Businessmirror november 30, 2017

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Thursday, November 30, 2017 Vol. 13 No. 50

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embers of the House of Representatives have threatened to block the passage of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act during the bicameral conference should senators insist on passing provisions that were not included in the approved version of the lower chamber.

Enhancing youth employability is a business mission

SUAREZ: “We will call for the deferment of the [tax reform] if the Senate will insist on its version.”

Rene E. Ofreneo

laborem exercens Minority Leader Danilo E. Suarez of the Third District of Quezon, Partylist Reps. Alfredo A. Garbin Jr. and Jericho Jonas B. Nograles of PBA

‘E

mployability” refers to the general readiness of workers, the young labor entrants in particular, to participate in a dynamic labor market. This means having a work force with the right education, skills, know-how, attitudes and capacity to learn new trades or competencies needed by the new emerging industries, as well as by the old existing ones.

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CUSI ISSUES CIRCULARS BM Reports CLEARING OBSTACLES TO RCOA IMPLEMENTATION Two decades after theAsian financial crisis: Lessons, risks E F

By Lenie Lectura

CUSI: “The issuance of the circular is necessary to address policy and regulatory gaps resulting from and consistent with the above-mentioned cases and TRO.”

@llectura

nergy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi has signed two department circulars that the agency hopes will pave the way for the resumption of the implementation of the retail competition and open access (RCOA) scheme that was temporarily stopped by the Supreme Court (SC).

The Department of Energy (DOE) said it was compelled to provide immediate guidelines to affected power industry players seeking clarification on the implications and effects of the temporary restraining order (TRO) on the pre-existing RCOA processes.

“The issuance of the circular is necessary to address policy and regulatory gaps resulting from and consistent with the above-mentioned cases and TRO,” Cusi said.

RCOA, in a nutshell, allows consumers to source power from a licensed retail electricity supplier (RES) to encourage competition in the generation and supply sector.

At present, the majority of power consumers are being supplied by Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest distribution utility (DU) firm.

The SC issued on February 21, 2016, a TRO against a DOE circular and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) resolutions days before these were supposed to take effect.

The mandatory switching of consumers with an average peak consumption of 750 kilowatts to 999 kW, which should have taken

effect on June 26, 2017, was among the rules that were halted by the SC. But the mandatory switching of power users consuming an average of at least 1 megawatt (MW) per month is already in effect. Its implementation took effect on December 26, 2016, more than a month prior to the issuance of the TRO. The newly issued circular on “Providing Policies on the Implementation of RCOA for Contestable Customers (CC) in the Philippines Electric Power Industry” is meant to implement RCOA on a voluntary basis instead of mandatory.

Section 1 of the circular calls for the voluntary participation of contestable customers with average peak demand of 750 kW and above for the past 12 months in the retail market.

Section 2, meanwhile, also calls for the voluntary participation of consumers with average peak demand of 500 kW to 749 kW in the retail market by June 2018 or an earlier date specified by the ERC. Participation in the retail market shall require a retail supply contract (RSC) between a contestable customer and RES, and registration of the RSC in the WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market).

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PESO exchange rates n US 50.3650

By VG Cabuag @villygc

Part Four

AILURE in corporate good governance. This is what Herbert M. Consunji, chief financial officer of DMCI Holdings Inc., considers the folly of businesses that were severely affected when the Asian financial crisis hit in 1997.

Consunji admitted that when it bought AG&P Inc., the company made little effort to conduct due diligence on such an iconic company.

“Sid [referring to DMCI Chairman Isidro A. Consunji] was so eager to buy a company like that [AG&P] that has assets and track record, we made little effort on due diligence,” Herbert Consunji told the BusinessMirror. “And DMCI…we were not ready to take over a big company.”

DMCI later on decided to let go of its holdings in AG&P and sold it in 2010 to a Kuwaiti-led group for about P1.75 billion.

Despite diligence

ACCORDING to a report by nonprofit Action for Economic Reform (AER), there was no reason why the Ayala Group suddenly backed out from the supposed deal with the Villar family on C and P Homes Inc. after months of due diligence.

“The reason for the deal falling through was not publicized,” the AER report said. “But it became

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Solons won’t let Senate ram through TRAIN ‘insertions’

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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By Catherine N. Pillas @c_pillas29

T

ACCORDING to Januario Jesus Gregorio B. Atencio III, the current president and CEO of mass-housing builder 8990 Holdings Inc., little can companies do at that time since funding was hard to obtain.

Interest rates went up to 30 percent and, even with approved credit lines, the banks were hard to lend out when the crisis struck two decades ago.

he Department of Trade and Industr y (DTI) expects sales of automobiles to reach almost 1 million units by 2025, despite the possible increase in excise tax on cars under the proposed tax-reform package of the Duterte administration.

While the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act could make cars more expensive, Trade Assistant Secretary Rafaelita M. Aldaba said the reduction in income tax would help increase demand for automobiles. “ T he countr y’s economy is g row ing a nd t he income -ta x cut would help car sales reach 990,000 units by 2025,” Aldaba told reporters in an interview on the sidelines of the 2017 Manufacturing Summit held in Makati City on Wednesday.

In her speech during the summit, Aldaba cited the bright prospects of auto manufacturing, given the ongoing rollout of the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) Program.

“For the CARS, the industry has seen a continued increase with sales reaching 400,000 units in 2016—this is four times the sales just a decade ago. The growth rate is at 24 percent. By 2025, 2026 and 2027, forecast has shown that the Philippines will be selling 1 million units,” she said.

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PHOTO shows skyscrapers in the Bonifacio Global City complex in Taguig City. During the Asian financial crisis, businesses faced difficulties in securing credit, especially for construction. “No one wanted the construction of high-rise buildings [that time],” Herbert M. Consunji, chief financial officer of DMCI Holdings Inc., said. NONIE REYES

known in the market that it was primarily due to very poor governance of C&P.” Over the years, however, Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. (VLLI), which bought the majority of C&P, was able to fix the situation as it was able to return to the offshore and onshore bond market. The VLLI further consolidated its foothold in the property development scene when it consolidated Starmalls Inc. into the company.

Former Sen. Manuel B. Villar Jr. returned to the company after being defeated in the 2010 presidential elections. However, in most of

DTI sees car sales hitting 1M by 2025

his speaking engagements, Villar has said that the company’s stock price is undervalued, currently being traded at P6.10 per share.

Forex risks

n japan 0.4519 n UK 67.2574 n HK 6.4544 n CHINA 7.6248 n singapore 37.4238 n australia 38.2522 n EU 59.6473 n SAUDI arabia 13.4299

Source: BSP (29 November 2017 )

A2 Thursday, November 30, 2017

BMReports BusinessMirror

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Two decades after the Asian financial crisis: Lessons, risks Continued from A1

“I don’t think it’s about [lack of ] regulation [that caused the crisis], because what happened was developers got dollar loans at low interest rates.

Overnight, the forex [foreign exchange] rate doubled and so amortization also doubled since they were earning pesos to pay for dollar loans,” said Atencio,

who will step down from 8990 this year. “That was the killer: the forex risk.”

Lessons

ROBERTO Juanchito T. Dispo, vice chairman of Laguna-based chipmaker Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp., believes such shocks to companies may never happen again this time.

Dispo, who was the deputy Treasurer of t he Phi l ippines when the Asian financial crisis struck, said this is due to the h igh g ross i nter n at ion a l re serves (GIR), which is the sum of foreign transaction f lowing into the Philippines.

The GIR is the main indicator of the country’s liquidity and ability to pay for the imports and service

foreign obligations.

Currently, GIR stands at around $80 billion and can cover more than 11 months of imports.

“We are now insulated from external shocks because we have a very robust gir position,” Dispo said. “Having a sizeable GIR is an insulator from internal shocks.”

Dispo was a public servant when, 20 years ago, the Philippine peso

devalued against the greenback from P27 to around P50.

“I remembered we borrowed $30 0 m i l l ion f rom t he A DB [Asian Development Bank, for an] emergency loan, and that was gone in 15 minutes from the forex market,” Dispo told the BusinessMirror. It’s a sign that it’s matter of time that the peso will give in.”

Solons won’t let Senate ram through TRAIN ‘insertions’ Continued from a1

on Wednesday complained that the Senate version of the TRAIN has provisions imposing excise taxes on minerals, coals and cosmetic products—all absent in the House version.

This, they said, made the Senate “insertions” unconstitutional, as the 1987 Charter provides that all tax measures must come from the lower chamber.

The lawmakers are referring to Article VI, Section 24 of the Constitution, which provides that “all appropriation, revenue or tariff bills, bills authorizing increase of the public debt, bills of local application and private bills, shall originate exclusively in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments.”

Suarez said he would call for the deferment of the approval of TRAIN should the Senate push the passage of its version of the first tranche of the Duterte administration’s tax-reform program.

“I am hoping that the bicameral conference committee will adopt the House version of the tax package [or] we will call for the deferment of the [tax reform] if the Senate will insist on its version,” Suarez said.

The bicameral conference committee is composed of members from both the majority and minority blocs of both chambers to settle, reconcile or thresh out differences or disagreements on any provision of the bill.

The conferees are not limited to reconciling the differ-

ences in the bill, but may introduce new provisions germane to the subject matter, or may report out an entirely new bill on the subject.

The lower chamber has yet to name representatives who will be included as members of the bicameral committee. As a minority leader, Suarez said he will be included as member of the conference committee for the taxreform package.

The Senate insertions

Suarez noted that higher tax rates for imported coal, as well as coal sourced from Semirara, will eventually affect power rates, as the country is heavily relying on coal-fired power plants.

“The pass-on under the proposal of Sen. [Loren B.] Legarda is 48 centavos per kilowatt additional because we are using 48 percent coal all over the country.

That’s a burden,” he said. Nograles, a member of the Joint Congressional Power Commission, said there may be a constitutional question on the proposed 3,000-percent increase on tax on coal.

“It was not introduced by the House but by the Senate. While the TRAIN bill originated in the House, there was no provision in taxing coal. Therefore, it can be interpreted that the Senate introduced a new tax, contrary to the Constitution,” he said.

Nograles, however, expressed confidence that the members of the bicameral conference committee meeting will consider these

questionable provisions in their upcoming deliberations. On Tuesday the Senate-approved TRAIN, which is targeting to raise P130 billion in revenues to finance the Duterte administration’s ambitious infrastructure program.

T he Senate approved a 3,000-percent increase in coal taxes to be collected in three tranches until 2020, which means the current P10 excise tax will be raised to P100 in 2018, P200 in 2019 and P300 by 2010.

The upper house also adopted a 10-percent excise tax on cosmetic procedures for aesthetic purposes. At the same time, senators voted to double excise taxes on minerals and mineral products and quarry resources that proponents said was intended to promote “responsible mining and environmental protection.”

Garbin said the Senate’s new tax provisions “are the constitutional and legal issues that they need to explain [during the bicameral conference]. We want to know what are their basis.”

According to the Department of Finance (DOF), the TRAIN bicameral conference committee meeting will start on December 1, and Congress is expected to submit the bill to Malacañang on December 11 for signature.

Earlier, House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Dakila Carlo E. Cua of the Lone District of Quirino said: “We [members of the lower chamber] would like to maintain our version because of the opportunity, so much

energy and political capital that we have invested.”

Besides the new taxes on coal, cosmetics and minerals, Sen. Franklin M. Drilon said other contentious provisions in the Senate and House versions of the TRAIN are the imposition of higher tax rates on automobiles, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and conflicting provisions on value-added tax (VAT) zero rating and lifting of VAT exemptions on senior citizens, among others.

Compassion

Consumers and store owners appealed for compassion as they vowed to intensify their opposition to the proposed excise tax on SSBs, which, they said, will directly hit poor Filipinos.

“If the ‘sweet tax’ is passed, prices of our products will definitely increase, and our customers may not be able to afford them. Our sales and income will drop, and many of us may be forced to close our stores,” Philippine Association of Sari-Sari Stores and Carinderia Owners (Pasco) President Victoria Aguinaldo said.

Aguinaldo, whose group represents 1.3 million sari-sari (small community) stores and carinderia (eateries) all over the country, noted that sweet drinks, such as sodas, iced tea and ready-to-drink juice, account for 30 percent to 40 percent of their total sales.

The Bantay Konsyumer, Kalsada, Kuryente (BK3), an advocacy group defending the interests of Filipino consumers, has supported

the campaign of Pasco in opposing the SSB tax, which, it said, would hit hard the Class D and E consumers.

BK3 Convenor Louie Montemar said his group support Pasco’s actions because what is at stake in the issue is the interest of the poor consumers. He said the latest Senate version of SSB taxes was disappointing. “We appeal to our legislators to show compassion to the ordinary Filipino, enough with these consumer taxes.”

Montemar said to generate more revenues to support the “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program, the government should turn its attention to products patronized by the rich and stop the revenue leakage in the Bureau of Customs.

In the Senate, the approved version of the SSB tax was set at P4.50 for every liter of sodas, iced tea and ready-to-drink juice. This was proposed by Sen. Joseph Victor G. Ejercitoas a compromise to the P10 rate passed by the House of Representatives.

This is estimated to translate into the following increases: for powdered juice and iced tea, from P9 to P13.50 per 1-liter sachet; for sodas, from P16 to P20.50 per liter; and for ready-to-drink juice, from P20 to P24.50 per liter.

Sen. Ralph G. Recto earlier described the SSB tax as the most controversial and sensitive provision of the TRAIN bill because of its expected impact on the majority of the population.

“We are going to hit the consumers, especially the poor, who will not benefit from the tax reduction to begin with. They will not benefit from the tax reduction, to begin with, and we are going to hit them with P280 billion of consumption tax,” Recto said.

‘One step closer’

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the government is now one step closer to reforming the country’s tax system for the first time in over two decades, with the passage of the Senate version of the TRAIN. The tax reform will provide a steady revenue stream to the Duterte administrations ambitious infrastructure buildup, which will require at least P8 trillion over a five-year period.

The finance chief expressed hopes that both chambers could wrap up bicameral deliberations on the first of the government’s five tax-reform packages in time for the submission of the final version to President Duterte by December, so that a new law could be signed and implemented as scheduled by January 2018.

“The Senate’s timely approval of its TRAIN version moves the government one big step closer to overhauling the tax system for the first time in two decades, with the primary benefit going to 99 percent of the country’s taxpayers, who are to get higher take-home pay as a result of substantial cuts in their personal income-tax rates or, better yet, outright exemption from income taxation,” Dominguez said.

Consunji, meanwhile, said the Asian financial crisis taught them a very good experience on how to ride the wave.

“You need to remember what happened before, for you to know what it is right now when it is easy to make a mistake that the good things happening can easily cover that mistake up,” he said.

To be concluded

Japan. . .

Continued from A12

Batan said the government is now “pursuing an unsolicited proposal for the 30-year operations and maintenance of the MRT 3.”

The unsolicited proposal that the department is pertaining to is that of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

David J. Nicol, the group’s CFO, said the initial cost of investment, estimated to be about P30 billion, includes government fees, capital infusions and a corporate buyout.

“There are three components to it.

First is the capital expenditure for the system, which is estimated to cost about P12 billion. Second is the concession fees to be paid to the government, and third is the price of buying out the shareholders,” he said in a text message.

The infrastructure conglomerate offered to takeover, improve and expand the MRT 3. The government has awarded the group the original proponent status for the said proposal.

“Clearly, item 1 is essential for the benefit of riders, and getting this deployed quickly should be our main focus. Items 2 and 3 don’t directly help the riders, but are ‘transactionally necessary,’” Nicol said.

The proposal involves the expansion of the capacity of the railway system by adding more coaches to each train, allowing it to carry more cars at faster intervals.

It will double the capacity of the line to 700,000 passengers a day from the current 350,000 passengers daily.

The multimillion-dollar expansion is deemed as an all-encompassing deal, including the improvement of the reliability of rolling stock, the upgrading of power supply, the upgrading of stations and the replacement of rails, which will allow the company to operate the new trains purchased by the government from Chinese train manufacturer Dalian.

Unsolicited proposals are required, under law, to go under a Swiss Challenge, wherein other groups can offer a similar proposal, and the original proponent can present a counter offer.

“It’s hard to say on the timetable of the Swiss Challenge, as the government is busy working things through, but my guess is it will within a few months,” Nicol said.

The railway facility will be “a challenge” for the company, given the train system’s history of breakdowns, derailments, and other technical and legal issues.

“We really have to manage these, should we be favored in getting MRT 3 because it’s not an overnight matter that can be fixed magically,” Manuel V. Pangilinan, who chairs the company, said.

The infrastructure conglomerate has nominated Light Rail Manila Corp.

(LRMC) as its corporate vehicle for the MRT 3 deal. LRMC, a partnership between MPIC and Ayala Corp., operates the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1.

The group lifted the same provisions under the concession agreement under the LRT 1 operations and modernization deal, which it bagged in 2014.

It means that instead of having a different operator and maintenance provider, the group will do both.

“The proposal will soon be endorsed to Neda for further evaluation,” Batan said, referring to the National Economic and Development Authority.

Currently, the government operates and maintains the system, which it also rents from MRTC. The build-lease-transfer agreement between MRTC and the Philippine government, signed almost two decades ago, requires the government, as the operator of the train line, to pay equity rental payments to the owner of the facility.

MPIC had an agreement with Sobrepeña’s group back in 2011, when it first submitted a proposal to upgrade the facilities of the MRT 3.

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Palace orders AFP, PNP to shield miners from communist attacks and taxation

S

ecurity forces were instructed by Malacañang to “do their job” in making sure mining companies are protected from attacks and taxation of the communistled New People’s Army (NPA).

In a recent news briefing, Presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque Jr. called on the police and the military to defend mining companies in the face of a directive from President Duterte to stop giving in to the NPA’s taxation program.

“I will not annotate what the President said. He says that those who will pay revolutionary tax will be shut down,” Roque said.

“Now, I am sure that there will be consequences. We’ll call upon the PNP [Philippine National Police] and the Armed Forces of Philippines [AFP] to do their job,” he added.

Asked if Malacañang will issue a directive to the PNP and AFP to guard mining operations, Roque said there is no need for one, as it is the security forces’ duty to protect citizens and businesses from possible attacks from insurgents.

“Hindi na po kinakailangan ng directive, dahil ’yan po talaga ay mandato ng kapulisan at ng hukbong sandatahan [There is no need for a directive, because that is their mandate as members of the police forces and the armed forces],” the Palace official said.

“Ang mandato po ng pulis ay [The mandate of the police is] to deal with problems involving law and order, at meron din po silang mandato [and they also have a mandate] to deal with [the] ongoing rebellion. At ganyan din po ang mandato ng ating hukbong sandatahan [And that is also the mandate

of the Armed Forces]: not just to deal with external threats but also with internal threats,” Roque added.

According to Roque, defense forces should maximize the martial-law declaration in Mindanao, as it gives them more power to crack down on enemies of the State, including the NPA. Duterte has threatened to shut down mining companies paying revolutionary taxes to the NPA, saying giving into the rebel group’s taxation program only strengthens its cause. Elijah Felice E. Rosales

The mandate of the police is to deal with problems involving law and order. They also have a mandate to deal with [the] ongoing rebellion. And that is also the mandate of the armed Forces, not just to deal with external threats but also with internal threats.”—Roque

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Thursday, November 30, 2017 A3

Report confirms link between drug trade and extremist violence in south

S

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

hadow economies, particularly illegal-drugs trade, have financed extremist groups with their terror activities in Mindanao, leading to the explosion of violence in the country’s southern island, a study by a peace organization said.

A report, titled “Conflict Alert 2017,” by the International Alert said the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) “saw an explosion of violence” in 2016 in the face of the national elections and the rise of President Duterte, whose administration vowed to eradicate the country’s drug menace.

According to the study, shadow economies have primarily caused the “sharp rise” in violent conflict.

“The sharp rise in shadow economyrelated incidents coincided with the start of President Duterte’s term of office, specifically after a nationwide and coordinated antidrug campaign was announced in July 2016,” the report said.

“The volume of illegal drugrelated violence grew sixfold from

the previous year. Bulk of shadow economy-related conflicts took place in Maguindanao, with illegal-drugs cases in this province comprising most of the cases,” the study added.

The rise in violence was unexpected, the report noted, because there was no “all-out war” declared in the ARMM like in 2000. Nonetheless, “there were 4,356 incidents in 2016, or an 89-percent increase” in cases of violence as compared to 2015.

The study added all provinces in the ARMM witnessed a spike in violent incidents, especially in Maguindanao and Basilan.

Aside from this, the report said much of the conflict cases arose from deadly shadow economies, most of which resulting from illegal drugs and illicit firearms. There

were 1,498 shadow economies-related cases in 2016, or a 181-percent increase from 534 incident in 2015.

Common crimes were also found frequent, as there were 535 incidents logged in 2016, or a 15-percent hike from the recorded 467 cases in 2015.

Common crimes include carjacking, robbery and conflict arising from intoxication, among others.

The study said it is without doubt this caused the conflict in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, where the Daesh-inspired Maute Group laid siege in May, leading to a fivemonth fighting between government troops and terrorists.

The fighting has left more than

It is obvious that urban violence will increasingly feature in the conflicts of the future due to some conducive factors, namely, highly dense population, fractious nature of alliances with different groups, ideology and affiliations in the area. Wars waged in urban areas will require new strategies and new alliances.”—International Alert

Malaysian boy survives fall at Naia Terminal 1

DFA chief expresses concern about North Korea missile test

T

he Philippines has expressed serious concern over the latest ballistic-missile test conducted by North Korea on Wednesday, lamenting that Pyongyang’s continued weapons development merely increases tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

“We call on Pyongyang to commit to making meaningful progress toward the peaceful resolution of the issues facing the Korean Peninsula,” Foreign Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said in a news statement issued on Wednesday by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

“Meaningful dialogue can only happen when the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] ceases such provocative and highly dangerous actions,” the DFA said.

Southwestern Regions for the Reunification of Korea,” one of several international gatherings it organized to call on world peace and to combat violent extremism.

Only on September this year, the group’s third Annual Commemoration of the World Alliance of Religions’ Peace Summit was timed with North Korea’s nuclear test. The summit on collaborative governance for peace building was participated by 200,000 social representatives from politics, religion, media, education and women.

The group is under the United Nation’s Economic and Social Council, a body working for sustainable development. The November 25 gathering was held in Daegu Metropolitan City, South Korea.

Peace, reunification

Launch

IN Davao City, meanwhile, South Korean peace group Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), highlighted the critical role of civil-society and religious groups in renewing the push for the unification of the two Koreas. The group also urged policy-makers to tread on peaceful unification through dialogue.

Man Hee Lee, HWPL chairman, centered his speech at the gathering “on the need for peaceful unification of Korea through the leadership of civil society,” citing the case the crumbling of the Berlin Wall to unify the two Germanys in the 1980s.

“The Korean peninsula was forced to be divided, and regulations that separated this peninsula were established. Then is unification possible with politics and law? The unification of Germany was possible when people gathered to hold a peaceful candlelight rally,” he said.

Man said individual participation in the work of peace could not be understated. “To achieve peace, every individual in our global community should be a messenger of peace,” he added.

The HWPL organized the “1st Peace Conference of Religious Leaders in Southeaster n and

IN an announcement on Wednesday, the nuclear-armed North said it test-fired what it called the Hwasong 15—its first missile launch in more than two months.

An initial Pentagon assessment of Wednesday’s launch said the missile flew about 1,000 kilometers before landing within Japan’s maritime economic exclusive zone (EEZ).

The missile test was the first of any kind by the North since September 15 and drew swift condemnation from Seoul, Tokyo and Washington.

‘Violent act‘

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday that the latest North Korean missile launch was a “violent act” that “can never be tolerated” after the intercontinental ballistic missile splashed down in Japan’s EEZ. “We will never yield to any provocative act. We will maximize our pressure” on Pyongyang, the Japanese leader told reporters.

The missile test may also have squashed speculation that the North’s leader Kim Jong Un may have held back in a bid to open the door to a negotiated solution to the nuclear standoff with US President Donald J. Trump.

Recto Mercene and Manuel T. Cayon

1,000 dead, and has displaced about 400,000 residents. Although the conflict has ended with the liberation of Marawi City in October, the Islamic town has yet to see daylight, with the government only beginning to roll out its rehabilitation program.

“It is obvious that urban violence will increasingly feature in the conflicts of the future due to some conducive factors, namely, highly dense population, fractious nature of alliances with different groups, ideology and affiliations in the area. Wars waged in urban areas will require new strategies and new alliances,” the report said.

A

Police patrol boost Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa and Japan Ambassador to the Philippines

Koji Haneda are engaged in an animated conversation during the ceremonial turnover and blessing of some 100 new police patrol vehicles donated by the Japanese government to the PNP. The new patrol cars will increase the mobility of policemen in law enforcement. NONOY LACZA

Duterte pays tribute to great plebeian’s struggle for freedom, nation-building

P

resident Duterte has invoked Filipino revolutionary Andres Bonifacio in appealing to the nation to unite against corruption, criminality and illegal drugs in time for the father of Katipunan’s 154th birth anniversary.

In his Bonifacio Day message, the President said Filipinos should take inspiration from the founder of Katipunan in helping build the nation.

“It was Andres Bonifacio who ignited the fires of revolt that led to the foundation of our nation and brought freedom to our people,” Duterte said.

“As the heirs of his revolution,

it is our solemn obligation to bring life to his aspirations and usher in an era of civic consciousness and nationalism,” the President added.

Duterte said, like Bonifacio, Filipinos should “become actively involved in nation-building” at a time “when the future of the country is at stake.” “Let us fight to free ourselves from the grasp of corruption, criminality and illegal drugs; to liberate our people from the clutches of terror and violence; and to preserve our ideals, values and way of life,” Duterte said.

The Duterte administration is facing the challenge brought about

by its self-declared war on drugs, which include a fight against criminality and corruption. Aside from this, it had to face a tough stand from the Daesh-inspired Maute Group in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, which saw a five-month war between government troops and terrorists.

“As we strive to give a peaceful, orderly and comfortable life for all, may we never lose sight of our shared vision for a better and progressive Philippines. Like Bonifacio, let us light the flames of change that will bring about real and meaningful transformation in our nation,” Duterte said. Elijah Felice E. Rosales

5-year-old Malaysian boy fell from the departure level of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 1 and landed at the arrival concourse, a vertical distance of about 15 feet, but luckily survived the fall.

Muhammad Alif Bin Azizan, who is traveling with his father for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was immediately attended to by the airport’s medical team at 8:22 a.m. on Wednesday.

Public Affairs Division chief Connie Bungag said the boy was playing at the departure area and climbed a wall partition without the knowledge of his 66-year-old father, who was busy attending to their luggage.

“He left the boy unattended, who suddenly slipped from the wall and fell to the ground,” Bungag said.

She added the boy is a bit lucky because he landed on a soft portion of the concourse that was covered by a thick carpet.

Dr. Denise Lauren Dalmacion, medical officer on-duty, said they found Mohammad lying on the carpet and crying in pain.

Subsequent medical examination showed the boy is coherent and awake, dousing fears he may had suffered an “overt cardiorespiratory distress.”

The attending physician noted blood is coming from superficial cuts in the lower and upper lips.

“There are also abrasions on the mid forehead and chin, but he was able to move all four extremities,” Dalmacion said.

The medical findings noted slight physical injuries secondary to fall and head injury. The physician inserted an intravenous line as the neck was immobilized and cold compress was applied to the forehead and chin.

The boy was transferred to the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Pasay City, accompanied by his father for further observation.

Economy

A4 Thursday, November 30, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

Solon aims for higher tobacco tax collection in TRAIN Package 2

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lawmaker has expressed hope that his proposal to include an increase in tobacco tax would be included in the second taxreform package or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) bill.

“I will be pursuing that it [increase in tobacco tax] be included in the Package 2 because it has been proven that even if you increase the tax, people will still continue smoking,” Sen. Joseph Victor G. Ejercito said in an interview.

Ejercito, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, made this remark after the Senate version of the TRAIN bill Package 1 was passed on third and final reading on Tuesday night. He said that he really wanted tobacco tax to be seen as a health measure and not just a source of revenue.

In an earlier interview, Sen. Juan Edgardo M. Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means in charge of leading deliberations on TRAIN said that two senators—Ejercito and Manny Pacquiao—have both moved for the inclusion of an increase in tobacco tax.

Unfortunately, Angara said that it was too late to include the proposals made by Ejercito and Pacquiao as among topics to be discussed during hearings last week.

Angara said that for him, it was best to wait until the total 2017 collections from tobacco would be released.

He said that in 2015 the government collected P100 billion, and P96 billion in 2016.

“It decreased. So the argument of Senator Pacquiao and Senator JV is that, if we increase the tax on cigarette, if we increase to P60, we might be able to raise an additional P60 billion. We have to study that,” Angara said.

The senator, however, said that the Department of Finance has vowed to include it in the next TRAIN package.

On Tuesday the Senate passed on third and final reading its version of the TRAIN bill with 17 affirmative votes and only one negative vote.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, the only senator who voted against the passage of the TRAIN, said that she felt that it “fell short” of its promise to reform the tax system and be beneficial to the poor.

Senators who voted for TRAIN are Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III, Senate Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III, Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto, senators Angara, Francis G. Escudero, Ejercito, Nancy S. Binay, Grace Poe, Cynthia A. Villar, Loren B. Legarda, Sherwin T. Gatchalian, Richard J. Gordon, Gregorio B. Honasan, Pacquiao, Joel Villanueva and Juan Miguel F. Zubiri. PNA

LRMC reminds commuters: Don’t forcibly open LRT 1 train doors

BusinessMirror

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Holiday season fuels Q4 business optimism O ptimism of Filipino businessmen for the fourth quarter of 2017 rose to 43.3 percent, from the third quarter’s 37.9 percent, due in part to the expected brisk business during the holiday season.

Results of Business Expectations Survey (BES) done by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) from October 2 to November 20 this year and participated in by about 1,473 firms nationwide, showed that the positive outlook for the last quarter this year is also traced to expansion of businesses.

BSP Department of Economic Statistics Director Rosabel B. Guerrero said in a briefing on Tuesday that firms are more optimistic for the fourth quarter of 2017 as domestic demand is expected to increase during the Christmas holidays.

Other local factors that boosted businesses’ expectations include increasing number and expansion of businesses, higher disbursements for government’s infrastructure and other development projects and favorable macroeconomic conditions.

Expansion of the exports market, likew ise, improved out look for businesses.

BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo also noted that, among types of business, exporters are the most optimistic in the fourth

quarter of 2014.

Guinigundo said positive outlook of exporters is driven by peso depreciation, which means higher revenues for them.

“We also note that because of the depreciation of peso, the exporters are also happy. If we look at the distribution of the sentiments, exporters are very happy on the weakening of the peso,” he added.

Confidence index of exporters for the fourth quarter stood at 50 percent, higher than importers at 43.8 percent, both importers and exporters at 33 percent and domesticoriented enterprises at 49.6 percent.

“For the quarter ahead, Q1 2018, business outlook turned less optimistic, with the next quarter confidence index declining to 39.7 percent, from 51.3 percent in the previous quarter’s survey results,” Guerrero added.

“Respondents attributed their less positive outlook mainly to the usual slowdown of demand after the holiday season,” the official said.

Other factors cited by the respondents are implementation of

more government infrastructure projects, favorable domestic macroeconomic conditions, such as low inflation environment and expansion of exports markets and rising demand for Philippine products.

The Central Bank, in its report, said business sentiment in the country “mirrored the more bullish business outlook in Australia, Canada, Germany and Indonesia, but was in contrast to the less favorable views of those in the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, South Korea, New Zealand and Thailand, and steady outlook in France.”

Amid this development, sentiment for the next quarter turned less optimistic, with the index down to 39.7 percent, from 51.3 percent in the quarter-ago’s survey.

The usual slowdown of business after the holidays was a major factor for the decline in the index, while other reasons cited by the respondents are lag in “business transactions at the beginning of the year [e.g., delay in renewal of contracts and dry-dock season for the shipping industry], stiffer business competition, concerns on the effect of the new excise tax rates to the automobile industry and higher inflation.”

Among the selected economic indicators, respondents expect inflation to rise, but remain within the government’s 3-percent to 5-percent target, the peso to weaken against the US dollar and interest rates to go up. PNA

L

ight Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) issued an advisory on Tuesday calling on passengers of the Light Rail Transit 1 (LRT 1) to avoid forcibly opening train doors to avoid train malfunctions.

The train operator, a company led by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp., issued the advisory after one of its coaches failed to close a door during a regular run between Vito Cruz and Quirino stations.

According to the company, its investigation showed that the door failed to close after an unidentified passenger forcibly opened the train door when it did not immediately open upon stopping at Vito Cruz station at around 6:57 in the evening on Monday.

In a news statement, the railway operator said passengers reported that the passenger forcibly opened the door to immediately get off at Quirino Station.

The company has since instructed all guards at the station platforms to strictly implement the “no forcible opening of doors” policy to avoid similar incidents that may potentially put the lives of passengers at risk.

Forcibly opening automatic train doors causes train door-mechanism failures, which is the third top cause of unloading incidents.

Lorenz S. Marasigan

Coal-tax increase ‘discriminatory,’ may trigger energy price spike­–DMCI

By VG Cabuag

@Vilygc

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he chairman of D.M. Consunji Inc. (DMCI) said on Wednesday the recent move of the Senate to slap taxes on coal is discriminatory, which may result to higher energy rates, as this will eventually be passed on to consumers.

“It is not us who will be affected.

Because it will be passed-through [to customers/consumers],” DMCI Chairman Isidro Consunji told reporters.

DMCI owns a majority of Semirara Mining and Power Corp., the country’s largest coal miner, accounting for 80 percent of total production output, while the rest are being shared by smaller mining firms.

The Senate on Tuesday voted to increase excise tax on coal from P10 per metric ton to P100 in 2018, P200 in 2019, and P300 in 2020 and succeeding years.

Currently, there’s no excise tax, or tax collected from the source of production, slapped on coal, but Semirara has to pay income tax.

“This is unfair to coal. Because it will make natural gas and other fuels more competitive. They should impose the same tax on all fuels,” Consunji said, adding that the government cannot make other energy sources more competitive “by making one fuel more expensive, because it is discriminatory.”

He also said the tax should not just cover coal that is mined in the Philippines, but should also include imported coal.

“Again that’s [not taxing imported coal] discriminatory. That cannot be. You will be giving advantage to foreign coal, and this will run counter to the incentives being given to local energy producers,” he said.

If the additional tax is to be imposed, it should be on all coal used to produce energy. “Whether it’s local or foreign, they should be equal. Otherwise, those that are not slapped an additional tax will benefit,” Consunji said.

Lawmaker proposes addl ₧464M for AFP barracks

I Starmaker

A woman skillfully assembles low-end Christmas lanterns made from bamboo sticks, colored cellophane sheets and Japanese paper along a sidewalk at the Central Market in Manila. ROY DOMINGO

Bicol LGUs receive solid-waste shredder from DENR

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

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O boost the capacity of local government units (LGUs) to manage their solid-waste output, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has donated shredding equipment, which they can use in waste disposal and reduction activities.

Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu recently led the awarding of solid-waste shredders to the LGUs to help them in the implementation of the Republic Act (RA) 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

The awarding ceremony was held at the regional office of the Environmental Management Bureau in Legazpi City recently.

The recipients of the shredder were the municipalities of Oas and Manito in Albay; Barcelona, Magallanes and Matnog in Sorsogon;

Pio V. Corpus in Masbate; and San Andres in Catanduanes.

Other municipalities granted with shedders to process generated biodegradable waste in their public markets were Bulan in Sorsogon; Virac and San Andres in Catanduanes; San Fernando in Masbate; Ocampo and Tigaon in Camarines Sur; Camalig in Albay; and Jose Panganiban and Daet in Camarines Norte.

“The role of the DENR is to assist the LGUs in their challenges on implementing RA 9003,” Cimatu said in a news statement issued on Wednesday.

“We are giving them the necessary equipment and technical assistance to strengthen their compliance to the said law,” he added.

The DENR is encouraging LGUs, particularly resource-poor municipalities, to pool together their resources to establish a common engineered sanitary landfill.

The clustering of LGUs, Cimatu

said, will ease the burden of LGUs in putting up an engineered sanitary landfill as prescribed by RA 9003.

The Development Bank of the Philippines, the environment secretary added, is also open to extending its loan services to LGUs for solidwaste management projects.

Cimatu said the solid-waste shredder is a good addition to the equipment also being used in materials-recovery facilities (MRFs) of LGUs. The MRF serves as a temporary storage area for recyclables before being sold to junk dealers, storage for special waste prior to treatment, processing area for biodegradable waste for composting, and storage of residual waste prior to disposal.

Cimatu earlier warned that erring LGUs who refused to close open dumps within their jurisdiction will face criminal and administrative charges.

N line with providing the Armed Forces adequate wherewithal to achieve the goal of becoming a credible military, Sen. Richard J. Gordon on Tuesday proposed to allocate an additional P464 million for the construction of barracks for military personnel.

The lawmaker, in a news statement, said he made the proposal during the period for individual amendments on the proposed General Appropriations Act of 2018.

Gordon had earlier underscored the need for additional barracks or housing for the military, citing the shortage of quarters in the country’s military camps that has constrained some military personnel to sleep in the offices.

“You will recall that the military tasked us that there were no barracks for the military. In most of the camps in the country, they have no barracks, in Camp Aguinaldo they have no barracks. I was surprised, I lived with the US Navy all my life and these people had BOQs [bachelor oficers’ quarters] [and] bachelor enlisted men’s quarters, they have Navy housing, and yet we are so niggardly providing for our military,” he said.

The P464 million additional allocation will be used for the construction of the following: enlisted personnel male barracks, amounting to P99 million; enlisted personnel female barracks, which would cost P49.5 million; fourstory female officers’ barracks, P50.5 million, four-story male officers’ barracks, P101 million; two 16-door married officers’ condominium, P114.9 million; and a 16-door noncommissioned officers’ condominium.

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

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Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Thursday, November 30, 2017

A5

Good weather boosts output of industrial crops

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

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@jearcalas

he production of four industrial crops went up in the third quarter due to favorable weather conditions and the expansion in harvest area, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In its quarterly report, titled ”Major Non-Food and Industrial Crops Quarterly Bulletin,” the PSA said sugarcane output in the Julyto-September period rose by 63.5 percent to 783,370 metric tons (MT), from last yer’s 479,000 MT. ”The surge resulted from the increase in yield due to favorable weather in Western Visayas [Negros Occidental], and increase in

area harvested during the quarter due to movement of harvest from April to June in Northern Mindanao [Bukidnon],” the PSA said in its report published on November 28.

The PSA said Western Visayas accounted for more than half, or 54.4 percent, of total sugar output during the period. The region produced 426,229 MT, 30 percent higher than the 327,744 MT recorded a year ago.

Data from the PSA also showed rubber output reached 105,690 MT, 15.1 percent higher than the 91,820 MT produced in same period last year. ”The growth in production resulted from the increase in number of tappable trees due to sufficient rains and more tapping activities due to high price in Soccsksargen (North Cotabato) and increase in tapping activities due to high price in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao [ARMM],” the report read.

The top rubber-producing region during the period was Soccsksargen, with 39,210 MT. It accounted for 37.1 percent of the total rubber production of the country, according to the PSA. ”Zamboanga Peninsula came in close with a 36-percent contribution, while the ARMM had a 16.1-percent share to the national production,” it added.

Coconut output rose by 3.3 per-

The output of industrial crops in the Philippines, such as coconut, recorded increases in the July-to-September period, the Philippine Statistics Authority said in its quarterly report. Bloomberg

cent to 3.69 million metric tons (MMT), from last year’s 3.81 MMT. The PSA said more nuts were harvested due to sufficient rains during the fruiting stage and the application of salt and organic fertilizer from Philippine Coconut Authority in Calabarzon. ”Also, high buying price of copra and increased number of bearing trees in Zamboanga Peninsula [Zamboanga del Norte] contributed to the rise in production,” the PSA report read. ”In addition, Soccsksargen [Sarangani] recovered from drought last year,” it added.

Data from the PSA also showed tobacco production went up by 1.4 percent to 1,140 MT, from 1,130 MT in the same period last year. The PSA attributed the increase to the expansion in harvest area, sufficient rainfall and the high price of the native variety, which encouraged farmers in Northern Mindanao to plant tobacco. ”The increase in area harvested was [also] due to the contract growing of the Virginia variety

by Philip Morris Inc. in Northern Mindanao,” the report read.

However, the country’s production of coffee and abaca during the third quarter declined by 9.5 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

Production of dried coffee berries during the July-to-September period fell to 5,760 MT from last year’s 6,370 MT. The decline was caused by the harvests of less berries due to cutting of old and less productive Arabica and Robusta coffee trees in Soccsksargen and Davao region, according to the PSA. PSA data also showed abaca output dropped to 17,890 MT, from last year’s record of 18,140 MT, due to less stripping activities as newly planted suckers were not yet harvestable in the Bicol region. Farmers in Eastern Visayas also harvested fewer abaca due to the bunchy top infestation and mosaic disease.

Govt to provide quedan financing to sugarcane farmers T

he Sugar Regulatory Administration (SR A) said it has agreed in principle with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) to offer quedan financing and socialized credit to sugarcane farmers as a way to help them recover their losses from the declining prices of sugar.

The SRA said its administrator Hermenegildo R. Serrafica and LandBank President Alex V. Buenaventura have agreed on the terms of the financing to be made available to sugarcane farmers during a meeting at LandBank Plaza on Tuesday.

“Both officials agreed in principle, subject to approval by the LandBank board, to provide quedan financing using LandBank ’s regular fund at an interest rate of 6 percent for sugarcane farmers cultivating sugarcane farms with 250 hectares and below, and a 7.5-percent interest rate for farmers having more than 250 hectares with no charges on processing fees,” the SR A said in a statement released on Wednesday.

“They also agreed to apply not more than 2-percent interest rate for the socialized credit program,” it

Bio-intensive gardens offer healthy meals, learning to school kids

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anza , C av ite — It w a s while living as an expat in Brunei that I learned to enjoy and appreciate gardening.

I was an accidental gardener.

I got into it because my flat mate decided to return to Kuala Lumpur for good and I had to take care of the mini-garden she built in our balcony. At that time, I was just content with sprinkling some water on my succulent terrariums. But I suddenly found myself having to cultivate various herbs and this would require more time and energy than my low-maintenance terrariums. So I pored through lots of gardening websites and after some trial and error (and a few dead cactus, lemongrass and aloe-vera plants), I managed to keep my herb garden thriving and productive.

My gardening took some time away from my weekends, but it was such a rewarding hobby that I never minded the movies I never saw or my missed manicure appointments. Gardening relaxed me after a hectic day of editing stories and meetings and gave me a regular supply of aloe-vera gel for my hair, oregano leaves for my sauce, soup and tea and those sweet, fresh basil for my pesto. I was far from being self-sufficient, but those fresh herbs cut my grocery bills and encouraged me to prepare healthy meals from scratch. I was so not using my newly harvested oregano for a cup of instant noodles nor would I forego my pesto pasta just to buy nasi katok—the iconic cheap Brunei meal composed of fried chicken, rice and spicy sambal.

I was recalling my own gardening experience while visiting

the school garden at Julugan Elementary School (JES) in Tanza, Cavite. The visit was part of the three-day workshop on school gardening and school feeding organized by the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR). Several delegates from Africa, India, Canada, the Philippines and the Caribbean presented papers on how school gardens and feeding helped in reducing incidence of malnutrition among schoolchildren and encouraging families to grow their own food and prepare nutritious and inexpensive meals.

JES is one of the schools included in the integrated school nutrition project funded by the C a n ad a-ba sed I nter n at ion a l Development Resea rc h Centre and implemented by IIRR, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of S c ie nc e a nd Te c holo g y ’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI). The project, which started in 2012 and now includes 58 schools in Calabarzon area, was implemented because schools are considered as a strategic venue for delivering nutrition interventions to children and, indirectly, to their families and communities. The project has three components: ga rden ing , supplement a r y feeding and nutrition education. The latter especially involves parents as teachers even go to family homes to make more parents aware that it’s easy to prepare cheap, healthy and delicious vegetable-based meals for their children.

At JES, the school administration and faculty have set aside a 200-square-meter plot

Prime Sarmiento

prime commodities for gardening, where students and their teachers grow local fruits and vegetables. The garden’s harvest were then used to prepare meals under the school’s feeding program.

As with the other schools involved in the project, JES uses bio-intensive gardening technique, to grow its plants.

As I discussed in my previous column, bio-intensive gardening is an agroecological farming method that produces a variety of crops despite investing less inputs. This is why the garden has deep dug beds to keep the soil moist, has kakawate trees around the plot as their leaves are used as green manure and h a s a n a r ray of i nd igenou s crops, including kamote, talinum, mustasa and melons as biodiversity reduces pest infestation and also encourages children to eat more vegetables.

No chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used. One corner of the garden has a shelf that stores various seeds of cropss— ensuring that traditional varieties will continue to f lourish in this soil.

The results, so far, are encouraging. The staff reported reduced incidence of hunger and malnutrition and has also increased the parents’ awareness on nutrition. Another positive

impact is that more schoolchildren are now aware of agriculture as school gardens function as a learning lab. Gardening might encourage them to choose a career in agriculture in the future. This can be good news to the shrinking agriculture sector as the current generation of young workers are now leaving the farms for better job opportunities in the city.

A report prepared by IIRR’s Emilita Oro, DepEd ’s Rizalino Jose T. Rosales and FNRI’s Imeld a A ngeles-A gdeppa re vealed that under the first phase of Integrated School Nutrition project, which ran from 2012 to 2015 and only covered Cavite schools, supplementary feeding of ma lnour ished schoolchi ldren using iron-fortified rice and indigenous vegetables from school gardens sig nif icant ly improved their nutritional status. The schoolchildren’s parents are also more informed about gardening and nutrition while the school gardens remained productive, providing free supply of vegetables all year round. The second phase of the project (2015-2018), which expands beyond the province of Cavite, is expected to scale up the positive results noted in Phase 1.

The project of course is not without its set of challenges. As the report noted, the lack of designated staff to manage the feeding center affects school feeding program. Learning about agriculture is also not a priority among schools and there’s still a need for a simpler way of tracking and documenting outcomes of the project. But there are some

key lessons learned, such as the need to integrate nutrition in the curriculum to sustain good eating habits; that school gardens can indeed help in conserving and reintroducing local varieties of legumes, green leafy vegetables, root and tuber crops; and that schools are effective platforms for integrated nutrition interventions.

Nigella Lawson once said in one of the episodes of Simply Nigella that one has to eat well in order to live well. I want to expound on the idea by saying that it doesn’t really cost much to have a life well-lived.

My own experience in gardening and the positive outcome of the Integrated School Nutrition project prove that one need not spend a lot of money in order to eat well. These local seeds are free (or can be had for a low price), and with a little bit of knowledge, gardening tools, water and sunlight, one can always use the backyard or some containers in the windowsill to grow tomatoes, herbs and the enduring gratitude for the opportunity to eat and live well.

Pr ime Sar miento is a longt ime bu sines s jour nalist who specializes in food, agribusiness and commodit ies-trade repor ting. Her stor ies have been pub lished in both local and international publications, including Ni k kei A si a n Rev iew, C h ina Da i ly, Sc ience a nd Develop ment News Net work and Dow Jones Newsw ires.

Comments and ideas are welcome at pr ime.sa r m iento@ g ma i l.com.

added. However, the SRA, an attached government-owned and -controlled corporation of the Department of Agriculture, said they are still finalizing with LandBank the guidelines on how sugarcane farmers can tap the new financing portfolio.

“The SRA and the LandBank are finalizing the guidelines and other details so that the farmers will have access with these credit facilities as soon as possible and they will not be forced to sell their sugar quedans at very low prices,” it said.

The meeting was witnessed

by SRA Board Member for Miller’s Sector Roland B. Beltran, according to the SRA. Latest data from the SRA showed that the mill-site price of domestic sugar, as of November 5, has sunk to its lowest in the current crop year (CY) 2017-2018 to P1,246.08 per 50-kilogram bag (Lkg).

The figure was 8.10 percent lower than the P1,356 per Lkg price level of domestic sugar at the start of the current CY last September 3.

The latest mill-site price of sugar was slightly lower than previous week ’s P1,246.71 per Lkg pricing.

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

The fruit that smells like gym socks is skyrocketing in China

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hina’s love of a pungent, footballsized thorny fruit is skyrocketing, and Malaysia wants a piece of it.

The value of China’s fresh imports of durian fruit has climbed an average of 26 percent a year over the past decade, reaching $1.1 billion in 2016, according to United Nations data. Thailand dominates that market, but Malaysian politicians are counting on durian diplomacy to expand access beyond frozen fruit pulp.

A Malaysian durian festival in Nanning, in southern China, earlier this month had about 165,000 people lining up to taste thawed, whole-fruit samples of the country’s premium Musang King variety.

“Some of them said that, now in China, there are two things that people will queue up for: the iPhone X and Malaysian durians,” Minister of Agriculture and Agrobased Industry Ahmad Shabery Cheek said last Saturday. He was speaking at a durian festival in Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia’s largest state, that drew durian devotees from as far away as central China.

‘King of fruits’

Across Malaysia, where the durian is dubbed the “King of Fruits,” orchards are recording a spike in Chinese tourists eager to savor a food that is routinely banned from hotels, airports and on public transportation for its polarizing smell.

The durian often invokes a love or hate relationship: aficionados describe the internal yellow carpels as a rich, butter-like custard, with hints of chives, powdered sugar and caramel in whipped cream. Others are repulsed by its smell, which has been likened to rotten onions, turpentine and dirty gym socks.

In China consumers are embracing different foods incorporating the tropical fruit, said Loris Li, a food and drink analyst with market researcher Mintel Group Ltd. in Shanghai. Durian is being used to flavor products from yogurt and cookies to coffee and pizza.

Durians and durian-based products are the among the most searched for items in China on e-commerce site Alibaba.com this month, said A hmad Maslan, Malaysia’s deputy mini ster for i nter n at ion a l t rade a nd industry. Bloomberg News

TheBroa

Business

A6 Thursday, November 30, 2017

MIMAROPA: NO ‘JU T

By Roger Pe

HE Ausans of Mindoro moved to Palawan in the 1970s after the patriarch of the family retired from government service.

Paulino Ausan had been assigned to the capital to help combat malaria in the province’s far-flung communities.

Mimaropa Region Tourism Director Danilo Intong

Ausan decided that life would be better for his children to start fresh in “the last frontier.” After all, a son had been assigned as head of a forest ranger team in a mountain-protected area, while a daughter had a steady job as a medical technologist in the local Department of Health office. The younger children instantaneously adapted to their new town.

Almost five decades later the clan grew. One even almost became a mayor after being an active leader as barangay captain and pioneer in resort business. Through the years, members of the family had acquired lands and, today, have all assimilated like homegrown Palaweños, even speaking in the native tongue.

It was in Mimaropa—Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan, the five provinces that make up the Southern Luzon Region 4B—where not only the Ausans had made good. The scenario is often replicated over and over by different families in different time frames.

In these islands of almost 3 million people, the cross-pollination of opportunities would inevitably alter people’s fortunes, depending on one’s perseverance and hard work.

Migration benefits

A region composed of islands with no land border with another region, Mimaropa, as a whole, encourages people to cross each other’s borders freely. No island seems to be self-contained and self-sufficient. Here, the exchange of goods and commodities flow unceasingly, island to island.

“Migration results from the movement of people to areas where their services are needed or where they believe they can avail [themselves of ] better opportunities and resources,” a paper by Marietta Alegre of the National Census and Statistics Office said. “Though it happens to specific sectors of society, it can effect significant changes, not only in size, but also in the composition of population of the areas of origin and destination.”

Migration has been beneficial to Mimaropa communities. Unused lands had been developed. Agricultural productivity improved.

Tourism upgrade was felt.

“We want to unite the region, however diverse its individual uniqueness. Most of all, exalt humankind, as each of us does not exist in a vacuum,” Romblon Gov. Eduardo C. Firmalo said. “We are not an island by itself; we all belong to a bigger piece.”

Greater heights

FIRMALO opened the 2017 Mimaropa Festival in Odiongan, Romblon, on November 21 at the town plaza.

“We would like to encourage people of Romblon to learn from each other, especially from their neighbors and, hopefully, vice versa,” Firmalo said. “We want to polish ourselves by learning from each other. When we learn from each other, we shine.”

“The transmigration of ideas in the region has actually worked for Mimaropa to its best interest,” Occidental Mindoro Gov. Mario J. Gene Mendiola said.

“It is through ‘Trans-Mimaropa’ that we better ourselves.”

Mendiola cited a professional, for example, who became a Romblon mayor who was originally from his province.

“The inflow of better ideas and influx of professionals contribute to the betterment of Mimaropa,” he added. “I hope it will continue and raise our region to greater heights.”

Rise to prosperity

FIFTY years ago Mimaropa was one of the poorest regions in the country.

Today it is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, growing region in the country, largely due to the increase in output of its domestic industries and cross-border migration. Fishing, agriculture, tourism, mining and oil-production output of natural gas in Palawan, for instance, have upped the region’s economic importance on the national scale.

How is the national government helping Mimaropa in terms of infrastructure and tourism upgrade?

Odiongan Mayor Trina Firmalo-Fabic, for her part, praised the Department of Tourism for its unwavering support. She mentioned the training programs her town has been getting in order to enhance, streamline and improve tourism services in Romblon, in particular.

“They are valuable and we are grateful that these things are often accorded to us,” she said.

The higher production of rice and corn and other crops, livestock and fishery resulted in the accelerated growth in the total agriculture and fishery sector.

The industr y sector, which contributed 38.3 percent to the region’s total economy, was the second-largest contributor, next to agriculture. Mining and quarrying contributed 16.6 percent to

A participant depicting the Palawan peacock-pheasant

the total regional economy.

Ten years later Mimaropa is an economic and tourism powerhouse. As of 2015, the population of Mimaropa reached 2,963,360.

Palawan has the biggest number with 849,000, followed by Oriental Mindoro with 844,000, Occidental Mindoro with 487,000 and Romblon with 293,000. Marinduque has the smallest with 235,000. Puerto Princesa, the only highly urbanized city, has 255,000. The whole population of the region is 2.9 percent of the total Philippine population.

Today and beyond

TOURISM has catapulted Mimaropa from a “Lonely Planet,” offthe-beaten path profile to a dream destination, especially to people who love nature. Precisely why Danilo Intong, newly appointed Mimaropa regional tourism director, keeps on mentioning the umbrella tagline with pride: “Destination of Choice, Naturally.”

“It was a decision of the RDC [Regional Development Council] where the governors, mayors, and tourism

officers of different provinces and cities agreed upon,” Intong said. “My job was to see through the bigger picture. We mapped out the competitive landscape and compared it to other region’s vision.”

Intong had a discerning mind.

He saw that it was a statement of a “dream” and that started it—one collective idea, worded correctly and with a marketing strategy and positioning stance.

A presidential appointee in 2016, Intong replaced Minerva Morada and immediately rolled up his sleeves and buckled down to work in mid-October. His background in tourism and credentials run the gamut. From a tourist guide, university teacher for 27 years, passionate advocate of ecofriendly tourism to nationwide Bantay Kalikasan member.

Intong is credited with having developed many successful tourism products focusing on Sorsogon in Bicolandia.

Among his pet projects include the now-famous butanding-watching in Donsol and firefly-watching.

He updates himself regularly with global trends in tourism and was one of the first Filipinos to work with World Tourism Organization Secretary-General Talib Rifai.

Mimaropa gem

ACCORDING to Intong, he develops new tourism products by evaluating first the locale.

“It is important to prepare the destination to visitors. I talk to LGUs [local government units], a critical component of my assessment, because their participation and commitment will have an impact on the success of tourism in the area,” Intong said. “Local government officials must have a stake on it. And, mind you, I wouldn’t recommend development if I haven’t seen the place personally.”

He plans to develop more tourism products for Mimaropa throughout his term. Right now, Intong said, he is focusing on Romblon because it is an emerging destination and it is easily accessible from Manila and South Luzon provinces.

“Infrastructure projects are beginning to take shape in Romblon, we want more of that to happen,” he added.

Intong also mentioned that Marinduque could be another Mimaropa gem if it is properly promoted and marketed. “Cruise tourism is perfect for Marinduque and right now,” he said, adding that there are ongoing talks with developers.

To further streamline Palawan as destination of choice, Intong expressed his optimism for the development of southern Palawan, especially Rasa Island in Narra, home of the endangered katala (white cockatoo), the unrivalled bird sanctuary of Ursula Island and the entire Balabac group of islands, to spur growth in that area.

Creative thinking

INTONG acknowledged the 1-million contribution of Palawan to the total Philippine tourist arrival chart and wished that the number would increase by a hundredfold when new markets abroad are tapped through relentless promotional blitz.

aderLook

sMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Thursday, November 30, 2017

A7

UAN’ IS AN ISLAND undiscovered islands with immaculately white beaches, totaling about 1,780, most of them uninhabited. It is home to one of the world’s largest biodiversity, forest and marine life.

No wonder it has two Unesco World Heritage sites and a spot that was declared one of New 7 Wonders of the World.

Puerto Princesa City

MarindUque Moriones Festival masks

30 years after World War II, and only surrendered as a prisoner of war in 1974. Another Japanese captain of the Imperial Army, Fumio Nakahira, took refuge in the forests of Mount Halcon, before being found in 1980.

Lucrative export

Endemic to Mindoro, the tamaraw

Intong is careful in proclaiming empty motherhood statements about his plans for development.

“We should not be doing what everyone is doing. We should think out of the box. If everyone is doing river cruises, we should not be doing the same thing,” he said. “We should think, creatively, of other things because there are other ways of creating new products. One must only have the will and creativity to do it.

Otherwise, we’ll end up as copycats.”

He admires local government leaders who have vision and assert their leadership for tourism. He respects officials who know what they are talking about—that tourism must be viable for the community, first and foremost.

“Tourism must serve a purpose socially, environmentally and economically. They are inseparable,” Intong said. “When none of them are present, we are just wasting our time and we will not reap the fruits of our labor.”

5 provinces, 2 cities

ORIENTAL Mindoro is the other half of Mindoro, just a few miles away from Manila.

The province is crisscrossed by rivers and streams, mountains and valleys, lakes and hot springs and

many more natural attractions.

Located just a few miles from Manila, it is accessible via the South Luzon Expressway and Port Batangas in Batangas City.

Here, one can find the fourth highest mountain in the Philippines, Mount Halcon; and Naujan Lake, the fifth-largest in the country (declared as a protected wetland). Around the vicinity are scenic waterfalls and swamplands that serve as nesting places for waterfowl and migratory birds.

The oldest settlement on the island, called Puerto Galera (port of galleons), was an important stopover for vessels in the famed Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade during Spanish times. With many breathtaking coves and landscapes, it has become Mindoro Oriental’s most famous tourist attraction because of its whitesand beaches and undersea marine gardens that are perfect for diving and snorkeling.

The province is also home to the the Mangyan, a major ethnic group with eigtht sub-indigenous groups that have retained their pre-Hispanic syllabic script, poetry and myths.

Other half

OCCIDENTAL Mindoro is the other

half of Mindoro, largely untamed and home to the wonderful Tamaraw.

Endemic to the island, the species bears a close resemblance to the carabao (water buffalo), smaller in size but with shorter and straight V-shaped horns.

The province has a natural luster that even the most jaded traveler cannot ignore. Just off the western coast of Batangas lies its capital of Mamburao. Though San Jose is considered as its commercial center (due to the presence of many banks, cafes, entertainment spots and other business establishments), Mamburao is the official seat of government.

Sablayan is worth mentioning, too. The jump-off point to the world-famous Apo Reef Marine Park is a 34-kilometer reef with a narrow channel dividing it into two lagoon systems. The mustvisit marine wonder is also host to white-sand beaches.

Not to be missed is Mount Iglit, a declared national park and forest reservation area. Trekkers to this mountain can get a glimpse of the Tamaraw which lives at the foot of the mountain.

Lubang Island is another place of interest. On this island, Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese soldier, hid for

MARINDUQUE was part of Batangas province when the Spaniards colonized it in 1581. It became part of Mindoro toward the 17th century and figured prominently in the Spanish galleon trade and pre-Spanish trading era. It was declared a separate province when the Americans came.

The small island province sits just below Batangas and a portion of Quezon province. It offers a quaint and laid-back ambiance but is famously identified with the staging of a colorful Holy Week rite.

Called Moriones, the tableau depicts Christ’s passion and death.

The province also annually stages a spectacle of other attractions, like the butterfly and carabao festivals. It also has white-sand beaches unknown to many, such as those in Maniwaya and Tres islands.

Dainty handicrafts, delicacies and traditional Filipino hospitality are yours to enjoy when you visit this beautiful island.

Marinduque is also one of the best places to visit for heritage sites and old churches; the Boac and Santa Cruz cathedrals are fine examples. They served as refuge centers for Spanish priests and officials during Moro invasions and natural calamities.

Romblon is called the Marble Capital of the Philippines. The quality of marble quarried in this island is a source of pride for the country because it is on a par with the best in the world. It is also a lucrative export valued by sculptors and builders worldwide.

Unspoiled beaches

ROMBLON is rich in other mineral deposits like gold and copper.

Composed of three main islands (Tablas, Romblon and Sibuyan), including a cluster of 20 other small islands, Romblon is blessed with some of the best and most unspoiled beaches in the country.

Romblon, the capital of the province with the same name, is a quiet town in a beautiful bay fortified by a 17th-century Spanish garrison.

If one takes a ferry that docks at its main port, be prepared to see a landscape that slowly turns into a breathtaking Mondrian painting.

No wonder it’s been described as the Lisbon of the Philippines.

Cresta del Gallo in Sibuyan Island is perhaps Romblon’s most stunning island. The sandbar located in a kidney-shaped islet dazzles with the purest of white beach, ringed by a reef rich in marine wildlife.

At almost 7,000 feet above sea level, Mount Guiting-Guiting offers an adventure of a lifetime for mountaineers looking for a tough challenge. It is said to be the most difficult mountain to climb in the Philippines.

Looking for adventure, recreation, natural attractions and exotic festivals? You will always have a grand time with Romblon.

Heritage sites

PALAWAN has been chosen by Conde Nast and Travel and Leisure, two of the world’s respected travel magazines, as “World’s Best Island” a number of times.

Palawan has received countless awards for eco-friendly and sustainable tourism. It actually does not need an introduction.

The province’s unique geographical formations, natural wonders and unique flora and fauna define this paradise. It is here where the most visited islands and attractions in the Philippines are located—El Nido, Coron, Busuanga, Underground River, Honda Bay, Tubbataha Reef, Tabon Caves, Onuk Island and many other jaw-dropping sites.

Palawan has the highest concentration of the most beautiful,

THE bustling capital of Palawan province recently rebranded and described itself as, “Where Nature begins and never ends.” How apt.

The city literally nestles in the womb of exhilarating mountain ranges, rivers and hectares of forests made even more charming by the genuine hospitality of its people.

Its newly constructed international airport is a showcase of its beautiful persona, perhaps the best in the Philippines. Come summertime, the city explodes with a riot of white and pinkish colors of the Balayong tree, known as Palawan Cherry Blossoms.

There are many things to do in Puerto Princesa if nature is your cup of tea. You can explore the World Heritage Site Underground River, commune with the rain forests and hundred caves of Sabang, Tagabinet and Cabayugan; get enthralled by their limestone karst caves and cliffs; go Butanding watching in the open sea; be dazzled by fireflywatching, gripped by the events of the past in the War Museum, or simply watch parrots and cockatoos whizz by as you lay on the beachfront of Microtel Wyndham and Aventura Resorts off Canigaran beach.

The city is earthquake-free and outside of the Philippines’ typhoon belt. The main gateway to all points in Palawan, it is also accessible to Cebu and other Western Visayas cities, including new foreign destinations such as Taipei, Kota Kinabalu.

Tourism Night

DUE to its excellent geographica l location and port facilities, the cit y has been dubbed as the Cr uise Ship Capita l of the Philippines, w ith some of the world-renow ned lu xur y liners dock ing at its por t reg u larly.

Calapan City is the capital and gateway to Oriental Mindoro, currently one of only two cities in the Mimaropa region. It serves as the region’s administrative center and, for that matter, the hub of commerce, industry, transport, communication, religious activities and education of the entire province.

One of the major food suppliers in the country, the city is also a major exporter of rice, supplying Metro Manila and major parts of Luzon, making it both an agriculturally progressive city. It has many unspoiled beaches, too, mountain trails, forest; leisure farms and resorts; and hosts a number of rare flora and fauna.

Places of interest here include the Calapan City Zoological and Recreational Park, Verde Islands, Baco-Chico, Aganhao, Silonay islets, Harka Piloto Marine Sanctuary, actively protected by the local government. Given its protected status, Harka Piloto is an ideal site for diving and snorkeling, Bulusan Mountain Trail, Caluangan Lake, Baruyan River, among others.

During the festival’s Tourism Night, the city of Puerto Princesa swept the most awards honoring establishments that have consistently supported tourism growth in their respective city of operation, and the Mimaropa region.

Representatives of the city were also crowned Mister and Miss Mimaropa 2017, and Occidental Mindoro won the Street Dance Showdown competition, while Puerto Princesa placed second and Calapan City third.

A8

Banking&Finance

Thursday, November 30, 2017 • Editor: Jun B. Vallecera

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Panda bond sale hits regulatory snag

T

he government proposal to sell renminbi-denominated bonds in China before the end of the year has hit a snag and had been pushed later to the first quarter next year.

Also known as panda bonds, the deferment of the sale of government IOUs at some point in the January-to-March period next year had been forced by the lack of regulatory approval from Chinese authorities.

According to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, the panda bond sale had been moved to the first quarter of 2018 because the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) still lacks final regulatory approval from the Bank of China (BOC).

“The BTr is awaiting final approval from the BOC, so the schedule of issuance has been moved to the first quarter.

Similar to other fund-raising activities,

the panda bond offering is subject to favorable market conditions in the onshore RMB [renminbi] market and provides competitive pricing compared to other funding options,” Dominguez told financial reporters.

Earlier in the month, the DOF thanked the BOC for assisting the Philippines in facilitating the planned panda bond sale and in organizing the Philippine Economic Briefing in Shanghai in September where the Philippines told potential investors the economic gains made under President Duterte.

Dominguez signed an underwriting agreement on behalf of the Philippines

as issuer of panda bonds with the Bank of China Ltd. and Standard Chartered Bank (China) Ltd. as lead underwriters.

As lead underwriter, the BOC committed to form an underwriting team that will purchase the panda bonds that the Philippine government will issue, and resell them to the Chinese market for a profit.

T he proposed transaction involves 1.4-billion RMB-denominated panda bonds.

The BTr said it hopes to generate at least $200 million from the transaction.

Panda bonds are RMB-denominated securities from a non-Chinese issuer but sold in the People’s Republic of China.

In October the Philippines bared separate plans to tap the samurai bond market sometime next year to help diversify the government’s funding sources.

A samurai bond is a yen-denominated bond issued in Japan by non-Japanese companies and subject to Japanese regulations. Samurai bonds provide the issuer access to Japanese capital that can be used for local investments or for financing operations outside Japan. Rea Cu

BSP bares new 5-peso coins under the NGC series

T

he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Wednesday unveiled the new 5-peso coin, replacing the old design with silver.

The new coin featuring national hero Andres Bonifacio on the obverse is the first of the so-called New Generation Currency (NGC) coin series to be released and made available starting on November 30.

The BSP said the advance release of the 5-peso coin is a deliberate move to highlight the Filipino patriot’s 154th birthday and 120th year since he died.

The rest of the denominations under the NGC coin series will be released in January 2018.

Considered as the Father of the Philippine revolution, Bonifacio’s portrait is etched on the obverse of the coin, along with the markings “ANDRES BONIFACIO,” “5 PISO” and “REPUBLIKA NG PILIPINAS” in bold font and in microprints and the mint mark.

The reverse side, meanwhile, features the Tayabak, a Philippine endemic plant that climbs tall forest trees, the BSP logo and “Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas” in microprint.

The new P5 coin is 25 millimeters in diameter and weighs approximately 7.4

T

T

he House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries on Wednesday urged Filipino investors not to part with their hard-earned money by buying bitcoins in the hope of making a quick profit.

In a statement, Rep. Ben P. Evardone of Eastern Samar, panel chairman, said the price of bitcoin, the best known virtual currency currently in use, neared the $10,000 mark this week for an almost 900-percent increase since the start of the year “Until enough safeguards are put in place, investors would be well-advised to heed the admonitions of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas [BSP] and t he Sec u r it ies a nd E xc h a nge Commission [SEC] to put their money in sa fer i nvest ments,” Eva rdone sa id.

In a recent briefing on cryptocurrencies, representatives from the BSP and the SEC, as well as BSP-accredited local bitcoin operators warned the public against investment in cryptocurrencies. “ T his stoked fears that Filipinos m ig ht be tempted i nto put t i ng i n their sav ings and retirement funds in bitcoin and ot her cr y ptocur rencies without realizing that they could lose everything in one drastic plunge,” Evardone said.

“C r y p t o c u r r e n c i e s , l i k e b it c o i n are a promising low-cost remittance

platform for Filipino workers sending t heir ea r n ings home. But t hey are extremely risky investments due to lack of regulator y protection for consumers,” he added.

According to the lawmaker, bitcoins and other digital currencies are not backed by a bank, by any existing currency unit in circulation, or by any asset of tangible value that offer some degree of security for its buyers.

Evardone said investors stand to lose everything overnight if exchange platforms for cryptocurrencies shut down, or when the consumer’s virtual wallet containing confidential information is hacked or stolen.

He added the biggest cryptocurrency hacking incident pertained to Mt. Gox case in Japan, where $460 million worth of bitcoins was lost.

Earlier, BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. said cryptocurrencies formed part of the discussions by central bankers and finance officials at the annual meetings of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund in Washington.

“We see the benefit of cryptocurrency in promoting efficient money-transfer services, for example. But we also realize that cryptocurrency can be used for such schemes like money laundering and other criminal activities,” the BSP governor said. Jovee Marie N. de la Cruz

Associations stronger together grams. The BSP said the NGC coin series uses the latest technology in minting coins and higher standards to resist fraud and wear and tear. “ The security features of the NGC coin series are enhanced to deter counterfeiting, improve wear and corrosion resistance capabilities, saves the BSP minting costs, avoids risks arising from unexpected volatile swings in

metal prices, and also deters the illegal hoarding of coins for melting and shipment to other countries,” the BSP said.

All coins in the new series will feature the BSP logo, national heroes and endemic flora.

The new coin-design specifications are consistent with the new design loca l banknotes the BSP launched in 2010. Bianca Cuaresma

Customs law IRR fleshed out in 42 BOC orders he implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) will be contained in 42 customs administrative orders (CAOs) that the government aims to complete by 2018, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

Finance Undersecretary Antonette C. Tionko, who heads the DOF Revenue Operations Group, said that 42 draft CAOs have already been posted in the CMTA microsite www.dof.gov.ph/cmta_irr, with eight already signed.

She said some of the CAOs could end up being consolidated or broken down into separate customs administrative or memorandum orders.

The voluminous CMTA text, which runs 200 pages, prompted the DOF to issue the IRR through CAOs issued by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on a per-topic basis.

Public consultations have previously been conducted on the CMTA and the draft

‘Even legislators fear cryptocurrencies’

CAOs uploaded in the CMTA microsite and accessed through the DOF web site, to allow stakeholders to comment and provide their inputs online.

“We did it online so people outside Manila can comment. It’s a good process,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said.

The CAOs already issued by the BOC include the establishment of Authorized Economic Operators Prog ram (C AO 5-2017), the clearance of postal items (CAO 3-2017), customs clearance of accompanied and unaccompanied baggage of travelers and crew (CAO 01-2017), conditionally tax- and/or duty-exempt importation of returning residents and overseas Filipino workers (CAO 06-2016), consolidated shipment of duty- and taxfree balikbayan boxes (CAO 05-2016), establishment of an advance ruling system for valuation and rules of origin (CAO03-2016) and imported goods with de minimis value and not subject to duties

Case clippings

By Justice S J Ranada Jr.

LABOR–constructive dismissal Constructive dismissal is cessation of work because continued employment is rendered impossible, and unreasonable or “unlikely.” Similarly, there is constructive dismissal when an act of clear discrimination, insensibility or disdain by an employer has become unbearable to the employee, leaving him with no option but to forego with his continued employment. It is a dismissal in disguise, or an act amounting to dismissal but made to appear as if it were not.

Meatworld v. Hechanova 18 Oct. 2017

GR 208053 Del Castillo, J

and taxes (CAO 02-2016).

“The CAOs relating to the CMTA that are issued by the BOC and approved by the secretary [of finance] are issued on a per-topic basis. So there will be, more or less, about 42 CAOs,” Tionko said.

Among the draft CAOs still under study or revision include those involving the clearance process for goods entered under the customs bonded warehousing system, rules and regulations for customs transit in the customs territory, compulsory acquisition, outsourcing of nonsovereign customs function to private entities, rewards to persons instrumental in the actual collection of additional revenues, assignment and reassignment and designations of BOC personnel, customs container control division, customs facilities and warehouses and security to guarantee payment of duties and taxes.

Also under study are the draft CAOs on the temporary storage of goods, marking duty, Accredited Information Processors, customs service fees, onboard couriers, registration of importers, express shipments, cargo manifests, seizure and forfeiture proceedings, free zones and transit, disposal of cargoes, relief consignment, customs jurisdiction and exercise of police authority, dispute settlement and appellate remedies, among others.

The CMTA microsite also contains information about, and templates to suggest recommendations on, the proposed IRR of the CMTA. Republic Act 10863, also known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act signed into law in May 30, 2016, was designed to modernize BOC rules and procedures to facilitate trade, cut red tape and corruption and improve the delivery of BOC-related services.

F

our ye a r s ago the Tou r i sm Promotions Board (TPB), the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) and my organization, the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), had a vision: for the association community in our country to band together and create one platform, where they can learn together work together, grow together and celebrate together.

In the United States, Europe and Australasia, associations have long gotten together as they know the “power of collaboration.” We thought it was time we do the same in the Philippines.

So, on November 20, 2013, these three institutions launched the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE) to be the “association for associations” at the first Association Executives Summit held at the PICC. The 216 delegates of the summit became the founding members of PCA AE. Today the PCA AE has over 1,000 members, supporters and service users from trade associations, chambers, professional societies, clubs, foundations, cooperatives and other member-serving organizations that cover business, medical, scientific, educational, technical, social welfare, philanthropic, agricultural, sports and other nonprofit undertakings.

Aside from the Associations Summit, which is the biggest annual gathering of associations and association professionals, the PCA AE is proud to accomplish the following notable achievements over the last four years: n The Certified Professional Association Executive credentialing program to further professionalize association governance and management.

There are now 44 graduates of the program; n The “Ang susi” Awards (acronym for “Associations nurture National Growth thru Social Unity and

Association World Octavio Peralta

Su st a i n abi l it y I n no v at io n s ” ) that recognizes and honors outstanding people and projects for their contribution to the sustainable development of the

country; n T he T PB A mba s s ador P ro g ra m to att ract Inter nat iona l e vent s to t he Ph i l ippi nes to b o o s t b u s i n e s s - e v e nt s t o u r i s m in the country; n The Asia-Pacific Federation of Association Organizations that consists of national associations of associations in Australia, Korea and the Philippines. Malaysia has recently set up MSAE. Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore are considering organizing theirs, too; n One - of-a-k ind publ icat ions, such as the Association World Magazine and e-newsletters on association governance, association management and others; and n In the guest list of international meetings, incentive, conventions and exhibitions events around the world, as well as writing and speaking opportunities, thus enhancing visibility and credibility.

Though these advancements have been significant, there is still much more work that needs to be done.

There are thousands more associations to reach out to, and there’s this dream to set up association chapters in other regions of the country.

So the theme for this year’s Associations Summit 5—“Stronger Together”—held on November 22 and 23 at the PICC, emphasized anew the need for associations to continue to learn together work together and to dream together. For in unity, there is strength and in strength, there is power to succeed!

The column contributor, Octavio Peralta, is concurrently the secretarygeneral of the ADFIAP and the president of the PCAAE. The PCAAE enjoys the support of ADFIAP, the Tourism Promotions Board, and the PICC. E-mail obp@adfiap.org.

The Regions BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Thursday, Novermber 30, 2017

A9

Albay STL owes PCSO ₧250 million

L

By Manly M. Ugalde Correspondent

EGAZPI CITY, Albay—The controversial six-month-old Small Town Lottery (STL) operation in Albay may lose its franchise after the murder of its top official and close to P250 million of unsettled account owed the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

The Albay operations of the STL is allegedly run by a firm of known gambling lords in the Southern Tagalog region.

This developed after Alex German Alemania, the chairman of the PCSO operator Lucky V Prime Enterprise Inc. was ambushed in Legazpi City on November 15 and

died five days later. Police killed the fleeing gunman and arrested the wounded accomplice.

Two days following the ambush, Gov. Al Francis Bichara called for a news conference at the Capitol where he announced he would write President Duterte to stop the STL operation of Lucky V in

his province. Bichara spokesman Danny Garcia promised to give a copy of Bichara’s letter to requesting journalists, but failed to comply for unexplained reasons.

Police identified the slain gunman as Marlon Magsino and his companion Michael Malveda. The suspects allegedly hailed from Lipa City and Malvar town of Batangas province.

Lucky V Prime Enterprise Inc. began its Albay STL operation on May 1. Failing to comply with the mandatory monthly remittance to the PCSO, Alemania reported during the provincial board regular session in July failure to remit monthly to the PCSO was a result of the proliferation of bookies and jueteng. This forced the provincial board to pass a resolution asking the PCSO and the Philippine National Police to stop the Lucky V operation.

The PCSO office in Albay reported that for July, Lucky V remitted only P18,000.

Calabarzon gears up for more vibrant tourism promotion next year

Earlier in July PCSO Assistant General Manager Florante Solmerin warned Lucky V major incorporators to settle their internal dispute and obligations or face the loss of their franchise contract.

Sources said many interested gambling lords, including some from Albay had been courting the Albay Capitol to replace Lucky V. The PCSO is still investigating the slaying of Alemania and the decision to replace Lucky V as Albay’s STL operator.

Last week PCSO General Manager Alex Balutan said Lucky V owes PCSO P250 million in unremitted sales since it began operation in May. The Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipts (PMRR), presumed to be monthly sales set by the government for Lucky V, was pegged at P77.64 million.

The PCSO assessment showed Lucky V was earning P4 million daily or P120 million monthly.

The launch of the Albay STL

NCRC confab focuses on Filipino’s communicative experience, skills

By Suzanne June G. Perante Special to the BusinessMirror

B

B usinessmirror writer Leony R. Garcia receives a media award from Department of Tourism in Calabarzon Regional Director Rebecca Villanueva-Labit. TEDDY PELAEZ

By Leony R. Garcia

‘B

Y next year, we w il l have more tra inings to improve our human resources.

We will be putting our thrust to ecotourism, farm tourism and faith tourism to strenghten emerging and developing destinations,” Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 4 A (Calabarzon) Regional Director Rebecca Villanueva-Labit announced during the fourth Calabarzon Tourism Summit held at Bellevue Manila in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

The DOT Calabarzon summit themed “Working Toward Sustainable Tourism and Building Partnerships Through Appreciation and Recognition” gathered the tourism industry and government tourism offices from the region.

Calabarzon is comprised of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon. The region is expected to stage more vibrant tourism promotion next year.

“We have everything in the region; we have many things to offer. The strength of this region is actually the goodness of the spirit of all our partners, the private sectors, the public sectors and the local government

units [LGUs],” Labit said.

During the last tourism activity in Calabarzon this year, two provinces were named top destinations of the year, namely Quezon province, which gathered 6.6 million same-day tourists in 2016 and Laguna province, which gathered 1.22 million overnight visitors.

DOT Calabarzon cited Quezon province for achieving the 6.3 million same-day tourist arrivals during the “Niyogyugan” Festival it staged in August 2016. The province’s annual festival showcases colorful and vibrant activities that make the province an interesting place to visit, with the varied products from cities and municipalities that also serve as representation for their culture.

While still in the process of collating and consolidating reports gathered from the LGU for 2017 tourist arrival data, Labit said DOT-Calabarzon expects to generate a 20-percent increase. DOT Calabarzon also sees a 20-percent to 25-percent increase for overnight staying visitors of 4.5 million in 2016.

Labit said the DOT wanted to focus more on farm tourism for next year given they have the most number of accredited farm-tourism sites in the country.

To jump-start, DOT Calabarzon tapped the Batang Filipino Farmers, a group of young students who dedicate time in educating the youth on the “beauty” of agriculture, to be their partner.

Part of the awarding ceremony was recognizing the media as partner in the tourism campaign.

BusinessMirror was given a special award for the “media support it provided the region that paved the way for greater awareness of its destinations.” This writer was also cited for her “media coverage and write-ups that contributed to the positive outlook about the region.”

The program also launched the Bring Home a Friend campaign in Calabarzon.

Delivering the message of Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo, DOT media director Ina ZaraLoyola said the revival of the campaign, conceived in 1994, was to again tap into the patriotism of Filipinos by making all nationals abroad ambassadors of goodwill.

The BHAF program entices all Filipino to invite foreigner friends to visit the country by giving them chances to win hefty raffle prizes, such as a condominium unit, a brand-new car and Duty-Free gift certificates, for every foreigners brought into the country.

has been largely considered by the PCSO as the only alternative to kill the well-entrenched decade-old illegal online-gaming operation of Meridien Vista Gaming, believed to be merely serving as a front for the rampant jueteng operation in the province.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II said the revitalized STL will neutralize all forms of illegal gambling.

Bichara was quoted in media reports early this year that Meridian has not remitted a single centavo to the Capitol’s coffer since 2013, but he could not order it stopped because he said it is purely a police matter. The report said Bichara could not intervene against Meridian’s operation without hurting other politicians who may be benefitting from the illegal operation.

Following the launch of STL operation in May, Albay declared Meridian Vista Gaming had also stopped operation.

AGUIO CITY—In this era of globalization, faculty members and professionals inspired the crowd as they endorsed Filipino-grounded researches and encouraged everyone to explore the interesting context of Filipino communication on the second day of the National Communication Research Conference (NCRC).

Hosted by the Department of Communication Research’s College of Mass Communication in UP Diliman, University of the Philippines in Baguio’s College of Communication and the Philippine Communications Society of the University of the Cordilleras (UC), this year’s NCRC took place at UC in Baguio on November 23 to 24.

The second day of the conference featured Theorizing of Filipino Communicative Experience (FCX).

Jose Clemente, an assistant professor in Psychology at UP Diliman, associated communication and “Sikolohiyang Pilipino” in analyzing communication patterns. He said communication patterns differ depending on the relationship category.

“People tend to categorize others as ibang tao [other people] or hindi ibang tao [not other people], which reveals how people relate to others,” Clemente said.

Clemente added Sikolohiyang Pilipino is a good way to start with something local to see how we advance in communication.

Jose Lacson, a professor of Communication Research at UP Diliman, highlighted the Filipino Communicative Behavior (FCB).

He shared how certain Filipino

tendencies, such as showing off assets, making on-the-spot interpretation of what is observed and some Filipino mind-sets like “sayang at libre” and credit seeking affect the way Filipinos communicate.

“Filipino communicative behavior is both unique and universal.

As people, we communicate in ways which could be considered as unique and persevering to the Filipino way of things,” Lacson said.

Theorizing global and indigenous FCB followed wherein the Filipino Communication is contextualized in and out of the country.

Marianne Sison, a deputy dean in RMIT University in Australia, dealt with global research with an auto-ethnography of FilipinoAustralian and how it reflects communication.

Katrin de Guia, an author and the wife of independent film director Kidlat Tahimik, is dedicated to studying the Kapwa Psychology and its relevance.

De Guia said Philippine culture has a lot to offer even in the academic aspect. She also encourages everyone to study and feature Filipino-based and contextualized researches.

“I definitely learned a lot. I am a student who’s about to make a thesis next year so hopefully, I can apply what I gathered from this conference,” a student said.

Opportunities to develop interregional interaction and scholarly collaboration grew this year as it marked the first outside UP Diliman campus NCRC. With the theme “Filipino Communicative Experience,” NCRC aims to promote Filipino Communication in preparation for the 120th anniversary of Philippine Independence next year.

DOLE chief visits site of sugar workers’ center rising in Negros

By Charles R. Pepito Correspondent

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ABOR Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III cited the soonto-rise Sugar Workers’ Livelihood Center in the Tanjay City, Negros Oriental, which targets to improve the lives of the sugar-industry workers in the province.

The labor chief lauded the three District Tripartite Councils of Central Azacarera de Bais, Universal Robina Sugar Milling Corp.; and Universal Robina Corp. in Tolong for their collaborative efforts in realizing the establishment of a livelihood center.

Funds for the livelihood center are being sourced from the forfeited, unclaimed and undistributed cash-bonus funds (CBF) from the three sugar-mill districts. DOLE is administering socioeconomic development within the sugarmill districts as per Republic Act 6982, otherwise known as an Act Strengthening the Social Amelioration Program in the Sugar Industry, “providing the mechanics for its implementation and for other purposes.”

Bello also thanked the local government unit of Tanjay through the leadership of Mayor Renaldo Concepcion for providing the 1,000-squaremeter lot, where the P13.5million livelihood center will soon be constructed.

DOLE Negros Oriental Field Office Chief Marites G. Mercado said the center was originally conceptualized in 2010, which aimed to augment the income of the sugarcane-field workers and small planters by way of generating employment through skills training or retooling of skills, self-employment and entrepreneurship.

“The livelihood center will soon accommodate several initiatives, which will promote and advance the welfare of the sugar workers and hoping to help them acquire sustainable and decent family-living conditions, despite the nature of the industry, which is seasonal—meaning, half of the year is lean or dead season,” she said.

The livelihood center will house a 50-bed capacity dormitory.

Military kills 14 suspected NPA rebels in Batangas

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ECURITY forces engaged suspected communist rebels in running clashes on Tuesday evening in Batangas, killing 14 guerrillas, including five women, the police and military said on Wednesday.

Two junior officers from the Air Force, an Army enlisted personnel and two rebels were wounded during the firefight, which both occurred in Nasugbu, Batangas, officials said.

A report from the Batangas Provincial Police Office (PPO) said the first encounter occurred at around 8:30 p.m. in Sitio Pinamantasan, Barangay Aga, Nasugbu, where five rebels were killed.

Five highpowered firearms were recovered from the rebels.

Maj. Engilberto Nioda Jr., commander of the Air Force’s 730th Special Operations Wing (730th SPOW), 2nd Lt. Eliseo Incierto, a member of the same unit and Technical Sergeant Kenneth Lopez of the Army were

wounded during the clash.

The 730th SPOW is operationally attached with the Army’s 202nd Brigade under Brig. Gen. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos, the same unit that captured a rebel camp, also in Batangas.

Nioda’s team, in tandem with members of the police’s Provincial Public safety Company (PPSC) and the Nasugbu Municipal Police Station, said they were validating a report about the presence of armed men at Sitio Pinamantasan when they were fired upon by rebels on board a jeepney and a closed van, triggering a firefight.

The 202nd Brigade said the encounter was a result of a continuing intelligence-driven operation against the rebels in Nasugbu, where the guerrillas were already on the retreat as a result of the monthlong operations by the same brigade.

The Batangas PPO said about 2 kilometers from Sitio Pinamantasan, a second encounter followed at Sitio

Batulao, Barangay Kaylaway, also in Batangas, involving the joint team of police Chief Inspector Rogelio Pineda and 1st Lt. Elmer Barcenas. Nine rebels were killed in this encounter.

The military said the engaged troops incurred no casualty.

Burgos said of the 14 rebels killed in the two clashes, five of them were later found to be women.

A total of 12 firearms—10 M-16 rifles, an M-203 grenade launcher and one M-79—was recovered.

The 202nd Brigade said the rebels were members of Guerilla Unit 3 of the Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee of the New People’s Army.

L ast week members of t he 202nd Brigade clashed with rebels at Barangay Utod in Nasugbu, where a rebel camp was captured. A number of guerillas was also believed wounded.

Last month Burgos’s men also fought with rebels in Batangas City. Rene Acosta

A10 Thursday, November 30, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

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editorial

Eliminating corruption

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O show his aversion to corruption in government, President Duterte on Tuesday promised he would step down from the presidency if Congress can come up with his desired changes to the 1987 Constitution, which include provisions that would guard against government corruption. “As long as we come up with a Constitution that would guarantee first that the money of the people should go to serve the people, I’ll be okay,” the President said in a speech at the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption Anti-Corruption Summit at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Duterte ran for president on a platform of anticorruption in government. So far, he has fulfilled his campaign promise by firing officials close to him over allegations of graft. In October Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) 43, creating the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission. “There is a need to create a separate commission under the Office of the President solely dedicated to providing assistance to the President in the investigation and hearing of administrative cases and complaints, and in the conduct of lifestyle checks and/or fact-finding inquiries concerning presidential appointees and other public officers allegedly involved in graft and corrupt practices, or have committed other higher crimes and/or violations of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees,” the EO read.

The word corruption derives from the Latin word corrumpere, which can mean to bribe or to destroy. Indeed, corruption destroys society by diverting resources that could help the poor. As graft also deters foreign investors who are wary of bribes, it drives away capital that could help create jobs for Filipinos. A 2014 report by Global Financial Integrity said the Philippines lost about $410.5 billion between 1960 and 2011 on illicit financial flow.

Duterte said corruption in the country has flourished because the Constitution was “crafted to allow accountability to escape most of the time.”

And he wants our lawmakers to help correct this by amending flawed provisions of the basic law. In his speech, he cited examples of practices that can lead to corruption in the government. The President mentioned the practice of awarding government projects to the lowest bidder, and the supposed lack of checks and balances on agencies like the Office of the Ombudsman. “Nobody can investigate the Ombudsman. Everyone in the government can be checked and be checked upon. That’s how it should be,” he added.

Transparency International (TI), a global movement with a vision of a world free of corruption, said there is no silver bullet for fighting corruption. But it cited strategies that have worked wonders in countries like Finland, Denmark and Sweden—perceived to be the least corrupt of all the countries that TI surveyed—where their respective integrity systems function relatively well. Apart from a strong commitment to anticorruption by their political leaders, these countries provide workers with fair working conditions, decent salaries, social security, health benefits and other things that contribute to giving their citizens reasonable living conditions. The fact that it is possible to live on one’s salary in these countries makes it easier for government workers to refrain from corruption.

It would do well for lawmakers who will be tasked to amend the provisions of the 1987 Constitution to remember these ideas from TI, and to adopt solutions against corruption that are supported by a solid legal framework and strong law enforcement, among others. It also pays to remember that there is a broad consensus that fighting corruption involves public participation and transparency mechanisms.

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BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

Philippine business: Fat and lazy John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

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he past 10 years have been economically good to the Philippines. Of course, according to the Philippine bashers, that is not true. But we can forgive them for their views because it is all political spin.

Income, wealth equality, jobs and poverty are problems. However, the reality is that the systemic issues that need to be changed to address these conditions require political balls—not will—and making unpopular choices. The last political leader that was able to change things was President Gloria MacapagalArroyo, when she pushed the valueadded tax that helped balance the government’s books. Don’t bother e-mailing me with your rebuttal.

It will just be embarrassing for you. Numbers do not lie, unlike political viewpoints.

Actually, during the Aquino administration, the idea of moving unused/unspent money around

between departments during the fiscal year was a good idea also, even if unlawful and subject to great corruption. Private companies do that all the time.

Say, a bank wants to build a new additional branch down the road from an existing overcrowded location. But for whatever reason, the new branch is delayed. Money allocated for the new branch is put on hold and diverted to remodeling and expanding the existing branch.

But back to the Philippine economy. Part of the problem is that people cannot seem to think back beyond the last few months.

Everything must be put in historical perspective. But looking at the

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We went from virtually no telephone communications to the texting capital of the world in large part, thanks to the telecoms companies. They made a huge bunch of money. But they have failed miserably on data services and providing fast Internet connection. At this point, I am willing to have Xi Jinping knowing whether my wife and I are watching The Punisher or The Originals on Netflix.

The Philippine government running businesses has failed, too. If the way to get a viable and safe light rail in Metro Manila means changing the name to “Mao Rail Transit 3,” that is certainly a possibility. How about “Manila Emperor Hirohito International Airport”?

Ok, maybe having to go to my third-floor bedroom to get a strong cell signal and waiting in traffic and for airplanes has clouded my judgment a little. But the gains of the past decade are going to be mitigated if not lost unless the economic battles won before are fought again.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stockmarket information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

Enhancing youth employability is a business mission

✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Publisher

long picture tends to erase all the political noise that we are so used to and fond of. If you take a long enough view, you might realize that your favorite political messiah or devil is only one piece of a jigsaw puzzle that might take 10 years to finish.

The Philippine GDP measured in nominal terms is 100 percent larger and on a per-capita basis has increased by 40 percent over 10 years. That is a big deal. The United States GDP is 4.4 percent larger, and for Thailand the GDP on a per-capita basis is 24 percent bigger.

Philippine government external debt is now equivalent to 42.1 percent of the country’s GDP from 51.4 percent in 2006. The Philippine stock market has doubled in price.

At the end of 2006, the Philippine peso/US dollar exchange rate was 52 and is now 50.30. Even with all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, the peso has depreciated 1.3 percent in 2017. No big deal.

However—and there always is a “however”—I believe that Philippine business has become fat and lazy from the good times. And that can be found in our telecommunications sector as the best example.

LABOREM EXERCENS Continued from A1

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hese skills, capacities and competencies are what enable workers to secure and retain a job, progress at work, secure another job and/or shift to another form of employment if he/she so wishes or when he/she has been laid off.

Enhancing employability, therefore, covers all those programs that help prime or “tool” young (and other) people to enter and remain in the labor market, either as wage earners or self-employed entrepreneurs. Hence, employability is inextricably linked to the education, skills and related human resource development services extended by society to its work force.

Employability is also a defining factor in the mismatches occurring in the labor market. Corporations, big and small, often complain about their inability to acquire the services of workers whose skills and competencies “fit” the available jobs. This is immediately evident in the thick job notices advertised in the Sunday issues of the country’s leading

newspapers. Inevitably, this lack of fit aggravates the nation’s unemployment woes, as well as industry’s low level of productivity.

In this context, youth employability is clearly a central concern for the business community. Having a ready pool of young, capable and productive workers whose education, skills, know-how, attitudes and capacities fit the requirements of an evolving economy is part of every nation’s competitiveness arsenal.

Additionally, the ability of the youth to find jobs and fit into the labor market is a major determinant of social and economic stability in any society. In fact, having a skilled work force is one way of ending the never-ending industrial relations debates on the endo system, for most

The participation of the Philippine business community in enhancing the employability of the country’s work force leaves much to be desired. Corporations often undertake limited skills and training activities, mainly to satisfy or meet their own business requirements and profit mission.

of the so-called endos are the semiskilled replaceable workers.

Yet, the participation of the Philippine business community in boosting or enhancing the employability of the country’s work force leaves much to be desired. Corporations often undertake limited skills and training activities, mainly or solely to satisfy or meet their own business requirements and profit mission. They rarely go beyond these limited company-focused skills and training programs in order to contribute to the broader task of upgrading the nation’s labor force.

Also, there is a great deal of ambivalence among firms in the conduct of any corporate-led skills training. First, it is always considered a cost despite corporate rhetorics that training is an investment.

And the cost is seen as doubly painful if the trainee leaves the company in favor of greener pastures

elsewhere (within or outside the country) long before the establishment is able to recover the cost of training. The lack of sustained and value-adding training among firms is one reason some companies do not graduate at a higher level of industrial development, which, in turn, is one reason the Philippines is being left behind in Asia’s march toward industrialization.

But back to the skills-training issue. In general, the training function is considered a “public good,” the production of which is the primary concern of the government, meaning of the national education and skills development system supervised by the state. Even the limited and relatively inexpensive task of providing the educational and skills development institutions with the “market signals” needed in guiding curriculum design, course planning and the likes is seldom done. CEOs and business leaders rarely sit down with officials of universities, colleges and technical-vocational schools to discuss emerging education and skills issues and challenges in the labor market.

This is why the proposal of the Department of Education (DepEd) to form a government-industryeducation (GIE) council—at the national and regional levels—is extremely important. The point is that See “Ofreneo,” A11

Opinion

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Ownership structure keeps MRT 3 derailed

Waiting on edge and patiently

Stay awake

Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Alálaong Bagá

Val A. Villanueva

Businesswise Part One

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oliticians have a way of muddling problems confronting the nation such that they themselves often end up unable to provide doable and lasting solutions.

The most glaring of these pressing problems is that of the country’s light rail line system that traverses the stretch of Edsa. The grandstanding, bickering and publicity stunts of this administration’s officials will not result in saving the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 from sinking deeper into a political quicksand.

It’s a total mess out there. Just recently and for the second time, commuters found themselves traveling with one of the coaches’ doors wide open. This was just days after a coach got detached, which forced passengers to walk under the scorching heat to the train’s nearest station. The worst MRT accident was in August 2014, when the train overshot the tracks at the Taft Avenue Station. Several commuters and pedestrians were injured, and at least nine people were brought to the nearest hospitals.

Every day, riders have to endure long lines, excruciatingly hot travel, dilapidated elevators and escalators, overpowering stench wafting from unkept toilets. Obviously, the situation is unacceptable. The country’s light rail system was meant to ease traffic and bring travelers another choice of commuting convenience, not take them on a hellish ride.

So why is it that MRT 3 is in such a disarray, while MRT Lines 1 and 2 are just doing just fine?

I’ll go straight to the point: The government, through the Department of Transportation (DOTr) runs the system that it doesn’t own, while paying MRT Corp. (MRTC) fail-safe, prearranged monthly fees.

MRTC, not the government, is supposed to be accountable for the maintenance and procurement of new trains. Let me make it clearer.

Aside from ensuring regular and efficient upkeep of the system, MRTC as the owner is obliged to forecast growth in passenger volume and do proactive measures to meet passenger demand.

MRT 3 has already been operating beyond capacity since 2004. Why has the problem not been addressed yet? Chalk it up to politicking, the blame game and handwashing.

The MRT 3 was designed as a build-lease-transfer project (BLT).

The private-sector exponent was a

complex and perplexing mist of corporate entities. Let me just zero in on the MRTC (the signatory to the MRT agreement), which, in turn, is owned

by Robert Sobrepeña and his MRT Holdings of the Fil-Estate Group of Cos. and Manuel Agustines of the Ramcar Group of Cos. In the BLT covenant, the private component is tasked to design, build and hand back the system to the government.

The government runs the system and pays MRTC monthly rentals.

Unfortunately, the Agustineses and Sobrepeñas were hit by financial troubles. To get themselves out of their respective financial ruts, they brought in the Ayala Group to put up another company, MRT 3 Funding Corp. (MRTFC). The new entity issued asset-backed bonds (guaranteed rental payments), which were then sold to private corporations.

By 2007, during former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration, the government encountered difficulties meeting its monthly rentals. It then bought the bonds issued by the MRTFC, through the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines, in order to dodge default. But merely possessing these bonds does not give the government ownership of MRT 3. These bonds only signify the revenue from rental payments, but not the ownership of MRT 3 itself.

The spirit of the private-public partnership scheme is for the government to avoid giving sovereign financial pledge to private companies if and when the project fails financially. Why the Arroyo administration fell for this arrangement boggles the mind. Not only did it agree for such a guarantee, but also gave the private component “an after-tax, after-debt-service, after-expense return on their investments of 15 percent per year!” Add that to the passenger fare subsidy that cost the government P5.7 billion back in 2009 alone, and you have a financial crisis that has been derailing the country’s MRT 3 operations for years now.

To be continued For comments and suggestions, e-mail me at mvala.v@gmail.com.

S

tarting our new liturgical calendar (Year B) is the first Sunday of Advent. It is a season of faith, as it brings our focus on the coming of the Lord. We live in patient expectation, waiting on edge (Mark 13:33-37).

The Lord is coming Life is a matter of what is still to come. At no point is it everything already or is everything there.Life is about birth, growth and maturation; there is even fullness in the end of life in death into what is eternal. There are depths and dimensions in one’s life and in the world still to be discovered and explored; forces to be unlocked so that life can be brought to its full potential. Creation in progress and fullness in waiting: an optimism that is an essential component of Christian faith.

But life is also filled with endless conflicts, the world, a killing field of inhumanity, and self-destruction.

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ing trees draw a greater share of the available moisture, so they grow and thrive, restoring the forest’s capacity to pull carbon from the air. Healthy trees are also better able to fend off bark beetles. The landscape is rendered less combustible. Even in the event of a fire, fewer trees are consumed.

The need for such planning is increasingly urgent. Already, since 2010, drought and beetles have killed more than 100 million trees in California, most of them in 2016 alone, and wildfires have scorched hundreds of thousands of acres.

California’s plan envisions treating 35,000 acres of forest a year by 2020, and 60,000 by 2030—financed from the proceeds of the state’s emissions-permit auctions.

That’s only a small share of the total acreage that could benefit, an estimated half-a-million acres in all, so it will be important to prioritize areas at greatest risk of fire or drought.

What is there to wait for? Where is hope? Precisely in this state of the unredeemed and of sinfulness, we need a new tomorrow, to accept redemption and for humanity to pick itself up and finally do what must be done in response to the divine initiative. In the very midst of anxiety, corruption and poverty, broken dreams and divisive illusions, we live in the hope of salvation. The Lord is coming. We live in the spirit of Advent. We believe that God can, indeed, rend the havens and rain down upon us the conquering charity and justice of a new heaven and a new Earth. However pitch black the night may be, it is then that it is best to believe in the light.

IN this condition, Jesus has only one insistent recommendation to his followers: “Stay awake!” It could not be otherwise, since no one knows the when and how of this advent or coming. We must learn the asceticism of the watchman. Jesus gave us the parable of the gatekeeper to emphasize the active vigilance that is the courageous and creative attitude of one aspiring to be open to the wonders of God. It is a focusing of energy, holding back the demons of the night trying to detain the dawn of a new world. It is watching in prayer, giving full attention to God and to others. It is staying patiently with Jesus, who at Gethsemane told his followers to keep watch with him “lest you fall into temptation” (Mark 14:38). We must stay awake with him amid the crisis in the world in values and priorities, in the confusion induced by secularism, in the inactivity of the good and the apparent triumph of the unfaithful ones.

We watch with Jesus, the first born of the new creation, the first born of the dead. The waiting of Advent prefigures the vigil of Easter and the marvelous dawn of the new time.It is a time that is already

Church tied up with the elite Cecilio T. Arillo

database

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HE affable Pope John XXIII, in Mater et Magistra, explicitly rejected a basic element in the International Monetary Fund-World Bank (IMF-WB) creed that the state should refrain from economic activism. That encyclical acknowledged that there are situations when the state must be economic activist, if only to help the economically disadvantaged sectors like the nation’s farmers.

The late Harvard-trained economist-lawyer Alejandro Lichauco, who was a member of the 1973 Constitutional Convention, said there are passages in that encyclical that unquestionably established that the principle of state economic interventionism, so anathema to the IMF-WB ideology of liberal capitalism, is part and parcel of the church’s social doctrine: “The state, the reason for whose existence is the realization of the common good in the temporal order, cannot keep aloof from the economic world. It must be present to promote in a suitable manner the production of a sufficient supply of material goods, the use of which is necessary for the practice of virtue…. It is also its ineluctable task to contribute actively to the betterment of the condition of life of the workers….

Using forests to fight climate change

orests give us shade, quiet and one of the harder challenges in the fight against climate change. Even as we humans count on forests to soak up a good share of the carbon dioxide we produce, we are threatening their ability to do so. The climate change we are hastening could one day leave us with forests that emit more carbon than they absorb.

Thankfully, there is a way out of this trap—but it involves striking a subtle balance. Helping forests flourish as valuable “carbon sinks” long into the future may require reducing their capacity to sequester carbon now. California is leading the way, as it does on so many climate efforts, in figuring out the details.

The state’s proposed Forest Carbon Plan aims to double efforts to thin out young trees and clear brush in parts of the forest, including by controlled burning.

This temporarily lowers carboncarrying capacity. But the remain-

Thursday, November 30, 2017 A11

The strategy also aims to ensure that carbon in woody material removed from the forests is locked away in the form of solid lumber, burned as biofuel in vehicles that would otherwise run on fossil fuels, or used in compost or animal feed. New research on transportation biofuels is under way, and the state plans to encourage lumber production close to forestlands. In future the state proposes to take an inventory of its forests’ carbon-storing capacity every five years.

State governments are well accustomed to managing forests, including those owned by the US Forest Service, but traditionally they’ve focused on wildlife, watersheds and opportunities for recreation. Only recently have they come to see the vital part forests will have to play in storing carbon.

California’s plan, which is expected to be finalized by the governor early next year, should serve as a model.

Bloomberg View

“First of all, it should be affirmed that the economic order is the creation of the personal initiative of private citizens themselves working either individually or in association with such other in various ways for the prosecution of economic interests.

“But here for the reasons that our predecessors have pointed, the public authorities must not remain inactive if they are to promote in a proper way the productive development in behalf of social progress for the benefit of all citizens.”

Lichauco said: “That in insofar as church social doctrine was concerned, the ‘fundamental principle’ of liberal or laissez-faire capitalism is downright immoral. That fundamental principle is free, unbridled competition, not only locally but internationally; pit the undercapi-

Ofreneo. . .

continued from A10

there is no way the Philippines can aspire to become competitive without its industry and the education/ skills service providers succeeding in becoming better organized in setting strategic directions and targets on how the skills and talents of the youth can be honed and sharpened.

The best education and training system is one that is industry-led or industry-focused, meaning business and industry give ‘signals’ on those skills that are in demand so that the educational institutions can design courses to meet that demand.

Among the immediate tasks of the would-be GIE body is how to identify education champions within or among industries. Through these champions, the GIE should be able to inculcate the idea that enhancing youth employability is a joint responsibility of government, education institutions and the business community.

DepEd should have no problem looking for these education

there and yet it is not fully so; it comes again and again in a spiral of purity and clarity. Advent is recurrent, because we are in progress and in the making, in time never complete already and finished. The waiting on edge and with patience takes us out of ourselves and apart from what we may consider our worth. It liberates us from smugness and much-ado over nothing.

Alálaong bagá, our faith tells us there is so much to hope for and look forward to. We need to stay awake and wait on edge and patiently. We have to understand here the patience of God that instructs us. For He is like a gardener who awaits the growth of the seeds He planted, patiently expecting and preparing for the maturation of the flowers and the fruits, knowing the course will take its time. The roots have slowly to grow deep into the ground so that the tree can hold fast till the end. The purer is our joy and thanksgiving to Him who has planted in us the seed of the harvest to come.

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

talized local industrialists against the overcapitalized multinational companies; pit the illiterate Filipino farmers against foreign corporate farms doing their farming with the aid of satellites even if that means killing the only livelihood our farmers know, and driving them to eat field rats.

“And that’s exactly what has been happening to this country since Edsa People Power Revolution. It all began with the lunacy called import liberalization and ended up in that act of economic suicide named General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the World Trade Organization without safety nets,” Lichauco added.

But if what economist Lichauco said is true, why is it that the church here hasn’t condemned the IMFWB, as well as the government that since Edsa has followed the commands of those two institutions?

Replying, Lichauco said: “Insofar as its social doctrine is concerned, the church here has hardly been known to follow what it preaches.

The church is much too tied up with elite and the elite want the freedom to do anything with their money, including taking their bath in Italian bathtubs, reading under the glow of Venetian chandeliers, go sightseeing around the world any time they please and otherwise surrounding themselves with imported luxuries and gorging themselves with imported food, even if that means that the state must squan-

der the hard-earned dollars of our overseas workers to finance the importation of nonessentials and luxuries.” Lichauco said the church here obviously lives in terror of the evil incarnated in the ideology of the IMF-WB, displaying a moral cowardice which has made a caricature of the Christ who renounced Satan’s offer of the power and the glory and the kingdom.

“The truth is if the church was really serious about its social doctrines, it should have from the start condemned the IMF-WB as the incarnation and assiduous promoter of a malevolent and immoral ideology that has driven millions of Filipinos to destitution and acts of desperate perversion,” he argued.

“The nationalists and the communists who have denounced and continued to denounce the imperialism of the IMF-WB, while the church maintains a deafening silence on the immorality of the free-trade creed and the creed of ‘global competitiveness’—preferring, instead, to concentrate on denouncing jueteng and proclaiming from the rooftops its acts of petty and inconsequential charities while issuing press releases on political issues over which it has no business interfering, just so to get itself in the papers and impress us with what it thinks is its moral ascendancy,” Lichauco lamented.

champions from the ranks of industry. For example, the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. has been, for decades, donating prefabricated elementary- and secondary-school houses in poor communities throughout the country. A number of taipans have also been buying up schools and modernizing/expanding them, e.g., Tan (University of the East), Yuchengco (Mapua) and Sy (National University). The Ayala Foundation Inc. maintains the Ayala Museum and the Filipinas Heritage Foundation, which are popular education tour destinations among schoolchildren.

The country’s leading skills-development institutes also happen to be those set up and managed by some big corporations. These include the Kananga EDC Institute of Technology in Leyte, Meralco Foundation (a pioneer in dual-tech training) and Yazaki-Torres’s Barangay Assistance Training Program, which has benefited several towns in Batangas. Microsoft also had a cooperation program with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, which provides ICT literacy

training for the “underserved and digitally excluded” overseas Filipino workers and families.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) has also undertaken a number of skills-development forums with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Ecop and ILO have been articulating the importance of ILO Convention 142, which “requires members to establish and develop open, flexible and complementary systems of general, technical and vocational education” that are linked with youth employment.

Their battle cry: “Enhancing youth employment is a business mission.”

On the whole, therefore, GIE should have no problem identifying industry champions at the national and regional levels. Together with these champions, DepEd can develop a system of industry consultation, dialogue, knowledge sharing and coordination-partnership in the design and conduct of relevant educational programs that enhance the employability of the young labor force in the context of the socioeconomic development needs of the country.

To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@ gmail.com.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Thursday, November 30, 2017

Japan lending money for upkeep of MRT 3 T

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

he transportation department is negotiating with the government of Japan for the grant of a financing package for the maintenance and rehabilitation of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3, Transportation Assistant Secretary Timothy John R. Batan said on Wednesday.

Batan reported that there are ongoing “high-level discussions” with Tokyo for an official development assistance (ODA) loan to fund the three-year maintenance contract for the MRT 3 and its subsequent rehabilitation. Currently, a maintenance team from the government oversees the upkeep of the train line. Busan Universal Rail Inc. used to maintain the railway system, but its contract was terminated last month due to its alleged failure to

properly deliver the provisions of its contract.

“A government-to-government agreement is scheduled to be signed before year-end,” Batan said. “The maintenance and rehabilitation contract is intended to have a term of three years, and will include the rehabilitation and restoration of the system to its original performance standards.”

The government is currently directly engaging Sumitomo Corp.

BATAN: “The maintenance and rehabilitation contract is intended to have a term of three years, and will include the rehabilitation and restoration of the system to its original performance standards.”

and its technical partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the upkeep of the MRT 3.

The two companies designed, built and maintained the MRT 3 in its first 12 years of operations.

Sumitomo’s maintenance contract was terminated in 2012, after the previous government decided to take over the said component despite contrary provisions in the build-lease-transfer (BLT) contract with MRT Corp. (MRTC).

“The joint venture of Sumitomo Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is being closely considered due to their background and experience with the MRT 3. They designed and built the system from 1998 to 2000, and maintained the system from 2000 to 2012,” he said.

Batan noted the Philippine government was also in talks with the

governments of France and Singapore for the same contract. But discussions with Japan advanced faster than the others. “The service provider is intended to do not just maintenance but they are also intended to rehabilitate and restore the system to its original performance condition,” Batan said.

He also blamed the underinvestment in preventive maintenance and renewal works in recent years for the present condition of MRT 3, which he described to be “degraded to a state where maintenance works alone are no longer sufficient.”

Single point of responsibility

Likewise, the transportation department plans to bring back the single-point-of-responsibility scheme, a structure that MRT Holdings Inc. Chairman Robert John L. Sobrepeña has been campaigning for since the government took over the maintenance procurement for MRT 3.

Under this structure, the operations and maintenance of the line will be handled by a single provider, in the process, avoiding finger pointing over technical issues.

See “Japan,” A2

Investment boom sees phl surge past peers

C

apital investment in the Philippines is surging past the rest of Southeast Asia, as the government and firms ramp up spending.

In the first nine months of the year, net physical assets in the Philippines grew 10.4 percent from a year earlier.

That compared with a 6.9-percent increase in Malaysia and 5.8-percent gain in Indonesia, according to data from statistics offices.

28 percent The percentage increase in government spending in October

There’s reason to remain bullish on the outlook. Philippine government spending jumped 28 percent in October, the largest rise in almost a year, with another record budget planned for 2018. Companies are also joining in: Metro Pacific Investments Corp. plans to invest as much as $16 billion through 2022 on road, water and power projects, while Ayala Land Inc. is boosting capital spending to a record $2 billion next year.

President Duterte is building a network of railroads and highways across the archipelago in an ambitious $180-billion infrastructure program. Investment firing up adds another engine to the economy, headed for a sixth year of growth exceeding 6 percent and among the world’s best performers.

“The government is very committed to keep spending strong, and that has maintained the robust momentum of the investment cycle,” said Eugenia Victorino, an economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore. “With growth firing on all cylinders, the Philippines is really standing out in a region where the outlook has turned more positive.”

Bloomberg News

END OF TUNNEL A tunnel of lights sparkles and attracts park goers at the Filinvest City Spectrum Linear Park. As Christmas nears, more streets and buildings are decorated in Filinvest City, Alabang. For the nine months of the year, Filinvest Land Inc. said its income grew 7 percent to P3.7 billion, from last year’s P3.46 billion. ALYSA SALEN

‘DE CASTRO TESTIMONY REINFORCED COMPLAINT AGAINST CHIEF JUSTICE’

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

T

he testimony of Supreme Court Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro on Wednesday has solidified the charges in the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Maria A. Lourdes Sereno, according to the chairman of the House Committee on Justice.

Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro, the panel chairman, said the high court official gave basis to the impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon.

“We only tackled two issues today, and these show that Gadon’s complaint has basis,” Umali said in an interview. According to Umali, the committee is still open to hear the side of the chief magistrate.

During the impeachment proceedings, de Castro backed allegations that Sereno issued a resolution inconsistent with the decision of the court en banc.

De Castro said Sereno not only unilaterally issued Administrative Order (AO) 175-2012 but that it was also inconsistent with the court’s 2006 decision pertaining to the creation of the Regional Court Administration Office in Region 7 (RCAO 7).

The allegation was among the grounds Gadon cited in support of the charge for culpable violation of the Constitution in his impeachment complaint against Sereno.

“I was taken aback because we were invited only to a launching of the RCAO in Region 7. We were not at all consulted and made to participate in this decision to reopen the RCAO,” de Castro said.

Instead of the RCAO, de Castro said, Sereno’s order created the Judiciary Decentralized Office and appointed Judge Geraldine Econg as head of the office, which is contrary to an earlier en banc decision designating the Court Administrator as implementor of the RCAO pilot project.

“When I compared the AO issued by the Chief Justice, it did not conform with the provisions of these administrative matters approved by the court en banc,” she said. “She cannot do it

Continued from A1

Under the road map for the manu-

facturing sector, there will be more focus on the promotion of high-value added activities, such as chemicals, iron and steel industries, and technology-based industries from 2018 to 2021.

Among the favored manufacturing sectors is the automotive sector. An automobile has over 30,000 parts linked through various tiers covering raw materials, intermediate parts from manufacturing to services.

Manufacturing a vehicle entails the production of electronics, chemicals, steel, other metals and glass, and from the services side, this covers marketing and sales.

Automotive, said Aldaba, also has one of the highest multipliers, or “spill-over effect,” based on research. Studies show that the auto sector has an output multiplier of 3.56 and employment of 169 people for every P100 million invested in it.

The CARS program counts Toyota and Mitsubishi as registered participants.

Toyota, based on its proposal, will spend

P5.741 billion to produce 230,000 units with additional 560,000 jobs generated for the duration of the six-year program.

Toyota has enrolled five local parts makers to localize the components. Mitsubishi will be producing some 200,000 units and a similar investment of P 5.74 billion. The foreseen direct employment is at 700,900, and some 30 parts makers participating in CARS under Mitsubishi To further fuel the industry’s growth, the Board of Investment’s Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) included more manufacturing activities as eligible for incentives.

In the 2014-2016 IPP, only eight manufacturing sectors were covered (motor vehicles, aerospace parts, shipbuilding and parts, tool and die, pulp and paper, chemicals, copper wires/rods and iron and steel). Under the current IPP, agroprocessing, strategic services (like integrated circuit design), creative industries, aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul, and innovative and inclusive industries like alternative-energy vehicles, telecom, as well as establishments investing in energy-efficient facilities are included.

Sustained growth The DTI is also confident that the manufacturing sector will sustain its growth momentum and expand by 10 percent next year.

“We’re seeing the resurgence of manufacturing. We’ve seen 9.4 percent in the past quarter. Hopefully, we can reach over 10 percent, and it’s possible to sustain maybe 10 percent to 11 percent, but not on the same drivers as before,“ Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez told reporters in an interview on the sidelines of the summit.

“That’s why we should put policies like encouraging imported products to be made here, and those technology-based manufactured goods,” Lopez added.

According to Lopez, citing government data, manufacturing growth has reached 8.3 percent from January to September. In the third quarter alone, the sector expanded by 9.4 percent.

This forecast on manufacturing can be boosted by the resolution of the Marawi conflict and the sustained public support of the government, Lopez added.

by herself because she has only one vote. And, unless there is a delegation of authority by the court en banc, the Chief Justice cannot exercise the administrative supervision of all courts, which is vested in the Supreme Court as a collegial body,” she added.

De Castro said the court en banc sustained her position that the AO was contrary to earlier decisions of the court but so as not to embarrass Sereno, the SC decided instead to “just create a study group.”

Meanwhile, de Castro refused to say whether or not Sereno has violated the Constitution in issuing the questioned AO. The complaint filed by Gadon contains four grounds for impeachment, including corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust and other high crimes. The complaint also alleged 27 acts constituting the offenses charged against the Chief Justice.

The committee is now in the process of determining probable cause on the impeachment complaint against Sereno.

After the determination of probable cause, the articles of impeachment will be created and will be transmitted to the plenary for approval. The House needs 196 votes or two-thirds of all its members before the articles can be sent to the Senate, which will act as an impeachment court.

For his part, Majority Leader Rodolfo C. Farinas Sr. said creating a public office is “legislative, judicial or executive in nature,” adding, “not even the Supreme Court can create an office.”

Moreover, de Castro said the chief justice’s decision to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the proclamation of the Coalition of Association of Senior Citizens party-list was “grossly unprocedural.”

“It was grossly unprocedural because she included other parties that are not party to the case. She [Sereno] did not consult me at all before issuing the TRO. If she did, I would tell her that we cannot include third parties,” she said. “The case was not raffled to her. I am the member in charge, so I should be the one consulted,” the associate justice added.

CUSI ISSUES CIRCULARS CLEARING OBSTACLES TO RCOA IMPLEMENTATION Continued from A1

DTI sees car sales hitting1M by 2025

www.businessmirror.com.ph

By December 2018, or an earlier date, electricity end-users within a contiguous area, whose aggregate average peak demand is not less than 500 kW for the preceding 12-month period, may aggregate their demand to be part of the contestable market and may voluntarily enter into RSC with aggregators.

Aggregators refers to any person or entity engaged in consolidating electric-power demand of end-users in the contestable market for the purpose of purchasing and reselling electricity on a group basis.

The circular states that the ERC will come up with the guidelines on the licensing of the RES and the retail aggregation. Also, the DOE and the ERC shall annually review and issue policies to achieve the full implementation of RCOA until it reaches the household-demand level.

The other circular is meant to allow a local RES, or an affiliate of a distribution utility that functions as a RES, to continue serving the captive market under

a separate entity.

“DUs may provide electricity services to contestable customers within its franchise area as a local RES, upon authorization from the ERC; Provided, that the DU shall comply with the unbundling provisions of Republic Act [RA] 9136 and Rule 10 of the rules and regulations to implement RA 9136,” the circular, “Providing Policies on the Implementation of RCOA for RES in the Philippines Electric Power Industry.”

RES are the entities licensed by the ERC to supply electricity to endusers in contestable market.

The following entities maybe considered to become RES: generation company or affiliate thereof; an affiliate of a distribution utility; retail aggregators; an IPP administrator; and any prospective generation company whose power project is undergoing construction.

To serve the contestable customers, these entities shall secure a license from the ERC. The circular also states that a licensed RES engaged in the generation and distribution sectors of the power industry shall unbundle its supply business.