risks and implications around the Iranian aircraft deal,” which would be the biggest business agreement between an American company and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and US Embassy takeover. “We continue to follow the US government’s lead here and everything is being done per that process,” Dennis Muilenburg said during a quarterly earnings conference call on April 25. “We have no Iranian deliveries that are scheduled or part of the skyline this year, so those have been deferred again in line with the US government process.” Airbus, a European airline consortium based in Toulouse, France, likewise continues its sales at the discretion of the American government. At least 10 percent of its aircraft components are of American origin, meaning it requires permission from the US Treasury for its sales to Iran. Airbus has already delivered two A330-200s and one A321 to Iran. Airbus declined to comment when asked by The Associated Press (AP) about its possible plans ahead of Trump’s decision. European airplane manufacturer ATR struck a $536-million deal with IranAir for at least 20 aircraft last year. It has already delivered eight of its twin-engine turboprops to Tehran after earlier winning permission from the US Treasury. “To date, we are on track to deliver the remaining ATR aircraft in due time, before the end of the year,” ATR Spokesman David Vargas told the AP. The speed at which Western airplane manufacturers went into Iran is contrasted by a slow start by Western energy firms, despite the country’s vast oil and gas wealth. The exception is French oil giant Total SA, which, last July, signed a $5-billion, 20-year agreement with Iran and a Chinese oil company to develop the country’s massive South Pars offshore natural gas field. The natural gas pumped by the deal will go toward Iran’s domestic market. The deal marked a return to Iran for Total, which pulled out of the country in 2008 as Western sanctions over its nuclear program began to ramp up. Total did not respond to requests for comment, though its CEO Patrick Pouyanne reportedly told Trump in February to stick with the deal. “If the framework, the rules of the game, change, of course we will have to reevaluate,” Pouyanne told the Financial Times. French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen reached a deal in 2016 to open a plant producing 200,000 vehicles annually in Iran. Peugeot, once a major player in Iran’s car market before sanctions, did not respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, fellow French automobile manufacturer Groupe Renault signed a $778-million deal to build 150,000 cars a year at a factory outside of Tehran. “The Renault Group is closely monitoring the evolution of the diplomatic situation,” the company said in a statement to the AP, without elaborating. Volkswagen also began exporting cars to Iran. “Currently we are tracking and examining the development of the political and economic environment in the region very closely,” the German carmaker said in a statement. “In principle, Volkswagen adheres to all applicable national and international laws and export regulations.” Nuclear deal cosigners Britain, France and Germany, which have urged Trump to preserve the deal, may seek exemptions to protect their companies if the US snaps back sanctions, said Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior policy fellow studying Iran at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “This should include a series of exemptions and carveouts for European companies already involved in strategic areas of trade and investment with Iran, with the priority being to limit the immediate shock to Iranian oil exports,” she wrote last Wednesday. AP
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China’s Xi champions Marx at home
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EIJING—To the world, China’s President Xi Jinping presents himself as a champion of free markets. At home, he’s leading a campaign to promote the works of communist philosopher Karl Marx, who 150 years ago famously warned of the dangers of global capitalism. “Marx was Correct,” declared a slickly produced TV special that’s part of a state media campaign rolled out by Xi’s administration this week seeking to popularize Marx among younger Chinese raised in an era of market-style economic reform. The campaign featured a catchy theme song, dramatic readings, and an article titled “Say Hi to Marx” showing an illustration of the white-bearded Marx making a trendy V-for-victory sign. “Today, we commemorate Marx in order to pay tribute to the greatest thinker in the history of mankind and also to declare our firm belief in the scientific truth of Marxism,” Xi said in a speech last Friday prominently displayed across state media platforms. It’s all about cementing the power of Xi and the ruling Communist Party and combating liberal Western democratic concepts thought to threaten its rule, using a legacy dating way past the 1949 Chinese revolution, analysts say. The madness for Marx dovetails with a drive to “Sinicize” culture, religion and ideology by instilling social control through the teachings of the ancient philosopher Confucius, said Perry Link, an American expert on Chinese literature and politics. “Neither embrace has anything to do with intellectual content and everything to do with bolstering political power today,” Link wrote in an e-mail. The Marx media blitz is mainly for domestic consumption. On the global stage, Xi is striving to cast his country as a modern champion of free trade. Last year he became the first Chinese
president to attend the World Economic Forum, a glitzy gathering of champagne-sipping globalists at a Swiss Alpine resort in Davos, where he made a high-profile speech advocating free markets. Xi’s goal is to portray China as a responsible economic power while showing the world and domestic critics that Beijing will persist in pursuing its own path of Chinesestyle Marxism, said Willy Lam, an expert on Chinese politics at the Chinese University in Hong Kong. “He’s striking a defiant pose to the West and opponents at home that China will not buckle under,” Lam said. The Marxism mantra faces an uphill battle, though, given the widening gulf between the communist leadership and Chinese youth who tend to be enamored with celebrity gossip and irreverent social satire that goes viral across social media before it is censored. “It’s extremely hard to push Marxism in modern China especially in this Internet era. What it presents is severely unrealistic,” said Zhang Lifan, a Beijing-based independent political analyst. “Even inside China, I believe most party members don’t understand or believe in Marxism anymore,” Zhang said. “Instead, they just use it as a tool for promotion.” Xi’s zeal for Marxist thought may partly reflect his own experience. Like millions of urban youths of his generation, as a teenager he was “sent down” to the countryside to do manual labor instead of going to school during the bloody turmoil of the ultra-leftist 1964-1976 Cultural Revolution. “Xi is limited to his knowledge and education in the past, so this is
what he knows,” said Zhang. “The younger generations who are very independent are totally different from them.” The new campaign is timed to coincide with the bicentennial of Marx’s birth and the 170th anniversary of the publication of The Communist Manifesto, which, along with Das Kapital, helped shape much modern thought about labor, social classes and economic and political systems. Those works, some produced in collaboration with Friedrich Engels, are the bedrock of communism. But his thought and image have been eclipsed over three decades of rapid industrialization and social change. For the economy, China’s communist leaders no longer advocate total state control or class struggle. On the political front, the party has been tightening its iron grip on power, swiftly crushing real and
perceived threats. Xi has gone even further to clinch his status as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, sidelining or prosecuting rivals and having his own “thought” written into the party constitution. In March the rubber-stamp legislature removed presidential term limits from the Chinese Constitution, enabling him to remain head of state indefinitely. All that, plus the vigorous Marx and Confucius campaigns, point not to strength but to insecurity, Link said. “I’m not sure Xi’s personal political position is as secure as it appears,” Link said. “Purging his rivals motivates his rivals; and popular support would quickly go south if something bad, like an economic downturn, suddenly appeared.” The party’s jitters are apparent in its crusade against universal values, independent legal activists
and liberal democratic thought, its crackdowns on what the authorities deem unhealthy, such as an online forum for discussing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues to the satirical retooling of the British cartoon character Peppa Pig. Instead, party ideologues say, why not Marx as a healthy alternative? State broadcaster CCTV’s “Marx was Correct” special featured stylish animation, a studio audience of college students and a question and answer session. Each episode concluded with a soft-rock ode to Marx, “Your Name, Our Strength,” accompanied by video depicting China’s rise from the time of Marx’s birth to recent accomplishments, such as bullet trains and the Chinese navy’s first aircraft carrier. Marxism “should be consolidated as the guiding ideology and promoted in campuses, classrooms and among students,” Xi said during a visit to the School of Marxism at prestigious Peking University, considered one of the cradles of Chinese communism, which recently added a research institute on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism With Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. AP
Nearly 1,600 reported arrested in Russian anti-Putin protests
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OSCOW—Russians angered by the impending inauguration of Vladimir Putin to a new term as president protested last Saturday in scores of cities across the country—and police responded by reportedly arresting nearly 1,600 of them. Among those arrested was protest organizer Alexei Navalny, the anticorruption campaigner who is Putin’s most prominent foe. Police seized Navalny by the arms and legs and carried the thrashing activist from Moscow’s Pushkin Square, where thousands were gathered for an unauthorized protest. Police also used batons against protesters who chanted “Putin is a thief!” and “Russia will be free!” Demonstrations under the slogan “He is not our czar” took place throughout the country, from Yakutsk in the far northeast to Saint Petersburg and Kaliningrad on the fringes of Europe. The protests demonstrated that Navalny’s opposition, although considered beleaguered by Russian officials and largely ignored by state-controlled television, has sizeable support in much of the country.
“I think that Putin isn’t worthy of leading this country. He has been doing it for 18 years and has done nothing good for it,” said Moscow demonstrator Dmitry Nikitenko. “He should leave for good.” OVD-Info, an organization that monitors political repression, said late last Saturday that 1,599 people had been detained at demonstrations in 26 Russian cities. It said 702 were arrested in Moscow alone, and another 232 in Saint Petersburg. Moscow police said about 300 people were detained in the capital, state news agencies said, and there was no official countrywide tally. “Let my son go!” Iraida Nikolaeva screamed, running after police in Moscow when they detained her son. “He did not do anything! Are you a human or not? Do you live in Russia or not?” Navalny was to be charged with disobeying police, an offense that carries a sentence of up to 15 days, news reports said, though when he would face a judge was not immediately clear. Navalny has served several multiweek stretches in jail on similar charges. In Saint Petersburg, police blocked off a stretch of Nevsky Prospekt as a crowd of about 1,000
marched along the renowned avenue. Video showed some demonstrators being detained. Putin is to be inaugurated for a new six-year term on Monday after winning reelection in March with 77 percent of the vote. Navalny had hoped to challenge him on the ballot but was blocked because of a felony conviction in a case that supporters regard as falsified in order to marginalize him. In Washington State Department Spokesman Heather Nauert criticized the actions of the Russian police. “The United States condemns #Russia’s detention of hundreds of peaceful protesters and calls for their immediate release. Leaders who are secure in their own legitimacy don’t arrest their peaceful opponents for protesting,” she tweeted. Navalny has called nationwide demonstrations several times in the past year, and their turnout has rattled the Kremlin. Last Saturday’s protests attracted crowds of hundreds in cities that are far remote from Moscow, challenging authorities’ contention that Navalny and other opposition figures appeal only to a small, largely urban elite. AP
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Air France workers tear up another executive
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or a brief moment these past weeks, it appeared that France’s once-mighty unions had lost their clout. Rail workers, once synonymous with crippling strikes, staged a walkout that went largely unnoticed as travelers shrugged, turning to buses and ride-sharing instead. But over at Air France, that well-oiled worker conflict played out in a decidedly more retro fashion. Late on Friday a visibly shaken CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac threw in the towel, resigning from a post he held for less than two years after failing to win backing from employees for his pay proposals. Calling the labor conflict a “huge waste,” the CEO said the only beneficiaries are rivals that have managed to move beyond the endless cycle of strikes that have dominated the European aviation industry in recent years. While airlines from Deutsche Lufthansa to British Airways—and lately even low-cost specialist Ryanair—have all had their share of corporate dysfunction brought on by massive strikes, none have suffered the endurance and even violence of Air France’s labor ranks. The simmering conflict exploded into open carnage in late-2015, when two of the airline’s executives were physically assaulted by enraged workers, forcing them to flee and scale an industrial fence, their business suits and shirts ripped to shreds.
Visitors walk past a photograph of Karl Marx at an exhibition to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth at the National Museum in Beijing on May 5. AP/Mark Schiefelbein
It’s extremely hard to push Marxism in modern China, especially in this Internet era. What it presents is severely unrealistic.”—Zhang
Monday, May 7, 2018
Falling stock
The conflict has also strained the nerves of investors, who have sent the stock of the airline down 40 percent this year. Lufthansa, which last year finally manage to overcome years of pilot strife, has fared better losing less than a fifth in value this year, while British Airways parent IAG, which years ago broke the spell of strikes, has gained 4 percent so far in 2018. Rotating two-day walkouts have taken their toll, with the carrier warning last Friday that full-year results are expected to be “notably below” 2017. The strikes will wipe out at least €300 million ($358 million) in operating profit, according to the airline. At Air France, about 55 percent of staff who voted in an online poll rejected the offer made after 13 days of labor action by pilots, cabin crew and ground staff since February. While the outcome of the wage offer consultation isn’t legally binding, it will boost the negotiating position of unions at Air France. A majority of labor representatives have to approve any wage deal for it to take effect. Management offered a 7-percent increase over four years, while unions were pushing for a 5.1-percent raise this year.
Macron’s reforms
French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to overhaul his country’s economy. The rail strike has been the focus of the government, which has pushed for less job security for new hires and opening some lines to competition, a blueprint that Macron wants to apply to other areas of the economy. Macron has already pushed through a liberalization of labor law and cut taxes on capital in his first year in office, while future projects include changes to jobless benefits in Europe’s second-largest economy. At Air France, labor representatives were largely unmoved by the CEO’s departure, and a strike planned for early next week will probably go ahead.
Union victory
“The vote is the victory, not the president’s resignation,” Air France’s CFTC union representative Laurent Le Gall said by phone. Janaillac “attempted to bypass the negotiation framework with this move, and it comes back at him like a boomerang.” “A bad proposal remains a bad proposal,” Beltran Ybarra, a representative of the main pilots’ union, said by phone before the end of voting. Following the announcement of the results, the union said it regrets the resignation of Janaillac. The move is a personal defeat for Janaillac, whose voice broke at times as he announced the results of what amounted to a companywide referendum aimed at ending the conflict. Unlike his predecessor, Alexandre de Juniac, Janaillac had sough a more moderating approach, seeking to avoid conflict by focusing efforts on the new Joon unit staffed by lower-paid cabin crew, before eventually having to confront pay issues at the main airline.
Worst outcome
Britain’s Princess Charlotte cuddles her newly born brother, Prince Louis, on her third birthday, at Kensington Palace in London. Duchess of Cambridge/via AP
Britain’s Prince Louis first days at home
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ONDON—Two pictures have been released documenting the early days of Britain’s newest prince—and one shows Prince Louis being cuddled by three-year-old big sister Princess Charlotte. One of the photos was snapped when Louis was just three days old. He was born on April 23 and went home the same day. The two snapshots were released by Prince William and his
wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, and were taken by Kate at their home in Kensington Palace. Big brother Prince George, 4, is not in the photos. A palace statement said last Sunday that William and the duchess are “very pleased” to share the photos. It said the royal couple want to thank the public for “all of the kind messages” received since Louis’s birth. AP
But it wasn’t to be, and workers decided instead to press what analysts at RBC called “the self destruction button.” Now without a permanent leader, the task to see Europe’s biggest carrier through the next weeks falls to Air France head Franck Terner, who will oversee operations. Janaillac will convene board meetings for Air FranceKLM and its French arm Air France on May 9, during which he will submit his resignation, the carrier said. In his departing message, Janaillac sought to weave in an optimistic tone, saying that he hoped his departure would “trigger a collective realization and a rebound at Air France.” Analysts, meanwhile, were less upbeat. “This result is the worst possible outcome of the ballot,” Bernstein analysts including Daniel Roeska wrote in a note. “This leaves the company with no CEO, no labor contract, an ongoing dispute, and likely emboldened unions which will be even less likely to concede on their demands.” Bloomberg News
A4 A10 Monday, May 7, 2018 • Editor: Dennis D. Estopace
The Regions BusinessMirror
Court orders CamSur execs to obey law in expropriation of farmlands
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By Joel R. San Juan
@jrsanjuan1573
HE trial court in Bicol has directed the provincial government of Camarines Sur to keep its hands off the expropriation proceedings of several lands owned by Bicol farmers to allow an airport-development project in the province under President Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” slogan. In a five-page resolution issued by Judge Vivencio Gregorio Atutubo III, presiding judge of Branch 32 of the Regional Trial Court of Camarines Sur, the trial court directed the provincial government of Camarines Sur, headed by Gov. Miguel Luis R. Villafuerte, to desist
from implementing the writ of possession that the court earlier issued against the farmers. The court held that the provincial government of Camarines Sur is not the right party-in-interest to pursue the expropriations of the affected lands, which the owners, mostly
farmers, are protesting for lack of lawful process. The farmers representing families of Rufina Bien, Salvacion Almazan, heirs of Getulio Montejo, Leopoldo Fideris and Flor Purificacion Ramirez have earlier complained of harassment and coercion to force them to sell or abandon their lands in favor of the airport project known as the Naga Airport Development Project. It can be recalled that Rep. Rolando G. Andaya Jr. of the First District of Camarines Sur earlier appealed to Villafuerte’s camp to observe lawful processes in expropriating the farmers’ lots rather than resorting to “bullying” and “intimidation.” The provincial government of Camarines Sur has sued the said farmers for resisting the expropriations. The farmers are complaining that their lands are being bought for pittance amount. The court said the expropria-
tion process should have been the jurisdiction of Office of the Solicitor General and not the provincial government of Camarines Sur. “It has been ruled that the fact that the complaint was filed by one who is not a real party-in-interest renders the complaint susceptible to dismissal for lack of causes of action,” the trial court said. “Although the court’s attention has been called to the fact that lower courts are precluded from issuing injunctions against national government projects, it nevertheless appears that the plaintiff [Camarines Sur provincial government] is not the real party in interest in this case,” it added. “The expropriation of lands should be done in a legal manner and with just compensation for the farmers,” Andaya said. “But instead, they resorted to threats and intimidation to drive these farmers out.”
Trade dept puts resort-island under automatic price ceiling
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ORACAY Island, Aklan— The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has placed Boracay under the Automatic Price Ceiling (APC) state. Maria Carmen I. Iturralde, DTIAklan acting chief, said the APC is implemented once an area has been declared under the state of calamity. It could be recalled that Malaca-
ñang recently declared the three barangays of Boracay—Balabag, Yapak and Manoc Manoc—under a state of calamity to give way to the rehabilitation of this resort island for six months. “The APC means that businessmen selling basic commodities in this resort island must implement a price freeze,” Iturralde said. “They are not
allowed to increase their prices on basic goods.” She said DTI-Aklan received the communication from the DTI Central Office in Manila last Friday. Upon receiving it, DTI personnel would start distributing the fliers to all the stores in Boracay. The government agency will then conduct strict monitoring of price commodities this
week, she said adding that violators will be penalized. Meanwhile, aside from strict monitoring of price increase, the DTI is also conducting free training for entrepreneurs affected by the closure of Boracay. Iturralde said they offer training on t-shirt printing, siomai making, crafts making and waste recycling among others. Jun N. Aguirre
Cainta health office targets 1,500 beneficiaries of free circumcision Story & photo by Bernard Testa
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ROUND 86 children 9 years old and above in Barangay Anakpawis in this municipality of Cainta, Rizal province, recently availed themselves of the free circumcision services by the Cainta Municipal Health Office. To date, more than 532 boys availed themselves of the services under the Oplan Tuli program that began on April 16, according to municipal health worker Consolacion Pablo. Pablo explained circumcision is important as it helps prevent penile cancer because of proper hygiene. She added the minor surgery also decreases risks of urinary tract infection. Louie, 10, (not his real name) lined up since 8 a.m. for the procedure and expressed anxiety over the pain. Like him, many children also believe the procedure will increase their height. About 11 health workers composed of nurses, midwives and super visor y physician Jov y Javier successfully performed the procedure on the children. Pablo said since Mayor Johnielle Keith P. Nieto
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161 illegal Boracay forest occupants face eviction By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
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total of 161 illegal forest occupants on Boracay Island are facing eviction, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said. DENR Undersecretary Jonas R. Leones said these illegal forest occupants have already been issued a notice to vacate by the DENR, after they failed to justify their stay or occupancy of forestlands or wetlands in violation of the Philippine Forestry Code. The illegal forest occupants have built commercial buildings—hotels, resorts and other tourismrelated business establishments— and residential structures. In the list are mostly residents and real-estate property claimants living or occupying portions of the forest on Boracay Island for a long time. Business establishments listed as among the illegal forest occupants are the Diamon Water Sports, Bahay Amihan Resort, Amihan Peak Villas, Ocean Tower View, Tanawin Resort and Crown Regency Resort, Boracay Private, Happy Planet, Sunrise Palais, Merly’s Place, Country Jeans Sales, Home Mart Grocery, Dacks Trading, Wendy’s Apartelle, Katheryn Constructor Inc., Leo FruitstandKaruna Boracay Suites, Palm Breeze Villa, Denichi Boracay Corp., SDF Briton Properties, Carolina Park View, Blue Bird Villa, Kitty Hawk Resort Elsa’s Place and Palawan Pawnshop. More than 900 business establishments occupying portions of Boracay’s forests and wetlands have earlier been issued show-cause orders by the DENR and were required to show proof or evidence to justify the legality of their building construction and operations. In some cases, the DENR issues special permits allowing the construction and operation of business establishments on forestland for tourism purposes called the Forest Land Use Agreement for Tourism Purposes, or FLAgT. The FLAgT is a 25-year agreement entered into by the DENR and an applicant willing to do business in an area classified as forestland. The FLAgT applies to special forestland uses, such as bathing, campsites, ecotourism destination and other tourism purposes. However, the agreement may be subject to cancellation by
the DENR. This was what happened in the case of the Boracay Island West Cove Management Philippines Inc (BIWCMPI), which owns and operate the posh Boracay West Cove on Boracay Island. On September 12, 2014, the FLAgT issued to BIWCMPI was canceled for several violations of the terms and conditions of the agreement. Among the alleged violations committed by the BIWCMPI include the construction of structures outside its assigned area, delayed submission of site management plan, delayed submission of an annual report containing the development activities within the FLAgT area and the failure to submit an approved environmental compliance certificate or ECC. The West Cove continues to operate on Boracay Island, although its operator voluntarily demolished a portion of its concrete structure built atop a rocky portion along the coasts, in excess of its FLAgT area. Boracay is currently closed to tourism activities for six months, which started on April 26, to fasttrack rehabilitation efforts and allow its degraded environment to recuperate. Some of the buildings on the island were built on wetlands. Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatus earlier vowed to recover all nine wetlands on the island albeit an old map of Boracay revealed that, historically, there are 12 wetlands on Boracay. Some of these, like Wetland Nos. 2 and 3, have been identified as a candidate for “critical habitat,” a management measure under the Wildlife Act for the protection of certain endangered or threatened species. These two wetlands have been found to be the staging ground for a number of migratory-birds species and home to a number of native and endemic birds. According to Leones, Cimatu’s designated spokesman, recovering the wetlands is one of the priority action plans of the Task Force Boracay to strengthen the island’s defense against natural calamities like typhoons that trigger massive floods. “Recovering these wetlands is very important because they act as catchment of water runoff,” he said. “They are important in flood prevention.”
Sultan Kudarat village chief, 2 others slain in antidrug ops
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Medical and health personnel perform circumcision surgical procedure on young males that is provided for free as a health program of the Cainta Municipal Health Office in Cainta, Rizal.
assumed office in 2013, Oplan Tuli has become a yearly activity by the municipal health office.
Municipal Health Officer and Dr. Olga A. Abellanosa said they target 1,500 males for this year’s free-
circumcision services. Last year Abellanosa said her office was able to provide such service to 1,197 males.
Government sends more troops to Cagayan
HE military has deployed more troops in Cagayan province following the alleged resurgence of activities by communist New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas in the province. The deployment of additional soldiers was also a part of the military’s security efforts for the upcoming barangay elections, said Capt. Jefferson Somera, spokesman of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division (5th ID). Just recently, elements of the
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17th Infantry Battalion (17th IB) engaged rebels at Barangay Balanni, Santo Niño, Cagayan, which came in the aftermath of reports that guerrillas in Cagayan were reorganizing. Maj. Gen. Perfecto Rimando Jr., 5th ID commander, has confirmed the regrouping of the rebels, apparently as a part of their efforts to intensify their activities in the province. “The series of skirmishes between the 17th IB troopers and the [NPA], confirmed the regroup-
ing of the group in Zinundungan Valley,” he said. “That is what we are preventing—the launching of their plans against the people, local officials and our troops in connection with the upcoming election.” During the firefight in Santo Niño, Lt. Col. Camilo Saddam, commander of the 17th IB, said five of his men were wounded after they triggered an improvised explosive device as they pursued the guerrillas.
Rimando added the activities of the NPA in Cagayan must be checked and, hence, they need to deploy more soldiers there. “To address the plans of the [NPAs], we need to push more troops to cover the areas of concern in Cagayan in collaboration with the police and local government officials,” he said. “If we desire to have a peaceful community, we need to make a firm stance to get rid of the [NPAs],” he added. Rene Acosta
AMBAYONG, Sultan Kudarat—A subcommander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and two of his subordinates were killed in simultaneous predawn operations in a remote village here last Saturday. Chief Supt. Marcelo Morales, Soccsksargen region police director, said separate operations on the strength of search warrants issued by a regional court in North Cotabato were launched at 2:15 a.m. in the villages the suspects reside. Morales identified the targets as Tambak Barangay Chairman Yusop Mukalam; Pimbalayan Barangay Chairman Musaid Kandatu; Randy Kamid, an MILF faction commander; and a certain Jaime Silongan, all of Lambayong. Law enforcers first swooped down on the house of Silongan in Barangay Tambak but he immediately fired at lawmen, triggering a shootout. Silongan was critically injured and was rushed to a hospital but died along the way. Seized from him were one Ingram submachinegun and five sachets of shabu valued at P25,000. Morales said another police unit went to the house of Mu-
kalam in Tambak village but he opened fire on approaching lawmen who returned fire, wounding the official. Mukalam did not reach the hospital in Poblacion Lambayong alive. Morales said the raiding team seized from Mukalam one .45-caliber pistol, seven sachets of shabu valued at P35,000, weighing scale and shabu paraphernalia. In the house of Randy Kamid, an MILF subcommander, gunfire also met the approaching lawmen, triggering a brief firefight. Police rushed the injured Kamid to a hospital but he was declared dead on arrival. Seized from Kamid’s house was a .38-caliber revolver, 12 sachets of shabu with an estimated value of P70,000 and shabu paraphernalia. Morales said another village chairman, Musaid Kindatu of Barangay Pimbalayan, did not resist arrest. Recovered from him were a Glock 17 magazine assembly, a fragmentation grenade, a rifle grenade, ammunition and twoway radio sets. Morales said the operation was witnessed by other local officials in the two villages where the operations were conducted. PNA
Green Monday BusinessMirror
A12 Monday, May 7, 2018
www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
Taiwan’s one-stop science park breeds ‘lapu-lapu’ The movie Finding Nemo helped increase the interest of hobbyists in regal blue tang (right), a species of Indo-Pacific surgeonfish, and in Nemo, the clownfish (second and third from right) among the corrals.
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The rare leopard stingray in an aquarium at Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park in Taiwan.
Story & Photos by Recto Mercene
@rectomercene
or the first time in pisciculture or fish farming history, Taiwan was able to breed in captivity one of Asia’s premium fish, the large-mouth grouper, called in the Philippines as lapu-lapu, and commonly referred to in China as garupa. This feat was achieved at the Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park (PABP), “the one and only science park dedicated to agricultural biotechnology in Taiwan,” Director General Dr. Susan Chang said. The Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa) invited 13 journalists, including this reporter, recently for a tour. For six days, Taiwan’s Mofa showcased its many achievements in science and technology, among others. The group toured the PABP complex, a cutting edge of Taiwan’s technical and biological prowess. It is in a 233-hectare area in Pingtung County south of Taiwan. Comprising clusters of low-rise buildings, each structure is dedicated to a particular specialty in agriculture and aquaculture.
Fish as status symbol
In one of the buildings, the second floor is glowing with lights from about 100 aquarium tanks, alive with corrals, anemone and a wide variety of fresh- and salt-water fish species. Several fish and shrimps species are specially raised for aquarium hobbyists and for ornament. A shrimp called Taiwan pinto is so small one needs a magnifying glass to see it, being about the size of a red ant. A pair that won in a competition in Taiwan commands NT$30,000. Another pair that has yet to attain trophy status could set one back NT$3,000. Other pairs of aquatic fishes are not far behind in rarity and price, which hobbyists in Taiwan and China are willing to pay top price, “simply as a status symbol,” Chang said. The building have large variety of rare fishes on display, such as the leopard stingray, found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans from South Africa to Australia; the large-scale arowana, lungfish, gar and humphead wrasse or Napoleon fish. A pair of ancient fish from the Devonian period (about 419.2 million and 358.9 million years ago) could be had for $3,000.
High-tech farming
Soon to expand into 400-hectare area to accommodate new investors, PABP, which has an
initial capitalization of NT$107 billion, is also engaged in hightech agriculture farming. Chang said the ultra-modern facility is divided into several clusters—such as value-added agriculture processing, energy-saving and ecological agro-production system, biotechnical services, agro-materials, husbandry and animal health, aqua breeding and natural-products improvement. Today, there are 107 companies operating in the park, four of them Japanese, one French, one Vietnamese and the rest are Taiwanese. Amenities for the 1,550 personnel currently working within the park are a chateau, a mall, CVS, banking services and research and development (R&D) support. “We aim to create more jobs and to help companies commercialize their products,” Chang said, adding that the park offers NT$5 million for those engaged in R&D in science and technology. She said there are regular symposium, exhibitions and study visits.
Sources of grouper fry in the Philippines had dried up
It is not clear whether the Philippines could avail itself of Taiwan’s newly discovered technology to artificially breed grouper. The BusinessMirror asked Maria Teresa Mutia, the chief aquaculturist at the Bureau of Fish and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), on the issue. She said: “Taiwan doesn’t share it’s technology [so we could] take advantage of breeding our favorite lapu-lapu, although the Philippines could avail itself of many reference materials to artificially breed grouper by ourselves.” She said pond and cage growers in Luzon and the Visayas used to get their supply of grouper fry from local gatherers. However, the sources of fry had dried up, either because of the degradation of the coral reefs in the country or the corresponding rise in water temperature, including pollution. Grouper used to be abundant in the local markets, but has become rare due to big demand, locally and internationally. Today, the fish is very expensive it is served only on special occasions. The majority of live grouper
are gathered in the wild, mostly in Palawan, Mindoro and parts of the Visayas. Most of the live marine animal are shipped by air to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan and major cities in the Chinese mainland where they command premium price, Mutia said. “Decades ago, grouper farm raisers have started importing their supply of the fry from Indonesia, Hawaii and other small islands in the Pacific Ocean,” she said. Fish farms in Manila Bay, especially those in Parañaque, Las Piñas and Cavite used to get their grouper fries in Manila Bay but they have since imported them from Pacific islands, according to Mutia.
Use of cyanide
The gathering of live market-size groupers in the Philippines, on the other hand, involves stunning the fish with cyanide. Divers squirt the solution into crevices and coral reefs and wait until the fish are temporarily stunned before catching them. The fish are then revived in clean water before placing them in oxygenated plastic bags for export. This is the same technique used to gather aquarium fish or ornamental fish. The practice of cyanide poisoning started in the 1960s, which contributed to the depletion of the animals and the accompanying destruction of coral reefs. A Scientific American article said the European and North American aquarium owners, a lucrative market for ornamental tropical fish, is worth some $200 million a year. These days cyanide poisoning is also used to supply specialty restaurants in Hong Kong and other large Asian cities where high-roller customers could pay $300 per plate of live fish in what the nonprofit World Resources Institute (WRI) called “an essential status symbol for major celebrations and business occasions.” WRI added that as the East Asian economy has boomed in recent decades, live reef food fish has become a $1-billion trade annually. Resea rc hers est imate t hat more than a million kilograms of cyanide have been squirted onto Philippine reefs alone over the last half century. These days the practice is much more widespread, with some of the world’s most productive reefs being decimated, the Scientific American said. “As stocks in one country are depleted, the trade moves on to new frontiers, and cyanide fishing is now confirmed or suspected in countries stretching from the central Pacific to the shores of East Africa. Sadly, the most pristine reefs, far from the usual threats of sedimentation, coral mining and coastal development, are the primary target for
cyanide fishing operations,” the Scientific American added
One-stop shop
At the PABP, a Japanese company is trying to discover other uses for mushrooms, the Vietnamese are looking to extract beauty products, medicine and cosmetics from coffee and they are also improving rice varieties for human consumption. Other companies are trying to find ways to make medicine, health and beauty products from coffee peel, banana peel, mushroom and jujube plant, the latter also called red date, Chinese date, Koran date and Indian date. Other firms are trying to extract medicine from seahorse of which 60 species exist. Eel propagation is also being pursued since eel is one of Japan’s and China’s favorite and expensive food. All of the above-mentioned activities are not new and some are being done by many countries, except for one difference: The park is a one-stop shop where locators could invent either fruits and vegetables, fish or shrimp, or improve existing products for added value. “The PABP will help produce or manufacture the product and also market them,” Chang said. Other facilities in the park are involved in R&D, quarantine inspections, customs, logistics and marketing. Some companies in the park pursue new ways of producing crops, breeding new marine animals, or extracting valuable minerals from waste materials. The park offers tax reduction for the import and export of raw materials, leases the facility to reduce the burden on investors and also processes the products within the factory and help the investors market their produce. It is pioneering a novel system of using soil and water called aquaphonics, the combination of aquaculture and hydrophonics, where waste water from fish farms are released to the soil to nourish the plants. In return, fruits or vegetables filter the water to keep the fish healthy. The two main components of the system are the fish tank and the grow beds with a small motor moving water between the two. PABP is set up as a bonded park. Importing self-use machinery, facilities, raw materials, supplies, semi-products and samples are exempted from import, commodity and business taxes. “Exporting products or labor is also exempted from commodity tax and the rate of business tax is zero,” Chang said. Each tenant enterprise may apply for a 15-year loan from Agriculture Bank of Taiwan or Bank of Taiwan PABP branch. The interest rate is 1.5 percent with a limit of NT$80 million and the Agriculture Credit Guarantee Fund can help do the assurance.
Bigiw-Bugsay: Upholding traditional sailing
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OA L B OA L , C ebu — A five-day expedition followed by a regatta was held in several areas hemming in the Tañon Strait in the Central Visayas to honor the traditional culture and heritage of seafarers and navigators who use dugout canoes called Bigiw. Since the first Bigiw-Bugsay event was staged in 2016, a growing number of fisherfolk have joined the regatta. This year over 60 participants registered for the youth, women and men’s Bigiw paddling and sailing races, Oceana Philippines said in a news release. The regatta was held at the Seaside Park in Moalboal on April 22. To make its third year more exciting, the organizing group Island Buzz Philippines, a water sports company which aims to promote the use of nonmotorized watercraft to protect the environment while reviving islander cultural lifestyles, embarked on a Bigiw expedition from April 16 to 20. It featured three Bigiw sailors led by Buzzy Budlong, a renowned Visayan paddler who holds the record for paddling 3,025 kilometers from south to north of the Philippines in 88 days. The other two Bigiw sailors are Gary Neil Benedicto, a longboarding-skater champion and Panie Lagon, a lifeguard and fisherman from Moalboal. During the expedition, the group conducted free Bigiw paddling and sailing clinics for locals. Oceana Phi l ippines, t he world’s largest nonprofit solely dedicated to marine conservation, joined the clinics to give environmental lectures. “ We s u p p or t I s l a nd B u z z Philippines in promoting fiberglass boats which use wind and paddle power. Fiberglass is not only lightweight—it frees fishers from relying on our thinning forests to build and repair boats. Sails harness the wind so fishers need not rely on dirty fossil fuels,” Oceana Philippines Director for Communications Gregg Yan said. Oceana also distributed primers on the country’s Amended Fisheries Code to better inform local fishers so they could help in protecting their home coasts.
Standup paddleboard participants
Bigiw-Bugsay winners Photos by: Gregg Yan/Oceana
The expedition and Bigiw clinics covered a number of municipalities, including Bindoy, Manjuyod, Tanjay and Amlan before heading back to Moalboal for the Bigiw regatta and the launch of the “Hybrid Bigiw”—an innovative sailing canoe which is more compact, lightweight and efficient than currently used designs. Most important, the watercraft is environment-friend as making one will not be at the expense of a tree. Some Bigiw canoes can still be found along the Tañon Strait, being used by fisherfolk from both Cebu and Negros. Some can also be found in Samar and Leyte. However, because more fishermen are inclined toward motorized boats, the design and most especially the skill of paddling and sailing these Bigiws, might be lost in the future. Budlong said: “We don’t want this to happen. We shall continue with our advocacy of promoting the Bigiw and we will keep on improving its design without losing the local touch. With the help of our sponsors, supporting local government units and the Department of Tourism RegionCentral Visayas, the use of the Bigiw, its pointed and slim hull, triangular sail, plus traditional methods of navigating can be passed on for generations to come, as a source of pride and most especially as a lifestyle.” The third Bigiw-Bugsay w i n ners were: Tandem Sailing-Men—first place, Sadam Tapa les and Roy Tapa les; second pl ace, A l l a n Pocong a nd Ver n a n Pocong ; third place, A lex Pocong and Roman Pocong; Si ng le S a i l i ng - Me n — f i r st place, Jingle Tapa les; second place, Jommel Avenido; third place, Joker Avenido; Single Sailing-Women—first place, Nilda Bugwat; second place, Betty Bugwat; third place, Florencia Tapales; Padd ling-Men—first place, Fredo Pocong ; second pl ace, Lino Tapales; third place, Gilbert Tapales; Tandem PaddlingYouth—first place, John Kyle Visin and Carlito Pocong; second place, Millard Ignacio and Christian Banilad; third place, Michael Tapales and Janrel Avenido.
Biodiversity Monday BusinessMirror
Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014
Monday, May 7, 2018 A13
Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph
Ensuring a strong link for migratory bird sites
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By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
is a National Geological Site, Asean Heritage Park, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site. The site is unique in the biogeographic region because it connects a range of important ecosystems from the mountain-to-the-sea, including a limestone karst landscape with a complex cave system, mangrove forests, lowland evergreen tropical rain forests and freshwater swamps. Also known as home to the Puerto Princesa Underground River, the park is home to about 800 plant and 233 animal species, including the critically endangered Philippine cockatoo (Cacatua haematuropyg ia) and hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate), as well as the endangered green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and Nordmanns greenshank (Tringa guttifer). There are also some 15 endemic species of birds, such as the Palawan peacock pheasant (Polyplectron emphanum) and the Tabon scrub fowl (Megapodius freycinet cumingii). One of the unique features of the park is the 8.2-kilometerlong section of the Cabayugan River that f lows underground within large formations of stalactites and stalagmites. The river, which provides water to local communities for domestic and agricultural uses, is now a major ecotourism destination.
he last of the white heron has left a small rice farm along Aguinaldo Highway in Dasmariñas City.
No matter how small, the rice field serves as a staging and feeding ground for a handful of white herons during migration season and they have added attraction to the very few remaining green spaces on that portion of the major thoroughfare in the bustling city in Cavite. The farm is grazing ground of a few cows, and about 20 or 30 domestic ducks are being raised in the farm. Also called the great white egret, or locally called tagak, these highly migratory waterfowls are among the thousands of migratory birds that pick the Philippines as their staging ground. Decades ago, the tagak are being hunted for their meat, or are being sold as exotic pets. Not anymore. Since the mid1990s, the Philippines, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), had intensified the campaign against hunting or killing birds in the country. These bird sites are being closely monitored by the DENR, for early detection and prevention of the spread of the dreaded bird-flu virus, which has of late affected the Philippines’s poultry industry. The DENR is now promoting tourism-related activities to educate the people on the importance of these migratory birds and their habitats, especially wetlands, where they stay to feed and roost during migration to avoid the cold winter season. Being part of the East AsianAustralian Flyway, the Philippines plays host to tens of thousands of migrating birds. The annual migration of birds starts in September and ends in April. In the Philippines, if one sees a few of these birds during this time of the year, the reason is they might have been left out by the flock.
Ramsar Convention
Not to worry, though, because if they are protected, they become resident-migrants of a particular bird site. Environment Undersecretary Jonas R. Leones, the spokesman of Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, said the Philippines values its various international commitment, such as in the Ramsar Convention, to ensure a strong link that will protect migratory birds and all the important staging ground and wintering areas. “The Ramsar Convention protects swamps and migratory areas. We have to do that [value international commitment] because migration is a very important cycle. The point of Ramsar is to protect the migratory sites,” he said. He added that the Philippines does not want to be the weak link of migratory bird sites. “Not only that, these sites are important for food security, for biodiversity and for protection against natural calamities,” Leones, the DENR’s undersecretary for policy, planning, international affairs and foreign-assisted projects, told the BusinessMirror in an interview on April 30. Besides the benefits of having a healthy environment and ecosystem for the conservation of threatened species, keeping its commitment under treaties like the Ramsar Convention, he said, makes the Philippines qualified for access to international funding support or aid.
“Since we need to protect these sites, if we are a signatory of the convention, we can also avail ourselves of funding in case it becomes available,” he said. Like in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Leones said, its ratification of the Paris Agreement now allows the Philippines access to the multibilliondollar green climate fund, which can boost the country’s efforts to combat climate change. The Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources, its web site said. It got its name from the Iranian city of Ramsar, where the treaty was adopted in 1971. It came into force in 1975. There are currently 169 contracting parties to the treaty, 2,303 Ramsar sites and 228,921,972 hectares of total surface of designated sites. The convention entered into force in the Philippines on November 8, 1994. The Philippines currently has seven designated Ramsar Sites or Wetlands of International Importance, with a combined surface area of 244,017 hectares. Besides being a party to the Ramsar Convention, the Philippines is also a signatory to the Bonn Convention, or the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
Environmental laws
Various environmental laws that protect endangered wildlife, including migratory birds, are available in the country. This includes the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act, which designates protected areas, setting them aside for conservation. There is also the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, which prohibits illegal wildlife trade, including poaching or hunting, or harvesting wildlife resources. The law designates certain areas, particularly those considered as key biodiversity areas, as critical habitats for the protection of these amazing flyers.
592 bird species
According to Bird Life International, 592 species of birds can be found in the Philippines. Of these, 456 species are landbirds and 20 are migratory. The Philippines also has a total of 258 breeding endemic birds, 28 seabirds and 124 waterbirds A total of 92 bird species that can be found in the Philippines are globally threatened, 15 are critically endangered, 54 vulnerable, 78 near threatened and 416 fall under the conservation status “least concern.” There are also 10 endemic bird areas in the Philippines. These are in Batanes and Babuyan Islands, Luzon, Mindoro, Tablas and Sibuyan Islands in Romblon, Cebu, Eastern Visayas, Negros and Panay, Palawan, Siquijor, Sulu archipelago and Mindanao. A list of Ramsar Sites in the Philippines identifies the various threats that the government needs to address.
Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary
T he A g usa n Ma rsh Wi ld l ife
The Puerto Princesa Underground River, a popular tourist spot in Palawan, is one of seven wetlands of international importance recognized under the Ramsar Convention. Strategic Communication and Initiatives Service
A man onboard a motorized banca passes through a flock of migratory birds preying on fish at the Naujan Lake, one of seven Ramsar Sites in the Philippines. Alain Pascua/DENR-Biodiversity Management Bureau
Sanctuary in Agusan del Sur in Mindanao, with a total of 14,836 hectares, is described as “a vast complex of freshwater marshes and watercourses with numerous shallow lakes and ponds in the upper basin of the Agusan River and its tributaries, which rise in the hills of eastern Mindanao. “Some parts of the marsh have been converted into fishponds and rice paddies. The site acts as storage for rainwater and reduces the downstream flow of floodwater into Butuan City and other population centers,” the Ramsar Site information furnished by the DENR-Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) to the BusinessMirror revealed. It said the marsh supports the largest expanses left in the Philippines of seven habitat types, and includes a very large area of swamp forest and a peat swamp forest not found anywhere else in the country. “High silt loads caused by deforestation and other activities in the catchment are a continuing problem,” the document added. According to the document, the marsh is sparsely populated because of seasonal flooding. Among the threats to the marsh include the trapping of crocodiles for sale to commercial farms, which is a source of living to some people in the area.
Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area
The Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area, a coastal wetland in Manila Bay within Metropolitan Manila, is comprised of two interconnected, mangrove-covered islands, shallow lagoons and coastline. It was designated as a critical habitat in 2007, through a presidential proclamation, to ensure the survival of threatened, restricted-range and congregatory species. At least 5,000 individuals of migratory and resident birds have been recorded at the site, including about 47 migrator y species, such as the vulnerable Chinese egret (Egretta eulophotes). The most important of the resident bird species found in the ecotourism area is the vulnerable Philippine duck (Anas luzonica),
which breeds at the site and is endemic to the country. According to the DENR-BMB, from 2007 to 2011, the site supports at least one person of the estimated population of black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) using the East Asian-Australasian flyway. The site faces threats from near densely populated areas, particularly from garbage. Ot her t hreats inc lude ongoi ng l a nd re c l a m at ion a nd ma ng rove c ut t ing.
Naujan Lake National Park Site
In Oriental Mindoro the Naujan Lake National Park Site, with a total area of 14,568 hectares, is the fifth-largest lake in the Philippines. The volcanic lake receives water from local runoff with no major effluents. The lake has 14 species of fish, five of them migratory, and is an important feeding or wintering area for large numbers of ducks and other waterbirds, such as herons, egrets, rails and bitterns. Other species found in the lake are the rare plain swamp hen (Amaurornis olivaceous) and the endemic species of freshwater crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis). Most of the people in the area depend upon the lake for their livelihood through fishing. T he Ma ng ya n, i nd igenous peoples of Mindoro, including the Tadyawan tribe, and the damuong or non-Mangyan, are among the beneficiaries of the lake’s bounty. Fishing is the principal occupation and source of income, but the lake also provides water for drinking, laundr y, bathing and irrigation.
Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area
The Negros Occidental Coastal Wet l a nd s Conser vat ion A rea (NOCWCA) lies along 110 kilometers of coastline of the island of Negros. It covers 52 coastal barangays and seven municipalities, namely, Pulupandan, Valladolid, San Enrique, Pontevedra, Hinigaran, Binalbagan and Ilog. The wetland hosts three globally threatened marine turtles, the critically endangered hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), the
endangered green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the vulnerable olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea). The area is also known to host the vulnerable Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris). In 2014 72 waterbird species were recorded in the conservation area, including the globally endangered great knot (Calidris tenuirostris), far eastern curlew (Numenius madagascariensis) and spotted greenshank (Tringa guttifer). There are three other vulnerable species: the Philippine duck, Chinese egret and Java sparrow (Lonchura oryzivora). It is also known for its rich and diverse coastal resources, pa r t ic u l a rly m a n g ro ve s a nd shellfish, including economically important species, such as oysters, green mussels (Perna viridis), nylon shell (Paphia undulata), angel wing shell (Pholas orientalis), shrimps and crabs. T h e s it e f a c e s p o t e nt i a l threats—including the conversion of mangrove forests and other wetlands to commercial or residential uses or for aquaculture, and also pollution by industrial waste and coliform contamination. Overfishing in some areas also threatens the biodiversity and the sustainability of local livelihoods.
Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary
T he Ol a ngo Isl a nd W i ld l i fe Sanctuary in Cebu province is a low-lying island surrounded by extensive intertidal sandf lats, mangroves, seagrass beds, coral reefs and islets. It is one of the most important areas in the country for significant numbers of migratory waterbirds and provides a habitat for staging, wintering, roosting and feeding birds. “Over 10,000 shorebirds have been recorded at one time [in the area], with the total number approaching 50,000. [It is] the most important site in the Philippines for the rare waterbird species, Asiatic dowitcher,” the Ramsar document said.
Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park
In Palawan the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park
Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park Site
Also in Palawan province, the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park Site is a National Marine Park and World Heritage Site in the center of the Sulu Sea. “This wetland is an example of an ecosystem with near-pristine coral reefs having high diversity with at least 359 species of corals [equivalent to about 80 percent of all coral species in the Philippines], 600 species of fish, seven species of seagrass, 13 species of sharks and two species of marine turtles,” according to the Ramsar Site information. The biogeographic region has one of the highest coral diversity in the world, harboring threatened species like the vulnerable staghorn coral (Acropora abrolhosensis) and dana staghorn coral (Acropora aculeus), and serves as an important source and sink not only for coral larvae but also for fish and other marine species. The site harbors the highest number of white-tip sharks and supports threatened fish, such as the endangered humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) and the v ulnerable giant grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus). Islets provide the only k now n breed ing a rea for t he endem ic subspec ies of bl ac k noddy ( Anous minut us worcestr i) in t he Ph i l ippines. The Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park acts as breeding and feeding grounds for threatened species, such as the critically endangered Chr istmas Island f r igatebird (Fregata andrewsi) and the critically endangered hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata). Threats to the site include plans for oil exploration in the Sulu Sea, illegal harvesting of topshell and the introduction of invasive plant species. The Philippines is one of the mega-diverse countries in the world, but is also one of the biodiversity hot spots because of the rapid rate of biodiversity loss, mainly because of habitat loss brought about by destructive development projects, massive land conversion for agriculture or human settlement, illegal wildlife trade, and the hunting and poaching for food and trophy.
A14
Monday, May 7, 2018 • Editor: Angel R. Calso
Opinion BusinessMirror
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editorial
Inflation ignorance
U
nfortunately, individuals from politicians to the public have little if any understanding of the causes of price inflation. Fortunately, the policy-makers at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas fully understand the situation.
In a free market without regulatory pricing intervention, the demand and supply of goods determine the price. The exception is when a product or service is controlled by any sort of monopoly or cartel, such as in the case of utilities like electricity. In that case, government intervention on pricing and laws against price fixing are necessary. If there is a balance in demand/supply, prices should be stable. Sellers want to receive the highest price. But every business owner knows that buyers determine the price. If buyers are not buying at a particular price, the seller lowers the price to create demand. One type of price inflation is “demand pull” when demand increases against a stable or falling supply. People are willing to pay more for a variety of reasons to purchase a product. Some years back, when there was a scare about foot and mouth disease in pigs, chicken prices increased to keep supply/demand in balance to avoid chicken shortages. Buyers were willing to pay more. Likewise, pork prices decreased because there was more supply than buyers. In order to create more demand, notice that you can buy televisions and refrigerators on your credit card with zero interest. If suddenly there was a shortage of TVs and refs because everyone was using this “no/low interest” money to buy, it would be likely that the prices of these items would increase. Economists would then say that the TV/ref business was “overheating.” In order to bring back the demand/supply balance, credit-card interest rates would be raised. That is why and how central banks use interest-rate increases to help mitigate demand-pull inflation. If “cheap” money is creating excessive demand and higher prices, then cheap money must be taken away. The other type of inflation has nothing to do with the demand/ supply equation. This is “cost push” inflation, when there is an increase in prices of inputs like labor, raw material, or any other cost increase that affects the final price. It costs a poultry farmer P1 per chicken to transport the birds to market, which is included in the final price. But a new highway charges the farmer a toll fee of P2 per chicken. Therefore, the retail price must be adjusted higher. That is cost-push inflation. The Philippines is currently experiencing cost-push inflation because of higher taxes and higher fuel costs in part because of the increased cost of crude oil. Therefore, increasing interest rates to stop cheap money is useless. Cheap money is not the cause of the current price increases. In fact, increasing interest rates could increase inflation, since the cost of borrowing is part of the input cost of goods. If a company borrows money to buy raw materials to manufacture products, then an increase in interest rates will increase the final retail price just like for the chickens crossing the toll road. It is unfortunate that the loudest voices are often the most ignorant. The next time a politician or commentator calls for an interest-rate increase, see if there is any analysis of how that will bring gasoline prices—or chicken prices for that matter—down. That may be difficult to find. Since 2005
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the patriot
A
uthor Joyce Meyer once said, “Patience is not simply the ability to wait—it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.” When Jayson Ramos lost his job, he ventured on to something new while waiting for the next job opportunity. He took on a hobby, principally to reduce stress, not knowing that it would turn into a commercially viable activity. Jayson has prior experience in gardening; when he was younger, he grew fruits and vegetables in his family’s backyard. Most people would consider growing bonsai trees reinforces a person’s patience. If nurtured well, bonsai trees usually live far longer than human beings. When growing a bonsai tree, some use cuttings, while others start from a seed. Jayson used cuttings or materyales, as he calls them. It took him at least two years to grow something that resembled a tree. Had he chosen to start with a seed, it would have taken Jayson at least 10 years. The hardest part is really in the waiting. But Jayson’s patience has paid off. From a mere P500 worth of materyales, plus a few relaxing hours of patiently pruning, wiring
and nurturing, Jayson generated about a thousand percent return on investment, in a period of three years. Since 2015, when he lost his job as a messenger, Jayson has sold around 20 bonsai trees to neighbors, friends and his coworkers today in Philippine Airlines. In the same vein, changing a company’s culture also requires patience, and most would say that such a change will pay huge dividends in the long run. In my term as Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), I introduced a management philosophy, which, unbeknownst to me at that time, was very similar to principles of servant leadership.
Doing business easier
T. Anthony C. Cabangon
Editor in Chief
Senior Editors
A good waiting attitude
Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan
legally speaking
T
he National Competitiveness Council-Philippines (NCCP) Ease of Doing Business Taskforce recently sent out information materials intended to assist organizations who are constantly transacting with government agencies, especially in securing business and construction permits, getting electricity connection and registering property for their clients prior to the operationalization of their business. For Quezon City, a Reform Task Team was created composed of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (Client Support Service), Home Development Mutual Fund (PagIBIG Fund-Fund Management Group), Local Government of Quezon City (Business Permits and Licensing Office), PhilHealth Insurance Corp. (Formal Sector), Securities and Exchange Commission (Company Registration and Monitoring Department), and Social Security System (NCR Operations Group). Starting a business, which includes all procedures, time, cost, and paid-in minimum capital
required for an entrepreneur to start up or incorporate and formally operate a business will now take 16 days instead of 28 days and will involve 10 steps instead of 16 steps. This reform milestone has been made possible by (1) colocating agencies in one office; (2) setting up online SEC registration and payment, plus computerized transactions for faster, easier registration and (3) removing unnecessary or duplicate steps. The Reform Task Team has targeted shorter transaction steps and fewer days for completion of transaction. Below is a comparison of the old process versus the new process
Professor Dirk van Dierendonck of the Rotterdam School of Management says that the servant leadership model is not necessarily suited to every organization. This model, he says, is particularly beneficial to teamdriven performance, especially in service-oriented establishments, and to companies that require innovation, such as tech companies. Dirk also added that more than any style of leadership, “servant leadership addresses the psychological needs of people“ because it builds a sense of community within the organization. If employees feel a sense of belongingness, a collective responsibility is created, which, in turn, fosters a greater individual productivity. With the help of inspirational author and speaker Chinkee Tan and Christian mentors led by Niels Riconalla, a few years ago, the BI conducted a series of workshops to promote a mind-set reminding everyone, that as workers in government, we are meant to serve and not be served. We tried to create a long-term servant leadership culture, in which several attributes are still embedded in some key officers in the Bureau today. Allow me to recognize such public servants in the BI who have consistently displayed the 10 qualities of a servant leader as described by Robert Greenleaf. They are Arvin
for doing business in Quezon City: OLD PROCESS n Securities and Exchange Commission Verify and reserve company name (one day, P100); Deposit paidin minimum capital in a bank (one day); Notarize articles of incorporation and treasurer’s affidavit (one day, P500); Register company, get preregistered TIN, SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG numbers (two days). n Quezon City Government Get barangay clearance (one day, P500); Apply for business permit and get assessment of fees (one day); Pay annual community tax certificate, business tax and fees (six days, P500). n Bureau of Internal Revenue Buy special books of account (one day, P400); Apply and pay for certificate of registration and get TIN (one day); Get authority to print receipts and invoices (one day); Print receipts and invoices (seven days, P3,500); Have books of accounts and printer’s certificate of delivery stamped (one day). n Social Security Agencies Register new employees with Social Security System (one day); Register new employees with PhilHealth (one day); Register new employees with Pag-IBIG (one day).
Santos (Empathy), Hazel Barroso, (Listening), Jun Jun Gevero (Awareness), Jake Licas (Healing), Roy Ledesma (Conceptualization), Noly Maminta (Persuasive), Red Marinas (Stewardship), Estanislao Canta (Foresight), Jun Manahan (Community building), and Tonette Mangrobang (Committed to growth of others). I pay tribute to all of them who still exercise those qualities in their respective positions in the Bureau in such a way that the servant leader philosophy is slowly becoming an integral part of the BI culture. It is not there yet. But, similar to the bonsai trees, the hardest part in any culture change is in the waiting. And, the attitude of the persons involved while waiting will dictate its survival in the organization. In the Bible, Romans 8:24-25 says, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Whenever he grows bonsai, Jayson does not see any sign of life except the bare cutting. He is optimistic that it will grow with the proper care and attention. We should also have hope that the culture change in government agencies, apparently unseen, will stay and flourish with the right mix of servant leaders.
NEW PROCESS n Securities and Exchange Commission Online verification of company name; submit SEC registration and documentary requirements (one day); Notarize articles of incorporation and treasurer’s affidavit (one day); Pay and claim certificate of SEC registration (one day). n Quezon City Government Submit documents required for business-permit application at onestop shop (one day); Pay taxes, fees and charges; claim business permit (one day). n Bureau of Internal Revenue Submit application and documents; pay taxes, fees and charges (one day); Print receipts and invoices (seven days, P3,500) n Social Security Agencies Register new employees with Social Security System (one day); Register new employees with PhilHealth (one day); Register new employees with Pag-IBIG (one day). Similar reform milestones has been proposed by the Reform Task Force for getting electricity, which includes all procedures, cost and time required for a business to get a permanent electricity connection See “Kapunan,” A15
Opinion BusinessMirror
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Proclamation of a grand celebration
83 percent By Alberto Agra
PPP lead
Joel Tan-Torres
debit credit
F
ilipino Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in the Philippines and the rest of world are commemorating a grand event this year as they celebrate the 95th year anniversary of the establishment of the accountancy profession in the country and the creation of the Board of Accountancy (BOA). In 1923 accounting was legally recognized as a profession in the country when the sixth Philippine Legislature approved Act 3105 on March 17, 1923. To commemorate this grand event, President Duterte issued Proclamation 464 declaring the period of March 17, 2018, to March 16, 2019, as the Year for the Celebration of the 95th year anniversary of the BOA with the theme, “95 years of invaluable service to the Philippines and the global accounting community.” The BOA has released the anniversary logo for the celebration of the diamond year. The yearlong grand celebration had started. Various activities to showcase the accomplishments and the full potential of the accountancy profession have been planned and implemented. Conferences and other learning special events, which include foreign speakers and resources, have been organized. Awards will be given to those who have contributed to the profession, as well as the “95 prominent” CPAs. An anniversary song-composition competition has been launched. Milestone events to be completed are on the pipeline, including the rollout of the Asean Chartered Professional Accountants initiative, the implementation of an e-Quality Assurance Review system, the enhancement of the accounting education and CPA licensure ecosystems, and the approval of the amendments to the accountancy law. The search for the Miss CPA Diamond Ambassadress of Goodwill BOA has identified already a select number of lady CPAs who personify the traits of the female professional imbued with talent, competence and beauty. They will be formally announced during the oath taking of the new CPAs in the Philippine International Convention Center on July 9, 2018. The BOA has organized already several events, where global accounting leaders shared their insights on relevant issues to the Filipino CPA audience, including such topics as “Sustainability Thinking and Reporting for SMEs” on January 3, 2018; “Trust and Ethics in the Digital Age” and “Digital Disruptions Impact on the Accountancy Profession,” both on March 22, 2018; and “Becoming Future Ready—It Starts with You” on May 10, 2018. Two newsletters have been released and various articles in the newspapers (and soon, in magazines, television and radio) have been circulated. A dedicated Face Book page (https://www.facebook.com/ search/top/?q=accountancy95years) has been created to be the center of information-sharing for the anniversary events. I have also been busy traveling around the country, delivering
Kapunan. . .
continued from A14
and supply for a warehouse. This would now involve three steps instead of four steps, and 28 days instead of 37 days. This would be made possible by the introduction of an online application system for electricity connection and the setting up of a new back-end distribution system for operation and maintenance to ensure more reliable service. Securing a construction permit has been streamlined from 23 steps to eight steps, and from 122 days to 36 days, made possible by the setting up of a one-stop shop with
The yearlong grand celebration had started. Various activities to showcase the accomplishments and the full potential of the accountancy profession have been planned and implemented. Conferences and other learning special events, that include foreign speakers and resources, have been organized. Awards will be given to those who have contributed to the profession as well as the “95 prominent” CPAs. An anniversary songcomposition competition has been launched. talks on such matters which are the focus of the BOA on this 95th year. I have covered such topics as the “Philippine Accountancy in the Future is Now of Age,” “Updates on Government Accountancy issues,” ”Time of Joy, Time of Disruption,” “Implementing the BoA QAR,” “The Road to Globalization,” “Enhancing the CPA Licensure Process,” “The Accountancy Profession: Then, Now and the Future,” “The Regulatory Environment to Meet the Needs of the Profession” and “Global Best Practices in Public Finance Management and Government Accounting.” For the past months, I have also been traveling in various countries to spread the word that accountancy profession is very vibrant in the Philippines. We have so much to be proud of and thankful for, especially now that we are celebrating our 95th year. Chairman Joel L. Tan-Torres is the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy. He is a Certified Public Accountant who placed No. 1 in the May 1979 CPA Board Examinations. He was the former commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue from 2009 to 2010. This column accepts contributions from accountants, especially articles that are of interest to the accountancy profession, in particular, and to the business community, in general. These can be e-mailed to boa. secretariat.@gmail.com extensive backroom operations and strengthening coordination among national and local government agencies and the private sector. Likewise, registering property will now take 20 days, instead of 35 days, made possible through computerized transactions, records management and retrieval; multiple locations to receive requests anywhere in the country; and electronic printing of documents. It is hoped that these government initiatives can be operationalized soon as foreign companies here are relocating to our neighbors in Asia, where the cost of business is lower and starting a business is faster. If Asia is the dragon, the Philippines cannot be its tail!
Continued from A1
T
his columnist would even give our PPP framework a higher mark, anywhere from 85 percent to 90 percent. He particularly commends the maturity of our unsolicited proposal approach. Our laws and regulations, including jurisprudence, categorically permit this. Other countries, as shown in the 2018 PPP Report, either do not have this or are not as developed.
He notes with agreement that the country should make available online tender documents and publish PPP contracts. These two identified gaps are actually transparency gaps. By the way, (the World Bank may not be aware of this) the template PPP ordinance annexed to Memorandum Circular 120-2016 (Section 37) of the Department of the Interior and Local Government requires the posting of the PPP contract, feasibility or project studies, bidding documents, terms of reference and re-
sults of the PSP selection process. The country has promoted PPP, privatization and private sector participation (PSP) for the past five to six decades. We have the oldest, if not among the oldest, design-finance-build-operateTransfer laws in the world. While other countries do not consider joint ventures (JVs) as a PPP, JV is a popular modality in the country, particularly with local government units (LGUs) and state corporations. While we do not have a single PPP law, the Philippines actually
Monday, May 7, 2018 A15
While we do not have a single PPP law, the Philippines actually has a broad array of modalities to choose from, each governed by a law or regulation. There are actually at least 24 PPP arrangements in the PPP Menu. Innovative LGUs advance this expansive view of PPP. To date, some 100 LGUs have their respective PPP or JV ordinances. This is a testament to local autonomy, PPP vertical decentralization and the dictum that LGUs know local concerns best. has a broad array of modalities to choose from, each governed by a law or regulation. There are actually at least 24 PPP arrangements in the PPP Menu. Innovative LGUs advance this expansive view of PPP. To date, some 100 LGUs have their respective PPP or JV ordinances. This is a testament to local autonomy, PPP vertical decentralization and the dictum that LGUs know local concerns best. So, if this PPP advocate is asked to give a rating for the PPP Regulatory Framework for LGUs,
he would pencil in 90 percent. W hile 83 percent good, we should not sit on our laurels. Having a regulatory framework, while indispensable under a rule of law, accountability, transparency and competition, is not the be-all of PPPs. There are other standards for PPP readiness. Are our government agencies organizationa l ly prepared to implement PPP arrangements? Is the general public sufficiently informed about PPP laws and regulations? Do stakeholders have meaningful access to participation in the various stages of the PPP lifecycle? Are our PPP projects environmentally compliant and safe? Are the projects socially sustainable? Are they technically feasible and economically viable? Do the hard and soft projects actually serve the people and enhance the public good? Do we have adequate mechanisms against unilateral rescissions of PPP contracts and against successor risks? Maybe the World Bank can do another study on this—measuring success and failures of PPPs. The question now is—will our grade here be as high, higher or lower? What do you think?
Look who’s picking up the tab for Karl Marx’s birthday bash By Arne Delfs & Peter Martin Bloomberg
K
arl Marx’s hometown is holding a party for the Communist Manifesto author’s bicentenary, and China is paying for the birthday gift.
Trier, in western Germany, is bracing for big crowds for the 200th anniversary of Marx’s birth this weekend, with political speeches, competing demonstrations and the unveiling of a statue designed and funded by China. The extent of the outside interest has surprised the sleepy city on the Moselle River. People in Trier, which was part of capitalist West Germany after World War II, “have long been a bit ashamed about Marx,” said city spokesman Michael Schmitz, who has played host to Chinese state television and six reporters from the state-run Xinhua News Agency. “We are aware of the fact that this is part of a larger Marx revival in China,” Schmitz said. With celebrations starting last Friday in Beijing, China is making the bicentennial part of a drive to reinvigorate its communist heritage, and underpin its growing global clout. Festivities include an official tribute at the Great Hall of the People and a documentary series by China’s state broadcaster titled “Marx Is Right.” In Trier visitors can marvel at an art installation of 500 Karl Marx gnome-like figurines—in two shades of red—at the city’s
Roman gate, while sipping a Moselle wine named “Das Kapital” for the occasion. Yet for Chinese President Xi Jinping, the anniversary is an opportunity to push a serious goal. Harking back to the German philosopher, who developed his theory of capitalism, labor and class conflict in 19th-century England, helps him fill a vacuum left by decades of market reforms, modernization and China’s growth to become the world’s second-biggest economy. China overtook the United States in terms of trade with Germany in 2016. Xi is seeking to hold together a “huge, unruly country” and take it forward while maintaining broad respect for the Communist Party, said Sidney Rittenberg, an American journalist who joined Mao Zedong’s revolution and served for years as his translator. “Xi is depending on restoring the theoretical soul of the Chinese people,” Rittenberg, in his late 90s, said in an interview from his home in Arizona. “They built a better life and made money, but they lost their soul and I think he’s trying to restore that.” The celebrations dovetail with Xi’s bid to expand the party’s influ-
ence as he pushes through sweeping changes in China’s political system, military, economy and education sector. Having cast off presidential term limits, he says “the party leads everything” and is trying to promote Marxism as a plank of foreign policy, notably in countries like Vietnam and Lao PDR.
‘Grasp the power’
China’s top officials need to “grasp the power of the truth of Marxism” and view the party as the heir of the “spirit of the Communist Manifesto,” Xi told a Politburo session on April 23. Xi appears to view Marxism as a means to an end, “more of a methodology than an ideology,” said Trey McArver, cofounder of Trivium China, a consultancy. “It’s a process for solving problems more than a prescription for class struggle.” In Marx’s birthplace, the bicentennial is more about history and hospitality. City leaders hope for a tourism boost after the 5.5-meter (18-foot) statue is unveiled last Saturday in the presence of German Justice Minister Katarina Barley (though not Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany). “Marx isn’t responsible for all the atrocities carried out by his alleged heirs,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a speech opening the festivities last Friday. “He was for equal treatment, for not
suppressing differences.”
Falun Gong
Trier’s city council voted to accept the Chinese gift last year after attaching a resolution stressing the importance of human rights. “We don’t have industry, so we don’t get much revenue from business taxes,” Schmitz said. Activists from Falun Gong, a spiritual group banned in China, still plan demonstrations. Norbert Kaethler, head of Trier’s tourism agency, is happy about the present from Beijing: He figures the statue will boost the number of Chinese visitors to the town of 110,000. “Many Chinese think Trier must be an important German town because Marx was born here,” he said. Yang Liu-Gerhards, who came to Trier as a student in 1998 and now teaches economics at a vocational school, credits Mao only with cherry-picking Marx’s ideas for his own political purposes when he established communist China. “Still, my father was happy when he heard that I was going to Trier,” she said. “Not only because it was Germany, but also because it was the birthplace of Marx.” The statue of Marx aims “to show our appreciation of the great German philosopher,” said Wang Yiwei, associate dean of a new institute for Xi Jinping thought at Beijing’s Renmin University. “But Germans are not so proud of Marx,” he said. “They’re more proud of Goethe.”
Teach young kids English to make them globally competitive
M
BY Wemee L. Calipdan
ore and more schools around the country are currently focusing on teaching written and spoken English, especially to elementary pupils.
English has always been the world ’s most widely used and commonly spoken language, and the country needs to teach our children English to make them globally competitive in the future. English is of vital importance to non-English speaking children when it comes to education. Consider a situation where a teacher does not speak the child’s native language. If both the teacher and student have no common language to communicate, then the child’s entire learning process is in peril. Many parents, likewise, want to teach their children English at home but don’t know how to
properly start. It doesn’t matter if your own English is not perfect. The most important thing is that you are enthusiastic to help your children learn the language because only parents can give their children lots of encouragement to pursue learning. Parents need not worry if their children can’t speak English immediately. Young kids learning a foreign language need a certain amount of time to absorb the language. What’s important for parents and teachers is to be patient. Let the children learn English at their own pace. Rest assured, they will begin to speak the foreign language in their own time.
Establishing a routine
Establish a routine for your English time at home. It is better to have short, frequent sessions than long, infrequent ones. Fifteen minutes is enough for very young children. You can gradually make sessions longer as your child gets older and their concentration span increases. Keep the activities short and varied in order to hold your child’s attention. With younger children, there is no need to explicitly teach grammar rules. Instead, get them used to hearing and using different grammatical structures in context. Hearing correct grammar being used in context from an early age will help your child to use it naturally and correctly when they are older. For teachers, teach students how to behave in a classroom by asking them to be quiet while you are talking, and teach them to raise
their hands if they have questions or they want to answer a question. This may not be directly related to making English as second language, but it is important that students learn good behavior early on; it will make their transition to primary school easier. Teach children to respond to basic classroom English phrases, such as “please sit down” because these are expressions that they will hear repeatedly throughout their study of English. For students at this young age, you are responsible not only for starting to teach them English, but also for preparing them for their next level of education. Children will perform better if they behave well and have a good understanding of the basic principles of good behavior in the classroom. The author is Teacher 3 in Amunitan Elementary School in Gonzaga, Cagayan.