GOVT TO UPDATE VINEGAR STANDARDS T
HE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will update the country’s vinegar standards, in place for nearly 50 years, in the wake of the controversy sparked by the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute’s (PNRI) revelation that most commercial vinegar brands use synthetic acetic acid, which is harmful to the body. Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards Executive Director Vivencio R. Mamaril told reporters in a news briefing on Monday that PNRI’s findings will be reviewed by the FDA and will be used to update the country’s existing vinegar standards. Standards for producing commercial vinegar were encapsulated in Administrative Order 134 issued by the Department of Health in 1970. AO 134 prohibited the use of “any artificial matter such as synthetic acetic acid.” “Moving forward, the PNRI data will have to
BOTTLES of commercially available vinegar are laid out on a shelf. NONIE REYES
DEPT. OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY
2018 BANTOG DATA MEDIA AWARDS CHAMPION
be studied. Nonetheless, it will not hinder the FDA [from examining] the country’s standards, how it can still be enhanced. The existing administrative order was issued in 1970. So we see here an [opportunity] for us to improve it,” Mamaril said. Improving the standards, Mamaril said, could mean looking at international limitations when it comes to vinegar production. However, Mamaril said currently there are no known international standards for vinegar, particularly in the Codex Alimentarius, or the “Food Code” of the Food and Drug Administration-World Health Organization. He said the government will also look at the possibility of including provisions on whether vinegar should only come from biogenic sources. This can have an implication on the standards for vinegar, which currently prohibit synthetic ascetic acid.
A broader look at today’s business n Tuesday, May 21, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 223
BOP in recovery mode, April surplus hits $467M
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By Bianca Cuaresma
@BcuaresmaBM
HE local economy continued to earn millions of dollars more than it could spend in the first four months of the year, as short-term global investors put in more money in the Philippines as a vote of confidence. On Monday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported a balance of payments (BOP) surplus of $467 million in April this year—a huge turnaround from last year’s $270-million deficit in the same month.
The country’s BOP is the summary of the dollar country’s transactions with the rest of the world; a surplus in this economic indicator means the country earned more dollars than what it spent at a particular period while a deficit means
the economy lost more dollars than what it earned. This is the fourth consecutive month that the country has been incurring monthly surpluses in its BOP position—a strong recovery from what was seen in 2018, when
$4.265B Total BOP surplus for first four months of 2019, a strong rebound from the $1.497-billion deficit seen in the same January-to-April period in 2018
the entire first half of the year was consistently getting a BOP deficit, along with three other months in the red in the second half of the year. The BSP said the inflows in April stemmed mainly from the BSP’s foreign-exchange operations and income from its investments abroad, and the national government’s net foreign currency deposits. It could have been higher, the See “BOP,” A2
LGUs’ 2020 IRA share up 12.75%
This is also why, Cariño said, there is no basis yet for the government to order a market See “Vinegar,” A2
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Preventing miscarriage of justice in our country Manny F. Dooc
TELLTALES
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ONGRATULATIONS to the 1,800 new lawyers who passed the 2018 Bar Examinations. As announced, 22.07 percent of 8,155 examinees made it. I was listening to the interviews of the successful bar candidates at the Supreme Court ground, where the results were announced, about their plans now that they have joined the legal profession. The answers were varied and interesting: Start one’s own legal practice. Join a big law firm and work one’s way up to become a partner. Work in the government. Go into corporate law practice. Continued on A11
Legislative franchises for telcos should be removed–PIDS study
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@BNicolasBM
OC AL government units (LGUs) are set to receive higher internal revenue allotment (IRA) shares for 2020. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the total IR A shares of LGUs for next year shall be P648.92 billion, per certification of the Bureau of Internal Revenue on the actual internal revenue taxes collected in FY 2017. The FY 2020 IRA level is 12.75 percent, or P73.4 billion higher than the FY 2019 IRA level at P575.52 billion, according to a Local Budget Memorandum 78 uploaded by DBM on its web site on Monday. Broken down per level of LGU, a total of P220.63 billion or 34 percent of the P648.92 billion will be shared by 1,478 municipalities, while 82 provinces and 145 cities will partake from the allocated total of P149.25 billion each (23 percent each) for both levels of LGUs. Mea nwhi le, 41,913 ba ra ngays will get their part from P129.78 billion or a fifth of the total IR A.
2017 EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS
By Cai U. Ordinario
By Bernadette D. Nicolas
See “IRA,” A2
No market recall—yet
BusinessMirror
www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Flerida A. Cariño, former head of the University of the Philippines’s Department of Chemistry, said just because something came from non-biogenic sources does not mean that it should automatically be deemed illegal or harmful to human health. Cariño explained that in fact, the toxicity or any adverse effects of biogenic or naturally fermented ascetic acid is exactly the same as the synthetic or nonbiogenic kind. What could possibly threaten human health are the other contents of, in this case, vinegar. These contaminants as well as their effects on human health were not included in the PNRI study.
A BREATHTAKING view of Banwa Private Island, tagged the “most expensive resort in the world,” as seen in the Banwa Private Island web site
No DOT accreditation for costliest resort By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror
C
NBC and The Independent have dubbed it “the most expensive resort in the world.” Forbes calls it “the world’s most exclusive island retreats.” Located off Palawan, Banwa Private Island, which garnered high praise and write-ups in international business and travel publications earlier this month, reportedly charges
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.5370
$100,000 a night. However, the posh accommodations don’t come with an accreditation by the Department of Tourism (DOT), a violation under Philippine law. DOT Assistant Secretary for Tourism Regulation Coordination and Resource Generation Arturo P. Boncato Jr. confirmed as much in a Viber message with the BusinessMirror, “it [Banwa] is not-DOT accredited.” Under the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 9593 (Tourism Act of 2009), “Primary
tourism enterprises shall be periodically required to obtain accreditation from the department as to the quality of their facilities and standard of services.” Primary tourism enterprises are “travel and tours services, land, sea and air transport services exclusively for tourist use; accommodation establishments; and such as other enterprises as may be identified by the [DOT] Secretary, after due consultation with concerned sectors.” See “DOT,” A2
@caiordinario
F the government wants to improve telecommunication activities in the country and encourage more players, it may do well to consider removing the need to secure legislative franchises prior to operation, according to a study released by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). In a Policy Note, titled “ICT regulation and regulatory authority,” PIDS Consultant Lai-Lynn A.B. Barcenas said the issuance of legislative franchises takes an average of five years, delaying the entry of a telecommunication investment. Barcenas said along with legislative franchises, the government should also remove the requirement of securing a certificate of public convenience and necessity among other permits and licenses to telecommunication firms. “Given that the processing of the first two can take an average of five years, this slows down investment in telecommunications services. This, in turn, creates a domino effect on other ICT [Information and Communications Technology] services and ICT-ES [ICT-enabled services] dependent on basic telecommunications services and infrastructure,” Barcenas said. Barcenas said apart from these permits and licenses, other hindrances to the entry of more telecommunication players includes the provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. The Constitution limits the in-
“Given that the processing of [legislative franchises and certificate of public convenience and necessity] can take an average of five years, this slows down investment in telecommunications services. This, in turn, creates a domino effect on other ICT services and ICT-enabled services dependent on basic telecommunications services and infrastructure.”—Barcenas
vestment in these industries to only Filipino nationals, particularly in terms of the practice of these professions such as those needed in ICT services. “These provisions restrain the entry of foreign capital, technology, and skilled human resource that, together with the use of local resources, could be equally harnessed to spur ICT development,” Barcenas said.
DICT mandate
MEANWHILE, the author suggested that policy-makers revisit and rethink the scope of power of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). Barcenas said the law establishing the DICT has “insufficient guidance on the scope of the agency’s authority.’” She said some of the functions of the DICT overlap or are incompatible with those of other departments. For instance, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) still governs the promotion of trade and See “Franchises,” A2
n JAPAN 0.4770 n UK 66.9321 n HK 6.6931 n CHINA 7.5934 n SINGAPORE 38.1699 n AUSTRALIA 36.3083 n EU 58.6365 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.0114
Source: BSP (20 May 2019 )