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Thursday, November 2, 2017 Vol. 13 No. 22

‘Congress must fast-track passage of anti-red tape bill’

By Cai U. Ordinario & Catherine N. Pillas

@cuo_bm @c_pillas2

he Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) urged Congress to hasten the passage of a measure that seeks to cut red tape and make it easier for businessmen to set up shop in the Philippines.

The number of days required for Filipinos to complete 16 procedures in starting a business, according to a World Bank report The PCCI made the statement after the World Bank released its “Ease of Doing Business Report Continued on A2

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A mea culpa from IMF: ‘Neoliberalism oversold’ Rene E. Ofreneo

LABOREM EXERCENS “Instead of delivering growth, some neoliberal policies have increased inequality, in turn jeopardizing durable expansion.”

he foregoing statement did not come from the mouth of a fire-breathing civil-society organization (CSO) street parliamentarian. It was written by veteran economists of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the world’s leading advocate of neoliberalism. These economists are Jonathan D. Ostry, Prakash Loungani and Davide Furceri, all assigned in the IMF’s Research Department. The statement was part of an article carried by the IMF’s official journal-magazine, Finance & Development (June 2016). Continued on A11

NIA, DPWH need more time to complete 2 infra projects

he National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are asking the interagency Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) for more time to complete two infrastructure projects. These projects are the P11.21billion Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Stage II (JRMP II) and the P2.45-billion Samar Pacific Coastal Road Project, both funded by South Korea. Data obtained by the BusinessMirror showed that the JRMP II has a physical accomplishment rate of only 14.5 percent. Also, its loan utilization rate is at less than 5 percent.

TEARS FROM HEAVEN Heavy rains failed to deter relatives and friends in visiting loved ones at the Eternal Gardens in Caloocan City on November 1, a day when Filipinos remember their dearly departed. NONOY LACZA

US consumer confidence at highest since 2000

nited States consumer con f idence rose more than expected in October to the highest in almost 17 years, as Americans grew more confident about the economy and job market, according to figures on Tuesday from the New Yorkbased Conference Board. Confidence index rose to 125.9 (est. 121.5), highest since December 2000, from 120.6 in September. Present conditions measure increased to 151.1, highest since 2001, from 146.9. Consumer

expectations gauge rose to 109.1, a seven-month high, from 103. Ju mps i n t he Con fe re nce Board’s measures of the present situation and expectations signal Americans are becoming more upbeat about the economy and employment, as the labor market improves and stock prices climb to records. Improvement in household confidence helps under pin their spending, the biggest part of the economy. The results are consistent with

PESO exchange rates n US 51.7990

other reports that showed economic activity and confidence are bouncing back, in part a sign that the hit from the recent hurricanes is dissipating. T he Un ive r s it y of M ic h i gan’s consumer sentiment index climbed in October to the strongest since the start of 2004, while the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index is near the highest level of the expansion. The share of respondents who say jobs are plentiful rose to 36.3 See “U.S.,” A12

₧11.21B The total cost of the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Stage II

The NIA, an agency attached to the Office of the President, is asking the ICC to extend the proje c t i mple me nt at ion for 46 months. The loan will close next year. The loan agreement for JRMP II was signed in August 2012 and became effective in November 2012. Documents previously showed the project aims to provide

year-round irrigation water supply to 22,340 hectares from the improved five existing river Irrigation systems (RIS) and 9,500 rainfed areas. The total target irrigation service area for JRMP II is 31,840 hectares. This covers 7,000 hectares of farmland devoted to unmilled rice and 2,500 hectares for sugarcane. T he NI A estimated t hat around 60 percent, or P7.92 billion, of the total project cost will be financed by a foreign loan, while the remaining 40 percent, or P5.31 billion, will be financed by the national government as counterpart funding. See “Infra projects,” A12

OFW bank launch postponed

he proposal to launch a bank owned by overseas Filipinos has hit a snag, its maiden operation pushed back at least three more months later than originally intended in accordance with a regulatory directive, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) said. According to LandBank President and CEO Alex V. Buenaventura, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has asked for the revision of the business plan for the proposed lender, specifically pointing out that if it wants to be classified as a bank, it cannot just offer a remittance service but should also be

Buenaventura: “[The review of the business plan by regulators] will cause some delay. They said my plan to launch it [Overseas Filipino Bank] in January will have to be revised. It looks like April will be the new target.”

offering loans for its clients. “We have to revise the business model, we will resubmit,” Buenaventura told financial reporters as he got back from a meeting with BSP officials on the lender’s proposed launching. He acknowledged that when he

presented the regulators with the bank’s proposed business plan, he was told to make revisions: “We have to have loans. To be a bank intermediate [we also have to], accept deposits and we have to lend.” The directive, Buenaventura said, will cause delays in launching the bank since the revised business plan needs to pass past the BSP, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and finally through the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He reckoned the BSP review would likely take at least three months, plus another three months

n japan 0.4555 n UK 68.0017 n HK 6.6380 n CHINA 7.7876 n singapore 37.9591 n australia 39.7350 n EU 60.1438 n SAUDI arabia 13.8127

See “OFW,” A2

Source: BSP (30 October 2017 )

A2 Thursday, November 2, 2017

BMReports BusinessMirror

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‘Congress must fast-track passage of anti-red tape bill’ Continued from A1

2018,” which showed that the country’s ranking fell to 113th, from 99th in the 2017 edition. PCCI is particularly keen on Sen. Juan Miguel F. Zubiri’s Senate Bill 1311, or the “Expanded AntiRed Tape Act of 2017.” The Senate approved the measure on third and final reading in August. “[The bill] would put more teeth in the government’s efforts. I would like to think that, next year, we would have an improvement,” PCCI President George T. Barcelon said. “The government, thus far, has been responsive. If they see the drop in ranking now, I think they will improve accordingly to raise it again,” Barcelon added. Based on the report, the country ranked the lowest in starting a business at 173rd out of 190 economies. The Philippines garnered a score of 68.88, which was lower than the East Asia and Pacific regional average score of 82.32. Data from the World Bank showed that it took Filipinos an average of 28 days to complete 16 procedures in starting a business.

OFW. . .

Continued from A1

at the SEC. From the original proposed opening in January 2018, the launching had been moved to sometime in April next year instead, in Dubai, according to Buenaventura.

This process is estimated to cost businessmen at least P21,923. The cost depends on variable amounts that will depend on a business’ authorized capital stock, paid-up capital, the assessed value of the company’s property and the local government where the business is being set up. The Philippines also ranked low in terms of enforcing contracts, at 149th; protecting minority investors, 146th; getting credit, 142nd; paying taxes, 105th; and dealing with construction permits, 101st. The World Bank said the data was obtained between June 2016 and June 2017. It measures 190 economies worldwide and documented 264 business reforms. Economists said more needs to be done in terms of reducing red tape and corruption in government. These, they said, are the common reasons doing business remains difficult in the Philippines. “I believe that, unless bureaucratic processes are streamlined and corruption is reduced, ease of doing business in the Philippines will continue to be ranked lowly,” University of Asia and the

Pacific School of Economics Dean Cid Terosa told the BusinessMirror on Wednesday. “Institutional persistence is a big issue in the Philippines.” Terosa said red tape and corruption would make it difficult for the Philippines to achieve its goal of pole-vaulting to the upper third of the World Bank’s rankings by 2022. For his part, former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo L. Neri agreed with Terosa and said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) should do better in terms of taking care of Filipino and foreign investors. “DTI should regularly interact with investors to monitor their problems,” Neri told the BusinessMirror via SMS on Wednesday. Barcelon, however, said the 14-point slide in the country’s rankings is “no cause for alarm” and attributed this to the adjustments made by new government officials. “What we know from the ground is that local governments really need to improve and, perhaps ,there are some officials who are still getting used to a new administration and could not be aware of the

“It looks like April will be the new target,” he reiterated. As to the required revisions in the business plan, Buenaventura said they must add a loans department instead of just the remittance section, as proposed in the original business plan. He added the authorized capital of the Philippine Postal Savings

Bank Inc. (Postal Bank) of P1 billion will be retained and its shares reclassified into preferred shares of P300 million and common shares of P700 million. “We will retain the existing authorized capital of the Postal Bank at P1 billion, but we will reclassify [them] into preferred shares of P300 million and P700 million

President’s drive of cutting red tape,” Barcelon said. In September the House Committee on Trade and Industry approved the proposed Ease of Doing Business Act, which seeks to simplify the issuance of licenses, clearances or permits to business entities. The proposed Ease of Doing Business Act is one of the priority measures of the Palace and the 17th Congress. “The purpose of this bill is to provide an easy, simple, straightforward and trouble-free avenue for entrepreneurs, micro, small and medium businesses and ordinary citizens who would like to venture into business in the country,” said Rep. Ferjenel G. Biron of the Fourth District of Iloilo, committee chairman. Under the substitute bill, the Ease of Doing Business Commission will be created to review and repeal existing executive issuances and recommend the repeal of existing laws and local ordinances, which are outdated, redundant and add undue regulatory burdens to business entities.

The commission will be composed of a chairman, secretary of trade and industry and secretary of finance as ex-officio members, and one private-sector representative each from the micro, small and medium enterprise and large industry sectors. The bill provides that all national government agencies and local government units (LGUs) issuing licenses, clearances or permits to business entities will post a comprehensive checklist requirement for every type of license, clearance or permit to be issued. A uniform checklist of requirements required by licensing and permitting offices issuing a similar license, clearance or permit will also be crafted. The checklist of requirements, step-by-step procedure and schedule of fees for the issuance of a license, clearance or permit will be conspicuously posted in, among others, the premises of national and local government licensing and permitting agencies, the business one-stop shop or in designated public places. The measure provided that national government agencies and

LGUs involved in the processing and issuances of licenses, clearances or permits to business entities shall process the application of such business entities and communicate the decision regarding the approval of the application or, if the application has been disapproved, with the reasons for such disapproval, within the prescribed processing time. The bill provided that the processing of licenses, clearances or permits should not be longer than one working day for barangay governments, three working days for simple applications and 10 working days for complex applications from the time of receipt. For special types of businesses that require clearances, accreditation or licenses issued by government agencies, where technical evaluation is required in the processing of licenses, clearance or permits, the prescribed processing time should not take more than 30 working days. Biron said the House of Representatives would tackle the substitute bill when it resumes session this month.

common shares,” he said. The proposed Overseas Filipino Workers Bank will make available the P300 million worth of preferred shares for subscription to OFWs. Buenaventura added the loan operations will be conducted only in the Philippines, although the marketing of its remittance services will be made abroad.

The opening of accounts at the bank is subject to the mandatory know-your-customer (KYC) rules of the BSP. “The KYC requirements will be secured there and sent here. The opening of accounts will be done here. You can use the automated teller machine card anywhere, but from abroad they will have to remit

funds so that savings will be credited to their accounts here,” he said. Earlier this year, President Duterte vowed to establish a bank servicing the transactional requirements of OFWs. LandBank acquired and converted the Postal Bank into a subsidiary whose capital structure would be owned 30 percent by OFWs. Rea Cu

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Lawyer eyes filing new raps against UST fratmen after Ventura testimony By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

HE parents of Horacio Tomas “Atio” Castillo III are contemplating on filing another set of criminal complaints before the Department of Justice (DOJ) based on the sworn statement of Aegis Juris fratman Marc Anthony Ventura, in connection with Atio’s death during his initiation rites. Lino P. Kapunan, the Castillos’ lawyer, also said another option is to attache Ventura’s affidavit in the next pleading that they intend to file before the DOJ. “It’s either ilabas namin sa reply, dahil sa kabila sabi nila bawal na maglabas, or pwede mag-file ng separate complaint naman [We could attach it in our reply to the counter-affidavits of the respondents, but since the defense lawyers have opposed against submitting more evidence, we could file another set of complaints],” Kapunan said. Ventura had already signed on October 25 a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the DOJ to have him placed under the Witness Protection Program (WPP) as he decided to turn state witness over the death of the fraternity neophyte. Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II said Ventura participated during the September 17 initiation rites, which led to the death of Atio,

and has identified members of the fraternity who were there. Ventura named 23 fraternity brothers involved in Castillo’s initiation rites in his affidavit. Aguirre said Ventura’s testimony is enough to prosecute other respondents, even without a corroborating statement from another witness. The DOJ is currently conducting a preliminary investigation over the criminal complaints filed by the Manila Police District (MPD) and Atio’s parents—Horacio Jr. and Carmina—against those allegedly involved in the death of the University of Santo Tomas law freshman, including Ventura, who is still named as one of the respondents. Kapunan noted that during Monday’s hearing held by the panel of prosecutors conducting the preliminary investigation, defense lawyers insisted the panel has already declared no additional evidence will be accepted, and should not include the sworn statement of Ventura. In the meantime, Kapunan said, Atio’s parents have yet to receive a copy and read the sworn statement of Ventura. “Actually, hindi pa namin nababasa ’yun ang problema. So pag-aaralan muna namin kung paano namin gagamitin. [We have not yet read Ventura’s sworn statement. So we still have to study how we can make use of it],” Kapunan said.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Thursday, November 2, 2017 A3

New presidential mouthpiece flaunts ‘direct line’ to Duterte

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

xpect more concrete and precise statements from Malacañang, as incoming Presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque Jr. on Wednesday assured he has a “direct line” to President Duterte that he will exploit in delivering his mandate as the President’s official mouthpiece.

In a television interview, Roque said he was promised of a direct line to Duterte that he can use in clarifying his principal’s position on issues of national interest. “Well, I was assured that I will have a direct line, except that he doesn’t really carry his cell phone,” Roque said. According to Roque, a direct line to the President is crucial to his duty as presidential spokesman, as he will transmit to the public statements of the highest leader of the land. “It’s important [because] otherwise, it’s useless,”

the incoming Palace official said. “You can’t be a spokesman without knowing on very controversial issues what his [Duterte] position is, because I’m not entitled to have my own position outside my principal,” Roque added. Outgoing Presidential Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella was reported of not having a direct line to Duterte, which resulted to contradicting and, at times, confusing interpretation of the President’s statements. When Duterte told European Union (EU) ambassadors in October

to leave the country within 24 hours, Abella said the Chief Executive only made that remark because he was fed the wrong information. For Roque, Abella should not have repackaged that statement and, instead, stood by its exact meaning. “So, had it been me, I would have said, ‘You heard the President? What else do you want from me?’ So, we’ll leave it at that because the President is entitled to say things that he wants,” Roque said. With this, the incoming Palace official said the public should expect his statements to be as direct as his principal. Malacañang has yet to issue Roque’s appointment papers, but he will already hold his first news briefing as presidential spokesman today (Thursday). “I’m excited, but I’m also a bit intimidated by the Malacañang Press Corps,” Roque said. He added he looks forward to working with the media, which he defended several times in court before he was elected lawmaker. Aside from being the presidential spokesman, Roque said there is an agreement, which he cannot divulge information yet, that he will hold

You can’t be a spokesman without knowing on very controversial issues what his [Duterte] position is, because I’m not entitled to have my own position outside my principal.” —Roque

another position in Malacañang. He said he will wait for the President to announce this himself. As for Abella, there was no word yet whether he will remain as undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office.

DENR’s Cimatu forms task force vs wildlife traffickers By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

nvironment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu has created a special task force that will go after groups and individuals involved in wildlife trafficking, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said. Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim of the DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) said the creation of the special task force is Cimatu’s response to rampant illegal-wildlife trade that continues to threaten the country’s endangered wildlife species. There are already two other task forces that deal with environmental crimes, which include animal poaching or hunting of animal for subsistence, and illegal-wildlife trade that aims to profit from wildlife resources, before Cimatu’s current term. These are the Philippine Operations Group on Ivory and Illegal Wildlife or Task Force Pogi created under former Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje, a composite group of personnel deputized by the DENR’s BMB and officers of law-enforcement agencies like the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation, and the Nationa l A nti-Env ironmenta l Crime Task Force (NAECTF) created by former Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez. The NAECTF is an interagency body tasked to go after large-scale env ironmental crimes, which include wildlife trafficking. At the closing news conference of the 12th Conference of Parties Meeting of the Convention for the Conservation of Migratory

Species (CMS) of Wild Animals on October 28, Lim said under Cimatu’s watch as chief steward of the environment and natural resources, the DENR will continue its awareness campaign, whi le streng t hening w i ld l ife law enforcement. DENR Undersecretary for Field Operations (Luzon) Juan Miguel T. Cuna said Cimatu will make the formal announcement as to the name, composition and mission of the task force. The Philippines has existing legislation that protect Philippine wildlife, including migratory species, including the Wildlife Act, the Caves Act and the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act (Nipas), against illegalwildlife trade. Animal poaching is a big problem even in supposedly protected areas under Nipas, as upland dwellers continue to hunt animals for subsistence; and for illegal-wildlife trade, it being a traditional source of income. Animals like snakes, birds, lizards and spiders are sold as pets, and are even exported by unscrupulous traders. Illegal-wildlife trade also occurs in open seas, with local and foreign fishermen targeting endangered species like sharks and rays, including the butanding and marine turtles. Sharks and rays are targeted for their meat and internal organs in Western Visayas and Bicol regions. They are traditionally cooked with coconut milk to produce kinunot, a local delicacy. In Tawi-Tawi Province, host to the Turtle Island Wildlife Sanctuary and the biggest concentration of marine turtles that can be found in Southeast Asia, ma-

rine turtle population is on the decline because of hunting for meat, shells and their internal organs. People in communities in Tawi-Tawi also harvest the eggs of marine turtles. Lim said the DENR continues to conduct awareness campaign about the importance of protecting and conserving the country’s endangered animal species, including migratory birds and marine animals, while strengthening law enforcement, arrest or apprehension of suspected traders, and prosecution. “We continue to coordinate with the Judiciary to make sure that our campaign does not stop in the apprehension, but to make get conviction by the courts,” she added. The Philippines is the only country with special prosecutors and special courts that deal with environmental crimes. During the international wildlife conference, a total of 34 proposals were approved, providing greater protection for 34 migratory species, including iconic animals like the lion, leopard, giraffe and chimpanzee. Also called the Bonn Convention, the CMS is an international treaty that promotes the protection and conservation of migratory species, including their habitats. During the convention, the Philippines, being the host of the meeting, successfully pushed greater protection for two sharks and three bird species. These are the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), white-spotted wedgefish (Rhynchobatus australiae), Christmas frigatebird (Fregada andrewsi), block noddy (Anous minuitus) and the yellow bunting (Emberiza sulpurata).

Best and most beautiful For the third time in a row, the CityState Tower Hotel in Ermita, Manila, hosted a dinner for the beauteous

and talented candidates of Miss Earth International 2017 pageant. In photo are (from left, seated) Lorraine Schuck, executive president of Carousel Productions Inc.; D. Edgard A. Cabangon, CityState Tower Hotel president; beauty titlist Peachy Veneracion and Sharon Tan. The coronation for this year’s Miss Earth pageant has been slated on November 4, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Patrick John Dizon

Resumption of peace gab with Left possible–Bello

N spite of the more than five months of lull in the negotiating table, the government is not yet ready to give up on the prospect of peace with the communists. This was revealed by President Duterte in a news briefing on Tuesday night. “We can talk continuously with the Left,” the President said. “I am not about ready to give up everything and anything in the altar of peace for our country,” Duterte added. Peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF) was suspended in May due to a battle order of the Communist Party of the Philippines to the New People’s Army (NPA) to heighten offensives in the face of martial law in Mindanao. Since then, the government did not force the issue of return-

ing immediately to the negotiating table, citing complexities on the ground and alleged attacks of the NPA. Duterte maintained the easiest way to resolve the armed conflict is for the communists to lay down their arms and return their loyalty to the Philippine flag. “I’m just saying that if you want to surrender, if you are tired of killing your fellow Filipino, then you surrender. I will give you a house and a job, no questions asked,” the President said. “But you have to work [because] this is not an honorarium thing. You have to work for it,” Duterte added. The President also said he is backing efforts of local government units to initiate localized peace talks with the communists,

like what Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is doing. In a television interview on Wednesday, Government Chief Negotiator and Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III revealed the resumption of peace talks with the communists is gaining ground. “In my perspective, the prospect of a resumption is very bright,” Bello said. Bello added the government panel is ready to return to the negotiating table with the NDF, and that all they are waiting for is Duterte’s green light. Bello also said he believes the President has not abandoned his aspiration for a “just and lasting peace.” “We, in the panel, are hopeful that he will eventually order us to proceed with the talks with the [communists],” the peace negotiator said. Elijah Felice E. Rosales

150 ‘distressed’ OFWs from Abu Dhabi receive $100 assistance from OWWA By Recto Mercene @rectomercene

ome 150 “distressed” overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Abu Dhabi received $100 each from the Overseas Workers

Welfare Administration (OWWA) upon their arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Wednesday morning onboard a Philippine Airlines A330. Lawyer Raul Dado from the Office of the Migrant Workers

A ffairs said the money came from President Duterte’s fund to help support the Filipino workers who did not receive their salaries from their employers since they started working. The cash in crisp $100 bills

were handed over by OWWA officials, headed by administrator Hans Cacdac and Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Y. Ariola. Dado also said the 150 OFWs who just arrived at the airport

are victims of illegal recruiters through Facebook. “They were convinced to work because of the promise of big sa lar y offered through Facebook,” Dado added, as Maryjean Macalit, a household worker,

showed her $100 bill she received at the airport. Duterte earlier said he will wage a war against illegal recruitment, alongside the drive to stop the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country.

Economy

A4 Thursday, November 2, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

Batangas geothermal plant to start operation by Dec

By Leslie Gatpolintan | Philippines News Agency

isted PetroEnergy Resources Corp. (PERC) said on Monday the expansion project at the Maibarara geothermal-power plant in Santo Tomas, Batangas, is currently being completed to meet target commercial operation this December. Maibarara Geothermal Inc. (MGI ) Pl a nt Ma n ager Pau l Morala said the commissioning

and testing of the 12-megawatt (MW) Maibarara-2 are now in the final phases.

12 MW The listed power output capacity of the Maibarara-2 in Batangas, which is now undergoing commissioning and testing.

PERC told the local bourse that MGI’s 20-MW Unit-1 reached its 600-gigawatt-hour generation mark during the billing period ending October 25, a milestone achieved more than three years from the start of the facility’s commercial operation.

“Apart from the scheduled annual maintenance shutdowns, we have managed to minimize forced outages in the facility, leading to very high capacity and availability factors,” MGI President Francisco Delfin Jr. said. The Maibarara-1 plant was recently declared as the Best Renewable Energy Project in the national grid category of the Asean Energy Awards 2017 held during the Asean Energy Ministers Meeting in Manila in September. MGI is 65-percent owned by PetroGreen Energy Corp. (PGEC), 25 percent by Phinma Energy and 10 percent by PNOC Renewables Corp. PGEC is the renewable-energy holding firm of PERC.

DOE to public: Provide inputs on proposed natgas policy

Meralco enlists 76,763 power users for KLoad

he M a n i l a E le c t r ic C o. (Meralco) has signed up over 76,000 users for its prepaidelectricity service known as Kuryente Load (KLoad). Meralco Senior Vice President Alfredo S. Panlilio said the utility firm has activated a total of 76,763 prepaid meters as of end-September this year. The number has increased from the previous month’s count of 70,658. Panlilio is hopeful that the numbers may reach 100,000 by end-December this year. “We are pushing very hard in prepaid electricity, and we are hopeful that it will reach the 100,000 mark by end of the year,”Panlilio said. “As you may recall, we got approval from the ERC [Energy Regulatory Commission] for 40,000, and an additional 100,000 is in process,” the Meralco official added. Meralco was previously granted regulatory approval to install an additional 100,000 prepaid meters on top of the 40,000 meters that were originally approved for rollout by the ERC. KLoad, the utility firm’s prepaid-

electricity service, is available in select areas in Makati, Manila, Pasig, Mandaluyong and Rizal. It will expand the coverage of the service in Marikina, Caloocan, Quezon City, Pateros, Pasay, San Juan and Taguig within the year. KLoad service runs on the latest smart meters and can detect outages instantly, allowing for faster restoration. The smart meters will cater to both prepaid and postpaid Meralco customers. The prepaid meter system allows customers to monitor their electricity consumption, allowing them to budget their consumption and expenses. It will also enable them to monitor their electricity consumption as it happens. Based on research from actual consumer usage, customers who shifted from postpaid to prepaid were able to effectively monitor their consumption daily via text- messaging service and, as a result, they can save an average of 20 percent on electricity consumption. This translates to total savings of around P300 per customer. Load denomination is as low as P100. Lenie Lectura

The new OOH experience

HE Department of Energy (DOE) is strongly encouraging the public to participate in the crafting of the proposed policy on natural gas by sending their comments and suggestions. This, after the agency held last week a public consultation on the implementing guidelines of the Philippine Natural Gas Regulation (PNGR), a policy issuance that would govern the entry and development liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal and its related facilities in the Philippines. “The PNGR will serve as the regulatory framework in the promotion of the Philippines as an LNG emerging market characterized by a liberalized/competitive environment and market-based pricing,” DOE Undersecretary Donato D. Marcos said. Moreover, the implementation of the PNGR could pave the way in meeting the DOE’s target to push through with the groundbreaking for an LNG import facility by 2018, he added. Marcos also said that, with the policy in place, “the Philippines can readily start importing LNG to safeguard the anticipated drop in the supply of the Malampaya natural gas in 2022 coupled with the forthcoming termination of its concession by 2024.” The recent public consultation drew clarifications on implementing guidelines concerning permit application, permitting and clearances of other government agencies, reporting requirements and import and supply requirements. Additional topics on gas quality standards, import accreditation validity period, anti-flipping protection, the effect of Executive Order 30, the third-party access, transmission and distribution of gas, aggregation, incentives and the gas mix were also discussed. It was attended by 47 companies and institutions representing local and foreign stakeholders, as well as prospective businesses interested in venturing in the natural-gas industry in the country. Previous public consultation focused on the regulatory framework covering the definition of terms, structure and operations of upstream, ownership, franchising, roles and responsibilities of the DOE and the operator, competition and gas-pricing policy, incentives, insurance, establishment of evaluation committee and other relevant laws. Lenie Lectura

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Candle in the wind

A lady shopper selects suitable candles she intends to light on the grave of a loved one, at a stall near the entry gate of the Manila North Cemetery in La Loma, as the nation on Wednesday observes the traditional commemoration of All Saints’ Day. ALYSA SALEN

Infra and disaster prevention top PHL-Japan major tie-ups J ₧271B apan and the Philippines have committed to cooperate on infrastructure development in Metro Manila and the country’s regions, as stated under their major fields of cooperation. The Japanese government affirmed it will “strongly support” the sustainable economic development of the country by extending quality infrastructure assistance, utilizing its funding and technology to the maximum extent. Japan, in a joint statement released by the Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday night, said this is to address issues arising from urbanization in Metro Manila, especially the serious traffic congestion, and to vitalize other areas outside of Metro Manila expected to become hubs in the regions. The two governments are set to cooperate on the implementation of several development programs, such as railway projects, and improvement of roads and bridges. Japan will assist in the development and implementation of the Metro Manila Subway Project and the North-South Commuter Railway Project. T he Japanese government w i l l consider “ in good faith ” extending a loan a mount ing to approx imately ¥600 billion, around P271 billion, in proportion to the actual demand for funding of the subway project with an estimated

The amount of loan that the Japanese government will consider ”in good faith,” in proportion to the actual demand for funding of the proposed Metro Manila Subway Project, which has an estimated total cost of around P362 billion

total cost of ¥800 billion, or around P362 billion. Japan said it plans to further extend support for the integral development plan of the North-South Commuter Railway covering about 180 kilometers between Clark, Pampanga; and Los Baños, Laguna, with the understanding that yen loan would also be extended for this project. Moreover, the two governments will finalize the basic concept for the establishment of the Philippine railway institute, including assistance for its physical construction, as well as operational needs. For regional development, including the improvement of roads and bridges, Japan said it would “swiftly support” the implementation of the Arterial Road Bypass Project (Plaridel Bypass).

The two states will be formulating concrete projects for the vitalization of regional areas based on the review of the Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and its Surrounding Areas, as well as the results of studies on the Master Plan on High Standard Highway Network Development, the Master Plan Study and Institutional Development on Urban Transport System Development in Metro Cebu Project, and the Davao City Infrastructure Development Plan and Capacity Building Project, among others.

‘Enhancing resilience’

Meanwhile, in order to enhance the country’s resilience against natural disasters, Manila and Tokyo agreed to implement the Cavite Industrial Area Flood Risk Management Project. In addition, the latter assured it would accelerate project formulation for the Project for Developing Flood Forecasting and Warning System for Cagayan de Oro River Basin, the Project for Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement, and would study the possibility of project formulation for Parañaque Spillway Project in Metro Manila by conducting basic research. Among others, it guaranteed swift formulation of its latest technical assistance, the Project for Master Plan and Feasibility Study on Flood Control and Drainage in Davao City in Mindanao. PNA

hey’re big, bold and battling for talk value. Billboards, lining up Metro Manila, are hard not to spot considering the everyday traffic. And if you want awareness for your brand, out-of-home (OOH) advertising is the way to go. “Two ways to think about it, some would say it’s cluttered, but it can also look creative. It can be nice and pretty, depending on the execution. In fact, billboards can even challenge that of a blockbuster movie, or rival your favorite TV commercial, when it comes to generating awareness,” said Dr. Donald Patrick Lim, country CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Philippines. “It’s all about creating the talkability. Ways to cut through a cluttered market,” Lim said in a recent forum organized by MacGraphics Carranz, the company at the helm of larger-than-life displays in many areas around the metropolis. For OOH, it’s a spot battle. Marketers and advertisers contend for the most strategic location in major thoroughfares around Metro Manila. Thus, messages and content are sustained 24/7, and are least likely to be missed by its target audience. But what makes it a game changer in advertising? In this day and age of user-generated content, marketers can take advantage of the low cost and wide reach of OOH. Today, consumers can opt not to watch free TV to catch their favorite series. They can choose not to read newspapers to get the news. But they can’t afford not to pass by their regular route going to work. Thus, the much cheaper OOH is fast becoming the most cost-effective advertising medium. Data from AGB Nielsen showed that digital media has been growing aggressively for the past two years. Media marketers are now looking into the “big three” of advertising—TV, radio and OOH. The digital market in the Philippines is growing at 30 percent to 40 percent, where point of reach is highest in the Metro. While OOH displaced print for the share in the advertising pie, Lim attributed it to the rise of digital media— with people getting connected through mobile devices, personal computers and, in the case of OOH—digital displays. Billboard brands can generate massive awareness. “It’s all about strategy in placement. It would really stick. And, throughout time, marketers are given a leeway for creative OOH executions, ranging from static to digital

billboards,” Lim said. The Dentsu Aegis country CEO said OOH is redefining low-cost and effective advertising. There’s no escaping the OOH experience. Unlike user-generated mediums like TV, radio and newspapers, where digital consumers can get to choose what they want, for example, to watch on Netflix, hear on Spotify or receive breaking news on their newsfeeds, “OOH is here to stay and become interruptive to being a point for recall.” “In Edsa traffic is at a standstill. There’s no way to go to. And the only way you get to not notice these wide array of displays is when you are playing ‘Pokémon Go,’” Lim said. He stressed that, if crafted artfully, an OOH display in a billboard or next to a bus stop is visible, and renders the driver choice less but to see it. Now the challenge is how to make it stick to the passersby, which he termed as a “tight battle of the billboards.” The trend now for marketers is to link online data to digital billboards. Now, the once-static billboards go so far as producing video ads on LED displays, where online ads and TV commercials get to be avoided while LED displays gain ground. Blazing a trail to redefine the OOH landscape is MacGraphics Carranz, which recently inked an exclusive agreement with San Miguel Infrastructure to offer outdoor advertising in high-traffic thoroughfares like the South Luzon Expressway, the Metro’s only Skyway, the new Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway and the Star Tollway. Apart from strategically located billboards in the Metro, MacGraphics Carranz has a similar agreement with the local government of Mandaluyong to line roads and streets with OOH displays, especially in the bustling commercial district of Ortigas. From transit to balloons to bus ads, OOH is reinventing itself in the digital realm, because content follows us everywhere. In the case of OOH, we now see an integration of mediums, say for example, using billboards and display to be a point for contact to online promotions, such as pushing content to social-media sites. “The future of the OOH in the Digital Age paves the way for a new OOH experience that generates talk value, transforms other media to OOH, evokes feelings through physical engagement, and is technology driven,” Lim said.

DR. Donald Patrick L. Lim, country CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Philippines, addresses a group of businessmen and advertising executives, in a talk on out-of-home advertising in the digital age at a forum held last week at the Tower Club in Makati City.

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www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Thursday, November 2, 2017

PHL biodiesel output seen declining in 2018

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

hilippine biodiesel production could fall by 4.76 percent to 200 million liters (ML), from the estimated output of 210 ML this year, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network (Gain) report.

The Gain report, which was published by the US Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila recently, pointed to the increase in the price of coconut oil (CNO) as one of the factors that would cause biodiesel output to decline. “Biodiesel production is expected to decline modestly through 2018 due to flat consumption and stock drawdown. Demand and increasing CNO world prices are expected to displace CNO demand for biodiesel production during the period,” the report read. The Gain report also revealed that biodiesel consumption in the

Philippines next year won’t increase and would still be at 218 ML. Due to the expected decline in biodiesel production, demand for CNO from refineries next year is projected to decline by 4.67 percent to 183,000 metric tons (MT), from the 192,000 MT estimated this year. CNO is the preferred biodiesel feedstock by local refineries. Citing data from the Department of Energy (DOE), the Gain report said there were 11 registered biodiesel refineries in 2016 with an aggregate annual capacity of 575 ML. “Although there are two registered biodiesel applicants that

have obtained the DOE’s notice to proceed with construction—both in Mindanao with a combined capacity of 165 ML—the recommendation of a United States Agency for International Developmentfunded study to postpone raising the existing 2.7-percent blend [national average] is likely to discourage the construction,” the report read. “As a result, we do not believe the two new plants will be built, keeping capacity unchanged, and biodiesel production expected to modestly decline through 2018 due to strong CNO export demand and a drawdown in stocks,” it added. Data from the Gain report also showed that the country’s total biodiesel production this year could decline by 7.07 percent to 210 ML, from 226 ML recorded in 2016. “Local biodiesel output has consistently met the 1-percent blend set in 2007 and the 2-percent blend [B2] requirements since 2009, but not the 5-percent blend set in 2015,” the report read. “In 2016 11 refineries produced 226 ML, which amounted to an estimated 2.8-percent blend level with carryover stocks,” it added.

DAR issues land titles to 434 farmers in Quezon

total of 434 farmers from five different towns in Quezon Province have finally received individual land titles from the government, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said. The land titles cover a total of 1,270 hectares and were distributed under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). The beneficiaries are residents from the towns of San Narciso, San Andres, San Francisco, Buenavista and Mulanay. In a statement, the DAR said the covered landholdings include 844.23 hectares in Barangay Tala and 213.62 hectares in Barangay Camflora, both in San Andres town; 172.72 hectares in Barangay Busokbusokan and 16.76 hectares in Barangay Vigo Central in San Narciso; and 22.28 hectares in Barangay Tayuman in San Francisco. The large part of distributed landholdings was from the Hacienda Reyes property. DAR OIC Secretary Rosalina L. Bistoyong and Undersecretary

Karlo S. Bello led the distribution of Certificates of Land Ownership Award on Wednesday at the municipal gymnasium of San Narciso. “This triumph is not only for us, but for our children and the future of the next generation,” Bistoyong said, as she read the message of President Duterte. To recall, Duterte emphasized the need to fast-track the distribution of lands to the landless farmers in the country. Support services, on the other hand, will soon be provided to the agrarian-reform beneficiaties in the area, Bistoyong added. Among the support programs that the DAR will immediately implement include the distribution of P2.5 million worth of seedlings and farm machineries. The turnover of the land titles was also graced by board member Vincent Reyes, the fourth generation of the Reyes clan who owned the hacienda where the lands distributed on Wednesday are located.

Reyes said he saw, through the years, the struggle and determination of the farmers to own the land they till. “I understand the problems on these lands. I hope that you will protect these lands, which are now yours, the way our family valued it,” he said. He also vowed to help protect and make the distributed lands productive. “I am saying this not as a public servant but as a former landowner of the land. We now own the land so let us work together to enrich it.” Dindo Revilla of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Bondoc Peninsula (KMBP), who spoke on behalf of the 434 CLOA recipients, expressed his gratitude to the President. Revilla also hoped the government will provide support services to them. Another farmer leader, Melchor Roco, said they are dedicating the triumph they achieved to their leaders and members “who died at the height of their struggle to own the land they till.” Jonathan L. Mayuga

Farmers planting yellow corn earned less in 2016–PSA

A corn trader solar dries corn kernels on an idle road in Santiago City. FILE PHOTO

he average net income of farmers planting yellow corn in the Philippines declined by 32.13 percent to P7,119 last year, from P10,490 recorded in 2015, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). In its annual report, titled “Updated Production Costs and Returns of Selected Agricultural Commodities,” the PSA noted that the decline in net income was due to the hike in the cost of producing yellow corn. T he PSA sa id t he average yellow-corn production reached P39,593 per hectare last year, slightly higher than the 2015 record of P39,387. “Central Luzon reported the highest cost in yellow-corn production at P49,443 per hectare in 2016. The least cost was noted in Mimaropa [Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan] at P15,616 per hectare,” the report read. The bulk of the total costs incurred by Filipino corn farmers,

or about 71.95 percent, were in the form of cash. Farmers spent P28,489 per hectare to produce corn last year, higher than the P28,338 recorded in 2015. The report noted that Filipino corn farmers spent the most in hiring labor. They shelled out P9,507 per hectare for hired labor last year, 5.61 percent higher than P9,002 in 2015. The hike in output cost meant Filipino farmers spent P9.98 to produce a kilogram of yellow corn, which was 5.27 percent higher than the previous year’s record of P9.48. Due to the hike in production cost, the gross returns per hectare declined by 6.34 percent year-on-year. The report revealed that corn farmers earned a gross profit of P39,593 per hectare last year, compared to P39,387 in 2015. “Ilocos region was on top in terms of gross receipts at an average of P77,925 per hectare. This was followed by Central Luzon at P66,329

per hectare,” the report read. “ T he Autonomou s R eg ion in Muslim Mindanao [ARMM] grossed the lowest in yellow-corn production at P27,390 per hectare,” it added. The PSA report noted that for every peso of investment in yellow-corn production, farmers earned an average of P0.18. The figure was lower than the P0.27 recorded in 2015. “For every peso of investment in yellow-corn production, farmers in Mimaropa and Zamboanga Peninsula earned the highest at P2.41 and P2.08, respectively,” the report read. “On the other hand, net losses amounting to P0.23 in Western Visayas and P0.09 in the ARMM were reported during the period,” it added. The PSA said the average farmgate price of yellow corn last year was pegged at P11.78 per kilogram, nearly 2 percent lower than the P12.01 recorded in 2015. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

Weather will be key as the palm-oil industry gathers in Bali

ome of the world’s biggest palm-oil players will meet in Indonesia this week and just like two years ago, the weather will be a hot topic. But instead of the scorch of El Niño, this year the focus is on La Niña. The conference will feature predictions from industry heavyweights Dorab Mistry of Godrej International Ltd., LMC International Ltd.’s Chairman James Fry and Oil World Executive Director Thomas Mielke. Here are the key topics to watch for:

The long-awaited rebound

It’s been a year of two halves for palm oil. After slumping in the first half, futures have rebounded as a much-anticipated recovery in production missed expectations. The shortfall is especially apparent in No. 2 producer Malaysia where output in the second half, typically a high season, has also been stymied by a shortage of plantation workers. Still, expectations remain that a big supply rebound is on the horizon, as plantations finally shake off the lagged effects of the 20152016 El Niño. Global production may climb by about 6 million tons next year—most of that from Indonesia and Malaysia—and a big question is whether demand will

be enough to absorb it, according to Ling Ah Hong, director of plantation consultant Ganling Sdn. “The market was caught offguard when they saw third-quarter production was bad,” Ling said. “Next year we’ll see a very strong production of palm. Moving into April and May next year, prices may start to soften if production of palm oil starts to jump and stocks start to climb.” He expects prices to ease to average at 2,500 ringgit ($590) a ton in 2018, more than 10 percent less than the average of 2,820 ringgit this year.

Fueling prices with biodiesel

A little more rain

Less workers, less palm oil

La Niña-induced rain will be good for production because it will ensure sufficient water to trees, said Ling, who has 40 years of experience in the industry. The downside is that it could exacerbate monsoon rains and cause some flooding of low-lying areas. The Malaysian Meteorological Department told Bloomberg a weak La Niña doesn’t cause significant impact to rainfa l l distr ibutions dur ing the northeast monsoon. “If the La Niña is just a very mild one, and production of soybean and palm are strong, then we’ll see a more bearish situation,” Ling said. “Prices may even drop

The industry will also be watching a decision from the World Trade Organization on eliminating Europe’s antidumping barriers on biodiesel, according to Sahat Sinaga, executive director at the Indonesian Vegetable Oil Industry Association. Removing the barriers could increase demand for fatty acid methyl esters and boost biofuel consumption. Meanwhile, higher crude-oil prices could bolster demand for biofuels in the coming months, said Barnabas Gan, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. in Singapore.

Palm-oil fruit are loaded onto a trailer at the Bukit Senorang palm-oil plantation in Pahang, Malaysia. Sanjit Das/Bloomberg

down to 2,400 ringgit a ton by the end of 2018.”

Too much La Niña will rain on the bear parade

A stronger La Niña could hurt soybean production in the United States and South America, and that’s key to palm oil, its closest substitute.

During the 2011-2012 La Niña, futures surged to a near three-year high of 3,955 ringgit a ton as La Niña withered soy crops in Latin America. At the same time, swathes of plantations in Malaysia’s keyproducing states were inundated by floodwaters, cutting production to the lowest in four years.

“Heavy rainfall complicates harvesting because you’ll have difficulty of evacuating crops,” said Peter Benjamin, CEO of Malaysian-listed planter United Malacca Bhd. “Too much rainfall will also have an impact on pollination. We’ll have to keep a close watch on the La Niña effect.”

It’s a problem that’s plaguing the industry. In Malaysia an estimated 10 percent of fruit bunches are left to rot each season because of worker shortages. While companies are turning to mechanization, harvesting still requires skilled labor that’s quickly become scarce. Malaysian planters are especially at risk because of their high dependence on foreign laborers, especially from Indonesia, which are said to be the best palm-oil harvesters in the world. “Now we are looking to Bangladesh and Nepal to bring in workers, but compared to the Indonesians, it takes time for them to adapt to plantation life,” United Malacca’s Benjamin said. Bloomberg News

TheBroa

Business

PENDING LA A6 Thursday, November 2, 2017

WITH GOVT CHA T

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@joveemarie

HE House of Representatives and the Senate always play crucial roles in the government through the passage of laws needed to improve the quality of life of Filipinos.

According to the 1987 Cons t it ut io n , l e g i s l at i v e p o w e r shall be vested in the Congress of the Philippines, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives. According to Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, the mission of the 17th Congress is clear: to enact laws that will deliver to the nation and its people a better future. Alvarez also assured the passage of necessary legislations that will give tools to President Duterte to effect meaningful and genuine change. Earlier, the House Committee on Rules has reported that of the 7,975 measures filed, 1,810 were processed during the 130 session days. This equates to an average of 14 measures per session day. Of the total number of measures filed, 6,549 are bills and 1,426 are resolutions. Moreover, a total of 420 committee reports were submitted for plenar y deliberations by various House committees. These measures seek to address the priority concerns of lawmakers, such as poverty eradication, public safety and order, justice, gender equality, health, education, protection of women, children and elderly, environmental protection and the rights of indigenous peoples, among others.

Easier process

SINCE the Second Regular Session opened on July 24, seven important bills were already enacted into law. These form part of the 30 measures passed into law this 17th Congress. Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas of Ilocos Norte said passing a measure is now easier as they have identified their agenda during the meetings of the LegislativeExecutive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) and the regular meetings of Congress’s leadership. With these meetings, Fariñas said members of the 17th Congress know what measures should be prioritized in the committee and in the plenary on a target date. While some of these identified priority measures already secured final approval in the House of Representatives before Congress went on a break on October 14, several bills are still under debates before their respective committee, as well as in the plenary.

Agricultural tariffication

THE priority measures that are pending in the committee and plenary levels include the Amendment to Republic Act (RA) 8178, or the Agricultural Tariffication Act. Amending R A 8178 is needed to scrap quantitative restrictions (QRs) and convert these

into tariffs. Both are pending before the agriculture committee of the two chambers. The technical working group (TWG) of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food has recently approved the substitute bill that would amend RA 8178, the law that enabled the Philippines to impose a rice QR beginning 1996. Under the substitute bill, the Philippines will impose a 400-percent bound tariff on its rice once the QR on the staple is abolished. “In lieu of the QR on rice, the maximum bound rate shall be as notified by the Philippines to the [World Trade Organization],” the substitute bill read. Once the substitute bill is enacted into law, the country’s minimum access volume (MAV) for rice shall revert to its 2012 level at 350,000 metric tons (MT), from the current 805,000 (MT). “Upon the effectivity of this act, the minimum access volume will revert to its 2012 level at 350,000 metric tons as indicated in the Philippines’ commitment to the World Trade Organization [WTO],” the substitute bill read. Under the bill, the Philippines will impose a bound tariff rate of 35 percent for rice originating from the Asean region, regardless of its volume. The measure said it shall impose a 40 -percent bound tariff most-favored nation (MFN) rate for in-quota importation of rice from non-Association of Southe a s t A s i a n Nat ion s ( A s e a n) W TO member - cou nt r ies. A 400 -percent bound tariff MFN rate shall apply for rice imports outside the 350,000 -MT M AV sourced from non-Asean W TO member-countries. House Committee on Agriculture and Food Chairman Partylist Rep. Jose T. Panganiban Jr. of Anac-IP said they plan to approve the bill on third and final reading before the year ends.

Procurement reform

ANOTHER priority legislation is the amendment to the Government Procurement Reform Act. Under the proposal, negotiated procurement will be allowed “before, during, or after a calamity.” Currently, negotiated procurement is only applicable during a state of calamity. T he bil l is pending before the upper and lower chambers’ respective committee. However, Fariñas said the Ledac has agreed to just amend the implementing rules and regulations of the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184). “We agreed that the Government Procurement Policy Board [GPPB] created under RA 9184

will first determine if the amendments sought may be carried out by the GPPB through its implementing rules andregulations,” Fariñas added. If not, he said the procurement policy board will inform Congress of the amendments that need to be legislated upon.

Traffic decongestion

TRAFFIC congestion has become a priority as a Proposed Traffic and Congestion Crisis Act has been filed in Congress. Last year Duterte asked Congress to grant him emergency power to address the immense and growing traffic dilemma in the National Capital Region and major cities in the country. House Bill (HB) 4334, or the proposed “ Traffic Crisis Act of 2016: Maki-isa, Makisama, Magka-isa” was already approved by the House Committee on Transportation. However, the measure is still pending before the House plenary deliberations. The bill was authored by House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, Majority Leader Rodolfo C. Fariñas and Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. Cesar V. Sarmiento of Catanduanes. One of the salient features of HB 4334 is Section 5 (Reorganization and Covered Agencies), which names the Depar tment of Transpor tation (DOTr) secretar y as de officio traffic chief during the effectivity of the Act w ith f u l l power and author it y as enumerated in the Act to streamline the management of traffic and transpor tation and control road use in the identified metropolitan areas. T he traffic chief sha l l have the power of super v ision and control over the Metropolitan Manila Development Authorit y, Cebu Coordinating Council, as created under Section 9 of the Act, Philippine Nationa l Po l i c e -Tr a f f i c M a n a g e m e n t Group, L a nd Tra ns por t at ion Of f ice, L a nd Tra nspor t at ion a nd Fr a nc h i si ng R e g u l ator y Board, Road Board and a l l other executive agencies, bureaus and offices w ith roles per taining to land-transpor tation reg u l at ion. T he traf f ic c hief sha l l a lso have power of super v ision and control over the Davao Traffic Administrator. The traffic chief, as alter ego of the President, sha l l a lso have power of super v ision over a l l loca l gover nment units (LGUs) w ithin the metropolitan areas. The traffic chief shall formulate, coordinate, and monitor policies, standards, programs and projects to rationalize existing public transport operations, infrastructure requirements, the use of thoroughfares, safe movement of persons and goods, the administration and implementation of all traffic enforcement operations, traffic engineering services, and traffic education programs.

‘Endo’ bill

DUTERTE has also stirred the e mployers’ hor net ’s nest b y pushing for the end of the “end of contract” (endo). Pending in

Golden rice grains are being dried in Pampanga Highway. NONIE REYES

Congress is the legislation for an Anti-contractualization Act. T here are severa l pend ing bills in both houses seeking to end labor contractualization in the country. Ending contractualization is one of the campaign promises of the President. One of these bills is HB 916 of Party-list Rep. Harr y Roque of Kabayan. Roque said his proposal gives contractual employees the right in principle not to be treated less favorably than permanent employees of the same employee doing similar work. A nother measure is HB 1 2 0 8 o f Party-list R e p. C a r los Isagani Zarate of Bayan M u n a . According Zarate, the end-of-contract policy blatantly violates the worker’s right to security of tenure. “It is a constitutional mandated policy for the state to assure the right of workers to se l f - org a n i z at ion , col lec t ive bargaining, security of tenure and just humane conditions of work,” Zarate added. Zarate, citing studies, added cont rac t u a l i z at ion i s e x tensive in the Philippines with 7 out of 10 firms implementing

combinations of f lexible work arrangements. He also cited estimates showing that contractuals now outnumber regulars among Filipino workers. “With this reality, the state must determinedly protect and uphold workers’ rights to decent and long-term employment by upholding their right to security of tenure, declaring illegal all forms of contractual employment and penalizing those who will carry out this anti-worker scheme,” Zarate added. These measures are still pending before the House Committee on Labor and Employment.

Doing business

PROPOSED also as a priority is the Ease of Doing Business Act. Law makers said the measure will promote the country as a business-friendly economy. House Committee on Trade and Industry Chairman Ferjenel Biron of the Fourth District of Iloilo said the bill would simplify issuances of licenses, clearances or permits to business entities. “The purpose of this bill is to provide an easy, simple, straightforward and trouble-free avenue

for entrepreneurs, micro, small and medium businesses and ordinary citizens who would like to venture into business in the country,” Biron said. With its 12th-largest popu lation and the 43rd-largest economy in the world, Rep. Luis R ay mund Vil laf uer te of Camar ines Sur, the panel v ice chairman and one of the authors of the bil l, said the Philippines ranked as the second-most favored destination for foreig n d i r e c t i n v e s t m e nt ( F D I ) i n Southeast A sia. However, Villafuerte said the Philippines’s rank in ease of doing business is one of the lowest in the world, at 171st out of 185 countries this year. For example, he added, dealing with construction permits still takes 24 procedures. This is just to build a basic physical establishment. Compare this to East Asia and the Pacific’s average of 15 procedures, Villafuerte said. “Worse, it takes 16 procedures and 28 days to start a business compared to the region’s average of seven procedures and 23 days,” he added. Under the substitute bill, the

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ANGE AGENDA scribed processing time is fixed by special laws, the time prescribed by such laws shall apply. The bill is currently pending before plenary deliberations.

Land conversion

Ease of Doing Business Commission shall be created to continue review and repeal of existing executive issuances and recommend the repeal of existing laws and local ordinances that are outdated, redundant and adds undue reg ulator y burdens to business entities. The commission shall be composed of a chairman, the secretary of trade and finance secretary as ex-officio members. There would also be one private-sector representative each for the micro, small and medium enterprises and large industry sectors.

Special types

T H E e a s e - of - doi n g - bu s i ne s s bil l a lso said a l l nationa l gover n ment agenc ies a nd L GUs issuing licenses, clearances or per m its to business ent it ies s h a l l p o s t a compre he n s i v e check list requirement for ever y t y pe of license, clearance or per mit to be issued. A uniform check list of requirements required by licensing and permitting offices issuing a similar license, clearance or permit shall be established when applicable. It added the

checklist of requirements, stepby-step procedure and schedule of fees for the issuance of a license, clearance or permit shall be con s pic uou sly posted i n , among others, the premises of national and local government licensing and permitting agencies, the business one-stop shop or in designated public places. The bill said the prescribed processing time shall in no case be longer than one working day for barangay governments, three working days for simple applications and 10 working days for complex applications from the time of receipt of the application. Meanwhile, for special types of business that require clearances, accreditation or licenses issued by government agencies, including regulatory agencies as provided for by law, where technical evaluation or such necessary condition is required in the processing of licenses, clearance or permits, the prescribed processing time shall in no cases be longer than 30 working days or as determined by the government agency or instrumentality concerned, whichever is shorter. Provided, that where the pre-

ANOTHER priority is an Act prohibiting conversion of irrigated lands. In May Alvarez filed HB 5501, prohibiting the acceptance, processing and approval of applications for land-use conversion of agricultural lands, irrigated lands and irrigable lands to nonagricultural purposes. Alvarez said the World Food Summit in 1996 defined food security as the state, “when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy lifestyle.” To achieve this goal, Alvarez said it is indispensable that sufficient land resources are protected and available in order to produce sufficient food for the nation. One of the legal instruments designed to achieve food security is R A 6675, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, he added. With this program, Alvarez said farmers are expected to own land which they can till to uplift their socioeconomic status while providing adequate food for Filipinos. However, the house speaker said the same law allows for the reclassification or conversion of agricultural land and its disposition, should the land cease to be economically feasible and sound for agricultural purposes after the lapse of five years. Also, if the same has become more urbanized and will be more economically valuable for residential, commercial and industrial purposes. “As a result, prime agricultural lands, as well as irrigated or irrigable lands, have been adversely affected by rampant and unchecked conversions,” Alvarez said. “This has led to a distributing threat not only against our country’s food security, but to the whole agrarianreform program, as well.” To ensure food security and to promote social justice, the speaker said he is pushing for the passage of HB 5501 to protect the remaining prime agricultural lands and irrigated and irrigable lands, while maintaining and strengthening the level of food security. Alvarez’s bill is now under deliberation of the House Committee on Agrarian Reform.

Fair elections

AN Amendment to Fair Election Act has also been flagged as a priority bill. Fariñas, author of HB 4898, said his proposal seeks to regulate the rates of and increase the discount charged by media outlets to political parties and bona fide candidates for political propaganda advertisements during the election period. Currently, the majority leader said R A 9006, or the Fair Elections Act, mandated media outlets to charge political propaganda advertisements a discounted rate of 30 percent for television,

20 percent for radio and 10 percent for print over the average rates charged during the first three quarters of the calendar year preceding the elections. In order to offset the losses from the discounts granted under the said law, Fariñas said some media outlets circumvented the provision on discounts by increasing the rates charged for political advertisements by almost 100 percent. “This practice by certain media outlets proved too cumbersome for most candidates who have meager campaign resources to avail themselves of political advertisement in television, radio and print media,” he said. As evident during past elections, Fariñas added that the political parties and bona fide candidates who have scarce resources to fun the exorbitant costs of media advertisements tend to seek for contributors to sponsor their advertisement and to whom they will be indebted to for the duration of their term of office. “This could provide an avenue for political corruption, wherein politicians would be making decisions benefiting their sponsors while foregoing the interests of the public,” he added. According to Fariñas, the passage of his bill will provide equal opportunity among qualified political candidates to avail themselves of affordable political advertisements through the tri-media, such as print, radio and television. Fariñas’s proposal is still pending before the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms.

Anti-hazing

AMID the accusations leveled a g a i n st A e g i s Ju r i s, a n ac t strengthening RA 8049, or the Anti-Hazing Law of 1995, is cited as a priority. This is where HB 3467 comes in. This measure seeks to prohibit all forms of hazing and regulate the initiation rites of fraternities, sororities and other organizations. According to Party-list Rep. Ber nadette R . Her rera-Dy of Bagong Henerasyon, author of the bill, hazing has been, and continues to present, a serious problem in the Philippine and in other countries in the world, including Indonesia, Russia, India and the United States. S he s a id t he go v e r n me nt should act to correct such ubiqu itou s a nd i nst it ut ion a l i zed activity as hazing has become. Herrera-Dy’s bill makes all hazing illegal, instead of just regulating hazing, with penalties ranging from fines to life imprisonment, depending on the seriousness of the hazing incident. The bill also makes any crime committed by the victim as a result of the hazing attached to the perpetrator. Important, the bill also expands the definition of hazing beyond just incidences related to gaining membership in an organization. The bill also expands the definition of hazing to cover psychological injuries in addition to physical suffering, as well as beyond just incidences related to gaining membership in an organization. The measure is now pending before the House plenary.

Disaster response

L AW M A K ER S are eyeing the formation of a Department of Disaster Response. Rep. Doy C. Leachon of the First District of Oriental Mindoro, principal author of the bill creating the new agency, said the bill recognizes the Philippines as one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. During the past decades, he said the country has endured from deadly typhoons, storm surge, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Leachon said every year approximately 80 typhoons develop above tropical waters, of which 19 enter the Philippine region and six to nine make landfall. “These calamities [have] caused severe damaged not only to our countr y’s infrastr ucture but, worst, had also killed thousands of countrymen.” With this, Leachon said an independent and separate department that will solely focus on preparing, responding, preventing, mitigating the aftermath of these calamities and restoring the livelihood, facilities and among others of the affected communities is of paramount necessity. He added establishing a new and independent department will avoid the tedious process in responding to these calamities. He said the preparation and response relating to national disaster control will be more effective and more responsive in the country. Leachon’s bill is still pending before the House Committee on National Defense.

Town doctor

IN the lower chamber, there are three bills providing medical scholarship to qualified students in all municipalities establishing for the purpose the one town: one doctor scholarship. One of these measures is authored by Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto of the Sixth District of Batangas. According to the lady lawmaker, there are only 70,000 doctors for 100 million Filipinos in the Philippines. “It is even worst in the rural areas, where there are just about 3 public doctors for every 100,000 population,” Santos-Recto said. The lawmaker said the obstacles faced by health-care providers and patients in rural areas are vastly different from those in urban areas, saying people there face a unique combination of factors that create inadequacies in health care not found in urban areas. “Economic factors, cultural and social differences, education shortcomings, and the sheer isolation of living in remote rural areas all conspire to impede the people in their struggle to lead a normal healthy life,” she said. “Medical doctors are more enticed to practice in cities than in rural communities, causing misdistribution of medical doctors and other allied-medical professionals in the countr y. Hospitals in rural areas, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao face crises and even imminent closure because of lack of medical doctors.”

Santos-Recto explained that doctors are the drivers of the health-care system. The system can fail if there is a shortage of doctors, she added. She attributed the shortage of doctors to the migration of healthcare professionals to other professions and the high cost of medical studies beyond the reach of most Filipino families. SantosRecto also blamed urban migration or the transfer of most doctors to urban areas where technology and money are present. She also noted the exodus of doctors to other countries for further training or experience and for better pay as a reason for the shortage. The lawmaker said her bill provides solution to address the medical manpower crisis through a state-sponsored scholarship program for those qualified students to become doctors. The proposed One Town: One Doctor Act is still pending in the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education.

Family Code

ALVAREZ has also filed HB 5268 to prevent bitter property feuds between estranged couples. In his proposal, Alvarez seeks to amend Article 75 of Title IV of the Family Code mandating that in the absence of a marriage settlement—better known as a “prenuptial agreement”—all properties brought into the marriage, including those acquired during the period, shall be governed by the system of absolute community or co-owned by the couple in equal shares. Alvarez said that, while at first glance, the provision of the law seems to be a testament to the integrity of the Filipino family, it does not address the complicated realities facing marriages or relationships on the rocks. To address these problems, the bill proposes to replace the regime of absolute community with that of total separation of property. “ This system provides that each spouse shall own, dispose of, possess, administer and enjoy his and her own property, without need for consent of the other,” Alvarez said. “Additionally, separate earnings shall be owned by each spouse separately.” T he bi l l seek ing proposed amendments to the Family Code of the Philippines retains the provision of the Code allowing future couples to enter into a marriage settlement for a “regime of absolute community, conjugal partnership of gains, complete separation of property or any other regime.” T he proposed a mend ment provides: “In the absence of a marriage settlement, or when the regime agreed upon is void, the regime of total separation of property as established in this Code shall govern.” Likewise, the same system applies to the property regimes of unions without marriage or under a void marriage. Under Article 147 of the Family Code, the salaries and wages of such couple are coowned in equal shares. The proposal is still pending before the House Committee on Revision of Laws.

Banking&Finance

Thursday, November 2, 2017 • Editor: Jun B. Vallecera

BusinessMirror

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Government rejects sale of military real estate

By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

he government rejected the notion of selling more military real-estate assets but welcomed potential proposals for joint ventures, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

Dominguez clarified the equal sharing of the income of the BCDA does not mean automatic appropriation for military pension. “No, I never said that. I said there’s 50 percent for modernization and another 50 percent without specification,” he said. According to the finance chief, the military has many assets scattered around the country as it owns close to 200,000 hectares of undeveloped land. “It is quite impressive. I think they own close to 200 hectares. They’re not all prime but they have large camps. Fort Magsaysay is 40,000 hectares. There’s a big one also in Bukidnon, I just forgot the name,” he added. Earlier in the month, the Department of Budget and Management said more military assets may be sold, leased or developed under a joint-venture agreement with private firms, to fund the P7-trillion pension of the military. Rea Cu

According to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, while there is no timeline as to when military land will be up for sale or lease, some form of joint development that presents a stream of revenues to the nation’s coffers is acceptable. “There is no particular schedule yet for which ones, but our idea is really not to sell. Our idea is some kind of joint venture so that there is continuing value that will be received by the Treasury,” Dominguez

told financial reporters. He added the military assets would be used to support the expenses of the Armed Forces. The Philippines Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is the agency empowered to go into joint ventures. “It’s the BCDA because they are empowered by law. And the law says 50 percent of their income should go to modernization. The other 50 percent [will be] for military expenses,” he added.

Regulators relaunch merger mechanism for rural lenders

France extends $115-million loan to help support 2017 budget

he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has extended an incentive-driven program allowing rural banks to merge, capture more market and achieve a larger capital base. In an interview with reporters, Deputy BSP Governor for the Supervision and Examination Sector Chuchi Fonacier said the mechanism known as the Consolidation Program for Rural Banks (CPRB) will be relaunched with amendments and enhancements. Fonacier said the relaunch of the modified CPRB is targeted sometime before the end of the year now that a new memorandum of agreement (MOA) had been signed. The important amendments to the program include the relaxation of the number of banks involved in the proposed consolidation. “In the old CPRB, the number was fixed at five banks. Now, that is being relaxed for as long as the [minimum] CAR [capital adequacy ratio] of 12 percent and the minimum P100 million resulting capital is met. No more required number of banks,” the deputy governor said. Fonacier added the program is available over the next two years for interested rural banks, starting with the signing of the MOA. The program has, thus, far attracted three proposed consolidations. Fonacier said the three applications are in different stages of completion, although one is in the “advanced” phase and in the process of gathering the documents for a new umbrella bank. The BSP could grant approval of the consolidation as soon as early-2018. Bianca Cuaresma

he Philippines has obtained a loan worth €100 million or $115 million from Agence Française de Développement (AFD) of France to support Sub-program 2 of the Local Government Finance and Fiscal Decentralization Reform Program (LGFFDR2), according to the Department of Finance. At the executive committee (Execom) meeting, the Inter nationa l Finance Group (IFG) told Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III the loan was in recognition of achievements made in the name of inclusive growth and poverty reduction by the government. The DOF said the measures to reduce poverty include creating a conducive fiscal framework for inclusive growth; developing an adequate and equitable resource framework for fiscal sustainability; strengthening public financial management to assist efficient local government unit service delivery; and fostering good local governance, transparency and accountability. According to the IFG, the target disbursement for the loan is either in the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2018. The LGFFDR2 is a program loan forming part of the government’s external financing program to partially support the budget this year.

The loan is cofinanced by AFD and the Asian Development Bank, with the latter providing $250 million. As such, all activities, policy actions and indicators necessary to facilitate the disbursement of the LGFFDR2 had already been successfully achieved, the DOF said. According to the IFG report, the LGFFDR2 aims to achieve inclusive growth and reduce poverty via improved service delivery by local governments units (LGUs), through proposed revision of the 1991 Local Government Code and the creation of a conducive fiscal framework for inclusive growth, the development of an adequate and equitable resource framework; strengthening of public financial management for efficient LGU service delivery; and reinforcement of good local governance, transparency and accountability. In October the Philippines and France signed an agreement on agriculture establishing the Joint Agricultural Steering Committee. The committee aims to facilitate interactions between the two countries and enhance bilateral cooperation in areas including the promotion of the diversity of agricultural products and of sustainable agricultural practices, among others. Rea Cu

Association membership trends

’d like to share with you this time key results of researches by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Foundation, which examined the changing nature of association membership. Over the last 10 years, ASAE and the ASAE Foundation conducted studies that explored why people choose to belong to associations, what associations do to continue to attract and retain members, and how these engagement strategies may change in the future. Findings from studies, such as “The Decision to Join,” “The Decision to Volunteer,” “Exploring the Future of Membership” and “10 Lessons for Cultivating Member Commitment,” indicate the following key drivers for membership success: Meet members where they are— Many associations are trying to meet the demands of a changing work force with more customized membership options, offering individuals the ability to select what is most relevant to them at a particular point in their life or career. In “Innovations in Membership Engagement: A Benchmarking Study,” researchers found that some associations allow individual members to customize benefits to match needs and interests. One association changed its benefits structure to allow members to pay only for the benefits they wanted, which led to the doubling of both its membership and number of chapters. Involvement alters perspective— “The Decision to Volunteer” study confirmed that volunteers are among the most dedicated and engaged members of their associations. Volunteers are

Association World Octavio Peralta also more likely to promote membership to nonmembers. Associations can expand the value that volunteering provides to the individual and to the organization by creating opportunities for more, and particularly newer, members to get involved. Associations that find they often have the same people in the room can diversify their volunteer pools by recruiting members in different career and life phases to serve on boards and committees, while ad hoc volunteering options appeal to individual interests and serve as low-commitment opportunities for first-time volunteers. Curated content—Now that the Internet makes volumes of content available with just a click of a mouse, associations may no longer be the primary source of professional information for their members. One challenge in the Internet era when so much information are available, however, is that it can be difficult to identify the most reliable and relevant content. In “Exploring the Future of Membership,” researchers found that through curat ion, associat ions of fer t heir members value by “separating the wheat from the chaff,” pointing members to the resources they can use to do their jobs.

Value remains key—While ways people engage with associations are shifting, the benefits associations provide still drive the membership choice. In “The Decision to Join,” association members and non-members assessed the importance of different individual and field-wide benefits of membership to their decision to join an association. Specific individual benefits—such as networking, access to current information on one’s field and professional development opportunities—were rated highest overall, but “good of the order” benefits—including promotion of the field, the creation and maintenance of standards and codes of ethics, and advocacy—were rated higher as a group than personal benefits. Delivering on both individual and whole-field benefits will encourage member retention and membership growth. Members and potential members believe in the value of association work, but static models of membership and benefits may no longer appeal to their needs. By making adjustments to reflect their communities’ interests, associations will be able to position the benefits they offer to engage current and future members. The column contributor, Octavio “Bobby” Peralta, is concurrently the secretarygeneral of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific and the CEO and founder of the PCAAE. The PCAAE is holding the Associations Summit 5 and the “Ang Susi” Awards 2017 on November 22 and 23 at the Philippine International Convention Center. E-mail inquiries@adfiap.org for more details.

Malaysia lender looking to acquire franchise for Philippine operations T

wo more foreign banks were to make their presence felt in the Philippines before the end of the year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). BSP Deputy Governor for the Supervision and Examination Sector Chuchi Fonacier said a Malaysian lender and a Swiss bank have applied for permission to operate in the Philippines and their application were seen approved within the year. Credit Suisse, the Swiss bank intending to begin as soon as possible, is looking to establish its first representative office in the Philippines. So-called Rep-Os are nonlending entities that act as the eyes or ears of their principals looking out for business opportunities in the Philippines. The Malaysian lender, on the other hand, intends to put up a branch. Several banks have since made their presence felt in the Philippines following the sector’s liberalization allowing

for the entry of more foreign lenders. The legislation allowing greater foreign participation was approved in 2014, consistent with the financial integration goals of countries grouped under the Asean. In addition, six more foreign banks have expressed the intent to operate in the country. Fonacier said two of the six interested banks are based in Taiwan, two are from China, one from Indonesia and another from South Korea. While the six banks have yet to formally submit their application to the BSP, Fonacier said all look forward to putting up a branch, except for one Taiwanese bank interested in putting up an offshore banking unit or OBU. One other Korean bank is partnering with a local bank by buying equity. The State Bank of India was the latest foreign bank allowed to gain entry. Low volume of activities later forced its managers to stop operations. Bianca Cuaresma

Case clippings

By Justice S J Ranada Jr.

MOTIONS FOR RECONSIDERATION–extension of period The general rule is that no motion for extension of time to file a motion for reconsideration is allowed. However, where the grounds for extension clearly were not intended to delay the proceedings but were caused by reasons beyond the movant’s control, such as the withdrawal of counsel because of his appointment as Cabinet secretary, and the affliction of a serious illness of the new lawyer, the extension should be granted. Pilipinas v. Coco Oct 2017

GR 196419 04 Martires, J

Sonus, Genband complete merger and name change to Ribbon Communications S INGAPORE—Sonus Networks Inc., a global leader in secure and intelligent cloud communications, today announced the completion of the Sonus and Genband mergers following which each became a wholly owned subsidiary of a parent company formed for purposes of the transaction and renamed Sonus Networks Inc. In connection with closing the transaction, Sonus Networks also announced that, effective on Wednesday, it began conducting business as Ribbon Communications. The company will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker SONS until its new corporate name (Ribbon Communications Inc.) and its new ticker symbol (RBBN) become effective by the end of 2017. The transaction is a merger of equals, and former Sonus and Genband shareholders each own approximately 50 percent of the parent company, which had approximately 102 million shares outstanding post close. Genband’s former equity holders also received a $22.5-million unsecured note as part of the transaction consideration. The transaction is expected to be substantially accretive to the combined company’s earnings per share in 2018. The combined company is expected to realize annual cost synergies of $40 million to $50 million in 2018, and to drive solid

cash flow from operations in the first year after closing. “Today is a tremendous day as we bring together two companies that have been at the forefront of real-time communications into a single, unified entity focused on serving our customers and moving the industry forward,” said Ray Dolan, president and CEO of Ribbon Communications. “Our new name offers a fresh start and embodies our ambition to build one of the largest, most innovative, dedicated and secure global real-time communications organizations on the market. In today’s complexly woven world, we deliver the secure, immersive, contextual experiences that enhance our lives. I’m privileged to lead this new team—together, we are stronger than ever and ready to help bring the digital future to life,” he added. “With humans more connected in so many different ways than ever before, the real-time communications we rely on must become a more comprehensive, engaging and all-encompassing experience. Additionally, the new Ribbon Communications name reflects the unparalleled suite of real-time communicationssoftware solutions that the combined company brings to the market. Ribbon Communications is ready to deliver the flexibility, security and stability that today’s digital life requires, enabling better business outcomes,” Dolan said.

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PAL launches three more domestic routes from Davao

E. Visayas SMEs earn P32M in Bahandi trade fair

Mindanao Bureau Chief

Bohol, Boracay named among top 10 destinations for kids in Asia

ORACAY ISLAND—The province of Bohol and the island of Boracay had been included in the top 10 best destinations for kids in Asia. The web site Poor Travellers said Bohol province ranked fifth, and the island of Boracay was at sixth. The web site, however, cautions tourists coming to both Bohol and Boracay with kids to coordinate with the Department of Social Welfare and Development to ensure the welfare of the children. The first in the lists was Tokyo, Japan, because of both its Disneyland and Disney Sea destination; followed by Hong Kong, which also has its own version of Disneyland. The third was Seoul, South Korea, and the fourth was Singapore for their Universal Studio. The fifth was Bohol because of its tarsier. It was followed by Boracay which features its white, beach and other watersports activities. The seventh was Osaka and Kyoto in Japan. No. 8 was Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; ninth was Bali, Indonesia; and tenth was Johor Baru, Malaysia. Jun N. Aguirre

By Elmer Recuerdo | Correspondent

ACLOBAN CITY—Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Eastern Visayas get a muchneeded boost in sales and exposure from the recently concluded Bahandi 2007 trade fair in Metro Manila.

By Manuel T. Cayon

AVAO CITY—Philippine Airlines (PAL) mounted three more domestic flights over the holidays from the airport here as it widens its use of provincial hubs to avoid the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport. On Wednesday, it launched its Tagbilaran and Cagayan de Oro routes, and then its Zamboanga route on Thursday. Tagbilaran would have four flights a week, Cagayan de Oro with daily flights and Zamboanga with three flights. Three other routes were being studied for possible opening from this airport within the next two years, but the company declined to identify them yet. PAL mounted early this year its Japan flight, with stopover at the Mactan airport. Harry D. Inoferio, PAL senior assistant vice president for the Visayas-Mindanao sales, told reporters here the new flights would be complemented with three new daily flights that also from the Cebu hub: Siargao in Surigao del Norte, Camiguin, Ozamiz City and Legazpi City. On December 2 PAL would fly three times to Bangkok from Cebu, but it would mount its Beijing flight earlier on November 5. Also in December Cagayan de Oro City would also begin serving Clark. He said PAL would mount more flights as its order for new aircraft would also begin arriving in the country. For delivery are 12 Q400 turboprop planes that can seat 86, including six premium seats; four A350 that can seat 280 persons; eight A321 Neo with 200 seat-capacity; and two B347, with 280 seats. From its existing fleet of A330, eight were refurbished to accommodate three class seats: business, premium and economy. Tourism Regional Director Roberto P. Alabado III said the Davao airport is gradually getting more flights from various promotions campaign but, at the rate when night flights have become regular, he said the airport remains underutilized.

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Thursday, November 2, 2017 A9

FROG DELICACY

Bullfrogs are plenty at the Angeles City public market in Pampanga because of the rains. Filipinos in the rural areas count on frogs to augment their food supply, but the French consider them a delicacy. LAILA AUSTRIA

Catholic bishop: Mining brought division in tiny Samar island

ACLOBAN CITY—A Roman Catholic bishop has voiced his opposition to the application of a big mining company to conduct a large-scale open-pit mining operation in a tiny Eastern Samar island, saying the miner has already caused a division within a closely knit community. In a pastoral statement, Borongan Bishop Crispin B. Varquez said the mining operations caused great suffering to the people living in small islands in the archipelago. “The social impact of the mining issue in Manicani is very negative. It has brought wounds of community division, and worse, blood has already been shed,” Varquez said in his statement. Anti-mining protests in Eastern Visayas snowballed with simultaneous rallies held in Guiuan town and in the cities of Borongan and Tacloban on October 27. In this city anti-mining groups continue to hold a campout at the gate of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources regional office, which they promised to continue until November 18, or until they get an assurance that no mining permit is issued. Big mining company Hinatuan Mining Corp. (HMC) is asking for renewal of its mining contract that expired on October 28. If granted, it will allow the company to continue its open-pit nickel-ore extraction in the whole island for 25 years. Mining operations were suspended in 2002, amid complaints of environmental destruction and rising social tension.

Manicani Island, a 1,165-hectare islet south of mainland Samar, is home to over 3,000 people, mostly related by blood. The residents of four communities in the island rely on farming and fishing for livelihood. Mining operations destroyed hundreds of hectares of farm lots planted to cassava, sweet potato, banana and vegetables until operations were suspended. After 15 years of suspension of mining operations, residents are still suffering from the destruction it wreaked on farming. Environmentalists argue any mining operation in Manicani is illegal because it is within the Guiuan Protected Landscapes and Seascapes, a marine-protected reserve of Guiuan town. The declaration was issued in 1994 by former President Fidel V. Ramos, two years after the first mining contract of HMC was approved in 1992. A 30-minute ride on a motorized boat from Manicani is Homonhon Island, where two other mining companies are actively operating. Homonhon Island plays an important role in Philippine history for being the first island in the Philippines reached by the Spanish expedition of Ferdinand Magellan in 1621 to spread Christianity. In his pastoral statement, Varquez appealed to local government officials to “use the power they have given to you for [the people’s] benefit rather than for their detriment.” “It is immoral to destroy the lives of other human beings by destroying their habitat,” the bishop said. “Mining operations are ex-

traction of the Earth’s goods that greatly cause suffering to our people due to the devastation of many of the islands in our archipelago.” “I don’t believe that mining brings economic progress to the area and to its people. We take a look at Homonhon Island. Mining in the area has been operating for more than 25 years, but the majority of the people in the island remain poor and have become poorer,” Varquez added. “Instead of bringing them progress, mining has damaged their farms, their source of water and the marine life surrounding them,” he said. “Ordinary fishermen and farmers and their families are struggling to live.” Varquez added what makes the impact of mining worse in Manicani is that the island is smaller than Homonhon. “In the process of extracting minerals, its ecological system will be destroyed. The source of water will be affected. Marine life, which is vital to the livelihood of the people living in the island, will also be adversely affected. Shall we just stand and watch these things befall our brothers and sisters?” he said. Varquez added that since mining operations were suspended, the people have been able to look for alternative sources of livelihood that is sustainable. “If HMC resumes the operation, the island will be totally destroyed, and the people will have no more farm to produce their food, no more water to drink and marine life will disappear. Many people will have nowhere to go,” he added. Elmer Recuerdo

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Regional Director Cynthia R. Nierras said local producers sold more than P32 million worth of items, almost double their target of P16.5 million. She said the amount only includes cash and order, and does not cover those under negotiations. She said 132 producers participated in this year’s Bahandi as compared to 106 producers last year. “Our products are getting better, and our producers are improving and getting bigger,” Nierras added. She said holding a trade fair like the yearly Bahandi is important for micro, small and medium enterprises, especially for the new producers, because it gives their products a wide exposure and connects them to regular buyers, including exporters. Nierras added the goal is to find markets for local products. She said Bahandi provides a venue for the regular producers to reconnect with their buyers, on a one-onone setting together with their new or improved products. Likewise, she added, new producers can also meet buyers from Manila, both the institutional buyers as well as retailers. Nierras said the big sales made

this year could help boost local production, provide employment for additional workers in the industries and higher income for farmers who supply the raw materials. “This is our way to improve the economic activity in the region and get more people employed,” Nierras said. Most of the participants in Bahandi 2017 were processed-food producers, while less than a third of exhibitors were into handicrafts. The five-day Bahandi 2017 was held from October 4 to 8 at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City. Nierras added many local producers now exporting their products to other countries started in Bahandi where they met their counterparts. Meanwhile, Nierras said the DTI also recently conducted an entrepreneurship mind-setting aimed at giving SMSEs “the right mind-set to be successful.” Another activity conducted was a logistics caravan, where logistics industry players in Manila were invited to assess the local logistics industry. She said such a caravan is important for local producers because the industry supports the shipment of local products.

Classes resume in some Marawi City schools

AVAO CITY—At least 12 public schools in the Islamic City of Marawi have began holding classes after the war-torn city was declared liberated from armed terrorists. One school began holding classes as early as July. The Camp Bagong Amai Pakpak Elementary School was the earliest to resume classes, owing to its distance from the battle areas in the city, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said. The conflict was officially declared terminated in mid-October after the last of the Maute brothers, Omar, was killed on October 16, along with the Isis-proclaimed emir of Southeast Asia, Isnilon Hapilon. The other schools were Sultan Conding Elementary School, Sikap Elementary School, Cabingan Primary School, Banga Elementary School, Datu Tambak Elementary School, Rorogagus Elementary School, Bito Elementary School, Pendolonan Elementary School, Abdulazis Elemen-

tary School, Sugod Elementary School and Mipaga Elementary School. The ARMM Bureau of Public Information quoted one Norhanifah Alikhan, a Grade 6 teacher of Camp Bagong Amai Pakpak Elementary School, as confirming the holding of enrollment in their school in July. “As early as July there were already parents who enrolled their children, since the school is far from the battle area,” Alikhan said. “We see the eagerness in the children to go to school despite the bad situation,” Alikhan added, emphasizing importance of quality education for children “amid and beyond times of conflict.” The information office also quoted one Sohayli Alan, Grade 6 pupil of Camp BagongAmaiPakpakElementarySchool, who said she wants to attend school because “I want to fulfill my ambition.” Alan,14,dreamsofbecomingapoliceman someday. “I want to be a policeman so that when someone would bring trouble again to our place, I would be the one to defend the city.” Manuel T. Cayon

PNP notes peaceful observance of ‘Undas’ in Central Visayas By Marcel L. Woo Correspondent

EBU CITY—The early hours of Undas on Wednesday was relatively peaceful and orderly, even as thousands of people trooped to the various cemeteries in Central Visayas, the Cebu Cityheadquartered Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 said. PRO 7 Director Jose Mario Espino said he has not received any major incidents related to the observance of All Saints’ Day on Wednesday in Cebu, Bohol, Negros and Siquijor. “We are happy the public is cooperating with the police even with the strict security measures we implemented in cemeteries,” Espino said. In Cebu City thousands of people

trooped to the major cemeteries of Carreta and Calamba to visit their departed loved ones. Espino added the relatively good weather prompted more people to visit the cemeteries early. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration earlier told the public to brace for a rainy Undas. It rained hard on Tuesday, causing muddy cemeteries, but Wednesday was sunny. As of noon time on Wednesday, the police have already seized bladed weapons, mostly those used in clearing tombs of weeds and plants, and bottles of alcoholic drinks. At the Carreta Cemetery, the police arrested a 27-year-old wanted man for carrying an unlicensed

.38 caliber revolver inside the cemetery undetected by security personnel manning the entrance. Water f ront Pol ice St at ion Chief Senior Insp. Jovito Labra said a concerned citizen informed the police about the suspect, Rolito Fernandez. Labra said Fernandez, who they found has an arrest warrant for robbery, was immediately arrested by authorities. Espino was hoping the peaceful and orderly trend observed on Wednesday morning would continue until Thursday. He stressed PRO 7 has not received any intelligence information on pending threats in Cebu and other parts of the region. However, Espino said the police

has been on red alert to ensure a peaceful and safe observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. Aside from deploying hundreds of policemen and security personnel at the different cemeteries in Central Visayas, he said policemen have also been deployed in various tourist destinations in the region. On Tuesday night, a policewoman tasked to secure one of the cemeteries in Lapu-Lapu City was attacked and killed by still unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen along Barangay Basak in Mandaue City. Police Officer 1 Sassy Mae Sasing was on her way home to Barangay Jugan, Consolacion, onboard her motorcycle after her shift as part of

the security team tasked to secure Lapu-Lapu City’s cemeteries when she was shot by a gunman shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday, October 31. Mandaue City Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna told reporters Sasing died in the hospital at 8:30 p.m. Sasing, who was assigned at the Public Safety Company of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, sustained multiple gunshot wounds on her body and on the back of her head, Fortuna said. Initial reports showed the motorcycle-riding gunmen had been following her since she left the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office headquarters at past 7 p.m. At the crime scene, Soco operatives found three empty shells from a .45 caliber pistol.

A10 Thursday, November 2, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

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Rock-star president

resident Duterte’s second official visit to Japan can be described with one word: successful. The President met with Japan’s industry leaders in Tokyo and witnessed the signing of several business deals. As an appetizer, he got $6 billion in investments, which will be channeled to shipbuilding, iron and steel, agribusiness, power, renewable energy, transportation, infrastructure and mineral processing. The main course was served by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to provide ¥1 trillion in economic assistance to the Philippines over the next five years.

A joint statement issued by the two leaders in Tokyo said: “The government of Japan will strongly support the sustainable economic development of the Philippines by extending quality infrastructure assistance, using Japan’s funding and technology.” Japan’s assistance will include programs to ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila through a subway project, among others. In addition, Japan also pledged to help the Philippines introduce better electric and liquefied natural gas facilities to improve the country’s power-supply system. The President’s success in securing economic assistance from Tokyo indicates that Japan is trying to compete with China to forge a better relationship with the Duterte administration. Pundits said Abe has been trying hard to win Duterte over in dealing with territorial disputes in the South China Sea, especially after the latter’s visit to China. On the other hand, it’s apparent that China, too, is trying to charm Duterte by pledging to extend economic assistance worth $24 billion. President Xi Jinping made the pledge when he met with Duterte in Beijing in October last year. It’s important to note that the economic pledges from Japan and China are voluntary offers from these countries and not requests from the Philippine government. If there’s jockeying between Japan and China for a stronger relationship with the Philippines, it means that the Chief Executive’s decision to pursue an independent foreign policy based on Philippine interest is paying great dividends. By putting strong emphasis on the country’s ties with Japan and China, Duterte succeeded in creating a situation where the two economic powers are now competing to impress the Philippines with promises of generous economic assistance. Wataru Kusaka, associate professor of political science at the Graduate School of International Development at Nagoya University, said: “Duterte’s intention looks very clear. He is trying to maximize what he can win from Japan and China. So it’s important for Tokyo to have the Filipino people feel that Japan is moving fast, in particular in assisting social infrastructure projects. That’s why infrastructure projects come at the top of the list of economic cooperation items in a summary of a joint statement released by the Japanese government.” As the President continues to forge stronger ties with Japan and China, and despite his “separation” from the United States during a state visit to China, it’s worth mentioning that Duterte has yet to cut the country’s military, economic, and cultural ties with the US. The President has the numbers in Congress to undo all military and other agreements that perpetuate the unequal relationship between the US and the Philippines if he so desires. However, aside from honoring these agreements, Duterte seems ready to improve his relationship with President Donald J. Trump. There’s no denying that Duterte has succeeded in recalibrating the country’s foreign policy by strengthening ties with China and Japan and improving relations with non-traditional partners, including Russia and India. For his success in cultivating closer ties with different global powers, Duterte, in the process, has become a rock-star president recognized by other world leaders.

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The Philippines is a globalist threat John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

nless you are blinded by your political views, it is difficult not to notice that there is a negative bias against the Philippines. This is not about conspiracy theories like one that is now circulating that the Marawi siege was a United States Central Intelligence Agency plot to destabilize the government.

It is much more subtle and, in a sense, sinister than that sort of speculation. We can see from global events that there is a battle between those that believe in a sort of “One World Order” and those that are committed to national sovereignty and national self-interest. The failed initiative of the TransPacific Partnership was an effort by the US to bring more nations together to from a union that would better serve the interests of the few more powerful countries led by the US. In return for supposed greater access to the US markets, the Philippines, for example, would

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repeatedly called out Vietnam for its death penalty. But the EU has not had a problem pushing the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, which will go into force in 2019 even as foreign direct investment in Vietnam is up 34 percent in 2016. The One World Order people cannot afford to have the Philippines succeed either economically or geopolitically. However, they walk a difficult path. The US stops armaments shipments to the Philippines and sees both Russia and China fill the gap. Certainly, also, the US would go crazy if the time ever came for the annual joint military exercises—Balikatan—taking place with the Philippine Armed Forces and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Duterte’s inflammatory rhetoric has furthered and increased tensions. But it is also true—if you closely follow the international press—that any opportunity to cast the Philippines in a negative light is seized. E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stockmarket information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

The need for a joint congressional investigation on the Marawi siege

✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Publisher

have had to give up some of its own laws protecting local consumers and companies. Simplistically, Vietnam would have been able to sell more rice to the US, but then would have had to accept importing more US automobiles. While nations are expected to operate in their own self-interests, there is an unwritten rule that no one is allowed to go too far in protecting those interests. Take the recent example of the Catalonia region in Spain. Certain groups in Catalan have been calling for complete independence for decades. The Spanish Constitution

forbids this from happening and the European Union (EU) has backed Spain in putting down this independence movement. However, the EU mandate and charter also says that people have the right to selfdetermination. Regardless of any charges of voting irregularity, the EU was extremely upset by the fact that Crimea opted to join Russia. However, the EU is comfortable with Scotland leaving the United Kingdom. Since President Duterte made clear his intention of the Philippines pursuing a more independent —meaning not under US control— foreign policy, the Philippines has become a global “bad boy.” There was the continuous propaganda that the nation would become a debt slave to China. No one but a person completely ignorant of how the process of taking a foreign loan works or someone only with a political agenda could buy that argument. The administration’s “war on drugs” and the issues of human rights are valid. But threats of officially curtailing foreign investment is simply bias. Neither the EU nor the US has called for the same action against China. Human-rights groups have

joint congressional investigation on the Marawi siege must be immediately conducted, not only to pinpoint responsibility as to why and how it happened, but more so to prevent it from recurring. Here are a few suggestions and some stark lessons learned from the incident: 1. With a population of 201,785 and a total land area of 8,755 hectares, Marawi City, Lanao del Sur’s capital, is roughly divided into 96 barangays at 91 hectares each, making them the most closely knit local government unit in Mindanao. Specifically, it is bounded by Kapai and Saguiaran towns to the north; Lake Lanao to the south; Bubong and Ditsaan municipalities to the east; and Marantao town to the west, not far from the popular Bagang Beach and the city’s commercial center. By inference, Marawi City, the Islamic and educational capital of the Moro autonomous region, is the most secured place in the whole of Mindanao with 96 brigades comprising more than 1,000 barangay officials, tanods and militias under the local peace and order councils serving as safety and security multipliers for the

police forces and two military brigades (marines and army) at both ends of the city. Another army brigade is in Iligan City, and an army division is also in Cagayan de Oro City. How a handful of Islamic States of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-affiliated terrorists easily captured the city defies intelligence, safety and security logic from both the military and civilian standpoints. 2. The defense department must explain why it adopted a conventional war doctrine against a handful of Maute terrorists, inordinately using large forces from Luzon and the unified commands in Mindanao with jetfighters, drones, tanks, artillery pieces and explosives that resulted in massive destruction of infrastructure and friendly fire casualties, instead of just using a cost-effective small-unit operation by the police and military who are trained to fight in urban guerrilla warfare? The number of casualties from

the military and police alone estimated at 165 killed and more than 1,000 wounded validated what many observers said that the unnecessary presence of so many government combatants presented sitting-duck targets to the terrorists in an area supposedly under control by local government units. There were no accurate reports on how many enemies and civilians were killed or wounded as of this writing, but the death toll could be more as on the 128th day of the Marawi siege alone, the death toll to government troops already stood at 152 and 711 members of the ISIS-inspired Maute terrorist group. 3. The idea of rebuilding the city in a systematic way is already upsetting. For instance, the city has a population of 201,785, but there are already more than 400,000 people claiming to be victims of the siege. In short, war freaks and scoundrels are now at play. 4. Contractors of every size and shade are busy pushing and outsmarting one another at the departments of Public Works, National Defense, the Interior and Local Government and the Trade and Industry, hoping to get choice cuts for the multibillion-peso rebuilding program of the government. By the way, this is a job that could be handled by military engineers and builders at a cost. 5. Instead of arms and other war materiels, the Duterte administrations should opt for funds, construction equipment and expertise from other countries willing to help.

6. A strategic plan must be drawn up, starting with a clear understanding of the problem, how to solve it, what are the means required to accomplish it and make sure that the government will not spend more than necessary. 7. The need for a point man, preferably a structural engineer, to oversee the rebuilding process is absolutely advisable so that mistakes of the past are not repeated, such as corruption, buck passing and finger pointing. 8. The bad habit of claiming credit, just like at the end of the Marawi attack, has again shown its ugly head among government officials and military officers, a situation where bootlickers are rewarded rather than the achievers, who actually risked their lives, the comfort of their homes and their loved ones while fighting the enemies of the State. On reflection, I am sure our bright and idealistic lawmakers have a lot more to say and will come up with the right combination of policies to correct the inequities, bearing in mind their fundamental obligations to represent the will of the people, properly allocate public funds and protect and secure the State and its four elements—people, government, territory and sovereignty—in all circumstances. Otherwise, the government will again be wasting time and resources, creating and managing crises, instead of shaping the future. To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@ gmail.com.

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Google isn’t fixing its real shopping problem Leonid Bershidsky

BLOOMBERG

S Google appeals the European Commission’s antitrust ruling that cost the search giant €2.42 billion ($2.82 billion) and pretends to provide a remedy, its biggest competitor in shopping search, Amazon, is offering better service to customers. Google needs to shift gears—and fast—by focusing on improving its product, not the legal confrontation. T he European Union (EU) has published a summar y of Google’s appeal against the antitrust ruling, which punished it for prioritizing its own shopping-comparison engine, Google Shopping, over outside competitors. The summary makes it clear that Google is rehashing old arguments repeatedly made during its seven-year investigation. The company aims to prove to the EU’s General Court that it put product search ads in a special box above the “organic” search results to improve the customer experience, not to drive traffic to Google Shopping. It argues that the European Commission hasn’t proved that the practice increased traffic to Google Shopping or decreased it to other comparison sites, though the commission cited traffic data as evidence in the ruling. And it claims that competitors shouldn’t be entitled to access Google product improvements. It’s difficult to see why the court, which hasn’t handed a defeat to the Commission in competition cases in 38 years, might prove receptive to these known arguments. But since product improvements figure so prominently in the Google appeal, it’s worth considering whether consumers are best served by Google’s current way of delivering results from a range of shopping-comparison services. A little more than a month ago, Google offered a remedy to a problem that the European Commission hasn’t cited. It created an auction system, in which shopping-comparison services can bid for space in the special box. Google Shopping bids on an equal footing with them, in an arm’s-length arrangement, and it’s required to turn a profit so it can’t use Google’s muscle to win every auction. A month ago, as the system began to operate, I wrote that the competitors failed to show up. That’s still the case; search for any item—a toaster, a vacuum cleaner —on any of Google’s European sites, and chances are you won’t see any prices from any comparison engine but Google Shopping. The Financial Times recently ran an experiment, running 500 product searches in six countries, and only 1 percent of the ads that came up were from somebody else. “Shopping-comparison services are placing ads on our site but we do not disclose numbers,” Google Spokesman Elijah Lawal told me via e-mail. Well, some of them aren’t placing ads at all—for example, the French site Acheter-moins-cher. com, launched in 1998. It doesn’t charge per customer click-through, as Google Shopping and many other comparison sites do. Instead, it charges merchants 1 percent to 3 percent on sales. That allows the site to display a link to the merchant with the lowest price first, not the link to the merchant that’s willing to pay for clicks. As Frederic Lambert, the founder and manager of

Acheter-moins-cher.com, told me: “The ad-auction system works only for a company that has the same business model as Google Shopping: a pay-per-click system. It doesn’t work for us: How could we bid on a system that will cost us a lot more than what we make on a sale? We cannot bid without changing the philosophy of our web site.” From a customer’s point of view, that philosophy makes more sense than the Google approach. When we shop for products on the Internet, we want to see the lowest price (as long as we know the merchant offering it will deliver). Google’s system, with or without the auction remedy, doesn’t necessarily lead the customer to the lowest prices. Let’s use the example Google itself has used to explain the remedy scheme: A Cuisinart toaster. On Tuesday searching on Google.fr yielded the lowest price of €63 for the CPT160E model; on Acheter-moinscher.com, the same toaster could be found for €45.99. It’s clear from the summary of the Google appeal that the company revives the argument that its real competitor in shopping search is Amazon, not the comparison services. “The contested decision fails to take proper account of the competitive constraint exercised by merchant platforms,” it says. And, indeed, a merchant can pay Amazon to promote its offering. Unpromoted ones, however, still come up high on the results page. Searching Amazon.fr, I found the Cuisinart CPT160E toaster for €45.99, just like on Acheter-moins-cher.com. It works similarly for other products. There are two takeaways from this. First, just as Google says, Amazon is a formidable competitor to both Google and the shopping comparison engines. Like the most impartial of them, it’s likely to lead the customer to the lowest price— and its size makes it a deadly force in this competition. But second, Google Shopping has the wrong business model to remain competitive with Amazon; the service shows customer ads from clients who have paid up front and not the best prices available. Besides, comparison engines that want to avail themselves of the Google remedy need to have a similar business model because otherwise, it’s difficult for them to pay up front in the auctions. If Google wanted to provide the best customer experience and bring the shopping comparison sites along, it would move to the Acheter-moinscher.com model and start charging competing sites on an actual sale rather than sell ad space to them. It’s easy to forget after the EU ruling that, at the end of the day, it’s all about delivering what users want, not about minimizing regulatory interference. Google appears to be making that mistake.

Servant-leaders wanted Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Alálaong Bagá

S our religion vain ostentation or sincere practice? The tirade against the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-12) is not only for the 30s in the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees, or in the 80s in the challenge to the early Christian community, but also for us today. Are we, in fact, today “the Pharisees?”

Teachers needed Jesus accepts the right of the scribes and Pharisees to teach. The laws must be taught and interpreted to the people. Authorities and experts are needed who can take their seat “on the chair of Moses.” Jesus underscores this, saying: “Every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old” (Matthew 13:52). We need the wisdom and guidance of teachers who pass on to us the law and the tradition of our community. A teacher is a leader of others, and every leader must be a teacher. What Jesus is presented as objecting against is the hypocrisy of

teachers who do not practice what they teach, or teach what they themselves do not practice. Such life of contradiction starts with being at home in a dichotomy between thoughts and deeds. Or those fascination with lofty ideas and stirring declarations without incarnation and validation in actual life. We hear this disjunction from teachers/leaders who claim, “Just do what I tell you, and it is not your concern what I do.” Jesus notes this insensitivity of teachers/leaders who can conjure up onerous legal and moral burdens for the people, but by themselves “will not lift a finger to move them.” Not exemplary teachers/leaders but unyielding taskmasters of others,

Thursday, November 2, 2017 A11

whose deeds should not be followed, even if we still must listen to what they say.

Servant teachers/leaders needed

The illusion of truth without its involving incarnation leads to a pursuit of grandeur and adulation. Avid is the desire for recognition and deep the hunger for the submission of others. One becomes preoccupied with being perceived as powerful and indestructible, therefore, with the paraphernalia of irresistible force. In a divorce between ideals and right conduct, we have not only dead ideas but shameless acts of brutishness, as well. Lack of integrity dooms not only the teacher/leader, but also the people who are misled and confused, subjugated and terrorized. Because the teacher/leader is also confused enough to behave without compliance with moral principles, such a person can only precipitate the collapse of the community he/she is supposed to lead. There would be the fatal hubris to insist on being considered the master of one’s own and exempt from any scrutiny and criticism. Jesus cannot leave the matter of teachers/leaders on the down-note of our human inadequacies and infidelities. He spells out unmistakably what constitutes greatness among

t is difficult to prescribe when a teacher must retire or be forced to leave the teaching profession. The mandatory retirement age for government employees is 65, but who can really say when a teacher has outgrown his or her usefulness? While it is true that there are

teachers who are no longer capable of teaching before reaching retirement for reasons of ailments, disability due to an accident, mental incapacity or sheer fatigue, others hope they would be allowed to teach beyond retirement. These mentors feel they can go on teaching even beyond the age of 70. And there are countless teachers who believe that quitting the job that gave them joy

Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, from 5 to 6 a.m. on DWIZ 882, or by audio streaming on www.dwiz882.com.

A mea culpa from IMF: ‘Neoliberalism oversold’ Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo

LABOREM EXERCENS Continued from A1

he title of the article speaks volumes: “Neoliberalism: Oversold?”. Well, the article was not an all-out attack on neoliberalism, an economic doctrine inspired by Milton Friedman of the Chicago School. Since the 1980s, neoliberalism has been propagated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as “the” solution in sustaining growth and job creation in capitalist countries, both developed and developing. Eventually, the doctrine has been labeled by critics and defenders alike as the “Washington Consensus” because most of the lending programs of these two Washington institutions have been tied to the acceptance by borrowing countries of policy conditionalities associated with neoliberalism, such as the general liberalization of a country’s trade and investment regime, the privatization of government services and corporations, and the deregulation or “opening up” of virtually whole sectors of the economy, such as the industrial, agricultural, financial and other service sectors. In general, these policy conditionalities have been instrumental in shaping the structure of the world economy in the last four decades. The article of the three IMF economists is critical of two aspects of the “neoliberal agenda,” which, they wrote, has not delivered the expected economic results. These are the removal of the restrictions on the movement of capital across national borders or the so-called “capital account liberalization” and the reduction of the government’s role in engaging in expansionary expenditures and more borrowings. The latter is part of the program of privatization and is called by the three as “fiscal consolidation,” a term for “austerity,”

which is now widely debated in the heavily indebted countries of Europe, such as Greece. The general findings of the IMF researchers on the above policies are “disquieting”: The expected benefits in terms of increased growth are “difficult to establish when looking” across countries, the “costs in terms of increased inequality” are palpable and the resulting inequality “hurts the level and sustainability of growth.” These findings are what many neoliberal critics have been articulating since 1999, when the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) collapsed due to the well-chronicled “Seattle Revolt” of the combined forces of angry CSOs, trade unions and developing countries opposed to one-sided economic liberalization policies. On the first issue, capital liberalization or the freer movement of capital across borders, the three IMF economists blame this policy for the rise of nonproductive and toxic flow of portfolio investments that have contributed to “increased economic volatility” and “crisis frequency” in many countries. They pointed out that there have been “150 episodes of surges in capital inflows in more than 50 emerging market economies.” Around 20 percent of these episodes ended in a financial crisis

and output declines. The three failed to elaborate on the two most significant financial crises, which nearly led to the collapse of the world capitalist system —the 1997-1998 Asian financial contagion and the 2007-2010 global financial crisis. However, they have acknowledged the viability of some policy responses to these crises, which neoliberal economists angrily rejected in the past, such as capital controls. During the 19971998 Asian financial crisis, thenMalaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was pilloried by the IMF and George Soros, one of the world’s leading financial speculators, for imposing capital controls and policy measures that allowed Malaysia to avoid the catastrophic financial and economic outcomes that engulfed Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand. Years later, ranking IMF officials admitted the correctness of Mahathir’s position. Now, the three IMF economists are even saying that “capital controls are a viable and, sometimes, the only, option when the source of an unsustainable credit boom is direct borrowing from abroad.” As to privatization and the size of the state, the three IMF economists have also become neoliberal revisionists and even Keynesian in approach. In the past, unrepentant neoliberal economists would simply push for draconian austerity measures when confronted with a debt crisis, for example: Reduced productive government spending (even on basic infrastructures and support to social services), sweeping privatization of government assets and corporations, increased taxation on all possible transactions and so on. This is what happened to the Philippines in the early-1980s and to Indonesia in the 1997-1998 Asian crisis. This is what has been happening to Greece, where the IMF now appears to be a voice of moderation compared to the more conservative austerity policemen of the European Union (EU). The counterargument of the three IMF economists to one-sided

What should be the mandatory retirement age for teachers? By Bernadette E. Gorospe

leaders and He challenges His followers to such possible and needed greatness. Among true Christians, the greatest is the one who is really a servant, someone who is there for others and not just for oneself, carrying out the will of God and obedient to His word. Vainglory and pride are serious shortcomings, for then one no longer listens to God’s commandments. Coupled with hypocrisy, such self-centeredness and self-deception can only lead to self-destruction. Alálaong bagá, in the Christian community, leadership is not a question of destiny or mere intellectual competence but of moral ascendancy. The leader is a servant who exhorts and inspires others by words and deeds to a life according to the Gospel and, therefore, to integral wellbeing. The people will be adrift and without anchor on what is right and good for everyone, if their teachers/ leaders act in contradiction to the commandments of God and walk not in the path of truth and justice. And we must, likewise, examine ourselves that we do not become accomplices of any leadership that is delusional and without moral foundation.

and fulfilment for decades would bring them closer to illness. These are the teachers who consider their work as their passion, whose devotion to their vocation can’t be questioned, and they should not be dragged into the lonely world of retirement. These teachers are the reasons the government, especially education leaders, should rethink the current policy of

forced retirement, at least in academe. Voluntary retirement for teachers is better. Educators should decide for themselves when to retire. When a teacher approaching retirement decides to stay on the job, school authorities can then review his performance and physical condition and assess if he deserves to be given an extension. Teachers whose terms have been extended can then

undergo yearly assessments to determine their fitness to teach. Under this system, schools would not lose able-bodied teachers due to “old age.” Educators should be allowed to teach as long as they are capable of performing their tasks. On the other hand, teachers who decide to quit before reaching the retirement age should be allowed to collect their full benefits.

austerity program is that the costs of bringing down the debt level may be greater than the expected benefits, for such austerity may even worsen unemployment and, obviously, the capacity of an indebted country to repay its debt. The paper of the three IMF economists noted that the US somehow escaped the 2007-2010 global financial crisis when the US Congress raised the country’s debt ceiling in order “not to contract the economy by slashing spending brutally”. The truth is that the US, with its $1-trillion Troubled Asset Relief Program, engaged heavily in Keynesian-style stimulus spending. The problem is that some crisis countries in Europe did the opposite by embracing EU-imposed austerity program. So what is the overall proposal of the three IMF economists? “A more nuanced view of what the neoliberal agenda is likely to be able to achieve.” The three claim that the IMF is “at the forefront of this reconsideration”. This after four decades of intensely pushing for neoliberalism! The lesson to the Philippines and other developing countries is quite clear—there are no infallible economists and policy advisors from the IMF, World Bank and other aid givers. Worse, they may even be dishing out bad policy prescriptions. This is why other aspects of the neoliberal agenda, such as the agricultural deregulation and the unilateral tariffreduction programs, which the Philippines embraced ahead of its membership in the WTO, should be reviewed and analyzed more objectively if the so-called expected results have really been achieved or not. Incidentally, the article of the three IMF economists ends with the following policy guideline for borrowing countries: “No fixed agenda delivers good outcomes for all countries for all times” and that policy-makers and institutions “must be guided not by faith but by evidence of what has worked.” The truth is that the IMF still has many mea culpas still to acknowledge and recite.

What is the best age for teachers to retire? No government agency or any other entity can wisely answer the question. Only the teacher concerned knows when he has reached the point where he can no longer help mold the minds of his students.

The author is Master Teacher II at Santa Teresita National High School in Santa Teresita, Cagayan.

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Hog raisers ask govt to keep ban on Brazilian meat imports T

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

he Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines (ProPork) is appealing to the Department of Agriculture (DA) to maintain the ban on pork imports from Brazil to protect the local hog sector from foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

ProPork President Edwin G. Chen said importing pork from Brazil, which has been accorded the status of “FMD-free with vaccination,” may “endanger” the local hog sector and the country’s “FMD-free without vaccination” status. “We know that frozen meat can actually transfer diseases, such as FMD, which has already been eradicated in the Philippine hog sector,” Chen told the BusinessMirror. The ProPork official said his group will submit an official

position paper to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol on November 2. The group issued the statement after the DA said earlier that the government may lift the ban on Brazilian meat imports this month. A team from the DA, which inspected Brazil’s meat plants in September, said their inspection yielded “favorable” results. Manila suspended the issuance of import permits for Brazilian meat products in July after

some shipments from the Latin American country tested positive for salmonella. Chen also said the Philippines should only import pork from the state of Santa Catarina, the lone area in Brazil that enjoys the FMDfree without vaccination status. Ensuring shipments are only sourced from Santa Catarina may pose a challenge for the government, especially for the DA, according to the ProPork official. “Our government has no capability to ensure that the Brazilian [exporters] will source pork only from Santa Catarina. Probably, there are no pigs in the area, that is why it has been accorded the FMD-free without vaccination status,” he said. Following the corruption scandal that tainted the image of the Brazilian meat industry, Chen said the Philippine government should be wary of meat products from Brazil. The ProPork official also revealed that, during the term of former President Gloria MacapagalArroyo, the DA had imported 2,000

Our government has no capability to ensure that the Brazilian [exporters] will source pork only from Santa Catarina.”—Chen

heads of Murad buffaloes from Brazil. Chen said more than 1 00 heads of the imported buffaloes had FMD. “We made sure that the Murad buffaloes were quarantined at the Philippine Carabao Center in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. More than 100 heads tested positive for FMD. [Official] wanted to disperse the buffaloes, but ProPork made sure that these were destroyed,” he added. Government sources told the BusinessMirror that the Philippines imports beef and pork from countries that enjoy the FMD-free without vaccination status. These include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denamark, France, Germany, Spain and the United States.

However, the Philippines sources beef from FMD-free with vaccination countries, as meat products from these areas are deboned and deglanded, in accordance with the guidelines of the World Organisation for Animal Health, or OIE. Sources also said the government allows the importation of pork from Brazil if it would be sourced from the state of Santa Catarina. Based on the latest database of the OIE, the Philippines is among the 66 recognized FMD-free countries where vaccination is not practiced. The OIE officially recognized the Philippines as a country free from FMD without vaccination in May 2015. The OIE also recognized the country as free of Peste des Petits Ruminants, a highly contagious

US. . .

SENATE ON TRACK TO PASS TAX-REFORM BILL BEFORE CHRISTMAS RECESS–SOTTO By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

enators are poised to pass the Duterte administration’s multibillion revenue-raising package before Congress adjourns anew for its traditional year-end Christmas recess, despite a three-day delay in the resumption of sessions due to the country’s hosting of Asean meetings. Senate Majorit y Leader Vicente C. Sotto III said on Wednesday that their original target date to approve the Palace-endorsed Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) bill, projected to raise over P150 billion on its first year of implementation, may have to be adjusted. “Yes. We will be delayed, [but] only by three days because of the Asean events,” Sotto told the BusinessMirror. Sen. Juan Edgardo M. Angara, who is sponsoring the passage of the Senate version of the TRAIN bill as chairman of the Senate’s Ways and Means committee, however, assured that senators remain on track to pass the administration’s revenue measure before their Christmas recess. “Looks like it,” Angara said in a separate text message to the BusinessMirror. Senators were supposed to reconvene regular sessions from November 13 to December 15, before adjourning for their Christmas vacation from December 16 to January 14. The TRAIN bill, which was earlier endorsed by Malacañang for urgent passage, was approved on May 31 by the House of Representatives, where all tax bills emanate. Upon approval of the Senate version of the measure, the two chambers will need to convene a

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₧150B The projected revenue that will be raised on the first year of implementation of the tax-reform package

bicameral conference committee to reconcile and craft a final version of the revenue bill. Earlier, Angara confirmed that the senators’ version of the money measure, embodied in Senate Bill (SB) 1592, will push for “lower, flat rate and simpler one-time tax filing” for self-employed individuals and professionals. “To really encourage payment of correct taxes, the Senate version of the first tax-reform package has made available to self-employed individuals and professionals a flat tax regime that is simpler and easier to comply,” he said. SB 1592 provides that selfemployed individuals and professionals can choose between an 8-percent flat tax on gross sales or receipts to be filed only once a year, or the schedular personal income-tax rate with allowable deduction. Angara added the 8-percent tax will be in lieu of the personal-income tax, which is currently filed quarterly, and the percentage tax, filed monthly. “Congress is making a distinction between the tax treatment of compensation income earners and self-employed individuals and professionals because we recognize the need to really simplify the process and make it easier for them to comply and pay correct taxes,” he said.

disease affecting small ruminants, that same year. The OIE database also shows that the state of Santa Catarina is the only area in Brazil that is recognized as FMD-free without vaccination since 2007. Under the 2017 Terrestrial Animal Health Code (TAHC), imported meat and meat products of ruminants and pigs from FMD-free countries with vaccination shall be accompanied by an international veterinary certificate attesting that the entire consignment has been kept in the recognized area as FMD-free. A l s o, t h e i m p o r t e d m e a t should have been slaughtered in an approved slaughterhouse and have been subjected to ante- and postmortem inspection for FMD with favorable results, according to the TAHC. For imported beef or meat of cattle and water buffaloes, the OIE recommends that the meat should came from deboned carcasses from which the lymphatic nodes have been removed.

DRESS REHEARSAL A child looks at a Malaysian traditional dress displayed as part of an exhibition at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City. The exhibition of clothing traditions of member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is in line with the upcoming Asean Leaders’ summit this month. The exhibition showcases the remarkable craftsmanship and distinct identity of each culture of the Asean member-countries. NONIE REYES

Infra projects. . . The main features of the project are the Jalaur High Dam and Reservoir; Jalaur Afterbay Dam and Alibunan Catch Dam; Hydroelectric Power Plant; High Line Canal; and Bulk Water Supply Connection. The NIA allocated P5.22 billion for the construction of dams and appurtenant structures, and P2.32 for the construction of the high-line canal. The agency will spend P1.2 billion for the new area-distribution system or connecting canal; P55.2 million for bulk water-supply connection; and P331.2 million for the rehabilitation, improvement and modernization of existing River Irrigation Systems (RIS). The NIA will also fund social dimensions and institutional needs pegged at P119 million; resettlement, P167.04 million; initial environmental impact assessment, P11.04 million; and consultancy, P660.14 million. Indirect project costs include general engineering supervision and administration, physical contingency, management fee, price contingency, taxes and bank charges amounting to

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P3.14 billion. As for the Samar Pacific Coastal Road Project, the DPWH is asking the ICC for an extension of two years to construct the remaining 14.8 kilometers of the 109-km road. The Samar Pacific Coastal Road Project aims to link the towns of Samar Island to enhance the potential of the agricultural lands and fishing grounds of Northern Samar and Eastern Samar. The project is also seen to facilitate the movement of goods and services by providing access to major arterial road links. It has an approximate length of 108.4 km, which will traverse the Pacific coastal towns of Laoang, Palapag, Mapanas, Gamay and Laping in Northern Samar and Arteche and San Policarpio in Eastern Samar. This will include the replacement of one-lane temporary and permanent bridges with two-lane permanent bridges. The financing cost for the project will include a P1.593-billion loan from Seoul’s Economic Development Cooperation Fund and a

government counterpart funding of P858.04 million. The project was first implemented from 2010 to 2013but had been extended. The program generated 303 jobs during its implementation. The ICC is composed of the secretary of finance as chairman and the Neda secretary as cochairman. It’s members include the executive secretary, Cabinet secretary, governor of the Central Bank and the secretaries of budget, energy and trade. It evaluates the fiscal, monetary and balance of payments implications of major national projects, and recommends to the President the timetable of their implementation on a regular basis. The ICC also advises the President on matters related to the domestic and foreign borrowings program and submits a status of the fiscal, monetary and balance of payments implications of major national projects.

Korean ODA

The Department of Finance (DOF) said it will meet with its South Korean counterparts to further discuss the “rolling” pipeline of projects that will

percent, the most since June 2001, while people reporting good business conditions increased to 34.5 percent, matching the highest since 2001. “Confidence remains high among consumers, and their expectations suggest the economy will continue expanding at a solid pace for the remainder of the year,” Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, said in a statement. About 22.2 percent of consumers said they expect better business conditions in next six months, up from 20.9 percent in September. Share of households who expect incomes to rise in next six months was little changed at 20.3 percent, after 20.5 percent. Share of those who said more jobs would be available in coming months was 18.9 percent, after 19.2 percent. Buying plans showed that a greater share anticipates the purchase of cars in the next six months, while fewer expect to buy homes and major appliances. Bloomberg News be funded by official development assistance (ODA). “We do have a rolling pipeline. We are scheduled to have a meeting with them to strengthen the pipeline, making sure that it is actually aligned with the priorities of the government,” Finance Assistant Secretary Maria Edita Z. Tan told reporters. In July the DOF said one infrastructure project of the government has been approved for funding provided by the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim), while seven more are being considered. The seven projects under consideration for Kexim funding include the development of marine aids to navigation in Luzon and the Visayas; the new Dumaguete airport-development project; development of Hybrid Power Generation Systems; the establishment of Mindoro Multi-Grain Processing Center; the development of the national animal-identification and -traceability system; a drivethrough portal-inspection facilities in international ports of entry; and the automated collection of slaughter data and issuance of meat-inspection certificates. Rea Cu and Cai U. Ordinario