Businessmirror november 14, 2016

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Monday, November 14, 2016 Vol. 12 No. 33

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‘Govt should tap safer energy sources in WPS’ $1B I I

The transformational and transactional PPP challenge

INSIDE

Life

Have mercy on us

HO are they that fear the Lord? God will show them the path to choose. Their souls shall live in happiness, and their descendants shall possess the land. The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear God; to them is revealed the covenant. Our eyes are always on the Lord, who rescues our feet from the snare. Turn to us and have mercy on us for we are alone and poor (Psalm 25: 12-18). Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY, COMMITTEE ON DIVINE WORSHIP, SHARED BY LUISA M. LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

AND THEN SOME: ONLINE BEAUTY SHOPPING WITHOUT A CREDIT CARD D4

BusinessMirror

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • lifestylebusinessmirror@gmail.com

JEWELRY PHOTOS: MISS CHARLIZE

Monday, November 14, 2016

Alberto C. Agra

grid—dries up in 10 years.

In the absence of “compelling positive findings” favoring BNPP’s revival, Gatchalian said, “it would be more prudent to invest the $1 billion required to refurbish the BNPP in the explo-

The amount that the government plans to spend for the revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

ration and development of untapped indigenous energy sources, especially within the energy-rich waters of the West Philippine Sea.” “One billion dollars is a lot of money.

We have to make sure that we are investing this substantial sum in cost-efficient energy ventures, which are guaranteed to make significant contributions to the See “Govt,” A2

BMReports

TOTA PULCHRA MISS CHARLIZE

@misscharlize

T

PAMELA BÄHRE

Philippines at the Aphro In The Alley at Karrivin Plaza in Makati City.

“My brand is my name: Pamela Bähre.

‘Cosmos’ is the name of the collection I made for my brand launch. Cosmos is the Universe seen as a whole, ordered whole. It is also a system of thought.”

What are the differences/similarities in the creative environments of Chile, Hong Kong and the Philippines? “Creativity is emotions, most of all it is love that draws inspiration from something, so it exists pretty raw everywhere. Differences, I guess, are more determined in belief systems.

Cultures have history and that history, combined with desires and needs, largely determine the collective consciousness of societies. That’s why sometimes you go to a country in which pretty much everyone believe they can be/do whatever they want and they often are/do whatever they want.

And in other countries, with people with similar resources, things don’t happen because the people just don’t believe,” Pamela explained.

How optimistic is she of Cosmos’s business prospects in the Philippines?

“Very much! 1,000 percent. All of them are very appealing. I think in the Philippines, there’s a bit of uncertainty from buying and supporting ‘emerging’ artists, but once the people get ‘educated’ about the artist and the artist’s expertise, all is good. I also think that jewelry here is seen in a too conservative light, so there’s also work to do on being adventurous and daring one’s self into experiencing jewelry in different ways,” Pamela said.

Are there plans to open brick-and-mortar stores, or will she focus on e-commerce (www. pamelabahre.com)?

“Not really. My pieces are one-of-a-kind and are based on spiritual energies, so I don’t manage ‘stocks’ of them. Nowadays, the technosphere keeps us ‘near’ and that is a good provider of interaction with my clients, allowing me to still know them before I make something for them.” ■

nstead of spending $1 billion to revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), the chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy urged the government to use money to develop power supply in resource-rich areas of the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Life

D1

Open Universities offer opportunities for Filipinos to juggle work, academics

thousands rally, march in anti-trump protest

Perspective BusinessMirror

E4 Monday, November 14, 2016

A proteSter demonstrates in an anti-trump protest against presidentelect Donald trump, which started at macArthur park and ended at the edward royal Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles, on november 12. WAlt mAncini/the PAsADenA stAr-neWs/scng viA AP

EW YORK—Tens of thousands of people marched in streets across the United States on Saturday, staging the fourth day of protests of Donald Trump’s surprise victory as president.

The protests—held in big cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, as well as smaller ones, such as Worcester, Massachusetts, and Iowa City, Iowa—were largely peaceful on Saturday, although two police officers were slightly injured during protests in Indianapolis.

Protesters rallied at New York’s Union Square before taking their cause up Fifth Avenue toward Trump Tower, where they were held back by police barricades.

The Republican president-elect was holed up inside his tower apartment, working with aides on the transition to the White House.

Among those railing against him was filmmaker Michael Moore, who tweeted a demand that Trump “step aside”.

Fashion designer Noemi Abad, 30, agreed.

“I just can’t have Donald Trump running this country and teaching our children racism, sexism and bigotry,” she said. “Out of his own mouth he made this division. He needs to go—there’s no place for racism in society in America.”

Trump’s comments—particularly a 2005 recording of him making lewd comments about women—sparked outrage during his campaign. That spilled over into demonstrations following an election that ended with half of US voters choosing the other candidate, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Demonstrators in Indianapolis on Saturday threw rocks at police, slightly injuring two officers, said Police Chief Troy Riggs. Some protesters began chanting threats, including “Kill the Police”, and officers moved in to arrest seven demonstrators.

Police briefly fired pepper balls into the crowd during the confrontation.

“We believe that we have some instigators that arrived in our city,” trying to start a riot, Riggs said.

Rowdy demonstrators marched through downtown Portland, Oregon, for the fourth night on Saturday despite calls from the mayor and police chief for calm.

Several hundred people took to the streets and Portland authorities made multiple arrests after protesters threw bottles and other items at officers in riot gear and blocked streets and light rail lines.

The exact number of arrests wasn’t immediately available.

The gathering came after a news conference on Saturday in which Mayor Charlie Hayes and Police Chief Mike Marshman urged restraint after several days of violent marches that damaged property and left one person shot.

On Friday night the police used flash-bang grenades to disperse a crowd of hundreds in the downtown area. Seventeen people were arrested and one man was shot and suffered non life-threatening injuries in what the police described as a confrontation with gang members. Two people were arrested on attempted murder charges.

In Los Angeles an estimated 8,000 people marched through downtown streets on Saturday to condemn what they saw as Trump’s hate speech about Muslims, pledge to deport people in the country illegally and crude comments about women.

Jennifer Cruz, 18, of Ventura, California, carried a sign that asked: “Legalize weed but not my Mom?”—a reference to Californians’ Tuesday passage of a measure legalizing recreational marijuana use.

Cruz said her parents have been in the United States illegally for 30 years, although her mother has spent years seeking citizenship.

She called the possibility of their deportation terrifying.

“We talk about it almost every day,” she said. “My Mom wants to leave it in the hands of God, but I’m not just going to sit back and not do anything. I’m going to fight for my parents, even if it kills me.”

Shawn Smith, 41, of Los Angeles, wore an American flag vest and held a glittery sign that said “Love Trumps Hate.”

“What he’s been able to do is make 50 percent of the nation look

Anti-trump protesters march to the utah State Capitol during a “protests trump” event in Salt Lake City on Saturday. chris Detrick/the sAlt lAke tribune viA AP

Anti-trump demonstrators hold a uS flag upside-down as they march in a rally in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday to protest against president-elect Donald trump. AP/DAmiAn DovArgAnes

over their shoulder,” he said. “If you’re gay, if you’re LGBT, if you’re Muslim, if you’re Latin, if you’re special needs, if you’re female, it’s a much unsafer place now.”

“What is happening today is going to be the normal for a while,” he said of the demonstration, “because we’re not going to just sit back and watch our rights being taken away, our health care being taken away.”

Meanwhile, several dozen Trump supporters gathered at his vandalized star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to urge the protesters to give him a chance. One person held a cross that read “All lives matter to me.”

In other parts of the country, spirited demonstrations on college campuses and peaceful marches along downtown streets have taken place since Wednesday.

Evening marches disrupted traffic in Miami and Atlanta.

Trump supporter Nicolas Quirico was traveling from South Beach to Miami. His car was among hundreds stopped when protesters blocked Interstate 395.

“Trump will be our president.

There is no way around that, and the sooner people grasp that, the better off we will be,” he said.

“There is a difference between a peaceful protest and standing in a major highway backing up traffic for 5 miles. This is wrong.”

Protests also were held in Detroit; Minneapolis; Kansas City, Missouri; Olympia, Washington, Iowa City and more.

More than 200 people, carrying signs, gathered on the steps of the Washington state Capitol.

The group chanted “not my president” and “no Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.” In Tennessee, Vanderbilt University students sang civil-rights songs and marched through cam-

pus across a Nashville street, temporarily blocking traffic.

In Cincinnati hundreds of protesters already had taken to the streets early Saturday afternoon to protest a jury’s failure to reach a verdict in the trial of a white former police officer who killed an unarmed black motorist in 2015.

A mistrial was declared in the trial of former University of Cincinnati officer Ray Tensing.

He was fired after shooting Sam DuBose in the head after pulling him over for a missing front license plate last year.

Several hundred anti-Trump protesters joined the trial protesters and marched through downtown Cincinnati.

In Chicago hundreds of people, including families with small children, chanted “No hate. No fear.

Immigrants are welcome here” on Saturday as they marched through Millennium Park, a popular down-

town tourist attraction.

Sonja Spray, 29, who heard about the protest on Facebook, said she has signed an online petition urging the electoral college to honor the popular vote and elect Clinton.

Demonstrations also took place internationally. A group of Mexicans at statue representing independence in Mexico City expressed their concerns about a possible wave of deportations.

One school teacher said it would add to the “unrest” that’s already in Mexico. About 300 people protested Trump’s election as the next American president outside the US Embassy near the landmark Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

President Barack Obama meets in Berlin next week with Chancellor Angela Merkel and several other European leaders, and is expected to confront global concerns about Trump’s election. AP

perspective

e4

Buckle up!

Sports

goydos

BusinessMirror

C1

Goydos takes lead in PGA Tour finale

| Monday, noveMber 14, 2016

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

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meRcedes driver lewis Hamilton of britain celebrates after he clocked the fastest time during the qualifying session for the brazilian Formula one grand prix. (above) Hamilton steers his car during the qualifying session. AP

BUCKLE UP! Hamilton on pole; RosbeRg alongside in title Race

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By Stephen Wade The Associated Press

ãO PAULO—Lewis Hamilton has the pole for the Brazilian Grand Prix, and Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg is alongside with the season drivers’ title on the line.

Buckle up. The stage is set for Sunday’s critical showdown, and Rosberg expects a frantic start on the short, hilly—and possibly wet—course.

“I’m going to try to get Lewis in turn one,” Rosberg said after qualifying on Saturday. “That’s my plan, but it’s not going to be easy. The run to turn one is very short, so that doesn’t help, of course. But I’ll try everything I can.”

If three-time world champion Hamilton wins the race on Sunday, the Formula One title will be decided in the final race of the season in two weeks in Abu Dhabi.

Hamilton has taken the last two poles in Mexico and the United States, and went on to win each race.

“This is the best that I could have hoped for,” said Hamilton, who has never won in Brazil. “This is only my second pole here. It’s on a track that I’ve struggled at so

I’m really happy to be up on top.”

Rosberg, who has won the last two races in Brazil, has more avenues to take his first drivers’ title and match the one his father Keke Rosberg won 34 years ago.

Rosberg leads Hamilton by 19 points—349 versus 330—and will claim the season championship if he wins, or if he scores at least seven more points than Hamilton. Rosberg can also finish second in Brazil, and third in Abu Dhabi and still be the champion.

“It was an exciting qualifier, for sure—very close—but Lewis was just marginally quicker in the end,” Rosberg said. “Anyway, as we’ve seen this year, the pole isn’t always the guy who wins the race. So I’m still optimistic for tomorrow.”

Mercedes has 19 of the 20 poles this season, and 17 of the 19 races.

Hamilton was 0.102 seconds faster than Rosberg in qualifying, but was nearly overtaken on the final lap by the charging German.

The track was dry for qualifying, though rain always threatened. The final practice earlier Saturday was run in a light mist, with rain in the forecast for Sunday.

The hilly São Paulo circuit has a history of shocking results, particularly when it’s wet.

Hamilton is considered the better wet-weather driver, but Rosberg dismissed that edge.

“Whatever comes, comes,” he said. “And we have a great car in any condition—in dry and wet.”

The race will be the last at home for Felipe Massa, the Brazilian who is leaving F1 after 15 seasons. There are also rumors swirling that the Brazilian race itself could be on the ropes.

TV viewership is down, Brazil is without a top driver, and the country is mired in a deep recession with unemployment at over 10 percent.

“I’m aware of the battle people are having here with the economy,” said Hamilton, calling the Brazil race “part of F1’s heritage.”

“I hope it does stay. But I also understand that it takes a lot of money.”

Adela Bacud, a former overseas Filipino worker in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, does some home studying. According to her, it is never too late to learn as long as your heart is in it. NONIE REYES

COTTSDALE, Arizona—Paul Goydos shot a threeunder 67 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour Champions’ season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

A day after opening with a 62 for a three-stroke lead, Goydos birdied the par-5 18th to reach 11-under 129 on Desert Mountain Club’s Cochise Course.

“I was happy. It was a nice day,” Goydos said.

“The wind had calmed down a little bit. It seems to be windy in the morning here and better in the afternoon. Playing good’s an advantage to some extent.”

Colin Montgomerie, third in Charles Schwab Cup season standings, remained second. He followed his opening 65 with a 66. The Scot matched playing partner Goydos with a closing birdie.

Points leader Bernhard Langer was third at seven under after a 66.

The top 5 in the standings—Richmond winner Scott McCarron is second, followed by Montgomerie, Joe Durant and Miguel Angel Jimenez—can take the season title with a victory on Sunday. Durant was tied for 15th at one under after a 69, McCarron was tied for 17th at even par after a 71, and Jimenez was 22nd at one over after a 67.

The season standings were reset after the event last week in Virginia, with Langer’s lead over McCarron reduced from 935,657 to 200. The tournament winner will receive $440,000 and 2,000 points.

“I just know that there’s a bunch of possibilities like we imagined and here we are,” Langer said. “I guess right now if it stands like this, Monty and I would be tied and we’re going to a playoff. But will it stand that way tomorrow, nobody knows. I don’t know. It’s certainly exciting, it’s volatile. You know, it comes down the stretch.”

The 59-year-old German has a tour-high four victories and has wrapped up the season money title with $2,836,459. He won season titles in 2010, 2014 and 2015. He’s recovering from a leftknee injury that forced him to withdraw from the playoff opener at Sherwood.

“It’s been the same for the last two weeks, just being very careful walking,” Langer said. “I can’t read my putts properly because I can’t bend down the way I used to. But my goal is to finish the tournament, not to read my putts properly. Obviously, I would love to read them right, but if that would kick me out of the tournament, that’s no good, so I’ve just got to do what I’ve got to do.”

Goydos is 24th in the standings. The two-time PGA Tour winner won the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in July for his third senior title. He shot a 59 in the PGA Tour’s 2010 John Deere Classic.

“I’ve gotten off to good starts and, hopefully, I can continue that tomorrow,” Goydos said. “A little sloppy on the back nine, quite frankly. But I’m Paul Goydos, I’m not Bernhard Langer, as I’ve proven time after time after time after time. But I hung in there pretty good. Made a couple birdies on the 5 pars, which is nice, and looking forward to playing tomorrow.” AP

By Psyche Roxas-Mendoza @PsycheRoxas

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Clippers beat Timberwolves, extend club-best start to 9-1 M

INNEAPOLIS—Blake Griffin had 20 points and 11 rebounds and DeAndre Jordan had 18 points and 16 boards to help the Los Angeles Clippers extend their franchise-best start to the season with a 119-105 over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.

Chris Paul had 19 points and eight assists and J.J. Redick scored 18 points for the Clippers (9-1), who have the best record in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Los Angeles shot 52.6 percent and outscored the Timberwolves, 21-10, in transition.

The Clippers have so far exhibited all the qualities of a team that can make a deep playoff run. Once a weakness, the bench has been a strength this season. And they entered the game as by far the best defensive team in the league, allowing a paltry 90.4 points per game.

“This is the best team I’ve had here,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “But we got to keep doing it. We’ve got to keep getting better and performing. But this is a heck of a basketball team.”

In other games, Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points to lead San Antonio over Houston, 106-100.

The Spurs avenged a 101-99 loss to the Rockets in San Antonio on Wednesday and improved to 5-0 on the road, where they have outscored opponents by an average of 12.8 points.

James Harden had a triple-double for a second straight game against the Spurs, finishing with 25 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, but also added seven costly turnovers.

Houston attempted 47 threes in the game, making 15 (31.9 percent).

In Miami Gordon Hayward scored 25 points and Rodney Hood added 17 as Utah handed the Heat a fourth consecutive loss, 102-91.

Rudy Gobert had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Utah, which was without George Hill (right thumb) and Boris Diaw (right knee) again, then lost Derrick Favors to left knee soreness in the first quarter.

Hassan Whiteside had 15 points and 14 rebounds for Miami (2-6), which is off to its worst start since 2007-2008.

In Toronto DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points and Norman Powell added 19, as the Raptors beat New York for the fourth straight time, 118-107.

DeRozan, the NBA’s leading scorer, had his eighth 30-plus-point game in nine starts this season, putting him in an exclusive club. In the last 50 years Michael Jordan, World B. Free and Tiny Archibald have started a season registering 30-plus points in eight of the first nine games.

Boston’s Isaiah Thomas scored 23 points, including 19 over the final 14 minutes, as the Celtics beat Indiana 105-99.

Kelly Olynyk scored 16 and Amir Johnson had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics.

Indiana played without leading scorer Paul George, who sprained his left ankle in its loss at Philadelphia on Friday.

In Atlanta Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 20 points and Kent Bazemore added 17, as the Hawks won their fourth straight game, beating Philadelphia 117-96 Dwight Howard, the NBA’s active leader in doubledoubles, had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks.

Jordan Clarkson scored 23 points and Lou Williams added 21 as the Los Angeles Lakers won for the fifth time in six games, beating New Orleans, 126-99.

D’Angelo Russell scored 22 and Nick Young added 15 points for the Lakers, who shot 55.3 percent overall and made 16-of-30 three-pointers.

Anthony Davis scored 34 for slumping New Orleans.

In Chicago Jimmy Butler scored 37 points, as the Bulls beat short-handed Washington, 106-95.

Butler finished two points shy of his season high. He hit all 14 free throws, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out a season-high nine assists. AP

sports minnesota timberwolves center Karl-anthony towns dunks against the los angeles clippers. AP

Continued on A15

DOLLAR BLOODBATH TURNS BONANZA AS FISCAL SPARK SEEN IN TRUMP VICTORY

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He consensus in the $5.1 trillion-a-day currency market couldn’t have been more wrong. The widely held view was that a victory by Donald J. Trump in the US presidential election would spur a dollar rout, as investors anticipated uncertainty and financial-market volatility that would cause the Federal Reserve (the Fed) to delay interest-rate increases. Yet, the real-estate magnate’s upset win triggered the opposite reaction—a bonanza for greenback bulls and one of the most stunning rallies since the financial crisis.

Scott Petruska, a three-decade veteran of the foreign-exchange industry, counts himself among those who didn’t anticipate the Republican sweep of Congress that accompanied Trump’s triumph.

Investors are betting the power of the Executive and The percentage gain recorded Legislative branches com- by the US dollar last week bined will open the fiscal tap, boosting economic growth and spurring faster inflation. The net result of that scenario is that expectations are mounting for a higher Fed rate target, boosting the appeal of holding dollars.

“It probably ranks as one of the biggest surprises in the currency market in the past 30 years,” said Petruska, a Newton, Massachusetts-based senior adviser at SVB Financial Group. “We have a Republican president and a Republican Congress—things may actually happen after eight years of gridlock in Washington.”

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the currency against 10 major peers, surged almost 2.8 percent this week, the most since September 2011. Gains were steepest against emergingmarket currencies, including a 9.6-percent appreciation against the Mexican peso.

2.8%

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Thousands rally, march in anti-Trump protests

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n pursuing public-private partnerships (PPPs), must the orientation and approach be transformational or transactional? Are PPP arrangements simply about specific transactions and projects? What is the transformative value and aspect of PPPs? What is the proper orientation toward PPPs?

D1

Gorgeous energy from jewelry HE name Pamela Bähre may not yet be on everyone’s lips, but her unique creations may soon be on every stylish woman’s wrists, necks and fingers. Each piece in the Pamela Bähre Divine Jeweler bespoke and limited-edition collections boast of one-of-a-kind designs meant to complement the soul of each client.

“I believe in consciousness, energy, intelligence, order, beauty. I believe in a presence that underlies everything and everyone in this and all universes, and each of us and all that’s manifested and what’s not is a reflection of this. I believe we all embody this consciousness and manifest it in different ways,” Pamela says of the inherent spirituality that is a vital part of her art. “How does this belief inform my craft? I believe we couldn’t even breathe without it! It is just the life force, the foundation of life.”

Pamela hails from Santiago de Chile, born to German-Austrian parents, studied jewelry-making in Hong Kong, but first traveled the world as a high-fashion model.

She worked for Bourjois, Za makeup, L’Oreal, Kodak, Umbro, Alberta Ferreti, adidas, Nokia, Moschino, Clinique and many other brands and labels.

“I traveled as a model extensively, so the list is endless. I started modeling at 14 years old. There are still some times I do modeling jobs, but I haven’t really done anything for the past year, so I guess I quit for good when I was 33 to 34. That will make 20 years more or less of modeling,” she said.

How did she evolve from goldsmith to gemologist to jewelry designer? “It was very organic. It kind of happened on its own.

First I learned gold and silversmithing, did it a number of years, and then I thought to go further and study gemology and all the side things about jewelry, jewelry-making and metals and gemstones, until I realized I needed to be at least decent at drawing, so that’s when I took design,” Pamela explained.

Who are her mentors, influences and inspirations? “They are my first teachers from Chile—Jose Luis Acevedo and Veronica Maldonado, they are my mentors, spiritual family, encyclopedia, everything!” She laughed. “Influences and inspirations are much the same—ancient civilizations, forgotten magic, contemporary visionaries, music, and most of all, my state of being, the receptiveness with which I experience my life, my empathy and gratitude.”

Her namesake brand was launched in 2014 and was recently unveiled in the

PPP Lead

Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian made the proposal, as the government scrambles to look for alternative energy sources to fill the power-supply shortfall when the Malampaya gas field in Palawan—which accounts for 40 percent of the Luzon

gorgeous energy from jewelry W

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM & Lenie Lectura @llectura

c1

Part One

ETWEEN her reportorial assignments as national correspondent of ABS-CBN Corp.’s media subsidiary and her teaching schedule at the College of Mass CommunicationUniversity of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Apples Jalandoni could no longer spare the time to pursue her Continued on A2

PESO exchange rates n US 48.6660

Universities and schools offering open learning and distance education ■ Asian Institute of Distance Education

■ Pangasinan State University Open University

■ Ateneo University

Systems

■ Benguet State University

■ Philippine Normal University

■ Bicol University’s Open University

■ Philippine Women’s University

■ Central Luzon State University

■ Polytechnic University of the Philippines

■ De La Salle University (Manila)

Open University

■ Nueva Ecija University of Science and Tech-

■ University of the Philippines Open University

nology

■ Western Mindanao University Open Univer-

■ Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila Open

sity System

University

Source: Commission on Higher Education Continued on A2

Consensus defied The most accurate forecasters in a recent Bloomberg survey had predicted more than a 5-percent slump in the dollar against the yen should Trump win. On election night, the greenback tumbled as much as 3.8 percent, then soared as investors turned their focus to Trump policies seen as spurring growth and inflation.

His pledges include spending from about $500 billion to $1 trillion over a decade on roads, bridges and airports. He said in his victory speech that he aims to make America’s infrastructure “second to none”, while putting millions of people to work and doubling economic growth.

Traders see an 84-percent chance the Fed will increase rates at its December meeting, up from 76 percent at the end of last week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg based on futures. Bloomberg News

n japan 0.4553 n UK 61.0661 n HK 6.2741 n CHINA 7.1473 n singapore 34.4782 n australia 36.9716 n EU 52.9875 n SAUDI arabia 12.9765

Continued on A2

Source: BSP (11 November 2016 )

A2 Monday, November 14, 2016

BMReports BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Open Universities offer opportunities for Filipinos to juggle work, academics Continued from A1

doctoral studies.

“I was midway through my PhD in Communication at the College of Mass Communication in UP when I reached a point where I needed to stop,” Jalandoni told the BusinessMirror. “I could no longer manage to attend the thrice-aweek classes at the Diliman campus.”

She said her schedule at work as a news reporter was just too unpredictable. She added it was also around this time, sometime in 2011, when she began her climate-change advocacy, “which entailed constant traveling for community work and conferences.”

The television reporter said she found it devastating to have to quit her advanced studies in communication.

Luckily, for Jalandoni, two UP officials pointed her to another path to gaining a doctorate degree.

Jalandoni said Grace Javier Alfonso, who was then-chancellor of UP Open University (UPOU), and National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) Dean Fe Mendoza encouraged her to continue her doctoral studies in communication at the UPOU. She enrolled in the UPOU in 2012. Now doing her dissertation, she hopes to finish her PhD in communication next year.

“It was one of the most important decisions I ever made in my entire adult life,” Jalandoni said. “Although it was not an easy one since, as [the] UPOU is a separate entity from the Diliman [campus], I had to begin the doctoral program all over again. But now that my hard work is culminating, I would say it was truly worth it.”

Distance education

IN her paper, “The openness of the [UPOU]: Issues and Prospects,” UPOU academician Maria Fe Villamejor-Mendoza presented a legal definition of an OU as “a higher-education institution [HEI] that is a separate, autonomous and degreegranting academic entity, which employs operational procedures and strategies of an open learning institution.”

It is distinguished from the “residential, traditional brick-and-mortar universities” in the sense that an OU provides educational opportunities beyond the physical boundaries of the

conventional education system through distance education.

Villamejor-Mendoza cited the 2006 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) definition of distance education as “any educational process in which all or most of the teaching is conducted by someone geographically removed from the learner, with all or most of the communication between teachers and learners being conducted through electronic or print mediums.”

UP’s OU uses virtual classrooms, email, SMS, teleconferencing and videoconferencing to provide education to learners in more than 60 locations around the world.

“Most of our students are working, even those who are enrolled in the undergraduate programs,” UPOU Chancellor Melinda de la Peña-Bandalaria said.

Bandalaria added that more than 90 percent of the enrollees “cannot really go or study in the conventional/residential program.”

Most of them, like Jalandoni, are studying for professional advancement.

About 24 percent of UPOU students are based outside of the country, she added.

The OU experience, according to Jalandoni, gave her “the best of both worlds: achieving the highest academic level from the country’s top learning institution while still able to pursue a demanding, yet rewarding, career.”

“I believe that the open and distance learning system is the future of education, when knowledge is generated and shared, beyond the restrictions of time and space,” Jalandoni said. “This means we could study practically anytime, anywhere and at our own pace.”

She added that “this unprecedented enjoyment of freedom in learning also demands the most rigorous self-discipline and determination to not only harness one’s expertise, but, most especially, to promote nation-building for the benefit of all.”

In her paper, titled “Impact of ICTs on Open and Distance Learning in a Developing Country Setting: The Philippine Experience”, Bandalaria said, “because the Philippines is actually a country comprised of 7,107 islands, many Filipino learners cannot easily access universities main campuses and, in many instances,

even their satellite campuses and learning centers.”

“Moreover, most potential students work full time and must juggle family responsibilities,” Bandalaria wrote.

Early beginnings

ACCORDING to Bandalaria, the earliest documented effort of open and distance learning (ODL), in the Philippines was the Farmers’ School-on-the-Air (FSA).

The FSA first aired in 1952 via a 1-kiloWatt radio station in Iloilo province.

A program titled “Tips on Farming and Community Development”, which was broadcast in 1952 over a period of six months, served approximately 150 students scattered throughout the province, she added.

“The FSA format was adopted by other radio stations and government agencies who aimed to teach different segments of Filipino society lessons they deemed necessary to improve Filipinos’ standard of living,” Bandalaria explained.

“A sustained use of radio for instruction in the schools-on-the-air [SOA] format was accomplished by [the] DZLB, a radio station managed by the UP Los Banos [UPLB] [campus], which itself was a constituent unit of the [UP].”

She added that the nonformal courses delivered through FSAs/SOAs was the forerunner of modern distance education in the Philippines.

As such, radio can be viewed as the first-generation distance education in the Philippines, according to Bandalaria.

“Recognizing the potential of DE [distance education] for continuing education of various professional groups, many traditional universities started offering their graduate degree programs via DE methods, which relied mostly on print-based instructional materials supplemented with occasional face-toface tutorials facilitated by a universitytrained tutor,” she wrote. “This is the second-generation DE. Lessons were typically contained in a set of printbased learning materials supplemented by face-to-face tutorials.” Bandalaria noted that the third generation of DE emerged from a growing need for flexible learning (anytime, anywhere). This was made possible by increased availability and access to new information and communications technology (ICT).

To address these emerging societal demands—geographically dispersed professional groups seeking access to flexible, lifelong learning opportunities—instructional contents were primarily delivered in print-based formats (where instructional design is essential), supplemented with lesson components typically delivered in convenient audio and/or video formats, Bandalaria explained.

She added that the fourth-generation DE, or the “empowered phase”, can be aptly described using terms like eLearning (electronic learning), m-learning (mobile learning), and u-learning (ubiquitous learning).

“For teachers, the use of ICTs helped enhance their skills and knowledge. For students, use of ICTs enabled them to assert more control over their learning environment, specifically the ‘how,’ the ‘when’ and the ‘where’, and sometimes even the ‘what’ they will learn,” Bandalaria said. “Both students and teachers now have more flexibility to shape and structure their learning/ teaching environment to take full advantage of fel low par ticipants’ prior experiences.”

She added that this dynamic of “sharing prior knowledge and skills and contextualizing within the course materials” makes the educational experience far richer and more conducive to critical and higher-order thinking.

RA 10650, schools

ON December 9, 2014, former President Benigno S. Aquino III signed Republic Act 10650, also known as the ODL law.

The act expanded access to and appropriated funds for educational services by institutionalizing ODL in levels of tertiary education.

It adopted open learning as an educational philosophy and the use of distance education in higher education, as well as technical education programs in the Philippines.

Bandalaria said that, to date, there are around 17 universities accredited to offer distance-education programs.

Accreditation is done by the CHEd initially based on CHEd Memorandum 27 in 2009 and, now, RA 10650, she said, adding that there is a CHEd technical panel processing the accreditation.

To be continued

Govt. . .

Continued from A1

long-term stability of our energy supply,” Gatchalian said over the weekend.

He admitted to being wary of government plans to operate the BNPP without “clear and intensively researched” national nuclear policy.

Gatchalian sent signals he would block the plan to revive the BNPP until the Department of Energy (DOE) presents to his committee a comprehensive feasibility study on the prospects of utilizing nuclear power in the Philippines.

He said such a study is necessary before the DOE can proceed with plans to switch on the Marcos-era BNPP. “We cannot jump into nuclear energy on a piecemeal basis.”

“This feasibility study on nuclear power will be critical to objectively assess the merits of adding nuclear power to our energy mix,” Gatchalian said.

He said such a feasibility study would have to tap independent international experts in geology, nuclear physics, engineering and other key fields to independently assess the prospects of nuclear power in the Philippines, “with environmental and community safety as the primordial concern.”

Gatchalian noted that the regional trend is to veer away from nuclear power. For instance, he pointed to Vietnam, which just recently cancelled building plans for two nuclear-power plants “due to economic viability concerns.”

He said the Vietnamese experience illustrated the need to undertake “hard research and crafting a comprehensive long-term plan before jumping into nuclear power.”

‘We are at risk of wasting significant time and resources on a nuclear white elephant,” Gatchalian said, referring to the over 30-year old BNPP built during the Marcos regime.

Mixed reactions

MalacaÑang’s approval of plans to revive the BNPP drew mixed reactions from industry players.

Federico Lopez, chairman of First Gen, said “it pays to study” the plan first before any final decision is made.

“At the end of the day, the safety issues are important, especially because we are in the Pacific Ring of Fire. If we do address the safety issues, then that’s a good thing,” he said in an interview.

He added that it helps if the country is able to tap into many sources of energy, including nuclear, but then safety issues have to be the government’s top priority. “That’s why it’s a good thing to study it first and compare it with other alternatives. That should be part of the plan.”

For the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the company’s president remains “open minded.”

“We have to look at the entire package. We will see how this plan of the government progresses. In the end, if it delivers competitive, safe, reliable power, then it may just work. We will take a look at it. We’re always open minded,” Meralco President Oscar Reyes said in an interview.

They all agreed the country needs to explore all sources of energy to support the growing economy, but stressed the need for a well-crafted study, followed by a national nuclear policy.

Last Friday Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi announced in his speech during the inauguration of First Gen Corp.’s two newest natural gas plants in Batangas that President Duterte has directed the agency “to proceed to work for its [BNPP] implementation and full operation.”

Duterte earlier said no nuclear-power plant would be put up during his six-year term.

According to Cusi, the President did not change his mind. “I explained to him what the country needs.

We have to look at the future of the country. After I explained it, I asked clearance to proceed.” This conversation took place during the last Cabinet meeting, according to Energy Undersecretary Donato Marcos.

The DOE is currently proceeding with unified and coordinated efforts and activities with the creation of a Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Organization (Nepio).

The Nepio is headed by a Steering Committee with top DOE officials at the helm, while DOE bureaus will create technical working groups (TWGs) to ensure effective and timely implementation of its functions and responsibilities.

The Department of Science and Technology and its attached agencies, DOE attached agencies, other relevant government offices and local and international partner-organizations will be asked to assist the Nepio in its work.

The 620-megawatt (MW) BNPP is the country’s first and only attempt at nuclear-power development.

It was supposed to be the first of two nuclear plants to be built in the northern province of Bataan. It was also the first nuclear-power plant in Southeast Asia, and the vaunted solution to the 1973 oil crisis that had adversely affected the global economy, including the Philippines.

Unfortunately, however, the project was mothballed in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

But then, clamor for the reopening of the BNPP was revived during the power crisis in the 1990s and the skyrocketing of oil prices in 2007.

During these periods, Cusi said the DOE actually came close to reconsidering nuclear power as a potential energy source for the country.

But then the Fukushima nuclear-plant incident happened in 2011, creating global panic and concerns about the safety and integrity of nuclear plants.

BMReports BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, November 14, 2016 A3

Megawide to bid for all airport deals under PPP

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

M

ACTAN Island, Cebu—One of the largest players in the key infrastructure program in the Philippines has taken a more aggressive stance in participating in auctions for transportation deals, and is considering making a counteroffer to the proposals to build a multibillion-dollar airport in Metro Manila.

Among the dozens of deals under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program, Megawide Construction Corp. is interested in bidding for the redevelopment of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), the development of five regional airports across the country and all other airport projects.

“We are interested in [the] Naia, and we plan to partner with GMR Infrastructures of India for all other airport deals,” Megawide Chief Information Officer Louie B. Ferrer said in an interview over the weekend.

The group is also considering to submit a counteroffer to either one of the two unsolicited proposals to build an airport to replace the Naia.

“We will evaluate as soon as we see the proposals of both parties, but yes, we are open to submitting,” Ferrer said.

Solar Group-led All-Asia Resources & Reclamation Corp. and partners Belle Corp. and China Communications Construction Co. plan to spend $20 billion to build an airport in an area in Sangley Point, Cavite.

Its plan involves the reclamation of 2,500 hectares of land near a naval and air base at Sangley Point. The project includes a new airport for up to 90 million passengers per year. The existing Naia airport will be replaced by new urban development.

A study conducted by Danish consulting engineering company

Ramboll Group, the new airport, when built, will have two parallel runways to secure future capacity, three terminal spaces, a reserved space for cargo and maintenance facilities.

San Miguel Corp.’s $10-billion proposal involves the construction of a 1,600-hectare international gateway somewhere south of Metro Manila. The airport, which would have doubled the capacity of the Naia, would include the construction of a low-cost carrier terminal, a train system and a dedicated tollway.

Ferrer said Megawide will always have an appetite in airport deals, among other transport infrastructure sector projects, since it won the contract to modernize the Mactan-Cebu International Airport two years ago.

Since 2014, the company has introduced enhanced passenger experience and additional local and international flights from Cebu, setting a continued uptrend in passenger throughput and making it the airport of choice for passengers going to and from the Visayas and Mindanao.

The airport’s first terminal is currently undergoing modernization, which includes the launch of new passenger processing technologies, such as the country’s first Veripax Passenger Reconciliation System, which streaml i nes t he a i r por t ’s sec u r it ycheck process.

Other improvement include greener terminal building with new

$20B The amount Solar Groupled All-Asia Resources & Reclamation Corp. and partners Belle Corp. and China Communications Construction Co. plan to spend to build an airport in Sangley Point, Cavite

seats, renovated washrooms, new self-service check-in kiosks, and new immigration, customs and quarantine counters, among others.

The project also involves the construction of a new world-class passenger terminal building. Once Terminal 2 is open, the airport will have boosted the annual passenger capacity of 12.5 million, from 4.5 million. It is set to be launched in mid-2018.

“We’re confident that in June 2018, we will open the new terminal,” said Ferrer, who also sits as GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp.’s president. There are several airlines that are currently flying in and out of Cebu. They collectively operate 23 domestic and 12 international routes.

Meanwhile, wary over a repeat of the country’s resort to emergency powers in the 1990s, which left it with one of the world’s costliest

power rates, Sen. Grace Poe is moving to include strong safeguards in the special powers being sought by the Duterte administration to solve another crisis, this time around traffic.

“With the emergency powers, we have to be careful,” Poe said over the weekend, “because they want to spend P8 trillion. Can you imagine how much money that is?”

She was referring to estimated funding needed to build new railway systems and expand existing road networks that will require costly acquisition of right-of-way to address traffic gridlocks choking metropolitan areas. “ We w i l l g ive [emergenc y powers to President Duterte], but we need to put safeguards para hindi tayo pwedeng pagnakawan,” she said, adding that senators are also keen to install adequate provisions to ensure the emergency powers would not be abused.

Also, an economic manager has recently backed the proposal transferring government agencies to provinces to address the worsening traffic situation and housing backlogs in Metro Manila, a leader of the House of Representatives said.

PDP-Laban Rep. Alfredo Benitez of Negros Occidental, chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development, said he consulted Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III on his bill on urban renewal, which includes the transfer of government offices to the provinces, “and he has agreed to the proposal.”

“ We have ongoing consu ltation with [the DOF on] how much money needed to transfer government agencies to provinces,” Benitez said.

Citing data from the Department of Interior and Local Government and Housing Urban Development Coordinating Council, Benitez said government-owned property, totally 1,234.85 hectares, are currently being occupied by informal-settler families (ISFs), while 2,185 hectares of public properties are available for housing programs.

“We can get money from these idle government lands to fund the transfer of government agencies to provinces once we unlock it for public-private partnership for the government’s socialized-housing programs. With this move, we can both address the problems on traffic and housing backlogs in Metro Manila,” Benitez said.

Currently, the country’s housing backlog is estimated at 5.5 million, while there are 584,425 ISFs in Metro Manila alone.

Benitez said Dominguez agreed overpopulation, traffic congestion and high vulnerability to natural disasters have made metropolitan Manila, or the National Capital Region, a pariah among world cities.

The finance chief has also agreed that affordable housing provides a more cost-effective solution to address homelessness in the Philippines, the lawmaker added. With Butch Fernandez and Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Economy

A4 Monday, November 14, 2016 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

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PHL, Malaysia eye cooperation in agribusiness

T

By Catherine N. Pillas

@c_pillas29

he Philippines and Malaysia are gearing up for closer economic cooperation, hinting at significant joint projects in the area of agribusiness, specifically in palm oil and natural rubber.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said in a news briefing in Kuala Lumpur that meetings with his counterpart, Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, and the Malaysian Philippines Business Council have led to common interests being identified. “[The meetings] show that these companies are willing to put a stake in the current administration in terms of supporting the development goals in infrastructure and agribusiness,” Lopez said.

“In agribusiness, there’s a potential palm-oil project, wherein the harvest and the output will go back to Malaysia as exports and for further processing into palm-oil areas in Mindanao and Palawan,” he added.

Lopez said the Malaysian proponent of the project is keen on tapping 200 to 300 hectares of land for the palm-oil plantation. He added that the project is purely a private-sector undertaking.

Aside from agribusiness, two Malaysian companies are also keen

on building a $1-billion light-rail transit project to run from Diliman, Quezon City, to Quiapo, Manila.

While he refused to provide more details on the project, Lopez said the interested parties will still conduct studies on the proposal and the bidding process would still have to be threshed out by the government.

Much like the Philippines’s agenda with Brunei Darussalam, the untapped halal industry would be another possible area of cooperation, as well as strengthening the trade via the the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area.

“Halal, just like in Brunei, is strong in Malaysia and so we want to know the best practices and maximize the halal industry, which is $2 trillion in the world.

So these are areas for now that we are looking at,” Lopez said.

Earlier, President Duterte said he plans to strengthen ties with the country’s Asian neighbors. Since assuming office, the President has embarked on state visits to Brunei, China, Japan and Malaysia.

A loader piles up harvested oil-palm fruit outside the processing mill at the Bell Eco Power Sdn. palm-oil operations in Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia. Goh Seng Chong/Bloomberg

South Korean Food exporters no longer required to use iodized salt firm to put up factory in PHL F

By Cai U. Ordinario

S

outh Korean deck platemaker Duckshin Housing Co. Ltd. said it is planning to set up its second factory in the Philippines and that construction could begin next year.

Public relations spokesman for Duckshin Housing Ja-yong Koo told reporters of the company’s plan to expand its manufacturing footprint to the Philippines in 2017, after setting up its first overseas manufacturing site in Vietnam this year.

“We have plans to build a factory in the Philippines next year, our chairman,Myung-hwan Kim, is coming this Sunday to see which site is best to put up the plant,” Koo said.

The robust construction activity in the Philippines and the bullish spending on infrastructure were “positive signals” for the Korean firm to set up shop here, he said.

Tightening competition leading to a plunge in construction building materials in South Korea had also compelled the company to seek growth outside its home market.

Duckshin specializes in making deck plates, which are steel structures for the construction of slab.

According to the company, deck plate can reduce the construction period by 40 percent and costs by 25 percent, compared to the conventional method of using a plywood formwork.

The investment amount for the planned facility cannot be disclosed yet but the company spent at least $18 million for the establishment of its operations in Vietnam.

The plants in the Philippines and Vietnam will serve their domestic markets initially, then both may eventually export to Asean.

Duckshin also has two factories in South Korea, where it has captured a 30-percent market share in slab-construction materials. The deck plate manufacturer has inked a distributorship agreement with FilHigh last year, allowing its products to be used in the building of industrial plants, such as the Epson assembly plant in Calamba. Catherine N. Pillas

@cuo_bm

ood exporters are now exempted from using iodized salt in products for their shipments abroad, according to the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport).

The exemption was recently approved by the Salt Iodization Advisory Board, after exporters lobbied against requiring food manufactur-

ers and processors to use iodized salt in their products.

“Exporters believe that the use of iodine-fortified salt disqualifies food products from being classified as natural food products,” Philexport said.

The requirement of using iodized salt in food products was stipulated in the revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 8172, or the Act for Salt Iodiza-

tion Nationwide (ASIN).

ASIN requires all food manufacturers and processors using foodgrade salt to use iodized salt in the processing of their products.

The law requires that all salt be iodized both for “human and animal consumption” in accordance with the standards set by the Bureau of Food and Drugs to meet national nutritional needs of consumers.

However, small local salt farmers

who supply to small exporters also find the iodization process tedious and expensive, a procedure that is not even needed by foreign buyers.

The Export Development Council, together with the Department of Trade and Industry, National Nutrition Council, Philippine Chamber of Food Manufactures Inc. and other food exporters advocated for the review of the said IRR. Other provisions to simplify doc-

umentations and requirements are also being pushed to ensure compliance with the law.

In September export earnings from processed food and beverages reached $67.16 million. It represented 1.3 percent of total exports.

It posted a growth of 22.9 percent from the $54.65 million worth of export earnings from processed food and beverages posted in September 2015.

Robots threaten jobs in poor countries—Unctad Govt to prioritize devt

of five Mindanao ports

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

T

Photo by Haruyoshi Yamaguchi/Bloomberg

R

obots threaten jobs in developing countries like the Philippines, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).

In a policy brief, Unctad said two-thirds of jobs in developing countries could disappear with full automation. The use of robots could also make it more expensive to operate in developing countries.

“The increased use of robots in developed countries risks eroding the traditional labor-cost advantage of developing countries,” the policy brief said.

“The share of occupations that could experience significant automation is actually higher in developing countries than

in more advanced ones, where many of these jobs have already disappeared, and this concerns about two-thirds of all jobs,” it added, citing World Bank research.

The policy brief says that industrial robots have primarily been deployed in the automotive, electrical and electronics industries.

Reshoring has also been slow to happen and hasn’t yet undermined continued offshoring. As opposed to offshoring, reshoring sees companies moving their labor operations back to developed countries, to be carried out by robots or automated systems.

However, the paper advised developing nations to join and take advantage

of the digital revolution to counter reshoring and fully benefit from an expanding global economy.

Thepaperexplainedthatdisruptivetechnologies always bring risks, but they also open up new opportunities. This requires reshaping education systems to create the managerial and labor skills needed to operate new technologies, “as the combination of skilledlaborandautomationmaybesuperior to either on its own,” said the report.

It also requires establishing Internet links between massive data storage and the computing devices that power the increased use of robots, and developing the associated regulatory frameworks. Cai U. Ordinario

@lorenzmarasigan

he government will give utmost priority in developing five ports in Mindanao to accommodate more traffic and help further boost the country’s output.

Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago said over the weekend his group has created a Port Infrastructure Development Plan, which identified five priority ports for modernization, namely, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Iloilo and Zamboanga.

These are considered international gateways as of this writing.

“We are developing these ports, as these handle majority of our import and export product not only within Asean but also worldwide,” Santiago said.

He added that his group will use the Asean Ports Association (APA) Meeting on November 15 and 16 as an avenue to promote these ports.

“The APA Meeting, which we will be hosting, is a great avenue for the Philippines to assure our Asean neighbors and the world that we are doing beyond what is needed for us to properly respond to the demands of the global supply-chain market,” Santiago said.

The event, which will be held at the Solaire Resorts Hotel at the country’s Entertainment City in Parañaque, is expected to be attended by the top port executives and decision-makers from the membernations of the APA. The nine-member countries of APA include Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are each required to present a paper that will serve as the springboard for future development and cooperation among member-countries.

Last year, during the 41st APA Meeting held in Brunei Darussalam, the PPA stressed on the capacity-building initiatives it is undertaking, like the “Train for Trade” program with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, as well as its partnership with the World Maritime University, the International Association of Ports and Harbors, the Permanent International Association of Navigation Congress, among others, all aimed at improving the professional capability of its employees.

APA was formed in 1974, as an alliance of port authorities in the Asean to serve as the proper forum for the achievement of the following broad objectives: exchange of information, harmonization of trade practices, and promotion and facilitation of trade among Asean ports.

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Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, November 14, 2016 A5

DA to roll out poultry-vaccination program

D

By Manuel T. Cayon

Ilocos to host three-day organic-farming congress

Mindanao Bureau Chief

AVAO CITY—The Department of Agriculture (DA) said it would launch a national poultry-vaccination program next year before it disperses a locally crossbred chicken to 2 million chicken growers.

A g r icu lture Secretar y Emmanuel F. Piñol said the poultry dispersal program is aimed at providing new income-generation opportunities for farmers.

“We need to get rid of common diseases afflicting domestic poultry before we disperse the chicken to farmers,” Piñol said.

A private feed company listed at least four diseases that usually afflicts Philippine poultry: c h ron ic res pi rator y d i sea se, coccidiosis, Mareks disease and avian malaria.

Piñol said the vaccination program would not cost a lot of money and that he has already instructed regional offices to recruit veterinarians and farm technicians for the vaccination and dispersal of chicken.

He said he himself has crossbred local chicken from Basilan

with an American broiler and that there has been a lot of inquiry about it.

“There are other successful crossbreeding that we can tap, which target the egg-laying capabilities of chicken,” Piñol said.

“I can’t imagine a lot of our farmers don’t have chicken in their backyards. That means, many children of our farmers have not been able to eat and get the nutritional benefits of eggs,” he added.

The DA chief said cross-breeding of poultry have allowed these chickens to lay eggs multiple times in a day. “Just think of the money our farmers could get from raising these chickens.”

Piñol said around 2 million farmers are in need of interventions from the government, like the vaccination and dispersal program. He added that funding

By Orly Guirao Correspondent

S

Bloomberg News

for this two programs would come from the DA budget. ​P iñol, meanwhile, has recalled all extension officers from their posts and directed them to report to the central office or their regional offices pending their new assignments.

“We will assign them in different posts to prevent them from undertaking extortion activities,” he said during the recent groundbreaking of the P150 -million Southern Mindanao Integrated

Agricultural Laboratory in the 50-hectare undeveloped government complex in Barangay Manambulan in Baguio district.

Piñol said corruption continues to hound the department and that farmers have complaining about farm technicians and personnel of the Agricultural Training Institute.

“There are only two options here for them: either they have to follow our rules, or they quit,” he said.

AN FERNANDO CITY, La Union—The Duterte administration will make a pitch for organic farming during the 13th National Organic Agriculture Congress, which will be staged in Laoag City on November 23 to 25.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol will deliver the keynote address to 2,000 farmers from all over the country who are expected to attend the three-day event.

Two other Cabinet officials— Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez and Cabinet Secretary Leoncio B. Evasco Jr., concurrent president of the League of Organic Agriculture Movement (LOAM)— have also been invited as speakers.

“We are hopeful all three will join the congress,” said Gloria C. Parong, Department of Agriculture (DA) regional information officer.

“It will signal full support to the organic-farming movement.”

Parong said the DA maintaining its original target of converting a modest 5 percent of all farmlands in the country into organic farms.

The target was set after the organic agriculture law was passed during the Aquino administration.

The congress, she said, has adopted “The Organic Way: For People, Environment Sustainability and Progress” as this year’s theme to stress the need to adopt safe and healthy farming practices.

Parong said organizers of the event, notably the National Organic Agriculture Board, have projected only about 1,400 participants to the congress, but as of press time, about 1,899 reservations have been made from all over the country.

Aside from securing the commitment of top officials in the government to sustainable, healthy farming, participants will also be updated on success stories of organic-farming practitioners in rice and vegetable farming and aquaculture.

Although organic agriculture has grown to become a multibilliondollar industry in highly developed economies, like Europe, the United States and Japan, it remains a marginal segment of the farming sector in the Philippines.

The Nation

A6 Monday, November 14, 2016 • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo

BusinessMirror

PSA unclear about ‘higher authority’ that allowed extensions of Unisys deal

T

By Marvyn N. Benaning | Correspondent

HE Commission on Audit (COA) has rebuked the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) for failing to explain why it failed to take over the operations of the computerization of the Civil Registry System (CRS) controlled by Unisys years before the 12-year agreement with the US company ended in 2012.

In its 2015 audit of the PSA, the COA said the agency claimed it had secured the approval of a higher authority to allow the three-year extensions for Unisys, a US company, despite the clear stipulation in the original contract that the then National Statistics Office (NSO), the PSA’s predecessor, was supposed to man the information technology system of the CRS in 2007, or five

years before the contract expired in 2012.

The COA said on page 88 of the 2015 audit that, “to achieve the agency’s mandate, the Authority [PSA] in Current Year [CY] 2000 conducted the bidding for the computerization of the system and contract for 12 long years running from CY 2000-2012. In such contract, there is a provision that be-

fore the end of the last five years, such system provided by service provider will be operated by the Authority [then-NSO]. However, from CY 2012 up to this period, two extension contracts were already executed and the SP [service provider] operates the system.”

Thus, the contract is very clear that by taking over the system, there would be no need for CRS-Information Technology Phase II (CRS-ITP2), but instead of taking over the system, NSO allowed Unisys to secure two extensions to its original contract.

This action on the part of the then NSO and now PSA has earned brickbats from the COA, which noted that the extensions were allowed by a “higher authority” that had not been named.

That “authority” could be Malacañang, Department of Finance (DOF) or the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), which eventually approved the extensions through the NedaInvestment Coordinating Committee (Neda-ICC).

However, the legality of such an extension could have been raised

Bar examinees ignore ‘black protest’

By Joel R. San Juan

B

@jrsanjuan1573

AR examinees on Sunday ignored calls by humanrights groups for them to show indignation against the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) allowing the burial of strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) by wearing black shirts.

On the second day of this year’s Bar exams, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) and other groups, like Samahan ng Mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (Selda), Karapatan and Karma, staged their “Black to Block” protest action near the University of Santo Tomas, where the Bar examinations are being held.

Earlier, the NUPL issued an open letter to the law graduates taking the examinations and urged them to wear black shirts.

The group said law graduates have a duty to use their knowledge and skills to defend justice in spite of “the Supreme Court decision; the lawyers who [like Marcos the dictator] legalize cronyism, corruption, human-rights abuses, tyranny, oppression and exploitation by using or abusing the law; the seemingly partisan and abstract court decisions; the twisted laws during the martial-law era and beyond.”

“Justice, you see, depends as much on the people, as well as those on who, educated and trained in the law,

upholds the law and fights to ensure that it serves the greater good, and not the few powers that be,” the NUPL said in its statement.

“Studying the law, taking the Bar and becoming a lawyer becomes relevant and meaningful only when it serves justice, takes notice of the judgment of history, confirms self-evident truths and sides with the oppressed: in short, when the knowledge and skills learned in law school are used to ensure that justice is achieved,” the group stressed.

However, the more than 6,000 Bar examinees still chose to wear the colors of their schools.

The NUPL said their “black protest” represents not only their grief over the SC ruling but also their commitment to help change the stance of those favoring the burial for Marcos. “We wear black today while you take your Bar to mourn and protest the way justice has been diminished again with no compunction. But we also wear black to signify that we will not forget this dark night in our legal history,” they said.

In its decision last Tuesday, the SC voted 9-5 and upheld the order of President Duterte for the Marcos burial at the LNMB. It held that it is within his presidential power provided under Article VII, Section 17 of the Constitution.

The ruling, written by Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, held that Marcos possessed the qualifications to be interred at the LNMB as a “former president and commander in chief, a legislator, a secretary of national defense, a military personnel, a veteran and a Medal of Valor awardee.”

The SC ruled that there is no law prohibiting Marcos’s burial at LNMB. It also rejected the claim of petitioners that Duterte’s decision was motivated by his debt of gratitude and payback to the Marcoses for supporting his presidential candidacy in the elections in May, saying they failed to establish factual basis for this.

with the Department of Justice (DOJ), which could issue an opinion on the matter.

PSA argued that the extension agreements with Unisys were approved by Neda-ICC and said the decision was based on fears that failure to renew the contracts would mean reduction in revenues owing to delays in operations and failure to replace defective machines, while hiring competent information-technology (IT) staff members would be a problem since the budget for hiring manpower could not be provided immediately by the government.

The COA also questioned why Unisys and the then-NSO were unable to provide data on the total number of civil registry documents processed from 2000 to 2001, thus limiting the COA’s assessment of the first phase of the IT project for CRS. It noted that, based on the data collected, the demand for civil-registry documents grew to 14 million copies in 2015, for a total increase of 320.43 percent from 2002.

Unisys is a US-based company that also services the information system of the global banking system

for quick financial transactions and has contracts with various US armed services and federal agencies.

PSA Director General Lisa Grace S. Bersales and Unisys executive Juan Ingersol Castro signed the P1.59-billion contract for the CRSITP2 on September 30, despite nagging questions about an agreement that gives Unisys full control of all civil-registry documents nationwide, with government getting only 45.5 percent of the revenues.

Curiously, the PSA signed the contract despite the fact that the agency had a cap of 57.87 percent for the state in the original sharing provision.

In the 2015 audit, the COA said “the income realized from this project was shared by the service provider and the government, with the latter having a lower share than the former.”

However, the COA admitted on page 90 of the report that “the government shared more than the amount received by the SP if we include the documentary, expanded and percentage taxes from the CRS-IT project.”

Vapers tell WHO: A billion smokers deserve equal access to safer products

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APERS on Thursday called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to allow the world’s 1 billion smokers to have equal access to safer alternatives to cigarettes.

“On behalf of millions of us who now vape instead of smoke, and in support of the 1 billion smokers who deserve access to safer alternatives to cigarettes, we adopt today The Delhi Declaration, calling on the WHO and our countries’ representatives at Conference of the Parties 7 (COP7) to allow us to have equal access to safer alternatives to cigarettes,” said Tom Pinlac, president of The Vapers Philippines.

Officials in closed-door meetings between the WHO and government health ministries in India this week are considering banning electronic cigarettes, d e s p it e a c k no w le d g i n g t h at they are significantly safer than cigarettes.

They banned vapers and consumer groups from their supposedly public meetings on Monday.

Consumers fought back and held a conference nearby.

E-cigarettes have been endorsed by the British government as 95 percent safer than cigarettes.

They are widely available in the UK, the US and the EU, leading millions of smokers to quit ciga-

rettes for good, according to a study published this month in the scientific journal Addiction. They have recently become the most popular way to quit smoking in Switzerland.

However, it is Swiss-based WHO officials who are leading the call to clamp down on vape products.

A report by an unnamed author at the WHO Secretariat in Geneva is the basis for this week’s negotiations. Despite acknowledging that e-cigarettes are “very likely... less toxic than cigarette smoke” and that smokers switching to e-cigarettes “would represent a significant contemporary public health achievement,” the report recommends banning or severely restricting electronic cigarettes, citing concerns about youth experimentation and the lack of clinical studies on long-term safety.

“If we had waited for clinical studies and scientific certainty, we wouldn’t have seat belts, motorcycle helmets, cleaner fuel, or healthier foods,” Pinlac said. “There is no doubt e-cigarettes are much safer than cigarettes. Banning them shows disdain for our health and we are the ones who pay the price.

Concerns about youth are very important, but that should be addressed through appropriate, balanced regulation, not bans.”

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

news@businessmirror.com.ph

MMDA revives motorcycle lanes

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

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TARTING on Monday, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will strictly enforce the use of motorcycle lanes on Epifanio delos Santos Avenue, C-5 Road, Macapagal Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue to minimize accidents involving twowheeled vehicles and instill road discipline among motorcyclists.

MMDA Officer in Charge Tim Orbos said the move is one of the initiatives of the Interagency Council on Traffic (I-ACT) to improve traffic flow in the metropolis.

Over the weekend, the agency, with members of the Motorcycle Philippines Federation (MCPF), conducted trial runs to familiarize and orient motorcycle riders on the use of motorcycle lanes.

Orbos said strictly enforcing the motorcycle lane will ease the traffic situation on the roads and reduce the number of fatal accidents involving the motorbikes.

“Our objective is not only to move people faster but also make sure they reach their destinations safely,” Orbos said. Data shows that, out of the 265 vehicular accidents daily in Metro Manila, 30 involve motorcycles.

The Road Crash Statistical Report reported that a total of 7,033 accidents involving motorcycles were recorded from January to April this year.

Out of the number, 82 were fatal, according to the report.

In 2015 MMDA recorded a total of 18,668 motorcyclerelated acci dents in the

metropolis, 238 of which resulted in deaths.

During the dry run over the weekend, MMDA personnel checked motorcycle riders’ proper attire, such as crash helmet, long pants and shoes; and made sure their headlights were switched on even during daytime.

They also flagged down and warned motorcycle riders who did not have signal lights and side mirrors.

ARMM celebrates its 27th year

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OVEMBER is special month for the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as it celebrates its anniversary.

Now on its 27th year, “Pagkaradjaan sa ARMM” marks its establishment as a Moro region with an independent administration under the national government.

Pagkaradjaan means “celebration” in Moro tribes’ dialects.

The Moro region consists of the five Muslim-populated provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Its elective chief executive is Regional Gov. Mujiv Hataman. His wife Party-list Rep. Sitti Djalia Turabin of Anak-Mindanao is proud of her husband’s achievements.

The monthlong festivities will be held at the ORG Compound and Shariff Kabungsuan Cultural Complex (SKCC) in Cotabato City, ARMM’s seat of government. These events highlight the Moro’s search for peace, as well as culture.

It is customary to kick off the celebration with rites at the 634-year-old Shiek Karimul Makhdum Mosque in Simunul, Tawi-Tawi. Makhdum was a preacher from Malaysia who intorduced Islam in the Philippines in the 14th century. As the oldest, religious historical landmark in the Philippines, it is now a museum which is being preserved as a heritage building.

Pagkaradjaan also includes summits with government agencies and private sector and a workshop on literacy. Film festivals featuring the work of young independent filmmakers that tell the stories of the Moros will be held in various venues.

The different Moro tribes, like Maranao, Mag uind anao, Tausug , Teduray and Yakan, will offer their culinaryspecialties.

In December the Muslim music, dance and costumes will be showcased in nightly cultural programs by the different tribes and a men’s basketball and volleyball tournament. Ayunan Gunting

New natural-gas power plant First Gen Corp. (First Gen), a Lopez Group

company, held inaugural ceremonies on Friday for its 414-megawatt San Gabriel combined-cycle and 97-MW Avion open cycle natural gas-fired power plants in Santa Rita, Batangas. Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi (fourth from left) pose for a photo after the ceremonial switch-on of both facilities. Also in photo are (from left), Federico R. Lopez, First Gen and parent firm First Philippine Holdings Corp. chairman and CEO; Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy; Oscar M. Lopez, chairman emeritus of Lopez Group; Former Sen. Sergio R. Osmeña III and Francis Giles B. Puno, First Gen president and COO. First Gen owns and operates both plants through two wholly owned subsidiaries. Inset shows Avion plant on top and the San Gabriel plant.

AseanMonday BusinessMirror

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CB intervention needed to stop rupiah plunge

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ndonesia’s rupiah plunged to a five-month low on Friday, prompting the nation’s central bank to say it stepped in to stabilize the local currency and bond markets.

The rupiah fell 1.1 percent to 13,288 per dollar in Jakarta, its biggest decline since May 19, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg. It earlier dropped as much as 3 percent, the most on an intraday basis since September 2013, to a five-month low of 13,545.

The rupiah fell 1.1 percent to 13,288 per dollar in Jakarta, its biggest decline since May 19, according to prices from local banks.”

—Bloomberg Bank Indonesia officials confirmed intervention after the rupiah declined with Asian currencies.

Sentiment toward emerging-market assets soured on speculation a Donald Trump administration will lead to protectionism and prompt more aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve. Malaysia’s ringgit dropped to its weakest level since January and India’s rupee sank to the lowest in more than two months. State-run banks sold dollars on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India, according to two Mumbai-based traders, who asked not to be identified.

“It’s more a smoothing action because of the velocity of the moves today,” said Jeffrey Halley, a market strategist at Oanda Asia Pacific Pte. in Singapore. “They’re not going to try to stand in front of a freight train. We may see more of this going forward.”

The rupiah weakened after a few short-term investors rushed to the nondeliverable forward market to hedge, causing the contracts to drop significantly, Nanang Hendarsah, head of financial market deepening at the central bank, said by mobile phone text message. The authority is ready to buy government bonds and intervene in the foreign-exchange market to maintain stability, Senior Deputy Governor Mirza Adityaswara told reporters in Jakarta.

Indonesia’s 10-year sovereign bond yield jumped 40 basis points, the most since January 2014, to 7.88 percent, while the Jakarta Composite Index of shares sank 4 percent.

Ex-BSI banker Yak found guilty in Singapore 1MDB-linked case

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ak Yew Chee, a former BSI SA private banker, became the first person to be found guilty in a Singapore case linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd. (1MDB). He also became the first banker to be convicted in the global corruption and moneylaundering probes surrounding the Malaysian investment fund.

Yak pleaded guilty in a Singapore court on Friday and the judge convicted him of four charges, inc lud ing forg ing documents and failing to disclose suspicious transactions allegedly related to Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho. The former senior banker at BSI had faced seven charges, and prosecutors said the other three charges would be taken into consideration for sentencing.

Low has been named as a key person of interest by Singapore authorities and characterized by US prosecutors as the controller of an illicit payments scheme draining billions from the Malaysian investment fund. The high-living financier had previously described his role with 1MDB as informal consulting that didn’t break any laws.

Efforts to reach Low haven’t been successful. A call to Low’s Hong Kong-based company Jynwel Capital earlier on Friday wasn’t answered. Both 1MDB and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who formerly chaired 1MDB’s advisory board, have consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Yak, along with his former subordinate Yvonne Seah Yew Foong, were charged last month for their roles in forging bank reference letters and not reporting suspicious banking activities allegedly involving Low. Yak, 57, was also a banker for 1MDB and related entities, his lawyer had said previously. Another of

It is imperative that the public confidence in the integrity of Singapore’s banking and financial industry is zealously protected.”

—Judge Jennifer Marie Yak’s former colleagues, Yeo Jiawei, is currently on trial for obstructing justice by attempting to tamper with witnesses in the probe.

The judge sentenced Yak to 18 weeks in jail and a S$24,000 fine.

“It is imperative that the public confidence in the integrity of Singapore’s banking and financial industry is zealously protected,” Judge Jennifer Marie said in handing down the sentence. “Bank officers should be seeking to safeguard the public trust and confidence in the financial industry and not succumb to the greed and the lure of huge bonuses or the treachery of ‘important’ clients.”

Yak was remorseful and took

Explosion outside church wounds 4 in central Indonesia

Currency rout

Mexico’s peso, South Korea’s won, South Africa’s rand and Poland’s zloty dropped more than 1 percent, putting a gauge of emerging-market currencies on course for its worst three-day rout since 2011. Taiwan’s dollar and India’s rupee fell at least 0.7 percent each and the Philippine peso slid 0.6 percent.

The prospect of increased spending under Trump’s presidency propelled the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index to the highest since March on Thursday. The US could drop out of Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal within his first 100 days in office, Politico reported, citing an internal transition team document.

“The rupiah fell in response to declines in the region,” said Branko Windoe, head of treasury at PT Bank Central Asia, Indonesia’s largest bank by market value. “We’ve seen since the US election, looking at the policies outlined during Trump’s campaign, people are trying to calculate the impact on Asia, especially on trade.” Bloomberg News

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Monday, November 14, 2016 A7

A Muslim protester runs near a burning vehicle during a clash with the police outside the presidential palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, on November 4. The police in the Indonesian capital clashed with hard-line Muslim protesters refusing to disperse after a massive protest on Friday to demand the arrest of the city’s minority-Christian governor for alleged blasphemy. AP

J

AKARTA, Indonesia—Indonesian police say an explosion outside a church on Borneo has wounded four children.

National police Spokesman Brig.

Gen. Agus Riyanto says s a number of vehicles were damaged on Sunday in the explosion at the parking lot of the Oikumene Church in Samarinda, the provincial capital of East Kalimantan province.

The police are investigating the cause of the blast. Media reports quoted local police Spokesman Lt. Col. Fajar Setiawan as saying the explosion came from a Molotov cocktail thrown by a man riding on a motorbike. Setiawan is quoted as saying the man was arrested.

The four children were slightly wounded and are being treated at a hospital. AP

YAK

his cue from the top management at BSI in his dealings with Low, his lawyer Lee Teck Leng said. Yak will voluntarily disgorge S$7.5 million and agree to cooperate with prosecutors, Lee said. The convicted banker, through his lawyer-pleaded for leniency for his long-time colleague Seah,

who hasn’t pleaded on her charges.

Yak “had no reasonable grounds to believe that Low was involved in criminal conduct,” or that there was something amiss with the purported 1MDB investments, Lee said.

“Low very frequently declined to provide further details or explana-

tion on the ground that the deals were government to government and, hence, state secret.”

Singapore regulators have ordered BSI and Falcon Private Bank to stop operations for money-laundering breaches related to moving funds associated with 1MDB. Bloomberg News

A8

The World BusinessMirror

Monday, November 14, 2016 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Huge rally adds pressure on Korean prexy to resign

Protesters march toward presidential house after a rally calling for South Korean President Park Geun-hye to step down in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday. The protest may be South Korea’s largest protest since it shook off dictatorship three decades ago. AP/Ahn Young-joon

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ne of South Korea’s biggest antigovernment protests in decades has escalated pressure on President Park Geun-hye to resign over an influence-peddling scandal.

Hundreds of thousands of people— many of them youths—filled downtown Seoul on Saturday, a sight comparable to the 1987 prodemocracy rally that led the country’s military leaders to adopt direct presidential elections.

The demonstration near government buildings, embassies and business headquarters was the largest since rallies began last month after Park first apologized for allowing friend Choi Soon-sil access to government documents.

“Park gave up our future for the future of Choi’s family,” Shin Yu-jin, a 21-year-old college student, said amid calls in the crowd for police to allow the march to continue. “She’s not my president. I want her out right now. Tonight.”

The large turnout adds to pressure on opposition parties to push for Park’s impeachment, a scenario that would lead to an election within 60 days.

The scandal has deprived South Korea of strong leadership, as economic growth slumps and some of its biggest companies suffer embarrassing setbacks. Park has not commented this weekend on the latest developments.

The protests have become a lightning rod for general dissatisfaction with Park’s leadership, particularly of

The protest drew more than a million people, organizers said. Seoul police, which estimate the crowd at a specific point in time, put the figure at 260,000.

About 25,000 police officers, many in riot gear, patrolled the streets.

“People from all regions are here and that makes this rally the voice of the entire nation,” Nam Jeong-su, a spokesman for the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions, said by phone. “We are here to leave Park with no choice but to step down.”

1M

‘Significant confusion’

The number of protesters against South Korean President Park Geun-hye the economy, among groups, such as farmers and workers whose jobs are threatened by slower growth. The distraction risks a cohesive response to the North Korea threat after two nuclear tests from the reclusive nation this year.

It also risks South Korea missing the chance to quickly clarify its relationship with the US after Donald Trump’s election win. Park is skipping the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru this week, which will be attended by President Barack Obama and the leaders of Japan and China.

“She should step down and help rebuild the nation, if she has conscience left,” Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said late on Saturday night, as the rally neared its close. Dozens of opposition party members also joined the rally, criticizing the ruling party for failing to limit Choi’s influence over Park.

With the president reluctant to resign before her term ends in early 2018, the chances of opposition lawmakers seeking her impeachment are rising, said Choi Chang-ryul, a liberal-arts professor at Yong In University.

“We just can’t go on like this for a year,” he said. “There will be significant confusion and uncertainty, but eventually opposition lawmakers are likely to tilt toward impeachment.”

Park’s popularity has plummeted to the single digits after acknowledging she consulted Choi on “some documents” for a period after taking office in 2013. Opposition lawmakers have linked Choi to a religious movement and say she intervened more extensively in government affairs. She has been arrested on suspicion of attempted fraud and abuse of authority.

Prosecutors have also questioned current and former officials in Park’s administration and executives at some of the country’s biggest companies. Park herself said she would cooperate with the investigation and take responsibility if any wrongdoing is found.

Executives questioned

A former adviser to Park has been questioned over whether he placed undue pressure on firms to donate tens of millions of dollars to foundations controlled by Choi. Posco CEO Kwon Ohjoon has been probed on whether Choi’s associates exerted influence over selling the steelmakers’ former advertising unit, according to local media reports.

Roh Seung-kwon, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, said investigators on Saturday summoned and questioned the chairmen of Hanwha Group and Hyundai Motor Group. He declined to comment further. Park’s approval rating remained at 5 percent, Gallup Korea said in a weekly poll released on Friday. About 60 percent of respondents told a Realmeter survey last week she should step down or be impeached.

Saturday’s rally was for the most part peaceful as protesters held candles and sang the national anthem. Farmers wearing rice sacks waved banners demanding her resignation and higher crop prices.

As protesters started to head home around 11 p.m. local time, thousands of young people remained, some playing instruments and singing, while others marched toward a barricade separating them from the street, leading to the presidential complex. Park’s approval rate among youths is zero, according to the Gallup Korea poll.

“We don’t want a puppet for our president,” Lee Bong-jun, 19, said while leading a group of teenage protesters toward the presidential office. “Who does Park think we are to shortchange us like this?” Bloomberg News

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Colombia tries again for peace with sides signing new accord

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AVANA—Colombia tried a second time to achieve peace, with its government and largest rebel group signing a revised deal to end its brutal conflict, following the surprise rejection of an earlier peace accord by voters in a referendum.

Government negotiator Humberto de la Calle and rebel negotiator Ivan Marquez announced the new, modified deal on Saturday in Havana, moving to end a half-century-long conflict that has claimed more than 220,000 lives and driven almost 8 million people from their homes.

The latest agreement aims to address some of the concerns of opponents of the original accord, who said the deal was too lenient on a rebel group that had kidnapped and committed war crimes.

“The new deal is an opportunity to clear up doubts, but above all to unite us,” said de la Calle, who described the text of the modified accord as “much better” than the previous one. The negotiator didn’t say if or how it would be submitted again to voters for approval or to congress.

President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) inked an initial peace deal on September 26 amid international fanfare after more than four years of negotiations. But voters rejected it on October 2 by just 55,000 votes, dealing a stunning setback to Santos who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end Colombia’s conflict.

Santos immediately began looking for ways to rescue the deal and the sides extended a cease-fire until December 31 to get the modified deal done. The rebels insisted they wouldn’t go back to the drawing board and throw out years of arduous negotiations with the government.

“The meetings with the FARC delegation were intense,” de la Calle said. “We worked 15 days and nights to reach this new agreement.” De la Calle added some modifications made were related to justice, punishment for combatants accused of war crimes and reparations for the conflict’s victims.

He said negotiators had worked out the details of how and where those responsible for crimes would serve their sentences, addressing complaints by opponents that rebels accused of atrocities would not be imprisoned, but submitted to “alternative punishments.”

Other modifications include requiring the rebels to present an inventory of acquired money and holdings, and the provision of safeguards for private owners and property during reforms carried out in the countryside.

Cases of conflict participants accused of drug trafficking would be dealt with under Colombia’s penal code and be heard by high courts.

In a televised address on Saturday night, Santos said he had instructed de la Calle and the negotiating team to return to Bogota to explain the details of the new accord to the “no” campaign led by conservative former President Alvaro Uribe.

Santos said an issue where negotiators did not achieve advances was on the insistence by opponents of the peace deal that guerrilla leaders not be allowed to run for elected office.

“We won’t have assigned legislative seats. To the contrary, they will have to participate in elections. Nor will they have positions in government, as has occurred in other cases. But yes they can be elected,” he said.

FARC negotiator Marquez said “the implementation of the accord is all that remains for the construction of the bases for peace in Colombia.”

US Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated Colombians, including Santos and those from the “no” campaign, for reaching the new peace deal.

“After 52 years of war, no peace agreement can satisfy everyone in every detail. But this agreement constitutes an important step forward on Colombia’s path to a just and durable peace.

The United States, in coordination with the Government of Colombia, will continue to support full implementation of the final peace agreement,” he said in a statement.

Hours before the deal was announced, Uribe, who was Colombia’s president from 2002 to 2010, had asked that it “not be definitive” until opponents and victims of the conflict could review the text.

Following a meeting with Santos, Uribe read a statement to reporters saying he had asked that the “texts to be announced from Havana” not be official until they had been reviewed.

Uribe and his supporters had demanded stiffer penalties for rebels who committed war crimes and criticized the promise of a political role for the FARC, a 7,000-strong peasant army that is Latin America’s last remaining major insurgency. They didn’t like that under the old deal guerrilla leaders involved in crimes against humanity would be spared jail time and allowed to enter political life. AP

US agrees to resettle Australia’s refugees languishing on Nauru, Papua New Guinea

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ANBERRA, Australia—The United States has agreed to resettle an unspecified number of refugees languishing in Pacific island camps in a deal that is expected to inspire more asylum-seekers to attempt to reach Australia by boat, officials said on Sunday.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would not say whether he had discussed the deal with Presidentelect Donald Trump during their telephone conversation on Thursday.

The Obama administration had agreed to resettle refugees among almost 1,300 asylum-seekers held at Australia’s expense on the island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea. Another 370 who came to Australia for medical treatment then refused to return to the islands

would also be eligible. “We deal with one administration at a time and there is only one president of the United States at a time,” Turnbull told reporters. Trump has called for a moratorium or tight restrictions on Muslim immigration. Most of the asylum seekers are Muslims from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

US Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed that the United States had “agreed to consider referrals” from the United Nations refugee agency on Australia’s refugees.

“We are going to work to protect vulnerable refugees around the world, and we’ll share that responsibility with our friends in the regions that are most affected by this challenge,” Kerry told reporters in New Zealand.

Australia refuses to resettle any refugee who has arrived by boat since the date the tough policy was announced on July 19, 2013.

Australia pays Nauru and Papua New Guinea to house boat arrivals and has been searching for countries that will resettle them.

Few refugees have accepted offers to resettle in Papua New Guinea and Cambodia because most hope that Australia will eventually take them in.

Any refugee who refuses to go to the US would be given a 20-year visa to stay on Nauru, a tiny impoverished atoll with a population of 10,000 people, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said.

The Refugee Council of Australia, an advocacy group, welcomed the

deal as a vital first step in ending the indefinite detention of asylumseekers on the islands. London-based rights group Amnesty International accused Australia of taking “an extreme step in shirking responsibility.” US Department of Homeland Security officials are expected in Australia this week to begin assessing refugees. Turnbull would not say how many refugees the United States might take, but said the most vulnerable would be given priority.

“Our priority is the resettlement of woman, children and families,” Turnbull said. “This will be an orderly process. It will take time. It will not be rushed.”

Refugees who arrive in the future would not be sent to the United States, he said.

“We anticipate that people smugglers will seek to use this agreement as a marketing opportunity to tempt vulnerable people onto these perilous sea journeys,” Turnbull said.

“We have put in place the largest and most capable maritime surveillance and response fleet Australia has ever deployed.”

Australian Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg said ships had been positioned to turn boats back to Indonesia if asylumseekers attempt to reach Australia in the hope of being sent to the US. No people-smuggling operation has successfully delivered asylumseekers to Australia by boat since July 2014.

Turnbull announced at Obama’s Leaders’ Summit on Refugees in

September that Australia would participate in the US-led program to resettle Central American refugees from a camp in Costa Rica. Australia would also increase its refugee intake by 5,000 to 18,750 a year.

Turnbull said at the time that the agreement to resettle Hondurans and El Salvadoreans was “not linked to any other resettlement discussions” involving Australia’s refugees getting to the US. Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said some refugees on Nauru were “hopeful” of resettlement in the United States, but were frustrated by the lack of detail. There seemed no short-term hope for asylum seekers on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island, a male-only camp holding 873 men. AP

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Monday, November 14, 2016

A9

US election outcome unexpected winners, losers

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ere’s one way to sum up how markets behaved following the US presidential election: Investors didn’t do what they were expected to do after American voters didn’t do what they were expected to do.

51

Donald Trump’s upset victory was supposed to tank developed stock markets, especially in the US. Instead, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed its best week since 2011 at a record high. Investors were supposed to flee to The number of emerging safety and send the Japanese country stock indexes which yen, Treasuries and gold soaring. All three have fallen 1.4 fell three days after the percent or more since the elec- election tion. The US dollar was sure to plunge. Nope: The greenback had its strongest three-day rally in five years. Emerging-market securities and tax-free municipal bonds are among the few assets reacting as predicted: They’re getting crushed.

Here’s a look at the winners and losers.

Stocks

The big story of the week was the beating emerging equity markets took on fears that President-elect Trump’s protectionist proclivities will crimp their exports. Of 68 emerging country stock indexes tracked by Bloomberg, 51 fell in the three days after the election. Latin America took the biggest hit with Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia being the world’s worst performers.

The US ranks among all four countries’ top 3 trading partners.

While more developed stock markets fell (18) than rose (eight), the damage was much more limited. Only five dropped more than 2 percent—New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands. The MSCI World Index of developed economies rose 0.3 percent post-election. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.8 percent, though it fell in dollar terms.

In the US the rally has been led by cyclical stocks. The S&P 500 Financials Index soared 8.3 percent in three days to levels last seen in May 2008. All 64 members ended the week up at least 2.3 percent, on hopes for eased banking regulations. Industrial companies were the S&P 500’s second-best performer, fueled by Trump’s promises of massive infrastructure-spending increases.

The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index had its best week since 2000, up 14 percent on relief that Democrat Hillary Clinton’s plans to rein in prices were dashed. Generic drugmaker Endo International Plc. soared 21 percent in three days, fourth best in the S&P 500, after an Election Day earnings beat gave it an added boost.

Utility and consumer-staples stocks, traditional havens, fell.

The biggest post-election loser in the S&P 500 was managed care provider Centene Corp., which was downgraded to neutral

by Credit Suisse Group AG amid fears that Trump’s plan to dismantle Obamacare will hurt such companies.

Government bonds

The more the US government spends, the more bonds it sells, increasing supply, depressing prices and increasing yields and, more generally, borrowing costs worldwide. So Trump’s ambitious spending plans tamped down demand in the Treasury’s post-election auctions of 10- and 30-year obligations, particularly from foreign central banks and mutual funds.

The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield surged 37 basis points this week, the most since the so-called taper tantrum in June 2013, as inflation-expectation gauges soared. Long bonds fared worse, with investors holding 30-year Treasuries losing 6.8 percent in the first 10 days of November, Bank of America Corp. data show. The US yield curve is the steepest it’s been in 2016.

Moves in the US weighed on sovereign debt around the world, with 10-year yields in all but two of 24 developed nations climbing at least 15 basis points. In total, more than $750 billion was wiped off the value of government bonds worldwide. German 30year yields rose to the most since May. Italy’s reached the highest since July 2015, and its borrowing costs increased at an auction of debt due in three decades on Friday, allotting the securities at the highest yield for a sale of 30-year bonds since July 2015.

State and local-government bonds tumbled this week as Republican plans for big tax cuts lessened tax-free municipal debt’s appeal. The yield on the Bond Buyer’s 20-year index jumped a quarter-percentage point to 3.52 percent, the biggest weekly increase in six years.

Corporate finance

Oil explorer and driller company bonds were among the top gainers in the corporate bond markets on speculation that Trump, a climate-change skeptic, will be friendlier to fossil fuels than Clinton would have been.

Hospital group Quorum Health Corp.’s bonds rallied after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results, even as many of its rivals’ notes declined over fears that Republicans will repeal President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Debt tied to mining companies rallied, as did the bonds of prison operators, driven by speculation that Trump may scrap a government policy against privatized correctional facilities.

Currencies

The dollar was the big winner. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 2.8 percent this week, the most since September 2011.

The gains were the most pronounced against developing-world currencies, with the MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index falling 2.3 percent in its worst week in more than three years. The

Mexican peso fell 8.7 percent, the most since 2008, to a record low. The South African rand lost 5.3 percent. The pound was the only major currency to best the dollar, eking out a 0.6 percent gain and rising even more against its other major peers as political risks shifted from Brexit to America and Italy’s constitutional referendum next month. The euro was in the middle of

the pack, with a 2.6-percent loss against the greenback.

Commodities

Trump was meant to be gold’s best friend. Signs he was closing in on Hillary Clinton in the election run-up reignited a yearlong rally that had begun to flag. Since winning, his plan to boost the economy sent gold spiraling

amid fears it will speed the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hikes. Gold fell almost 6 percent in its worst week since June 2013.

Trump’s promise of $550 billion in infrastructure spending sparked a buying frenzy for industrial metals, like copper, surprising analysts from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Long Leaf Trading Group Inc. Copper

gained 11 percent, its best week in at least four years. Coal, an industry that Trump promised to revive, remained essentially flat after the vote, and oil fell 4 percent on dual concerns about where the US market is heading and Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries being unable to support prices by limiting output.

Bloomberg News

A10 Monday, November 14, 2016

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IS flourishes, recruits in Pakistan

I

SLAMABAD—The Islamic State (IS) group is increasing its presence in Pakistan, recruiting Uzbek militants, attracting disgruntled Taliban fighters and partnering with one of Pakistan’s most violent sectarian groups, according to police officers, Taliban officials and analysts.

Its latest atrocity was an attack on Saturday on a Sufi shrine in southwestern Pakistan that killed at least 50 people and wounded 100 others. The group said in a statement that a suicide bomber attacked the shrine with the intent of killing Shiite Muslims and issued a picture of the attacker.

When IS circulated a photograph of one of the attackers in last month’s deadly assault on a police academy in southwestern Baluchistan province, two Taliban officials told The Associated Press (AP) that the attacker was an Uzbek, most likely a member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). More than 60 people, most of them police recruits, were killed in that October 26 attack when three assailants battled security forces for hours before being killed or detonating their suicide vests.

The Taliban officials, both of whom are familiar with the IMU, spoke on condition of anonymity because their leadership has banned them from talking to the media.

Authorities initially said the police academy attack was orchestrated by militants hiding out in Afghanistan and blamed

Pakistan’s virulently anti-Shiite group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

But IS later claimed responsibility and Lashkar-e-Jhang v i Spokesman Ali Bin Sufyan said they partnered with IS to carry out the assault.

In Afghanistan and Pakistan the extremist group has adopted the name IS in Khorasan—a reference to an ancient geographical region that encompassed a vast swath of territory stretching from Turkmenistan through Iran and Afghanistan.

IS in Khorasan has set up its base in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, and while it has pledged allegiance to the IS group in Syria and Iraq, it remains unclear whether there are direct operational or financial links between the two.

According to the police, Afghan officials and IS media outlets, the majority of IS fighters in Afghanistan are Pakistani nationals, mostly from the tribal regions.

Disgruntled Taliban fighters from Pakistan and Afghanistan have joined along with foreign fighters, mainly from central Asia.

The group’s leader until his death in July in a drone strike was Hafiz Saeed Khan, a former Pakistani

Pakistani army soldiers gather at the site of a bomb blast at the shrine of Sufi saint Shah Bilal Noorani in Khuzdar district, some 200 kilometers west of Karachi, Pakistan, on Sunday. A Pakistani official says a bomb blast at the shrine of Sufi saint Shah Bilal Noorani has killed dozens of people and wounded more than 100 in the country’s southwest. AP/Shakil Adil

50

The number of people killed at an attack on Saturday on a Sufi shrine in southwestern Pakistan Taliban commander. IS has never acknowledged Khan’s death, which was confirmed by both the Afghan and US militaries.

Counterterrorism officials in Pakistan say IS has begun reach-

ing out to local militants through its rich social-media presence. “ T hey are inspir ing the like-minded youth in Pakistan through their strong social-media propaganda,” said Junaid Sheikh, a senior counterterrorism commander in the southern city of Karachi.

“There is evidence that militants of other organizations, like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Al-Qaeda in the Subcontinent and other Sunni extremist organizations, switched their ideology toward Daesh and acted like their activists,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for IS. The recruitment of Uzbek militants is particularly worrisome

France remembers 130 dead in 2015 Paris killings

P

ARIS—In somber ceremonies, France is remembering the horrors of one year ago, when Islamic extremists attacked bars, restaurants and other symbols of the joyful life that Paris embodies, turning a night on the town into a spasm of violence that shook the nation to its core.

President François Hollande was visiting each of the seven attack sites on Sunday to honor the 130 people killed that Friday night and the hundreds injured. Notre Dame Cathedral was holding an evening service.

On November 13, 2015, three teams of attackers put their macabre signatures on the French national stadium, five bars and restaurants in eastern Paris and the Bataclan concert hall. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks.

In addition to those killed, nine people remain hospitalized from the attacks and others are paralyzed or otherwise irreparably injured. The government says more than 600 people are still receiving psychological treatment after the attacks.

The remembrances come after a Saturday night concert in which British pop legend Sting reopened the refurbished Bataclan concert hall, performing before an audience that included families of the 90 revelers slain there a year ago by extremists with automatic weapons and explosive belts.

The changed atmosphere was evident outside the Bataclan, where hundreds of meters of barricades, extensive body searches and scores of armed police greeted those lucky enough to get a ticket.

Sting, in a T-shirt with a guitar slung over his shoulder, asked concert-goers in fluent French to observe a minute of silence as he

British musician Sting performs on stage at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, France, on Saturday. The concert marks the reopening of the Paris’s Bataclan concert hall one year after suicidal jihadis turned it into a bloodbath and killed 90 revelers. David Wolff Patrick/Universal Music France via AP

opened the show.

“We’ve got two important things to do tonight,” the singer said. “First, to remember and honor those who lost their lives in the attacks a year ago...and to celebrate the life and the music of this historic venue....

We shall not forget them.”

He then strummed out a string of hits, including “Fragile” and “Message in a Bottle”.

Elodie Suigo, who lost si x friends in the attack, said it was a hard night, even though she loved the music.

“It was difficult going through that door. I don’t think I was the only one....We cannot say it was a magical moment because of everything that changed in our lives. But [Sting] is a really great man,” she said.

Sting, 65, is no stranger to the

Bataclan, playing there decades ago in 1979 as the lead singer of The Police. The singer says proceeds from the concert would go to two charities helping more than 1,700 people officially recognized as victims of the unfolding horror a year ago.

With more than 400 rounds fired within 10 minutes at the restaurants, the coordinated attacks were a wake-up call for France and for Europe. They followed the January 2015 newsroom massacre at the satiric newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris and a Kosher grocery store that left 17 dead. But the complex planning behind the November 13 attacks and the high number of deaths revealed a degree of French vulnerability not previously suspected by authorities.

Neighboring Belgium, the starting point of the attacks in Paris, was hit a few months later on March 22 with attacks on its airport and a metro station that killed 32 people.

France declared a state of emergency after the November 13 attacks, which is still in force. Still, that failed to prevent the killing of a police couple in their home last June, the July 14 Bastille Day truck attack in Nice that killed 86 revelers and the slaying of a priest at the altar of his Normandy church in July.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls has warned this weekend that “Yes, terrorism will strike us again.” But, he contended, “We have all the resources to resist and all the strength to win.” AP

and a “significant threat to our national security,” he added.

He said Uzbek fighters have carried out numerous major attacks in Pakistan, including a 2011 attack on a naval base and a 2014 attack on the Karachi Airport. Local militant groups provided the intelligence to carry out the attacks, he said.

A resident of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution said he spoke with two Iranian IS members late last year.

Unlike the Pakistani and Afghan insurgents, the resident, who fled to Pakistan after his home was overrun by IS fighters, said the

foreign fighters were friendly and engaged with local residents.

One Iranian fighter said he was recruited for his computer skills, the resident said.

Previously, Uzbek insurgents normally allied with the Pakistani and Afghan branches of the Taliban, having sworn allegiance to Taliban founder Mullah Mohammed Omar. However, many Uzbek fighters split from the Taliban and declared allegiance to IS last year after it was revealed that Taliban officials had hidden the fact that Mullah Omar had died two years earlier.

A senior police official in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, where several militant groups are headquartered, said the IS group is firmly entrenched in Pakistan and its roots are growing stronger as it aligns with Pakistan’s Sunni Muslim extremist groups, like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The police official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The official also said Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had largely relocated from Punjab to Baluchistan province in the face of a major military campaign.

“Pakistani Taliban factions that have sparred with the parent Pakistani Taliban have tended to express public support for ISIS [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria],” said Michael Kugelman, senior associate for South Asia at the US-based Wilson Center. “I could certainly envision collusions materializing between disaffected Pakistani Taliban fighters now aligned with ISIS, and Uzbek militants with preexisting ties to the Pakistani Taliban. Either way, at the end of the day, all of these terrorists are cut from the same cloth ideologically and so we should never rule out operational partnerships.” AP

4 Americans killed in Afghan air-base suicide bombing K

ABUL, Afghanistan—A suicide bomber apparently posing as a laborer killed four Americans and wounded 16 others on Saturday morning at Bagram air base in northern Afghanistan, US and Afghan officials said.

A Polish soldier participating in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) mission was also among the wounded. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

Afghan officials said the bomber was wearing the kind of clothing normally worn by local laborers, who line up at dawn to enter the base.

Two American service members and two contractors working on the base were killed in the explosion, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said.

“I want to express my sincere condolences to the families of the fallen, and I want to reassure the loved ones of those injured that they are getting the best possible care,” Carter said in a statement. “Force protection is always a top priority for us in Afghanistan, and we will investigate this tragedy to determine any steps we can take to improve it.”

“For those who carried out this attack, my message is simple,” he continued. “We will not be deterred in our mission to protect our homeland and help Afghanistan secure its own future.”

Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, is a military installation where US fighter jets, drones and thousands of military personnel and contractors are based in the ongoing fight against a resurgent Taliban.

The US has 9,800 troops in the country advising Afghan forces,

but President Barack Obama announced that the number would drop to 8,400 by year’s end.

The Afghan military has struggled to defend the country against increased Taliban attacks, despite support by US special forces advisers and daily air strikes by US warplanes. On Friday, for example, Taliban fighters killed six people when a suicide car bomber attacked the German consulate in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

The militants have launched suicide bombings and other attacks elsewhere around the country, more than 15 years after the US-led military invasion.

Although the US has maintained an advisory and backup role, conducting air strikes and providing training and financial support to proxy ground forces, 11 US service members have been killed this year.

Afghan forces are on track to surpass the 20,000 total in casualties sustained last year, including nearly 5,000 dead.

Although the Afghan government continues to control city centers, the Taliban holds rural areas and has more territory now than at any time since the war began in 2001, according to United Nations estimates.

Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., the commander for US and Nato forces in the country, said in a statement that despite the Taliban’s continued attacks the US and coalition “will continue to pursue our train, advise and assist mission to help our partners create a better Afghanistan.” Los Angeles Times/TNS

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With hires, Trump will set his tone

W

ASHINGTON—Fresh from a successful battle against his Democratic opponent, Donald Trump’s attention must now turn to defining his presidency.

His campaign offered two divergent approaches. He was a disruptive bomb-thrower when it came to general demeanor and his immigration and national-security stances. He was a more conventional Republican when it came to his social-issue positions and economic concerns.

The warring options were on sharp display overnight on Friday.

Responding to protests around the country on Thursday night, Trump first issued a tweet in keeping with the defiant tone of his campaign that “professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting.

Very unfair!”

Nine hours later came one that was more presidential in approach, if a reversal from his first sentiment.

“Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!” he said.

The early discussions about key positions in his administration included similarly opposed sentiments, suggesting that Trump has yet to lock down precisely how he will approach governing the nation.

Chief of staff

Among those being considered for presidential chief of staff—the figure who more than any other determines how well a White House works, and at what—was Stephen K. Bannon, who took a leave as chairman of Breitbart News to serve as Trump’s campaign chief executive officer.

Bannon is a controversial figure even among Republicans, seen in the campaign as encouraging Trump’s more eye-opening stunts, such as his news conference with several women who accused former President Bill Clinton of making sexual advances.

He also fanned some of Trump’s incendiary rhetoric about immigrants, Muslims and blacks. But he has no experience in governing or keeping on track an organization as large as the executive branch.

Another person being considered was the far more buttoned-down Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, an establishment figure who has close ties to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and other GOP leaders, having helped to run the party for almost six years.

Bannon and Priebus share an alliance with Trump, but little else. The pick is seen as essential to Trump’s direction since the chief of staff often has the president’s ear just before a decision is reached.

Shook up transition team

The picture is no clearer for other top Cabinet posts, such as secretary of State. Trump is considering Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, a consensus builder in the Senate who is well-liked across the aisle. But he is also looking at former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton, one of the most aggressive neoconservative hawks during the George W. Bush administration and a favorite among the Breitbart set.

Adding further uncertainty, on Friday Trump shook up his transition

team, announcing that Vice Presidentelect Mike Pence would take over, replacing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Issues

AS much as staffing, Trump’s presidency also will be defined by the issues he chooses to take up early in his administration. Already, outside groups and Republicans on Capitol Hill, who have control of both houses, are pressuring Trump to make good on myriad and sometimes competing campaign promises. And they are moving into the vacuum formed by the lack of substantive policy proposals in the campaign.

Trump’s success in Tuesday’s election rested on running against both parties, Democrats and Republicans alike. That suggests that he may end up cutting a distinct path untethered to the traditional lines, even Republican ones.

For now, the president-elect is keeping his options open, at least publicly. In a brief comment to reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday, he offered only one broad directive.

“We’re going to work very strongly on immigration, health care and we’re looking at jobs, big-league jobs,” he said. Asked specifically whether he intended to ban Muslims from entering the United States, as he pledged during the campaign, Trump raised his hand, said “thank you” and walked off.

Monday, November 14, 2016 A11

Rich countries told to shut coal plants by 2030 to save climate

Cultural shift

Turning from a campaign to governing is difficult for any winning nominee, but for Trump it represents not just an occupational shift but a cultural one. He will go from being the top man in a company bearing his name, with his children as his chief lieutenants, to commanding the sprawling executive branch with miles-long lines of authority and an expansive reach over issues with which he has no experience.

He will confront not only the majesties of the presidency, but its limitations—specifically the other equal partners in government, such as a legislative branch that runs on its own calendar and with its own priorities.

Repeal of Obamacare

Trump and Capitol Hill Republicans appear eager to make the repeal of Obamacare a prime early focus. In the waning days of the campaign, he had talked of calling a special session to repeal his predecessor’s signature achievement, but Congress will already be in session by the time he becomes president.

“We would urge them to go big on the issues and the first would be to repeal Obamacare,” said Tim Phillips, the president of Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers-allied interest group that worked in dozens of states to elect Republicans.

“It was a key issue in the elections in the Senate and the presidential as well. Don’t nibble around the edges.

Go big,” said Phillips, whose organization also favors early action on tax reform. But calling for the repeal of a measure at campaign rallies peopled by voters who dislike Obama is different altogether than taking health insurance coverage from 20 million Americans without a detailed plan for replacing it. TNS

R

Seals lie on a frozen section of the Ross Sea at the Scott Base in Antarctica on Saturday. Mark Ralston/Pool Photo via AP

ich countries must close all their coal-fired power plants by 2030 to have a chance of holding global warming to tolerable levels, a report from an environmental research group said.

China would have to phase out the most polluting fossil fuel by 2040 and the rest of the world by 2050, according to Climate Analytics, a Berlin-based nonprofit that is studying how nations can meet the emissions goals they agreed at UN talks in Paris last year.

The findings illustrate the difficulty in achieving the UN goal of holding global warming to well-below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The world already has 8,175 coal plants and is building another 733, providing about 40 percent of all electricity.

Envoys from more than 190 nations are meeting this week and next in Marrakech, Morocco, to discuss how to take forward the ambitions they set out in Paris.

“Both shutting down existing coal and avoiding new coal build is absolutely essential to avoid devastating air pollution and climate impacts,” said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of the environmental group Greenpeace International.

8,175 The number of existing coalfired power plants

Pollution from coal plants could create 2.5 times more carbon-dioxide emissions than allowed by scenarios consistent with 2 degrees of warming, the report said.

If coal plants remain open, the world would have to rely, instead, on geoengineering, which may include pouring nutrients into oceans to save coral habitats or spraying tiny particles into the Earth’s atmosphere to reflect sun rays back into space, the report said. Such proposals have been shunned because of their unpredictable consequences on global ecosystems.

The Marrakech meeting has been overshadowed by Donald Trump’s victory in the US election on Tuesday.

The president-elect has said climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese and vowed to scrap US participation in the Paris Agreement and stimulate coal and production.

Trump may have difficulty reversing coal’s decline as a power-generation fuel, since cheap natural gas has cut its market share.

“Although the US election has created short-term tailwinds for the coal industry, the medium- and longterm outlooks point to continued decline,” said Tom Sanzillo, finance director at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, an environmental researcher based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday he will continue his efforts to implement the Paris Agreement on global warming until the day President Barack Obama leaves office on January 20.

Speaking in New Zealand following a trip to Antarctica, Kerry said his administration would continue to do everything possible to meet its responsibility to future generations.

Kerry has long championed climate action, but now his legacy is under threat under the Trump administration.

Under the deal, which came into force this month, countries have agreed to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. Achieving the goal will require a major shift away from fossil fuels.

Kerry said it would be up to the Trump administration to define itself on climate change. He said sometimes there is a divide between what is said on the campaign trail and what is done in governance.

But Kerry appeared to take a swipe at Trump when he listed some of the ways in which global warming could already be seen. He said globally there were more fires, floods and damaging storms, and sea levels were rising.

“The evidence is mounting in ways that people in public life should not dare to avoid accepting as a mandate for action,” Kerry said.

He also made a point of crediting a previous Republican president, George H.W. Bush, with first joining the global effort to address climate change in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

“Now the world’s scientific community has concluded that climate change is happening beyond any doubt. And the evidence is there for everybody to see,” Kerry said.

He said he thinks his administration is on the right track, because the majority of Americans believe climate change is happening and want action.

“So we will wait to see how the next administration addresses this,” he said.

Kerry plans to fly this week to a global climate conference in Morocco, where he will give a major speech.

Officials there have begun working on a “rulebook” to implement the Paris deal. Bloomberg News and AP

Venezuela’s govt, opposition agree to road map on economy R

epresentatives of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and opposition parties, following a second round of talks brokered by the Vatican, agreed on a tentative road map to address a political and economic impasse that’s driven the oil-rich nation to its knees.

The Vatican delegate, Claudio Maria Celli, discussed developments at a news conference that followed four hours of talks in Caracas on Saturday. A third meeting, facilitated by the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), as well as the Vatican, has been set for December 6 to further discuss

points of agreement.

Representatives of the government and opposition read a joint statement at the press briefing on their commitment to “a peaceful and constructive coexistence” and to resolve differences within a “constitutional and electoral framework.”

Certain demands made by the opposition, including a recall referendum against Maduro’s rule, an early presidential election and the release of prisoners, weren’t addressed in Celli’s comments.

“Peace is succeeding,” Maduro said on Twitter after the meeting.

Progress cited by the opposi-

tion include respect for National Assembly’s autonomy, election of three lawmakers in dispute, election of new Electoral Board members, freedom for prisoners and government authorization for medication to be delivered into Venezuela, representative Carlos Ocariz said.

The latest developments followed what Er nesto Samper, general secretary of Unasur and one of the meeting facilitators, called results on Friday, when the latest round of talks kicked off, “very positive.”

Samper, a former president of Colombia, said the government

and opposition representatives reviewed the main points of the agenda: prisoners, humanitarian aid and the electoral timetable.

He added that members of civilian organizations will be invited to the talks and that two governors will be included, as well: Henri Falcon from the opposition and Tareck el Aissami from the government’s party.

In the lead-up to this weekend’s meetings, the opposition threatened to pull out of talks entirely if tangible action didn’t result. In comments broadcast late Friday evening, Celli said one of the facilitators called it a

“miracle” that both sides could debate so respectfully.

Ahead of the talks, the opposition called off a planned demonstration aimed at the presidential palace following the government’s release from jail of a handful of opposition activists.

After almost a year of simmering political deadlock and sporadic unrest, the government’s decision in October to suspend the opposition’s recall drive on accusations of fraud sent tensions in the South American nation toward a boiling point.

Facing the world ’s highest inf lation rate and a third straight

year of recession, Maduro and his adversaries agreed to a formal sit-down brokered by various ex-presidents from the region and Spain, Unasur and the Vatican.

The opposition blames Venezuela’s woes on nearly 18 years of socialist rule and has promised to unseat Maduro before his term ends in 2019. Shown by polls to be highly unpopular, Maduro blames foul play by his opponents for Venezuela’s woes and has likened the hoped-for referendum drive to a “coup,” insisting there is no chance of a recall vote this year. Bloomberg News

Science Monday

A12 Monday, November 14, 2016

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

PHL eyes research on artificial intelligence

A

rtificial intelligence (AI) to be included on the Philippine government’s research and development agenda for 2017-2022?

Yes. Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña made the announcement during the recent National Research and Development (R&D) Conference. The National R&D Conference is a prologue to the crafting of a Harmonized National R&D Agenda for science and technology, which intends to unify all R&D projects and initiatives in line with the Philippine Development Plan called “Ambisyon Natin 2040.”

“Now, we would like to pursue new areas, not necessarily new in the global sense but as far as local research and development is concerned, and that is in the field of artificial intelligence and space technology,” de la Peña said.

He said that in the 1980s, he

wrote a scientific article on the future of technology where AI has been prominently described as the next wave of technological development in the global technological space.

However, the former UP professor said the government then had to focus more on other priority areas of development.

Deputy Executive Director Raul C. Sabularse of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development confirmed the planned initiatives on AI. Sabularse said the DOST is in talks with other R&D institutions to develop a program on AI consisting of various project components.

Kismet, a robot with rudimentary social skills, was made in the late-1990s at Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Dr. Cynthia Breazeal as an experiment in affective computing; a machine that can recognize and simulate emotions. The name Kismet comes from a Turkish word meaning “fate” or “luck.” Wikimedia Commons

“We are in the process of consulting experts and stakeholders to form a development program on artificial intelligence. This is something not totally new but it is a promising field for our re-

searchers with applications in the industry,” Sabularse said.

He added that Filipino technology giant Dado Banatao is also involved in the talks, but said details are still under way and may

be included on the national R&D agenda for 2017.

AI is intelligence exhibited by machines that have the capability to perceive their environment and take the necessary actions to a given situation and carry out a positive outcome. It is simply understood as machines capable of mimicking human cognitive functions in doing simple to complex tasks.

The AI technology has a wide range of use—including medical diagnosis, stock trading, robot control, law, remote sensing, scientific discovery and toy making.

Currently, some applications are no longer labeled as AI. Sabularse said the DOST initially plans to use AI for manufacturing industries to optimize mass production of goods in the country. De la Peña said the harmonized R&D agenda would choose research initiatives that are in line with the DOST’s 11 research agenda— namely, for pressing problems; productivity; tap and manage resource potentials; application of

new technologies across sectors; climate change and disaster risk reduction, technology transfer and commercialization; assistance to production sector; upgrading and improvement of S&T services; human-resource development for S&T; capability building and involvement of regional R&D institutions; and industry and academe collaborations.

The DOST, through Executive Order 128 of 1987, is the sole government office mandated to direct all scientific R&D activities with potential benefits to the socioeconomic development of its people.

It is also mandated, through Section 19, Article 9 of Republic Act 10055, that the “DOST shall call for regular national conference of government funding agencies and research and development institutes in order to promote multidisciplinar y, joint and cross collaboration in R&D; coordinate and rationalize the R&D agenda; and harmonize all R&D agenda and priorities.”

S&T Media Service

DOST-ITDI among world’s 2016 R&D 100 Awards finalists

The OL Trap is an antidengue device that helps control the population of the Aedes mosquitoes by killing mosquito eggs and larvae.

T

h e Depar tment of Science and Technology-Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI) made it to the 2016 R&D 100 Awards finalists, joining 100 others from world-renowned research and development (R&D) agencies, companies and universities around the globe.

“By becoming an R&D 100 Awards finalist, your institution is now a member of a select R&D community recognized for their excellent contributions to advancing science and technology,” said Bea Riemschneider, editorial director of the ABM Science Group of the R&D Magazine, which, through the awards, honors the 100 most innovative technologies and services of the past year.

“You should be very proud, indeed, of your exemplary R&D achievements and the teams that are responsible for these new products,” Riemschneider said.

The DOST-ITDI’s innovative products that bagged the awards under the Process/ Prototyping category are the Pack of Hope Ready-to-Eat Chicken Arroz Caldo as First Stage Disaster/Relief Food, and the Philippine Mosquito Ovicidal-Larvicidal (OL) Trap System: DOST Anti-Dengue Device.

Pack of Hope

The ITDI’s Packaging Technology Division developed the Pack of Hope Ready-to-Eat Chicken Arroz Caldo as a disaster mitigation/ relief food that can be immediately made available to disaster/calamity survivors, responders and emergency-service providers (medical, military personnel and volunteer groups) within the 48 hours.

Arroz caldo (rice porridge) is a complete meal in the Philippines, and considered as “comfort food,”especially to the sick and unwell.

The Pack of Hope is categorized as a first-stage disaster food, which means it is ready for consumption and can be eaten without preparation. Conveniently packed in an easy-to-open standup retort pouch, the product can be consumed from the package.

The retort pouch and transport packaging is designed to withstand grueling distribution by land, sea surface and aerial drop.

The product went through field-testing

The ready-to-eat chicken arroz caldo was developed to feed disaster victims.

Ceajay Valerio/S&T Media Service

and validation studies in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and local government units, and had been successfully commercialized.

OL Trap

Developed by the ITDI’s Chemicals and Energy Division, the OL Trap is an antidengue device that helps control the population of the Aedes mosquitoes through its ovicidal and larvicidal effect that prevents the next generation of mosquitoes from developing to the adult stage.

It has been successfully commercialized and rolled out nationwide in households and public schools. In partnership with selected schools, the DOST launched a dengue vector surveillance web site (dengue.ph) to provide information on mosquito density in a certain area. Mousing over certain locations in the map will draw up balloons that contain specific warning alerts, health advisory and actions to be done by households in the area and the local government concerned.

R&D 100 Awards

Now on its 54th year, the R&D 100 Awards, also often referred to as the “Oscars of Invention,” honors the 100 most innovative technologies and services worldwide.

These include promising new products, processes, materials, or software developed throughout the world and introduced to the market the previous year.

Awards are based on each project’s technical significance, uniqueness and usefulness compared to competing technologies or services, according to the R&D Magazine web site.

This year’s R&D 100 Awards winners were presented with honors at the annual blacktie awards dinner held on November 3 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland (Washington, D.C.).

The finalists were selected by an independent panel of more than 50 judges and represent many of industry’s leading R&D companies and national laboratories, as well as many newcomers to the R&D 100 Awards. S&T Media Service

Students lining up for the opening of the Science Film Festival Philippines and special screening of IMAX original documentary, A Beautiful Planet.

Science film fest pushes for more science-inclined PHL Story & photos

by Stephanie Tumampos

Special to the BusinessMirror

F

ilms have a unique way of educating minds, both of the young and the not so young.

They are a unique way of providing information that can stimulate minds of people in different walks of life.

Hence, the Goethe Institut, IMAX, SM Cinema, and the departments of Science and Technology (DOST) and Education (DepEd) have organized the yearly Science Film Festival, which is now on its seventh year.

The Science Film Festival sponsored by the Goethe Institut started 11 years ago in Bangkok.

Dr. Ulrich Nowak, director of the Goethe Institut Philippinen, emphasized the uniqueness of the event in his message at the festival’s recent opening at the IMAX Theater at SM Megamall Cinema.

“This is the one and the only event concentrating and focusing on science films,” Nowak said in an interview with BusinessMirror.

He said the festival has been showcased in many countries in Southeast Asia and even in the Middle East. “But the interesting thing is, the one here in the Philippines is the biggest one,” he said. The previous year’s audience hit the 180,000 mark. “It’s quite a number.”

This year’s science film festival focuses on material science.

Joseph Gutierrez, senior education program specialist from

Dr. Ulrich Nowak, director of the Goethe-Institut Philippinen

7

The number of years the Science Film Festival is held in the Philippines the DepEd, said in his speech at the event that one of his mentors in his graduate classes told him, “This [material science] is the future of physics and chemistry in the Philippines.”

Emphasizing the need for future scientists and leaders in the science community of the country, Gutierrez said the Science Film Festival is timely not because it can give information but also open the curiosity and

Ruby Roan Cristobal, chief science research specialist of the Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology

minds of the younger generation.

Ruby Roan Cristobal, chief science research specialist of the DOST-Science Education Institute, said science and technology in the country needs to be pushed forward.

“The promotion of the culture of science and technology in the Philippines is a necessary, and yet a very challenging endeavor, as it entails making the people believe that science and technology transforms lives,” Cristobal said in her message during the opening ceremonies.

She said the Philippines still lags behind many countries in science research and development, a nd t hat ent ic ing t he public through the Science Film Festival is a great opportunity not to be missed.

She said, “We believe the science festival will continue its high impact in science popularization.

For our part, we continue to engage more people in the screenings.”

The Science Film Festival will showcase films from all over the world that were carefully preselected by a jury.

According to Nowak, “These preselected movies go to the region, and another jury would make the local selections, which will have to consider the type of schools, the age of students, so you have something for basic up to college level.”

Different venues, locations and schools inside and outside of Manila were selected for a monthlong screening of the science films.

These include Museo Pambata, The Mind Museum and Liceo de Cagayan University, to name a few.

The Science Film Festival will run simultaneously in its different venues until December 16.

The opening screening was attended by elementary pupils up to college students, with an exclusive screening of an IMAX special documentary, A Beautiful Planet.

The film, according to Walt Cho, Asia Pacific director of IMAX, is an original documentary by Toni Myers. “This is the latest space documentary by director Toni Myers, and made in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Agency,” Cho said.

It is about planet Earth shown from a different vantage point, the space, through the astronauts that made a voyage in the International Space Station to give importance to the only planet humans know that support life.

Green Monday BusinessMirror

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Monday, November 14, 2016 A13

Duterte’s change of heart on climate deal welcomed

E

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

nvironmental and climate advocates consider President Duterte’s change of heart on the international Paris climate agreement a welcome development as they look forward to the country’s leadership in voicing the concerns of vulnerable nations on the impact of climate change.

President Duterte last week announced he has decided to sign the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate-change, which he previously said he would “not honor” for fear it would limit the country’s industrialization.

“After so much debate, I will sign the climate change agreement,” Duterte said in Malacañan Palace.

The Philippines’s ratification of the Paris Agreement would bind the country into cutting its greenhouse-gas emission by 70 percent, as stated in its intended nationally determined contribution (INDC) submitted to the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat in October last year.

The Philippines is a leader of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), an international partnership of highly vulnerable nations. It serves as cooperation platform for participating governments to deal with global climate change. Countries composing the CVF, as well as several Southeast Asian countries, are among the first to be affected by climate-change impacts, and the last to recover from disaster caused by extreme weather events attributed to climate change.

Boost to vulnerable countries

“The global community will definitely welcome the ratification of the Paris climate agreement by the Philippines. Now it’s time to get down to the business of getting a fair deal and stronger climate action from negotiations in Morocco,” said Renato Redentor Constantino, executive director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), a policy group in the Philippines promoting low-carbon development initiatives, sustainable energy solutions and fair climate policy in vulnerable countries.

The Philippines’s Climate Change Commission (CCC), the agency mandated to coordinate actions related to climate-change impacts, has warned that sea-level rise in the country is projected to be three times that of the global average if global warming continues unabated.

According to Constantino, developing countries face up to 10-percent loss in annual GDP as warming temperatures drastically reduce productivity of labor by midcentury, citing an International Labor Organization (ILO) report.

Climate action will spur economy-wide job creation as urban

70% The percentage of greenhouse-gas emission the Philippine will cut based on the 2015 Paris Agreement

services, food supply, roads and highways, sea ports and coastal infrastructure are upgraded to make them more resilient to expected climate-change impacts, he said.

Investments in renewable energy and related services in modern energy infrastructure will also increase economic activities along with corresponding job prospects.

Opening doors for renewables

Chuck Baclagon of 350.org East Asia said Duterte’s decision to agree to ratify the Paris Agreement opened the potential not just for renewables and the bigger energy sector but also for the overall economy.

“With the Philippines being rated as among the most climatevulnerable countries worldwide, our status as a country that would ratify the agreement advances the voice of those who should be heard the loudest. We are glad that President Duterte has decided we can raise that voice louder in the global climate negotiations, and has taken up the plight of those to whom climate justice is due,” he said.

Beyond the Paris Agreement, however, is the test for all governments, including the Philippines, to pursue an energy-policy direction that seeks to keep fossil fuels in the ground, he said.

“This is the best indicator of a country’s seriousness in dealing with the climate crisis,” he said.

“Fossil-fuel dependence is not synonymous and even detrimental to development,” he said.

Toward resilient and sustainable communities

For his part, Rodne R . Galicha of the Climate Rea lit y Project is thankf u l that Duter te decided to remain at the climate change-negotiating table.

“With his commitment to ratify the Paris Agreement, the voices of vulnerable peoples are assured to

A resident uses a bamboo raft to bring to a dry area goats after being trapped following the flooding brought about by Supertyphoon Lawin (international code name Haima), which lashed at Vigan, Ilocos Sur province in northern Philippines on October 20. Lawin, which brought ferocious winds and rain, rekindled fears and memories from the catastrophe wrought by Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) in 2013. AP/Bullit Marquez

be heard. The Philippines will continue to be the conscience of the global community in addressing the climate crisis and to demand climate justice. While we continue to engage, we shall take climate action even outside the negotiating halls toward resilient and sustainable communities,” he said.

“We are hopeful that all agencies concerned submit their respective certificates of concurrence as soon as possible with sense of urgency.

Joining other countries, we will be able to voice out our demands and positions with full privilege as a party to the Paris Agreement. We are not yet informed of the timeline of ratification but we are optimistic that the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Climate Change Commission and the Senate are closely collaborating with the Office of the President,” he said.

He said concrete actions must be undertaken, especially in laying down transition strategies from the country’s dependence ton dirty coal to available clean energy in the country, such as geothermal, wind solar and hydro.

“We must remember that not ratifying the Paris Agreement is tantamount to swimming in the floodwaters of [Supertyphoon] Ondoy [international code name Ketsana], sleepwalking with Supertyphoon Yolanda [international code name Haiyan] and flying low with [Supertyphoon] Lawin [international code name Haima],” he said.

Country’s future, next generation at stake

Gerry A ranc e s , conve ne r of Center for Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED) and of the Green Thumb Coalition (GTC), said the Paris Agreement embodies the aspiration of the global climate-justice movement in keeping the temperature rise by end of century to 1.5˚C and not 2˚C which was the original global consensus.

“At just 0.8˚C warming globally, we have experienced the wrath of Supertyphoon Yolanda and many other supertyphoons. The 1.5˚C would already mean more devastating typhoons, longer and much

stronger El Niño, more hunger, loss, suffering and deaths. This is what is mainly at stake in the whole negotiation process. What more with 2˚[C]?”

Arances said being one among the top vulnerable countries of world, the country’s future and the next generation’s future is at stake.

“That is why the policy and stand of the current government needs to be firm and clear,” he said.

Paris Agreement loopholes

But let us be clear, as well, that, indeed, as the President has raised, the Paris Agreement has many loopholes. One, while it aspires for a 1.5˚C and well-below 2˚C global warming by end of the century, the agreement has put the world practically to a more than 3˚C through the pledges of all countries as embodied in the agreement. These pledges are major parts of the agreement through the INDC submissions.

“We cannot start to fathom three times or four times what we have already experienced with the changing climate,” Arances said.

Under the agreement’s implementing rules, the developed countries have gotten away with the nonliability and compensatory clause for loss and damages brought about by climate change.

They have moved also the time of the pledge for the $100-billion climate finance from developed countries from 2020 to 2025 as stated in the agreement.

On the right track

Arances said Duterte is on the right track when he lambasted the developed countries with their low ambition on the needed reduction of emissions targets in their INDCs, among many other responsibilities.

“Put together, the developed countries’ pledge is far below what should have been their fair share and historical responsibility for humanity to achieve that 1.5˚C of global-warming goal by end of the century,” he said.

According to Arances, it is imperative that the Philippine delegation in the current climate conference in Marrakech, Morroco, raises the voices of the vulnerable people of our

country and of the world, and that higher ambition from all countries, especially the developed countries, is needed.

“After all, the emissions causing global warming right now is due to the excessive burning of fossil fuels, particularly coal and oil, by developed countries to fuel their industrialization. Let us be clear on this, as the President has been ill-advised that coal and fossil fuel are the only energy capable of fueling the country’s industrialization and development needs,” he said.

Shifting away from coal

He explained that most of the global community is shifting away from coal and fossil fuel-based energy sources to renewable energy.

In 2015 developing countries, led by China and India, were the biggest investor on renewableenergy outstripping even the developed countries in their energy transformation processes.

In terms of investments, renewable energy far out-weighed coal and fossil fuels for global energy needs.

According to government data, the Philippines has one of the vast potential of untapped renewable energy in the country—250 gigawatt (GW). “We are only using 5 GW out of the total 18-GW capacity,” he said.

Arances said it is not true that renewable energy cannot fuel the country’s needed development growth. Those that have been in darkness for decades, having no access to electricity can best be provided access to power through renewable energy—mainly through solar, wind and microhydro.

He said industrialization could be fueled by renewable energy, citing the experiences of China, California and other countries, which are starting to fuel their development and industrial needs through renewables. “It is first and foremost the coal industry’s interest, the big oligarchs’ interest that have long gripped our electricity sector at play here,” he said.

For health and economy

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) Asia said it rejoices together with the entire climate justice and environmental movement

on Duterte’s recent statement to finally ratify the climate agreement.

“We thank all the members of his Cabinet and civil-society groups who have persuaded him to reconsider his previous stand on the climate issue,” HCWH Asia Director Ramon San Pascual said in a statement. According to San Pascual, developing countries, like the Philippines, must stop its establishing more coal-fired power plants and shrug off the reality of climate change.

“Our people are the ones most affected and we simply cannot leave it all up to richer countries to cut their carbon emissions,” he said.

Investing in renewables will have greater benefits to both the economy and health. “Studies have shown that, contrary to what coal companies say, renewable energy is cheaper, more sustainable and socially positive,” he said.

“Renewable energy will create more sustainable, quality jobs and provide expanded and cleaner energy access for the poor,” he added.

Last week in Taipei, the World Medical Association (WMA) called on health organizations worldwide to divest from fossil fuel-based companies and to invest in companies that uphold environmental principles consistent with United Nations policy.

WMA said the most vulnerable— children, elderly, people with heart or lung disease and the poor—are most at risk from climate change and the least able to adapt to the new conditions.

Fossil-fuel air pollution reduces quality of life for millions of people worldwide, causing a substantial burden of disease and health-care costs. “The President [Duterte] must listen to the voice of the health sector, on both the dangers of climate change and the health benefits of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Just as health professionals divested from tobacco companies because it was in opposition to its healing mission, it is now calling us to divest from fossil fuels because they threaten the health of millions,” San Pascual said.

The Paris Agreement entered into force on November 4 with 102 countries ratifying the treaty so far.

UN report: Human footprint ‘increasingly visible’ in climate M ARRAKECH, Morocco— Hot and wild and with an “increasingly visible human footprint”—that’s how the UN weather agency sums up the global climate in the past five years.

In a report released at international climate talks in Morocco, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said 2011 to 2015 was the hottest five-year period on record.

That comes as no sur prise as WMO’s annual reports have showed record average temperatures in 2014 and 2015. But the agency said the five-year report

provides a better overview of warming trends and extreme events, such as prolonged droughts and recurrent heat waves.

“We just had the hottest five-year period on record, with 2015 claiming the title of hottest individual year. Even that record is likely to be beaten in 2016,” WMO SecretaryGeneral Petteri Taalas said.

The WMO’s preliminary climate assessment for 2016 is set to be released next week. While it’s complicated to draw links between single weather events and climate change, the report found that many extreme

events during the period were made more likely as a result of man-made climate change. In the case of some extreme high temperatures, the probability increased by a factor of 10 or more, the report said.

“Examples include the record high seasonal and annual temperatures in the United States in 2012 and in Australia in 2013, hot summers in eastern Asia and western Europe in 2013, heat waves in spring and autumn 2014 in Australia, record annual warmth in Europe in 2014, and a heat wave in Argentina in December 2013,” WMO said.

The report found no strong climate-change link for extreme rainfall events.

Other highlights: n Arctic summer sea ice coverage was 28 percent below the 1981-to2010 average, reaching a record low in 2012. By contrast, the Antarctic sea ice was above average, especially the winter maximum. n Surface melting of the Greenland ice sheet—a contributor to rising seas—continued at aboveaverage levels, exceeding the 1981to-2010 average in all five years from 2011 to 2015. Mountain glaciers

also continued their decline. n Snow cover in the northern hemisphere was “well below average” in all five years, continuing a strong downward trend.

Climate scientists who were not involved with the report said it underscored the need for governments to boost efforts to fight climate change beyond their pledges for last year’s landmark Paris Agreement.

“The evidence is overwhelming,” said Chris Field, director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. “The new report from WMO is a clarion call

for embracing and going beyond the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

The Paris deal calls for keeping global temperature rises below 2 degrees Celsuis (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial times. The average temperature in 2015, partly influenced by a powerful El Nino event, was already halfway there.

“Halting global warming at a manageable level, as the world’s nations decided in the Paris Agreement, is now a race against time,” Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute in Germany said. AP

A14 Monday, November 14, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Why Trump beat Clinton

C

andidates for public office at the national level are often, so far, out of touch with the concerns of the voters that when they lose, they blame factors completely unrelated. The Clinton-Trump presidential race is a textbook example.

The popular wisdom both in the US and here in the Philippines is that Donald Trump voters are “racists” and “bigots”. But the facts show differently. The US states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin gave Barack Obama 58, 52, 55 and 56 percent of the vote, respectively, in 2008. In 2012 the percentage tally was Michigan-54, Ohio-51, Pennsylvania-52 and Wisconsin-53.

Yet, those same voters gave Hillary Clinton only 47, 44, 48 and 47 percent, respectively, in 2016. While a majority of persons of color and women in general (54 percent) supported Clinton, she received a smaller percentage of both groups than Obama did in his elections.

Those four states gave Trump the winning margin.

Voting is always about the concerns of the voters and whom they feel can best address those issues. In 2008 the key issue was the unpopular war in Iraq, which Obama was ultimately against, while his opponent John McCain continued to support.

The most important concerns (according to the Pew Research Center), averaged across gender, ethnic and age groups, and economic classes in 2016 were the economy, terrorism, foreign policy and health care. The least important were treatment of minorities and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, the environment and abortion.

On the issues of the economy and dealing with terrorism, Trump was favored 48 percent to 43 percent over Clinton. On foreign policy and health care, Clinton carried a large majority of 54 percent to 37 percent. However, the issues of the economy (85 percent) and terrorism (80 percent) were significantly higher concerns than foreign policy (75 percent) and health care (74 percent), wiping out any advantages Clinton had in the latter concerns.

The political establishment likes to dismiss voter worries and the candidates that want to speak to those topics as “the politics of fear”.

Of course, it is fear. The voters are afraid of the problems that they want solved and that makes sense, even if the elite do not understand that fact. If there were not any problems that needed our “fear”, then why would we need the politicians?

It would appear from the campaign and the final results that crime may have been the No. 1 issue in the 2016 Philippine election. That is not to say that other issues are not important. But when a person votes, he or she has to make a choice. And that choice is the right choice, since each individual vote is based on an individual opinion.

Losing candidates like to blame the press and media. In hindsight, they find the fault is with the “messaging” or the campaign staff. And, of course, ultimately, it is the voters who are not wise enough to have seen that they made the wrong selection.

Yet, does a loser ever ask a citizen, “Why didn’t you vote for me?” The answer would probably be something as simple as, “Because I don’t think you are the right person for the job.”

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RISING SUN

T

here has been a mix of good and not-so-good developments lately in the economic front. Let us begin with the good news.

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), foreign direct investment (FDI) rose to $711 million in August, higher by 32 percent compared to August 2015. This was around the second month of the Duterte administration and investor confidence was high at this time. Of course, increased foreign investments also mean more jobs for our people.

Our exports also did well in September. According to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), total merchandise trade increased 9.8 percent in September 2016, because the export industry recovered. The growth was from $11.8 billion in August to $12.3 billion in September. This is significant because, after 17 months of decline, exports finally increased by 5.1 percent. Good performers were all commodity items, except forest products.

The government announced that our stronger relationships with China and Japan, our largest trading partners in Asia, give good prospects for merchandise trade. We also know that China is lifting the ban on bananas, and is also planning to buy more crops from our country, like mangoes, coconuts and fishery products.

The Duterte administration isn’t just improving the country’s trade relations with Japan and China. It is also maximizing opportunities

The Duterte administration isn’t just improving the country’s trade relations with Japan and China. It is also maximizing opportunities from existing free-trade deals, like the recently signed Philippines-European Free Trade Association agreement.

All of this brings us to the recent development in the US. It is good that our government is looking at other markets to keep the economy afloat.

from existing free-trade deals, like the recently signed PhilippinesEuropean Free Trade Association agreement. All of this brings us to the recent development in the US. It is good that our current government is looking at other markets to keep the economy afloat, in the face of America’s new president’s vision of virtually closing off their economy from foreign markets.

One of the bigger concerns is the business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which is currently soaring locally. US President Donald Trump advocates job protec-

Markets underestimate populism

Jun B. Vallecera

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror

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Recent wins for foreign investments and exports

T. Anthony C. Cabangon

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BLOOMBERG

Paul Donovan

A

t 3 in the morning the day after the UK referendum on EU membership, I was on the UBS trading floor (where else would an economist be at 3 in the morning?). The near universal reaction of colleagues matched friends’ reactions on social media: “I don’t know anyone who voted to leave”. That sense of bewilderment reflects a trend in global politics and economics. It is a trend in the US and in Europe. Most important, it is a trend that is a challenge for financial markets.

One warning sign in the UK was the prereferendum betting.

The value of bets placed favored a “remain” vote. The number of bets placed favored a “leave” vote.

A democratic decision it is not one pound, one vote; it is one person, one vote. Betting signalled a plutocratic outcome that differed from the democratic outcome.

The economic expansion of the last 20 years produced a group in society that has been “left behind”.

This group is lower-skilled, older, and more rural. In the US a typical high-school dropout has a lower nominal income today than in 2010

(a position made worse by the corrosive effects of inflation). A highschool dropout is less likely to own a home, less likely to own a car and spends a higher share of their income on food (at home) and housing than in 2010. A high-school dropout has less access to credit than in the past.

An average US college graduate has higher income before tax than ever before. A college graduate is less likely to own a home (as US home ownership has fallen), but nearly every college graduate owns or leases a car. A college graduate spends less on housing, but more on restaurants.

The split is also urban versus

rural. Urban Americans have record incomes. Rural incomes are higher than in 2010, but below past highs.

The urban versus rural split is visible in past voting patterns and current election polling in the US. In reality, there are not “red [Republican] states” and “blue [Democrat] states” in the US. There are cities, and there is everywhere else.

This is not a uniquely US phenomenon; the US simply provides better data. In the Euro area, consumers with a university education have higher economic confidence levels than those with a “primary” education. European university graduates are considerably more likely to be making major purchases today.

Those who are part of the world’s financial markets—traders, fund managers, investors and even economists—do not match the characteristics of the group left behind.

Financial-market participants are educated and urban; the characteristics of the economic winners of the past 20 years. A typical foreignexchange dealer is unlikely to share many of the characteristics of a typical supporter of Donald Trump, nor, indeed, of a typical supporter of Marine Le Pen. People tend to socialize with others of a similar background. If one is not a part of the group left behind,

tionism to keep employment opportunities to Americans. So now the Philippine government is waiting with bated breath for Trump’s next move. There are those who say some US companies may stop outsourcing certain services to countries like the Philippines. There is wisdom in not putting all the eggs in one basket, as there is wisdom in developing our strengths as a nation, as a labor force, as an emerging economy. nnn

ON December 4 the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), together with the Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom) and the Manila Jockey Club Inc., will sponsor the 44th Presidential Gold Cup Race in San Lazaro Leisure and Business Park in Carmona, Cavite.

This is being staged in honor of the country’s President.

The prize money will be coming from the PCSO (P5 million) and Philracom (P1 million) and will be awarded to the winning owner, trainer, jockey and breeder. The winner of the Presidential Gold Cup Race will be awarded together with the second, third and fourth placers.

Good luck to all the participants!

it is unlikely that one will socialize with many, or any, from the group left behind. The political views of those engaged in financial markets are constantly reinforced by the concurrent views of their social circle.

This risks complacency, suggesting that markets will underestimate the populist challenge to the status quo.

I will probably not be on the UBS trading floor at 3 in the morning the day after the US presidential election. While populism generally remains a minority position, it is a more entrenched part of many political systems. It would be sensible to remember that markets are not democratic, and that democracy retains the capacity to surprise investors.

Paul Donovan’s latest book The Truth About Inflation was published by Routledge in April 2015. Visit www.ubs.com/pauldonovan for more research. Paul’s commentaries in the UBS series of documentaries on Nobel Laureates in economics is available at www.ubs.com/nobel.

Donovan is the managing director and deputy head of global economics of Zurich-headquartered UBS. He is responsible for formulating and presenting the UBS Investment Research global economic view, drawing on the bank’s worldwide resources.

Donovan took up philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University. He holds an MSc in financial economics from the University of London. In the Philippines his column will appear exclusively once a month in the BusinessMirror.

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

The new 5,249

The transformational and transactional PPP challenge

BusinessMirror

By Alberto Agra

Joel L. Tan-Torres

PPP Lead

DEBIT CREDIT

T

uesday, November 15, 2016, marks the day that 5,249 individuals join the growing ranks of professional accountants.

They will take their oath as professionals with the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy (BOA) at the Philippine International Convention Center and other venues to formalize their conferment as the newest batch of certified public accountants (CPAs). They will join the over 172,000 CPAs of the land who are registered with the BOA since 1923, when the first set of CPA Board examinations was given.

These 5,249 CPAs will be entering the Philippines accountancy profession amid exciting and major changes that are in place or are forthcoming in the horizons. The review of Republic Act (RA) 9892, or the accountancy law, has been completed with the participation of the various accountancy stakeholders. So many developments have occurred in the local, regional and global accountancy community that necessitate changes in the 12-yearold accountancy law. These much needed changes are now in Congress to undergo the legislative process.

In the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) area, the recently enacted RA 10912 and the Professional Regulations Commission Resolution 2016-990 bring new rules and requirements affecting all professionals. The new accountants, together with their senior colleagues, will be required to complete 80 hours of CPD by 2017 and increasing gradually to 120 hours by year 2019. The CPD program is intended to sharpen the skills and update the knowledge of all professional accountants.

The full implementation of the Quality Assurance Review (QAR) program of those CPAs in public practice will be in place in a matter of time. The QAR is the “audit the auditors” program. In the meantime, those in public practice can continue upgrading the quality and standard of their systems and procedures. They can also participate and comply with the various related programs, such as the Philippine Institute of CPA’s Voluntary QAR program, the BOA Engagement Reporting requirement, the office visitation and related accreditation measures.

CPAs who are in the external auditor sector will start complying with the new Auditor Reporting Standards for their audits of financial statements for periods ending on or after December 31, 2016.

Likewise, the CPAs in Commerce and Industry will begin submitting the Certificate of Compilation Services in the Preparation of Financial Statements for 2016 as prescribed in BOA Resolution 3-2016. These major changes are intended to increase the transparency and reliability of the information value of the auditor’s report and financial statements of companies.

There is also a recent pronouncement on Responding to Noncompliance with Laws and Regulations that was released by the International Ethics Standards Board of the International Federation of Accountants in July. The standard sets out a first-of-its-kind framework to guide professional accountants in what actions to take in the public interest when they become aware of a potential illegal act committed by a client or employer. This standard will take effect on July 15, 2017, or earlier if the BOA decides for an earlier effectivity date. Essentially, the standard provides that it is incumbent on the professional accountant, after knowing the noncompliance or the suspected noncompliance with laws and regulations, to uphold the fundamental principles of integrity and professional behavior by informing management or the government regulator and to take such subsequent action as may be deemed appropriate in the public interest.

The future of accountancy is fast

Accountants now should also be thinking global. The Asean Mutual Recognition Arrangement for Accountancy Services has been signed in 2014 and is now in the final stages of full implementation. In a matter of months, the first batch of Filipino CPAs will be registering with BoA to be conferred as Asean Chartered Professional Accountants who can freely move around the region to take advantage of the work opportunities in Asean. evolving. Sooner than later, all accountants will be witnesses and participants in the future trends of robotics, artificial intelligence, various technology tools and applications, sustainability and integrated reporting, data analytics, cyber security, the reformatted accountancy learning and licensure tracks and many others. These developments will require changes in skills and mind-sets of all accountants, senior and junior alike.

Accountants now should also be thinking global. The Asean Mutual Recognition Arrangement for Accountancy Services has been signed in 2014 and is now in the final stages of full implementation. In a matter of months, the first batch of Filipino CPAs will be registering with BOA to be conferred as Asean Chartered Professional Accountants who can freely move around the region to take advantage of the work opportunities in the other Asean countries.

The new accountants are reminded of their obligation under their Code of Ethics as prescribed in BOA Resolution 263-2015. They are enjoined to patronize the various BOA publications, including the news magazine News Ledger, The Highest Standard technical journal, and the “Debit and Credit” column in the BusinessMirror. They should be regularly visiting the BOA Facebook (professional regulatory board of accountancy) and the BOA web site (www.boa.com.ph). The new CPAs should attend the accountancy events, including the Accountancy Week Celebration in July; the various conventions, the chapter activities of the various sectoral accountancy organizations; and the BOA events and activities. Some of them are expected to enlist in the Volunteer Program of the BOA and be more involved in the Expanding Horizon projects.

Central to all these developments and activities are the “Six-Point Expanding Horizons Strategic Plan” and the “I am Acct” initiatives of the BOA and the accountancy profession.

These and other activities enumerated above are advocacies of all accountants that will elevate them to a level that exceeds the accountancy global standard.

To the new 5,249 accountants, welcome to the profession.

Joel L. Tan-Torres is the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy. He is a Certified Public Accountant who placed No. 1 in the May 1979 CPA Board Examinations. He is concurrently a tax partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co., CPAs. He was the former commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue from 2009 to 2010.

This column accepts contributions from accountants, especially articles that are of interest to the accountancy profession, in particular, and to the business community, in general. These can be e-mailed to boa.secretariat.@gmail.com.

Continued from A1

P

PPs are transformational. PPPs must be viewed as a strategy that is geared toward change. Better quality of life for Filipinos, inclusive growth felt and enjoyed even by the poorest sectors of society and general welfare beyond rhetoric is the core and end of PPPs. These are the deep and real changes that propel and anchor PPPs.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has openly embraced this concept. In Memorandum Circular 120 (MC) dated September 7, 2016, the DILG has made it clear that PPP is for a purpose, and this purpose is the people. The DILG encourages local government units (LGUs) to pursue P4 or PPP for the People.

The MC and the accompanying

PPP template ordinance define PPP, at the policy level, as “a developmental, innovative, change and partnership strategy aimed at promoting the general welfare, inclusive growth and better quality of life of Filipinos.”

PPPs should never be implemented if it will not result in development both at the personal, community and societal levels.

The draft PPP guidelines being

Monday, November 14, 2016 A15

considered by the National Housing Authority also speaks of the noble objective of PPPs. Its version of P4, as suggested by this columnist, shall be referred to as PPP for Progress.

PPPs are transactional. The typical definition of PPPs refers to specific projects, contracts or transactions. The National Economic and Development Authority describes a PPP as “a contractual arrangement between the government and the private sector to deliver public infrastructure and/or public services.”

On the part of the PPP Center, PPP is “a contractual agreement between the government and a private firm targeted towards financing, designing, implementing and operating infrastructure facilities and services that were traditionally provided by the public sector.”

In the MC, P4, at the project level, is “a contractual arrangement between the LGU and the project proponent to deliver public infrastructure and/or public services where each party assumes specified functions, bears certain risks, provides contribution, performs

A not so INTERESTing topic Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan

legally speaking

J

ust a few weeks ago the Philippines was able to secure $9 billion worth of soft loans from China. From a legal perspective, and according to Black’s Law Dictionary, a soft loan is a kind of loan wherein the borrower is given below-market interest rates, long repayment periods and repeated rescheduling or rollover of the principal. Don’t get me wrong here—my article today is not about soft loans, as the same is too technical and such discussion should be left to the financial experts. Rather, allow me to just discuss the basics of the legal principles concerning interest in loan transactions.

In the course of my practice as a lawyer, I have encountered a lot of people who have asked for legal assistance regarding credit and loan transactions. Unfortunately, in these cases, most of my creditor-clients, if not all, had the wrong notion that the money they loaned would auto-

matically earn interest irrespective of what was agreed upon in the loan contract.

It is important to stress that this is not the case in all circumstances.

Not all loan transactions automatically incur interest upon the inception of the contract. According to

Article 1956 of the New Civil Code, “[n]o interest shall be due unless it has been expressly stipulated in writing.” Otherwise stated, for a loan obligation to earn interest, the parties must expressly state in their written contract that such loan transaction shall earn interest. Note that the interest rate per se need not be specified as the legal rate of 6 percent per annum shall apply in its absence per Bangko Sentral Circular 799. Nonetheless, if the parties expressly stipulate an interest rate, then such rate shall prevail. Now, should the parties thereafter agree to increase the interest rate, the same must also be expressly made in writing to be binding.

Given the foregoing, one may ask if he or she may still ask for interest even if the same was not expressly stipulated in writing. The answer is yes, but only if the debtor failed to pay his or her loan obligation after maturity of the same. According to the landmark case of Eastern Shipping Lines v. Court of Appeals (234 SCRA

particular obligations, and earns benefits and revenues.”

For every project, depending on the modality, applicable law or regulation, contribution or participation of parties and risks involved, the requirements may vary. Regulatory approvals may also be different. Buildoperate-transfer, joint venture, lease, divestment and corporatization arrangements are governed by five different laws and regulations.

PPPs are both transformational and transactional. PPPs are neither pure transformational nor transactional approaches. They are both. The parties and stakeholders must not lose sight of the desired outcome. At the same time, particular transactional requirements must be observed. A PPP cannot serve the interest of the people if it will violate the law. On the other hand, a PPP project, while compliant with all legal, technical and financial prescriptions, must redound to the benefit of the consumers and the people.

Both are indispensable. PPPs should be structured and advanced this way.

78), in the absence of stipulation, interest shall be recoverable from the time of default, that is, from the time judicial or extrajudicial demand is made by the creditor.

Deducing this in much simpler terms, a creditor may still demand interest if the debtor breached a loan obligation, and thereafter, said creditor made a demand either judicially or extrajudicially, the latter being made either orally or in writing. It would, however, be preferred if such extrajudicial demand is made in writing, as the same may serve as proof of said demand. On the other hand, according to Eastern Shipping, the reckoning period of said judicial demand shall be the date of the filing of the complaint for specific performance with the Court.

I hope that this article will serve to help you in your future loan transactions. Next time you lend money, make sure that you stipulate the interest in writing to make the transaction more INTERESTing!

Why science couldn’t predict a Trump presidency

F

By Faye Flam | BloombergView

or many people, Donald Trump’s surprise election victory was a jolt to the very idea that humans are rational creatures.

It tore away the comfort of believing that science has rendered our world predictable. The upset led two New York Times reporters to question whether data science could be trusted in medicine and business. A Guardian columnist declared that big data works for physics, but breaks down in the realm of human behavior.

But the unexpected result wasn’t a failure of science. Yes, there were multiple, confident forecasts of win for Clinton, but those emerged from a process that doesn’t qualify as science. And while social scientists weren’t equipped to see a Trump win coming, they have started to test theories of voting behavior that could shed light on why it happened.

What’s missing from political forecasting is openness, peer review and the ability for members of scientific communities to build on one another’s work, according to Simon DeDeo, an astrophysicist who has moved into interdisciplinary work, including social science, at the Santa Fe Institute and Carnegie Mellon University. Secrecy veiled the processes forecasters used to turn polling data into those muchwatched probabilities. Many people didn’t ask how the models worked —they just wanted answers.

Not that these methods are pseudoscience; in fact, they employ some critical tools of science. The most prominent among those is Bayesian statistics, a way of calculating the probability that something is true or will come true.

Bayesian analysis is a core

principle laid out in political forecaster Nate Silver’s book The Signal and the Noise. Though developed in the 1700s, Bayesian statistics had a resurgence in the science of early 21st century. It revolutionized astrophysics, said DeDeo. Among other things, Bayesian methods allowed scientists to go from wildly different estimates of the age of the universe to a consensus at 13.799±0.021 billion years. They can also predict how the universe will end (not well, with or without Trump).

Why don’t Bayesian statistics work the same sort of consistent magic for political forecasts? In science, what matters isn’t the forecast but the nature of the models.

Scientists are after explicit rules, patterns and insights that explain how the world works. Those give other scientists something to build on—allowing science to self-correct in a way that other intellectual ventures can’t.

A scientific model could be very simple, said DeDeo. Maybe your model posits certain kinds of people surveyed in polls don’t admit their choices to pollsters. Or that certain kinds of people will say they plan to vote but won’t follow through.

As long as the ideas are testable,

and the results open to peer criticism, the power of science can move things ahead.

The problem with opaque models, he said, is you never know why you might be right or wrong. If a forecaster gives Trump a 15-percent chance of winning and he wins, does that mean the model is bad? Or could the model be great and used to predict many future elections—it was just that the more improbable outcome happened this time around? DeDeo explained this problem in a notyet-published paper, “Wrong for the Wrong Reasons: Lessons on November 9th for the Science of Human Behavior,” which he said he wrote on that day.

Some people predicted a Trump win using models that ignored polling data, he said, instead using a series of historical factors—whether there was a scandal during the previous administration, for example, and whether there was a perceived foreign-policy success. This isn’t a scientific model yet, but it could be explored scientifically.

Now that it’s over, there’s still a chance for science to explain why so many people voted for Trump. There are all kinds of guesses and judgments being thrown around about Trump voters—that they’re racist or sexist, or responding to the call of tribalism. Those aren’t the least bit scientific, but they could be turned into testable hypotheses.

On the day after the election, University of Pennsylvania psychologists Robert Kurzban and Jason Weeden presented a case that people were voting—or not voting—out of simple self-interest. They summed

up their idea in a Washington Post column titled “No, Voters Are Not Irrational.”

For their idea to work, they factor in status, as well as money, to the self-interest equation. People who live very monogamous lifestyles, for example, may benefit from living in societies with strict rules about contraception and abortion. This may explain why many evangelicals were willing to forgive Trump’s personal sins in order to get a conservative Supreme Court justice. Or, the psychologists suggest, white males without higher education may benefit from Trump’s promise to limit sources of competition for scarce jobs.

Kurzban says this doesn’t account for the fact that some of the candidates’ promises are more believable than others—and that people vary in their willingness to believe them.

And this is not exactly the rationality that people value as a guide to truth. It’s the kind of animal rationality that motivates a chimpanzee to take a shot at advancement by clawing a rival to shreds. If such competitive instincts motivate our behavior, it’s worth understanding.

But if that were the only form of rationality we followed, how would we ever have developed science to the point that we knew we were closely related to chimps? Or that we’re primates? That’s why there is a whole field of study devoted to the calculus of cooperation, attempting to explain why people sacrifice for others.

Social scientists didn’t try to forecast the election, and rightly so. They weren’t up to the task. But someday, they might be.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

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Monday, November 14, 2016

GROUP WANTS 70M FILIPINOS TO HELP PUSH FEDERALISM

By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

T

he Hugpong Federal Movement of the Philippines (HFMP) wants to convert 70 million Filipinos to champion the idea of federalism as our form of government, in line with President Duterte’s campaign pledge.

According to Atty. Joel C. Obar, HFMP national chief legal counsel, the Hugpong movement is targeting to increase the level of acceptance of federalism among Filipinos by 70 percent in May 2017.

“We will be having the second national convention of Hugpong

by April or May 2017. By that time, we hope we would have achieved that [70-percent] level of acceptance,” Obar told the B usiness M irror at the sidelines of the Federalism— People’s call for peace and unity rally at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on Saturday.

Obar said the advocacy of pushing for federalism, in terms of acceptance, is still below the 50-percent mark because other parties are campaigning against federalism. But at the rate the

advocacy is being pushed, he sees a high level of retention of the idea of federalism among Filipino households, which, he is hopeful, will become widely accepted in the future.

“We are not sure if people have already assimilated the idea of federalism. We are not so ambitious, let us go to realistic numbers, which is maybe lower than 50 percent. But in terms of the advocacy, it is now fast expanding. So the level of retention is getting higher. What is left for us to do is to campaign for the acceptance of the idea because there are also politicians who are campaigning against federalism,” he added.

Since the idea of federalism is new to most Filipinos, Obar said the movement would have to convince the people and make them realize the advantages of changing the form of government to a federal one.

“Convince the people to agree to go to a federal system, that would be our level of advocacy first, because you have to understand that this is a new thing, so we are still at the advocacy level. This means that people have to realize that we have to change the Constitution,” Obar said.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Car sales up 8.6% in October–Campi T

By Catherine N. Pillas

@c_pillas29

he local automotive industry posted an 8.6-percent hike in sales in October, according to a joint report issued by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA).

Campi said local assemblers sold 31,132 vehicles last month, higher than the 28,667 recorded in October 2015.

On a monthly basis, however, the figure is 1 percent lower than the 31,451 units posted in September.

Data from Campi and TMA showed that both the passenger car and commercial vehicle segments’ sales increased compared to yearago levels. Sales of passenger cars went up by 2.3 percent to 11,499 units while those of commercial

31,132 The number of vehicles sold in October

vehicles expanded by 8.6 percent to 19,633 units.

Year-to-date auto sales have already reached 292,502 units, 24 percent higher than the 234,951 units recorded in Januar y to

October 2015. For this year, the local automotive industry set a “conservative” sales target of 370,000 units. Campi said the industry hopes to hit sales of 500,000 units by 2020, or earlier.

In October Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remained the market leader with a 44.18-percent market share, followed by Mitsubishi Motor Philippines Corp., with 17.18 percent.

Ford Motor Philippines, Inc. is at third place with a 9.39-percent market share. Ranked fourth is Isuzu Philippines Corp., which accounted for 7.46 percent of sales, followed by Honda Cars Philippines Inc., with 6.42 percent.

Cement sales

Cement sales in the third quarter of the year grew by only 5.4 percent, as weather conditions “muted” growth, according to the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP). According to CeMAP President Ernesto Ordoñez, sales of cement in the third quarter amounted to 6.7 million

tons, a 5.4-percent increase over the same period’s sales of 6.3 million last year.

“The third-quarter increase was not as large for two main reasons.

First, the weather is not as favorable this year. According to Pagasa [Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Sevices Administration], the El Niño last year caused the below-normal rainfall which is conducive to construction, but this year the rainfall is normal to abovenormal,” he said.

“Also, the third quarter of 2015 had a high base because of accelerated spending in anticipation of the prospect of the 2016 elections,” Ordoñez added. The 6.7 million tons in the third quarter would bring year-to-date sales to 20.1 million tons, a 10.1-percent increase over the same nine months in 2015.

In August 2016 the Department for Budget and Management earmarked a total of P860.7 billion for infrastructure projects in 2017—11.6 percent higher than the budget for 2016—and the equivalent of 5.4 percent of GDP.