Businessmirror october 27, 2017

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Friday, October 27, 2017 Vol. 13 No. 16

PHL keen on infra bonds to reduce ODA reliance T

By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

NERI: “The BSP has over $80 billion in reserves, most of which are invested in the US Treasury bonds. A poor country like the Philippines effectively finances the deficit of a rich US government.”

he National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) is looking into other mechanisms, such as the issuance of infrastructure bonds, to bankroll the Duterte administration’s massive infrastructure program and, in the process, reduce the country’s reliance on concessional loans. President Duterte has been saying that he is not keen on accepting foreign aid that carry conditions, which tend to impinge on the country’s sovereignty.

for a period of time and would not cause “much deviation” from the current treasury market. “Of course, private contractors can always raise their own funds. What is important is that we maintain our investment-grade credit

Neda Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon said the government is exploring the possibility of issuing infrastructure bonds that could be held by certain investors

Continued on A2

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The antidote to smuggling

Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza

Make Sense

A

Part Four

fter discussing the various types of smuggling in the first three parts of my series on smuggling and its impact on the nation’s economy, I will start discussing the solutions or the antidote to smuggling beginning this issue of the BusinessMirror. And whether it’s a myth or not that smuggling in the country cannot be stopped because of endemic corruption at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the alleged control by the players (smugglers) of the ports, the fact is, it can, if only the relevant provisions of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) are implemented and certain inherent rights of the government, fully enforced. Continued on A15

ENVOY: U.S. COMMITTED EICC to fast-track approval of big-ticket energy projects TO ASIA THOUGH TRUMP I WILL MISS MEETING W By Lenie Lectura

ashington remains fully committed to Asia though President Donald J. Trump will miss a key East Asian summit when he visits the Philippines next month, the US ambassador to Manila said on Thursday. Ambassador Sung Kim told reporters Trump is skipping the summit for scheduling reasons, but will have a full range of meetings, including a US summit with 10 Southeast Asian leaders and a meeting with President Duterte. The White House said on Tuesday Trump will skip the East Asia Summit in the Philippines on November 14. Another US delegation will attend the meeting, which will include more than a dozen Asian nations, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Russia. The White House did not give a reason for Trump’s absence. “For very important reasons, he needs to be back in Washington on the 14th so he will not be able to participate in the East Asia Summit,” Kim said.

He added that analysts who say such an absence indicates Trump is not as interested in engaging Asia, as former President Barack Obama was, “are misguided.” “We have made very clear that the United States is fully committed to the Asia-Pacific region,”he said, adding that “it is in our interest to remain closely engaged in the Asia-Pacific region.” The ambassador said Trump and Duterte are expected have an “open and frank” discussion on a full range of important issues, but did not directly say if human-rights concerns would be raised. Duterte has been widely criticized by human-r ights advo cates and Western governments for his war on drugs that has left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead. Trump has praised him for an “unbelievable job” in the fight against drugs during their phone call in April, according to a leaked transcript.

PESO exchange rates n US 51.7180

See “Envoy,” A2

The EICC will be led by the DOE, which will spearhead and coordinate national government efforts to harmonize, integrate and streamline regulatory processes, requirements and forms relevant to t he development of energ y investments in the country, primarily with regard to energy projects of national

@llectura

n a bid to fully implement a Malacaang-issued policy meant to fast-track the approval of energy projects, the Department of Energy (DOE) moved to designate agency officials to the Energy Investment Coordinating Council (EICC).

significance (EPNS) under Executive Order 30. “To ensure the smooth, effective and timely implementation of the activities of the EICC, a senior undersecretary and undersecretary shall be designated as chairman and alternate chairman of the EICC, respectively,” DOE Circular 2017-10-12 said.

Energ y S e c ret a r y A l fon so G. Cusi signed the circular on October 17. Also, an EICC secretariat shall be established under the Energy Policy and Planning Bureau, which shall provide technical and administrative support to the EICC and EPNS committee. See “EICC,” A2

No holiday for senators during Asean meeting

I

By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

t will be business as usual for the Senate on the days of the Asean Leaders’ Meeting from November 13 to 15, which were already declared as nonworking holidays, as senators opted to keep their work schedule intact so they can act on pending measures. Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III said senators discussed the matter in a caucus and decided to report for work instead. “We knew beforehand that those days would be holidays. But we agreed that we have to hold sessions during those days.” The Senate leader said they just need to clear up some issues and coordinate with security officials handling the Asean event to facilitate the senators’ attendance at See “No holiday,” A2

n japan 0.4548 n UK 68.6091 n HK 6.6283 n CHINA 7.7888 n singapore 38.0223 n australia 39.8384 n EU 61.0996 n SAUDI arabia 13.7911

Source: BSP (26 October 2017 )

A2 Friday, October 27, 2017

BMReports BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PHL keen on infra bonds to reduce ODA reliance Continued from A1

rating, better yet, improve it some more,” Edillon told the BusinessMirror. Former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo L. Neri said the government can consider creating a sovereign wealth fund to finance more infrastructure projects so it could avoid taking out long-term loans. “The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas [BSP] has over $80 billion in reserves, most of

which are invested in the US Treasury bonds. A poor country like the Philippines effectively finances the deficit of a rich US government,” Neri told the BusinessMirror. “Those funds are better used to finance badly needed local infrastructure via a sovereign wealth fund of about $50 billion,” he added. Neri said creating a sovereign wealth fund can even spur the development of a local capital market for infrastructure securities that will provide liquidity to the fund.

Given that the BSP’s current charter does not allow it to create the fund, Neri said the BSP can form a council of financial experts that can help manage the sovereign wealth fund. Former Philippine Economic Society President Alvin Ang said such a fund will be “a good way” to finance the country’s infrastructure projects, as long as it is used only for such purpose. Ang added creating the fund will be “a test” of the country’s investment-grade credit rating more than a means to lessen the country’s dependence on overseas development assistance because the Philippines

is not dependent on concessional loans and grants for its infrastructure needs. “The fund should only be used for the purpose it is set up. This also avoids bilateral or commercial borrowing and puts to test our investment grade in the market,” Ang said. “We are no longer dependent on overseas development assistance [ODA]. Our infrastructure [projects] are [financed by] loans that are planned.” University of Asia and the Pacific School of Economics Dean Cid Terosa and Edillon, however, said now is not the time to create the sovereign wealth fund. According to Terosa, the Philippine capital market is still developing and lacked the “complementary institutions” needed to set up the fund. Edillon added the market for long-term instruments, such as the creation of a fund that will pave the way for a local capital market for infrastructure securities, was still “thin.”

Kicker bonds

A few months ago the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) proposed the use of “kicker bonds” to boost infrastructure revenues in developing countries, including the Philippines. ADBI Dean Naoyuki Yoshino and Legal Advisor Grant Stillman said the infrastructure needs of developing countries like the Philippines cannot be borne solely by the government. Yoshino and Stillman said tapping private-sector funds, such as through the issuance of kicker bonds, can provide the much-needed resources to finance trillions-worth of infrastructure needs. Economists interviewed by the

Envoy . .

Continued from A1

Kim said that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other senior officials in Washington “have made it very clear that human rights, rule of law, due process, these are all very important principles and values of the US.” “We will continue to work with our allies and friends to promote those values and principles,” he said. “I don’t think anything has changed.” The US understands the seriousness of the Philippines’s drug problem, but it has conveyed to the Philippine leadership its concerns about how the antidrug campaign has been implemented, he added. “I think our concerns are understood by the Philippine INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE AFFECTING MINDANAO TROPICAL STORM “QUEDAN” ESTIMATED AT 1,105 KM EAST OF APARRI, CAGAYAN (As of 4:00 PM - October 26, 2017)

EICC. . .

Continued from A1

The EPNS committee, for its part, shall conduct technical, financial and legal evaluation of applicants for EPNS. The senior undersecretary will chair the body. Funding to support the initial operations of the council shall be sourced from existing 2017 DOE funds. Cusi earlier said that the Visayas-Mindanao Interconnection Project (VMIP) could be classified as EPNS. The VMIP involves the interconnection of Visayas and Mindanao via Cebu and Zamboanga. The

No holiday. . . Continued from A1

the Senate plenary session during the three-day holiday. “We have to solve the transport issues and security concerns during those days. If we can solve them, then we will proceed with our sessions during those holidays,” Pimentel added. Under the upper chamber’s approved calendar, senators are scheduled to resume sessions on November 13 following a monthlong recess to tackle pending business before Congress goes on anoth-

BusinessMirror agree that the Philippine government will not have sufficient resources to finance all the country’s infrastructure needs. Terosa said ODA loans and grants are considered “key components” of the country’s funding sources. The aid from various countries, such as China and Japan, helps bridge financing gaps. Philippine Institute for Development Studies President Gilberto M. Llanto said ODA financing from China and Japan, though massive, are not sufficient to cover the country’s infrastructure spending until 2022. Llanto added that, while a sovereign wealth fund is a “good idea,” what would be more interesting is how the government can tap remittances from overseas Filipino workers for development financing. “[The] combined China and Japan funding will not be enough. The government proposes trillions of pesos worth of funding in the next five to six years. The donors can provide a substantial amount, but these won’t be enough,” Llanto said. The ADB said the 45 developing member-countries must invest $26.166 trillion until 2030. This translates to $1.744, trillion, or 5.9 percent, of the region’s GDP annually. The ADB added Southeast Asian economies need to invest 5.7 percent of GDP until 2030. This means investing a total of $3.147 trillion between 2016 and 2030 using 2015 prices and an annual investment of $210 billion until 2030. In the Philippines, the Neda said funds are most needed in paving provincial roads. Government data showed that only 10,353.53 kilometers out of the 36,075 kilometers of provincial roads have been paved. government,” Kim said. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana and his Vietnamese counterpart agreed on Thursday to further strengthen defense relations between Vietnam and the Philippines, particularly on naval cooperation. Lorenzana and Vietnamese Minister of National Defense Ngo Xuan Lich reached the agreement following a bilateral meeting in the aftermath of the Asean Defense Ministers’ Meeting in Manila. A statement from the Department of National Defense said the two defense officials also discussed the recent incident in Pangasinan, where Vietnamese fishermen were killed during the Navy’s antipoaching operation. AP, Rene Acosta

converter stations in Visayas and Mindanao will be located in Sibonga, Cebu and Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur, respectively. The project is estimated to be completed in 46 months with an estimated cost of P51,696.70 billion. The VMIP is in support of the government’s vision to interconnect the major grids into a single national grid, which is expected to help improve the country’s overall power-supply security as sharing of reserves will become possible. The project also aims to reinforce the operation of the electricity market by maximizing the use of available energy resources and additional generation capacities in Visayas and Mindanao, which include the renewable-energy resources. er four-week adjournment of sessions for the Christmas holidays from December 16 to January 14, 2018. Sen. Francis G. Escudero confirmed that senators were advised to attend sessions from November 13 to 15, even if those days were declared holidays by Malacañang to give way to the Asean event. “I still do not know the arrangements being made to enable senators to get past security cordons that will be installed to enable us to attend the sessions during those days.” Escudero said he would clarify the security arrangements with Pimentel.

A4 Friday, October 27, 2017 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

The Nation

Communications infra boosts Asean defense and cooperation By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

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sean defense ministers have formally launched the Asean Direct Communications Infrastructure (ADI), an initiative that is expected to take cooperation and communication in the region to new heights. Formerly known as the Asean Direct Communications Link, the ADI is designed to allow the defense ministers to communicate instantly through a secure hot line, further fostering cooperation and diffusing possible misunderstandings among Asean member-states. Minister of Energy and Industry Pehin Dato Mohammad Yasmin of Brunei Darussalam presented the key management system of the ADI to 2017 Asean D e f e n s e M i n i s t e r s Me e t i n g (ADMM) Chairman and Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana during the ADMMPlus meeting. “One of the main characteristics of the ADMM and ADMM-Plus that we are proud of is that they go beyond the ministerial platforms for dialogue, and actually serve as mechanisms for practical cooperation,” Lorenzana said. Adopted during the Eighth ADMM in Myanmar in May 2014, the ADI is a hot line designed to provide quick-response cooperation in emergency situations, es-

pecially in maritime operations. This new defense cooperation mechanism is a product of combined efforts of the ADMM since 2014, which culminated with the signing of the contract in November 2015 and endorsement of the standard operating procedures in 2016. Every Asean member-state deliberated to ensure that the ADI system is safe and secure. In 2013 His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, who initiated the idea of the ADI during his chairmanship of the 22nd Asean Summit, said, “It is important to have in place practical procedures, which could assist in avoiding undesired incidents at sea.” “For instance, if there is a major storm, fishermen may need to take temporary shelter in [a] disputed area. Such [an] innocent incident may be misinterpreted. Therefore, it would be appropriate to establish procedures [such as] having a hot line to avoid misunderstanding,” the sultan said. The hot line is available to each Asean defense minister to directly contact his/her counterpart in another Asean member-state, strengthening the ties forged through the ADMM. The ADMM, as the highest defense consultative and cooperative mechanism, promotes regional peace and stability through dialogue and cooperation.

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Solon seeks transfer of antidrug operation fund from PNP to PDEA By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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@joveemarie

he chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs on Thursday asked the House Committee on Appropriations to transfer the P900-million allocation for the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Oplan Double Barrel in the 2018 budget to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). Surigao del Norte Rep. and Committee Chairman Robert Ace Barbers said the antidrug agency needs more operating funds to continue the campaign against illegal drugs. According to Barbers, his request to House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Karlo Alexei B. Nograles of the First District of Davao City was prompted by President Duterte’s decision designating the PDEA as the “sole” law-enforcement agency in the government’s war on drugs. Duterte has designated the PDEA to be the singular agency that would

₧900M The total allocation earmarked to fund the National Police’s Oplan Double Barrel

conduct the antidrug operations of the government, sidelining the PNP, National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Customs, as well as all ad-hoc antidrug task forces. The PNP’s double-barrel antidrug campaign plan has two components—Project High-Value Target, which zeroes in on top-level personalities in the drug trade, and Oplan Tokhang, a literal “knock and plead” operation—meant to make alleged drug personalities surrender to police. “May I request, if possible, that the P900-million budget intended for Oplan Double Barrel of the PNP be transferred and allocated instead to the 2018 operating budget of the PDEA, during the bicameral conference of the 2018 national budget,” Barbers told Nograles in a letter dated October 23. The lawmaker said PDEA’s P1.44billion budget for next year is a dismal .01 percent of the country’s total 2018 budget. “As the sole agency of the admin-

istration’s top priority, the PDEA must have the necessary equipment, training and logistics to combat illegal drugs,” he said. “By providing them [PDEA] with ample budget, I am positive that this war on drugs will soon be sustained,” Barbers added. During the 2018 budget hearing, PDEA chief Aaron Aquino asked the House of Representatives to increase his agency’s budget by P934 million, which includes money to hire and train 1,605 more operatives. At present, the PDEA only has 1,041 operatives nationwide. For 2018, the 190,000-strong PNP is asking for P131.5 billion, a P20-billion increase from its 2017 budget. Over P900 million is being budgeted for Double Barrel Reloaded, the third iteration of the PNP’s drugwar plan.

Rehab program

Meanwhile, House Committee on Appropriation Vice Chairman Rep. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte of the Second District of Camarines Sur has appealed to the Catholic Church and other sectors to consider Malacañang’s call for community-based partnerships in the rehabilitation of drug dependents to help win the government’s war on illegal drugs. He was referring to Malacañang’s call to Catholic dioceses nationwide to team up with local government units (LGUs) and the police in the drug-rehabilitation aspect of the Duterte administration’s war against illegal drugs. Earlier, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella has cited as an example the agreement forged among the Novaliches Diocese, the Quezon City government, and the PNP for a community-based drug- rehabilitation program covering the Batasan area. The results of a Pulse Asia survey conducted from September 24 to 30 showed that 88 percent of respondents support the government’s war against illegal drugs, with 41 percent saying they “truly support” it and 47 percent saying they “support” the campaign. The same poll also showed 58 percent of Filipinos want the Cath-

olic Church’s intervention with the rehabilitation of drug dependents, while 46 percent said the Catholic Church should observe and monitor the campaign against illegal drugs. According to the lawmaker, the survey showed that the public is aware that the country’s drug problem is serious and that the President’s tough campaign against it has generated positive results. Villauerte, who last year filed a bill creating a drug-rehabilitation center in his province’s municipality of Libmanan, said local government officials have “an obligation and duty to their constituents to support the President’s relentless war against narco-traffickers and their cohorts in the government and the police force.” Villafuerte added barangay officials can also assist the national government in rehabilitating drug users by helping drug dependents who can be treated as outpatients in their respective localities. He said, “Many drug-rehabilitation cases can still be treated as outpatient cases. Thus, there’s no need to confine them in rehab centers. If we can address cases in the barangay level through the assistance of barangay health workers, we would be addressing the problem at the grassroots and could, thus, prevent further deterioration of drug-rehab cases.” Villafuerte has also called on local government executives to set up drug-rehabilitation facilities in their respective communities and encourage drug dependents to seek help from them. He said LGUs now have the means to undertake drug-rehabilitation initiatives as these are among the projects newly opened for funding from their Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA). Under a Department of Interior and Local Government-Department of Budget and Management Joint Memorandum Circular 2017, “Special Drug Education Centers” and “Drug Treatment/Rehabilitation Centers” were added to the list of allowable social development projects chargeable against the IRA funds.

Poll group lists criteria Senate bill seeks for next Comelec chief job security for By Joel R. San Juan

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@jrsanjuan1573

OLL watchdog group Kontra Daya on Thursday urged President Duterte to appoint a Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman who is willing to look into and resolve various issues and cases that had tarnished the commission’s image. In a news statement, Kontra Daya convener Prof. Danilo Arao said the replacement of resigned Comelec Chairman Andres D. Bautista should be his exact opposite in terms of dealing with the problems confronting the poll body. “The bottom line is clear: We need a Comelec chairman who is the direct opposite of Bautista, if we want to ensure clean and honest elections in 2019 and beyond,” Arao said. The group particularly cited the so-called Comeleaks issue that rocked the commission in 2016. Arao said Bautista’s replacement must also be willing to review the impact of the automated election system (AES), especially the Comelec’s enduring partnership with Smartmatic International. He added that the next Comelec chairman must push for the prosecution of those proven to be inefficient and incompetent in doing their jobs, including Bautista. Bautista was forced to vacate his post last Monday after President Duterte accepted his resignation “effective immediately.” In his letter of resignation, Bautista told the President that he intended to remain in his post up to December 31to give way for a smooth transition. On Tuesday the commission en banc designated Commissioner Christian Robert Lim as the acting chairman until Duterte makes an appointment. Aside from being an opposite of Bautista, Kontra Daya said the President must appoint as next poll chairman a person of known probity and integrity. This, he said, would mean that the appointee must be one who shall not allow the Comelec to be used for the political gains of those in power. “Whoever will be appointed Comelec chair[man] should ensure that suffrage is not replaced by suffering,” Arao said.

AFP reservists

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Senate measure was filed seeking to ensure that members of the reserve force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) would be reinstated to their careers by the end of their required military service. Sen. Paolo Benigno A. Aquino IV filed Senate Bill 1607, or the Reservist Employment Rights Act, to protect the employment rights of the AFP reserve force. Under the bill, reservists shall be entitled to their original position, or to a substantially equivalent position, without loss of seniority rights and diminution of pay. “We owe it to these courageous Filipinos to professionalize the reserve force. Let’s reward our reservists the legal rights and protections they deserve,” Aquino said in filing his measure. Aquino filed the measure citing reports that around two battalions from the reserve command were mobilized alongside the regular soldiers of the AFP to fight the terrorists who laid siege to Marawi City for five months. Some of the reservists temporarily left their jobs behind when they were mobilized to Marawi, but never regained their old positions or were reassigned to other offices due to their long absence from work. Aquino said that his bill also ensures that companies cannot require reservists to use their standard leave credits entitled them for absences, for the military service they are required to render. Moreover, the bill protects reservists who suffered an injury or disability, as they would still be entitled to reinstatement as long as they could perform the essential function of their original employment. PNA

Economy

A4 Friday, October 27, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon A6

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EU sets aside Duterte tirade, says Power supply ‘stable’ bloc will extend aid to Philippines in 1st 6 months of ‘17 By Lenie Lectura

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By Catherine N. Pillas

@c_pillas29

he European Union (EU) will continue to disburse development aid it has previously pledged to the Philippines, estimated to be worth around €200 million, with €55 million earmarked for the rehabilitation of war-devastated Marawi City. “Obviously, what we want to do here is to continue with our development program as it has been agreed [upon] previously and do the activities we put [the] money [to] aside for, like Mindanao, which is a focus. Peace and stability is important for the Philippines, and the attraction it gives to European investors,” EU Ambassador to the Philippines Franz Jessen told reporters on Thursday. The 28-member European bloc is apparently unfazed by President Duterte’s recent anti-EU rhetoric. Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano on Wednesday backtracked on his statement concerning EU aid, saying the Philippines is open to aid that do not

come with “conditionalities.” According to Jessen, the EU delegation in Manila has spent already more than a million euros in areas that don’t impinge on the Philippines’s foreign policy, citing a project to supply potable water to Mindanao. The additional €55 million can be further increased to €100 million, depending on further cooperation talks with the government, Jessen added. Commenting Cayetano’s sentiment on conditionalities, Jessen said the EU is simply encouraging the Philippines’s involvement in an international rules-based system, whether it be on environment or human rights.

“It’s not enough for one country, like the EU or the Philippines, to work on one issue like climate change. They have to work together with the international community that’s not just limited to their territories,” he said. The envoy added that a total of unspent €200 million has been earmarked for other areas, such as technical assistance to trade. According to the EU’s multiannual indicative program for the Philippines for 2014-2020, a key document setting out the general areas for development assistance of the EU, the indicative amount allotted back in 2014 amounts to €325 million. The document identifies two key sectors based on the Philippine Development Plan (PDP): 1) inclusive growth through access to sustainable energy and job creation and 2) strengthening the rule of law through judicial and legal reform. Other cross-cutting issues, such as the improvement of governance, human-rights issues, cultural issues, disaster-risk reduction and resilience building for the most vulnerable populations, environmental protection and conflict prevention are subsumed under the two broad areas. The EU has long made Mindanao a core area of assistance through sectoral assistance like peace and security, in energy and health.

Obviously, what we want to do here is to continue with our development program as it has been agreed [upon] previously and do the activities we put [the] money [to] aside for, like Mindanao, which is a focus. Peace and stability is important for the Philippines, and the attraction it gives to European investors.” —Jessen

Lawmaker slams move to lift open-pit mining ban By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

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party-list lawmaker on Thursday criticized the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’s (DENR) plan to lift the ban on open-pit mining. Party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate of Bayan Muna, in a news statement, slammed the announcement of Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu that the ban on open-pit mining will be reversed. “It seems that the secretary is hard at work in reversing the progressive stances of the agency under [former Environment Secretary] Gina Lopez. A few months into his unencumbered confirmation to his post, Secretary Cimatu has killed off one of the best moves of the department in history, to ban open-pit mining,” Zarate said. Earlier, Cimatu said the technical working group (TWG) of the Mining and Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) has endorsed the lifting of the ban on open-pit mining in the Philippines, provided that the law and regulations governing the process will be “strictly enforced” by the DENR. In April the DENR issued Department Order 2017-10, imposing a ban on the open-pit method of extraction for copper, gold, silver and complex ores. However, in August, the MICC tasked its TWG on economic concerns and on environmental protections and legislation to review and formulate the MICC policy recommendations in relation to the openpit mining ban. According to Zarate, open-pit mining has caused massive environmental destruction. “Entire mountains were excavated, whole forests leveled and tributaries were made trash bins by mining corporations all over the country. It is only prudent, at the very least, that the government suspend open-pit mining operations pending an investigation,” the lawmaker said.

@llectura

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ESPITE incidence of powerplant shutdowns, calamities and civil strife, the country’s power system remained “stable” during the first six months of the year, the Department of Energy (DOE) said. “The Philippine power system remained generally stable from January to June 2017, despite the natural and man-made calamities experienced during the period, such as earthquakes in Batangas in Luzon and Leyte in the Visayas, and the Marawi siege in Mindanao, and events such as Malampaya gas maintenance shutdown in Luzon, continued occurrences of forced outages of generation and transmission facilities, which resulted to load-dropping incidents in the three major grids,” the agency said in its latest report. Earthquakes in Mabini, Batangas, in April, for instance, resulted in generator tripping with a total capacity of 1,570 megawatts (MW) in the Batangas area. The affected power plants were Avion Unit 2 (50 MW), San Lorenzo Units 1 and 2 (500 MW), Ilijan B (600 MW) and San Gabriel (420 MW). This incident triggered the issuance of yellow-alert notice on April 10 and 11 and redalert notice on April 10. An automatic load dropping (ALD) incident occurred in June due to the outage of the 300-MW Calaca coal-fired power plant (CFPP) Unit 2 and the 150-MW Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. CFPP Unit 2. The outage of the power plants was due to the actuation of Batangas System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) caused by the auto-tripping of Calaca-Amadeo 230-kilovolt (kV) transmission line 2. Moreover, the 647-MW Sual Unit 2 went on forced outage in the same month that triggered an ALD incident. Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., likewise, conducted the Malampaya Gas Facility Scheduled Maintenance Shutdown (SMS) from January 28 to February 16. These challenges, it claimed, were addressed by strong coordination among all energy stakeholders and additional power-generation capacities of 237 MW. Moreover, the relatively low demand during the period helped maintain the stability of the power system. Total installed capacity in the country stood at 21,621 MW at endJune this year, of which, 19,537 MW were considered as dependable capacity. The numbers increased from 14,348 MW installed capacity and 13,109 MW of dependable capacity from the same period a year ago. Coal remained the dominant fuel type at 35 percent, or 7,568 MW; followed by renewable energy at 32 percent, or 7,038 MW; oilbased at 17 percent, or 3,584 MW; and natural gas at 16 percent, or 3,431 MW. In terms of power generation, coal remained the major source of electricity for Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao with a combined share of 49 percent, or 21,707 MW. Newly operational plants from January to June 2017 are mainly coal- and solar-power plants that added 150 MW and 78 MW to the total installed capacity. Capacities, which will be coming in the pipeline, are largely coal-power projects with 4,465 MW combined and 9,903 MW indicative capacities. In Luzon a total of 168.8-MW increase in the installed capacity was recorded during the period, mainly on account of new power plants. Also, a total of 4,142 MW of committed capacity and 16,113 indicative capacity is recorded as of June 30. Luzon’s share to the country’s total electricity sales and consumption remained the largest at 75 percent.

The Philippine power system remained generally stable from January to June 2017, despite the natural and manmade calamities experienced during the period...”­—DOE It reached new all-time high system peak demand at 10,054 MW, which occurred on May 9, with corresponding 11,218 MW available capacity. This peak demand is 3.26 percent higher than the previous year at 9,726 MW. In the Visayas the DOE said the power situation for the period was generally stable due to additional capacities, amid experienced tight supply conditions especially during the simultaneous outages of large coal and geothermal plants. At end-June, a total of 68 MW of installed capacity was added to the grid composed of solar- and dieselfired power plants. Committed and indicative capacities reached 408 MW and 3,504 MW, respectively. Similar to Luzon, electricity consumption in the Visayas was also driven by the residential sector at 37 percent. The Visayas’s share to the country’s total electricity sales and consumption reached 12 percent. The highest system peak demand in the Visayas at 1,934 MW occurred on June 2, with corresponding 2,558 MW available capacity. This peak demand is 2.11 percent higher than the previous year at 1,894 MW. In Mindanao power situation was stable for the first six months of the year compared to the previous years due to sufficient available supply. There were no additional power plants that went on commercial operation in Mindanao during the period, but there were a number of coal plants, which came online and currently undergoing testing. These are the 125-MW FDC Misamis coal unit 3, the 150-MW SMC Malita unit 3 and the 3x55-MW Minergy Balingasag coal units 1-3. Mindanao’s share to the country’s total electricity sales and consumption stood at 13 percent. Its highest system peak demand, which stood at 1,696 MW, occurred in April with corresponding 2,202 MW available capacity. This peak demand is 2.60 percent higher than the previous year at 1,653 MW. To ensure the delivery of quality, reliable, affordable and secured electricity supply, the DOE initiated the issuance of policies for resiliency, conduct of performance assessment and technical audit for all energy facilities, and reactivated the Interagency Task Force on Securing Energy Facilities (IATFSEF), among others. The IATFSEF is composed of the DOE, National Power Corp., National Electrification Administration, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative Inc., Philippine National Police, Armed Forced of the Philippines and other industry players. The group continues to push for the restoration of energy facilities in the province of Lanao del Sur and Marawi City, which were damaged by military operations against the Maute group since May.

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Transforming Makati into PHL’s first ‘digital city’ By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

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eing the second richest city in the country, with assets totaling P54.851 billion in 2016, little wonder then that Makati City—the Philippines’s business center—is not dependent on the internal revenue allotment (IRA) from the national government. But its local government officials, led by Mayor Abigail Binay, are not resting on the city’s laurels. The local government is currently in the middle of making Makati the first-ever digital city in the Philippines to make it more progressive. To do this, Binay has ventured into a public-private partnership (PPP) project. In partnership with NeoConverge ICT Solutions and Voyager Innovations of PLDT/Smart, the city government has launched the Makatizen app—designed to make important information, financial and social services more accessible to Makati residents and stakeholders. “Soon, Makatizens will enjoy free Wi-fi through another PPP agreement with NeoConverge ICT Solutions for the installation of a fiberoptic cable infrastructure in and around Makati, at no cost to the city,” Binay told the BusinessMirror. “We have also teamed up with Aim Technologies and Market Research Knowledge Technology for the installation of mobile signal boosters using city-owned lampposts to strengthen cellular and Internet connectivity,” she added. Binay recalled that upon taking office as Makati mayor, she ordered the conduct of a rapid assessment of the systems and operations at City Hall, which gave rise to innovative reforms aimed at making services more efficient, accessible and convenient to residents and taxpayers. These include assembling frontline offices that handle business permits

and licenses and tax payments on the same floor. “I capped my first year in office with the city’s first PPP venture in information technology, which launched the new Makatizen Card, a multipurpose government-issued citizen ID that consolidates all health and social benefits of over 500,000 residents and City Hall employees,” Binay said. “Our partnership with Globe Telecom, G-Xchange and iBayad Online does not only offer greater convenience to cardholders, but allows greater transparency in the implementation of the city’s social-welfare programs,” she added. Restoring order and discipline on the streets to improve mobility in the city has also been a priority under Binay’s administration in order to strengthen Makati’s position as a premier investment destination. “We have apprehended thousands of traffic violators and illegal vendors in relentless operations on our streets and sidewalks to improve traffic flow, and promote road safety for motorists and pedestrians. We are also participating in talks with private companies and government agencies regarding the possible construction of the country’s first subway in Makati,” she said. The city government is also

looking at rolling out a bus rapidtransport system.

No tax hike

Despite her numerous plans for Makati, Binay made an assurance that there will be no tax increase this year. “Even without increasing tax rates, we surpassed by over P600 million the revenue collection of the former administration in the first six months in office.” Binay also said that as of July, collection is already 87 percent of the full-year revenue target and that the city has registered over 4,500 new businesses. She made the assurance following the recommendation of the Commission on Audit (COA) to update the city’s schedule of fair market value which, according to its 2016 annual audit report, had not been updated since 1997. Lawyer Michael Camiña, the mayor’s spokesman, said the city government is dealing with the COA recommendation to adjust the fair market value of properties in a “judicious” manner. “Such an important decision requires in-depth study and thorough consultation with all the concerned stakeholders,” Camiña said. “Any adjustments in the fair market value will affect tax rates, and Mayor Binay would like to ensure that such adjustments, if and when implemented, will not prejudice the private sector and residents,” he added. He also pointed out that Makati, under the administration of the lady mayor, has seen its highest revenue collection in years without increasing taxes. “In fact, in just the first six months in office of Mayor Abby, the city government topped by over P600 million the total revenue collection from July-to-December 2015 under the previous administration,” he added. Based on the latest report of the OIC-City Treasurer, the total revenue collection of the city government as of July 31 has reached P12.65 billion, which represents 87 percent of the total revenue target for this year. It is also higher by 9 percent than the collection during the same period last year un-

Marriott topping-off rites signals rise of first 5-star hotel in Clark By Ashley Manabat Correspondent

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LARK FREEPORT—The last patch of cement was poured on the 16th floor of the $60-million Marriott Hotel here as part of its topping-off ceremony on Thursday. The Marriott Hotel Clark, which is being constructed next to the Widus Hotel and Casino here, is reputed to be the first fivestar hotel in this free port. It broke ground in November last year and is expected to be completed in November 2018. Daesik Han, Widus president and CEO, said their partners are delighted and very much impressed with the progress of the work and they are very confident to become one of the best compact Marriott hotels. “I’ve been working with Mr. Han and with representatives from the project-management company, and I am really delighted to see how well the design has been done and how well the construction is going,” said Paul Scanlan, Marriot Global Design and Marriott project director. “We are looking forward to the opening of the hotel.” “I think it’s a great event. I think this is really going to showcase a Marriott within the region,” Marriott’s Barry Witington said. “We are very pleased to be here today and we are pleased with the progress that’s happening on site. Construction looks great and it’s very well organized, very clean and tidy site, and we are all looking forward to the

CDC President/CEO Noel Manankil (center) leads the shoveling of the last patch of cement on the 16th floor of the Marriott Hotel Clark on Thursday.

completion and opening,” he added. “We are so proud to be here for the unveiling of the [Marriott] logo and the topping-off ceremony. This hotel is going to be the market leader in Clark,” said Shia Liang, director for development for Marriot International. “It’s been an honor working with such incredible partner. They’ve been so collaborative and we’re sure that we are going to achieve this vision of having a fantastic hotel in Clark,” she added. In 2015 Widus International Leisure Inc. (Wili), owner of Widus Hotel and Casino, signed a hotel-management agreement with Renaissance Hotels International Corp. Ltd., the company behind the successful chain of Marriott Hotels for The Marriott at Clark project. The agreement will allow Marriott Hotel

to operate The Marriott at Clark, which is set to break ground at the Widus property here in May 2018. Han, the South Korean president and CEO of Wili, said the Marriott Clark represents the latest and most innovative hotel within the Widus complex, “a final cap to our vision of being the preferred one-stop leisure destination,” he added. The Marriott at Clark will serve the highend market, while Widus will focus on the middle market. The new Marriott at Clark is rated as Pampanga’s first five-star hotel. It will have approximately 260 room keys. The Marriott at Clark will feature the usual Marriott facilities, such as the Goji Kitchen and Bar, Great Room, Pool Bar, Executive Lounge and the Ballroom and Meeting Places.

der the previous administration. “We are focused on ensuring that proper incentives are in place for investors, as part of our push to be the first digital city,” Camiña said. The latest financial report issued by OIC-City Treasurer Jesusa Cuneta showed the bulk of the P12.65-billion

collection came from business tax at P6.6 billion (8-percent increase), followed by real property tax at P4.43 billion (9-percent increase). Other local revenue sources for the period included fees and charges (P546.2 million) and economic enterprises (P123.4 million). In all, collections from local revenue

sources amounted to P11.73 billion. Revenues collected from other sources included interest income (P135.4 million), IRA (P620.7 million), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (P160.4 million) and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation/Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (P3 million).

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39th Catholic Mass Media Awards

‘Communicating hope and trust in our time’

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle (right), the honorary chairman of the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA), poses with D. Edgard A. Cabangon (left), acting CMMA chairman, and Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, keynote speaker of the 39th CMMA held on Wednesday.

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By Leony R. Garcia

t was an awards night like no other. People came in droves—the nominees or their representatives, plus their supporters and friends, rooting for them. And they are a good mix of young and old, the experts and the newbies. The event was the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) held on October 25 at the Star Theater, Star City, Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex, Pasay City. The occasion marked the 39th year of the awards-giving organization that was established by the late Manila Archbishop Jaime L. Cardinal Sin to pay tribute to values-oriented mass-media works and workers. In his special message, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle, CMMA honorary chairman, said communication “is an impulse of the human person; to

be a person is to communicate.” For communication of hope and trust to be meaningful, he explained, a communicator must have “a heart that knows how to hope, a heart that is trusting.” Without a “conversion of the heart, communication is reduced to techniques for manipulation,” he added. Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, in his keynote speech, said mass media, by communicating hope and trust, would lessen the prevailing “fear that is one of the biggest currencies used by society to influence our actions.”

He called on the mass media to be “forceful, truthful and inspirational in delivering the news.” Every year media luminaries from print, radio and television, film and advertising from all over the country gather together, create camaraderie and cheer each other on for a job well done. Likewise, students are given the chance to shine and rub elbows with the professionals in these industries. This is made possible by the CMMA Foundation board of trustees, headed by D. Edgard A. Cabangon, its acting chairman. “My late father, Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, believed that utilizing media to uphold and promote Christian values can create a great impact and influence on the general public, serving as a reminder of the importance of our faith and moral values,” Cabangon said. “I will always be grateful for the trust given to me in this prestigious organization, which my father held for 17 years. Together with the wholehearted support of the

board of trustees, the members of the panels of judges and the massmedia workers, we can work hand in hand in continuing the vision of the CMMA Foundation rooted on our Christian faith and ideals,” he added. The theme for this year’s CMMA, based on the Social Communication Day message of Pope Francis, is “Fear not, for I am with you (Isaiah 43:5): Communicating hope and trust in our time.” The CMMA was established in 1978 by Cardinal Sin as a means by which the Archdiocese of Manila recognizes “those who are serving God through the mass media.” It had a two-year interruption in its operation, and was revived in 2000 by the cardinal, who asked the late Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua to be its chairman and president. He held the post until March 2016.

Prestigious event Through the years the CMMA has become a tradition and a prestigious event joined by many of the

country’s respected personalities in the fields of television, radio, print media, music, cinema and the Internet, as well as by students from various academic institutions. Similarly, the number of entries received by the CMMA continues to increase significantly, affirming that the organization consistently gains support from mass-media practitioners and advocates from around the country. Event host, actress and TV personality Dimples Romana attested to the prestige and credibility of the CMMA. “It’s different when you say I won from the CMMA. It’s a different level of winning,” she said in Filipino. Meanwhile, Renato Carvajal, the general editor of REX Crown Publications Inc., is grateful that his company was given a special citation this year for Backpack, as Best Children’s magazine. “We have been winning for the past 16 years and that keeps inspiring us to do our best,” he said. Seasoned scriptwriter Baby

Nebrida is overwhelmed that the first movie she wrote, directed and produced, Across the Crescent Moon, won as Student’s Choice Award for Best Film. “Crescent Moon is family drama-action, which speaks of unity, peace, beauty and harmony in diversity, referring to Christians and Muslims. We also won the International Film Fest Manhattan as Best Global Feature Film and The Best Ensemble Acting Awards. The CMMA affirms the excellence of our film and with this award, the more we are eager to produce more inspirational movies,” she said. More than the prestige, CMMA, indeed, has come a long way in inspiring the country’s media practitioners and the general public, as well. As the night ended with many going home happy with their awards, Fr. Hans Maduralang challenged everyone to do a special mission: to use social media responsibly. Father Hans has been working with the CMMA for the last 10 years as judges’ coordinator.

The Regions

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DOLE revives campaign vs child labor in E. Visayas By Elmer Recuerdo Correspondent

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ACLOBAN CITY—After five years of hiatus, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Eastern Visayas has revived the interagency Eastern Visayas Regional Child Labor Committee (EVRCLC) that tackles issues and concerns for the welfare of child laborers in the region.

“This committee is involved in the programs that will give solution to child-labor problems,” DOLE Assistant Regional Director Roy Buenafe said. He said this committee also includes representatives from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the National Economic Development Authority and the local government units from the barangay up

to the provincial level. The EVRCLC had its last activity in 2012 with the drafting of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the intensified, sustained and unified implementation of the Philippine Program Against Child Labor in the Eastern Visayas region. Since then, no activity followed. Buenafe said Eastern Visayas has one of the highest number of child laborers in the country concentrated mainly in Northern Sa-

MOST child laborers in Eastern Visayas have been found working in deep-sea fishing, mining, quarrying and agriculture, the Department of Labor and Employment said. ELMER RECUERDO

mar and the western part of Leyte province, particularly in Ormoc City, municipality of Kananga and its neighboring towns. He said, based on statistics from the International Labor Organization (ILO), there are around 250,000 child laborers in Eastern

Visayas, where 80 percent are in the informal sector. Buenafe said, with the reactivation of EVRCLC, its member-agencies reaffirmed their commitment to intensify their child labor-related development programs to help minimize and eradicate it in the

ComVal to put up integrated fire, disaster-training center in PHL By Manuel T. Cayon

@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

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AVAO CITY—Compostela Valley is putting up the country’s “one stop” training center for disaster response and rescue, fire and medical emergencies, to save for the government the expensive and scattered renting facilities for specific training needs of rescue personnel. Randolf Arbutante, provincial director of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), said the province has already allotted 9 hectares inside the government center in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley, for the center, which would have simulated buildings and facilities for different emergency natural and man-made disaster situations. The training center would have a rappelling tower, burn building,

a center for disease-control building, mountain search and rescue station, vehicle-extrication station, emergency medical-services station, landslide-simulation area, confined space-rescue station, hazmat and other protective clothing and gadgets building, trenchrescue station, collapse-structure station, water search and rescue and arson-scenario station. “Many of these facilities are simulation of actual situations. There is one facility where we can simulate an actual car crash,” he said. The water search and rescue training would be done at a pool with a spot that is 15 meters deep,” Arbutante added. The facilities would be spread across the 9 hectares, making it a center with all the simulations of disaster and emergency situations installed, he said.

“This is the only one integrated training facility in the country and, by 2019, all the training requirement of the Bureau of Fire Prevention, the police and disaster-rescue personnel would be conducted here,” he said. “Even in the US, there is not one center like this one.” The facility would cut down on government-expenses renting on facilities. “For the BFP, for example, we have to rent a building to simulate a burning multilevel building, and it is expensive,” he said. In all cases, trainings for specific situations or conditions would be done elsewhere, he added. It was the national BFP that authorized Arbutante to propose the integrated facility to the provincial government, “which immediately received the proposal.” The

two Congress representatives from Compostela Valley, Reps. Maricar S. Zamora of the First District Compostela Valley and Ruwel Peter S. Gonzaga of the Second District of Compostela Valley, have pledged financial support from their allocations. Two other congressmen, Rep. Karlo Alexei B. Nograles of of the First District of Davao City, chief of the appropriations committee; and Party-list Rep. Jericho Jonas B. Nograles of PBA, also committed financial assistance to the facility, he said. All the mayors of the 11 municipalities have also promised to allocate no less than P2 million each. The construction of the training facilities would cost P160 million, which has been committed already. The facility would be ready by 2019, he said.

Unfinished Yolanda housing site causes floods Smile Train partners with in Antique town 20 days before 4th anniversary midwives to give every child By Charles R. Pepito Correspondent

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IVE barangays in Bugasong town in Antique province suffered its worst flood this year because of an unfinished Supertyphoon Yolanda relocation site, residents told a fact-find mission conducted by the Kilusang Pagbabago (KP). The incident happened on October 20, 2017, 20 days before the country marks the fourth year since the super typhoon carved a large path of destruction across the Visayas on November 8, 2013. “In the 55 years I lived in Lacayon, I have not experienced floods until now,” said Consolacion Espino of Barangay Lacayon, Bugasong. Tagged as the fifth and the most devastating flood this year, the waters inundated Barangays Puho, Hatay-Hatay, Calog, Lacayon and Cubay in South Bugasong. Some 35 residents, who attended a community dialogue conducted by a KP team headed by Fr. Jose Elmer Cajilig, KP lead convener for Region 6, pointed to a nearby housing project by the National Housing Authority. The project, being constructed by EDDMARI Construction and Trading, will have 1,787 units once completed. No Yolanda survivor-family has yet been relocated in Lacayon.

The residents said the construction firm bulldozed the hilly and forested portion of Barangay Lacayon and reclaimed four creeks. The waters from the creeks are dumped into a single tributary when it rains, and causes the flooding. On August 22, 2016, some 82 residents signed a complaint addressed to Mayor John Lloyd M. Pacete of Bugasong, Antique, a copy of which was furnished to the Presidential Action Center. Pacete has not acted on the plea, nor on a letter dated January 29 from Presidential Action Center director Jaime Llaguno Mabilin. During a recent statement, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino blamed uncooperative local government units and members of a pro-Duterte organization. Lacayon residents, however, said Dino has not visited the area since the presidential order designating him as President Duterte’s Yolanda housing czar. Dino also had been accused by Yolanda survivors in Tacloban City for failing to follow up on the completion of Yolanda housing projects. Feeling neglected and uncared for, the Lacayon villagers sought the help of the KP. Cajilig of the KP Region 6 said he is bringing the concern of Lacayon residents to the attention of President Duterte through Cabinet Secretary Leoncio B. Evasco Jr.

with a cleft the chance to smile

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MILE Train, the world’s largest cleft organization, recently took part in the 43rd Annual Convention of the Integrated Midwives Association of the Philippines (Imap). The Annual Convention was held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on October 19 and 20 that more than 3,000 midwives from all over the Philippines attended. Smile Train Philippines Foundation Inc. Country Director Kimmy Flaviano, together with Dr. Benjamin Herbosa, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon and a local Smile Train medical partner, gave a brief discussion on cleft lip and palate, encouraging midwives to refer potential patients to the organization so that they may receive proper treatment. “We, at Smile Train, endeavor to give cleft children a second chance at life. A simple surgery, which we provide for free for children in need, not only creates a bright smile for the child but can also provide the child an opportunity for a brighter future,” Flaviano said. “We recognize the significant role of the midwives, since they are the ones in the communities. They have the ability to help us identify patients and guide mothers on how to take care of their babies with clefts and get them ready for surgery,” she added. In the Philippines it is estimated that one in every 500 babies born each year will have a cleft. Smile Train continues to engage with Imap in order to widen its network while unceasingly helping to alleviate some of the challenges children with clefts are faced with. With this partnership, Imap helps push Smile Train’s advocacy by informing the latter when midwives deliver a baby born with a cleft lip or cleft palate.

region based on the 2012 MOA. In the 2011 Survey on Children conducted by the National Statistics Office through the support of the ILO’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, there were 5.5 million working children between 5 years old

and 17 years old, representing 19 percent of the 29 million children. Of the 5.5 million working children, 3.2 million were engaged in child labor, those children who have either worked in a hazardous environment or worked for more than 20 hours a week for children 5 to 14 years old or 40 hours for children between 15 years and 17 years old. With the support from the ILO, the DSWD launched its Strategic Helpdesks for Information, Education, Livelihood and other Developmental Interventions (SHIELD) program to help combat child labor in the country. Pilot testing is currently being done in the Calabarzon, Bicol and Eastern Visayas regions, where a high number of children are found working in deep-sea fishing, mining, quarrying and agriculture. The project supports the Philippine Program Against Child Labor 2017-2022 goal of withdrawing 630,000 children from child labor by 2022 and a total of 1 million children by 2025. Specifically, the SHIELD against Child Labor project aims to help eliminate child labor in its worst forms and those in the blanket ban (below 15 years old).

CIA holds 8th CRK North PHL Roadshow in Malolos, Bulacan By Catherine Joy L. Maglalang Correspondent

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ITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan—The Clark International Airport (CIA) held on Thursday its eighth CRK North Philippines Roadshow this year at a hotel in this city. Alexander Cauguiran, president and CEO of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC); Malolos City Mayor Christian Natividad; and Candy Mundo, the executive assistant III of Vice Gov. Daniel Fernando, attended the activity. Also present were representatives of different sectors, such as academe, travel agents, members of the mediam and other guests. Cauguiran said the CIA is targeting to become the “airport of choice” by 2022 for the 22 million to 23 million people of North and Central Luzon. The CIAC entertained at least 4.2 million passengers per annum as its terminal capacity. Clark Special Economic and Freeport Zone has a total land area of 31,400 hectares, including the New Clark City (9,450 hectare); Special Economic Zone (SubZone 17,550 hectare) and Freeport Zone (Industrial 4,400 hectare.) Cauguiran said the CIAC has a master plan. For the first phase, they have a new passenger terminal building project within a 2.5year period with at least 8-million people capacity. It is composed of a secondary access road, public plaza and a transport-terminal hub, conversion of decommissioned runway to taxiway and construction of new ramp and taxiway. In the second phase, Cauguiran said they will expand the passenger terminal from 8 million to 16 million passengers per annum (PPA) in capacity. The CIAC can accommodate at least 22 million passengers. It will have a secondary runway; new terminal to accommodate 6 million PPA; express freightterminal building; maintenance and repair facility; cargo-terminal building; and another terminal. Cauguiran said, in the third phase of the plan, they are targeting at least 46 million passengers in capacity; they will conduct express freight-terminal expansion;

facility expansion; expansion of cargo facilities; and expansion of FBO/GA terminal. The Airport City—mixed use (200 hectares) for Recreational Industrial or realestate logistics and warehousing hospitality and retail exhibition and convention. He said, in the ultimate phase, they are targeting at least 80 million passengers in capacity. They will construct the third. The CIA is the premier airport of the North Luzon particularly in Region One (Ilocos), Region Two (Cagayan Valley), Region Three (Central Luzon) and CAR with a total catchment population of 21,417,721; NCR (Camanava) has 2,819,388 and South Luzon has 30,269,628 in total catchment population. CRK has 120 arrival and departure flights per week for domestic flights, including Kalibo, El Nido, Cebu, Caticlan, Davao, Puerto Princesa, Busuanga, Balesin, Bagabag Batanes, Caticlan and Busuanga. It has 140 arrival and departure flights per week for international flights, including Incheon, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Dubai, Doha, Pudong, Shanghai (China) and Busan. They will have upcoming international flights for Singapore on November 28 and Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro Tagbilaran, Bohol Virac and Catanduanes for domestic flights in December. He said the ClarkManila Railway will be available before the end of the term of President Duterte. Natividad said Malolos is very near the CIA and is strategically located. Malolos can be a beneficiary in the impact and successes of the airport. Malolos is now part of the top 10 next wave cities of the Philippines. Since Malolos is the capital of the province of Bulacan, they can be partnered and shared something beneficial reciprocally toward each other. The mayor said the Asean event will bring more than 7,000 foreigners, 4,000 of whom are members of the media. Malolos is recipient of more than 40,000 tourists a month, and, hopefully, through the partnership with the CIA, they can double or triple and increase its actual number even five times.

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Antimining groups bring battle to Samar DENR office

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By Elmer V. Recuerdo| Correspondent

ACLOBAN CITY— Frustrated at the promining stance of local officials in Eastern Samar, residents of the small mining island of Manicani marched to the regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in an attempt to stop the reopening of open-pit mining in the island. Joined by environmental groups based in the city, Manicani Island residents are holding a campout at the DENR gates to pressure the environment department to deny the mining company an environmental compliance certificate (ECC), required before mining companies can operate. Mining applications need to secure the ECC and the environmental impact assessment from the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the DENR before a mining permit is granted. Campout organizers said they will stay until November 18 or until

they get assurance that no mining permit is issued. The Mutual Product Sharing Agreement (MPSA), or the mining permit, between Hinatuan Mining Corp. (HMC) and the government expires on October 28. HMC, a subsidiary of Nickel Asia, has applied for a renewal of the MPSA to allow them to continue its open-pit nickel-ore extraction in Manicani for another 25 years. The four barangays comprising Manicani Island, as well as the municipal council of Guiuan and the provincial board of Eastern Samar, have already given favorable endorse-

55,000 attend Cardinal Vidal’s burial

ments to the mining company. The provincial board resolution passed on October 9 even went as far as asking the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to lift the suspension order that was imposed since 2002 for lack of scientific bases that the mining operations has caused environmental destruction in the island. The resolution is a complete departure from a provincial ordinance passed in 2005 declaring a total ban of large-scale in the whole Eastern Samar province. “We are dismayed by this position taken by the provincial board. The whole island is still in ruins even if it has been 15 years since the mining operations was suspended,” said Rebecca Destajo, spokesman of Progressive Manicani Island Society. “We cannot agree to another 25 years of mining operations.” For Fedelino Atrejinio, 53, a resident of Barangay Hamorawon in Manicani Island, the mining operations totally damaged the island, depriving its residents of their livelihood. Atrejinio recalled that, as a boy, his family used to plant cassava, potatoes and other vegetables while he also tended a fish pen his father set up to support the family. “The land in Manicani is fertile. We were sent to school out of the harvest we got from this land. Whatever you plant there, it will

Correspondent

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By Marcel L. Woo Correspondent

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EBU CITY­—About 55,000 faithful paid their last respects to the late Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, who was buried in a traditional Roman Catholic ceremony Thursday morning in a mausoleum inside the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. Three living cardinals—Manila Archbishop Emeritus Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, and Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo—24 bishops, including Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, who presided over the requiem Mass, and more than 500 priests and nuns marched to the Cathedral to bid final farewell to Vidal, who was Cebu’s archbishop for 29 years. Outside the church, more than 55,000 people from around the province of Cebu and other provinces, braved the scorching heat of the sun to pay their last respects to Vidal. The estimate was made by Cebu City Police Office Director Joel Doria. “Rest now, faithful servant. You are truly a child of God,” Msgr. Dennis Villarojo, who served as Vidal’s secretary for 13 years, said in his homily, in front of Vidal’s coffin laid on the carpet-covered floor. Villarojo described Vidal as a “man of peace,” someone who never got involved in any argument or quarrel and who remained neutral during times when politicians sought his guidance on issues. “Instead of making public announcements, he made personal

visits. He has the gift of making peace,” Villarojo said, adding he has never heard Vidal cursing or letting go of raising his temper. In condoling with Cebuanos, Cardinal Tagle thanked those who shared their stories about how the late Cardinal Vidal touched their lives in one way or another. “Your stories are a celebration of the completion of life of this good and great servant of the Church,” he said. The Mass culminated with the three Cardinals saying their prayers and blessing the remains of Vidal. The silence inside the church was broken by the huge applause of those who were inside. Others broke into tears while waving goodbye to the late cardinal. Vidal’s coffin was then brought outside the church, where a century-old carroza and throngs of faithful awaited the funeral procession. The Archdiocese of Cebu and the Cebu City Government decided to extend the route of the procession due to the huge turnout of people. Along the procession route, thousands were waiting to bid their final farewell. Vidal’s coffin was then lowered into a grave beside that his predecessor, Julio Cardinal Rosales, inside the mausoleum that Rosales ordered built in 1983. Only the three cardinals, Bishop Palma, Vidal’s family and household members, were allowed inside the mausoleum located within the cathedral compound. It was Vidal’s wish to stay in Cebu after his retirement and to be buried in Cebu. He was a native of Marinduque.

Marriott topping off ceremony signals rise of first five-star hotel in Clark By Ashley Manabat Correspondent

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LARK FREEPORT­—The last patch of cement was poured on the 16th floor of the $60-million Marriott Hotel here as part of its topping off ceremony on Thursday. The Marriott Hotel Clark is being constructed next to the Widus Hotel and Casino here and is reputed to be the first five-star class hotel in this free port. It broke ground in November last year and is expected to be completed in November 2018. Daesik Han, Widus president and CEO, said, “Our partners are delighted and very much impressed with the progress of the work, and they are very confident to be one of the best compact Marriot Hotels among their collections.” “I’ve been working with Mr. Han and with representatives from the project-management company. I am really delighted to see how well the design has been done and how well the construction is going,” said Paul Scanlan, Marriot Global Design and Marriott project director. “We are looking forward to the opening of the hotel.” “I think it’s a great event. I think this is really going to showcase a Marriott within the region,” Marriott’s Barry Witington said. “We are very pleased to be here today and, with the progress that’s happening on site,” he added. “Construction looks great, and it’s very well-organized, a very clean and tidy site, and we are all looking forward to the completion and opening.”. “We are proud to be here for the

unveiling of the [Marriott] logo and the topping-off ceremony. This hotel is going to be the market leader in Clark,” said Shia Liang, director for Development for Marriot International. “It’s been an honor working with such an incredible partner. They’ve been so collaborative, and we’re sure that we are going to achieve this vision of having a fantastic hotel in Clark,” she added. In 2015 Widus International Leisure Inc. (Wili), owner of Widus Hotel and Casino, signed a hotel-management agreement with Renaissance Hotels International Corp. Ltd., the company behind the successful chain of Marriott Hotels for The Marriott at Clark project. The agreement will allow Marriott Hotel to operate The Marriott at Clark, set to break ground at the Widus property here in May next year. Han, the South Korean president and CEO of Wili, said the Marriott Clark represents the latest and most innovative hotel within the Widus complex, “a final cap to our vision of being the preferred one-stop leisure destination.” The Marriott at Clark will serve the high-end market, while Widus will focus on the middle market. The new Marriott at Clark is rated as Pampanga’s first five-star hotel. It will have approximately 260 room keys. The Marriott at Clark will feature the usual Marriott facilities, such as the Goji Kitchen and Bar, Great Room, Pool Bar, Executive Lounge and the Ballroom and Meeting Places.

Fair recruitment brings hope to OFWs By Marilou Guieb

Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal

surely grow,” he said. Now a commander of Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary based in Metro Manila, Atrejinio took a leave from work to join his neighbors in the campout at the gate of DENR. “If we who grew up in the island cannot care for Manicani, who will?” he asked. “It may just be a speck in our maps but, for us who grew up there, it is our whole world,” he said. Antimining groups are asking the EMB to review the track record of HMC before it acts on the application for the renewal of the MPSA. Destajo said the EMB has already approved the ECC application of HMC for its berthing place on August 18. “This is a bad sign that it might also approve the ECC for the actual mining operations. This means they will be giving permit for the mining operations. What will they do with the berthing place if no MPSA is issued?” she said. Environmentalists argue that mining operations in Manicani is illegal because it is within the Guiuan Protected Landscapes/ Seascapes, a marine-protected reserve of Guiuan town. The declaration was issued in 1994 by former President Fidel V. Ramos, two years after the first MPSA of HMC was approved in 1992.

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T has been almost two decades since the story of Ely Rose Miguel made newspaper headlines. Miguel was a young mother from Kalinga, a province in the northern island of Luzon, who signed up for a contract to work for a politician in China. She was instead assigned to work in the politician’s extended household. In telephone calls to her family, she sounded puzzled why her employer worried that she would tire herself and made sure she got enough rest even in the afternoon hours. They filled her fridge with fresh fruits and healthy stuff but, rather than getting bewildered, Miguel would tell her family she had good employers, even if she found their kindness rather odd. Shortly after, the family could no longer reach her until they were told that she had died. It has been years ago and even while I did an extensive feature story on her, I could not ascertain what China reported as the cause of her death. What remained imprinted in my mind were photographs of her coming home in a box and the shocked and silent grief of a husband who saw her first, an autopsied corpse not stitched back and all her internal organs exposed. All but a missing heart. It was believed to be a case of organ theft, as it was said that a family member needed a heart transplant, but inquiries never got to the end of it. Elena (not her real name) worked for a Taiwanese woman farmer. She woke up at dawn and was on the road together with her lady master to the farm before daybreak and worked till late at night in the household. There was a policy of a portion of a salary to be withheld until the employee leaves to ensure the service of the worker. but her employer owed her salaries from the first day. When she was soon bound for home, and thus was collecting her long-hoarded salary, her family instead got a call that she had died from jumping off the fast speeding truck on the way to the farm. Back home, it was believed she was pushed off so her employer could get away from paying her the large amount of money she owed Elena. The Cordillera region, like the rest of the country, has its share of horror

stories of how their overseas workers are treated abroad. Miguel became a victim of trafficking because of the change of contract. Many like Elena are in slave-like conditions of forced labor. The stories of families selling or pawning their farmlands or other precious property to come up with the stiff cost of getting a contract and flying to faraway destinations to earn for families left behind are all too common. While it is true that government efforts to minimize victimization of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), such as in the predeparture seminars, exorbitant placement and processing fees hinder the dreams of many to work overseas. And when swindled out of their precious money by fraudulent recruitment, tales of the entire family’s financial ruin are widely known. So devastating is the impact on OFWs from illegal recruitment that a law was passed giving the crime the highest penalty under the law. But with the slow grind of justice in the country, pursuing a case is often just another burden. There must be a better way as, after all, the pursuit of a better life is a basic human right. The social costs of overseas work are plenty and sad. In the Cordillera region, for instance, where in the indigenous language, there is no word for rape, incest is on the rise in instances when young daughters are left in the care of fathers when their mothers leave to work overseas. A culture of dependence on the regular remittances is instilled, exacerbated by an abundance of gifts from the overseas worker because of a feeling of guilt for absence or sheer homesickness. Still, in a country with no worthwhile jobs to offer, seeking greener pastures abroad will remain a reality. But certainly, in the midst of the dark side, shine as many bright stories that inspire others to seek overseas jobs. This is apparent in the fact that the Philippines alone deploys 5,787 workers abroad, according to Philippine Overseas Employment Authority (POEA), with 2,112,331 recorded in 2016. The number is much higher considering the huge number of undocumented workers who choose backdoor entries and become most vulnerable to abuses. Recognizing that crossing borders in the quest for a better life is a reality

far from reversing, the International Labor Organization (ILO) has come up with a program to alleviate the burdens imposed on OFWs and put in place guidelines in recruitment that serve as barriers to abuses. The Fair Recruitment Initiative (FAIR) launched in 2014 was prompted by their records that there are 232 million international migrants and 740 million internal migrants in search of decent employment; 21 million are in forced labor and trafficked globally, of which 9.1 million moved internally or internationally for work; and migrant workers who borrow money from third parties face an increased risk of being in forced labor. In a recent forum on fair recruitment and labor migration, Hussein Macarambon, FAIR project coordinator, said the move is compliant with Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.8 for the promotion of labor rights and safe and secure working environment for all workers, in particular women, and Target 10.7 that is to facilitate orderly, safe and responsible migration and mobility of people through well-managed migration policies. Charles Autheman, ILO consultant, said the ILO mandate is to set basic principles and standards acceptable to all. He said domestic work is very conducive to exploitation, as it happens within the household, where there is no one to see what is happening, while in construction work, there is an issue on overtime work and difficult working conditions. In the Philippines there is a predominance of domestic-job seekers and in construction. Outsourced jobs to cut costs is not a standard, he said, citing the example of Bangladesh garment-factory workers in situations where there is little ventilation and overtime work. He cited the Rana Plaza, an 8-story building that collapsed because of engineering issues. About 1,100 garment workers, mostly women, died in the incident. While the European brand claimed not to know of the working conditions, this sparked an international debate on supply chains to address human-rights issues. No placement fees and transparency are part of the basic FAIR principles. In the Philippines, of the 1,000 POEA registered recruitment agencies, only 1 percent qualifies as

fair-recruitment agencies. In 1999 two idealistic men in their late 20s decided to leave their corporate jobs and be their own boss. They embarked on a job-recruitment business despite warnings that they were coming in too late in the game. But Manny Gomez and Marc Capistrano saw something that just wasn’t quite right with the way things were being done. Today, starting with just the two of them and one multitasking employee, the company has grown to 100 employees and more than 15,000 employees deployed and 100 overseas companies as clients. It sent out more than 15,000 OFWs who landed jobs abroad without paying any fees. “We grew just by doing what was right,” Gomez said. The recruitment agencies then were in a bad light for the exorbitant processing fees and reports on abuses. Gomez said that, back then, he and Capistrano knew there must be a better way to deliver services. Passion and idealism drove them to recruit OFWs without charging fees. “We just knew it wasn’t right,” Capistrano said. In the United States, for example, employers would even pay for workers to come. They don’t even dare to ask for a fee, he said. It was no bed of roses, as Filipinos have been so used to paying fees and the mind-set was that, if they paid, they would be guaranteed better service, they said. In communities where they go to recruit, the response sometimes would be the popular Filipino expression “weh” when they say there will be no fees charged. They have won the trust of reputable companies who think that, if they were set standards for getting workers, Staffhouse must be reliable in getting them qualified workers. Consistent with the statement of Macarambon that movement of workers is a triple win—economy, higher income for workers and provision of skilled workers for destination countries—Capistrano said they always bear in mind that they have two clients: the applicant and the company. Applicants are lined for interviews based on their qualifications and not their capacity to pay. “We don’t endorse even friends,” he said.

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Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Friday, October 27, 2017 A13

PHL chicken inventory down 9.32%

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

he country’s dressed-chicken inventory declined for the third consecutive week, as demand for poultry slowly recovers, according to data from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS). The latest data from the NMIS showed that as of October 16, the country’s chicken inventory in accredited cold storages reached 30,229.88 metric tons (MT), 9.32 percent lower than the 33,336.92 MT recorded last week. The October 16 inventory was nearly 28 percent lower than the 41,965.55 MT recorded on September 25. The figure is the highest recorded this year. The latest chicken inventory was also 6.06 percent lower than the 32,181.54 MT recorded in the same period last year. The bulk of the inventory during the period consisted of locally produced chicken, according to data from the NMIS. Local dressed chicken reached 20,485.27 MT, 10.53 percent lower than the 22,894.97 MT recorded the previous week.

The figure was also 17.15 percent lower than the 24,727.05 MT of locally produced chicken stored in the third week of October last year. On a weekly basis, NMIS data showed that the inventory of locally produced chicken in Region 3, which was struck by bird flu, declined by 21.77 percent to 6,006.11 MT, from 7,677.75 MT. Compared to the year-ago level, the figure was lower by 52.56 percent. Earlier, industry sources said some poultry growers were forced to store dressed chicken so they won’t incur more losses. The demand for chicken meat fell drastically after the government announced on August 11 that bird flu struck some farms in Pampanga. Manolette Gaerlan of the Bureau of Animal Industry’s Livestock Group told the

BusinessMirror earlier that some poultry growers have started to withdraw dressed chicken from cold storages. “We are now going into the holiday season, so we are expecting demand for poultry to increase. Demand for chicken would peak from December 15 to January 1, when parties are usually held,” Gaerlan said in a recent interview. Earlier, the Department of Agriculture had ruled out the special importation of chicken, as the country’s current inventory would be enough to meet the expected increase in demand during the holidays. Poultry growers had also made an assurance that the country would have enough chicken supply in December. The outbreak of bird flu caused poultry growers in Central Luzon to incur losses as the farm-gate price of chicken fell below P15 per kilogram. The Philippines may regain its bird flu-free status in December, after all the necessary measures to manage the virus in affected areas have been undertaken by the government and poultry growers. The government said it would take at least 75 days to implement all the measures prescribed in the government’s manual for managing bird-flu outbreaks before affected areas in Pampanga and Nueva Ecija can be considered bird flu-free.

Higher demand for fresh milk to boost TLC sales by 20%

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resh-milk processor The Laguna Creamery Inc. (TLC) said it could end 2017 with a 20-percent hike in sales, as TLC products are increasingly becoming popular among households and food-service firms. TLC President Juan Miguel P. G. David told the BusinessMirror that demand for fresh milk in the Philippines is steadily growing, as more Filipinos have become more conscious of the need to eat healthy. “We have been growing at a rate of 20 percent a year. This year we are pretty much on track [to grow by] 15 percent to 20 percent,” David said in an interview at the sidelines of the celebration of Real Fresh Dairy Farms Inc.’s (RFDFI) ninth anniversary. TLC is the processing arm of Laguna-based dairy firm RFDFI, producers of farm-fresh milk marketed under the “Holly’s” brand. David said technology has helped to raise the awareness on the difference of “real” and processed food, particularly milk products, among Filipino consumers. “People nowadays watch documentaries about food processing. And they start to realize that why am I buying such product?” he said. “They tend to be more conscious on

the contents of what they buy and consume.” At present, some of the markets for Holly’s Milk are village-type households, communities, foreigners and middle-class Filipinos living in condominiums, according to David. “Our biggest markets really is the regular households found in villages. Because there are fresh-produce weekly markets in these areas,” he said. “As for the foreigner market, they already know the product we are selling. They know the difference between real fresh milk and other milk products in the market,” David added. Holly’s Milk products are found in over 100 retail stores and institutional food outlets, such as Pinkberry Yoghurt, across Metro Manila, David said. The TLC official said the company is keen on reaching out to more millennials via the use of technology, such as smartphone-based grocery applications. The company also plans to be more visible in social media. RFDFI launched TLC, which has a maximum processing capacity of 1,000 liters per hour, in September 2013. “ We recent ly ventured into Honestbee and we were surprised in the jump in our sales. Because in the

first month we only earned about P600 but in the second month, our sales reached around P20,000,” David said. A Global Agricultural Information Network (Gain) report prepared by the US Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila noted that demand for fresh milk is increasing in the Philippines, particularly in the food-service sector. “Local milk production is projected to reach 22,000 metric tons [MT] in 2017, and will likely continue expanding on an annual basis due to increasing consumer preference for fresh milk and improved dairying capabilities,” the report read. “In 2017 liquid-milk imports should increase slightly due to rising consumption and increased use in food service,” it added. The Philippines produces less than 1 percent of its total annual dairy requirement and imports the balance, according to the Gain report. “A significant amount of the Philippines’s fluid-milk supply is actually Ultra High Temperature (UHT) milk reconstituted from imported milk powder because of the country’s cold-chain challenges and limited production,” it added. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

A14 Friday, October 27, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

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BusinessMirror 10272017

In the time of fake news

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braham Michael “A.M.” Rosenthal is a name that may not ring a bell to some members of the Philippine media. Rosenthal, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1960, was with the New York Times for 56 years beginning in 1943. He edited and oversaw the newspaper during some of the most turbulent times, which included the Vietnam War, the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal. During the protests against the US involvement in the Vietnam War, a reporter who was assigned to cover that story said that he intended to march with the protestors. A.M. repeated what had become the “Rosenthal Rule.” “OK, the rule is, you can [make love to] an elephant if you want to, but if you do you can’t cover the circus.” The rule came as a result of one of his reporters, Laura Foreman, who admitted she had been sleeping with a Pennsylvania state senator. Rosenthal called Foreman into his office, where she submitted her resignation. On Rosenthal’s tombstone, the epitaph reads: “He kept the paper straight.” Its founder, Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, made the mandate for the BusinessMirror clear from the beginning. It was a commitment to provide people with what he called a “broader look” at the nation’s business. While Philippine politics and government get all the big headlines and are the focus of “fake news” with press bias and not-so-hidden agendas, the business sector is not immune. Too much of what you read about local companies are simply reprints of favorable corporate press releases. And while these may be “the truth,” they are never “the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” “Government vows to prioritize local contractors in infrastructure program” was the story. But the whole truth was that “DMCI Holdings Chairman and President Isidro Consunji said the idea that the domestic construction industry is closed to foreign participation is a myth rather than a reality.” That is the broader look that Ambassador Cabangon Chua wanted for this newspaper. A.M. Rosenthal demanded that his reporters and writers get the story—the facts—and let it determine the agenda. In this era of fake news, too many news outlets formalize their agenda first and then go out to find facts to support their bias. That is why the BusinessMirror mandate is to clearly state the government’s policies, show the statistics, and then tell readers what it could mean to them personally. The agenda needs to flow from the information; not the other way around. The fact that “Duck output dropped to 15,490 MT in JanuaryJune” may not seem important to you, but it is one piece of the economic picture that does affect every Filipino. That farm-gate duck prices are up 5 percent over 2016 helps you understand more about the economy when the growth numbers are released. While you may not think you will find fake news in the business section, think about the bias on both sides when reporting on the mining sector, telecoms and foreign investment. Our mandate is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

Too many chairs James Jimenez

spox

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he first Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman post-Edsa 2 was a former court administrator of the Supreme Court, Justice Alfredo L. Benipayo, appointed by then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. After having repeatedly failed to secure confirmation from the Commission on Appointments (CA), he was no longer reappointed. His successor, former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Benjamin S. Abalos, in contrast, did manage to win the CA’s nod, but eventually resigned. President Arroyo then appointed former Supreme Court Justice Jose A.R. Melo to head up the Comelec. Justice Melo helmed the country’s transition to the Automated Election System, first with the automation of the 2008 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and subsequently, with the full automation of the 2010 national and local elections. Following soon after the success

Patriotism in investment Ser Percival K. Peña-Reyes

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of the 2010 polls, Chairman Melo resigned, paving the way for the assumption of Chairman Sixto S. Brillantes Jr., in January 2011. After having successfully completed the remainder of Melo’s term, Brillantes stepped down in February 2015. By April of the same year, Chairman J. Andres D. Bautista stepped up, only to stand down in October 2017. One failed to hurdle the Com-

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atriotism, as online sources succinctly define, refers to people’s vigorous support for their own country. This was the central theme of South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s speech on June 6, which marked Korea’s 62nd Memorial Day. Below are relevant quotes from President Moon’s address. “Today, I think of patriotism here at the National Cemetery. Had it not been for the patriotism of our people, we would not have the Republic of Korea of today. Our history has been interspersed with incessant ordeals, ranging from colonization, division and war, to poverty and struggles against dictatorships. It was patriotism that enabled us to overcome all these tribulations. The past century has been turned into our proud history.” “Today, I join you in remembering the fact that dedication to and sacrifice for the country did not take place only on battlefields. At a time when the country was desperately in need of foreign currency and even any single dollar it could get, there were Koreans who made important contributions to the country’s modernization while working in Germany, a foreign land far away from their home. Korean miners sent to Germany, engulfed in coal dust and soaked in sweat in hot underground mines, worked to dig up

coal. Korean nurses sent to Germany endured even all unpleasant work at hospitals. Their devotion and sacrifice laid a stepping-stone for the country’s economy. This is patriotism.” “I am also grateful for the sacrifice and dedicated efforts of those female workers, who devoted the prime of their lives working in attic workshops that lined the Cheonggyecheon stream, the ceilings of which were so low they could not stand up straight. They worked at sewing machines with bleary eyes and had cracked fingertips from removing stitches. They were called female factory workers instead of patriots, but they were the ones who helped achieve the Miracle on the Han River. This is patriotism.” “Patriotism is everything that has helped build Korea today. Every single individual who dedicated himself to the nation makes up none other than the Republic of Korea. They themselves in their entirety are the Republic of Korea that is not and cannot be divided

mission on Appointments, another resigned because he believed he had accomplished his mission, and two relinquished the position under intense political pressure. Over a span of 15 years, therefore, the Comelec has had five chairmen when, if each had only served out the full sevenyear term, there should only have been three, at least in theory. The position of Comelec commissioner was made an impeachable one for a very good reason. It was supposed to preserve Comelec independence by insulating the election management body from turbulent political winds. Clearly, those winds have found a way to undermine that independence anyway. This should not be a surprise, however, considering that we as a nation have managed to successfully undercut electoral democracy twice already. Granted, the first time we did it, we were doing it to reclaim hijacked elections, the fact remains that even after loudly proclaiming ourselves as champions of democracy, we turned around and did it again—this time against an unquestionably valid democratic election—less than two decades later; democracy is on a geological

clock, and 20 years counts as a heartbeat on that scale. With that sort of shallow dedication to the core principles of democracy, the incredibly short shelf life of Comelec chiefs is almost a given. So now we wait again for another chairman to be named. The sixth, when that theoretical third chairman, envisioned by the Constitution, should only be just finishing up his first year in office. However we arrived at this pass, and for whatever reason, this proliferation of chairmen makes it clear that our democracy is in distress. It is my sincere hope that, on top of the challenges inherent in his making such a late entry into the election calendar, the new chairman will fare better than most of his predecessors and that he will be able to set our system of electoral democracy on the even keel that our Constitution intended. The new chairman can rest assured that everyone in the Comelec, from the incumbent commissioners down to the rank and file, want nothing more than that, and will hold nothing back to help him—or indeed, her—achieve that goal.

into liberals and conservatives.” “Let’s build a nation together, in which patriotism, justice, principle and honesty are rewarded. Let’s build a fair country together where the success of individuals and businesses simultaneously constitutes the road toward patriotism.” Improving by leaps and bounds since the 1960s, South Korea has clearly overtaken the Philippines, its erstwhile idol, as World Bank data reveal. In 1960 Korean gross national income (GNI, in constant 2010 United States dollars) was about $23.8 billion, while Philippine GNI was a bit higher at about $27.6 billion. In per-capita terms, the average Korean had about $952 annual income in 1960, while the average Filipino had about $1,049. In 2016, however, Korean GNI reached a staggering $1.3 trillion, while Philippine GNI was just about a quarter of the Korean figure, at approximately $343.3 billion. In per-capita terms, the average Korean had about $25,485 annual income in 2016, while the average Filipino had about $3,323. So, could patriotism—or the lack of it—significantly account for this reversal of fortunes? This is a good point for reflection. In his book on Korean economic development, Byung-Nak Song mentioned that economic growth was mostly government-led; thus, Korea pursued a “government-led market economy” instead of the “market-led market economy” observed in other countries. Although the Korean government had interfered in the economy extensively and continuously, it did not create permanently sick industries that

needed huge subsidies. The Korean government used its “strong visible hand” to reinforce and facilitate the functioning of the market economy. Of course, underpinning all these initiatives was a deep sense of patriotism. The goal, after all, was to make all Koreans better off than they were before. In contrast, Dr. Alvin P. Ang’s article some weeks ago gave a sobering exposition of the glaring gaps in the investments made by the richest Filipinos, the sectoral distribution of national income and the sectoral distribution of employment. In a nutshell, the reviewed data suggest that the richest Filipinos are investing in sectors that are relatively insulated from foreign investors and do not have long, intensive value chains, which significantly hamper the possibilities of employing more Filipinos. Put more sharply, it seems investment activities are more “income-generating” (self-serving) rather than “job-creating” (patriotic). According to Ang, government efforts still require more coordination and political will. Unlike the Korean experience of state-initiated economic growth, however, the Philippine private sector can freely and directly participate in generating more jobs and shifting the structure of the economy. Not all economic activities require government policy initiatives. So, is the Philippine private sector up to this challenge? It remains to be seen. Ser Percival K. Peña-Reyes is a faculty member of the Ateneo de Manila University Economics Department.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

The antidote to smuggling

Life be proud on the feast of souls

BusinessMirror

Tito Genova Valiente

annotations

Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza Continued from A1

The antidote to undervaluation

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very time a leadership change happens at the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the first question that gets into the public mind is, “Will the new Customs leadership be able to stop smuggling and corruption at the BOC?” After years of collection shortfalls and reports of rampant smuggling at the ports, perhaps, frustration may have already crept into the nation’s mind. But is smuggling, in its most common form, like undervaluation, unrestrainable? No. Undervaluation can be stopped if the BOC will implement the following measures: Invoke the government’s right of compulsory acquisition as provided for in Section 2317 of the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP). Like the government’s power to exercise its right to acquire private rights in land for the common good of the nation as provided for in its right of imminent domain, the government also has the right to acquire imported goods that are grossly undervalued. Invoking this government right will help prevent undervaluation, because it will deprive unscrupulous importers of their capital, through the government’s acquisition of their importations based on its grossly undervalued declaration. Take, for instance, my discovery and subsequent filing of a complaint against a palm-oil importer for gross undervaluation after I learned that, as then head of the Coconut Industry Investment Fund, the group of government-sequestered coconut oil mills, we declared the value of our imported palm oil from Indonesia at $1.25 per kilo, while the other importer of palm oil, also from Indonesia, declared his value at only six US cents per kilo. Had the government invoked its right to compulsory acquisition by acquiring the said importation based on its grossly undervalued declaration of only six US cents per kilo and selling the same at its prevailing value of $1.25 per kilo, the government could have earned more while, at the same time, causing tremendous loss of capital to the importer. A big price to pay, indeed, for a tax “cheat.” The BOC should make public all reference values, which should be regularly updated by posting the same on its web site and cross-linking these reference values with the BOC computers for assessment, such that the assessor is alerted when the declared values fall below the reference values, and subsequent valuation query can be undertaken. By applying this measure, technical smuggling through undervaluation can be addressed, as the reference information will guide both the BOC and importers regarding the value range of the articles being imported. Moreover, it will protect the legitimate importers from unreasonable assessment of their importations, even as it will also trigger a valuation query in the event the supposed transaction value declared by the importer is undervalued. Furthermore, the reference value information will help enhance consultation between the BOC and concerned private industry associations relative to the prevailing and current values of articles and products. And, finally, the reference value information will help enable the citizenry to be involved in the campaign against technical smuggling. While under Section 201 of the TCCP identifies the six methods in computing for the dutiable values of importations, a Customs memorandum order could, however, help define the value range of imported goods and articles. To link up (in real time), the recording system of both the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) should be synchronized. This

The BOC may have seen a glimmer of hope under Commissioner Isidro Lapeña, even only in his first month as new Customs chief. His commitment and determination to curb smuggling and corruption in the bureau is undoubtedly beyond question. After all, Lapeña has every reason to prevent smuggling and corruption at the BOC, just as he has all the resources and ways to stop these illegal activities. would enable the government to compare the declared values of imported goods at the time of their importation vis-à-vis the importers’ income-tax declarations, which they submitted with the BIR. Copies of the records of importations by importers should be furnished to the BIR, including volume and value. This measure will help correct undervaluation as both the BOC and BIR would be able to track down importers and taxpayers who failed to pay the correct taxes and duties. And also through this measure, importers who grossly undervalue their import declarations to pay less for duties and taxes, but grossly overvalue the same importations in filing their incometax returns with the BIR to raise the cost of goods and lower its taxable income, can immediately be checked and identified. The discrepancy in the declared values of importations by importers with the BOC and BIR can already be a prima facie evidence for a smuggling and/or tax-evasion case against importers. A directive from the Department of Finance can help facilitate the implementation of this measure. Secure the assistance of Philippine commercial attachés in obtaining prices from manufacturers in their countries of responsibility of goods exported to the Philippines. Such information from the Philippine commercial attachés shall help Customs officials to countercheck the “transaction values” declared by unscrupulous importers, even as it will also serve as relevant material information for establishing and updating the BOC’s reference values. An executive or administrative order can also facilitate the implementation of such measure. Indeed, undervaluation can be stopped, or at least checked, depending on the determination and commitment to curb this illegal activity. This is clearly expressed by the Tagalog saying “Pag ayaw, maraming dahilan. Pag gusto, maraming paraan” (If it’s not acceptable, there are many reasons. If it is, there are many ways), referring, of course, to the way some transactions are done at the BOC. The BOC may have seen a glimmer of hope under Commissioner Isidro Lapeña, even only in his first month as new Customs chief. His commitment and determination to curb smuggling and corruption in the bureau is undoubtedly beyond question. After all, Lapeña has every reason to prevent smuggling and corruption at the BOC, just as he has all the resources and ways to stop these illegal activities. For my succeeding columns on smuggling, I will discuss more interesting topics and issues on the antidote to this economic and social ill.

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he cemetery perimeter walls have been whitewashed. The flowers, if you want them special, are to be reserved in advance. Possibly tulips for a beloved brother; roses of the passionate hue for an aunt; orchids for grandparents whose love for each other was legendary even among kin; and lilies for a mother who has recently passed on—make this special list. It is the day for the souls. It is not the day for death. If John Donne is famous for admonishing Death not to be proud, strangely, we never think of celebrating Life on these days. Raise your cups, for the days of the souls are the days of life. As cultures dictate we will all troop to cemeteries and memorial parks, starting the end of October to the first two days of November, we will prepare food for ourselves as we feast on our memories. If the cities and towns will allow, we will even bring music to serve as background for our memories. The day for the souls of those who are not here anymore with us (somewhere there is a contradiction) is, oddly enough, a day for those who are here. The metaphor is apt in the terms we use: dearly departed. Those who have journeyed on are loved because they are not coming back anymore. It is this finality that makes them special and worth our remembering. And so, we go out of our way to observe the celebration not of death but of life. But to do this, we need to go to the quietest place in the world,

the terminal of the trip, and bring there the noise of the everyday. We disturb the silence of cemeteries and memorial parks because to do so is to remind ourselves that we are alive and, maybe, also loved by those who have left us already. The governments see how we have made the said days important.

Friday, October 27, 2017 A15

The state instruments are placed in readiness. Guns and sharp objects that can harm other people or even kill them are not allowed. Death has no place when the souls are at the center of a feasting. Drinks are also regulated for drunkenness is unneccesary when the mind and heart have to go back to the past of those presently interred. In our city a memorial life plan company exhibits a coffin in the most garish combination of ghoulish pink and deathly fuchsia. The color, which seems to stand for the ultimate in bad taste, seems like an apparition of death that can be fun. Or one can die for posterity or, goodness, for a selfie because the moment does not allow real passing on as one stays inside that casket. It is All Souls’ Day and the spirit is to have Life. My view of this Feast of the Souls if you care to know, is quite unpopular among our family. I sincerely do

not believe the souls are nowhere near the graves and mausoleum. Our duty primarily is to take care of the grave, clean the epitaph. The flowers we bring are not for the dearly departed because they are in a place that cannot be identified by material marker, but by the strongest faith. The flowers are for us to show the world of the living that we know how to remember and we know how to love forever. I tell them, my loved ones, that they need not bury me anywhere. Burn the body and throw the ashes into the sea near the island of my birth. Do not build any marker. Do not assure me of any remembrance and love. By that time, my soul (as I still believe in this entity) shall know that they will remember and love me, without the saddest of grave or the most beautiful prose or poem about eternity.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com.

Veritas 846 to air campaign to heal our land Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

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ur brothers and sisters have shed too much blood to feed the arduous war against the evil of illegal drugs. It is now the time to heal these wounds.

Radio Veritas, the leading faithbased AM station in Mega Manila, supports the “Start the Healing” campaign of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on November 5. The station will preempt its program, Citizens by Good Example, to air live the Holy Mass at the Edsa Shrine at 3 to 4 pm to be presided by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop and CBCP President Most Rev. Socrates Villegas with the theme, “Lord Heal our Land Sunday.” “To launch this period of prayer

for national healing, I invite you to attend the Mass at the Edsa Shrine on November 5 at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the hour of Divine Mercy. We are setting aside this day as the Lord Heal our Land Sunday. After the Mass, the image of Our Lady of Fatima that was brought by devotees to Edsa in the 1986 People Power revolt will be brought in a candlelight procession to the People Power monument, a kilometer away from the Edsa Shrine,” Archbishop Villegas said. The Start the Healing campaign

is the second phase of the call of the CBCP in praying for the victims of extrajudicial killings in our country. It will run in a 33-day period from November 5 to December 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. This period prepares the public to make the act of consecration to the Immaculate Mother as the time to “Start the Healing.” The first phase of the campaign runs from September 23 to November 1 to appeal for a season of mourning and prayers for the dead through the daily recitation of the rosary, church bell ringing and candle lighting at 8 o’clock each night for the victims of the spreading culture of killings. To our brothers and sisters who will not be able to go to Edsa Shrine, may we use all the outlets of Radio Veritas as instrument of God’s healing. Listen to the station of truth and witness this national healing and let our prayers be united in the mercy and love of Christ. During the 33-day campaign, the church invites the faithful to pray the holy rosary and receive Holy

Helping students in war-torn areas By Gemma C. Escobar

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or decades, the Philippines has seen ideological and religious conflicts that displaced thousands of families, especially in the countryside. As a consequence, children of families in war-torn areas were usually denied their rights of education. The Marawi siege, for example, has affected at least 50,000 children, according to government estimates. With President Duterte’s announcement that Marawi has been liberated from the claws of terror, the school children can’t wait to return to their respective schools. It took five months for our troops to gain victory in the war that claimed the lives of more than a thousand people. With the war over, the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) said that before government starts the rehabilitation and rebuilding of Marawi, the government must first give psychological services, such

as psychosocial first aid, stress debriefing and psychiatric treatments, to the families affected by the siege, especially the children. The call came following information released by the Office of Civil Defense that “a few cases of mental issues had been recorded among internally displaced persons because of the armed conflict in Marawi City.” Three months after the IS-Maute terrorist group laid siege to the city, some 35 children from Marawi met with Duterte in Malacañang under a military program that aims to provide them psychosocial support. The children aged 7 to 13 years old were displaced by the Marawi crisis, which started after Islamic Stateinspired terrorists occupied the city on May 23. Army Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera said: “The children came from different evacuation centers in different areas in Marawi and Lanao del Sur. They were selected to see a peaceful environment, community, learn

other cultures, heritage and other opportunities.” The military program wants these displaced children to have a better perspective to be part of a peaceful society. To give them a unique experience, they were given a tour of some Metro Manila landmarks, including the Malacañang Museum, Rizal Park, the SM Mall of Asia, the Mind Museum and the Army headquarters. Now that funds are being earmarked to rebuild Marawi, NAPC Secretary Liza Masa reminded those in charge of the rehabilitation to consider the culture and traditions of Maranaos and involve them in the process. “It is crucial that post-war initiatives for development should involve the affected communities to ensure that the rehabilitation process will be culturally sensitive and responsive to their actual needs. While external assistance is no less important in the process, ownership of the transformation of their society

Communion every day. Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 846 in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph or via Cignal TV and Eradio portal. Netizens may also visit the station’s Facebook page at www. facebook.com/Veritasph, and follow its Twitter and Instragram accounts @veritasph and YouTube at veritas846.ph. Radio Veritas 846, the No. 1 faithbased radio in the Philippines, is owned and operated by the Archdiocese of Manila. Established in 1969, the Ramon Magsaysay-recipient Catholic radio station continues to be the leading social communications ministry for truth and new evangelization in the country today.

To know more about Caritas Manila, visit www.caritasmanila.org.ph. For your donations, call our DonorCare lines 563-9311, 564-0205, 0999-7943455, 0905-4285001 and 0929-8343857. Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 846 in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph. For comments, e-mail veritas846pr@gmail.com.

should lie with the Maranaos,” Masa said. Currently, the Department of Health, Department of Education, Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police and the concerned local government units are working together to help affected families. Meanwhile, teachers and some volunteers are now sprucing up their schools as they prepare the children to go back to their old playgrounds. The unspeakable trauma experienced by the children of Marawi as a result of the destruction caused by terrorism will forever stay in their memory. Government, socio-civic groups and educators can help bring back a semblance of normalcy in the lives of these children by ensuring and assuring them that henceforth, they will live in peace and never again in fear. The author is Teacher 3 in Capiddigan Elementary School in Gattaran, Cagayan.